Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant the world’s most dangerous complex
Making Hamaoka a special concern to its opponents is the presence of plutonium. Chubu is the only utility in Japan to have signed a contract to process mixed oxide fuel containing plutonium and uranium with the Sellafield plant in the UK.
The industry’s clout, its collusion with government watchdogs and a largely
compliant media have helped smother concerns about this potentially explosive collision of state-of-the-art atomic power with primordial seismic instability
‘We all said disaster would strike here, not Fukushima’, The Independent, 3 May 11, After a 40-year campaign, warnings about the vast nuclear power station on Japan’s earthquake faultline are finally being heard. By David McNeill in Omaezeki and Nanako Otani, Norihiko Watanabe is pointing to his home, 600m from what he calls the most dangerous nuclear power complex on the planet. “There’s nothing like it anywhere in the world,” he says, eyes widening. “If it blows up, we’re all finished.” Continue reading
Suspected radioactive leak in Tsuruga nuclear plant, Japan
Another radiation leak suspected in Japan, NZ Herald, 3 May 11, A radioactive substance leak from fuel rods is suspected to have occurred at another nuclear power plant in Japan, Kyodo News is reporting today.It’s occurred in Tsuruga, the Fukui prefectural government said, citing a rise in the level of radioactive substances in coolant water.
The operator, Japan Atomic Power Co, says it will manually shut down the No. 2 reactor of the plant on the Sea of Japan coast and examine its primary cooling system…..http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10723121
Fukushima care worker exposed to internal radiation emitter
the worker in question, who is in her 40s, was found to have suffered more internal than external radiation exposure, with the internal exposure reaching 6.71 millisieverts.
She was providing care to workers who had become sick at a building on site that was being used as the operation center for the crisis, the utility known as Tepco said.
Second woman over legally set limit, Worker found overexposed to radiation, Japan Times, 2 May 11, Kyodo, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Sunday that a woman at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 power plant has been overexposed to radiation, making her the second at the plant to be subjected to more than the legal limit. Continue reading
Japanese parents fight government over changed radiation limits
Parents and lobbyists are scheduled to meet bureaucrats today to hand over a petition demanding the withdrawal of the new radiation standard
Parents fight back over raised radiation limits, Independent, 2 May 11, By David McNeill in Fukushima City, Thousands of parents living near Japan’s stricken Fukushima Daiichi power plant have condemned a government decision to lift radiation limits for schools in the area by 20 times, saying the move is based on incomplete science and could put children in danger. Continue reading
Uncertainties about radiation in Fukushima region
The disagreements came to the forefront on Friday, when a government adviser on radiation safety quit, calling on Japan to lower the permissible radiation dose of 20 millisieverts per year that the Education Ministry has set for schools for younger children, including elementary and junior high, in affected areas.
Life in Limbo for Japanese Near Nuclear Plant, New York Times, By MARTIN FACKLER and MATTHEW L. WALD, May 1, 2011 TENEI, Japan — For seven generations, Yoshitoshi Sewa and his ancestors have tilled this farm in a gently curving valley filled with green rice paddies. But now he will not let his young grandchildren play outside their tile-roofed home for fear of an invisible and potentially long-lasting threat, radiation. Continue reading
Dissatisfied, Japanese Nuclear Adviser quits
Japanese Nuclear Adviser Quits, Wall Street Journal, By WILLIAM SPOSATO, 30 April 11, TOKYO—A special advisor to the Japanese government on radiation safety resigned Friday, saying that he was dissatisfied with the handling of the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Continue reading
At last, attention to the irradiated animals at Fukushima
“We can’t turn a blind eye to Japan’s abandoned animals that have not received adequate food or water for more than a month and continue to receive dangerous levels of radiation.”…
Animal Attraction: IFAW convenes nuclear radiation experts for landmark animal rescue summit in Japan, by Stacy Fox, khou.com, April 29, 2011, The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW – www.ifaw.org) is organizing a gathering of radiation and animal rescue experts from the United States and Japan to discuss the current crisis and develop steps to provide aid to animals inside the evacuation zone. The team of experts will meet from May 2 -3 at the International House of Japan in Tokyo. Continue reading
Roundup of news on Fukushima nuclear reactor crisis
There is no known “safe dose” of ionizing radiation, and the government is under increasing pressure to do a full analysis of health impacts that radioactive fallout could have on nursing mothers and infants
Japan Nuclear Update, Clean Energy.org, April 28th,
2011 Sara Barczak › “……..the ongoing nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant continues to present new challenges. The nuclear fuel in reactor Unit 1 is apparently melting with emergency cooling efforts requiring 6 tons of water injected every hour. Continue reading
Japan stopping Greenpeace from monitoring seawater radiation
Greenpeace says Japan restricting its radiation , Straits Times, 29 April 11, TOKYO – GREENPEACE said on Thursday Japan had blocked it from testing seawater and marine life for radiation from a stricken nuclear plant in territorial waters that extend 20km offshore. Continue reading
Highest radiation readings now at Fukushima No 1 nuclear reactor
| Radiation Readings at TEPCO Plant Rise to Highest Arirang, 28 April 11The operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant says the level of radiation is the highest at the number one reactor showing readings of 1,120 milisieverts per hour. This is the highest level detected since the March 11th earthquake and tsunami that hit the country and led to the ongoing nuclear crisis there. That’s also more than four times the annual dose of radiation allowed for the plant’s workers. http://www.arirang.co.kr/News/News_View.asp?nseq=115402&code=Ne2&category=2 |
Latest information on Fukushima’s nuclear power plant
What’s going on at Japan’s damaged nuclear power plant?, Reuters, 27 April 11, “…… WILL THE SITE BECOME A NO-MAN’S LAND?
