November 2, 2015

Nov 2, 2015 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • Sendai unit #2 reaches full power. There are now two reactors at full power in Japan. Since restarting the reactor on October 15th, Kyushu Electric Company operators has slowly increased the power level while performing required checks on equipment function at various points along the way. The unit finally reached its 100% power output of 890 MWe on Sunday morning. The Nuclear Regulation Authority has begun the final inspections needed to approve commercial operation. Approval is expected by mid-November, barring unforeseen problems. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/nuclear.html
  • Flanged wastewater tanks at F. Daiichi are dismantled. The breaking-down of 12 tanks began June 8th and was completed on Saturday. The flange-type tanks were erected immediately following the nuke accident, and some leaked highly contaminated water into the ground. The Tokyo government and Press reacted harshly, so new welded-seam tanks were installed by Tepco. The dismantling of the emptied flanged tanks awaited approval from the NRC for more than a year before authorization was issued last spring. There was no significant increase in radioactive isotope concentrations in the soils around the tanks during dismantling. Pictures taken before, during, and after dismantling are included in the attached link. http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/handouts/2015/images/handouts_151029_01-e.pdf (Comment – Once again, good news about Fukushima is disregarded by the Press. When the first tank leaks were discovered in July of 2013, the incident made major headlines in Japan and around the world. Over the ensuing months, more leaking flange-type tanks were found and the Press was all over it. The Press lost interest when the flanged tanks were emptied. The Press could care less about their disassembly.)
  • A Fukushima river opens for anglers. On Saturday, more than two dozen sport fishers tossed their lines into the Kido River flowing through recently unrestricted Naraha Town. There has been no rod-and-reel salmon fishing in Naraha for nearly five years. A local siren sounded at 7am, signaling the anglers to begin. One man said he was happy to be fishing for salmon in the Kido River once again. In addition to the sport fishing, a local fish store at a processing plant opened to the delight of several shoppers. http://www.fukushimaminponews.com/news.html?id=583
  • On Friday, two Japanese news outlets reported a 9.4 sieverts radiation field outside the unit#2 Containment. The reports were sketchy, but it seems that a preliminary radiation scan has been underway for nearly a month to prepare for putting a robot into the containment through a piping penetration. The high reading appears to have been somewhere on or near a “cell” covering a pipe that comes out of the containment wall. Both news reports say, “The highest contamination was detected on the floor.” The Press is confusing apples with oranges. A radiation field (millisieverts) is not contamination (Becquerels). It is also not stated whether the reading was made by a robot or a person. The reports say Tepco is halting the plans for inserting the robot until the situation can be fully investigated. There has been no further reporting on this. http://jen.jiji.com/jc/eng?g=eco&k=2015102901047 — http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/10/30/national/deadly-9-4-sieverts-detected-outside-fukushima-reactor-2-containment-vessel-checks-stop/#.VjNW4JDosdV
  • Voluntary Fukushima evacuees form a new group to get provisional housing and financial aid extended. About 130 self-obliged refugees have gathered in Tokyo to create a national evacuees association. Organization representative Seiichi Nakate said, “There is a risk even if radiation levels become lower. Especially, voluntary evacuees, who receive smaller support, are being forced to choose between living in poverty and returning to their hometowns with low radiation levels.” Kaori Kawai of Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, says she is on welfare and needs free housing to make ends meet. She said, “We chose to evacuate just to protect children…”, thus she feels government assistance to voluntary evacuees should not end. Free housing for them will end in March of 2017. Some attendees were from Fukushima Prefecture and some were from other prefectures. All bolted from their homes due to fear of low level radiation exposure. It was mentioned that Tokyo-ordered evacuees who refuse to go home will eventually become voluntaries, as well. http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201510300078
  • An antinuclear Fukushima accident archive site announces its existence. A non-profit group, Access-Info Clearinghouse, has collected more than 60,000 documents and is converting them to Japanese-only PDF for on-line access. The NPO says its goal is to establish responsibility for the Fukushima accident. The NPO’s head Yukiko Miki says, “In addition to boosting the number of documents in our archive, we also want to arrange the archive into such categories as ‘compensation,’ ‘evacuation,’ ‘measurement of radiation levels,’ and so on. We also want to shed light on what kind of information has not been released… The central government, Fukushima Prefectural Government, and other bodies simply force their conclusions onto the people who suffered in the disaster, without clarifying the negotiation and coordination processes. They might fear that if this information were disclosed, it could create confusion or a backlash, but it should be the job of administrative bodies to release the information and face the facts in spite of this.” http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20151102p2a00m0na007000c.html