June 2, 2014

Jun 2, 2014 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • Tepco reports that 968 spent fuel bundles have been removed from the unit #4 pool. 946 of the 1,331 irradiated (used) fuel bundles have been transferred; roughly 71%. There have been 44 instances of transfer cask usage. http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/decommision/index-e.html  Also, As of May 30, 2014, Tepco has paid out nearly $39 billion in compensation to Fukushima evacuees. http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/comp/images/jisseki-e.pdf
  • The radioactive Cesium levels in the F. Daiichi basements continue to drop. Currently, the Cs-134 concentration is about 9,000 Becquerels per milliliter, and Cs-137 at just below 30,000 Bq/ml. Thus total Cesium activity is roughly 39,000 Bq/ml. In May of 2012, the total Cesium activity was 240,000 Bq/ml, and in May of 2013 the total Cesium concentration was about 100,000 Bq/ml.  Samples are taken from waters being pumped into the Central Radioactive Waste Treatment Building and High Temperature Incinerator Building. From there, the waters are run through the Cesium absorption system. The outlet waters from the Cesium removal process are less than 1 Bq/ml. http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/f1/smp/2014/images/water_140530-e.pdf
  • The F. Daiichi Cesium absorption system will be upgraded. By using a new filtering material, contaminated wastewater will also removed at least 99% of entrained radioactive Strontium. The vast majority of the waters contained in storage tanks at the station have been run through the Cesium-stripping system, but the Strontium remains. Once upgraded, the SARRY pre-treatment process will drop Strontium activity from the current 40-500 million Becquerel per liter levels down to below 0.4-5 million Bq/l. http://jen.jiji.com/jc/eng?g=eco&k=2014052901050
  • Tepco has posted a graphic depicting the location of soil solidification barriers along the shoreline. The number of solidification borings is shown for each of the three seawater intake structures for the core-damaged reactor units. http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/handouts/2014/images/handouts_140530_07-e.pdf
  • Naraha Town government has re-opened their town hall. Officials of the evacuated community inside the Fukushima exclusion zone began work in their offices today. Mayor Yukiei Matsumoto said this will facilitate the town’s full reconstruction. Roughly 20 workers are now stationed at the town hall and are carrying out routine duties of government. The town’s administration has been working out of another city for more than three years. A formal survey of Naraha evacuees has indicated that as much as 40% 0f the town’s 8,200 residents want to return to their homes. NHK World; Evacuated town reopens its former office; June 2, 2014 
  • Two men have been arrested on suspicion of evacuee compensation fraud. Allegedly, they cheated Tepco for about $40,000 over the year after the accident. Investigators say the men created a bogus staffing agency and submitted a compensation claim saying they had a drop in job orders from Fukushima Prefecture hotels due to the accident. Police say there may be other individuals involved and the total money fraudulently expended may total in excess of $200,000. NHK World; Police arrest men for Fukushima redress fraud; June 2, 2014 
  • Former Naoto Kan advisor Goshi Hosono broke his silence concerning the Fukushima accident. He says there were numerous discussions between himself and F. Daiichi plant manager Masao Yoshida concerning whether or not F. Daiichi should be abandoned the first week of the crisis. Hosono says it seemed the Tepco home office in Tokyo considered abandonment, but it was not the case with Yoshida. Hosono recalls that the biggest disagreement between Yoshida and Tepco/Tokyo happened the night of March 14, 2011. Yoshida had mentioned that if station radiation levels became too great, full withdrawal might need to be considered. In a subsequent call a short while later, the plant manager said he and the plant staff would stay. However, Hosono recalls that Prime Minister Kan’s other advisors felt Tepco president Shimizu was going to order a complete abandonment, “The idea of withdrawing the workers [from the plant] was expressed by officials at the company [Tepco/Tokyo] including President Shimizu. I felt that their stance differed from that of Yoshida. TEPCO employees stationed in the Prime Minister’s office appeared to be operating in a mind-set that there were no more ways remaining to deal with the accident.” Hosono says that the PM’s staff was in full support of Yoshida. Hosono explained, “[My impression was] Yoshida had decided in his mind to stay in the plant. The Prime Minister’s office also decided to support him completely. The problem was whether TEPCO (headquarters) had the resolve to support him and other workers in the plant.” Hosono says he told Kan, “The situation at the Fukushima No. 1 plant is one in which workers can make progress there. We should respect Yoshida’s judgment.” Hosono’s decided to break his three-year-long silence because “My memory is approaching its limits. The time has about come for me to talk about the details.” http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201406010019
