April 25, 2013

Apr 25, 2013 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • The Tokyo government says qualifying nukes may be restarted this fall. Industry Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said some reactors will probably resume operations if they meet the new regulations coming this summer. He said the restarts will begin “autumn at the earliest.” This is the first public statement of a restart timeline since Shinzo Abe became Prime Minister. The rule that might most inhibit restarts is the installation of radioisotopic-filtering systems on the containment depressurization vent lines of many Japanese nukes. This will mostly impact Japan’s Boiling Water Reactor plants. The Pressurized Water Reactor plants with large, domed containments seem to be most likely to meet the filtered-vent ruling in time for fall restarts. This could include any of the 22 currently idle PWRs in Japan. The two operating units at Oi station are PWRs. However, before any restarts, the owning company must receive local government consent. Motegi said that the central government will be making efforts to get the local approvals. While Tokyo does not foresee any electricity shortfalls this summer, they want nukes restarted in order to reduce the increasing fuel costs of running non-nuclear power plants. (Sankei Shimbun; Japan Times; Japan Daily Press)
  • The Fukushima government calls Tepco’s waste water handling “sloppy”. After making an on-site inspection, the Fukushima Prefectural Safety Council said, “It requires sophisticated supervision to store contaminated water. The work is sloppy.” The Council was created this past December to monitor decommissioning of Fukushima Daiichi. It has 13 officials from municipalities near the power station. Their inspection of Tepco’s waste water handling program occurred on April 24. The Council’s strongest technical conclusion was that the inner sheet of the three-layer liner of waste water reservoirs is too thin.  It is 6.4 millimeters thick and made of bentonite. Susumu Nakamura, council member and professor at Nihon University, said, “The leakages could have been prevented if it had been 50 centimeters to 1 meter thick.” (Mainichi Shimbun)
  • Tepco has shut down the spent fuel pool cooling system for unit #3 at F. Daiichi. They are replacing the temporary power supply with a “multiplex distribution system”. The company believes the change-over will take about 33 hours. They estimate that pool’s water temperature will increase about 5oC during the shutdown. It was at 16oC when the system was turned off. Tepco says, “There is no problem. The water temperature was low enough at 16 degrees when it was shut down.” The company also said they will shut down the SFP cooling system for unit #4 as soon as unit #3’s system is re-energized. Unit #4 SFP cooling will be down for about nine hours. (Mainichi Shimbun)
  • Tokyo will create an expert panel to seek a permanent resolution to the high-level nuclear waste issue. High-level waste includes spent fuel bundles and highly radioactive power plant decommissioning materials. In 2000, the government decided on deep geological burial. Last year, Japan’s Science Council recommended overhauling the policy and instead use temporary above-and-below ground storage instead. The industry ministry will form the expert group and begin discussion next month. (NHK World)
  • Tohoku Electric Co. wants Tepco to compensate them for profit losses due to the Fukushima-caused nuclear moratorium. Their main concern is money lost due to not to operating their nukes and replacing them with more costly fossil-fueled sources. Tohoku Electric is also including losses stemming from not being able to build the planned Namie-Odaka nuclear station in Fukushima Prefecture. The company says they have invested about $190 million in preliminary siting and design work. A Tohoku Electric spokesperson said, “Seeking compensation from TEPCO has been considered as one of our management issues.” The company believes legislation on Tepco’s compensation to Fukushima accident victims allows the company to be compensated. Sources close to the issue say Tohoku Electric and Tepco are discussing the issue. Whether or not Tohoku pursues legal action remains to be seen. (Jiji Press)
  • The Sendai District Court has rejected the recent appeal over evacuation of all children from the city of Koriyama. Fourteen parents initiated the suit last year, but only one family remained active after a lower Fukushima court had rejected it. The Sendai High Court ruled on Wednesday, effectively ending  the lawsuit. The court explained that radiation levels may vary in Koriyama and some places in the city exceeded the current national standards. But, they ruled that the Japanese government has no responsibility for evacuating the children to other areas of Japan. The court said that if parents feel the radiation levels are a danger to their children, they should leave on their own accord and not have the government shoulder the expenses. (Japan Daily Press)
  • At the same time, a new citizen lawsuit has been filed against a nuke’s operation. The suit was filed on Wednesday against Chugoku Electric Co.’s Shimane nuclear station. All three units there are BWRs. A total of 428 plaintiffs from Shimane and Tottori Prefectures, including dozens from outside the region, want the start of the nearly-completed unit #3 to be permanently banned. A parallel lawsuit by the same group was filed against the state in Matsue District Court demanding nullification of Tokyo’s approval to complete the unit. The plaintiffs charge that nearly 470,000 people living within 30 kilometers of the station could never be evacuated fast enough if a Fukushima-type accident occurred there. They feel the two other currently idled units already pose a serious health threat and the third unit would only make it worse. (Kyodo News)