September 28, 2015

Sep 28, 2015 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • Emplacement of the steel sheet-piles for the F. Daiichi shoreline sea-wall is done. The wall will seal off all seepage of groundwater into the already-barricaded inner port (quay). The final nine piles have been hammered into the ground just off-shore, closing the last five percent of the wall. The entire shoreline surrounding damaged units #1 through #4 has been blocked off from the quay and outer port. Next, these piles will be interconnected to close leakage paths between the piles. This is expected to be finished by the end of October. The wall has been installed to address popular speculation that 300 tons of radioactive groundwater flows into the Pacific Ocean every day. The conjectures persisted even though there has been no detectible contamination in the ocean outside the outer break-wall for more than two years. The NRA and Tepco agreed the barrier should be built. Tepco’s Press handout on the milestone can be found here… http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/handouts/2015/images/handouts_150924_01-e.pdf (Comment – Once again, good news concerning Fukushima Daiichi has received no coverage by Japan’s popular Press, nor the mainstream news media outside Japan.)
  • A recent muon scan of unit #2 reactor vessel indicates little or no fuel remains in the core area. It seems at least 70% of the core melted and relocated elsewhere, and it might be 100%. Researchers from Nagoya University reported their conclusions at Saturday’s meeting of the Physical Society of Japan. The same team made their initial images public in March, indicating that unit #2 might have no fuel remaining in the core area. Subsequently Tepco and Tokyo said the equipment used was too insensitive to draw firm conclusions. Whether or not the new study used the same equipment as before is not reported, but the images posted on antinuclear sites indicate that it is the same device. The reactor vessel is scheduled to be scanned by the muon detection device that was used with unit #1 earlier this year, which was fabricated by Japan’s High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK) in collaboration with Los Alamos National Laboratory. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/nuclear.html — http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201509270023
  • Fukushima Prefecture milk production will resume. Dairy products were banned from Japan’s marketplace following the Fukushima accident, and fierce rumors kept the business from restarting…until now. A stock farm with 580 dairy cattle opened in Fukushima City on Friday, and is expected to provide traction for future dairy businesses. The farm is being operated jointly by farmers from Minamisoma, Namie, and Iitate. They anticipate production of 5,000 tons of milk per year. Company president Kazumasa Tanaka said, “I have chosen to do this because of a sense of responsibility for the rebuilding of the dairy industry in Fukushima.” http://jen.jiji.com/jc/eng?g=eco&k=2015092500872
  • Waste bags containing mildly-radioactive trash and debris will be moved to high ground. Last week, 439 filled bags were washed into rivers flowing through Iitate, Fukushima Prefecture, and another 340 in Nikko City. The incident was due to unprecedented torrential rains from a passing Typhoon, causing the rivers to flood and sweep away the bags. The Environment Ministry said many bags have been recovered, and with most of them torn open and empty. The Ministry will store rural debris bags on higher ground. Also, the bags will be formally registered with their location until they are moved to the future repository straddling the F. Daiichi host towns of Okuma and Futaba. In addition, Tokyo will have the rivers tested for radioactive isotopic concentrations. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150925_02.html
  • Tokyo says Tepco was warned of a massive millennial tsunami two years before 3/11/11. Geologic evidence of a gigantic tsunami was discovered in 2009. A company investigator told the now-defunct Tokyo nuclear safety agency, NISA, the tsunami would not exceed the 10 meter height of the plant above sea level. An agency official, Shigeki Namura, suggested that Tepco upgrade the barriers because seawater cooling pumps were only 4 meters above the sea. But the company replied they could not decide for themselves and needed consultation with the Japan Society of Civil Engineers. One Tepco official arrogantly asked Nagura “Do you think you can stop the reactors?” This flummoxed Nagura, who testified, “I wondered why I had to be told such a thing?”  He regretted that he didn’t press the issue and call for a budget increase to pay for an upgrade. Because of NISA’s lack of follow-up, Tepco felt that agency must have agreed to wait on the JSCE advisement was submitted. The disclosure is part of the newly-released transcripts of five testimonies given before the Diet’s Fukushima investigation committee (NAIIC) in 2011.  http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/nuclear.html — http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150926p2g00m0dm074000c.html
  • The restart of Tomari unit #3 is delayed. Hokkaido Electric President Akihiko Mayumi said, “I have to say that realistically it would be difficult to bring [any of] the reactors back into operation by the end of [March].” He said a new timeline would be developed by March. The cost of electricity has increased greatly due to the national nuclear moratorium following the Fukushima accident. Hokkaido had hoped that a Tomari restart would allow rate reductions. Mayumi said that despite the delayed Tomari restart “we hope to reduce out rates as soon as possible”. He declined to respond when asked if another rate increase might happen due to the delay. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/09/24/national/hokkaido-electric-abandons-plan-reactor-restart-march-end/#.VgU9eZDosdV
  • A Japanese nuclear weapons adversary says 85% of the public does not trust nuclear energy.  Dr Tatsujiro Suzuki of the Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition said public distrust is the root of the problem. He pointed out that there is now a widely held belief that Tokyo has not been transparent about nuclear energy and can’t be trusted. Suzuki claims nuclear cannot be a viable energy option until officials overcome public resistance. Further, the public feels that Japan has not experienced energy shortages due to the post-Fukushima nuclear moratorium, so there’s no compelling reason to restart reactors. He made his statement in Cape Town, South Africa at the University of the Western Cape. http://ewn.co.za/2015/09/22/Nuclear-expert-85-percent-of-Japanese-dont-trust-nuclear-energy