- The Nuclear Regulatory Authority formally raised the crisis level at F. Daiichi to INES level-3. Level-3 is a “serious incident”. The watchdog said the upgrade it is entirely due to the wastewater tank leak announced by Tepco on August 21st. The NRA added that their decision was spurred by Tepco’s recent admission that all 300 tons of water lost from the tank may have reached the outside environment. The International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed the crisis upgrade in writing. The NRA blasted Tepco for ignoring many of the agency’s orders concerning the tank leak. Commissioner Toyoshi Fuketa said, “Their instructions, written or verbal, have never been observed.” NRA Chair Shunuchi Tanaka tried to put the crisis upgrade in perspective when he said, “What’s important is not the number itself but to give a basic idea about the extent of the problem. I’ve seen reports that this is a dire situation but that’s not true.” Concerning Tepco’s seemingly lax inspection procedures for possible tank leaks, Tanaka said, “I’m baffled. It may take time to stabilize the plant but we must put it on a right track.” http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/japan-formally-raises-fukushima-water-leak-to-ines-level-3-incident?utm_campaign=jt_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=jt_newsletter_2013-08-28_PM — http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/08/28/national/severity-level-of-fukushima-water-leak-raised-to-serious/#.Uh3uZevD8dU
- Tokyo Electric Co. says they have found 2 new hot spots near the tank leak at F. Daiichi. The two are near the side of the tank opposite from the hotspots found last week. A second drain valve from the surrounding coffer dam was found cracked open. Plant staff suspects contaminated water exited the coffer dam through the second open valve. The new hot spots have a radiation reading of 16 millisieverts per hour. Tepco says they will remove the soil at these new spots in the same fashion as the removal of soil from the previous hotspots. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20130827_11.html
- Fukushima’s governor wants Tokyo to take the lead on the current radioactive water situation at F. Daiichi. Governor Yuhei Sato told the NRA that the 300-ton leak from a storage tank was the last straw. He believes Tepco can no longer handle the situation and Tokyo must put itself in charge. Sato added he believes the current situation at the nuke station should be regarded as a national emergency. Sato also approached the Industry Ministry and submitted a list of demands in parallel with what he gave to the NRA’s Chair Shunichi Tanaka. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20130828_44.html
- Japan’s governors disagree on reactor restarts. Fukui governor Issei Nishikawa is lobbying to have the prefecture’s 13 nukes resumed, but feels the NRA is dragging its feet in inspections toward restarts. He says, “For no logical reason, the NRA has delayed plant safety inspections.” He has met with PM Shinzo Abe twice to ask for a separate body to monitor NRA operations and make recommendations for improvement. Nishikawa also wants the NRA to use outside experts to study whether or not geologic seams are seismic in order to come to a “fair and impartial” scientific conclusion. On the other hand, Niigata Governor Hirohito Izumida says he will not support restart of any units at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa station. He says, “Now is not the time to talk about restarting the reactors, because the investigation into the causes of the Fukushima accident is not finished.” He feels the recent reports of leaks at F. Daiichi only serve to prove his position. Izumida’s feelings are so strong that he called for the formal break-up of Tepco “I feel very insecure about the fact that a company that cannot learn from its past mistakes would operate a nuclear power plant. There should be some procedures considered to bring about the liquidation of TEPCO, because right now short-term funding concerns are taking priority over resolving the problems.” Fukushima Governor Sato agrees, “There is no risk management at TEPCO and they are no longer capable of dealing with this on its own.” NRA Chair Tanaka seemed sympathetic to Izumida and Sato when he said, “I think it has become clear that they [Tepco] are lacking the technical knowledge [to deal with the problems].” http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/08/29/national/fukushima-spill-snags-reactor-restart-quest/#.Uh9B_OvD8dU — http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/niigata-governor-calls-for-tepco-to-be-liquidated?utm_campaign=jt_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=jt_newsletter_2013-08-29_AM
- It seems PM Shinzo Abe favors direct Tokyo involvement at F. Daiichi. In a statement made during a visit to Qatar on Wednesday, he said, “The accident in Fukushima cannot be left entirely to Tokyo Electric Power. There is a need for the government to play a role with a sense of urgency, including taking measures to deal with the waste water. The government will make responsible efforts to address the matter, and clearly and promptly inform the domestic and international communities.”He has also tasked the Industry Ministry and NRAto find the cause of leaks at F. Daiichi and effect resolution. http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/abe-pledges-greater-government-role-at-fukushima?utm_campaign=jt_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=jt_newsletter_2013-08-29_PM
