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Japanese soldiers to enter Fukushima radiation zone

Once More Into the Breach, TIME  by  , November 25, 2011 TOKYO – Japanese troops are being sent once again into the heart of the Fukushima radiation zone to battle contamination from the stricken nuclear power plant. Specially trained troops will enter the 20-kilometer (12.4 miles) exclusion zone around the plant next month to decontaminate abandoned government buildings and facilities…..

 About 400 troops from the Ground Self Defense Force’s Central Nuclear Biological Chemical Weapon Defense Unit will be sent to Fukushima.  They’ve been there before: Four members of the unit were injured in a hydrogen explosion at the plant on March 12.  Several helicopter pilots and crew received large doses of radiation while dumping seawater on one of the damaged reactors.

The soldiers are expected to finish their work in about a month. No word on when, or if, all the contamination will be gone…… http://battleland.blogs.time.com/2011/11/25/once-more-into-the-breach/#ixzz1eqfdOOoZ

November 27, 2011 Posted by | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

Earthquake risk to India’s planned huge Jaitapur nuclear plant

Jaitapur nuclear plant site not immune to earthquake: Experts Economic Times, 23 Nov 11 BANGALORE: Two leading geologists have warned that a magnitude 6-plus earthquake cannot be ruled out in Jaitapur – the proposed site of India’s largest 9,900 MW nuclear power plant on the west coast that has seen protests against it for safety reasons – and that it could occur within the lifetime of the power plant. Continue reading →

November 24, 2011 Posted by | India, safety | Leave a comment

Fukushima area – 5.9 magnitude earthquake

Magnitude-5.9 quake hits near Japan nuclear site, USA Today 24 Nov 11TOKYO (AP) – A strong earthquake struck Thursday morning near the Japan nuclear power plant hit by a powerful tsunami earlier this year. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the magnitude-5.9 quake struck shortly before 4:30 a.m. local time. It hit 62 miles (101 kilometers) east of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. The quake struck at a depth of 23 miles (37 kilometers).

The quake struck 151 miles (244 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center did not immediately issue a tsunami alert. Similar quakes have struck in the region since a March 11 magnitude-9.0 earthquake…

The region lies on the “Ring of Fire” — an arc of earthquake and volcanic zones that stretches around thePacific Rim. About 90% of the world’s quakes occur in the region.http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2011-11-23/japan-earthquake-1123/51372658/1

November 24, 2011 Posted by | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

Japanese seismologist predicted nuclear earthquake disaster

Disregard for the science extended to a government panel started in 2001 to revise seismic engineering standards for Japan’s nuclear plants, said Ishibashi. He quit the panel after five years of debate that he called rigged and unscientific…..

an article on Hamaoka published in the October 1997 issue of Japan’s Science Journal that reads like a post-mortem of the Fukushima disaster: A major quake could knock out external power to the plant’s reactors and unleash a tsunami that could overrun its 6-meter
defenses, swamping backup diesel generators and leading to loss of cooling and meltdowns.

Vindicated Seismologist Says Japan Still Underestimates Threat to Reactors, Bloomberg, By Jason Clenfield – Nov 21, 2011, Dismissed as a “nobody” by Japan’s nuclear industry, seismologist Katsuhiko Ishibashi spent two decades watching his predictions of disaster come true: First in the 1995 Kobe earthquake and then at Fukushima. He says the
government still doesn’t get it….
Haruki Madarame, now head of Japan’s Nuclear Safety Commission, from dismissing Ishibashi as an amateur when he warned of a “nuclear earthquake disaster,” a phrase the Kobe University professor coined in 1997. Ishibashi says Japan still underestimates the risk of operating reactors in a country that has about 10 percent of the world’s quakes. Continue reading →

November 23, 2011 Posted by | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

Danger of AREVA’s nuclear waste convoy from France to Germany

If the radioactivity from the transport was dispersed in an accident or an attack, Areva would be discharged from almost all liability. 

Last Minute information – high-risk transport from France to Germany leaving one day early, 21 Nov 11  Transport of highly radioactive nuclear waste will again cross France from west to east, and part of Germany, exposing people and the SNCF agents to  nuclear risks.  Originally scheduled this Thursday, 24 November, the train from Valognes railway terminal has been advanced one day by AREVA and SNCF to try to avoid the huge mobilisation that is being prepared. The convoy should leave Valognes on Wednesday 23 at 14:36.The two routes planned by the authorities from Amiens remain unchanged, the convoy could head north towards Arras or south to Reims. Eleven containers carrying 301 barrels of high activity waste “re-treated” at the Areva plant in La Hague (Manche).

A rolling Chernobyl : Europe again under the threat of a nuclear convoy at high risk The official inventory of radioactivity in the transport amounted to 3756.5 peta becquerel (PBq) or 3.75 billion billion Becquerel of Becquerel. For comparison, the convoy will transport many times the radioactivity released during the Chernobyl disaster [i]. Scattered in the environment, the radio-toxicity potential [ii] this convoy would be enough to poison the whole human race [iii]. Continue reading →

November 21, 2011 Posted by | France, Reference, safety | Leave a comment

European Union bans X-ray airport body scanners

EU bans airport body scanners over cancer fears Zee News, 18 Nov 11 London: The European Union has banned the controversial airport body scanners over fears the X-ray technology could cause cancer, a media report said.  Continue reading →

November 19, 2011 Posted by | EUROPE, safety | Leave a comment

France’s nuclear watchdog warns of safety flaws in reactors

France must tighten nuclear security after Fukushima, watchdog says, By RFI 17 November 2011 France must urgently improve safety in its 58 nuclear reactors in the wake of Japan’s Fukushima disaster, an official report published Thursday said. The head of the French nuclear watchdog warned of “small faults that could have serious consequences”. Continue reading →

November 19, 2011 Posted by | France, safety | Leave a comment

Nuclear fuel company fined for safety breach

Global Nuclear Fuel Fined for Near-Critical Amount of Uranium in Air Filters Nuclear Street, 16 Nov 11, Enough uranium accumulated in air filters at a North Carolina nuclear fuel plant earlier this year to pose a risk of criticality, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has determined…. http://nuclearstreet.com/nuclear_power_industry_news/b/nuclear_power_news/archive/2011/11/16/global-nuclear-fuel-fined-for-near_2d00_critical-amount-of-uranium-in-air-filters-111601.aspx

November 17, 2011 Posted by | incidents, USA | Leave a comment

Guilty plea in nuclear materials trafficking

Woman pleads guilty in US on Pakistan reactor deal Google News, 16 Nov 11 WASHINGTON — The former boss of a US company’s Chinese subsidiary pleaded guilty to illegally supplying material to Pakistan for use in a nuclear reactor and is now cooperating with US investigators…. http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jpFZDocKmk3MLn9RQXrDUsmItKMQ?docId=CNG.fca116c64091d56b372d5ceeb38eb

November 16, 2011 Posted by | incidents, USA | Leave a comment

Endangering, sorry, I mean protecting, London’s Olympic Games

Opening ceremony ticket holder Sharon James was delighted at the announcement, telling us, “If I’m going to be vapourised in an instant, I sure as hell want it to be at the hands of my own government, not because of some Johnny Foreigner on the look out for some after-life poontang.”

Nuclear warheads to protect Olympic village, claims Hammond, News Thump  (satire) 14 November 2011,  Defence Secretary Philip Hammond this afternoon confirmed that the Olympic games in London next summer will be protected from terrorist attack by a series of strategically placed nuclear devices.

In his first appearance at Defence Questions since taking over from Liam Fox, Hammond told MPs that the use of nuclear weapons in London would be a last resort in the face of a terrorist threat.

“We are prepared for every eventuality, and I want to make it clear that we would only destroy everything in and around London when all other options had been exhausted.” Continue reading →

November 15, 2011 Posted by | safety, UK | Leave a comment

“Duqu” new virus hits Iran’s nuclear programme

Iran claims defence computer systems hit by another ‘supervirus’, Telegraph UK Iran says its defence computer systems have been infected with another “supervirus” known to be similar to one which severely damaged its nuclear programme last year. By , Middle East Correspondent 14 Nov 2011 Anti-virus experts last month identified a virus called “Duqu” that they said shared properties with the now famous “Stuxnet” worm, which spread across the world but is thought to have been successfully targeted at the nuclear programme’s centrifuges, the devices that enrich uranium to create nuclear fuel.

It was not clear on Monday from the Iranian statement whether Duqu had also struck nuclear facilities, but it was the first admission of damage.

“We are in the initial phase of fighting the Duqu virus,” Gholamreza Jalali, the head of Iran’s civil defence programme, said. “The final report which says which organisations the virus has spread to and what its impacts are has not been completed yet….. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/8888967/Iran-claims-defence-computer-systems-hit-by-another-supervirus.html

November 15, 2011 Posted by | Iran, safety | Leave a comment

Radiation checks being done in Tokyo schools

Tokyo schools checked for radiation, ABC News, By North Asia correspondent,  November 14, 2011 Fears of nuclear fallout from the Fukushima disaster are increasing in
Japan, where local councils in Tokyo have begun checking schools and parks for radioactive contamination.

Tokyo’s metropolitan government has also announced spot checks of fresh and processed foods. In the playground of the Meguro Honcho Nursery School, young children
play in the dirt as officials test it for radiation from Fukushima. “There is no solution here,” said principal Michiko Ikeda, who has been hovering over a Geiger counter writing down readings. “We cannot say this is absolutely safe. Parents are worried about radiation, our staff too. “By taking these radiation measurements, we want to show that we care
for the children.”
Hiroshi Sato, from the local Meguro council, is also at the school to help test for radiation.
“Recently it became clear that radiation came further south than we thought, all the way to Tokyo,” he said. “So we are now checking dozens of schools in the Meguro area.”
In Tokyo, protesters marched past the offices of Fukushima’s owners TEPCO to demand protection for their children…. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-14/tokyo-schools-checked-for-radiation/3664228/?site=newcastle

November 15, 2011 Posted by | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

Terrorist act kills Iran’s nuclear missile chief: Israel responsible?

Israel reported ‘behind blast’ that killed Iran’s missile chief, by   14 November 2011   guardian.co.uk Time magazine quotes ‘western inteligencel source’ as saying Mossad carried out blast at missile base near Tehran

Time’s correspondent in Jerusalem, Karl Vick, is reporting that Israel was responsible for the huge blast on Saturday at a Revolutionary Guard missile base, about 35 km west of Tehran. Vick quotes a western intelligence source as saying that Mossad carried out the sabotage attack, adding that more such attacks are to be expected – “There are more bullets in the magazine.”

If true, it would be the most damaging blow to date in the covert waragainst Iran‘s nuclear weapons programme. It killed 17 Iranian revolutionary guardsmen, including the head of the missile programme, General Hasan Moghaddam, decribed in the Iranian press as “a pioneer” of Iran’s missile project [Farsi]. His official job description was head of the ‘self-sufficiency department” for munitions. The Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was at the funeral today…. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/julian-borger-global-security-blog/2011/nov/14/iran-nuclear-weapons?newsfeed=true

November 15, 2011 Posted by | Iran, Israel, safety | Leave a comment

Scene inside wrecked nuclear reactor in Japan

Scene of devastation inside Japan reactor SMH, 12 Nov 11Media allowed into Japan’s tsunami-damaged nuclear power plant for the first time on Saturday saw a striking scene of devastation: twisted and overturned trucks, crumbling reactor buildings and piles of rubble virtually untouched since the wave struck more than eight months ago.

Representatives of the Japanese and international media, including The Associated Press, were allowed into the plant with the government’s chief official in charge of the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986. The tour was intended to demonstrate how much the situation at the plant has stabilised since the March 11 tsunami, though reporters had to wear full-body protective gear and submit to radiation scans afterward.

Mangled trucks, flipped over by the wave, remain along the roads inside the complex. Piles of rubble stand where the walls of the plant’s reactor structures crumbled, and large pools of water still cover parts of the sprawling campus…….

the government has predicted that it will take another 30 years at least to safely remove the nuclear fuel and decommission the plant. It could also be decades before tens of thousands of residents forced to flee the 20km exclusion zone around the plant will be able to return. Some experts say even that estimate is optimistic….   –http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/scene-of-devastation-inside-japan-reactor-20111112-1ncx4.html

November 13, 2011 Posted by | Japan, safety | 1 Comment

Fire at Idaho National Nuclear Laboratory

Fire reported at nuclear research lab in Idaho, SALMON, Idaho Nov 12, 2011  (Reuters) – A sodium fire was reported on Friday at a U.S. nuclear research laboratory in Idaho but all workers had been moved to safety and there was no risk to the public, the lab said.

The fire was reported at the Materials and Fuels Complex at the Idaho National Laboratory, a sprawling Department of Energy site in the high desert of eastern Idaho about 40 miles from Idaho Falls…. The lab said fire crews had responded to the building, which is owned and operated by the private Idaho Cleanup Project, and that state, county and tribal officials had been notified.

The Idaho Cleanup Project is a private company contracted with the Department of Energy to clean up waste at the site  On Tuesday, at least six workers were contaminated by low-level plutonium radiation and 11 others were exposed following a mishap at the lab, the lab has said.

Some 6,000 employees and contractors work at the Idaho National Laboratory, the Energy Department’s leading facility for nuclear reactor technology. It opened in 1949 as a national reactor testing station… http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/11/11/idINIndia-60481720111111

November 13, 2011 Posted by | incidents | Leave a comment

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