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Nuclear-friendly Magazine: Fukushima melted fuel is glowing, could still be ‘lava-like’ — Only vaguest idea of where corium is — Pouring concrete in structure being discussed — They may not be able to decommission plant, but have to give it a try

Screenshot from 2014-03-07 05:17:30

Published: March 6th, 2014 at 9:08 pm ET
By
http://enenews.com/nuclear-friendly-magazine-melted-fuel-fukushima-glowing-corium-could-be-lava-like-experts-only-vaguest-idea-pouring-concrete-structure-being-discussed-be-able-decommission-plant-give-try

IEEE Spectrum (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), Eliza Strickland, Feb 28, 2014:

  • [Japan’s nuclear experts] have only the vaguest idea of where the melted fuel ended up
  • Damaged reactor cores continue to glow with infernal heat
  • Containment vessels are riddled with holes
  • Reactors are kept in check only by ceaseless vigilance
  • To placate the furious Japanese public, [TEPCO must] remove every trace of the facility
  • TEPCO officials have admitted frankly that they don’t yet know how to accomplish the tasks
  • “At Fukushima you have wrecked infrastructure, three melted cores, and you have some core on the floor, ex-vessel,” [TEPCO adviser Lake] Barrett says
  • Nothing like Fukushima, [Barrett] declares, has ever happened before
  • There is no guarantee that this epic project can be accomplished — But faced with the wrath of the Japanese people, TEPCO has no choice but to try
  • Explosions […] sprayed radioactive materials throughout the buildings
  • Many of the leaks are thought to be in the suppression chambers, doughnut-shaped structures that ring the containment vessel
  • Rooms that surround them are now filled with water […] no easy way to spot the ruptures
  • TEPCO may [end up] pouring concrete into the suppression chamber
  • As long as that melted fuel glows inside reactors 1, 2, and 3, Fukushima Daiichi will remain Japan’s ongoing nightmare
  • Melted fuel may also have a lavalike consistency, with a hard crust on top but softer materials inside

In another article for IEEE Spectrum, the author of the report highlighted above wrote, “The calamity will undoubtedly improve nuclear plant design. True, the antinuclear forces will find plenty in the Fukushima saga to bolster their arguments.”

Also, IEEE appears on a Tepco document revealing a select group of entities that are “working together” with Tepco to “disseminate” Fukushima-related information.

See also: NPR and California Department of Public Health appear on document with nuclear-related U.S. entities ‘working together’ with Tepco to ‘disseminate’ Fukushima-related information

March 7, 2014 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Leak in massive Hanford nuclear waste tank getting worse and the US D.O.E. blatantly lying?

…….Based on information provided by the U.S. Department of Energy to date, there is no indication that waste from AY-102 has reached the environment. The state fully expects the federal government to provide all details about this leak as their investigation continues,” wrote Bellon in a statement to KING 5.

But Hanford sources who have firsthand knowledge of Tank AY-102 say the USDOE has yet to finish the testing needed to prove the nuclear waste has not breached the outer containment of the tank. The leak detection system connected to the AY-102 has indicated the waste has entered the environment…..

by SUSANNAH FRAME / KING 5 News

NWCN.com

Posted on March 6, 2014 at 10:16 AM

Updated today at 5:53 PM

 

http://www.nwcn.com/news/More-waste-leaking-between-walls-of-tank-248859301.html

RICHLAND, Wash. — Workers have found more waste leaking between the walls of a nuclear storage tank on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.

The waste was found in a new place between the walls of one of the 28 double shell tanks at the site. The US Dept. of Energy, which owns Hanford, says the waste is covering an area of 7 feet by 21 inches. The double shell tanks were built to be the most robust tanks at Hanford. They were constructed with the intent to be able to safely store the dangerous wastes until the technology to permanently dispose of the liquids is developed. A leak in a double shell tank is seen as one of the biggest setbacks to the cleanup program at Hanford in the last decade.

Workers tell KING they first saw signs of the new leak location on February 24 and confirmed it with a video inspection on March 3. This is the third identified leak location in the massive 1 million gallon underground storage tank known as AY-102.

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March 7, 2014 Posted by | Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Study claims -Fukushima Radiation May “have little long-term effect on wildlife” but the “Tsunami” is likely to be the cause for any effects perhaps?

……In addition to the billions being contributed to various bodies within the U.N. system, the United States provides 22 percent of the U.N.’s operating budget, more than twice as much as the No. 2 contributor, Japan (10.8 percent)….

……“It’s disturbing that no one, including our ambassador to the United Nations, knows exactly how much money we send the U.N. every year,” Enzi said in a statement.

“With a national debt exceeding $17 trillion, we need to be able to account for every dime we spend, including what we send to the U.N.”…..

…… 24  May 2013 – (The date of submission was JUST before the last meeeting so as to stop any challenges to the Japanese BAD SCIENCE)……

https://nuclear-news.net/2013/05/28/usa-and-japan-corrupt-united-nations-optional-protocol-fukushima-citizen-groups-lose-out/

…Deborah H. Oughton, a radioecologist at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. And more work is needed to learn how radiation and other stressors, such as the tsunami itself, affected wildlife in the area, she says….