- Industry Minister Toshimitsu Motegi says Tokyo will take control of the recent contamination problems at F. Daiichi. He made the following bewildering statement, “We’ve allowed Tepco to deal with the contaminated water situation on its own and they’ve essentially turned it into a game of ‘whack-a-mole.’” (emphasis added) He continued, “From now on, the government will move to the forefront” and the ministry “is working to draw up, sometime in September, both emergency measures and more fundamental steps to eliminate the roots of the contaminated water problem.” Tepco president Naomi Hirose responded, “We are very grateful that we are getting government support.” Motegi also gave Tepco until mid-September to get the ALPS filtration system, currently under initial testing, fully operational. The ALPS pre-operational test was temporarily halted last weekend because of surface corrosion found in one of the sediment tanks in the system. Some of the Japanese Press reports the ALPS shutdown is a loss of half of the plant’s wastewater cleanup system, which is materially misleading. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/08/27/national/tepcos-whack-a-mole-prompts-government-take-over-in-fukushima/#.Uhy8DevD8dV
- Four Fukushima municipalities want all the prefecture’s nukes scrapped. They urge that the two undamaged units at F. Daiichi and four intact nukes at F. Daini pose too great a risk to be allowed restarts…ever! Two of the towns, Futaba and Okuma, are the host communities for F. Daiichi, while Tomioka and Naraha are the co-homes of F. Daini. The town’s main objection is that many residents have been forced to live as evacuees for two-and-a-half years. All four municipalities will jointly draft a formal request, seek approval from their town assemblies, and then submit their demands to Tokyo. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20130829_36.html
- The Atomic Energy Society of Japan suggests releasing Tritiated water to the Pacific Ocean. They believe that once the ALPS system removes all non-Tritium isotopes from the wastewater, it should be diluted with freshwater to levels below those naturally-occurring in the sea. Then, the waters can be safely released. The AESJ F. Daiichi investigation board reported, “It would be realistic to dilute the contaminated water to levels found in the natural world and release it into the ocean after removing radioactive materials other than tritium.” The panel points out that Tritium is naturally made by cosmic rays and exists in seawater in small amounts. Tritium passes through fish and other creatures, minimally concentrating in their bodies. By diluting and releasing the diluted water into the ocean, the risk of environmental pollution through incidental leaks would be eliminated. http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20130829p2a00m0na005000c.html
- Tokyo says many decontamination goals for Fukushima communities have been met. This year’s goal for lowering the number of locations below 20 millisieverts per year by 50% has actually been exceeded. Currently, 61% of the designated locations are now less than 20 mSv/yr for adults and 64% for children. The Environment Ministry says 40% of the decline is due to the “passage of time”, 20% due to decontamination efforts and the rest because of rain run-off. Unfortunately, delays in re-designating many locations is held up by local residents and public officials who say the standard for completion be one mSv/yr. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20130827_19.html At the same time, the Ministry is considering running a second round of municipal decontaminations, if needed. Senior Environment Vice-Minister Shinji Inoue said the government will monitor all post-decontamination radiation levels before making a final decision. He pointed to many local communities wanting the threshold lowered to 1 mSv/yr, rather than the current standard of 20 mSv/yr. http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0000497028
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The flow of lawsuit filings against Tepco and Tokyo continues. 27 families, numbering 74 people, will file a suit in Osaka District Court on Sept. 17. They seek somewhere between $50,000 and $150,000 per person psychological and damages due to injuries suffered by their evacuation. 27 people are from Fukushima Prefecture and the rest from Ibaraki Prefecture. The plaintiffs will claim Tepco knew of a 20% chance of an earthquake of at least 8 on the Richter scale in 2002, but did nothing to protect the people at risk. The suit claims TEPCO failed to take measures such as reviewing its earthquake-resistant design and the government did not urge the utility to take necessary steps. The filing lawyers expect additional evacuees to join in the class action suit. http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20130827p2a00m0na012000c.html — http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/08/26/national/more-fukushima-evacuees-to-sue-tepco-government/#.UhynU-vD8dU
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