December 5, 2013

Dec 5, 2013 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • Tepco says the flow of contaminated groundwater to the sea has been stemmed. The company believes that a recent increase in radioactivity in a well near their soil-solidified barrier is due to its holding back the flow, along with their pumping away of the water buildup behind the barrier. They feel the increased activity in the one well is due to water that escaped unit #2 beginning in April, 2011. There has been no change in the sea-side groundwater radioactive “density”, thus there is no “increased risk to human health or the environment.”  http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/2013/1232723_5130.html
  • American Dale Klein praised Tepco for F. Daiichi improvements. Klein, a member of the Nuclear Reform Monitoring Committee, told Tepco, “There’s obviously a lot more work to be done, but it’s very positive progress….Spent fuel movement at (reactor) No. 4 went very well. You have demonstrated a very positive approach to safety culture. You’ve also made good progress in water management. But again water will continue to be a challenge at the Fukushima site.” The committee is comprised of four independent experts and was created in September of 2012. Klein made his comments at the group’s fifth formal meeting on Monday. Another member, Lady Barbara Judge said the company has made “extremely good progress…But nuclear safety is a long proposition. And it’s only beginning,” she said. “I’m disappointed that it’s not going as fast as we would have liked it to. There is still reluctance by some of the members to ask the hard questions.” http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/tepco-wins-rare-praise-from-u-s-nuclear-regulatory-commission
  • Tokyo has extended the evacuee compensation period to a full 10 years. The previous statute was three years, which would have run out in March. The special bill was approved by the upper House of Councilors. It was passed by the lower house of representative last week. The right to apply for damages was also extended to a 10 year statute. In addition, those who have “not already suffered Fukushima-related losses”, such as future health consequences, can apply for compensation covering a 20 year period after said damages manifest. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/12/04/national/japan-enacts-bill-to-extend-nuclear-calamity-damages-claim-period/#.Up85W4Ao4dU — http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20131205_01.html
  • Okuma town says they will assist in compensation payments to some of their evacuees. Okuma is one of the two host communities for the F. Daiichi station, along with Futaba town, and has the lesser levels of contamination between the two. The Okuma supplements will be given to families from areas expected to have long-term repopulation restrictions. The payments mandated by Tokyo compensate for abandoned household appliances and furniture. Tokyo says Tepco must give a family-of-four $50,000 if they come from the two zones expected to be repopulated within the next 5-6 years. Those who are in the zone projected to have a longer period of restriction will get $67,000. Okuma Town says they will cover the $17,000 difference in the interest of fairness. Town officials say they do not want the community divided over the household compensation variance. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20131203_19.html
  • The International Atomic Energy Agency says F. Daiichi will eventually discharge Tritiated water to the sea. The IAEA released its preliminary report on their most recent investigation on Wednesday, including the Tritium advisement. It is suggested that water containing only Tritium be discharged after it is diluted to below Japanese standards. Team leader Juan Carlos Lentijo said Tepco needs government approval for the release as well as local consent. The report states Tepco should “examine all options for its further management, including the possibility of resuming controlled discharges in compliance with authorized limits. TEPCO should prepare appropriate safety and environmental impact assessments and submit them for regulatory review.”  Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said “We will respond by considering the advice.” The IAEA team also said Tepco should intensify their effort to decontaminate waste waters at the station. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/nuclear.html — http://jen.jiji.com/jc/eng?g=eco&k=2013120400877 — http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2013/12/260057.html
  • Tokyo says that the risks from highly-contaminated water at F. Daiichi should be alleviated in 7 years. Industry Minister Yogi Ueda said a formal report delineating the government’s plans should be available by the end of the year. The Ministry says there is no “silver bullet” to resolve the issue, but rather a mix of proposed measures should have a major positive impact. It added that more than 780 system’s proposals have been received from around the world and many will be tested for efficacy. One of the processes mentioned specifically is the new waste-water cleansing system called ALPS. Ueda said, “The system is capable of removing all radioactive materials except tritium.” Tritium is exceedingly difficult to remove, but is a nuclide that poses little or no danger because its radiation is very, very weak. However, any radiation release, no matter how innocuous, is adamantly opposed by local fisheries because radiophobia in the marketplace stigmatizes their products. Mr. Ueda said, “Communication is important.” http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2013/12/04/fukushima-watch-draft-plan-sees-minimal-water-risks-in-7-years/
