nuclear-news

The News That Matters about the Nuclear Industry Fukushima Chernobyl Mayak Three Mile Island Atomic Testing Radiation Isotope

seawater off Fukushima containing plutonium

Pu-239/240 was measured in sea water from 15km offshore Fukushima plant
 by Mochizuki on November 21st, 2012 ·

（4.7±1.5)E-6 Bq/L of Pu-239/240 was measured from the upper layer of
15km offshore from Fukushima plant….
http://fukushima-diary.com/2012/11/pu-239240-was-measured-in-sea-water-from-15km-offshore-fukushima-plant/

November 22, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012 | Leave a comment

Anti nuclear political parties getting organised in Japan

Ozawa, Kamei to fight election on anti-nuclear line, November 20, 2012 THE ASAHI SHIMBUN Two veteran politicians hoping to draw support for their small parties are drawing a line in the sand against nuclear power, a key issue in the Dec. 16 Lower House election.

Ichiro Ozawa, who leads People’s Life First, plans to capitalize on the issue to differentiate his party and draw support away from the ruling Democratic Party of Japan and the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party.

People’s Life First, mainly consisting of DPJ defectors, calls for moving away from nuclear power in 10 years in its basic platform.  Continue reading →

November 21, 2012 Posted by | Japan, politics | Leave a comment

Anxiety over radiation causes young Japanese to emigrate

Foreigners tended to assume Japan had bounced back from the triple disaster, and in some areas that was true. But many Japanese now had, for the first time, a deep distrust of their government. The extent of the radiation release from the Fukushima plant, and the barrage of significant aftershocks, have been sources of stress for the Japanese

 a woman in her early 40s, said she wanted to take her family to Australia or New Zealand because of the danger of radiation from the Fukushima disaster and the prospect of another quake.

 some radiation-conscious and well-researched New Lifers have even questioned Australia as a destination because it has a nuclear reactor

Quake, nuke, economy fears chase Japanese overseas BY: RICK WALLACE, TOKYO CORRESPONDENT  The Australian November 20, 2012  NEW figures reveal the number of Japanese leaving their homeland for a life abroad has more than tripled in the wake of last year’s earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident. The number of Japanese living abroad jumped by more than 40,000 in the year to October last year, according to the latest Ministry of Foreign Affairs figures – more than three times the normal rate of growth.

Next year the number is likely to climb further, Continue reading →

November 21, 2012 Posted by | Japan, politics, social effects | Leave a comment

Ocean food chain irreparably damaged by Fukushima radiation

The ocean, food chain, and Japan’s fishing industry have all been irreparably damaged by the Fukushima crisis, and that damage is still ongoing. The Japanese government and TEPCO’s excuses are only wasting time that should be put towards finding a solution.

TEPCO, Japanese government denying Fukushima radiation reaching ocean
fish http://japandailypress.com/tepco-japanese-government-denying-fukushima-radiation-reaching-ocean-fish-2018691 By Adam Westlake  /   November 20, 2012 In what must the most dumbfounding state of denial seen in modern times, both the Japanese government and utility Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) are disputing the recent study that showed radiation from the Fukushima nuclear plant is leaking into the ocean.

18 months after the March 2011 nuclear disaster, the U.S.’s Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, a respected research group, reported that 40% of the fish caught off the
coast of Fukushima were still testing positive for radioactive contamination above the government’s safety own limits. Continue reading →

November 21, 2012 Posted by | Japan, oceans, spinbuster | 1 Comment

AUDIO: Damaged Fukushima reactor No 3 cannot support cover

Gundersen: Cover at Fukushima Unit 3 looks like a mall superstore — Reactor building so severely damaged it can’t support structure (AUDIO)
http://www.fairewinds.org/content/fairewinds-podcast      http://enenews.com/gundersen-cover-fukushima-unit-3-looks-like-mall-superstore-reactor-building-severely-damaged-support-structure-audio November 19th, 2012
Follow-up to: Tepco to construct bulbous cover over Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3 (PHOTO)Fairewinds Podcast, Nov. 18, 2012:

