Nuclear “Cold Shutdown” – a good “spin” phrase, but not actually true
Again, should “Cold Shut Down” be a term applicable to broken reactors with molten cores in their basements?, Paul Langley’s Nuclear History Blog, December 19, 2011 probably not. The actual pressure vessels are empty and unsealed, and the state of the fuel and its precide disposition are unknowns. If you dont know the temperature and whereabouts of the fuel, how is that “cold shutdown”. The fuel has gone feral. Just like the industry.
Partial quote: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/16/japan-nuclear-crisis-cold-shutdown_n_1152889.html
Japan Nuclear Crisis: Prime Minister Says Tsunami-Devastated Nuclear Power Plant Has Reached Stable State Of ‘Cold Shutdown’
“…..The government said Fukushima Dai-ichi has reached cold shutdown “conditions”_ a cautious phrasing reflecting the fact that TEPCO cannot measure the temperatures of melted fuel in the damaged reactors in the same way as with normally functioning ones.”…… http://nuclearhistory.wordpress.com/
The term “cold shutdown” is not appropriate to the Fukushima nuclear reactors
Japanese Government speeds rezoning of contaminated areas. Paul Langley’s nuclear history blog 18 Dec 11 The appropriateness of the use of the term “cold shutdown” in relation to the Fukushima reactors in meltdown has been discussed in an editorial by the Mainichi Daily News, Japan, 17 Dec 2011. It is term applicable to a reactor in normal mode, not disaster failure meltdown mode.
The pressure vessels are essentially in a vastly abnormal state, and although the Japanese Government states venting of radionuclides has “significantly” stopped, things are still very abnormal in the Fukushima reactors. Neither TEPCO nor the Japanese Government understands the true state of the escaped fuel, nor how much the reactor vessels have been eroded. Continue reading
Fukushima nuclear plant nowhere near ‘under control’ despite govt’s claims
The nuclear power lobbyists are the ones who can claim credit for stabilizing their own situation and getting the government under control.
Fukushima power plant is far from ‘cold’,Deutsche Welle, Alexander Freund , 16 Dec 11 http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,6682457,00.htm The Japanese government has claimed to have reached a cold shutdown in Fukushima. But experts are skeptical and believe it could take another 40 years to get the situation under control. Headlines from Japan surely sound good: Fukushima is under control, the dilapidated nuclear power plant is stable.
But these headlines are nothing more than a euphemism. The situation at Fukushima is nowhere near under control. Continue reading
Unreliable claim that Fukushima nuclear plant is now ‘stable’
TEPCO has not been able to take direct measurements of the temperatures at the bottoms of the containment vessels, and the site is still too radioactive for the fuel rods’ status to be visually confirmed.
Radiation levels are too high for people to get close to the reactors, leaving engineers and scientists to make important judgments using computer simulations, scattered bits of data and guesses.
Skeptics cast doubt on Fukushima status, even as Japan declares nuclear reactors ‘stable’ Christian Science Monitor, By Arthur Bright, December 16, 2011 Japan’s government declared that the damaged reactors from the Fukushima disaster were ‘stable.’ Not everyone is convinced. The Japanese government announced that the Fukushima nuclear complex, heavily damaged by the March 11 tsunami in the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, is now stable. But serious doubts remain about Fukushima’s status, as officials remain unable to confirm the status of the reactors’ fuel and an undercover report impugns the clean-up efforts’ efficacy.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda told a government nuclear emergency meeting that “The reactors have reached a state of cold shutdown” and are “stable,”
reports Reuters. Mr. Noda and his environment and
nuclear crisis minister, Goshi Hosono, both said that the situation at
the plant is under control , though the clean-up may still take decades. The Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), which operates the reactor and has been leading the clean-up, had been attempting to achieve cold shutdown before the end of the year. Continue reading
White polyester box covers Unit 1 of Japan’s stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant
A Circus Tent for Fukushima Daiichi? WSJ, DECEMBER 15, 2011, The polyester cover erected over Unit 1 of Japan’s stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station was fashioned in the shape of atight-fitting, non-descript, white box. Continue reading
Secrecy caused delay in dealing with Fukushima nuclear disaster
Secret Weapons Program Inside Fukushima Nuclear Plant? U.S.-Japan security treaty fatally delayed nuclear workers’ fight against meltdown Global Research, 12/4/11 by Yoichi Shimatsu “….Death of Deterrence …. in 2009, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) issued a muted warning on Japan’s heightened drive for a nuclear bomb— and promptly did nothing. The White House has to turn a blind eye to the radiation streaming through American skies or risk exposure of a blatant double standard on nuclear proliferation by an ally. Besides, Washington’s quiet approval for a Japanese bomb doesn’t quite sit well with the memory of either Pearl Harbor or Hiroshima.
