In Japan nuclear regulators and the regulated are the same people
The commission has no idea what the hell is going on,” he told The Independent. “Bureaucrats leave the government and go to TEPCO. The regulator and the regulated are the same people.”….”The government wanted more nuclear power and steamrollered anyone who got in its way. ..
Murky past of Japan’s troubled nuclear industry revealed, The main nuclear power operator has cut corners over the years – with the government’s knowledge.The Independent, 24 March 11, Daniel Howden reports in Fukushima prefecture, 25 March 2011 “…..TEPCO were told from the start that the primary containment vessels, based on 50-year-old US technology, were too small.
Radioactive iodine 1250 times legal limit in sea off Japan
Radioactive iodine in sea off Japan, Sydney Morning Herald, March 26, 2011 – The operator of Japan’s disaster-hit Fukushima nuclear plant has detected radioactive iodine 1250 times the legal limit in Pacific Ocean waters nearby, the nuclear safety agency says…….Radioactive iodine in sea off Japan
Upward trend of radiation from Fukushima causes anxiety over tap water
The overall situation at the Fukushima plant remains of serious concern, the International Atomic Energy Agency said. The deposition of radioactive iodine and cesium varies across 10 prefectures on a day to day basis but “the trend is generally upward,”
Anxiety in Tokyo over radiation in tap water The Star, 24 March 11, TOKYO (AP): Workers loaded trucks with boxes of bottled water to distribute across the city Thursday after residents cleared store shelves following warnings that Tokyo’s tap water had elevated radiation coming from Japan’s tsunami-damaged nuclear complex. Continue reading
Radioactive iodine and cesium from Fukushima nuclear plant
Report: Emissions from Japan plant approach Chernobyl levels, USA Today, By Michael Winter, 24 March 11. Emissions of radioactive iodine and cesium from the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant have approached levels after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986, New Scientist reports. Austrian researchers made the calculations by using the global network of detectors designed to sniff out clandestine nuclear bomb tests.
Iodine-131 is being released at daily levels 73% of those detected after Chernobyl, while the daily amount of cesium-137 is about 60%, according to researcher from Austria’s Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics…… Report: Emissions from Japan plant approach Chernobyl levels –
TEPCO shareholders to lose their whole investment
After repaying borrowings due this year and next, Tepco should have 8 trillion of net debt,
Tokyo nuclear firm protected, but not shareholders. Reuters , Mar 24, 2011 By John Foley HONG KONG — The owner of Japan’s stricken nuclear reactors should emerge from the wreckage intact. But shareholders in Tokyo Electric Power, whose Fukushima complex was damaged by this month’s earthquake, could lose their entire investment. Continue reading
Japanese nuclear plant beset by new problems
an even bigger problem when the water inside the reactor is much more radioactive than usual and is under extremely high pressure, as it has been in all three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant at various times since the earthquake and tsunami…..
New Problems Arise at Japanese Nuclear Plant, NYTimes.com, By KEITH BRADSHER March 23, 2011 “……..nuclear engineers say some of the most difficult and dangerous tasks are still ahead — and time is not necessarily on the side of the repair teams. Continue reading
Conflicting information on state of spent nuclear fuel rods at Fukushima
“We believe that secondary containment has been destroyed and there is no water in the spent fuel pool, and we believe that radiation levels are extremely high, which could possibly impact the ability to take corrective measures.”
Foreigners Advised to Leave Tokyo; US Citizens OK’ed to Evacuate, by: Nancy Roberts 18 March 11, Conflicting Information on Exposed Fuel Rods US Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Greg Jacszko testified before Congress on Wednesday that he believes there is no water in the spent fuel pool in one of the Fukushima reactor buildings, leaving the fuel rods exposed and in danger of overheating: Continue reading
Winds could carry Fukushima nuclear radiation across Japan’s mainland
Global rescue teams depart as winds threaten to turn nuclear cloud inland * Brendan Nicholson The Australian * March 22, 2011 AUSTRALIAN authorities have warned that the wind direction in the region surrounding the stricken Japanese nuclear reactors was set to change last night and could carry radioactive contamination over the mainland.
The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency said the prevailing wind had been carrying radiation out to sea since the Fukushima Daiichi power stations were damaged. But during the next 36 hours, a wind change is likely to produce a complex pattern of wind directions over mainland Japan.”Any radioactivity that may occur from deterioration in the current status of any of the Fukushima Daiichi reactor units is predicted to pass across mainland Japan during this time.”