Nuclear Expert Arnie Gundersen, Fairewinds Energy Education:  Unit 3 is entirely different than Unit 4 […] they built something that looks like a superstore in a mall, it could easily look like a retail outlet […]

It’s not connected at all to the reactor building or the containment building […]

The real problem is Unit 3 is so severely damaged that it can’t handle the weight of the 100 ton canister, there’s no place in Unit 3 that would be strong enough to brace that heavy crane […] I think Tepco is going to say that the reactor building on Unit 3 has been so damaged that we can’t find a place to brace the heavy duty cranes, and therefore we have to span the whole structure […] Now it’s absolutely obvious that Unit 3 has been so damaged by the explosion that it can’t handle the weight of the larger cask. Now, they’re not telling people that, but clearly that’s what the drawings show.

Host Kevin Hurley: Is this going to slow down the removal of fuel?

Gundersen: Absolutely.

November 21, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012, Resources -audiovicual | Leave a comment

Former Tokyo Governor calls for nuclear weapons for Japan

Possible kingmaker calls for nuclear-armed Japan Sunday Times Sri Lanka,  20 NOVEMBER 2012 TOKYO,  (AFP) – Firebrand former Tokyo governor Shintaro Ishihara, a potential kingmaker in next month’s general election, said Tuesday Japan must acquire nuclear weapons if it wants to be taken seriously.
At very least, avowedly pacifist Japan should examine what it would need to do to join the club of declared nuclear powers, the 80-year-old arch conservative told foreign journalists in Tokyo. “I think Japan should at least carry out an analysis on going nuclear,” Ishihara said.
“The diplomatic voice of countries without nuclear weapons is overwhelmingly weak,” he said.

Ishihara has a long track record of saying controversial things and breaking cultural taboos. He has previously expressed the same thoughts on Japan — the only country on which a nuclear attack has ever taken place — getting atomic weapons.

But his comments Tuesday come just days after he was declared leader of a populist party forged ahead of the December 16 general election with the express aim of challenging the two major forces in Japanese politics.
Next month’s poll is expected to end without a clear result, with prime minister Yoshihiko Noda’s Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) and the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party seen likely to fall short
of a majority.
Commentators expect a period of horse trading as a coalition is forged, with Ishihara’s Japan Restoration Party (JRP) a leading contender for a post-election political marriage…….
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=27076:-possible-kingmaker-calls-for-nuclear-armed-japan&catid=81:news&Itemid=625

November 21, 2012 Posted by | Japan, politics, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Podcast: Tokyo’s highly radioactive soil

Podcast Gundersen: Tokyo soil so hot it should be sent to nuclear waste dump — Really severe releases hit city  http://enenews.com/gundersen-tokyo-soil-hot-be-shipped-radioactive-dump    http://www.fairewinds.com/content/fairewinds-podcast
November 19th, 2012  
Fairewinds Podcast, Nov. 18, 2012:
Nuclear Expert Arnie Gundersen, Fairewinds Energy Education: : Our readers may remember when I came back from Tokyo back in February, I had 5 samples of dirt that I had taken just randomly around the city. They were all over 7,000 disintegrations per second in a two pound bag (Bq/kg). What that told me was that the releases from the accident were really severe even as far away as Tokyo. And I said then that if this were contaminated ground at a nuclear power plant it would have to be considered as nuclear waste. Well, we took a lot flack for that on the Fairewinds site, but we were right on the mark.

What happened just last week was that in a suburb of Tokyo another sample was taken by citizens and they brought it to the attention of the government that then sampled it. But basically they had a hot spot that was in excess of 10,000 disintegrations per second per kilogram of their sample. So here we are 9 months after I took my samples and citizens are still finding hot spots all over the Tokyo area. I think it speaks to one, the magnitude of the initial release. This was a serious release, not just for Fukushima Prefecture but for Tokyo and its suburbs as well. […]

So if Tokyo could be highly contaminated to the point where its soil should be shipped to a nuclear waste dump […] if Tokyo can have soil so hot that it should be shipped to a radioactive dump, what might happen to our nation’s capitol, the biggest city in the United States, or to L.A. in the event of a nuclear accident? We’re really not prepared. Our policy makers at the NRC have not even envisioned that as a possibility.

