October 5, 2015

Oct 5, 2015 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • Tepco has removed all roof panels from the unit #1 enclosure. The final 42×7 meter panel was lifted off this morning by a crane. There was no change in radiation levels around the destroyed reactor building during the removal of all six panels over the past three months. The large plastic sheets that comprise the walls of the enclosure will be removed next so that full debris cleanup can be implemented. The goal is to eventually remove all bundles from the spent fuel pool and transfer them to the ground-level storage facility. http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/handouts/2015/images/handouts_151005_01-e.pdf — http://www.jaif.or.jp/en/ikata-town-assemblys-special-committee-supports-restart/
  • Tepco and Japan Atomic Energy Agency are making a new device to look for solidified core material (corium). The device will allow inspection inside the Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV) and below the vessel. Muon-based examinations can only look at the mid-part of the RPV, where the fuel core is located during routine operations. The unit #1 muon images revealed a full meltdown, but could not show the bottom of the RPV or the base-mat floor beneath. The new device is to be remote-controlled and fiber-optics to provide visual inspection. It will be inserted through pipes that pass through the walls surrounding the RPV and supporting pedestal. It is planned to have the technology ready to use after March of 2016. http://www.fukushimaminponews.com/news.html?id=571
  • Fukushima-grown rice continues to be scanned for radioactivity. The Prefecture admits they have found no rice exceeding the national 100 Becquerel per kilogram limit for two years. However, they will continue the intensive, costly monitoring program because consumer confidence is not yet fully restored. At least 10 million 30kg bags are tested each year at a cost of around $40 million. 71 bags failed inspection in 2012, and 28 in 2013. None have been rejected since then. http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20151005p2a00m0na009000c.html
  • The latest Fukushima Prefecture women/child stress report is released. After three years of surveying those who are not evacuees, the Fukushima University Center for Psychological Studies of Disaster included refugees in this year’s study. It also includes mothers in four Miyagi Prefecture communities, which is north of Fukushima. The report says non-evacuee stress due to radiation fears in Fukushima City remained the same over the past year, after three years of steady decline. The stress among evacuees is much greater than with non-evacuees. The Center’s director Yuji Tsutsui says the problem is radiation detectible above background, ““Even after decontamination work is done the radiation levels remain higher than in pre-accident measurements. Residents have no choice but to be conscious about radiation in their daily lives, and such anxiety prevents the stress levels from dropping…We want to support mothers and children with psychiatric treatment so they can live carefree and positively even with their stress.” Tohoku University’s Hiroko Yoshida adds that the radiation detected in southern Miyagi Prefecture is not different from northern Fukushima Prefecture, thus “The emotional effect caused by the nuclear plant accident is not an issue only for Fukushima Prefecture.” http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201510020006 — http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20151002p2a00m0na006000c.html
  • Sendai unit #2 is scheduled to restart on October 15th. Unit #1 was restarted earlier this fall and is now in full, safe commercial operation. Sendai station staff installed all 157 fuel bundles in unit #2 last month. The thick, domed reactor vessel head is being secured in place. Final pre-operational inspections will begin next Friday. Sendai Unit #2 will be the second nuke to restart following the end of Japan’s post-Fukushima moratorium. http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20151002p2g00m0dm062000c.html
  • The host community for Ikata unit #3 approves restart. The Ikata Town assembly endorsed resident petitions supporting restart and rejected those submitted by antinuclear groups. It is expected that the town assembly will make it official on Tuesday, with Mayor Kazuhiko Yamashita announcing the decision. Ehime Prefectural Assembly will make a final decision on October 9th and Governor Tokihiro Nakamura will announce it. http://www.jaif.or.jp/en/ikata-town-assemblys-special-committee-supports-restart/
  • Japanese Lawyers intensify their antinuclear planning. The Japan Federation of Bar Associations has said they want nuclear energy eliminated because they feel its existence is a violation of the human right to healthy living. Now, the JFBA wants Tokyo to provide enhanced health care to all evacuees. This not only pertains to those forced to leave their homes by government orders, but also those who fled in terror out of fear of radiation. The Japan Federation of Bar Associations says, “The state should provide periodical and continual medical checkups for free to those who lived or live in radiation-hit areas. The results of the checkups should be widely shared, with consideration given to privacy, so experts can examine them to study the effects of low-dose exposure and map out countermeasures.” The Association says that 110,000 remain estranged, of which 45,000 live in prefectures other than Fukushima and are uncertain about ever returning. The Association says, “The evacuees may face difficulties even if they return home, as many communities have been disbanded during the four-and-a-half years since the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disasters, while medical and administrative services will not be sufficiently provided there. On the other hand, some of those who decide to stay where they are now will carry double debt loads for their old and present homes.” The lawyers also voiced their concerns about evacuation-related health problems such as strokes and diabetes, and promised support for of citizens who oppose having low level rural waste disposal sites outside Fukushima Prefecture.  http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20151003p2g00m0dm003000c.html — http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2015/10/377404.html — http://www.equities.com/index.php?option=com_k2&view=newsdetail&id=433915
  • Fukushima police send Tepco officials to prosecutors over contaminated water releases. Criminal complaints were filed in 2013 by Fukushima residents alleging negligence in converting temporary storage tanks to the welded type, and delays in building in-ground walls to stop groundwater from seeping into the basements of the four damaged units. Since 2013, the prefecture’s police have interrogated the 32 Tepco officials named in the complaints. With the investigation complete, the police forwarded the complaint and their findings to the prosecutor’s office in Fukushima City to see if the company violated national pollution laws. The police have not said they have asked prosecutors to indict anyone. http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201510030052
  • Japan Times wants nuclear plant operators held criminally liable for negligence. The Times cites the conviction of two JCO (formerly Japan Nuclear Fuel Conversion Co.) officials concerning the deaths of two Tokaimura facility employees due to over-exposure during the 1999 accident. The Times also cites the decision of a people’s court in Tokyo to indict three Tepco officials, even though the initial charges had been dropped twice because Tokyo’s prosecution office said it is not possible to prove negligence. Unfortunately, the Times report has several major error, including the restart of Sendai unit #1 implying that “Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Kyushu Electric Power Co. don’t appear to remember this [Fukushima] accident very well”, which is a confabulation, and “seawater was detected in the [Sendai #1] reactor’s cooling system in late August” when it was not in reactor cooling system, but rather in the steam plant water that does not cool the reactor. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/10/03/national/media-national/whos-responsible-fukushima-disaster/#.Vg_HM5DosdV