October 27, 2014

Oct 27, 2014 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • New Industry Minister Yoichi Miyazawa says nukes will be less than 30% of Japan’s energy mix. He told the Press, “We’ll never aim for 30 percent [of electricity generated by nuclear power].” However, it leaves the door open to bring the nuclear percentage up to the 28.6% level that existed before the Fukushima accident. When asked why Tokyo will not plan for a higher nuke input, Miyazawa said, “Some nuclear power plants will be decommissioned in the future.” He implied that building new nukes and/or expanding outputs with existing nukes would be politically difficult. Miyazawa has come under some mild Press pressure because he owns 600 shares of Tepco stock. He said he bought them before 3/11/11 and “I can’t sell the shares under the ministers’ code of conduct. So I will entrust the shares [to a third party].”  http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0001666620
  • Initial environmental studies in Miyagi Prefecture were delayed due to local protests. The surveys were planned by Tokyo for the towns of Kami and Taiwa, as well as Kurihara City. A team was sent to Kami on Friday, but was blocked from the site by Mayor Hirobumi Inomata and perhaps 50 residents. Initial work at the other two sites was also called off. The Environment Ministry says the local protest made beginning the siting surveys difficult. One official said, “It’s difficult to proceed with our work in a situation like this.” The future facilities will be used to dispose of Miyagi-produced waste, including incineration ash, sewage sludge and paddy straw, that has higher than the limit of 8,000 Becquerels per kilogram. It seems the work had not been announced early enough to suit the locals. Mayor Hirobumi said, “We cannot accept any forcible start of surveys.”  http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20141024_27.html — http://jen.jiji.com/jc/eng?g=eco&k=2014102400582  A second attempt to begin studies was thwarted on Saturday. This time, some 60 protestors blocked access to the proposed site in Kami, causing the plans for the other two community locations to also be cancelled. All three locations are on government-owned tracts of land. Further, Miyagi governor Yoshihiko Murai accepted the Ministry plans to collect soil samples. At Kami, there was a human blockade of the property access road with chants of “Go Home” and “We’ll never allow the disposal facility”. Protestors fear contamination of the town’s groundwater. One 56 year-old protestor said, “There’s no guaranteeing our safety if a final disposal site is built here. We will continue our protest.” The 72 year-old head of a local antinuke group said, “The Environment Ministry has no idea how much we’re worried about economic damage rumors about this place will cause. I will not let them (the survey team) pass, even at the cost of my life.” The Environment Ministry says they will consider forcible removing the protestors if this happens again. http://jen.jiji.com/jc/eng?g=eco&k=2014102500138 — http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20141025p2a00m0na014000c.html
  • Two wells inland of units #1-#4 have reportedly increased contamination levels. From the Press reports, the two wells seem to be part of the sub-drain system around the turbine basement walls which began operation last week. The system is designed to keep groundwater from entering the basements. The pumping of water from the two wells has stopped in order to determine the source of the contamination. Tepco suspects the cause is down-flushing of the Cesium from the upper soil due to recent heavy rainfall. The water pumped from the sub-drains is stored for treatment by the site’s purification systems for eventual discharge to the sea. The two wells previously showed less than 500 Bq/liter of Cesium, but both allegedly rose to at least 450,000 Bq/liter. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/nuclear.html Today (Monday), Tepco has posted the most recent Cesium Isotopic levels (10/25 and 10/26) for the sub-drain wells. The most contaminated well showed a steady decrease over the weekend. On 10/25, Cs-134 and Cs-137 were at 1100 and 3,900 Bq/liter respectively, and on 10/26 the levels were 1000 and 3,700 Bq/liter. This indicates the cause of the increase was, in fact, down-flushing of material from the soil above the water table. http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/f1/smp/2014/images/around_2u_14102701-e.pdf
  • The decision on indictment of three former Tepco executives has been postponed. The Tokyo prosecutor’s office had planned to decide on the matter by Friday, but said it has been difficult to interview the former Tepco chiefs and all of the needed experts. Last September, the office dismissed a criminal complaint filed by a citizens’ group against roughly 30 former TEPCO officials. The citizens’ group refiled under the charge of negligence on the part of the three people facing indictment. The prosecutors said they should be able to make a decision by early February. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/nuclear.html
  • A volcano 64 kilometers from Sendai Station shows increased underground activity. A public warning has been issued to keep sight-seers away from the summit. Mount Ioyama is experiencing small, but continuing tremors. One meteorological official said, “There is an increase in activity that under certain circumstances could even lead to a small scale eruption, but it is not in danger of an imminent, major eruption.” Recent public reaction to the sudden eruption of Mount Ontake, plus critics of the Sendai plants being less than 50 km. from non-erupting Mt. Sukurajima, has brought the nuclear/volcano issue to the fore-front. On Friday, the warning level for the Sakurajima volcano, which erupts frequently, was at 3, which means that people should not approach the peak. http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/agency-warns-of-increased-activity-at-volcano-near-nuclear-plant?utm_campaign=jt_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=jt_newsletter_2014-10-25_AM
  • Volcanologists say a worst-case eruption could destroy Japan. Yoshiyuki Tatsumi and Keiko Suzuki of Kobe University say, “It is not an overstatement to say that a colossal volcanic eruption would leave Japan extinct as a country.” They estimate there is a 1% chance it could happen in the next hundred years, adding “It would be no surprise if such a colossal eruption occurs at any moment.” This prediction comes from geological studies of a 23 kilometer-wide crater in southern Kyushu formed about 28,000 years ago. They made no mention of the possible impact of such an eruption on affected nuke plants. http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/colossal-volcanic-eruption-could-destroy-japan-study?utm_campaign=jt_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=jt_newsletter_2014-10-27_AM