November 21, 2012 Posted by | environment, Japan, Resources -audiovicual | Leave a comment

Japan Experts: Contamination from Fukushima “is almost irreversible” in coastal sediments http://enenews.com/japan-experts-contamination-is-almost-irreversible-in-coastal-sediments November 17th, 2012
Title: Sedimentation and remobilization of radiocesium in the coastal area of Ibaraki, 70 km south of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant
Authors: Shigeyoshi Otosaka and Takuya Kobayashi, Research Group for Environmental Science, Japan Atomic Energy Agency
Date: 13 November 2012

[…] it can be inferred that dissolved radiocesium advected southward from the region adjacent to the 1FNPP and was deposited to the sediment of the study area in the early stage after the accident. The incorporation of radiocesium into sediments was almost irreversible, and higher concentrations of 137Cs were obtained from the finer-grained fraction of sediments. […]

137Cs levels in sediment decreased considerably between June and August, and then remained at the same level until January 2012. This trend indicates that the initial deposition of 137Cs to the sediment had almost ceased by August, and that the incorporation of 137Cs into sediments was almost irreversible. […]

In conclusion […] it can also be inferred that the remarkable decrease in 137Cs level between June and August 2011 (Table 3) was not caused by dissolution of labile 137Cs but by a physical transport (export) of irreversibly bound 137Cs.

[…] Most of radiocesium in the coastal sediments is incorporated into lithogenic fractions, and this incorporation is almost irreversible. Accordingly, the biological availability of sedimentary radiocesium is relatively low, but continuous monitoring of radiocesium inmarine biota is highly recommended because significant amounts of radiocesium have been accumulated in the sediment.

November 19, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012, oceans | Leave a comment

Japan’s aging, weakening, pro nuclear lobby

POINT OF VIEW/ Eiji Oguma: Japan’s nuclear lobby will die soon, Asahi Shimbun, 19 Nov  Shizuoka’s prefectural assembly has rejected a bill to hold a public referendum that would have put the restart of the nuclear reactors in the prefecture to a yes-or-no vote. The Asahi Shimbun reported on Oct. 12 that some assembly members had yielded to pressure by labor unions
of the electric power industry.

Denryoku Soren (the Federation of Electric Power Related Industry Worker’s Unions of Japan) is believed to be able to mobilize 5,000 to 7,000 voters in Shizuoka Prefecture.

But 165,000 people signed the petition for the public referendum. So what makes 5,000 people more special than the 165,000? I believe I know what the assembly members are thinking: the 165,000 signatures are just a statistic. The politicians do not see mere names as real people. Continue reading →

November 19, 2012 Posted by | Japan, politics | Leave a comment

Highly radioactive trout caught in Fukushima river

Kyodo: Radioactive trout over 100 times gov’t limit caught in Fukushima river http://enenews.com/kyodo-radioactive-trout-over-100-times-govt-limit-caught-in-fukushima-river  November 16th, 2012
 (Subscription Only)  Title: Fukushima trout log radioactivity level over 100 times gov’t limit 
Source: Kyodo
Date: Nov. 17, 2010

A mountain trout caught in a Fukushima Prefecture river [Niida River in Minamisoma city] returned a radioactive cesium reading of 11,400 becquerels per kilogram, more than 100 times the government-set limit for food items, a survey by the Environment Ministry said Friday. […]

The survey conducted in June and July also found 4,400 becquerels of radioactive cesium in a smallmouth bass and 3,000 becquerels in a catfish in Mano Dam in Iitate village, another municipality heavily affected by the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant run by Tokyo Electric Power Co. […]
See also: Asahi: Gov’t worried about highly radioactive fish — Why are radiation readings still 100s of times over official safe

November 17, 2012 Posted by | environment, Fukushima 2012, Japan | Leave a comment

Rip in lining of spent nuclear fuel pool at Fukushima Unit 3 ?

