,,,,But engineers have to get this right. It will take 40 years to treat the waste, and during that time, radiation will make parts of the plant inaccessible to humans.,,,
“I think that is the fundamental issue. We don’t understand the chemical reactions, but yet we’re building the plant.”
(CBS News) The new Secretary of Energy has been on the job only four weeks, but he made a beeline Wednesday to see his biggest headache for himself. Ernest Moniz went to the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state.
Hanford made the plutonium for American nuclear weapons from the Manhattan Project in World War II until 1987. Now, highly radioactive waste is leaking, and a project to clean it up has stalled.
The clean-up at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation costs U.S. taxpayers $2 billion every year. This winter, engineers discovered six new leaks of radioactive material from underground tanks.
“There’s something on the order of 1,000 gallons a year that are leaking now from these six tanks,” says Washington Gov. Jay Inslee.
The government’s clean-up plan involves pumping 56 million gallons of waste out of 177 tanks, mixing it with liquid glass and sealing it in canisters.
“That does involve technological challenges that some people have associated with the kind of leap that the moonshot involved,” Inslee says. “This has never been done in human history before.”
The clean-up is supposed to take place at a $13 billion complex, but the plant has been plagued with technical challenges since the project began in 2000. Most of the problems are at the pre-treatment facility.
In a post at his website, Japanese diplomat Akio Matsumura (photo, left) has written an introduction to essays by Dr. Gordon Edwards (President of Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility), and Dr. Helen Caldicott (Founding President of Beyond Nuclear), about the management — or lack thereof — of the radioactively contaminated cooling water and groundwater, that has come to be the most demanding and dangerous issue that Tepco has faced since 2011 at the devastated Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan.
Gordon explains how the water — a whopping 800 tons per day, which then Tepco has to store and prevent from leaking into the environment — becomes radioactively contaminated in the first place. Tepco has resorted to vast “tank farms” of surface storage tanks, especially after underground storage tanks were discovered to be leaking in April. However, the surface storage tanks have now also been discovered to be leaking, as well. Besides that, Tepco has sought to simply release 100 tons of radioactively contaminated water per day into the Pacific, for lack of storage space — a move that local fishermen, trying to re-establish some semblance of a livelihood, despite the widespread radioactive contamination of seafood, are fiercely resisting.
Helen then delves into “Nine Medical Implications of Tritium-contaminated Water,” as efforts to decontaminate the cooling and groundwater cannot remove tritium (radioactive H-3, which combines with oxygen to form radioactive water), for water cannot be filtered from water. Helen points out that, “[b]ecause it is tasteless, odorless and invisible, [tritium] will inevitably be ingested in food, including seafood, over many decades. It combines in the DNA molecule – the gene – where it can induce mutations that later lead to cancer. It causes brain tumors, birth deformities, and cancers of many organs.” In fact, the contamination of the seafood chain bio-concentrates the radioactivity, so that those at the top of the food chain — humans — get the worst doses of harmful radioactivity.
Jones is bothered OPG didn’t talk to her about nuclear disposal site
June 19, 2013 ·
By Bill Rea
A story in the business section of Tuesday’s Toronto Star raised a few eyebrows locally, but officials aren’t too concerned yet.
The story, under the byline of Business Reporter John Spears, referred to the possibility of a third nuclear waste disposal site in Ontario, and the Orangeville area was mentioned, but only in passing.
It stated two such sites have already been publicly discussed, and there is now mention of a third, to store “decommissioning waste” from reactors that have been taken out of service and dismantled.
“That could conceivably place the proposed site somewhere in the Orangeville area, suggested Brennain Lloyd of Northwatch, who first noticed the proposal in a blizzard of documents filed with the safety commission,” Spears wrote. “Northwatch is a coalition of environmental and community groups in northeastern Ontario.”
The story also stated the idea of a separate site for decommissioning waste emerged from material filed by Ontario Power Generation (OPG) at hearings into the license renewal for the Pickering nuclear station.
