Inadequate radiation testing of Fukushima nuclear workers
Radiation tests lacking / Nuclear plant workers unsure of internal exposure levels, The Yomiuri Shimbun, 19 may 11, Nearly two months after the start of the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, only 10 percent of workers there had been tested for internal radiation exposure caused by inhalation or ingestion of radioactive substances, due to a shortage of testing equipment available for them.
Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of the crippled nuclear compound, is finding it impossible to use testing apparatus set up inside the facility because of high radiation levels recorded near the equipment.
A number of personnel working to overcome the nuclear crisis at the facility are increasingly alarmed by their lack of internal exposure testing. Some have said they may have to continue to work at the facility without knowing whether their radiation exposure levels have exceeded the upper limit set by the government……Radiation tests lacking / Nuclear plant workers unsure of internal exposure levels : National : DAILY YOMIURI ONLINE (The Daily Yomiuri)
A good business move for Japan – from nuclear to solar?
new solutions for solar power installation in Japan’s relatively small geographic areas. “The [irradiated] agricultural land near the Fukushima power plant is no longer usable, so why don’t we convert that into solar plants?” …alculation from Japan’s National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology: “Rice produced on one hectare of land yields a yearly revenue of 1.58 million yen, while a solar plant on the same surface would generate a revenue of 7.5 million yen.”
Why Japan’s Shift Away from Nuclear Is Good for Business, TIME, By Lucy Birmingham / Tokyo Wednesday, May 18, 2011 “…….New legislation is expected to help diversify the nation’s energy portfolio. A new feed-in tariff (FIT) will oblige utility companies to buy all the power generated through renewable sources connected to a grid, at fixed, premium rates. Continue reading
False sense of security as Tepco misleads public on Fukushima nulclear cleanup
Tepco Misleading Public Over Nuclear Crisis, Bloomberg, By Tsuyoshi Inajima and Yuji Okada – May 17, 2011 Tokyo Electric Power Co. has made misleading statements about when it will stabilize its nuclear reactors crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, said Tetsuo Ito, head of the Atomic Energy Research Institute at Kinki University in western Japan.
The company, known as Tepco, yesterday reiterated the schedule on its so-called road map announced a month ago to achieve cold shutdown of the three radiation-leaking reactors as early as October. Setting a timetable without knowing the condition of the reactor cores doesn’t make sense, Ito said in a phone interview from Osaka.
“Only after understanding what’s going on inside the buildings and reactors, will it be clear what parts of the timetable are achievable,” Ito said. “Devising a road map without that will give the public a false sense of security.”…..Tepco Misleading Public Over Nuclear Crisis – Bloomberg
Japan: collusion of govt, nuclear regulators, plant operators, courts
The lawsuits reveal a disturbing pattern in which operators underestimated or hid seismic dangers to avoid costly upgrades and keep operating. And the fact that virtually all these suits were unsuccessful reinforces the widespread belief in Japan that a culture of collusion supporting nuclear power, including the government, nuclear regulators and plant operators, extends to the courts as well.
Japanese Officials Ignored or Concealed Dangers, New York Times, By NORIMITSU ONISHI and MARTIN FACKLER, May 16, 2011 OMAEZAKI, Japan — The nuclear power plant, lawyers argued, could not withstand the kind of major earthquake that new seismic research now suggested was likely.
If such a quake struck, electrical power could fail, along with backup generators, crippling the cooling system, the lawyers predicted. The reactors would then suffer a meltdown and start spewing radiation into the air and sea. Tens of thousands in the area would be forced to flee.
Although the predictions sound eerily like the sequence of events at the Fukushima Daiichi plant following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the lawsuit was filed nearly a decade ago to shut down another plant, long considered the most dangerous in Japan — the Hamaoka station. Continue reading
Draining 4,000 tonnes of highly radioactive water from Fukushima reactor
Radioactive water to be drained from Fukushima reactor, ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), By North Asia correspondent Mark Willacy, 17 May 11, he operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant will today begin pumping out thousands of tonnes of highly radioactive water from one of the reactors.
The Tokyo Electric Power company will use hoses to pump 4,000 tonnes of highly contaminated water from No. 3 reactor.
