Delay in Japan’s nuclear safety checks, no date for restarting reactors
Japan Won’t Set Dates for Restarting 50 Idled Nuclear Reactors, Bloomberg By Jacob Adelman & Masumi Suga – Nov 18, 2013 Japan’s nuclear regulator said it has no fixed schedule to complete safety checks at idled atomic plants, possibly delaying reactor restarts and the supply of cheaper energy the government wants to drive economic growth.
Speculation on when some of Japan’s 50 reactors would restart increased this year as the Nuclear Regulation Authority introduced stricter safety tests in July in response to the 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukushima. NRA Chairman Shunichi Tanaka said at the time the inspections would take about six months, suggesting some atomic plants may restart in January.
The NRA now says Tanaka was speaking generally and not citing a set schedule. “We are not sure when inspections will complete because the period of inspections depends largely on operators’ response,” NRA spokesman Tadashi Yamada said in an e-mailed response on Nov. 14. “We do not have a time frame.”
Any delays will be a setback for the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, which wants to restart some of the reactors to help drive Japan out of decades of economic stagnation. Delays also may foster growing public disapproval of nuclear power and dissent within his own party on the issue……..
Inspectors Wanted
The NRA has an advertisement for job openings for more inspectors on its website. The agency hasn’t decided how many inspectors it will hire, according to spokesman Yamada. The electricity utilities submitted restart applications for 10 reactors when the NRA began accepting inspection requests on July 8. Applications for another four units have since been filed…….
The inspections are taking place against a backdrop of repeated accidents and radioactive water leaks at Tokyo Electric’s Fukushima plant, further eroding support in the country for nuclear power.http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-18/japan-won-t-set-dates-for-restarting-50-idled-nuclear-reactors.html
Stolen uranium seized in Durban
Durban uranium stash sparks nuclear alert 2013-11-19 Rowan Philip and Jonathan Erasmus, The Witness Durban – A shopping bag filled with stolen uranium has been seized in a sting operation in Durban, triggering alarm among local and international nuclear watchdog agencies.
The kilogram of the radioactive material confiscated is believed to be a mere sample from a much larger batch, for which police are now hunting.
In a joint operation involving the Durban organised crime unit, crime intelligence and the department of minerals and energy, two men were arrested in their car opposite a shopping centre on the Bluff, following an informant’s tip-off…..
High Alert Time for Japan and nuclear power
Japan and nuclear power High alert The riskiest part yet of the Fukushima clean-up is soon to begin The Economist, Nov 16th 2013 | FUKUSHIMA AMONG the twisted metal and random debris that litter much of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, the fourth reactor looks in relatively good condition. A new structure covers the damage from a hydrogen explosion that blew its roof off days after a massive earthquake and tsunami hit the plant in March 2011. But the building is still unstable, and its spent-fuel storage pool highly dangerous. This month Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) will start plucking out over 1,500 radioactive rods from the pool in order to store them more safely. Over the pool a crane waits to start the procedure, and a yellow radiation alarm stands at the ready. Experts call the operation the riskiest stage of the plant’s clean-up so far.
Even the pro-nuclear ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) wants to take TEPCO in its current form out of the decommissioning process, which will take 40 or more years. A new entity, including the utility’s staff but separate from its commercial side, would take charge……..Junichiro Koizumi, a popular LDP former prime minister, has stepped in, calling for an immediate end to nuclear power. After he broadcast his views at a press conference, a poll showed that three-fifths of those who were surveyed backed his plan.
Mr Koizumi still knows how to rouse the public, says Jeff Kingston of Temple University in Tokyo, but there is little chance that Mr Abe’s commitment to nuclear power will change. His government’s links to the “nuclear village” are too strong. Big business is clamouring for the power stations to restart. Mr Koizumi’s style is certainly more orthodox than Taro Yamamoto’s. At a garden party, the new member of parliament dared to hand a letter to the emperor, Akihito, about the impact of the Fukushima catastrophe. Such direct contact with a near-divine was considered an outrage by everybody in the establishment (except Akihito, who carried on chatting with him). Japan’s nuclear-energy drama is far from over. http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21589912-riskiest-part-yet-fukushima-clean-up-soon-begin-high-alert
For USA’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission, not all nuclear plants have equal safety standards
NRC fails to apply standard earthquake protocols to Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant Cal Coast news. com, November 13, 2013 STATEMENT By UNION OF CONCERNED SCIENTISTS The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is not holding the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant in California to the same standards it requires of every other nuclear facility to address potential earthquake hazards, according to a report released today by the Union of Concerned Scientists. UCS prepared the report, “Seismic Shift: Diablo Canyon Literally and Figuratively on Shaky Ground,” for the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility.
