November 14, 2013

Nov 14, 2013 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • Tepco has located some leak sources from F. Daiichi unit #1 containment. It seems that at least two pipes inside the suppression pool (torus) room are leaking. One is a small broken pipe with a flow that is said to look like gushing tap-water. The pipe appears to be from a system to collect dew from inside the containment vessel. A Tepco official said “Part of the containment vessel is damaged, and water leaking from there is likely to be flowing down into the ground via the pipe.” Whether or not it is a possible source of groundwater contamination is not known, though such speculations will surely ensue. The other leak source is not precisely recognizable, but water trickling over the outer surface of the 600,000 gallon, donut-shaped torus proves there is a second containment leak. Water pooled in the bottom of the torus room has several pathways into the turbine building basements. Tepco says the leaks were probably caused by the massive hydrogen explosion outside the containment vessel on March 12, 2011. The leaks were detected by a remote-controlled, robotic boat floated on the water surface inside the Torus room. This is the first visual proof of containment vessel system leaks outside the vessel itself. By identifying leak sources and stanching them, it might be possible to fill the containment vessel, greatly reducing radiation exposures inside the unit #1 reactor building enclosure. Hosei University professor Hiroshi Miyano says the volume of the discovered leaks suggests massive damage to parts attached to the outside of the containment vessel. He believes the parts were dislodged by the hydrogen explosion that blew the top off the outer unit #1 reactor building. Most news outlets have given this momentous discovery secondary coverage. NHK World has provided the most comprehensive reporting. The attached Jiji News link was found at the very end of today’s long list of news reports, and is included because of the Tepco official’s quote.  http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20131113_40.html — http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20131114_16.html — http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/nuclear.html — http://jen.jiji.com/jc/eng?g=eco&k=2013111301037
  • An American expert has confidence in spent fuel removal from F. Daiichi unit #4. Lake Barrett, formerly with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, says he found preparations for the fuel removal to be thorough and has “confidence” the effort will succeed safely. Barrett said, “While removal of the fuel is usually a routine procedure in operating a power plant, the damage to the reactor building has made the job more complex. TEPCO and its partners have made extensive preparations and are employing specialized technology designed to meet the particular needs of extracting the fuel from the damaged building and safely moving it to more secure storage. I am genuinely impressed by the thoroughness of the effort and TEPCO’s contingency planning. Beginning this work shifts the focus from site stabilization to real progress. When the work is done, and the fuel is brought to an undamaged storage facility, the site will be safer for workers, for the community, for Japan, and for the world.” Barrett is a foreign advisor to the Tokyo Electric Company. His favorable decision came the day after the Nuclear Regulation Authority gave TEPCO approval for the removal and transfer of the fuel. http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/2013/1232158_5130.html
  • The proposed plan to use dosimeter-based exposure readings for the F. Daiichi evacuation zones has been approved by the Nuclear Regulation Authority. The NRA executives gave the plan a broad-based consensus approval. However, nuclear critics claim the move can only increase distrust in the government. The new method is expected to ease some current evacuee’s doubts about the safety of returning to their no-longer-restricted homes. Those who return home will be issued dosimeters to monitor actual exposures. The new methodology does not change the long-term goal of having all repopulated areas eventually below Japan’s goal of 1 millisievert per year. However, a few doubting voices are being given attention by the Press. Ichiro Kowata, an Iitate evacuee, says, “Younger people say they can’t trust statements that suddenly declare areas to be safe when they have been called dangerous until now.” He wants a full explanation by the government about the change before he considers returning home. On the other hand, Japan’s radiation experts are applauding the move to dosimeter-based projections (albeit buried at the end of newspaper articles). Hirosaki University’s Shinji Tokonami says, “We support the idea of focusing on individual dose readings, but it will be a difficult problem how to put it in place.”  http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/11/12/national/plan-to-lower-radiation-readings-okd/#.UoIzHIEo4dU — http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201311120071  It is important to note that the Asahi article begins with the first and only interview I have seen relative to a Fukushima tsunami victim. Etsuko Oura’s picturesque home by the sea was completely swept away by the tsunami, many hours before the Fukushima accident began. She wants to rebuild, but her property is in Okuma, 96% of which is considered “difficult to repopulate” because of high aircraft-based radiation readings. She is resigned to never living her recovery dream, “I know I will not be able to return to Okuma. As long as I am away from home, I cannot feel true happiness under any circumstance.”