Most likely, yes. Even after a cold shutdown there are tonnes of nuclear waste sitting at the site of the nuclear reactors.
Entombing the reactors in concrete would make them safe to work and live a few kilometres away from the site, but is not a long-term solution for the disposal of spent fuel, which will decay and emit radiation over several thousand years.
The spent nuclear fuel in Fukushima has been damaged by sea water, so recycling it is probably not an option, while transporting it elsewhere is unlikely because of the opposition that proposal would bring.
Experts say the clean-up will take decades. (Additional reporting by Shinichi Saoshiro and Yoko Kubota; Editing by Alex Richardson) MORE AT….http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/27/japan-plant-idUSL3E7FR2IV20110427
Japan makes convenient new rules on “acceptable” nuclear radiation
it has the effect of legalizing illness and deaths from nuclear radiation, or at least the state’s responsibility for them…..the state’s concern appears to be less the health of employees and more the cost of caring for nuclear victims.
Dying for TEPCO? Fukushima’s Nuclear Contract Workers, The Asia Pacific Journal , Paul Jobin 28 April 11“……On March 14th, the Ministry of Health and Labor raised the maximum dose for workers to 250 mSv a year, where previously it was set at 100 mSv over 5 years (either 20 mSv a year for five years or 50 mSv for 2 years, which is in itself a strange interpretation of the recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection’s guideline stipulating a maximum of 20 mSv a year. Continue reading
Fukushima’s unsolved nuclear radiation problem
Fukushima Radiation Readings at Their Highest, Japan Is Contaminated Financial Feed, by Chris Hartley on Apr 27, 2011 Robots sent to get Japan’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi reactor No. 1’s radiation readings reflected 1,120 millisierverts of radiation per hour, said the general manager of Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) Junichi Matsumoto. The reading is 4 times higher than the yearly dose a nuclear worker is allowed to be exposed to……..Tepco said it is not possible to push through with the planned flooding of more water to reactor No. 1 to expedite its emergency cooling efforts. Kyoto University nuclear engineering professor Hironobu Unesaki said Tepco must figure out the high radiation’s source. If it’s from contaminated water leaking from inside the reactor, Tepco’s so-called water tomb may be jeopardized because flooding the containment vessel will result in more radiation in the building, added the professor. The explosion at the plant damaged reactors 1, 2, and 3’s cores and reactor 4’s fuel rods. Tepco has used several emergency measures to cool the units, such as pouring millions of liters of water.
Fukushima’s contract workers exposed to radiation
What is clear is that the contract laborers are routinely exposed to the highest level of radiation….the whole system is opaque, thus complicating the procedure for workers who need to apply for occupational hazards compensation.
Dying for TEPCO? Fukushima’s Nuclear Contract Workers, The Asia Pacific Journal , Paul Jobin, 28 April 11, Liquidators recruited by ads In the titanic struggle to bring to closure the dangerous situation at Fukushima Nuclear Plant No1, there are many signs that TEPCO is facing great difficulties in finding workers. At present, there are nearly 700 people at the site. As in ordinary times, workers rotate so as to limit the cumulative dose of radiation inherent in maintenance and cleanup work at the nuclear site. But this time, the risks are greater, and the method of recruitment unusual. Continue reading
Excess radiation exposure to woman at Fukushima
Woman at Fukushima Nuclear Plant Received Excess Level of Radiation, Forbes, Apr. 27 2011 – A woman working at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant (FDI) was exposed to radiation three times higher than the legal limit, according to a statement today by the plant operators.
The woman worked at FDI for 11 days in March, according to the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), after the March 11th crisis began. TEPCO didn’t say why it waited a month to make the news public.
The woman was exposed to 17.55 millisieverts of radiation. The legal exposure limit for female nuclear plant workers in Japan is 5 millisieverts over 3 months…….TEPCO minimized the incident, saying that, “we have confirmed by a medical diagnosis that there is no impact on her health.”
Such a statement can be misleading. Only extremely high doses of radiation have an immediate impact on a person’s health. The primary threat to nuclear workers is the long-term prospect of developing cancer from lower levels of radiation…..http://blogs.forbes.com/oshadavidson/2011/04/27/woman-at-fukushima-nuclear-plant-received-excess-level-of-radiation/
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