“This is a dangerous double standard,” said David Lochbaum, director of UCS’s Nuclear Safety Project and author of the report. “At other facilities, the NRC enforced its safety regulations and protected Americans from earthquake threats. Today, in the case of Diablo Canyon, the NRC is ignoring its regulations, unfairly exposing millions of Americans to undue risk.”
It is widely known that Diablo Canyon sits near earthquake fault lines. In late 2008, the plant’s owner, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), informed the NRC about a previously unknown earthquake fault line running as close as 2,000 feet from Diablo Canyon’s two reactors that could cause more ground motion during an earthquake than the plant was designed to withstand. Since this new fault was discovered, the NRC has not demonstrated that the reactors meet agency safety regulations.
When similar concerns surfaced at nuclear facilities in California, Maine, New York, Pennsylvania and Virginia, the NRC did not allow the plants to continue to operate until the agency determined they met safety regulations. In particular, the NRC needed to be sure that a number of devices, including “shock absorbers” on piping and other components, would limit earthquake damage. In contrast, the NRC has allowed PG&E to continue to operate Diablo Canyon’s reactors despite this known threat……..
“Despite solid evidence that Diablo Canyon does not comply with federal safety requirements, the NRC continues to allow the plant to operate,” said Rochelle Becker, executive director of the Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility. “The NRC should enforce its safety regulations at Diablo Canyon.”
The Union of Concerned Scientists puts rigorous, independent science to work to solve our planet’s most pressing problems. Joining with citizens across the country, we combine technical analysis and effective advocacy to create innovative, practical solutions for a healthy, safe and sustainable future. For more information, go to www.ucsusa.org. http://calcoastnews.com/2013/11/nrc-fnrc-fails-apply-standard-earthquake-protocols-diablo-canyon-nuclear-plant/
Cotter uranium mill -closed, but still spilling radioactive water
Defunct Cañon City uranium mill discharges tainted water The Gazette, The Associated Press November 13, 2013 CANON CITY — A ruptured underground pipe discharged contaminated water from the defunct Cotter Corp. uranium mill near Cañon City.
The Denver Post reports that the contaminated water spill is the third in the last four years (http://bit.ly/HLG5jd).
The spill was reported Nov. 5. It was five to 10 times larger than previous discharges.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment says the company reported 4,000 to 9,000 gallons of water tainted with uranium and molybdenum spilled onto the ground…… http://gazette.com/defunct-caon-city-uranium-mill-discharges-tainted-water/article/1509264
Russia’s ambitious, but dangerous floating nuclear power plants
Russia’s floating nuclear plants to power remote Arctic regions, The Conversation, Tony Roulstone, 12 Nov 13 “…..Russia is embarking on an ambitious and somewhat imaginative programme of building floating nuclear power stations…… These reactors, mounted on huge, 140m by 30m barges, are being built in the Baltic shipyard in St Petersburg and will be floated through the Norwegian and Barents Seas to where they will generate heat and electrical power in the Arctic.
The first, Academician Lomonosov, has been built and its two 35MWe KLT-40S reactors are now being installed. Lomonosovis destined for Vilyuchinsk, on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Russian Far East where she will be operating by 2016. Up to ten similar plants are destined for similarly remote and unpopulated areas……. The KLT-40S reactor is fuelled by 30-40% enriched uranium, which falls outside what would be allowed for civil use (concern about weapons proliferation limits enrichment to very low levels). The reactors are built in factories and assembled in shipyards, where productivity is much higher and quality standards easier to police than on construction sites. But military reactors are designed with little thought for costs and because of their small power output it’s very likely that their lifetime generating costs will be several times that of large, grid-connected reactors, and many more times higher that of a gas power station…….
Just how safe Russian military reactors are is clouded in secrecy; we just don’t know how safe the KLT-40S is. Russia has successfully operated nine nuclear icebreakers over the past 50 years. On the other hand we know that seven Russian nuclear submarines have sunk, some due to reactor problems and others due to weapons explosion onboard, and a further ten reported reactor accidents. So this reactor’s pedigree is not unblemished.
