September 18, 2014

Sep 18, 2014 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • Less than 100 irradiated unit #4 fuel bundles remain to be moved. There were 1331 unit #4 spent (irradiated) fuel bundles to be relocated to the common storage facility when the operation began late last year. As of 9/16/14, 1232 had been safely transferred, leaving 99 yet to be handled. Of the 1533 total bundles initially in the unit #4 pool, 1254 have been removed. Twenty-two of the moved bundles were new, unirradiated bundles. There were 202 unirradiated bundles in the unit #4 pool when the operation began. All spent bundles will be transferred out of the unit #4 pool before the remaining unirradiated bundles are removed. http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/decommision/index-e.html
  • PM Shinzo Abe toured the candidate sites for rural waste storage. The sites in Okuma and Futaba are intended to be intermediate storage facilities for radioactive soil and waste from decontamination work. Okuma Mayor Toshitsuna Watanabe told Abe that property owners will lose land handed down for generations and wants Tokyo to fully explain its plans to the owners. Abe said the complete recovery of Fukushima Prefecture cannot be done without landowner cooperation, and promised legal and financial support for them. Abe added his opinion that a critical solution to the problem has begun. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/nuclear.html
  • Tepco has begun the first test run of the second advanced water treatment system (ALPS). There will be three new process streams with the new system, doubling the daily capacity from the current 750 to 1,500 tons per day. The first ALPS facility was installed in 2012 and has decontaminated some 130,000 tons of wastewater, currently stored in tanks on-site. ALPS receives waters after being stripped of radioactive Cesium by the SARRY absorption system. It then removes nearly all other isotopes before the purified water is sent to storage. The new three-unit stream has improved corrosion protection, flow monitoring, leak detection, backup equipment, and physical leak containment barriers, compared to the ALPS initially installed. The old ALPS has been upgraded to meet the same standards as the new ALPS. A third, more advanced version of ALPS is due to be installed and tested in October, along with a new Strontium removal technology. http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/2014/1242012_5892.html
  • The Nuclear Regulation Authority approved new steps in frozen wall construction. Work to date has been stymied due to difficulty in dealing with contaminated water flowing in equipment tunnels coming out of the plant. The new plan appears to include pouring cement into the tunnels facing the hills surrounding the nuke station. The NRA approved the Tepco proposal on Wednesday. The new concepts are intended to resolve the tunnel water flow problem for about two-thirds of the 1.5 kilometer in-ground wall under construction. Tepco says the side of the plant facing the sea is a more difficult problem because the tunnel waters are highly radioactive. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20140917_28.html
  • Some Fukushima fishermen oppose discharging uncontaminated F. Daiichi groundwater. Tepco wants to release the groundwater taken out of wells from the inland side of the plant buildings, before it becomes contaminated. The fisheries association said they agreed in principle, but the company would have to convince the union members of the well water safety before full approval would be given. Today, 90 fishing union members met with Tepco in Iwaki City to hear the company’s explanation of how any small amounts of contamination will be removed by purification before being released to the sea. Many in attendance were not convinced about the water’s safety, saying it could still be contaminated to a certain degree. Also, if detectibly contaminated water were mistakenly released, it could be the end of Fukushima’s fishing business. Tepco will hold another informational session because there was not enough space in the meeting room for all the fishermen who showed up. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/nuclear.html [Comment – It seems that the Fukushima fishermen are being confronted by some behind-the-scenes persons who argue that “below minimum detection” does not mean zero. The subtle but significant proliferation of fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) continues in Japan.]