In and of itself, a nuclear deterrence capability would be neither objectionable nor illegal— in the unlikely event that the majority of Japanese voted in favor of a constitutional amendment to Article 9. Legalized possession would require safety inspections, strict controls and transparency of the sort that could have hastened the Fukushima emergency response. Covert weapons development, in contrast, is rife with problems. In the event of an emergency, like the one happening at this moment, secrecy must be enforced at all cost— even if it means countless more hibakusha, or nuclear victims.
Instead of enabling a regional deterrence system and a return to great-power status, the Manchurian deal planted the time bombs now spewing radiation around the world. The nihilism at the heart of this nuclear threat to humanity lies not inside Fukushima 1, but within the national security mindset. The specter of self-destruction can be ended only with the abrogation of the U.S.-Japan security treaty, the root cause of the secrecy that fatally delayed the nuclear workers’ fight against meltdown. http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=24275
Secrecy in Fukushima reports raise possibility of hidden nuclear weapons program
Secret Weapons Program Inside Fukushima Nuclear Plant? U.S.-Japan security treaty fatally delayed nuclear workers’ fight against meltdown Global Research, 12/4/11 by Yoichi Shimatsu Confused and often conflicting reports out of Fukushima 1 nuclear plant cannot be solely the result of tsunami-caused breakdowns, bungling or miscommunication. Inexplicable delays and half-baked explanations from Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) seem to be driven by some unspoken factor.
The smoke and mirrors at Fukushima 1 seem to obscure a steady purpose, an iron will and a grim task unknown to outsiders. The most logical explanation: The nuclear industry and government agencies are scrambling to prevent the discovery of atomic-bomb research facilities hidden inside Japan’s civilian nuclear power plants.
A secret nuclear weapons program is a ghost in the machine, detectable only when the system of information control momentarily lapses or breaks down. A close look must be taken at the gap between the official account and unexpected events.
Conflicting Reports TEPCO, Japan’s nuclear power operator, initially reported three reactors were operating at the time of the March 11 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Then a hydrogen explosion ripped Unit 3, run on plutonium-uranium mixed oxide (or MOX). Unit 6 immediately disappeared from the list of operational reactors, as highly lethal particles of plutonium billowed out of Unit 3. Plutonium is the stuff of smaller, more easily delivered warheads.
A fire ignited inside the damaged housing of the Unit 4 reactor, reportedly due to overheating of spent uranium fuel rods in a dry cooling pool. But the size of the fire indicates that this reactor was running hot for some purpose other than electricity generation. Its omission from the list of electricity-generating operations raises the question of whether Unit 4 was being used to enrich uranium, the first step of the process leading to extraction of weapons-grade fissionable material.
The bloom of irradiated seawater across the Pacific comprises another piece of the puzzle, because its underground source is untraceable (or, perhaps, unmentionable). The flooded labyrinth of pipes, where the bodies of two missing nuclear workers—never before disclosed to the press— were found, could well contain the answer to the mystery: a lab that none dare name.
Political Warfare In reaction to Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s demand for prompt reporting of problems, the pro-nuclear lobby has closed ranks, fencing off and freezing out the prime minister’s office from vital information. A grand alliance of nuclear proponents now includes TEPCO, plant designer General Electric, METI, the former ruling Liberal Democratic Party and, by all signs, the White House.
Cabinet ministers in charge of communication and national emergencies recently lambasted METI head Banri Kaeda for acting as both nuclear promoter and regulator in charge of the now-muzzled Nuclear and Industrial Safety Commission. ….
The Manchurian Deal The chain of events behind this vast fabrication goes back many decades……. http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=24275
High radiation exposure of Fukushima residents. Internal radiation not measured
Exposure levels were higher for residents who worked at nuclear facilities.
The survey didn’t look at so-called internal exposure, or radiation taken into human body from contaminated air, water or food.
Local Japan Survey Shows High Radiation Exposure WSJ, By YUKA HAYASHI, 14 Dec 11 TOKYO—Hundreds of Fukushima residents were exposed to radiation well above the level permitted for the general public following the March nuclear disaster, according to an official survey released Tuesday, confirming the accident’s broad impact on local communities. Continue reading
Radiation monitoring of Japan’s forest monkeys
Monkeys to Track Fallout at Japan’s Fukushima Nuclear Plant, ABC News, 12 Dec 11 Wild monkeys have been enlisted by Japanese researchers to obtain detailed readings of radiation levels in forests near the troubled Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Plant.
Professor Takayuki Takahashi and his team of scientists at Fukushima University are fitting nearly 1000 animals with radiation meters and GPS transmitters in order to track the spread of radiation leaked from
March’s nuclear accident, the worst in Japan’s history…. Researchers also hope to monitor the amount of radiation exposure in wild animals. The project is being launched in partnership with Minamisoma, one of the cities hardest hit by the nuclear disaster. Radiation fears
prompted more than half of its 67,000 residents to evacuate, in Fukushima’s aftermath. A third of the city sits inside the 12 mile government mandated exclusion zone, deemed too dangerous for people to live in. In the larger Fukushima prefecture, more than 80,000
residents have been displaced by the nuclear disaster.