Nuclear Engineer: To me it means Tepco knows about a rip in spent fuel pool liner at Fukushima Unit 3 AUDIO  http://enenews.com/nuclear-engineer-curing-material-unit-3-means-tepco-about-tear-rip-spent-fuel-pool-liner-video
 November 16th, 2012 Interview with Nuclear Engineer Chris Harris
Nutrimedical Report
Nov. 15, 2012 Chris Harris, former licensed Senior Reactor Operator and engineer:  One of the Tepco releases that really intrigued me was that there is something called ‘curing material’.

Now that means, to me it means they know about a tear or a rip in the spent fuel pool liner.

And they don’t come out and say — a lot of this stuff you have to read between the lines — there’s something called ‘curing material’ […] what it means to me is they tried to repair with some sort of epoxy and something that needs to cure or cure time on it before they can proceed. Which means that water’s actually being held in not by the stainless steel liner, but by the concrete structure around, that’s not really a great situation to be in.

They didn’t come flat out and say it but I’m going to stick my neck out and say if they’re trying to seal up cracks and everything else, that’s how I would do it too. And so that’s happening now, we’ll see where that comes and I’ll stay on top of it.
Follow-up to: Tepco to try and remove steel debris on top of fuel racks in No. 3 pool — Concern about liner? (PHOTOS)

November 17, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012 | Leave a comment

Radiation levels not decreasing in seas around Fukushima


Radiation Still High Around Fukushima http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/33275/title/Radiation-Still-High-Around-Fukushima/,   
Continued leaks, run off from land, and contaminated sediment on the ocean floor are causing radioactivity levels to remain high in the seas around Fukushima. By Dan Cossins | November 15, 2012 Levels of radiation in the seas surrounding the ruined Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan are showing no signs of dropping off as expected, according to new data presented last week (November 12-13) at a conference   in Tokyo. Scientists believe that continued leaks from the plant in addition to run off from contaminated land and radiation-soaked sediment on the sea floor are responsible. Continue reading →

November 16, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012, Japan, oceans | Leave a comment

Plan to cover Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3

Tepco to construct bulbous cover over Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3 (PHOTO) http://enenews.com/tepco-construct-bulbous-cover-fukushima-unit-3-photo    Enformable, Nov. 14, 2012: TEPCO has released designs for a cover to construct around the crippled Unit 3 reactor building in order to allow the utility to remove fuel rods from the spent fuel pool by crane.

[…] The building will also house ventilation to reduce the radioactive materials being released into the atmosphere.

November 16, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012 | Leave a comment

Low level radiation increased leukaemia risk for nuclear cleanup workers

Chernobyl study shows need for caution in Fukushima
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20121114f2.html# UKO27Xhzxqg.twitter Kyodo A study released Thursday by a U.S. research team links protracted exposure to low-level radiation to a higher risk of leukemia among workers engaged in the cleanup of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, and points to the need to protect those involved in dealing with the Fukushima crisis.
Continue reading →

November 16, 2012 Posted by | employment, health, Japan, Ukraine | Leave a comment

Earthquake study in Japan may bring all its nuclear reactors to a close

 seismic experts in the pay of the nuclear power industry have drawn severe criticism for playing down the risk of massive quakes and tsunami before the catastrophic breakdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant.

The expert panel’s judgment on the Oi plant is likely to have a significant impact on the fate of many other nuclear plants and probably the future of national energy policy as well

Fault study at Oi nuke plant may impact all offline reactors Noted geologist worries warning signs will continue to go unheeded Japan Times, By REIJI YOSHIDA. 15 Nov 12 Toyo University professor Mitsuhisa Watanabe, a polemicist on active faults, has fought a long losing battle against Japan’s nuclear industrial complex. His research, ringing the alarm bell about active faults under and near nuclear power plants, has always fallen on deaf ears.

According to Watanabe, nuclear regulators and power companies have a long history of willfully underestimating the danger posed by active faults near a number of reactors.

But now the Fukushima nuclear crisis may have finally changed the rules of the game. Continue reading →

November 16, 2012 Posted by | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

« Previous Entries     Next Entries »