October 13, 2014

Oct 13, 2014 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • Sendai station locals are briefed on nuke safety, and many are not convinced. Two Pressurized Water Reactor units at Sendai in Kagoshima Prefecture are expected to be the first Japanese nukes restarted, possibly as early as December. However, Japan’s nuke regulator (NRA) seeks local approval before Sendai operations can resume. The Agency ruled last month that Sendai station met all post-Fukushima safety requirements. Now, NRA officials are explaining their decision to Kagoshima residents; primarily from host city Satsumasendai, the municipality which is the most important in the decision chain. Meetings with four other nearby municipalities are planned. Some local residents objected, saying the revised earthquake standards underestimate the maximum conceivable temblor. Others argued that measures to cover tsunamis and serious accidents must be upgraded. The NRA responded that maximum conceivable quakes have been considered, as well as all worst-case accident scenarios. More than 1,000 showed up for another meeting on Sunday. They were barred from recording the proceedings and questions about emergency evacuation plans were not allowed. One woman complained, “What is the point of the meeting, then?” Greenpeace called the meeting a “farce”. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/nuclear.html — http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/japan-pitches-nuclear-restart-in-tightly-controlled-town-hall-meetings
  • Japan Times reports new highs in groundwater radioactivity. On Saturday, Tepco said that heavy rains caused by Typhoon Phanfone probably caused the spike due to the unusually high influx of rainwater percolating down to the groundwater. The Times says that one well contains 150,000 Becquerels per liter of Tritium, allegedly 10 times the well’s previous high. But, Tepco’s record of highest well activity to date doesn’t show this. In fact, compared to most wells east of the turbine buildings have shown much, much higher levels in the past. Tritium is the innocuous isotope of hydrogen which exists naturally in all waters of the world. Also, it emits the lowest known energy Beta radiation. Further, because Tritium is hydrogen, it is part of the water molecule. Thus it will necessarily flow with the water it is in. The high influx of rainwater causing a new Tritium “spike” in one of the wells should come as no surprise. However, Tepco told the Times that they had no idea why this was happening. On October 2nd, one well in the units #1&2 cluster had 150,000 Bq/liter of Tritium (the same value as the “new” level), but the Times did not mention this. The Times adds that a new “all-Beta” level of 1.2 million Bq/liter was found. The report adds that another well between units #1&2 contained 2.1 million Bq/liter of “all-Beta”, including 68,000 Bq/liter of Strontium. In this case, the peak is a new high for a specific well (#1-6). Regardless, all of the specific wells are located in the cluster of about a dozen between the seawater discharge structures for units #1&2, but the report does not specify which of the piezometers showed the new readings. This has historically been the group of wells with the highest groundwater contamination levels, in most cases orders of magnitude greater than the observation wells between units #2&3 and units #3&4. It should be noted that all of the mentioned piezometers are inside the solidified soil barrier that seems to have stopped the seaward flow of groundwater.  http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/10/12/national/tritium-surges-10-fold-in-groundwater-at-fukushima-nuclear-plant-typhoon-effect-suspected/#.VDp5FKN0wdU — http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/f1/smp/2014/images/tb-east_map-e.pdf  — http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/f1/smp/2014/images/2tb-east_14100902-e.pdf
  • Informed sources say Tokyo is considering a “freeze” on the renewable feed-in tariff. The tariff was invoked after the Fukushima accident as an incentive to accelerate Japan’s use of solar and wind-based electrical generation. The move has caused a virtual avalanche of companies building solar-powered sources. Under the tariff, utilities are forced to purchase all generated power at greatly inflated prices to offset the great costs of construction. However, the intermittent nature of solar generation, combined with the output peaks occurring at mid-day have caused troubling instabilities in utility distribution networks. If the instabilities worsen, blackouts could ensue. Freezing the tariff is a step to be presented to the Industry Ministry next week. Other possibilities are a surcharge cap on consumer costs specific to construction and allowing higher prices for electricity supplied by other sources.  http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20141011p2g00m0dm104000c.html
  • The Asahi Shimbun says “now is the time to listen to nuclear pessimists”. Japan’s second largest newspaper cites several of the country’s most prominent antinuclear activists. Ex-Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi wants to stop any and all restarts of Japan’s nukes. He challenges current PM Shinzo Abe’s push for restarts, saying, “I am telling the prime minister every so often: Why don’t you go ahead with pulling the plug on nuclear power? There is no better time than now. You are such a fortunate prime minister. Why don’t you try when you can?” Abe responded, “The future of Japan depends on what we do now,” he said. “Let us not pessimistically come to a halt, but rather move forward, believing in our potential.” Another nuclear dissenter of note, Nobelist author Kenzaburo Oe, says, “The intense and unambiguous national sentiment and calls for resistance against the use of nuclear power, which immediately followed the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, may be losing steam,” adding that nuke restarts are being sought by “the most narrow-minded optimists”. Another antinuke from Kagoshima Prefecture says restarting the Sendai nukes will place “our lives at stake”. The Asahi says now is the time for Tokyo to listen to the pessimists and keep the now-idled nukes of Japan permanently shut down. http://ajw.asahi.com/article/views/column/AJ201410120009