Cooling systems for civil reactors have become very complex and this is a prime cause of soaring construction costs. It is difficult to install in a naval vessel the number of systems and separate them so that they provide redundancy should one fail. …..
As with many other aspects, we do not know whether the containment structure of the Russian reactors will be effective. Though the Russians are being imaginative in developing barge-mounted reactors to address a problem specific to their geography and their needs, the lack of openness makes it hard to see how useful their nuclear technology can be in the West……. http://theconversation.com/russias-floating-nuclear-plants-to-power-remote-arctic-regions-19994
Department of Environmental Protection to focus on radiation involved in gas drillig
DEP Secretary: regulating radiation may be “next frontier” of drilling oversight http://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2013/11/11/dep-secretary-regulating-radiation-may-be-next-frontier-of-drilling-oversight/ BY MARIE CUSICK 11 Nov 13 The state Department of Environmental Protection’s acting Secretary Chris Abruzzo says regulating the radioactive materials associated with gas drilling could be the “next frontier” of the agency’s oversight of the industry.
In an interview with the Scranton Times-Tribune, Abruzzo says the DEP is still in the midst of its year-long study into naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) and technologically enhanced material (TENORM).
“It will depend largely on what the results [of the study] show us,” Abruzzo told the newspaper. “It certainly has the potential to be the next frontier in terms of regulations coming out.” Although the DEP says it’s unlikely there is a threat to public health, concerns about radioactivity associated with oil and gas development persist.
A study published last month in the journal of Environmental Science and Technology found high levels of radiation and salinity in a creek near a drilling wastewater treatment facility in western Pennsylvania.
After submitting a lengthy criticism about the DEP’s radiation study, two organizations representing the state’s oil and gas industryannounced last week they will launch their own review of radioactive materials associated with their work.
Fukushima evacuees returning to areas of high level radiation
TV: “It’s a crime what’s happening at Fukushima” — People resettling areas 10 to 15 km from plant with “radiation levels still very, very high and even lethal in some cases” — Hotspots 60 to 70 km away same level as ghost towns in Chernobyl (VIDEOS) http://enenews.com/tv-its-a-crime-whats-happening-at-fukushima-people-resettling-areas-10-to-15-km-from-plant-with-radiation-levels-still-very-very-high-and-even-lethal-in-some-cases-ho
RT,, Nov. 7, 2013 — Kevin Kamps, Beyond Nuclear: Well, that’s a great tragedy that the Japanese government is allowing this [resettling near Fukushima] to happen. To within the closest 12.4 miles of the devastated nuclear power plant obviously the landscape is contaminated, the food supplies are contaminated. As your reporter said, it’s up to individual private citizens to try to figure out how bad the contamination is. The environmental groups are trying to help them. So, it’s beyond tragic, it’s a crime what’s happening at Fukushima Daiichi.
Abby Martin’s ‘Breaking the Set‘ with RT reporter Alexey Yaroshevsky, Nov. 8, 2013 (at 26:30 in): What struck me the most, and I’m saying that as a person who’s been in the Chernobyl exclusion zone […] The cities and towns which are located just 10-15 km from the nuclear power station where obviously radiation levels are still very, very high and even lethal in some cases. So those town have been reopened for settlers, we literally saw people rebuilding their houses in these areas and this is creating a huge concern in Japan […] In some other areas 60-70km from the nuclear power station, the areas which have never been included into an exclusion zone, which have never been under lockdown, raditional levels, the ones we’ve encountered, some hotbeds, hotspots of radiation we encountered have 3 microsieverts per hour. And this is the same level as the ghost town of Pripyat in the exclusion zone in the Ukraine, the level which would not allow humans to live in this area. Watch the report here
Eyes of the world on Fukushima, as critical nuclear fuel rods cleanup to begin
“They have to remove the fuel as early as possible – the risk from major structural failure leading to pool collapse is a greater threat than leaving the fuel in situ.”.
Radiation levels in those reactors are still too high for humans to enter, and attempts to use robots to determine the exact location of the melted fuel have failed. Instead, officials are placing their faith in the law of gravity, assuming only that the highly hazardous material lies somewhere deep inside the reactor basements.
