Feb 13, 2012 | Fukushima Accident Updates
More disturbing news out of Japan? I think not! The Press, fueled by the Japanese news media, has been focusing on the faulty temperature monitor inside the PCV (Primary Containment Vessel) of Fukushima Daiichi unit #2. Early Sunday morning, the indication rose to...
Feb 10, 2012 | Fukushima Commentary
11 months after the earthquake and tsunami devastated the coast of the Tohoku region, the Tokyo government has finally established a Reconstruction Agency to deal with recovery. This comes after nearly a year of political dickering within the central government while...
Feb 10, 2012 | Fukushima Accident Updates
Comment – The true crime of March 11, 2011! 11 months after the earthquake and tsunami devastated the coast of the Tohoku region, the Tokyo government has finally established a Reconstruction Agency to deal with recovery. This comes after nearly a year of...
Feb 8, 2012 | Fukushima Accident Updates
On Tuesday, TEPCO increased water injection to RPV #2 to try and reduce the temperature. One monitor on the Primary Containment Vessel continued to indicate high temperature, so the operators raised flow through the core spray line from 3.8 to 6.8 tons per hour. After...
Feb 6, 2012 | Fukushima Accident Updates
TEPCO reports that one of the temperature monitors on #2 Primary Containment Vessel (PCV) has risen considerably over the past 10 days. On January 27 the “upper bottom head” instrument was at 45oC and yesterday it had climbed to 71oC. Plant operators increased the...
Feb 3, 2012 | Fukushima Accident Updates
Two Ukrainian nuclear experts say all Fukushima evacuees should be able to return home, unlike the situation with Chernobyl. Ukrainian government officials Oleg Nasvit and Dmytro Bobro made this startling revelation to the Associated Press. They urge that any decision...
Feb 1, 2012 | Fukushima Accident Updates
Two more frozen pipe leaks have been discovered by TEPCO at Fukushima Daiichi. The total leakage from the two is estimated at about 30 liters. This makes a total of 16 frozen pipe and component leaks since last Friday. All of the leaked waters were from the “purified”...
Jan 30, 2012 | Fukushima Accident Updates
There have been as many as 14 different leaks from non-radioactive waste water systems at Fukushima Daiichi over the weekend. The problem is the unusually cold weather being experienced in Japan, with night-time temperatures at or below -10oC (~19oF). The low...
Jan 27, 2012 | Fukushima Accident Updates
Japan’s Ministry of the Environment has announced a two year decontamination plan. The plan covers all municipalities with general area or localized exposure levels at or below 50 millisieverts per year. The proposed deadline is March, 2014. The municipalities include...
Jan 25, 2012 | Fukushima Accident Updates
Ex-Prime Minister Kan’s Fukushima investigative panel says they will conclude their work and publish a final report in July. Panel leader Yotaro Hatamura said the panel plans to hold hearings with cabinet ministers involved with accident decisions during the weeks...
Jan 23, 2012 | Fukushima Commentary
Before today’s updates, it might help many readers to further explain the Becquerel, with respect to some of the reports coming out of Japan. Please recall the Becquerel’s definition of one radioactive disintegration per second. One other way to look at it (in a very,...
Jan 23, 2012 | Fukushima Accident Updates
Before today’s updates, it might help many readers to further explain the Becquerel, with respect to some of the reports coming out of Japan. Please recall the Becquerel’s definition of one radioactive disintegration per second. One other way to look at it (in a very,...
Jan 20, 2012 | Fukushima Commentary
TEPCO has made a brief endoscopic (visual) inspection inside the primary containment structure surrounding the unit two Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV). What seems surprising to TEPCO and the Japanese Press, is no indication of melted fuel outside the RPV. TEPCO...
Jan 20, 2012 | Fukushima Accident Updates
Has Unit #2 had a “phantom melt-through”? TEPCO has made a brief endoscopic (visual) inspection inside the primary containment structure surrounding the unit two Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV). What seems surprising to TEPCO and the Japanese Press, is no indication of...
Jan 18, 2012 | Fukushima Accident Updates
The Tokyo government says that the new 40 year licensing limit on nuclear operations can be extended another 20 years if certain criteria are met. The Cabinet Secretariat’s taskforce says the extensions would be granted on a one-time-only basis. Nuclear engineering...