The radioactive water will then be shifted to a waste disposal facility to stop it from leaking into the environment….Radioactive water to be drained from Fukushima reactor – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Courage of doctors in Fukushima nuclear zone
“Doctors are there to work in this kind of adversity,” he said. “This is my mission — maybe it’s the last chapter of my medical career.”……
Doctors defy radiation woes in Japan’s Fukushima – Channel NewsAsia, 17 May, 11, FUKUSHIMA CITY, Japan: When other doctors fled, 72-year old Kyohei Takahashi stayed, and hundreds of patients in the tsunami-hit Japanese town of Minamisoma near a crippled nuclear plant will never forget.Dr. Takahashi has defied radiation fears and worked gruelling hours for the past nine weeks to do what he considers his duty.”As a doctor, I thought, I shouldn’t retreat,” he said. “I told myself: who will do it if I don’t?” Continue reading
Perspective on Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear catastrophes
The Fukushima Nuclear Disaster in Perspective, Global Research ca by Dr. Helen Caldicott 15 may 11, First I want to present this report, produced by the New York Academy of Sciences, a report on Chernobyl. It can be downloaded.(2) They translated 5,000 articles from Russian for the first time into English. It seems that nearly a million people have already died as a result of Chernobyl, despite what the WH0(3) says and the IAEA.(4) This is one of the most monstrous cover-ups in the history of medicine. Because everybody should know about this. Continue reading
Earthquake, not tsunami, damaged Fukushima nuclear plant
Quake ‘hurt reactors before tsunami’ | The Japan Times Online, May 16, 2011Tepco detected sharp rise in radiation in reactor 1 immediately after temblor struck High radiation readings taken in the No. 1 reactor building the night of March 11 suggest it was the quake rather than the loss of cooling that critically damaged the Fukushima No. 1 power plant, a utility source said Saturday.
The belated disclosure could trigger a review of quake-preparedness at nuclear facilities across the country. Many have been focusing on increasing defenses against tsunami, which knocked out the plant’s poorly placed emergency power generators…..Quake ‘hurt reactors before tsunami’ | The Japan Times Online
Fukushima nuclear plant – cooling process now abandoned
Japan nuclear: Tepco halts Fukushima cooling plan, BBC New15 May 2011 Japanese engineers have abandoned their latest attempt to stabilise a stricken reactor at the Fukushima nuclear plant.The plant’s operator, Tepco, had intended to cool reactor 1 by filling the containment chamber with water.
But Tepco said melting fuel rods had created a hole in the chamber, allowing 3,000 tonnes of contaminated water to leak into the basement of the reactor building……The government and Tepco (Tokyo Electric Power Company) said it would take until next January to achieve a cold shut-down at the plant……Tepco says it will come up with a new plan to stabilise the reactor by Tuesday.Japanese broadcaster NHK said Tepco was now studying a plan to circulate water from the basement through a decontamination filter and back into the reactor.BBC News – Japan nuclear: Tepco halts Fukushima cooling plan
Olympic swimming pool-sized pond of radioactive water at Fukushima
Radioactive ‘pond’ found at Fukushima, The Independent 16 May 11, Japanese officials have found an Olympic swimming pool-sized pond of radioactive water in the basement of a unit at the Fukushima nuclear plant crippled by the March earthquake and tsunami.The discovery has forced officials to abandon their original plan to bring the No 1 reactor under control. Now they will focus on how to deal with the rising pool that some experts see as a threat to groundwater and the Pacific coast……Radioactive ‘pond’ found at Fukushima – Asia, World – The Independent
Children, pregnant women, first in new evacuation outside Fukushima zone
Japan evacuates villages outside nuclear zone By Mark Willacy ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), 16 May 11, Japan began evacuating people from outside the official exclusion zone around the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant after it was revealed fuel rods there probably melted hours after March’s devastating earthquake.
With radiation levels remaining high, small children and pregnant women were the first to be moved, with thousands more to be shifted into shelters and temporary housing. More details have emerged about the meltdown in Fukushima’s No. 1 reactor, with revelations the fuel rods were likely exposed to the air for as long as 14 hours – a fact not discovered until last week.
It appears the rods melted just hours after the earthquake and tsunami struck, dropping to the bottom of the pressure vessel at the core.It was the news the people of Litate village had been dreading…..After the plant’s operator, TEPCO, told the Japanese people that things were stabilising at Fukushima, it is now clear they knew far less about the situation than they were willing to admit.
About 8,000 Litate residents and those in the nearby village of Kawamata are being asked to move, joining the tens of thousands who have already been forced out of their homes by the nuclear crisis…..Japan evacuates villages outside nuclear zone – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Now damage likely to nuclear fuel cores in 3 Fukushima reactors
Damage suspected at other reactors Herald Sun May 16, 2011 SUBSTANTIAL damage has occurred in fuel cores at two other reactors of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear complex.The announcement by operator Tokyo Electric Power Co., further complicates the already daunting task of bringing the reactors to a safe shutdown while avoiding the release of high levels of radioactivity.