Fukushima nuclear cleanup enters critical phase Tokyo Electric Power to begin removing more than 1,500 fuel assemblies from spent fuel pool in unprecedented operation Justin McCurry in Fukushima The Guardian, Friday 8 November 2013 Gazing down at the glassy surface of the spent fuel pool inside the No 4 reactor building at Fukushima Daiichi, it is easy to underestimate the danger posed by the highly toxic contents of its murky depths.
But this lofty, isolated corner of the wrecked nuclear power plant is now the focus of global attention as Japan enters the most critical stage yet in its attempt to clean up after the worst nuclear accident in the country’s history.
Later this month the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), will begin removing more than 1,500 fuel assemblies from the pool, the first step in a decommissioning process expected to last at least three decades.
On Thursday, the Guardian witnessed Tepco’s preparations for an unprecedented operation that the utility’s critics claim has the potential to end in disaster.
The risk posed to the reactor by earthquakes and other natural catastrophes has made removal of the fuel – 1,331 spent assemblies and 202 fresh ones – a matter of urgency. Continue reading
Soon to begin – the dangerous process of removing nuclear fuel rods from Fukushima Unit no. 4
Unit 4 presented particular dangers because its entire stock of fuel rods was in the pool at the time of the accident.
If the operation goes as planned, attention will then focus on the massive challenges posed by Units 1, 2 and 3.
Tepco will not confirm the precise timing of the fuel rod operation but after so much public outrage at the company’s handling of the crisis so far, scrutiny of this latest episode will be intense.
Fukushima nuclear plant set for risky operation http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-24843657 7 Nov 13 David Shukman A task of extraordinary delicacy and danger is about to begin at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power station.
Engineers are preparing to extract the first of more than 1,000 nuclear fuel rods from one of the wrecked reactor buildings. This is seen as an essential but risky step on the long road towards stabilising the site.
The fuel rods are currently in a precarious state in a storage pool in Unit 4. This building was badly damaged by an explosion in March 2011 following the Great Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Moving the rods to safety is a high priority but has only become possible after months of repair work and planning.
One senior official told me: “It’s going to be very difficult but it has to happen.” Continue reading
UN inspectors in Japan to monitor Fukushima radiation leaks
UN nuclear inspectors in Japan as China demands ‘accurate’ information on radiation Voice of Russia, 6 November 2013, Inspectors from the UN’s nuclear watchdog arrived in Tokyo Wednesday to monitor marine pollution near Fukushima as China demanded Japan provide “accurate” information on how it is handling the crisis.
China told the UN General Assembly it was worried about radioactive water leaks from the Japanese plant, which went into meltdown after being hit by a tsunami in March 2011.
“China follows closely the countermeasures to be adopted by Japan,” China’s deputy UN ambassador Wang Min told a debate on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
“We urge the Japanese side to spare no effort in minimising the subsequent impact of the accident and provide timely, comprehensive and accurate information to the international community,” Wang added……..
Fukushima “continues to be a source of serious concern, especially to adjacent countries, because of the spillage of contaminated water into the sea,” said South Korea’s deputy UN ambassador Sul Kyung-Hoon………
The first batch of IAEA experts arrived in Japan on Wednesday at the invitation of the Japanese government as it looks to bolster its credibility.
The two researchers from the Environment Laboratories in Monaco are planning to analyse sea water near Fukushima, the agency said.
Their analysis will contribute to the IAEA-led international peer review of Tokyo’s roadmap towards decommissioning the destroyed reactors, it said.
“One of the focuses of the mission is the contaminated water issue,” the agency said.
The experts are David Osborn, director of Environment Laboratories in Monaco, and Hartmut Nies, head of the Radiometrics Laboratory, it said…..: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2013_11_06/UN-nuclear-inspectors-in-Japan-as-China-demands-accurate-information-on-radiation-0357/
Japan postpones the perilous start to removing nuclear fuel rods from Fukushima reactor no.4
Postponed: Fuel removal attempt at Fukushima Unit 4 delayed, possibly for weeks — Gov’t safety agency wants tests conducted, as another ~M5 quake hits Eastern Japan http://enenews.com/postponed-fuel-removal-attempt-at-fukushima-unit-4-delayed-possibly-for-weeks-govt-safety-agency-wants-tests-conducted
The Japan Times, Nov 4, 2013: Tepco to conduct fuel removal test at reactor 4 […] Tokyo Electric Power Co. will conduct a fuel removal test at the No. 4 reactor building of the stricken Fukushima No. 1 power plant, delaying the start of the actual operation by up to two weeks, sources close to the matter said Monday. […]
The test was requested by the Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization. […] It has also urged Tepco to have its work evaluated by a group of Japanese and overseas experts formed by the International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning, a Tokyo-based organization founded by Japanese government agencies, nuclear facility manufacturers and electric power companies.
