November 6, 2014

Nov 6, 2014 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • Tepco announces that all used (spent) fuel bundles have been removed from unit #4. The company plans to have the remaining 202 unused bundles transferred by the end of the year. http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/decommision/index-e.html — http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20141105_02.html
  • Many governments in Japan’s 30km evacuation zones want control of restarts. Of the 155 municipalities and prefectures surveyed by the Asahi Shimbun, a significant fraction believe they should give their consent before their nukes are restarted. 123 of the surveyed do not host the nukes and currently have no power over resumption of operations. Of these, 66 (54%) said they should give their consent before restarts. On the other hand, of the 32 governments actually hosting the nukes, only three said all 30km governments should be included in consent granting and twelve believe only the host municipalities should make the decision on approval. “Only local governments hosting nuclear power plants have effective rights to give consent to the restart of reactors, which is why they have been given generous financial incentives,” said Atsushi Miyawaki, of Hokkaido University, “This has created a rift between these municipalities and their neighbors. However, the Fukushima nuclear crisis demonstrated that damage from a nuclear disaster may not be confined to municipalities hosting the plants.” The governor of Fukui Prefecture, which hosts four nuclear plants, said, “[The] concerned local governments are prefectures, cities and towns that host nuclear plants.” Meanwhile, the mayor of Niseko, Hokkaido, which is located within 30 km of the Tomari nuclear station, said utilities should obtain consent from all municipalities that could be affected by a nuclear accident. 39% of the surveyed groups want the government to create a binding procedure requiring nuke operators to gain restart permission from local governments. However, the mayor of Takahama said the legislation would only add an “excessive political factor” to the country’s energy policy. http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/politics/AJ201411040025
  • Japan’s government awards Kurion $10 million to demonstrate Tritium removal technology. Kurion had been competing with GE Hitachi of Canada and Russia’s FSUE Radioactive Waste Management Enterprise for the job. Although Tritium is an essentially innocuous isotope of hydrogen with the weakest known Beta emission, radiophobia has made its removal from purified Fukushima wastewaters a socio-political imperative. Kurion president John Raymont said the demonstration project would begin immediately at the company’s facility in Houston, Texas. Japan requires that the technology must be able to remove Tritium from water with concentrations between 0.6 and 4.2 million Becquerels per liter and process more than 400 cubic meters (tons) per day. http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS-Japanese-grant-for-tritium-removal-technology-0401148.html
  • Three Fukushima rice farmers want all detectible contamination removed from their properties. Though none of the three farms have produced rice with radioactive concentrations above the national limit (100 Bq/liter) for open sale, fear of detectible radiation on the part of buyers and consumers has seen their market dwindle. All three believe that if their multi-hectare rice farms had all detectibly contaminated soils removed and replaced with virgin earth, their market would recover. They filed formal requests with the damage claim resolution center in April, 2012, but were rejected by Tepco the following month. The farmers said the contamination caused “itae-itae” (it hurts-it hurts) disease, which previously has only been associated with Cadmium ingestion. A claim settlement was reached in May, 2013, covering reduced revenues. The farmers brought the case before the Fukushima District Court in October. Farmer Hiroyuki Suzuki said, “The claim for reduced revenues was an attempt to seek compensation for past damages, but if the land is not restored to its prior condition, we will have to ask for more damages every year, which means that we have no future outlook.” The Claim Center refuses to comment on pending individual cases. http://mainichi.jp/english/english/features/news/20141105p2a00m0na017000c.html
  • Taiwan has once again rattled its radiophobic sabers at Japan. The legislature’s Finance Committee ruled that all waste materials from Japan must pass through radiation checks before being accepted. The motion was filed because of a Liberty Times article saying that Kaoshing Customs had found 226 cargo containers with radiation levels above the Taiwanese limits since 3/11/11. After the nuke accident, Taiwan banned foods from 5 prefectures and conducts radiation checks on 11 types of imported foods. The new rule will take effect early next year if no objections are filed. http://fukushimaupdate.com/taiwan-to-check-waste-shipments-from-japan-for-radiation/