2013 September 16 « nuclear-news

TEPCO has been lying for 2 years, about radiation levels at Fukushima

Tepco admits to reporting false radiation levels for nearly 2 years at Fukushima http://enenews.com/tepco-admits-to-reporting-false-radiation-levels-for-past-2-years-at-fukushima
KBS, Sept. 14, 2013: Japanese media say the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) reported lower than actual levels of radioactivity in waters around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant for nearly two years. […] TEPCO said the inaccurate measurements were taken from July 2011 until May this year, resulting in concentration levels of radioactive cesium being reported some becquerels lower than the actual level. It said the measurements were taken one-point-three kilometers south of the nuclear plant. […]

NHK, Sept 14, 2013: TEPCO under-reported cesium measurements […] After being notified of the error by the Nuclear Regulation Authority, TEPCO discovered that its previous per-liter measurements were several becquerels lower than actual figures. TEPCO says the error was due to the wrong assessment of the impact of radiation in the surrounding area. […] Experts at the meeting criticized what they called an elementary mistake. They also said the matter should not be left to TEPCO alone and called for the Authority’s involvement.

September 16, 2013 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Fukushima 2013 | Leave a comment

The perilous state of Fukushima nuclear buildings Nos 1 to 4

Endless Fukushima catastrophe: 2020 Olympics under contamination threat Dr Helen Caldicott RT.com: September 15, 2013“…….The levels of radiation in buildings 1, 2 and 3 are now so high that no human can enter or get close to the molten cores. It will therefore be impossible to remove these cores for hundreds of years if ever

Buildings 1, 2 & 3

If one of these buildings collapses, the targeted flow of cooling water to the pools and cores would cease, the cores would become red hot and possibly ignite releasing massive amounts of radiation into the air and water and the fuel in the cooling pools could ignite. It is strange that neither the US government in particular nor the global community seem to be concerned about these imminent possibilities and exhibit no urge to avert catastrophe.

Similarly the global media is strangely disconnected with the ongoing crisis. Most importantly, the Japanese government until very recently has obstinately refused to invite and collaborate with foreign experts from nuclear engineering companies and/or governments.

Building 4

This structure was severely damaged during the initial quake, its walls are bulging, and it sank 31 inches (79cm) into the ground. On the roof sits a cooling pool containing about 250 tons of hot fuel rods, most of which had just been removed from the reactor core days before the earthquake struck. This particular core did not melt because TEPCO was able maintain a continuous flow of cooling water, so the rods and their holding racks are still intact, but geometrically deformed due to the force of the hydrogen explosion.

The cooling pool contains 8,800 pounds of plutonium plus over 100 other highly radioactive isotopes. Instead of this core melting into a larval mass like the other three cores, it sits exposed to the air atop the shaky building. A large earthquake could disrupt the integrity of the building, causing it to collapse and taking the hot fuel rods with it. The cooling water would evaporate and the intrinsic heat of the radioactive rods would ignite a fire as the zirconium cladding reacted with air, releasing the radioactive equivalent of 14,000 Hiroshima-sized bombs and 10 times more cesium than Chernobyl……..http://rt.com/op-edge/fukushima-catastrophe-nuclear-olympics-883/

September 16, 2013 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Fukushima 2013, Japan, Reference, safety | 1 Comment

Japan’s government wants nuclear power, but its future is doubtful

Japan’s uncertain nuclear future Australia Network News, 16 Sept 13 Japan has begun the process to become nuclear power-free for just third time in more than 40 years, after the country’s only reactor was disconnected from the power grid ahead of planned maintenance.

Nuclear power has provided about a third of Japan’s electricity, but the industry came to a virtual halt following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.

Kansai Electric Power will gradually take offline the No. 4 reactor at its Oi nuclear plant in Fukui prefecture in western Japan.

The work was scheduled to start Sunday evening, with the reactor expected to stop power generation after several hours before coming to a complete stop early Monday.

The Kansai reactor was the only one of Japan’s 50 reactors in operation, although several operators have applied to restart their reactors under new rules which were developed following leaking at Fukushima.

The last time Japan went without nuclear power was in the period between May and June 2012 and that was the first shutdown since 1970. However, the nuclear-free energy is expected to only be temporary, with industry projections pointing to reactor restarts as soon as December.

But opinion polls show a majority of Japanese are opposed to restarts and want to end the country’s reliance on atomic power.

“The argument that no nuclear power dents the economy would be myopic, considering that if by mistake we had another tragedy like Fukushima, Japan would suffer from further collateral damage and lose global trust,” the head of the Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies, Tetsunari Iida, said.

“In the new economy, the less you use energy, the more value-added you become. The big chorus for nuclear power is hampering the efforts to move to a new, more open economy.”.,….http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-15/an-japan-nuclear-free/4958932

September 16, 2013 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

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