  • On Wednesday, the NRA approved 20 millisieverts as the threshold for Fukushima repopulation. An NRA expert panel approved a draft report setting the annual exposure dose at 20 mSv or less as a condition for evacuees to return home. The NRA is expected to finalize the report by the end of this month and submit it to the Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. However, some evacuees have said they do not want to return home unless the government achieves its long-term annual exposure target of 1 millisievert or less. The panel also wants a system in which representatives of residents’ associations, doctors, and health workers offer consultation and health counseling to those who fear radiation. The 20 mSv threshold is fully in line with international standards. The International Council on Radiation Protection says a 20 mSv/yr exposure poses a very, very low risk.  http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0000790739
  • Fukushima’s unprecedented child thyroid survey has found a few more cancers. Of the 226,000 tests that have been screened, 26 were found to be cancerous and another 32 are felt to be possible cases. In August, there were 18 confirmed and 25 suspected cancers. All 26 of the confirmed cases have undergone successful surgery and are doing well. The Prefecture’s experts stress that papillary thyroid cancer develops at a very slow pace and not enough time has passed to link the newly discovered cancers to the Fukushima accident. Fukushima’s screening program has never occurred before in Japan, thus there is no way to assess whether or not the number of cases is typical. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/11/13/national/thyroid-cancers-up-in-fukushima/#.UoOB84Eo4dU  Most Japanese Medical experts say these numbers are really not unusual for Japan when the extreme sensitivity of the survey is considered. In addition, similar screenings were run in three far-distant Prefectures late last year and early this year. Results show that the Fukushima numbers are consistent with the other three Prefectures. In fact, the other three Prefectures have child thyroid cancer rates slightly higher than with Fukushima. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/11/13/national/thyroid-cancers-up-in-fukushima/#.UoOB84Eo4dU — http://nuclear-news.net/2013/03/08/radioactive-japan-thyroid-control-screening-reveals-much-higher-percentages-of-cysts-and-nodules-in-children-far-away-from-fukushima/
  • Tepco is creating a drainage ditch bypass at F. Daiichi. Currently, the rainwater run-off channel from the wastewater tank complex outlets into the outer port, external to the barricaded inner port. The new bypass will divert flow into the barricaded quay. If any more tank failures occur and contaminated water enters the channel, the main pathway will be blocked and the bypass opened. http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20131112p2g00m0dm036000c.html
  • Many Japanese nuke utilities have recently shown a profit, but a misleading one. Five of Japan’s nuke-operating power companies, including Tepco, posted a net profit for the six months prior to Sept. 30. However, all say the current situation is unsustainable. The main reason is an inability to maintain and repair the old, previously mothballed, natural gas-burning plants because they are needed to keep power flowing during the nuclear moratorium. Plus, continuing to buy excess gas from overseas is destroying Japan’s balance of trade. Tepco technically shows the greatest profit ($6 billion), but this is largely due to the government’s subsidy of $6.7 billion given the company for F. Daiichi compensation payments. A Tepco spokesperson said, “[The profit] is mainly due to the rate hike last year, postponed maintenance fees for thermal plants and the government’s subsidy.” He added, “If we can restart nuclear power, we’ll be able to cut the expensive fossil fuel bills.” Greenpeace Japan doesn’t like it, saying, Tepco’s profit is false coming from government handouts.” However, Greenpeace says nukes should never be restarted because “They have said they wouldn’t be able to get by without restarting reactors, but it seems they can.” http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2013/11/12/fukushima-watch-some-power-companies-in-black-without-nuclear-restarts/