2015 July 07 « nuclear-news

Fuel is loaded into Kagoshima reactor as first restart nears

Kyushu Electric Power Co. on Tuesday afternoon began loading fuel into the No. 1 reactor at its Sendai power station in preparation for a restart in mid-August, the first under safety standards adopted in response to the Fukushima crisis.
The 890,000-kilowatt unit in the city of Satsumasendai, on the west coast of Kagoshima Prefecture, will also be the first to be brought back on line since 2012.
But local concerns remain about the possibility of damage due to volcanic activity and how people living within 30 km of the two-reactor plant would be evacuated if a disaster hits.
A spokeswoman for Kyushu Electric said the fuel loading is a 24-hour operation and involves inserting into the reactor 157 fuel rod assemblies currently stored in an adjacent fuel pool. The first fuel was loaded early Tuesday afternoon, she said, and the last of the assemblies are expected to be inserted by Friday.
If there are no problems with loading the fuel and starting up the reactor, further safety checks of the electricity grid will be conducted. If given the all-clear, Kyushu Electric will begin selling nuclear-generated electricity by mid-September.
The Sendai No. 1 reactor passed the Nuclear Regulation Authority’s safety standards last September, making it the first reactor since the March 11, 2011, quake and tsunami and three meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 plant to be cleared for restart under the new rules.
With the exception of Kansai Electric Power Co.’s Oi No. 3 and No. 4 reactors in Fukui Prefecture, which were online from July 2012 to September 2013, all of Japan’s commercial reactors have been offline since the disaster.
The NRA has also cleared the Sendai No. 2 reactor, which Kyushu Electric hopes to restart by mid-October. Since the stricter requirements for restarts went into effect in July 2013, operators have applied for safety inspections on 25 reactors at 15 plants nationwide.
The loading of the fuel into the Sendai No. 1 reactor came the same day as the government announced revisions to the basic disaster response plan that, it says, will improve communications and coordination between Tokyo and local entities if a natural and nuclear disaster occur at the same time.
But Ryoko Torihara, a resident of Satsumasendai and a long-term anti-nuclear activist, said that the NRA, Kyushu Electric and local officials are rushing to a restart without a thorough analysis of the risk of volcanic damage and with questions remaining about evacuation plans.
“It’s quite strange the NRA did not have any volcanic experts on its committee when it accepted the word of Kyushu Electric that the possibility of a gigantic volcanic eruption, called a caldera eruption, was extremely small,” she said. In addition, evacuation plans for those within 30 km of the plant are vague. There are questions about how to assist the infirm, or even whether there would be enough bus drivers to help get people out, she said.

Source: Japan Times
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/07/07/national/fuel-loaded-kagoshima-reactor-first-restart-nears/#.VZxMhfmFSM_

July 7, 2015 Posted by dunrenard | Japan | Nuclear Plant Restart, Sendai | Leave a comment

Fukushima town residents protest official’s comment about radiation safety

Nuclear evacuees from the Fukushima Prefecture town of Naraha have protested over a government official’s comment that he thinks the safety of the town’s drinking water is “a psychological issue.”

The whole town was designated as a no-entry zone after the Fukushima No.1 Nuclear Power Plant disaster, but is set to have its evacuation order lifted on Sept. 5, as announced by Vice-Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yosuke Takagi on July 6 when he visited the town. After the announcement, he held a press conference where, in response to a reporter’s question he pointed out that radioactive cesium amounts in Naraha tap water are below the detectable level, and said, “People differ in how they think about radiation. I think whether you think (the water source is) safe or not is a psychological issue.”

There is deep-rooted concern among town residents after sampling in July last year by the Ministry of the Environment found up to 18,700 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram of soil at the bottom of the reservoir at the Kido Dam. That reservoir is the source of tap water for the town.

After Takagi’s comment, a Naraha resident in his 60s who has already finished reconstructing his house in preparation for returning to the town said, “That comment makes me lose my desire to go back. Does he intend to say it’s people’s own fault (that they feel unsafe)?”

Another resident in her 50s said, “If he (vice-economy minister Takagi) could understand the feeling of wanting to return to one’s hometown, he would not have said such a thing.”

Naraha will be the third no-go zone to have its evacuation order rescinded, after the withdrawal of one for the Miyakoji district of the city of Tamura in April last year, followed by the eastern part of the village of Kawamura in October. It will be the first of the seven municipalities in the prefecture where all residents had been ordered to evacuate to have the order lifted.

At first, the government was aiming to have Naraha’s order lifted in early August, but after criticism that there were not enough measures in place to help residents live there, the government delayed the lifting of the evacuation order by around a month to prepare additional measures such as increasing the number of free buses.