“It was news to me, as they say,” remarked Dufferin-Caledon MPP Sylvia Jones, adding she first heard of the matter when she read Tuesday’s paper.
“To me, it’s passing strange that the OPG would go public with something like this without first talking to me; (or) the mayor,” she commented.
Jones said she’ll be writing to get clarification of the comments in the Star story.
“I’m going to reach out to OPG and say, ‘give what you hear, what you know,’” she said.
Mayor Marolyn Morrison hadn’t heard anything about it either, and she couldn’t imagine where in the area a facility like that could go.
“You can’t put it in a gravel pit,” she said. “That’s crazy.”
For the second time in 11 years, Germany, the Czech Republic, and Austria have experienced a “once-in-a-century flood.” Craig Morris takes a look at how nuclear plants in the area are faring.
The nuclear plant on the Neckar River in Germany has been identified as having inadequate flood protection. As this video shows, the plant’s platform is only a couple of meters above the river’s normal water level; see the ground behind the door where the people are standing. The cooling tower appears at the end of the video.
Climatologists have predicted that the warmer atmosphere will lead to far more disastrous floods because warm air can hold more water, and more will evaporate from bodies of water during the heat. Perhaps we should start speaking of “millennial floods of the decade.”
How are nuclear reactors in the area faring? Since you probably haven’t heard anything, the good news is that there has been no disaster. Admittedly, Austria’s only nuclear plant (finished, but never put into operation after a plebiscite rejected nuclear in 1978 – yes, Austria had a phase-out in the 70s) was flooded, as you can see from this photo. But the facility never produced any waste, so there is no danger.
Nuclear plants require a lot of water, which is why they are generally built directly on rivers and oceans. The Czech Republic’s Temelin plant is a bit of an exception. As you can see from Google Maps, the reactor is roughly 1.5 kilometers from its nearest river. There have been no reports of any concerns; on the contrary, the Czech Republic is currently looking to build another reactor at the site.
In Germany, the main concern revolves around the Krümmel nuclear plant near Hamburg. The facility is only already shut down but still contains radioactive waste. Fortunately, it has flood protection up to 9.7 meters, roughly 1.5 meters above what came through on Monday.
In a way, Germany can consider itself lucky that the flooding is largely taking place in areas of the former communist East Germany, whose nuclear facilities were quickly shut down after reunification in the early 90s. Should the flooding ever move further west, the nine nuclear plants still in operation and the eight already shut down could be affected, and not all of them have proper flood protection.
A debate is raging in Japan over the extent of the radiation contamination in the wake of last year’s nuclear disaster in Fukushima.
The government says 13 per cent of the district is contaminated, nearly 2500 square kilometres of land or an area about the size of the US state of Rhode Island
The area’s farming industry was worth $3.2bn a year, most of which is now destroyed.
The government says it has already spent $3bn to make the land safe, and needs another $6bn for the coming year.
Steve Chao reports from Minamisoma, a ciy in Fukushima, that some people say the radiation is continuing to make them ill.
A health survey in Fukushima covered up by the Japanese Media?
Translation by EX-SKF( http//:ex-skf.blospot.jp ) & tokyobrowntabby and captioning by tokyobrowntabby.
Japanese Government announced recently that they are going to give corporation tax discount to existing corporations for restart and new corporations to come in 20mSv/y-50mSv/y area.
The Japanese Government recognizes the relationship between being exposed to ionizing radiation for Hiroshima/Nagasaki victims. For them to apply the UNSCEAR (The United nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation)regulation (up to 100mSv/y is safe) is very contradicted.They should really spend money on recuperation program for children in radioactive area.