  • Residents of the F. Daiichi host communities are displeased with rural radioactive waste storage plans. The Tokyo government held a meeting in Iwaki City to brief interested evacuees on the plans for interim waste storage facilities to be located in the two towns. About 400 people attended. Tokyo officials stressed that the facilities will hold the rural wastes for no longer than 30 years, but many in attendance weren’t buying it. Some said that since no community outside the area has agreed to host a permanent facility there is no guarantee that the wastes stored in Futaba and Okuma will ever be re-located. In fact, they believe Tokyo is not being honest and will never be able to build a permanent facility. Other objectors said that temporary storage will hurt the towns’ image and make it hard for farmers to sell their produce. There will be more formal public briefings over the next few weeks. NHK World; Fukushima people criticize waste facilities plan; May 31, 2014 
  • A robot has detected the highest radiation reading to date inside unit #1 reactor building. The high measurement was from a catwalk above the donut-shaped suppression chamber (torus) in the basement of the structure. The reading was 2.4 Sieverts per hour, which is up to ten times higher than any other location inside the torus room. The source of the reading was near the location of the robot at the time of the measurement, but could not be pinpointed. NHK World; Probe detects high radiation at Fukushima reactor; May 31, 2014 
  • Residents near the Sendai nuke station have filed a temporary injunction against restarts. The two fully-functional Sendai Pressurized Water Reactor units are at the top of the Nuclear Regulation Authority list for resumption. The plaintiffs argue that the two units drastically lack earthquake resistance and a massive quake could cause radiation releases. Plaintiffs claim the restarts could threaten the lives of all nearby residents. The proposed injunction was jointly filed by 23 Kagoshima residents. Kagoshima Prefecture has a population of more than 1.7 million. NHK World; Court order sought to stop reactor restart; May 30, 2014
  • Reconstruction workers in Miyagi Prefecture claim they are underpaid and overworked. Over 240 formal complaints have been filed with the local labor bureau. The jobs concern rebuilding the homes and lives of the tens of thousands of tsunami/earthquake refugees in the prefecture. One worker claims he has contracted lung disease and enlarged heart as a result of his employment. Of the working conditions in Miyagi, the man says, “It’s a joke.” He also says he has not been paid since September of last year. The man is employed by an Iwate Prefecture subcontractor. The Iwate subcontractor says the man gave them false records, so “we only paid him for the work that the original subcontractor authorized.” The labor filing only adds to the depressing situation with tsunami recovery in Miyagi, which includes a low supply of building materials and a severe shortage of manpower. http://japandailypress.com/subcontractors-working-in-disaster-hit-miyagi-prefecture-claim-exploitation-3048894/
  • Japan’s Atomic Industrial Forum has published a pamphlet on the Onagawa station and the 2011 quake/tsunami. Onagawa was closest to the earthquake epicenter and experienced the most severe ground motion and was also struck by the largest tsunami of any nuclear station on the East Tohoku coastline. However, the station experienced no damage to emergency systems or in-house power supplies. Onagawa stands as a testament to the high degree of safety of a plant with adequate beyond-design-basis tsunami protection. The pamphlet states, “The importance of learning the lessons from this accident in upgrading safety goes without saying, but at the same time there is much of value to be learned from the examples of the nuclear power plants that withstood the earthquake and tsunami.”  http://www.jaif.or.jp/english/news/2014/201405_onagawa-response_report.pdf
  • Singapore has lifted its ban on Fukushima food imports. The city-state banned all foods from Fukushima Prefecture following the nuclear accident. The announcement was made during a Saturday meeting between Premier Lee Hsien Loong and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Abe said, “It gives Fukushima great courage.” http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/05/31/national/singapore-lifts-ban-on-food-imported-from-fukushima/#.U4se46NOUdU