“We are reminded once again that the government can’t be trusted,” said Naraha resident Noboru Endo, 43, who is living in the western Tokyo suburb of Musashino as an evacuee with his 9-year-old son Shota. He feels that the national government is not listening to the voices of those calling for the safety and ease of mind of Naraha residents.

Endo’s wife Katsuko, 40, stayed behind in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture for her job, but Endo, who worked as a cook in Naraha, decided to evacuate with Shota, a kindergartener at the time of the disaster, for the sake of his son’s health.

These days, Shota is enjoying school in Musashino. He has made many friends there and says he doesn’t want to leave. With over four years having passed since the nuclear disaster, life as evacuees is changing into the norm for this family.

Every day, however, Endo wants more to return to his hometown and live there with his family. There was a briefing in late June held in Tokyo by the national government for Naraha residents ahead of the scheduled lifting of the evacuation order. Endo brought Shota with him to let him know about the current situation in Naraha and so he wouldn’t forget about going back to their hometown.

However, Endo is dissatisfied with the national government not showing any concrete measures for what it will do about the high levels of radioactive cesium at the bottom of the reservoir.

“Even if the government tells us our tap water is safe, how can we relax? If my generation, who have children, do not return, my hometown will not recover. That’s why I want to return, and I want the government to do everything it can to prepare a safe living environment there,” Endo says.

Source: Mainichi

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150707p2a00m0na019000c.html

July 7, 2015 Posted by dunrenard | Japan | Evacuees, Fukushima continuing | Leave a comment

Evacuation of Fukushima town of Naraha to be lifted Sept. 5

The Japanese government has decided to lift in early September its evacuation order for the deserted town of Naraha near the destroyed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
Economy and industry state minister Yosuke Takagi informed Naraha Mayor Yukiei Matsumoto of the decision on Monday. Takagi serves as head of the government’s local task force on the nuclear disaster.
Takagi said lifting the evacuation order on September 5th would meet the expectations of residents who wish to return home. He said it would also help post-disaster rebuilding efforts.
Mayor Matsumoto accepted the government’s decision.
The central government had earlier planned to lift the evacuation order by mid-August. But the plan was postponed because residents expressed concerns over radiation and shortages of medical clinics and other infrastructure.
All of the town’s approximately 7,400 residents were forced to relocate because of the nuclear accident.
The town is the first municipality totally emptied after the disaster to have its evacuation order lifted.

Some residents of the town of Naraha near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant believe the September 5th expiration of the government-ordered evacuation is too early.

All of the town’s residents were forced to relocate because of the nuclear accident. On Monday, some of them living in temporary housing in the city of Iwaki in Fukushima Prefecture voiced their concerns.

An 81-year-old man said many houses in the town have not yet been repaired, and the government is irresponsible for making the decision to lift the evacuation order. He said the town has no doctors or shops where residents can buy goods.

A 73-year-old woman said she does not understand why the government is lifting the order as soon as September 5th. She said public housing has not yet been built for people who lost their homes in the March 11th disaster.

A 39-year-old mother of a 9-year-old girl said she is concerned about radiation and the safety of water. She says senior residents without vehicles may have difficulty visiting hospitals.

A man aged 68 says it is hard for him to judge whether the decision is proper, but even if the order is lifted, nothing would change. He says that even after decontamination efforts, there are still some spots with high levels of radiation.

A 75-year-old man said he went to Naraha on Monday and couldn’t imagine when reconstruction would be finished. He says he wants to return as soon as the government creates an environment residents can return to without worries.

Residents who have been temporarily staying at their homes in Naraha expressed mixed reactions to the government’s lifting of the evacuation order in September.

All residents of the town near the troubled Fukushima Daichi nuclear plant were evacuated after the 2011 disaster. They are allowed to visit their homes or stay there temporarily.

An 82-year-old resident visiting her home said she welcomes the lifting of the evacuation order. She said the decision about whether to return should be left to each resident.

Another woman who had been staying at her Naraha home for 4 days said that hospitals, stores and other facilities are still not open. She said it is too early to lift the evacuation order. She also said it is scary at night as no one lives in the houses in her neighborhood.

Haruo Suzuki and his wife returned home in April when the government allowed residents to temporarily stay. The couple said that if the evacuation order is lifted, they can return to a quiet life at home.

Suzuki’s wife still buys bottled water for preparing meals and tea because she is concerned about radioactive materials in local water. The couple said they go to a supermarket in Iwaki City once or twice a week to buy meat, vegetables, fish and more. They said shopping is their biggest problem and that they want the issue to be resolved soon.

Sources: NHK

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150706_25.html

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150707_04.html

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150707_05.html

July 7, 2015 Posted by dunrenard | Japan | Evacuees, Fukushima continuing | Leave a comment