- Today, Sendai unit #1 reached 100% reactor power. Although the plant was generating at its full power level (890 MWe) late last week, the reactor itself was still below 100%. It was ramped up over the weekend. Commercial operation is scheduled for September 10th. During the interim, plant staff and the Nuclear Regulation Authority inspectors will be making numerous examinations of the plant systems at full power. Once all inspections are successfully completed, commercial operation will be allowed. Meanwhile, Kyushu Electric Co. plans to load fuel into Sendai #2 in a few weeks, and begin its restart process in mid-October. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150831_16.html — http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150831p2a00m0na013000c.html
- Full-scale decontamination starts in Okuma Town. Okuma the first of the two host communities for the F. Daiichi station to start the process (along with Futaba). Okuma also shares the proposed 30-year storage facility for rural decontamination rubbish generated in the prefecture. Some 30 workers gathered at an elementary school on Friday to begin work on a 1 km2 area, using heavy machinery to remove contaminated soils. Other zones will also see full-scale decontamination in the future, focusing on locations with schools and public facilities. Until now, decontamination has been limited to “experimental” projects. Similar restricted zones in six other communities are also being planned. Whether or not they will actually be done depends on radiation levels and resident wishes. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150828_38.html
- Tokyo begins repopulation support for businesses in the Fukushima exclusion zone. A group of about 100 individuals was formed comprised of central government, Fukushima Prefecture government, and private sector employees, to advise exclusion zone businesses on resuming their services before evacuation orders are lifted. The team will set up offices in the cities of Fukushima, Koriyama, and Iwaki. Only 20% of the businesses in the exclusion zone have resumed operations. A much greater percentage should be up and running to support the tens of thousands that could return home by March, 2017. http://www.fukushimaminponews.com/news.html?id=555
- The Ministry of Health posted new guideline for the health and safety of F. Daiichi workers. This mirrors Tepco’s June revision to the “roadmap” for decommissioning. The three areas of the roadmap addressed by the ministry are management of worker safety and health, risk assessment, and reduction of staff radiation exposure. An historical study of incidents at F. Daiichi showed that 84% were by workers that had been there less than a year. The company’s Decontamination & Decommissioning Engineering Company concluded that the most urgent issue was upgrading new worker awareness of potential health and safety problems. Based on Tepco’s investigation, seven specific items have been identified by the ministry, including added training for care and handling of protective equipment, care and use of dosimeters, contamination prevention measures, and basic first aid. http://www.jaif.or.jp/en/health-ministry-issues-guidelines-managing-safety-and-health-at-fukushima-daiichi/
- A nuclear accident drill was run in Minamisoma City. Some 2,000 people took part, including local residents, fire department officials, police officers and Self-Defense Force personnel. The accident scenario was that another millennia quake struck the off-shore subduction zone fault, causing a massive tsunami. The tsunami would strike F. Daiichi during decommissioning and knock out power to the cooling system of a spent fuel pool. The spent fuel was assumed to severely overheat and release radioactive material into the atmosphere. Volunteer residents evacuated to a designated site and were screened for contamination. http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150831p2a00m0na002000c.html (Comment – two key problems. First, the used fuel pool “disaster” scenario is contentious, at best. We should see the actual scenario before passing judgment, but an SFP-based release of radioactivity is a nigh-impossibility. The government of Fukushima Prefecture seems to be stretching reality to come up with a scenario worthy of evacuating residents. On another note, the Press is once again confusing contamination with radiation exposure. Scanning for the public is performed to see if radioactive dust is on a person’s skin or clothing. A person would have to be wearing a dosimeter to establish radiation exposure.)
- Fir tree abnormalities were found in the Fukushima exclusion zone. The announcement was made by Tokyo’s Health Ministry. The ministry has been monitoring 80 species of animals and plants since 2011. The fir trees were the only species to have shown unusual morphology over the past 4 years. They asked the National Institute of Radiological Sciences to look at the fir trees in the areas of higher radioactivity. The results show a significant increase of one specific defect, and was published in the Scientific Reports journal. However, the report notes that this particular morphological change has been identified in other areas and can be attributed to a range of other factors including environmental changes and as a result of pest damage. The report states that rather than attributing this change directly to the nuclear accident, researchers are instead presenting evidence that proves that this change is seen more often when radiation is a contributing factor. http://www.nature.com/articles/srep13232 The report concludes “There are several factors that are possibly responsible for increased frequencies of the morphological defect observed…and, at present, there is no decisive evidence that any single factor is causally related to those increased frequencies.” However, the researchers found that the rate of defects increased in proportion to increases in radioactivity. Thus, they assume that Fukushima radiation might be a possible explanation, but until other possible causes can be studied, no definitive conclusion should be drawn. The Japanese Institute’s Satoshi Yoshida said the relationship between the defects and radiation are unclear and further studies are needed. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150829_05.html
- Mainichi Shimbun reports on the five instances of small amounts of mildly contaminated rainwater run-off at F. Daiichi leaking to the sea since February. There is one important omission. The Mainichi says the activity levels “ranged from around 20 to 670 times the safety level set for a “subdrain” plan…” It neglected to mention that the subdrain release limit for Cesium is a barely-detectible one Becquerel per liter. Second, Japan’s release limit of 90 Becquerels per liter is nowhere to be found in the Mainichi report. Regardless, here’s the link… http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150829p2a00m0na019000c.html
- NIMBY rears its ugly head in Miyagi Prefecture over rural waste disposal. (NIMBY is the acronym for Not In My Back Yard) On Friday, the Environment Ministry wanted to begin candidate site studies at three locations; Kami, Kurihara, and Taiwa. The ministry notified all three of the survey schedule last Thursday, and received agreement from Kurihawa and Taiwa…but not Kami. As a result, Kami’s Mayor, Hirofumi Inomata, and representatives from about 50 groups opposing low level waste disposal in Japan, blocked the road leading to the proposed Kami site. When told that these were merely preliminary surveys, Inomata said it was his opinion that “this area doesn’t meet the requirements for a candidate site.” Local anti-disposal group leader Fukutsugu Takahashi explained, “It’s wrong to bring materials contaminated by the nuclear power plant to a beautiful mountain like this.” The confrontation resulted in the agency’s staff leaving after about 30 minutes. Activities at the other two sites were also terminated due to Tokyo’s agreement with Kurihawa and Taiwa was that all three would be surveyed simultaneously. Currently, 3,404 metric tons of rice straw, sludge and other waste containing radioactive Cesium at over 8,000 Becquerels per kilogram, is being stored at 39 makeshift locations in nine Miyagi Prefecture municipalities. (Aside – The same groups continually demanding disposal of the accumulated materials, are also trying to stop it. – end aside) http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150828p2a00m0na014000c.html
- On Saturday, NIMBY also descended on Tochigi Prefecture. Led by Kami Mayor Hirobumi Inomata, of Miyagi Prefecture, (see above) about 2,700 people from Shioya, Tochigi Prefecture, rallied over Tokyo’s designating the town as a candidate site for disposal of the prefecture’s accumulated rural radioactive materials. The debris is currently stored at 170 locations through-out the prefecture. http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2015/08/371639.html
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