ARPANSA said the wind should swing back out over the ocean after that time.ARPANSA has recommended that Australians within 80km of the power plant move out of the area….Global rescue teams depart as winds threaten to turn nuclear cloud inland | The Australian
Japan’s history of falsified nuclear safety records
In 2002 TEPCO was caught falsifying safety records and was forced to shut down all 17 of its reactors, including those at the stricken Fukushima I facility, located some 240km north of Tokyo in eastern Japan, on the Pacific coast. TEPCO executives admitted to over 200 submissions of false technical data in the previous two decades. The only reason TEPCO was caught was because a US nuclear engineer working at TEPCO came forward with the information,
Who controls nuclear control agencies? Japan’s earthquake caused a nuclear crisis which could be repeated in other countries .. Al Jazeera Stephen Leahy 23 Mar 2011 As Japan struggles to confront a nuclear disaster that could be the worst in history, it seems clear that any discussion about the safety of nuclear energy should address the independence of regulatory agencies. Continue reading
25 embassies in Tokyo shut due to nuclear radiation concerns
Nuclear fears shut 25 embassies in Tokyo Herald Sun, March 23, 2011 THE nuclear emergency following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan has led 25 embassies to temporarily shut their doors in Tokyo, Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto said today.As of yesterday; “eight of them had transferred their functions outside Tokyo or Japan”, Matsumoto told AFP by email……Nearly two weeks after the double disaster ravaged the country’s Pacific coast on March 11, workers were battling to avert catastrophe at a crippled nuclear power plant, located 250 kilometres northeast of Tokyo.
The foreign ministry’s press division said the following countries had closed their doors: Angola, Bahrain, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Finland, Germany, Ghana, Guatemala, Kenya, Kosovo, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Mauritania, Mozambique, Namibia, Nepal, Nigeria, Panama and Switzerland Nuclear fears shut 25 embassies in Tokyo | Herald Sun
Radiation concerns: Evacuation advised for foreigners from Tokyo
Foreigners Advised to Leave Tokyo; US Citizens OK’ed to Evacuate, by: Nancy Roberts 18 March 11, As conflicting information fueled further fears over the potential for radiation emanating from the Fukushima nuclear facility, Germany, Britain and Australia have advised their citizens to leave Tokyo, some 170 miles from the affected plant. Americans have been advised to move beyond a 50 mile radius from the facility, far greater than the 12-mile limit set by the Japanese government.
US citizens and dependents working for the American Embassy or other government institutions have been authorized to evacuate at government expense. The American Embassy remains open, and American dependents have not been ordered to leave, but may “exercise the opportunity” to evacuate, according to Under Secretary of State Patrick F. Kennedy……Foreigners Advised to Leave Tokyo; US Citizens OK’ed to Evacuate
Fukushima cooling effort increasingly being done by robots
More robots sent in to tackle crisis at Fukushima, New Scientist, 24 march 11, Robots from other nations are joining in the efforts to stabilise the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.In addition to the Monirobo radiation monitoring robots reported previously, the Japanese have also used an unmanned fire engine. This was operated by the Tokyo Fire Department, which introduced its first robot, the Rainbow 5 water sprayer, in 1986. Such robots are used for fires which are too large or too hazardous for human fire-fighters to approach. The engine sprayed seawater from an eight-hundred-metre hose directly into the spent fuel rod pool at No. 3 reactor for thirteen hours to prevent overheating.A much more powerful unmanned water cannon has now been flown in from Australia. Made by Bechtel Corporation, the system is manoeuvred into place remotely and can spray nine thousand litres a minute out to a distance of a hundred and fifty metres…… One Per Cent: More robots sent in to tackle crisis at Fukushima
Fukushima radioactive emissions – a guarded secret
”The notion that you can track an air parcel precisely as it travels across the Pacific is fanciful,” he said. “The difficulty in doing that is we really don’t know what is being emitted.” That information, if known at all, is being closely held by Japanese authorities and the U.S. government,
Computer models aid Japanese nuclear response, The Washington Post, By Andrew Freedman, 23 March 11, U-Md. research team wants more data made public. As the Japanese nuclear crisis continues to unfold, the airborne spread of radioactive materials from the stricken reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi power station continues to be a key concern of Japanese and American officials. Continue reading
Chairman of Japan’s nuclear watchdog call for rethink on nuclear power
Nuclear energy promoter apologises The Australian, March 24, 2011 The pro-nuclear chairman of Japan’s atomic watchdog has called for a worldwide review of the nuclear energy industry after admitting that mistakes had been made in the design of the Fukushima power plant.In comments that will provide ammunition for anti-nuclear campaigners, Haruki Madarame said assumptions behind the building of the now dangerously radioactive nuclear plant had been wrong and global safety guidelines for the industry should be reconsidered.His admission and accompanying apology represented a U-turn from an individual who has advised the Japanese government on nuclear matters for 30 years and chaired its Nuclear Safety Commission since April last year.”As a person who promoted nuclear power, I have a personal feeling of apology,” he said. Nuclear energy promoter apologises | The Australian
Mixed oxide fuel means danger for No 3 Fukushima nuclear plant
New Problems Arise at Japanese Nuclear Plant, NYTimes.com, By KEITH BRADSHER March 23, 2011 “…..Fukushima Daiichi’s Reactor No. 3 began belching black smoke for an hour late in the afternoon, leading its operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, to evacuate workers.. No. 3 is considered one of the most dangerous of the reactors because of its fuel — mixed oxides, or mox, which contain a mixture of uranium and plutonium and can produce a more dangerous radioactive plume if scattered by fire or explosions. The cooling system at Reactor No. 5, which was shut down at the time of the earthquake and has shown few problems since, also abruptly stopped working on Wednesday afternoon, said Hiro Hasegawa, a spokesman for Tokyo Electric.New Problems Arise at Japanese Nuclear Plant – NYTimes.com
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