May 25, 2015

May 25, 2015 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • The IAEA will issue its final Fukushima accident report in September. An advance copy has been procured by the Japanese Press. The report says the major reason for the crisis was “…some weaknesses which were not fully evaluated by a probabilistic safety assessment, as recommended by the IAEA safety standards.” The UN watchdog believes that earthquake and tsunami estimates that emerged between 2007-2009 showed an 8.3 Richter scale quake and 15 meter tsunami were possible, but Tepco and Tokyo ignored the estimates. The report also stresses that plant operating staff members were ill-prepared for worst-case emergency mitigation, “The operators were not fully prepared for the multiunit loss of power and the loss of cooling caused by the tsunami. Although Tepco had developed severe accident management guidelines, they did not cover such an unlikely combination of events.” http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/05/25/national/iaea-report-fukushima-debacle-slams-lack-tsunami-preparedness-despite-awareness-threat/#.VWMdKKMw8dV
  • Some Fukushima evacuees have doubts about Tokyo’s repopulation plan. Last week, the government’s ruling party announced plans to have most evacuation orders lifted, potentially allowing 55,000 people to go home. Some evacuees have their doubts. The town of Nahara could see its evacuation restriction lifted as early as this summer. One elderly resident says she will probably not go home. “I am glad that the compensation will be extended, but money is not the only reason that I cannot go back. If the neighbors don’t come back with me, I won’t be able to live there, as my legs and back are weak,” she explained. Mikiko Matsumoto from Katsurao said she is making ends meet on compensation money, but if she returns home and re-opens her store there will probably not be enough customers to keep her afloat. She says, “I can’t receive compensation forever, but it is obvious that sales will be lower than before the disaster.” To date, precious few have returned to those communities where evacuation orders have already been lifted. For example, only 10% of those eligible have returned to Kawauchi Village’s Tobu district and only 41% have repopulated Tamura City’s Miyakoji district. Katsurao’s mayor acknowledges the potential problem and said, “[Financial] support will be needed for some time even after residents return.” http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150522p2a00m0na019000c.html — http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150522p2a00m0na011000c.html
  • An umbrella antinuclear organization is formed out of 13 Fukushima evacuee groups. Its inaugural meeting was held May 24th in Nihonmatsu, Fukushima Prefecture, with some 300 representatives attending from all over Japan. The body says it was formed to show they disapprove of post-accident efforts on the part of Tokyo and TEPCO. The new group includes members of the 12 organizations suing the utility and the government, plus people who have been acting individually. The general feeling is that Tokyo will lift evacuation orders and stop compensation payments despite residents remaining fearful of decommissioning efforts. Plus, the group wants a formal apology and full financial compensation. One participant from Kyoto said, “Lifting the evacuation orders for restricted areas and terminating compensation payments, despite the fact that the physical effects from radiation remain unknown, constitutes irresponsibility.” Another from Okayama Prefecture said, “The psychological wounds that we have endured remain invisible — just as with radiation. If we don’t voice our pain, the damages that have occurred will not be understood in their entirety.” http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150524_16.html — http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150525p2a00m0na005000c.html (Comment – though not stated in the Press reports, it seems safe to assume the umbrella group is comprised mostly by voluntary evacuees who will lose their housing subsidies when the 2016 repopulation date passes. Fukushima Prefecture says more than 65,000 of the 70,000 remaining mandated evacuees live in the prefecture, but almost no voluntary evacuees. The new umbrella group seems clearly made up of those who fled of their own free will and are living outside of Fukushima Prefecture.)
  • The Asahi Shimbun speculates that Fukushima’s liquid waste drums might explode. The polyethylene drums store liquid residues from ALPS (advanced liquid processing system). Since some radioactive water was found on the top of 26 of 278 recently-inspected filled drums, Tepco is checking all 14000 drums in storage. The drums have holes in the top cover to allow gasses to escape. One container was found to be missing the holes. This would allow the gasses to build up inside the drum. One of the gasses is hydrogen. A Nuclear regulatory official allegedly said, “If the concentration level is high, a spark caused by static electricity could cause a container to explode.” Mayumi Yoshida of Tepco said, “We think the possibility of an occurrence of hydrogen explosion from these storage facilities is extremely low, since there is no fire origin, or anything that generates static electricity nearby.” Another Tepco spokesperson speculated that making the holes was skipped-over at a factory in the United States. http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201505230059 — http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150523p2a00m0na015000c.html  (How static electricity could cause a spark inside a drum full of water is a complete mystery. In addition, a hydrogen explosion needs some free oxygen in order to occur. A filled and sealed drum would likely not have enough free oxygen for an explosion. This writer suspects we have yet another wildly-speculative worst-case scenario, this time fueled by visions of the explosions at F. Daiichi the second week of March, 2011. It is important to note that the above-listed Mainichi Shimbun link says nothing about the possibility of a hydrogen explosion, indicating they may have done their homework.)
  • Tokyo’s NRA approves all Sendai station design changes. The changes for unit #2 were approved on Friday. Now, on-site inspections by the NRA can begin. The inspections for unit #1 have been underway for about a month, but less than 10% have been completed. Because the units are tandem, there are a number of shared systems to be inspected. They will not have to be re-checked for unit #2. Restart for unit #1 is expected in July and unit #2 in August. It is likely that these will be the first two nuke restarts in Japan, marking the beginning of the end of the nuclear moratorium. On Monday (today), Kyushu Electric Company, the owners of Sendai station, formally applied for site inspection of unit #2. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150522_30.html — http://jen.jiji.com/jc/eng?g=eco&k=2015052200684 — http://jen.jiji.com/jc/eng?g=eco
  • Tokyo decides to change its policy for locating a high-level nuclear waste disposal site. The government will identify scientifically “suitable” or “promising” candidate sites, taking care to avoid volcanoes and active faults. The government will ask municipalities to provide various kinds of information and have discussions with residents. It will then submit requests for consent to formal inspection for promising candidate disposal sites. The process is expected to take 100 years from the investigation to closure of the facility. Until now, prospective sites were supposed to be voluntary, but nothing has happened. Under the new plan, the government will scientifically analyze possible sites while explaining everything to local communities. Tokyo hopes this will result in getting at least one suitable site approved by the local public. Industry Minister Yoichi Miyazawa says there are “quite a few” candidate sites being considered. Cabinet Minister Yoshihide Suga added, “We should move forward step by step while trying to gain the public’s understanding.” Japan’s Atomic Industrial Forum admits that a majority of Japanese oppose nuclear power, thus it is optimistic to think the public will support HLW disposal. The group says, “People may be ‘interested’ in the HLW issue, but such ‘interest’ is in the context of its being just another reason to oppose nuclear power.”  http://www.jaif.or.jp/en/government-takes-initiative-on-selecting-hlw-geological-disposal-sites/ — http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2015/05/353936.html — http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0002169670
  • The first government nuclear waste symposium was held in Tokyo. About 300 people attended. Akihiro Tada of the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy said the symposiums are intended to inspire public debate. They are not meant to force site selection. Panel chair Hiroya Masuda said it is important is to win public understanding and trust. One member of the audience said it will be hard to gain public support at any location because most people don’t want nuclear plants. Eight more symposiums are scheduled by the end of June. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/nuclear.html