With 14 monkey colonies in Minamisoma’s forests alone, Takahashi is hopeful his researchers will get a broad spectrum of readings, from the ground level to the highest trees. The collars equipped with radiation meters and GPS transmitters will be detachable by remote
control, but the plan is to keep the devices on the animals, for decades. Takahashi says his team will begin monitoring levels next spring.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/12/monkeys-to-track-fallout-at-japans-fukushima-nuclear-plant/
American complicity in Japan’s secret nuclear weapons plans
Kishi uttered the famous statement that “nuclear weapons are not expressly prohibited” under the postwar Constitution’s Article 9 prohibiting war-making powers. His words were repeated two years ago by his grandson, then Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Secret Weapons Program Inside Fukushima Nuclear Plant? Global Research, 12/4/11 by Yoichi Shimatsu“…….During the Japanese militarist occupation of northeast China in the 1930s, the puppet state of Manchukuo was carved out as a fully modern economic powerhouse to support overpopulated Japan and its military machine……
After clawing his way into the good graces of Cold Warrior John Foster Dulles, Eisenhower’s secretary of state, Kishi was elected prime minister in 1957. His protégé Yasuhiro Nakasone, the former naval officer and future prime minister, spearheaded Japan’s campaign to become a nuclear power under the cover of the Atomic Energy Basic Law.
American Complicity Kishi secretly negotiated a deal with the White House to permit the U.S. military to store atomic bombs in Okinawa and Atsugi naval air station outside Tokyo. Continue reading
How Japan’s nuclear lobby sabotaged renewable energy
Secret Weapons Program Inside Fukushima Nuclear Plant? Global Research, 12/4/11 by Yoichi Shimatsu“….Sabotaging Alternative Energy The cynical attitude of the nuclear lobby extends far into the future, strangling at birth the Japanese archipelago’s only viable source of alternative energy—offshore wind power.Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, a nuclear-power partner of Westinghouse, manufactures wind turbines but only for the export market.
The Siberian high-pressure zone ensures a strong and steady wind flow over northern Japan, but the region’s utility companies have not taken advantage of this natural energy resource. The reason is that TEPCO, based in Tokyo and controlling the largest energy market, acts much as a shogun over the nine regional power companies and the national grid. Its deep pockets influence high bureaucrats, publishers and politicians like Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara, while nuclear ambitions keep the defense contractors and generals on its side. Yet TEPCO is not quite the top dog. Its senior partner in this mega-enterprise is Kishi’s brainchild, METI.
The national test site for offshore wind is unfortunately not located in windswept Hokkaido or Niigata, but farther to the southeast, in Chiba Prefecture. Findings from these tests to decide the fate of wind energy won’t be released until 2015. The sponsor of that slow-moving trial project is TEPCO….. http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=24275
Many thousands of tons of radioactive water accumulating at Fukushima
Tepco estimates that the amount of treated water requiring storage is increasing by 200 to 500 tons every day.
Japan’s earthquake-hit nuclear plant scraps plan to dump water in sea, Reuters Tokyo December 12, 2011 Japan’s utility operating the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant said on Friday it has scrapped a plan to dump water it treated for radiation contamination into the sea following fierce protests from fishing groups. Continue reading
Full cleanup of Fukushima area to begin in March or later
Japan to Begin Radiation Cleanup from Late March or Later Arirang, DEC 12, 2011, Reporter : emilyfwang@arirang.co.kr Over in Japan where authorities are still struggling to contain the nuclear fallout from March’s earthquake and tsunami the government says a full radiation cleanup of areas contaminated by radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant disaster can only begin in March next year, at the earliest. Continue reading
Individual landowners responsible for radioactive material on their lands – says TEPCO
“Radioactive materials that scattered and fell from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant belong to individual landowners there, not Tepco,” the company said.
Adding Insult to Injury TEPCO: Fukushima Radiation Isn’t Our Problem Counter Punch, by JOHN LaFORGE, 8 Dec 11, In the amoral milieu of the corporate bottom line, you can’t blame Tokyo Electric Power Co. for trying.
Tepco owns the 6-reactor Fukushima complex that was wrecked by Japan’s March 11 earthquake and smashed by the resulting tsunami. It faces more than $350 billion in compensation and clean-up costs, as well as likely prosecution for withholding crucial information that may have prevented some radiation exposures and for operating the giant station after being warned about the inadequacy of its protections against disasters. Continue reading
Radioactive strontium one million times over limit into ocean from Fukushima
“The source of the beta radiation in the water is likely to include strontium 90, which if 
absorbed in the body through eating tainted seaweed or fish, accumulates in bone and can cause cancer,”
Fukushima floods into Pacific Ocean, Strontium becomes One Million Times over Limit, The Canadian, 07 DECEMBER 2011 The woes of Fukushima are far from over as the plant’s owner, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), announced recently that a purification mechanism has leaked at least 45 tons of highly radioactive water, some of which ended up flowing directly into the ocean. TEPCO officials are reportedly in the process of investigating the situation to determine the extent of the damage caused. Continue reading
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