June 18, 2015

Jun 18, 2015 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • Nahara Town to be fully reopened by mid-August. It will be the third evacuation order lifted inside the Tokyo-mandated exclusion zone. Previously, the Miyakoji district of Tamura City and the eastern part of Kawauchi village have seen the restrictions dropped. Nahara is located ~12 kilometers south of F. Daiichi and had a pre-accident population of 7,400. Response task force head Yosuke Takagi made the announcement at the town assembly meeting on Wednesday. He stressed that Tokyo will not force anyone to return to full-time residency, but the town’s environment and infrastructure are ready for repopulation. Takagi said, “Whether to return is up to each person. . . . Even if we lift the order, we want to continue working substantially on measures to rebuild Nahara.” He added that current compensation payments for mental anguish will continue even if people return. Temporary stays have been permitted since April so residents can prepare for full-time residency. Only about 100 households have taken advantage of the opportunity. A Reconstruction Agency survey last November indicated that only about 45% of the town residents plan to return. Those not willing to return generally say it is because they have concerns for their health and lack of available jobs. Meetings to address the evacuees’ radiation fears and the status of infrastructure will be held before and after the order is lifted. Currently, the town’s average radiation level is about 0.3 microsieverts per hour (2.6 mSv/yr). One town official called the scheduled lifting of the order “abrupt”, while another said residents worry about the availability of safe food and residual contamination of their homes. One evacuee says, “Our homes and our lives are anything but stabilized. We feel the announcement of the evacuation lift is premature and does not address these issues.”  http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/nuclear.html — http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201506170090 — http://jen.jiji.com/jc/eng?g=eco&k=2015061700452 — http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150617p2a00m0na016000c.html — http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/06/17/national/goverment-proposes-lifting-evacuation-order-town-naraha-mid-august/#.VYFnBqMw8dV — http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/govt-to-lift-evacuation-order-for-fukushima-town-in-august?utm_campaign=jt_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=jt_newsletter_2015-06-18_PM
  • Some bags of rural contaminated waste have been damaged while in make-shift storage. Last year, the Environment Ministry examined 580 sites outside the exclusion zone. The ministry says bags and/or their underlying water-proof sheets were found damaged at 78 locations, and 113 sites had rain damage to the underlying soils. No contaminated leaks were detected, however. The ministry promises to continue monitoring these storage sites and cooperate with local officials to insure against contaminated leaks. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150617_06.html
  • Tohoku Electric Company says all upgrades to Onagawa #2 and Higashidori #1 units should be finished by April, 2017. The upgrades include burial of tanks for emergency diesel generator fuel and improved fire-protection. The company filed with the NRA for the compatibility examinations of Onagawa-2 in December, 2013, and Higashidori-1 In June, 2014. The NRA’s examination for Higashidori #1 was delayed due to NRA earthquake fault studies. Nearby geologic anomalies were deemed non-seismic in March, 2015. It is possible that these two units will be the first Boiling Water Reactor plants to restart. http://www.jaif.or.jp/en/tohoku-electric-power-says-work-on-safety-measures-at-onagawa-2-and-higashidor-1-to-end-by-april-2017/
  • More information on the revised F. Daiichi decommissioning plan. The Japan Atomic Industrial Forum has posted their summation of the roadmap. JAIF lists five primary areas of focus; (1) placing greater emphasis on risk reduction, (2) clarifying milestones toward goals, (3) strengthening mutual trust with local communities through more thorough information disclosure, (4) reducing workers’ exposure doses and strengthening work safety and sanitation management, and (5) establishing the “control tower” strategy for development of decommissioning technology. In addition, the plan clarifies the three principles of handling contaminated water; (a) removing the source of the contamination, (b) isolating groundwater from the contamination source, and (c) preventing leakage of the contaminated water. As reported here on Monday, revisions in the schedule for used fuel removal from units #1, #2, & #3, have not negatively impacted the envisioned 30-40 year time frame for decommissioning. http://www.jaif.or.jp/en/government-revises-roadmap-for-medium-term-and-long-term-decommissioning-of-fukushima-daiichi/  On a related note, The Japan News (Yomiuri Shimbun) has posted a relatively objective report on the use of robots to determine the condition of the inner containment buildings (Primary Containments) as a prerequisite for damaged fuel (corium) removal. Extraction of the corium is projected for 2021. It is hoped that all the corium will be removed from the three units by 2030. http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0002179580
  • More information on ending voluntary evacuee rent subsidies in 2017. The voluntaries have been provided money to pay for the apartments to which they fled in 2011. Fukushima Prefecture and Tokyo have agreed end the housing payouts, but will continue limited support for some of the voluntaries after March, 2017. The demographic of most concern is families living in poverty. Financial assistance to help the impoverished return to Fukushima Prefecture is expected to start this year. In addition, rent assistance for low-income evacuees could last a few years after 2017, publicly-managed homes both in and out of the prefecture might be provided, and the prefecture will seek financial assistance from Tokyo in order to provide these services. Meetings with voluntary evacuees are expected to start next month to establish the extent of need. The prefecture estimates that 25,000 Fukushima residents remain voluntarily estranged. Fukushima Gov. Masao Uchibori said, “The construction of publically-managed recovery homes [for evacuees] has made progress, and it will be difficult to maintain the emergency aid being offered under the Disaster Relief Act. We will think of a framework that allows us to respond to everyone’s individual wishes. We want to enrich the contents of our support policies.” The prefecture believes that as long as the free rent exists, there is little incentive for voluntary evacuees to go home. http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150616p2a00m0na015000c.html
  • A Tepco shareholder lawyer claims the company knew a 15.7 meter tsunami was possible long before the accident. A suit filed by more than 40 shareholders in 2012, demanding ~$50 million in damages, is being heard in Tokyo District Court. Attorney Yuichi Kaido said an internal 2008 Tepco document shows the company “had clearly recognized as of that year that measures against tsunami were inevitable, contradicting the company’s explanations so far.” Allegedly, the document says that Tepco anti-tsunami upgrades are “inevitable as we cannot help but expect bigger tsunami than currently projected” given the opinions of academics and the government, and “It is indispensable for us to develop measures against a higher tsunami than currently estimated.” The lawyers claim that Tepco’s inaction was to avoid spending “massive” amounts of money for the upgrades. Tepco responded that the 2008 document did not represent a consensus of the scientific community. They also submitted another internal report saying, “The (2008) document just mentioned the possibility of some sort of anti-tsunami measures required in the future and did not point out any specific risk of tsunami.” http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/06/18/national/crime-legal/document-shows-tepco-aware-need-tsunami-measures-2008-lawyers/#.VYKsuKMw8dU — http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201506180062