The revelation followed an acknowledgment on Thursday that a similar meltdown of the core took place at Unit Number One. The operator, known also as Tepco, said that the unit lost its reactor core 16 hours after the plant was struck by a magnitude-9 earthquake and a giant tsunami on the afternoon of March 11.
Workers also found that No. 1 Unit’s reactor building is flooded in the basement, reinforcing the suspicion that the containment vessel is damaged and leaking highly radioactive water…..Damage suspected at other reactors | Herald Sun
Yet another Fukushima cleanup strategy – giant polyester coverings
Giant Polyester Sheets To Cover Nuclear Reactor Buildings Wall Street Journal TOKYO (Dow Jones), 14 May 11, –Giant polyester covers will soon be placed around the damaged reactor buildings at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex to help contain the release of radioactive substances into the atmosphere, the plant operator said Friday.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501.TO) will install the first cover at the No. 1 reactor, the focus of recent stabilization efforts.Workers will erect a steel framework and place a giant polyester tent-like cover around the reactor building. The cover will be 55 meters high, 47 meters long and 42 meters wide.
The operation to fit the cover will begin next month. Similar covers will be placed around units Nos. 3 and 4. The work is expected to be completed by the end of the year…..The damaged buildings have come to symbolize the severity of the nuclear crisis at the plant, the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986. The loss of the roofs and filters above the reactors has led to the steady release of radioactive substances from the complex, prompting calls for measures to contain contamination in the surrounding areas.-By Mitsuru Obe, Dow Jones Newswires http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20110513-705098.html
Oh dear, Fukushima nuclear cleanup not really going so well
The new information about water levels in Unit 1, obtained after workers were able to enter the Unit 1 reactor building and adjust water gauges, now has officials worried that water level readings at Units 2 and 3 may also be wrong. It also throws a wrench in TEPCO’s sunny plan of having the crisis at the plant sewn up before the end of the year. And once the utility does achieve cold shutdown in all six reactors, it will face the problem of what to do with the damaged and unstable fuel rods.
Fukushima: Er, Sorry…Worse Than We Thought.TIME by Krista Mahr , May 13, 2011 n the two months since Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was pummeled by a quake and tsunami, no news has generally been good news.
Unfortunately, today, there’s some news.
Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) announced on Thursday that the damage to fuel rods inside Unit 1’s reactor core is worse than the utility previously thought. Continue reading
Fukushima reactor No 3 building – highly dangerous radiation level
Robot finds high radiation at No. 3 reactor bldg, The Yomiuri Shimbun, 14 May 11, A robot has detected highly dangerous levels of radiation in the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant’s No. 3 reactor building, it has been learned, indicating further safety measures will be needed before workers can enter the structure.
According to plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co., the remote-controlled PackBot robot on Tuesday found radiation levels in the northwestern section of the building of 49 to 120 millisieverts per hour, which would pose a threat to human workers.Time must be spent, therefore, removing or sealing up the radiation-contaminated debris in the building, before TEPCO starts work to stabilize the damaged reactors……http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110513005828.htm
-
Archives
- October 2026 (112)
- September 2026 (339)
- August 2026 (330)
- July 2026 (355)
- June 2026 (287)
- May 2026 (306)
- April 2026 (356)
- March 2026 (251)
- February 2026 (267)
- January 2026 (308)
- December 2025 (358)
- November 2025 (359)
-
Categories
- 1
- 1 NUCLEAR ISSUES
- business and costs
- climate change
- culture and arts
- ENERGY
- environment
- health
- history
- indigenous issues
- Legal
- marketing of nuclear
- media
- opposition to nuclear
- PERSONAL STORIES
- politics
- politics international
- Religion and ethics
- safety
- secrets,lies and civil liberties
- spinbuster
- technology
- Uranium
- wastes
- weapons and war
- Women
- 2 WORLD
- ACTION
- AFRICA
- Atrocities
- AUSTRALIA
- Christina's notes
- Christina's themes
- culture and arts
- Events
- Fuk 2022
- Fuk 2023
- Fukushima 2017
- Fukushima 2018
- fukushima 2019
- Fukushima 2020
- Fukushima 2021
- general
- global warming
- Humour (God we need it)
- Nuclear
- RARE EARTHS
- Reference
- resources – print
- Resources -audiovicual
- Weekly Newsletter
- World
- World Nuclear
- YouTube
-
RSS
Entries RSS
Comments RSS