The Japanese Government recognizes the relationship between being exposed to added dose of ionizing radiation, “1mSv/y”(=0.23uSv/h) for Hiroshima/Nagasaki victims and these illnesses such as:
Cancer (Malignant tumor), がん、悪性腫瘍
Leukemia, 白血病
Hyperparathyroidism, 副甲状腺機能亢進症
Irradiation cataract (except for age-related cataract), 放射線白内障
Radial infarction related to radiation, 放射線白内障（加齢性白内障を除く）
Myocardial infarction related to radiation, 放射線起因性が認められる心筋梗塞
Hypothyroidismrelated to radiation, 放射線起因性が認められる甲状腺機能低下症
Chronic Hepatitis and Cirrhosis related to radiation.放射線起因性が認められる慢性肝炎・肝硬変
*Atomic bombs survivors received fair compensation, not so in Fukushima!
The ALPS system does not remove radioactive tritium, leading some municipal leaders and local fisheries cooperatives to protest the possibility of releasing water treated with ALPS into the sea, out of concern for further contamination of fish and other marine life. Tritium has a half-life of more than 12 years and can cause cancer.
…The White House issued a statement on Monday hinting that US efforts to assist Russia in further dismantling nuclear and chemical weapons would be significantly limited under the new form of the CTR agreement, also known as the Nunn Lugar agreement…
The US and Russia have renewed a weakened form of the Cooperative Threat Reduction program – which since the fall of the Soviet Union has helped secured or scrap thousands of nuclear and chemical weapons – in an agreement that is watered down to the point of being nearly unrecognizable, experts said.
Moscow had complained that the weapons destruction and security program was giving the US access to too many of its military secrets. Russia’s Foreign Ministry also said it was tired of Russia being viewed as a charity case rather than an equal parnet. Moscow also disagreed with liability issues within the previous CTR umbrella agreement, which placed fault or any accident occurring during any CTR-run nuclear remediation project – from acts of terrorism to US CTR workers being injured in minor accidents – squarely on Moscow.
But it was also recognized by observers that the two-decade old accord had nearly completed its mission in Russia, which spread the scope of the program to other countries in need of nuclear and chemical weapons security.
White House issues delayed statement on limits of new agreement
The White House issued a statement on Monday hinting that US efforts to assist Russia in further dismantling nuclear and chemical weapons would be significantly limited under the new form of the CTR agreement, also known as the Nunn Lugar agreement for former US Senators Sam Nunn and Richard Lugar, who developed the program in 1992.
Since that year, Nunn Lugar programs worked in Russia to dismantle and secure Cold War-era weapons of mass destruction, making it one of the most successful disarmament programs in history.
“…China’s Foreign Ministry, after Kim’s talks with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui, cited the North Korean, who has previously represented his country at talks to get it to halt its nuclear program, as saying North Korea wanted talks.
“The denuclearization of the Korean peninsula was the dying wish of Chairman Kim Il-sung and General Secretary Kim Jong-il,” the Chinese ministry said in statement, citing Kim as saying.
Kim Il-sung founded the country. His son Kim Jong-il, who died in 2011, oversaw North Korea’s first two nuclear tests. North Korea conducted a third test in February.
“North Korea is willing to have dialogue with all sides and attend any kind of meeting, including six-party talks, and hopes to peacefully resolve the nuclear issue via negotiation,” Kim Kye-gwan was cited as saying.
Zhang, for his part, said that talks, stability and the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula were in everyone’s best interests, China’s Foreign Ministry added…..”
Russia signals nuclear arms cuts will not come easy
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
“…. Russia voiced concern on Wednesday about U.S. missile defenses and high-precision conventional weapons, signaling that nuclear arms cuts proposed by President Barack Obama are likely to face formidable obstacles.
In a speech in Berlin, Obama said he wanted to reduce the strategic nuclear weapons the United States deploys by a third and would seek to negotiate cuts with Russia. The former Cold War foes possess the vast majority of the world’s nuclear weapons.
But Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated Moscow’s concerns about the anti-missile shields the United States and NATO are deploying, and said the development of high-precision non-nuclear weapons could upset the strategic balance….”
nuclear-news 