January 7, 2013

Jan 7, 2013 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • A new poll of mayors near nuclear stations in Japan shows a slight majority in favor of nuke restarts if and when the Nuclear Regulatory Authority confirms their safety. The survey was run in December by the Yomiuri Shimbun covering the mayors of the 135 communities either wholly or partially within 30 kilometers of Japan’s 18 nuclear plant locations. 133 responded. 54% said they would support restarts once the NRA says the plants are safe based on the forthcoming new nuclear regulations. 27% said they chose to not make a decision at this point, and 18% said they would not approve restarts even if the nukes are approved by the NRA. Some positive responses seem to follow economic rationales. The mayor of Suttsu in Hokkaido Prefecture said his favorable position was “for the sake of a stable power supply”. The mayor of Mutsu in Aomori Prefecture said, “Operations of nuclear reactors should be resumed from the viewpoint of rejuvenating industry, among other reasons.” Many want both NRA approval and detailed explanations given to their constituents as to why there would be no safety problems. The mayor of Sasebo in Nagasaki Prefecture said, “It’s necessary for the central government to provide local residents with detailed explanations about why the nuclear reactors [that would be reactivated] have no safety problems.” Most of the negative responses came from mayors of large populations who feel evacuation plans for their people would be difficult, if not impossible. Nearly a million people live inside the 30 kilometer zone around the Tokai Daini station, and Tokai Mayor Tatsuya Murakami said, “As this area is densely populated, the location [of the nuclear plant] itself is very odd.” (Yomiuri Shimbun)
  • The suspected illegal dumping of decontamination wastes continues in the headlines; however it might be caused by Japanese municipalities dragging their feet on the creation of temporary storage sites combined with defining barely-detectible levels of radiation worthy of handling as low level waste. One worker, asking anonymity, said it is a typical exercise. He also tells us why, “There’s no temporary storage space anymore, so branches and leaves are often just left there. It’s common practice. In other words, we arrive at the conclusion that since there’s no space to put it, there’s nothing else we can do.” He says water with detectible levels of radio-isotopes causes something diferent, “It’s only in model zones directly under the jurisdiction of the Environment Ministry where the ministry conducts inspections that water is collected properly. Otherwise, it’s not done. (Tainted water) is left as is. My colleagues and I are always saying, ‘If the mass media were to come and see what’s going on now, all hell would break loose.’ When a high-ranking state figure came for an inspection, we did everything right. But everything is usually done really shoddily. Sometimes, grass on the side of the road that’s been cut is just left there. In reality, (decontamination) hasn’t been very effective. From our point of view, it’s a waste of tax funds. But the government can’t very well say they’re going to stop decontamination efforts because there’s no budget for it.” Fukushima Gov. Yuhei Sato said, “It is very regrettable if that is true”A special law made due to the nuclear disaster bans illegal dumping of contaminated substances into the environment and makes it punishable by up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 10 million yen. (Mainichi Shimbun; Japan Times)
  • Two Japanese energy companies plan on building a prototype power plant with coal as its fuel. J-Power Company and Chugoku Electric will begin construction in March. The plant will be powered by gas extracted from low grade coal and eventually add fuel cells to harness hydrogen generated during gas extraction as an additional fuel. The use of low grade coal will be cheaper than importing liquid natural gas, and produce fewer greenhouse gasses than coal-burning itself. GHG emissions will be about the same as with burning LNG and oil. The two companies say they are doing this because of Japan’s current moratorium on nukes, and the fact that it doesn’t seem restarts will happen soon. (NHK World)
  • Physics professor Wade Allison of Oxford University has posted a paper on low level radiation exposures. He maintains that our species has evolved in a constant environment of low level natural background radiation and have adapted to it so well that low doses are harmless to us. Use the following link for the free PDF download… www.radiationandreason.com/download/ipiiqq