Environment: Researchers estimate that radiation exposure from the 2011 nuclear disaster mostly remains below harmful levels for organisms
By Puneet Kollipara, special to C&EN
http://cen.acs.org/articles/92/i10/Fukushima-Radiation-Little-Long-Term.html

Radioactive material released during Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster, which unfolded in March 2011 as the result of a powerful earthquake and devastating tsunami, probably caused little long-term harm to wildlife within 100 km of the power plant, a new study suggests.

A team of scientists modeled radiation exposure caused by the crippled nuclear plant and found that the doses weren’t high enough to prevent populations of plants and animals from reproducing and surviving (Environ. Sci. Technol. Lett. 2014, DOI: 10.1021/ez500019j).

The work challenges previous studies that suggested Fukushima would lead to serious effects on wildlife, says Kathryn A. Higley, a radioecologist at Oregon State University. One such study reported a link between elevated radiation levels and abnormalities in insects (Sci. Rep. 2012, DOI: 10.1038/srep00570).

Fukushima ’caused mutant butterflies’ in Japan

Genetic mutations have been found in three generations of butterflies from near Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, scientists said on Tuesday, raising fears radiation could affect other species.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/9474312/Fukushima-caused-mutant-butterflies-in-Japan.html

But the new study’s use of more accurate modeling methods to estimate organisms’ radiation doses has allowed a better assessment of the radiation effects, says Higley, who wasn’t involved in either study.

After a tsunami damaged the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, three of its reactors melted down, causing radioactive nuclides to spew into the air and spread to nearby areas. Since the start of the incident, scientists have tried to estimate whether wildlife had been exposed to radiation levels that might hurt the ability of populations to reproduce and survive. [And poop – Arclight2011]

i-5617f714c6da0057fc8364ad30c435ce-penguin poop 1.bmp

i-b0611977f391521b583dd6adbc043ece-penguin poop 2.bmp

Using the Hagan-Poiseuille-equation for dynamic pressure, they determined that the pressure needed to project the poop depended on the viscosity of said poop. Observe Figure 2 (below), which illustrates the dependence of pooping pressure on viscosity.

This necessitated that the authors measure the penguin poop’s viscosity with a high-performance viscosimeter (not one of those cheap-o low-performance viscosimeters!). However, the readings were inconsistent due to all the fishbones and shrimp shells in the poop, but their best estimate was that the poop’s viscosity matched somewhere around that of olive oil. (Ew ew.) After this final value was obtained, they were able to complete the equation and estimate that the power of a penguin’s fart was somewhere in the range of 10kPa to 60 kPa.

http://scienceblogs.com/retrospectacle/2007/07/07/science-vault-projectile-pengu-1/

Most previous studies relied on dosimeters that measure only external dosage to wildlife. In the new study, Justin E. Brown of the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority and his colleagues used a model to estimate doses organisms received internally from ingesting radioactive material, which they say is a more accurate way to assess long-term risks.

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Image source ; http://theinternetpost.net/2013/05/20/nuclear-cover-up-at-fukushima-to-save-money-u-n-s-c-e-a-r-obliges-icrp-dose-advice-increased/

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March 7, 2014 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

UK nuclear future energy plans hit a slight snag – More trouble at Olkiluoto nuclear plant

Finnish nuclear plant already vastly over budget and overdue has slowed almost to a halt, embroiled in dispute and with no end in sight; it augurs badly for UK’s bloated nuclear ambition.

UK-subsidy

Posted March 6, 2014 by .

 

by Prof. Peter Saund

http://permaculturenews.org/2014/03/06/trouble-olkiluoto-nuclear-plant/

The nuclear renaissance that never was

When the Finnish government agreed in 2005 to the construction of a new reactor on the Olkiluoto site in the far north of the country, this was the first nuclear power plant to be ordered in Western Europe for 15 years. Supporters of nuclear energy greeted it as the start of a ‘nuclear renaissance’. But things have not worked out as hoped. Olkuiluoto 3 was supposed to cost €3.2 bn and is now expected to cost almost three times as much. It was supposed to be in operation by 2009 but the date keeps being put forward. And relations between the Finnish power consortium Teollisuuden Voima (TVO) and the French construction firm Areva have been described by Areva’s Chief Operating Officer as one of the biggest conflicts in the history of the construction sector [1].

From bad to worse

Things now seem to be going from bad to worse. According to Kauppalehti, the largest financial newspaper in Finland, far from activity on the site being pressed forward so as to get the job done, it is actually being run down [2]. There are fewer workers on the site than before, and the contracts of the foremen, which are typically for a year at a time and should be renewed by the end of March, are being allowed to lapse. Some of the less technically demanding work can continue without them, but most of the construction will have to stop and expert staff that leave and get other jobs will be hard to replace. One worker on the site, who preferred to remain anonymous, estimated that every month lost at this stage will add three months to the time to completion. Areva, in charge of building the plant, has not issued a new timetable, so we do not know when they now expect to complete their work. It seems certain that Olkiluoto 3 will not be operational before 2016, and sometime between 2018 and 2020 is probably a better guess

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March 7, 2014 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment