Japan should not be complacent about Tokyo’s risk of another nuclear catastrophe
The ongoing fallout from Japan’s nuclear meltdown, East Asia Forum 7 March 2015 Simon Avenell, ANU
Four years after the earthquake and tsunami of March 2011, Japan’s leaders and citizens still face many complex challenges. Among these, none is more complicated than the issue of nuclear power.
Concerns remain about the containment of radioactive waste and the progress of decommissioning the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant. Periodic media reports of radioactive water spilling into the Pacific Ocean have not inspired confidence. Instead, they directly undermine Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s strong desire to restart Japan’s 54 nuclear reactors, which have been offline since the disaster.
There is still controversy about how to dispose of contaminated topsoil and other radioactive material scattered around Fukushima. Locals want their land decontaminated and habitable, and very few communities want a stockpile of radioactive waste in their backyard.
The level of uncertainty was patently obvious when the Science Council of Japan proposed that the radioactive waste material be stored at an above-ground facility for 50 years while officials and citizens devised a better option. But it has been difficult to find a locality willing to accept this material even in the short-term. Only in late February 2015 did Fukushima Governor Masao Uchibori finally agree to establish interim storage facilities in the towns of Futaba and Okuma. The radioactive waste is to be permanently disposed of ‘outside the prefecture’ in 30 years’ time……..
Farmers whose lands were contaminated with radioactive fallout must make difficult decisions. Cleaning contaminated topsoil and foliage is an expensive undertaking and does not guarantee the elimination of radioactive hotspots. Some farmers are retooling and moving into other forms of agriculture (such as greenhouse production), but this can be costly and time-consuming and is not easy for elderly, established farmers. Younger farmers with families must also weigh up the health risks of taking their children back into areas deemed decontaminated.
But even if agricultural operations begin to revive, convincing consumers that Fukushima produce — rice, fruit, and seafood — is safe will not be easy. Advertising campaigns publicising the rigorous testing procedures for Fukushima produce run the risk of fuelling consumer concern rather than mitigating it.
Community rebuilding and restoration challenges also remain. In late 2014, around 90,000 people whose homes were destroyed in the disaster were living in temporary housing. A similar number were living in public and privately owned apartments financed by municipal governments, taking the total number of displaced persons to around 180,000……..
now scientists are predicting a similar calamity for the Tokyo region.
If such a disaster were to occur, the knock-on effects for the economy and society could be catastrophic. Tohoku certainly proved that even seismologists can miss the ‘big one’, but it’s the after effects that have demanded a serious rethinking of Tokyo’s disaster preparedness. Scientists are saying there is a 70 per cent chance that a magnitude 7.0 or higher quake will hit Tokyo by 2016 and a 98 per cent chance it will hit in the next 30 years.
Whether or not this eventuates, Tohoku and the disaster at Fukushima Daiichi should be a warning about the dangers of complacency.
Simon Avenell is Associate Professor in History and an Australian Research Council Fellow at The Australian National University.http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2015/03/07/the-ongoing-fallout-from-japans-nuclear-meltdown/
Slow start to removing nuclear fuel rods from Fukushima reactor No 3
4 Years On: Fuel Removal from Fukushima Storage Pool Remains Tough http://jen.jiji.com/jc/eng?g=eco&k=2015030300490 Fukushima, March 5 (Jiji Press)--Beginning in fiscal 2015, Tokyo Electric Power Co. <9501> plans to begin removal of fuel assemblies from one of the storage pools at its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, which was left crippled four years ago in Japan’s worst nuclear accident.
In the No. 3 reactor pool are 514 spent fuel assemblies and 52 unused assemblies. “Removing all fuel bundles from pools in the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors would substantially lower the level of risk at the plant,” says Toyoshi Fuketa, acting head of the Nuclear Regulation Authority.
Removal of fuel assemblies from the No. 4 reactor pool was completed in December.
However, work to begin emptying the No. 3 reactor pool of assemblies has been slow due to the extensive damage the reactor building suffered from a hydrogen explosion that occurred shortly after the nuclear power plant was hit by the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and subsequent monster tsunami on March 11, 2011. A lot of debris remains in the storage pool alongside the assemblies.
Among the debris is a 35-ton piece of equipment used to exchange fuel assemblies. Its presence is a major obstacle to beginning the removal work.
Nuclear restarts in Japan could be years away, due to legal battles
Japan court battles could delay nuclear restarts further
*Injunctions could delay nuclear restarts by years
* Activist lawyers to contest every unit that passes safety checks
* Judge in Takahama case same that ruled against Ohi restart
By Mari Saito and Kentaro Hamada TOKYO, March 5 (Reuters) – The fight over restarting Japan’s nuclear industry is moving to the courts, where power companies face the risk of further delays in firing up idled reactors if judges side with local residents worried about nuclear safety.
Four reactors owned by two utilities cleared regulatory safety checks in recent months, potentially soon ending more than a year without atomic power in Japan, the first such spell in the four decades the nation has been using nuclear energy.
And while ruling politicians and Japan’s bureaucracy are pushing the restarts, the judiciary – which typically sided with power companies before the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster – may be shifting its attitude.
Judges are now considering injunctions that could halt the restarts and indefinitely extend the countrywide shutdown of Japan’s 48 reactors that followed Fukushima, posing a threat to power companies already surviving on government support.
“Japan’s courts have always been hesitant to properly check the state and its legislative process,” but the shift in public opinion against nuclear power may have turned some judges in favour of residents, said Hiroshi Segi, a former judge turned critic of Japan’s judicial system.
The court decisions, which might come this month – four years after the earthquake and tsunami that knocked out the Fukushima reactors – could mean months, even years of delays and hundreds of millions of dollars in losses for Kansai Electric Power and Kyushu Electric Power…..
The plaintiffs contend the utilities are underestimating the earthquake risks at Sendai and Takahama and not meeting tougher post-Fukushima standards. Residents also say the government has not set credible evacuation plans in case of a nuclear accident.
Kaido’s team of anti-nuclear lawyers are planning to seek injunctions on every plant that wins regulatory approval.
“Judges must know that their decision could stop the next nuclear accident,” Kaido said…….
DIM PROSPECTS
The lead judge in the Takahama case, Hideaki Higuchi, ruled against restarting Kansai Electric’s Ohi plant in May last year, a rare victory for activists.
“I think residents could win the (Takahama) shutdown in Fukui District Court,” said Akihiro Sawa, a former official with the Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry, which oversees electric power companies.
Sawa, now a research director at the 21st Century Public Policy Institute, affiliated with Japan’s biggest business lobby, said he has been warning utility executives to take the lawsuits seriously…….
In the Ohi decision last May, the Fukui court judge said protecting residents’ health from a potential nuclear accident was more important than any financial gains the country may get from restarting stalled plants.
“I am hopeful that the Sendai judge will feel the same,” Kaido said. http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/04/japan-nuclear-idUSL1N0VR09720150304
Two new big solar projects for Japan
Eurus Energy brings two Japan projects online in Fukushima and Miyagi regions http://www.pv-tech.org/news/eurus_energy_brings_two_more_japan_projects_online By Liam Stoker – 04 March 2015 Operations at two new large-scale solar projects in the earthquake-affected Japanese prefectures of Miyagi and Fukushima have been started by Eurus Energy Group.
The new mega-solar projects – the Eurus Tenmyo Solar Park in Miyagi and the Eurus Yabukinakajima Solar Park in Fukushima – will have a total output of 14 MW and 8MW respectively, making them the largest solar plants in their respective prefectures.
The projects have both been eligible for subsidies under the Projects for Developing and Implementing Measures for Promotion of Power Generation Facilities Based on Renewable Energies, a plan prompted by the region’s earthquake and subsequent nuclear disaster in April 2011.
The feed-in tariff introduced in July 2012 to trigger more PV development has resulted in Japan establishing a significant solar pipeline, with these two projects the latest to contribute towards the country’s PV boom that has placed it in the top three solar nations in the world in terms of deployment.
Canadian Solar, which has significantly stepped up its interest in various segments of the Japanese PV market, has supplied modules for the Miyagi-based solar park while Japan’s Kyocera Corporation has supplied modules for the Fukushima-based project, a development that comes despite last month’s news that the electronics firm’s solar module sales revenues in Q4 2014 had been weaker than expected.
Power generated from the two projects is to be sold to Tohoku Electric Power Company while their completion has taken Eurus’ solar capacity in the country to 84 MW.
New study to begin on Fukushima radiation effects
Colorado State to team up with Japan to study Fukushima nuclear accident By Danielle Haynes 
FORT COLLINS, Colo., March 5 (UPI) — Colorado State University, in conjunction with Fukushima University in Japan, are funding a study of the effects of a nuclear accident in the Japanese city following a 2011 earthquake.
The two schools are combining to hire an authority on nuclear and radiation risks, CSU alumnus Thomas Hinton, to how radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident has affected wildlife and the environment……http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2015/03/05/Colorado-State-to-team-up-with-Japan-to-study-Fukushima-nuclear-accident/5031425582689/
A swamp of radioactive material around crippled Fukushima nuclear facility
Area around Fukushima plant is now a ‘swamp of radioactive material’ Friday, August 01, 2014 by: David Gutierrez, staff writer(NaturalNews) Speaking on a radio program, Kyoto University assistant professor Hiroaki Koide commented that the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has become like a swamp filled with radioactive material.
Koide was referring to the fact that, ever since the meltdowns triggered by a March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) has been relying on a constant influx of water to keep the plant cool. The process of flowing past the reactors renders the water radioactive, however, so radioactive water has been accumulating at the plant for years. In that time, multiple leaks have caused the contaminated water to spill into the surrounding area, creating a sort of radioactive swamp…… : http://www.naturalnews.com/046266_Fukushima_radioactive_material_contamination.html#ixzz3TZCDovhe
Potential for growth in Japan’s solar industry
Key Japanese takeaways from PV Expo, Japan solar
Panasonic is hoping its new home energy management system products will educate consumers and their families on energy use, in turn driving wider social acceptance of the technologies and their uses. PV Tech Andy Colthorpe. 5 Mar 15
As regular readers of the site will have seen already, PV Tech was at Tokyo’s PV Expo last week. Japan has been relatively ambitious with regards to solar for many years, even ahead of the introduction of the feed-in tariff (FiT) in July 2012. Thin-film manufacturer turned vertically integrated solar services provider Solar Frontier, for instance, was established as a subsidiary of petrochemical company Showa Shell in response to the OPEC oil price shock of the 1970s.
The boom that came with the introduction of the feed-in tariff (FiT), however, turned this primary focus on R&D into the development of enough gigawatts of utility-scale PV to put Japan in the top two or three solar nations on the planet in terms of deployment.
Much has been made of the grid connection and land shortage issues now facing utility-scale solar in particular, not least by PV Tech. There is an understanding that once the currently existing pipeline of projects is deployed, Japanese utility-scale PV, or megasolar as it is known in the country, will cease to go ahead in any significant numbers. That said, the pipeline stands at more than 50GW, which is a lot of solar in anyone’s book. Project investment and project rights trading are keeping the megasolar sector busy along with actual construction and design activities.
Beyond that, of course, it will be all about the diversification of the maturing industry, whether Japan’s commercial rooftop sector will pick up where megasolar left off, and whether Japanese households will keep installing their own systems. The former remains to be seen, while the forthcoming energy market deregulation process and the activities of both solar energy services companies and their partners in the house construction industry could drive the latter to new heights……http://www.pv-tech.org/editors_blog/key_japanese_takeaways_from_pv_expo_tokyo
Fukushima company to build 400 unmanned surveillance aircraft
DRONES TO BE MASS-PRODUCED IN FUKUSHIMA http://fukushimaupdate.com/drones-to-be-mass-produced-in-fukushima/
Kikuchi Seisakusho plans to produce 400 unmanned surveillance aircraft at its plant in Minamisoma in Fukushima Prefecture. “Fukushima is a suitable production site given its need to measure radiation,” said Nonami, a professor at Chiba University. “We also hope that production will help the region’s recovery.”
The drone, 50 centimeters in height and 90 centimeters in diameter, can fly for up to 30 minutes at a time at speeds of up to 36 kph. With six propellers, it weighs only about three kilograms but can carry loads of up to six kilograms. It will be priced at around ¥2 million to ¥3 million.
The drone made a demonstration flight Friday, taking photos from 20 meters above the ground. A larger drone currently under development, with the capacity to carry loads of up to 30 kilograms, was also shown.
The use of drones is expected to spread for tasks such as measuring radiation, shooting movies and monitoring social infrastructure such as bridges, as well as for work related to the decommissioning of reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 plant.
The United States is considering regulating the use of drones to protect privacy and ensure safety. A similar debate may also take place in Japan ahead of their full implementation.
“Radioactive cover-up” at Fukushima — Experts believe “other sources of contamination” are flowing into ocean
March 1, 2015
Asahi Shimbun, Feb 28, 2015 (emphasis added): The nation’s nuclear watchdog body slammed [TEPCO] over its failure to disclose information on the leakage of radioactive rainwater into the sea… TEPCO President Naomi Hirose… apologized profusely… TEPCO became aware more than a year ago that the concentration of radioactive materials in the water flowing… was high [first disclosing it to regulators] January 2014… TEPCO continued to conceal details, including the fact that the concentration became high whenever it rained… However, TEPCO had decided long ago there was no need to monitor rainwater for radioactive materials.
NHK transcript, Feb 27, 2015 : Experts and local government officials visited the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to examine sources of contaminated water flowing into the sea… Experts urged the operator to investigate whether rooftops of other reactor buildings are also sources of tainted water.
Yomiuri Shimbun, Feb 26, 2015: NRA chief slams TEPCO for data reporting delay… after rainwater contaminated with high-level radioactive materials leaked… into the sea… TEPCO reported in January last year that the radioactivity concentration in that trench was higher… TEPCO at last announced… high-level radioactivity [in water] on the rooftop of the No. 2 reactor building… might be one of the sources of contamination… The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry… pointed out the likelihood of there being other sources of contamination… The Fisheries Agency on Wednesday conducted an emergency hearing with TEPCO officials… and told the utility firm to take measures to minimize damage impacting marine products… “We urge TEPCO to make details clear.”
Japan Times, Feb 26, 2015: [Tepco] admitted Thursday that its latest problem with radioactive water has shattered the trust it was building in Fukushima… and that the decommissioning of the Fukushima No. 1 plant might be delayed [after] the surge in radiation detected in the water draining into the sea… The utility said the source of the contamination is the roof of the No. 2 reactor building, which… remains heavily contaminated.
Naohiro Masuda, head of Tepco’s unit in charge of scrapping Fukushima Daiichi: “The trust of the people in Fukushima is the most important thing… we have damaged that trust… Due to the damaged trust, all of the schedules for the decommissioning tasks could be delayed.”
Arirang, Feb 26, 2015: Tokyo under fire for alleged cover-up of radioactive water — [TEPCO] is under heavy fire for staying silent over a radioactive leak… flowing into the Pacific Ocean.
Source: Enenews
New report on remarkable rise in cancer incidence near Fukushima nuclear power plant
Cancer Rates Soar By 6000% Near Fukushima Site, New Report Shows http://yournewswire.com/cancer-rates-soar-by-6000-near-fukushima-site-new-report-shows/#sthash.vDZTGCNV.dpuf by Sean Adl-Tabatabai 27 Feb 15 Cancer rates in areas surrounding the Fukushima nuclear reactor in Japan have soared by 6000% according to reports, yet the government and media are carrying on as if its business as normal.
According to Naturalsociety.com:
As reports from individuals like Chieko Shiina, a supporter of the Fukushima Collaborateive Clinic talk about exploding rates of thyroid cancer in children, as well as an epidemic of leukemia, heart attacks, and other health problems, the Abe-led government and US continue to sweep the fall out of the Fukushima disaster under the rug.
Cancer rates have exploded at an increase of almost 6000% in areas near the reactor meltdown. Aside from people-on-the-street interviews that a rare media outlet like “Hodo station” will report on, mainstream media stays completely silent. One Japanese resident,Carol Hisasue, laments that as the incident has disappeared from the media, it has also disappeared from people’s consciousness.
So why does Fukushima continue to be a see no evil, hear no evil event? You can watch an over hour-long report that goes into detail, but to sum it up, people can’t even turn on their gas-stoves near Fukushima because “it would be like burning radioactive fuel in their kitchens.” The contamination levels are too ridiculous to even comprehend.
No matter if the accident was caused by a purposeful nuclear attack, an act of weather warfare (as some conspiracy analysts have suggested), or by the sheer greed of the nuclear industry who built it, it is essentially a massive nuclear weapon on fault lines. The Japanese government and TEPCO are guilty of crimes against humanity, and their neglect is compounded by a complete disregard, not only for human life, but for all life upon this planet.
The US is also responsible. After the spotlight was put on failing plants across the United States that continue to leak radiation into our air, water, and soil every day, the multi-billion dollar, US taxpayer-subsidized contracts of the nuclear industry came into question. And you can be sure any real inquiry into the infrastructure of our nuclear plants was hushed up as quickly as concerns were raised.
The World Health Organization once warned that cancer rates could soar 50% in less than 20 years – but we’ve already surpassed that estimate, which once seemed catastrophic, exponentially.
So tell me – why are we in such a hurry to forget Fukushima, and why are plans being drawn up to build more nuclear reactors in the US using taxpayer monies?
– See more at: http://yournewswire.com/cancer-rates-soar-by-6000-near-fukushima-site-new-report-shows/#sthash.vDZTGCNV.dpuf
Fukushima’s Unit 2 nuclear reactor’s meltdown was far worse than initially assumed
“.SimplyInfo.org Fukushima Daiichi Unit 2 Report 2015 (Excellent graphics)
By The SimplyInfo Research Team
Dean Wilkie – Author
Edano San – Author
Peter Melzer PhD – Author
Nancy Foust – Editor
February 23, 2015
During the early events of the Fukushima Daiichi disaster unit 2 was given little attention in public facing information. It also appears that many of the outcomes from unit 2 may have been credited as being caused by other units a the plant or considered of unknown origin. Unit 2 may have been much worse in actuality than the public was being told and a larger contributor to the crisis. We reviewed multiple timelines and documentation sources of the events at Fukushima Daiichi and those specific to unit 2. This provided a clearer picture of what larger events may have been associated with unit 2′s event and the magnitude of the events inside unit 2. These events compared to the existing research into reactor failure modes and meltdown behaviors found that the events closely matched the expected outcomes………Unit 2′s meltdown and post meltdown progression was well anticipated by TEPCO based on their actions and their failure time estimates. TEPCO opened the torus vent line to the environment and left it open for 2.5 hours while fuel was likely already outside of the vessel and in the containment drywell, giving a clear route between corium and the environment. This action may have been unavoidable based on the available data from unit 2 in order to avoid a much larger containment failure that could not have been closed. It may have been the lesser of two bad options.
The available data and visual evidence for unit 2 show that contaminated water and fuel may have found a route out of the building through the basemat area. This highly radioactive water has shown up in the unit 2 turbine building basement and in the unit 2 trenches at the sea front, indicating the highly contaminated water may be flowing outside of the reactor building and in a manner quite different from the other two damaged units. If this is further confirmed to be the case, this may be a significant contributor to the ongoing highly radioactive water leaks that have defied efforts to block them.
Unit 2′s containment failure via the containment cap gasket continued to contribute a large percentage of the radiation escaping into the air at the plant even a year after the meltdowns. While the other two units have been admitted to have some failure or leakage from their reactor wells, unit 2 appears to be the major contributor to airborne releases via this route and continued to do so.
Newer information such as the failure of seawater injections to reach the RPV further ads to the growing body of information that indicates unit 2′s meltdown was far worse than initially assumed. Many early estimates of the extent of unit 2′s meltdowns were dependent on the assumption that water reached the melting fuel in quantities large enough to cool or cover the melted fuel. This newer understanding of the water injection shows those early estimates to be incorrect and that unit 2′s meltdown was much more severe than initially assumed. The timing of major events at the plant that tie to events at unit 2 and TEPCO’s increasing alarm over the degrading conditions of the plant indicates that unit 2 may have posed an even larger threat than the other two units at the plant. The chance event of the blow out panel dislodging early in the series of events may have helped unit 2 avoid a hydrogen explosion as seen at the other units. The actual meltdown and the extent of the damage at unit 2 may have been worse in many ways. http://www.fukuleaks.org/web/?p=14318
Fisheries ‘shocked’ at silence over water leak at wrecked Fukushima No. 1 plant
Feb 25, 2015
Fishermen in Fukushima Prefecture slammed Tokyo Electric Power Co. on Wednesday after it emerged that water containing cesium and other radioactive isotopes has been draining into the Pacific near the Fukushima No. 1 plant and that Tepco did nothing to prevent it despite learning of the leak last May.
“I don’t understand why (Tepco) kept silent even though they knew about it. Fishery operators are absolutely shocked,” Masakazu Yabuki, chief of the Iwaki fisheries cooperative, said at a meeting with Tepco officials.
Local fishermen have already given Tepco approval to dump groundwater into the ocean before it becomes tainted, to reduce the volume of water stored in tanks at the site. The operator is now doing this, pumping water from wells, monitoring it and piping it into the ocean.
The latest incident threatens to delay a second round of approval that Tepco wants the fishermen to provide.
The utility admitted Tuesday it failed to disclose leaks of rainwater containing radioactive substances from a drainage ditch at the stricken plant even though it was aware of high radiation in the water last spring.
The ditch receives runoff from the roof of the No. 2 reactor building, which is highly contaminated with radioactive substances such as cesium.
Tepco has said it recorded 29,400 becquerels of radioactive cesium per liter in water pooled on the rooftop.
The water also contained 52,000 becquerels of beta-ray-emitting radioactive substances such as strontium-90. It also detected some 1,050 becquerels of radioactive cesium and 1,500 becquerels of beta ray-emitting radioactive materials per liter near an outlet leading to the sea.
Tepco said there is no major change in the concentration of radioactive substances in seawater it sampled about 1 km from the drainage outlet.
Meanwhile on Sunday, Tepco reported water contaminated with high levels of radiation was flowing into the ocean at the plant’s port through another drainage ditch.
Yuji Moriyama, a Tepco spokesman said the utility did not disclose the information because there is no evidence of environmental impact.
“We were aware that the levels of radioactive materials around the drainage ditch were higher than other places,” Moriyama said, adding that they have been investigating the sources of contamination since last spring.
Source: Japan Times
Fukushima cleanup fails to convince as just 10 to 20% of evacuees seek return
February 25, 2015
Less than one-fifth of evacuees from the Fukushima nuclear disaster say they want to return to their homes, despite government efforts to speed up reconstruction in areas with lower radiation levels.
The finding came from a survey by the Reconstruction Agency conducted between August and October last year that covered about 7,100 evacuee households in Namie; 2,400 in Futaba; 4,000 in Okuma; and 5,600 in Tomioka.
Between 51 percent and 60 percent of the households responded to the poll, including those living outside Fukushima Prefecture.
The four towns, all situated near the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, are divided into three zones based on annual radiation dosage levels: “difficult-to-return zones” with 50 millisieverts or more; “no-residence zones” between 20 and 50 millisieverts; and “zones being prepared for lifting of evacuation order,” with 20 millisieverts or less.
The central government has placed priority on decontaminating and reconstructing infrastructure in the latter zones to enable residents to return to their homes.
However, the survey showed that just 19.4 percent of evacuee households from “zones being prepared for lifting of evacuation order” in Namie wanted to return, while 14.7 percent of those in the zones in Tomioka felt the same.
Among evacuees from no-residence zones, 16.6 percent of households from Namie and 11.1 percent from Tomioka said they plan to return home when they are allowed.
Among those evacuated from difficult-to-return zones, 17.5 percent of households from Namie and 11.8 percent from Tomioka said they hope to resettle in their homes some day.
About 80 percent of all households in Namie and 70 percent of those in Tomioka are from no-residence zones and “zones being prepared for lifting of evacuation order.”
Still, even if the government lifts the evacuation order for these areas, only a handful of evacuees are likely to return, which would crimp revitalization plans for the towns.
Meanwhile, 32.4 percent of households evacuated from no-residence zones in Okuma, which cohosts the crippled plant with Futaba, said they want to return home.
The higher figure reflects preferential construction by the central government and town office of key facilities to promote the town’s reconstruction, spurring hope among residents to return. Decontamination work and restoration of a local highway route are also nearing an end in Okuma.
However, just 3 percent of Okuma residents are from no-residence zones, while the rest are from difficult-to-return zones.
Source: Asahi Shimbun
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201502250050
Tepco covered-up an ongoing leak into the sea since last year April 2014
February 24, 2015
Tepco admits that it failed to disclose a leak since last year April 2014.
Unit 2′s roof and downspouts have been draining directly out to sea since the disaster. Water found on unit 2′s roofs was highly radioactive with 52,000 bq/liter on one roof
TEPCO did attempt to manage this by throwing down bags of zeolite at the downspout entrance and again at the drainage canal exits. Plans submitted to IRID for a drainage canal filter system called for a much more sophisticated system that would have forced any water leaving these drainage canals through a series of filters.
Zeolite bags were also placed around the entrance to the downspouts on the building roofs. Radiation readings in the downspout water was significantly lower than the water on the roof. A filter that forces all outgoing water through the filter media would have at least worked to more effectively filter water.
Source: Tepco
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/handouts/2015/images/handouts_150224_01-e.pdf
Rain is bringing a new source of radioactive water to Fukushima nuclear power plant
Fukushima operator finds new source of radiation leak into sea, GMA News February 25, 2015 TOKYO – The operator of the tsunami-crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant said on Tuesday it had found a pool of highly contaminated water on the roof of a plant building and that it had probably leaked into the sea through a gutter when it rained.
1 This Month
PLEASE OPPOSE HR 8255 AND S.3639 – bills would accelerate satellite deployment, with no environmental review or safeguards – https://ncstd5li.quorum.us/campaign/169331/
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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