July 28, 2014

Jul 28, 2014 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • Tepco has received another $1 billion from Tokyo for nuke evacuee compensation. It will cover payouts to the evacuees through the month of August. This will bring the total given to the company by the Nuclear Damage Liability Facilitation Fund to nearly $42.25 billion.  http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/2014/1239544_5892.html As of Monday, 7/28/14, the full amount of compensation paid out to Fukushima evacuees topped $41 billion USD. http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/comp/images/jisseki-e.pdf
  • Tepco applauds the recent Fukushima lessons-learned report from America’s NAS. The National Academy of Sciences says American operators should place increased safety emphasis on “external events” such as the tsunami that caused the F. Daiichi accident, multiple human or equipment failures such as occurred with Three Mile Island in 1979, and “violations of operational protocols” similar to  Chernobyl in 1986. Dale Klein, chairman of Tepco’s reform committee, said, “I’m pleased to see the detailed analysis conducted by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences regarding the lessons learned from the Fukushima accident. While we are applying many lessons learned at TEPCO’s nuclear facilities in Japan, it is equally important that the global nuclear community learn from this unfortunate event.” Deputy Chair Lady Barbara Judge added, “We will all benefit from the implementation of the improvements being undertaken by TEPCO and referred to in the Report.” http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/2014/1239621_5892.html
  • The groundwater bypass system shows only limited success. Tepco has been using pumps to remove waters from a dozen inland wells, hoping to reduce the flow of groundwater into the basements of units #1 through 4. Over the past two months of by-pass system operation, groundwater levels at three key wells near the basements have dropped only about 4 inches, much less than had been anticipated. Some critics have voiced concerns about the system’s impact, while others say the fisheries in Fukushima expected better results. Tepco says the relatively minor results may be due to the high amount of rain in Fukushima the past few months which may have increased groundwater levels. Tepco is planning to cover some of the open soils with asphalt by next March to reduce the influx of rainwater into the earth. NHK World; TEPCO: Groundwater bypass showing limited effects; 7/25/14 
  • A British engineering professor says the Fukushima “ice wall” is not unprecedented. Professor Jonathan Bridge of Liverpool University reports that numerous large-scale projects have successfully used the freezing of soils to retard water-in-seepage during underground work. He says, “Two of the largest, most complex infrastructure projects in the US in recent years – the ‘big dig’ tunneling [of] an interstate beneath downtown Boston, and the New York East Side Access Project which involves boring a new rail tunnel beneath already-buried road and rail networks – have used AGF extensively.” He adds that the process is fully reversible, has minimal environmental impact and can accommodate facilities with buried structures. Further, the process is not science fiction, as some critics have argued. Finally, Bridge says, “Ground freezing has even been used for radiation mitigation before, for example at mining operations in Canada and Australia where radioactive radon gas is a threat to the health and safety of mineworkers.” His report closes with the following statement, “But the ice-wall technology itself is not the bizarre stunt that has sometimes been portrayed. It might even work.” http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/07/21/why-are-fukushima-engineers-creating-walls-of-ice-under-a-contaminated-nuclear-plant/
  • The on-going nuclear moratorium makes Japan’s economic future gloomier. Japan’s largest newspaper reports that further restart delays will slow Japan’s economic recovery, while resumption can cut the current trade deficit in half. This is according to the latest estimates run by Japan’s Institute of Energy Economics. According to the Institute, if all 19 reactors currently being inspected by the NRA resume operations, the trade deficit would be cut from 2013’s $138 billion level down to $72 billion. The shortfall for January-June 2014 was $76 billion – the largest six-month down-turn since 1979. The outlook is not good because of the continual delays with the completion of government inspections to insure meeting the nation’s new nuke regulations. Until the nuke moratorium ends, Japan’s economy will remain vulnerable to increasing imported fossil fuel costs. http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0001450877
  • Tokyo has scrapped plans to purchase all lands needed for temporary waste storage. The government has tried to openly purchase up to 15 square kilometers of private property in Futaba and Okuma, F. Daiichi’s host communities. It is hoped that temporary storage facilities could be located there to accommodate the accumulated contaminated materials produced by rural decontamination. However, stiff opposition by the landowners has forced Tokyo to drop the plans. Instead, Tokyo will now try to lease as much property as they can from owners agreeable to it. Environment Minister Nobuteru Ishihara and Reconstruction Minister Takumi Nemoto shared the plans with Fukushima Gov. Yuhei Sato and mayors of the two towns. http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2014/07/304251.html
  • Iodine tablets have been dispersed to residents within 5 kilometers of the Sendai nuke station. Two Sendai units have been approved for possible restart by the NRA and await local public approval before actual power resumption can begin. The governments of Kagoshima Prefecture and Sendai City distributed iodine tablets to 2,661 people on Sunday. In the unlikely event of a severe nuclear accident releasing radioactive Iodine to the locality, the tablets will saturate the thyroid glands and block the uptake of the I-131 isotope. Because the tablets can induce negative side-effects, residents are permitted to consult with local doctors. One recipient said he feels reassured because the medication is being dispersed in advance of the possible restarts. This is the first instance of Iodine distribution since the Fukushima accident. NHK World; Iodine distributed to residents near nuclear plant; 7/28/14