Like Ukraine’s Pripyat Iitate becomes Japan’s nuclear ghost town
Fukushima village on way to becoming ghost town. By DAVID MCNEILL. The Japan Times, 14 May 11, IITATE, Fukushima Pref. — Sleepy, idyllic and dangerously irradiated, the village of Iitate is preparing to evacuate. The junior high school is closed, its children bused every day to nearby towns. Tractors sit idle, and weeds poke through rice and cabbage in the fields. Half-empty shelves greet customers at the A-Coop supermarket.
By the end of the month, this mountainous farming village of 7,000 people in Fukushima Prefecture, recently voted one of Japan’s most beautiful places, will join the Ukrainian ghost town of Pripyat on the planet’s short list of nuclear casualties….. Continue reading
Japan could, and should, move from nuclear power to renewables
Iida and ISEP researchers estimate that Chubu Electric can provide 30.59 million kilowatts without nuclear power, enough to cover this summer’s projected demand of 26.37 million kilowatts.
This can be done by operating all of its thermal power plants and buying surplus electricity from large manufacturers in the Chubu region, who run their own power stations, they say.
Yes, Fukushima nuclear plant DID have a full nuclear meltdown
It’s Official: Fukushima Hit With Full-Blown Nuclear Meltdown Gizmodo Australia, By Sam Biddle on May 13, 2011 The flow of bad news (and radiation) out of Fukushima’s reactors has diminished to a trickle over the past several weeks, as rescue work has proceeded. Not today. TEPCO’s admitted for the first time that Fukushima experienced a full meltdown.
The possibility of a meltdown has been floating in the air since the earthquake and subsequent explosions first rocked the roof off of Fukushima, spreading radiation, confusion and displacement across the local populace (and beyond). Since then, TEPCO workers and the Japanese government have desperately struggled to keep the nuclear fuel rods inside the reactors cool – if they don’t, the scorching material will melt into a pool of radioactive lava. That’s the scenario everyone’s been aiming to avoid – and that’s the scenario we now know had actually occurred all along. Underneath all that dumped seawater has been lying a blob of melted fuel. And it could be melting its way out.
This admittance goes against every assurance TEPCO has handed the world in the midst of Japan’s nuclear crisis – that the situation was bad, but that with emergency work, the plant would be mostly stable, and could be safely shutdown within the year. The worry now, beyond the fact that the damage to the reactor is far worse than imagined, is that a hole in the facility will lead incredibly contaminated water leak out like a faucet. A scalding, radioactive faucet.
So now what? “We will have to revise our plans,” Junichi Matsumoto, a TEPCO rep, told The Guardian. To say the least. [The Guardian and Kyodo News]
It’s Official: Fukushima Hit With Full-Blown Nuclear Meltdown | Gizmodo Australia
Thousands of animals to be culled in Fukushima area
Japan to cull nuclear-affected livestock, ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)By North Asia correspondent Mark Willacy, wires 13 May 11 Japan will start culling thousands of livestock abandoned inside the 20-kilometre evacuation zone around the earthquake and tsunami-damaged Fukushima nuclear plant.Farmers living inside the evacuation zone had no choice but to abandon their pigs, chickens, beef cattle and dairy cows when they were ordered out by the government…..
The news comes after the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) yesterday reported a leak from the reactor vessel and another spill of contaminated water into the ocean.
TEPCO says rods inside one of the reactors have most likely melted after being fully exposed. The company says the water level inside reactor No. 1 was much lower than it thought, exposing about 1.5 metres of the fuel rods. It says the rods have likely melted and workers are still trying to cool them in water at the bottom of the pressure vessel.
According to TEPCO, seawater samples taken near the plant contained 18,000 times the permitted level of caesium-134….Japan to cull nuclear-affected livestock – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Greenpeace reports high marine radiation off Fukushima
Greenpeace says high radiation in Japan seaweed Google News – 12 may, 11 TOKYO — Environmental activist group Greenpeace said Thursday it had detected radiation far above legal limits in seaweed samples taken from the ocean off Japan’s stricken Fukushima nuclear plant.Greenpeace, which sent its Rainbow Warrior flagship to take samples of marine life and water, called on Japan’s government to undertake comprehensive radiation testing of seaweed along the Fukushima coast.Initial tests of 22 seaweed samples collected at distances up to 65 kilometres (40 miles) out to sea from the plant “registered significantly high levels of radioactive contamination,” the group said.Ten seaweed samples showed levels of over 10,000 Bequerel per kilogramme, the group said……AFP: Greenpeace says high radiation in Japan seaweed
Radiation levels in tea – Japanese tea recalled
Japan recalls tea over radiation fears| Herald Sun 13 May 11, JAPAN has detected radiation above the legal limit in tea grown southwest of Tokyo and blamed it on the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant northeast of the capital, officials said.Kanagawa prefecture has started a recall of the tea after measuring about 570 becquerel of caesium per kilogram in leaves grown in the city of Minamiashigara, prefectural officials said. The legal limit is 500 Bq/kg……The central government has imposed a ban on a range of vegetables and dairy produce from parts of Fukushima prefecture and several neighbouring regions and banned fishing in the vicinity of the plant……Japan recalls tea over radiation fears | Herald Sun
Fuel rods melted in Fukushima nuclear reactor no. 1
The company says the water level inside reactor No. 1 was much lower than it thought, exposing about 1.5 metres of the fuel rods.
It says the rods have likely melted and workers are still trying to cool them in water at the bottom of the pressure vessel.