  • The highest-yet groundwater contamination level has been discovered at F. Daiichi. The “all-beta” reading has topped out at 1.1 million Becquerels per liter. The highest prior reading was 910,000 Bq/liter from the same sampling well. The well is located 40 meters from the sea and is the one nearest the unit #2 equipment trench holding water with an extremely high concentration of radioactive isotopes. The level of Cesium isotopes is 1.3 Bq/liter and the Tritium reading is 25,000 Bq/liter. The well is some 30 meters inland from the underground soil-solidified barrier protecting the inner harbor (quay). Radioactive concentrations in the quay have not changed. http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20131203p2a00m0na011000c.html — http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/f1/smp/2013/images/tb-east_map-e.pdf
  • A government panel wants additional measures used at F. Daiichi to curb groundwater contamination. In September, the group asked Tepco to freeze the soil around the four damaged units at the station to keep contaminated basement water from mixing with the groundwater. Since that will take a long time and lots of money, Tokyo wants five preliminary actions taken that should provide positive results, including building double-walled tanks for wastewater storage, sealing leaks from pipes with concrete, and paving the earth with asphalt to keep rainwater from being contaminated as it seeps into the soil. The group also called for a team of experts to study the inevitable issue of dealing with residual Tritium. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/nuclear.html
  • Tepco and the NDF (Nuclear Liability Facilitation Fund) agree that restart of all seven units at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa station is needed by the end of 2016. Tepco envisions restarting two of the K-K units next year which could result in as much as a $1 billion reduction in fossil fuel costs. Two other K-K units are hoped for restart in 2015 and the rest in 2016. There are a number of other measures in the plan, but the restart of the seven K-K units is at the head of the list. For example… under the plan, Tepco is to issue corporate bonds to stabilize cash-flow. If the NDF makes profits from the sale of its Tepco shares, it can be used to lessen Tepco’s debt due to the loans from the NDF, now totaling more than $20 billion. Obviously, there are critics of this announcement. The common objection is that Tokyo is giving Tepco preferential treatment. The new plan will be submitted to the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry by the end of December. http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20131203p2a00m0na013000c.html
  • The Nuclear Regulation Authority has concocted a new severe nuclear accident scenario, this time for the reprocessing facility at Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture. The NRA says the stored liquids containing Plutonium and those containing the roughly 50 other fission-product elements could overheat, boil, and perhaps produce hydrogen explosions if a Fukushima-type accident occurred at the facility. There are 3.5 cubic meters (tons) of liquids containing Plutonium, and 430m3 of high-level waste liquids. The Plutonium liquid is supposed to be processed into powdered form to be used in Mixed Oxide fuels for nuclear plants. The high-level wastes are to be solidified in a glass matrix (vitrified) for deep geological burial. However, both processes have been off-line since 2007 due to equipment problems and, since 3/11/11, seismic retrofitting. NRA speculates that a loss of cooling functions could allow the liquid waste to boil and spew radioactive substances in 55 hours, while plutonium solutions could boil in 23 hours. A hydrogen explosion could happen as soon as 38 hours for the fission product liquids and 11 hours for the Plutonium. In worst case meteorological conditions, all scenarios could contaminate Tokyo, which is ~130 kilometers to the southwest of Tokai. Japan’s Atomic Energy Agency runs the facility and wants to get it going again. JAEA says it will take 18 months to process the Plutonium that has built up, and 20 years to vitrify all high-level liquid waste.  http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201312030046
  • A fear-inducing report concerning Typhoon impacts on the spread of contamination has hit the Japanese Press. The joint study comes from France’s Climate and Environmental Science laboratory (LSCE) and Tsukuba University. While there is considerable press and internet coverage on the report, I can’t find the report-itself anywhere. Regardless, it says Typhoons tend to accelerate the migration of deposited radionuclides into waterways, and eventually into the sea. “There is a definite dispersal towards the ocean,” LSCE researcher Olivier Evrard said. He warned that populations which have escaped fallout might now be at risk due to a “flood” of Cesium particles moved by Typhoons. Evrard warned that scientists “concentrated mostly on the direct fallout from Fukushima yet this is another source of radioactive deposits” that must be taken into account. http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/typhoons-spread-fukushima-fallout-study-warns?utm_campaign=jt_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=jt_newsletter_2013-12-04_PM  (Comment – The news reports make no attempt to provide context, as can be seen in the above link. Is the “flood” significant or mere hyperbole concerning barely detectible levels? No Cesium concentration number have been posted in any of the reports, so there is no way to know if the study is worthy of being taken seriously.)