Kyodo News,, Nov. 4, 2013: TEPCO to conduct test for Fukushima No. 4 unit fuel removal […] The operator of the plant, crippled in the March 2011 quake and tsunami disaster, planned to start removing nuclear fuel from a cooling pool at the reactor building as early as next Friday. The decision comes after a government-affiliated nuclear safety agency called for an initial test operation, including transporting a protective fuel cask from the storage pool to another pool in a different building about 100 meters away for more stable conditions for cooling spent fuel, the sources said. The administrative agency, the Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization, has already inspected equipment to be used in the fuel removal work […]
From last Friday: Removal of Fukushima’s spent fuel on target: U.S. Energy Secretary -Reuters
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant will probably need a concrete tomb
Japan Nuclear Engineer: I don’t think they’ll ever get Fukushima’s melted cores; Will probably start covering reactors in concrete — German Expert: May encase areas in sarcophagus http://enenews.com/japan-nuclear-engineer-dont
November 4th, 2013
Helmholtz Special, 2012: Dr Walter Tromm is Spokesperson of the […] Nuclear Energy and Safety at the Karlsruhe Insititue of Technology, collaborates on international expert committees on the safety of nuclear reactors: “Debris and scrap metal are to be removed from the plant bit by bit in order to finally dismantle it and/or encase the areas with the highest degree of radioactivity in a sarcophagus.”
‘Fukushima‘ by Mark Willacy, book published July 1, 2013 (Excerpt): […] there was much -expert scepticism about whether the government’s 40-year road map would be achievable. ‘I also hope decommissioning can be completed in 40 years,’ said [nuclear-reactor engineer] Hiroaki Koide. ‘But I do not think it is possible.’ […] In an interview with me 20 months after the meltdowns, TEPCO also appeared to be backing away from its four-decade decommissioning road map, admitting that the task in front of the company was unprecedented. ‘We hope to accomplish it in 40 years as per our engineering schedule,’ said Junichi Matsumoto. ‘But we will need to develop manipulators and other jigs and containers to put the bits in.’ […] the gravest challenge would be locating and removing the melted cores inside reactors 1, 2 and 3. ‘I don’t think they can pick up the melted nuclear cores,’ said Koide.
‘Instead, they’ll probably start work to cover the reactors in a concrete sarcophagus. It will take them more than ten years to even begin this work. And then it will take decades to finish each sarcophagus.’
Mandatory disaster insurance for nuclear power, proposed at European Union
EU seeks nuclear power disaster insurance plan http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/11/05/3732827/eu-seeks-nuclear-power-disaster.htmlTHE ASSOCIATED PRESS 5 NOV 13 BRUSSELS – The European Commission’s energy chief says the bloc’s executive arm will present a proposal on mandatory disaster insurance for nuclear power plants in coming weeks.
Guenther Oettinger said Tuesday the proposal should be one of the first items on the European Parliament’s agenda following elections in May. He declined to elaborate.
The world’s nuclear power plants have hardly any coverage. Governments implicitly guarantee they’ll pay for the bulk of a disaster.
In several EU nations, required insurance only covers liabilities of a few hundred million dollars, while a worst-case scenario accident is estimated to cost up to hundreds of billions. In the U.S., the necessary insurance for nuclear operators is capped at just $375 million per plant, with further claims funded by utilities up to a maximum of $12.6 billion.
Russia raises awareness of Libya’s unguarded yellowcake uranium
Russia implores UN to take control of Libya’s ‘unguarded’ yellowcake uranium, Rt.com. November 05, 2013 Russia has asked the UN Security Council to look into the dangers posed by a badly-guarded stockpile of yellowcake uranium in the Libyan Desert. Recent reports have said that Al-Qaeda is interested in the supply as a potential nuclear weapon component. Continue reading
1 This Month
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Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
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