Japan’s stricken nuclear plant has new leak ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation), By North Asia correspondent Mark Willacy and wires, 12 May, 11 The operator of Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant says rods inside one of the reactors have most likely melted after being fully exposed.
Fukushima reactor no. 3 is leaking radiation
“Reactor 3 at the damaged Fukushima nuclear power station is leaking” — TEPCO says Cesium at 620,000 times above limit, ENE NEWS, May 11th, 2011“Reactor 3 at the damaged Fukushima nuclear power station is leaking” — TEPCO says Cesium at 620,000 times above limit « Energy News
Daily radiation exposure of Fukushima’s schoolchildren
Children and teachers at a fifth of the 1,600 schools in Fukushima are receiving at least 20 millisieverts of radiation per year, said Nakate, according to readings from the government. That’s the limit for a nuclear power plant worker, according to Japan’s nuclear safety commission.
Children Don Masks, Hats in Fukushima as Radiation Looms, Bloomberg, By Takahiko Hyuga and Shigeru Sato – May 11, 2011 Students at theShoyo Junior High School in Fukushima are wearing masks, caps and long-sleeved jerseys to attend classes as their exposure to radiation is on pace to equal annual limits for nuclear industry workers. Continue reading
Northern Japan: bank problems as business clients fear radiation
“This is such a tragedy for the people of Fukushima, particularly our youth,” said Toyo System’s Shoji, who has two children. “Radioactive contamination has literally jeopardized the seeds and soil of our future growth.”
Nuclear Fear Snags Loan Push by Fukushima Banks as Clients Flee Radiation, Bloomberg, By Shigeru Sato and Shingo Kawamoto – May 11, 2011 “……Daito and larger rivals in the prefecture, Toho Bank Ltd. (8346) and Fukushima Bank Ltd., are three of the worst five performers on Japan’s 83-member Topix Banks Index (TPNBNK) since the March 11 quake and tsunami. They are struggling to keep customers and prevent loans from souring…… Continue reading
Secret plan for dumping nuclear waste in Mongolia
Japan, U.S. negotiating construction of nuclear waste facility in Mongolia, Mainichi Daily News 10 May 11 ULAN BATOR, Mongolia — Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the U.S. Department of Energy have secretly been advancing plans to construct the world’s first international storage and disposal facility for spent nuclear fuel in Mongolia, it has been learned. Continue reading
Fukushima nuclear reactor No1 has dangerous radiation level
| Dangerous Radiation Level at Fukushima No 1 Reactor Detected |
| Moscow, May 10 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), detected a potentially dangerous radiation level at the damaged No.1 reactor of crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, Kyodo news agency said Monday.
The recent 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami in Japan triggered a number of explosions at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, which caused the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in 1986. The radiation levels in the building exceed expected levels reaching as high as 700 millisieverts per hour. A level of radiation at 500 millisieverts per hour may cause cancer, while an acute radiation sickness begins with a dose of 1 sievert and chronic radiation sickness – from 1.5 sievert. A group of nine specialists from the plant’s operator, TEPCO, entered the No. 1 reactor building at the Fukushima nuclear power plant early in the morning on Monday and spent 30 minutes there, measuring radiation levels. Japanese officials earlier reported that radiation levels had dropped inside the building after ventilators were installed last week to filter out radioactive substances…… http://www.daijiworld.com/news/news_disp.asp?n_id=101529&n_tit=Dangerous+Radiation+Level+at+Fukushima+No+1+Reactor+Detected |
Tepco shares plunge, – Fukushima compensation more than $100 billion?
Tepco wants government help for compensation payments BBC News 10 May 11 ……Total compensation claims are yet to be known, but analysts say they may be more than $100bn (£61bn). Engineers are still struggling to contain damage at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in northeastern Japan.
The government of Prime Minister Naoto Kan is now under pressure to review Japan’s energy policy, which has been heavily dependent on nuclear power.
…… Shares in Tepco have plunged since the 11 March quake and subsequent tsunami.
Japanese media has reported that Tepco may have to raise electricity prices in order to help pay for payments….. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13330263
Don’t trust nuclear power people’s story on Fukushima disaster
“It’s very important to have scientists who are not already paid by the nuclear power industry,” …”If they are the same people from Euratom and national authorities they use today, why would they say anything different to what they say all the time?”
Deadly Silence on Fukushima, (VIDEO) Huffington Post , Vivian Morris, : 05/ 9/ I received the following email a few days ago from a Russian nuclear physicist friend who is an expert on the kinds of gases being released at Fukushima. Here is what he wrote:
About Japan: the problem is that the reactor uses “dirty” fuel. It is a combination of plutonium and uranium (MOX). I suspect that the old fuel rods have bean spread out due to the explosion and the surrounding area is contaminated with plutonium which means you can never return to this place again. It is like a new Tchernobyl. Personally, I am not surprised that the authority has not informed people about this. Continue reading
Japan’s richest man pushes for move away from nuclear energy
Masayoshi Son, the founder of Softbank and Japan’s richest man, said last month that he would donate about $12 million to start a research foundation for renewable energy. Continued reliance on atomic energy, he told a news conference, “would be a sin against our children, grandchildren and future generations.”
Japan’s Nuclear Future in the Balance, New York Times, by ANDREW POLLACK, May 9, 2011 TOKYO — The accident at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant has done more than spew radiation into the air and sea and force tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes. It has blown a big hole in Japan’s energy policy, which had assumed that nuclear power would supply a growing part of the country’s needs….. Continue reading
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