Fukushima’s fishing industry threatened by plans to dump radioactive water
  Radioactive water threatens Fukushima fishery’s fragile gains, Plant operator plans to dump contaminated water into the ocean, Nikkei Asian Review, TAKUMI SASAKI, Nikkei staff writer November 04, 2018, TOKYO — Since a catastrophic nuclear accident seven years ago, Fukushima fishermen have made painstaking efforts to rebuild their livelihood, assiduously testing the radioactivity levels of their catches to ensure safety. Now, rapidly accumulating wastewater from the crippled power plant is again threatening this hard-won business recovery.
Faced with the prospect that there will be no more space to store tanks containing radioactive water leaking from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings and the Japanese government are considering diluting the water and dumping it into the ocean. Even though Fukushima’s fishery has been recovering, the haul throughout the entire prefecture amounted to about 3,300 tons last year, just 10% of the average prior to the 2011 disaster. And even reaching there has not been easy. Fish markets in the prefecture now house testing rooms filled with equipment. Staff members mince seafood caught every morning to screen for radioactivity. Such painstaking efforts gradually enabled fishermen to return to the sea, with all fishing and farming operations resuming in February this year. But the trend could reverse if the government goes through with plans to release nuclear wastewater into the sea. Tepco has been cooling down the molten fuel cores by pumping water into the ruined reactors. The tainted water is later taken out and treated, but the system in place does not filter out tritium, a radioactive hydrogen isotope. The tritium-laced water is currently stored in tanks within the premises of Fukushima Daiichi, but space is due to run out within five years……..https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Radioactive-water-threatens-Fukushima-fishery-s-fragile-gains
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Eastern Japan cities sign nuclear accident evacuation accord
Shikoku Electric restarts Ikata nuclear reactor following failed court challenges
Preparation for nuclear international inspections – North Korea
- South Korea’s spy agency has observed preparations by North Korea for international inspections at several of its nuclear and missile test sites, the Yonhap news agency said on Wednesday.
- Kim Min-ki of the ruling Democratic Party told reporters that intelligence officials had observed what they believed to be preparations for possible inspections at Punggye-ri nuclear test site and the Sohae Satellite launching ground.
South Korea’s spy agency has observed preparations by North Korea for international inspections at several of its nuclear and missile test sites, the Yonhap news agency said on Wednesday, citing a South Korean lawmaker………
Washington has demanded steps such as a full disclosure of the North’s nuclear and missile facilities, before agreeing to Pyongyang’s key goals, including an easing of international sanctions and an official end to the Korean War.
American officials have been skeptical of Kim’s commitment to giving up nuclear weapons, but the North’s pledge at the summit with the South drew an enthusiastic response from President Donald Trump. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/10/31/north-korea-reportedly-readies-nuclear-missile-sites-for-inspectors.html
The vexed problem of who will pay if Japan has another nuclear disaster
 So who will foot the bill if another nuclear disaster strikes Japan? http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201811010019.html
November 1, 2018, The government is trying to wriggle out of overhauling the way compensation should be paid out for damages caused by a nuclear accident. A working group of the government’s Atomic Energy Commission had been considering ways to bolster the system, including raising the amount of losses covered by insurance, but failed to produce a formal proposal. The commission apparently failed to obtain support for these ideas from the electric power and insurance industries. The panel started reviewing the system in the aftermath of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. Nearly eight years have passed since the catastrophic triple meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, yet serious problems and flaws remain unaddressed with the current system. The government clearly has no intention of tackling them anytime soon. The Abe administration and the power industry are pushing to restart offline reactors, which is a very irresponsible move. The current system for compensation requires operators of nuclear plants to sign contracts with both private-sector insurers and the government to finance payouts related to nuclear accidents. But these contracts are good for only up to 120 billion yen ($1.06 billion) per nuclear plant. This is way too small, given that compensation payments related to the Fukushima disaster have already surpassed 8 trillion yen. In the case of Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the Fukushima facility, it quickly became clear that the company could not raise the necessary funds on its own. This prospect prompted the government to create a makeshift program to support such payouts. Under this system, the government first pays compensation and then recovers the money over a period of decades from TEPCO and other major electric utilities. The government’s rationale is that utilities must work together to fork up funding for the system in light of the massive sums required. This system is supposed to swing into action if another major nuclear accident occurs. But it is hard to claim that a system based on mutual aid among competitors is sustainable, given the growing competition due to the liberalization of the power retail market. It is time to find an answer to the weighty, complicated question of how the financial burden of preparing for nuclear accidents and paying compensation for losses should be shared among electric power companies, their stakeholders and the government. Operators of nuclear power plants have an obligation to provide against nuclear emergencies. As a first step, insurance coverage for accident-caused losses should be sharply raised. The government needs to continue working with related industries to work out a specific plan. It should also consider how to deal with the prospect of a power company going under in the event of a serious accident. If such a thing were to happen, the government would probably have to play the leading role in paying compensation. But it would still need to get the shareholders and financial institutions involved to cough up their fair share of the burden. Increased insurance premiums paid by major electric utilities could cause electricity bills to rise. But it would help make more accurate assessments of the real costs of nuclear power generation, which both the government and the power industry have claimed to be lower than those of alternative energy sources. At the root of the troubled history of policy efforts to address the issue of compensation is the ambiguous nature of the government’s nuclear power policy. This is borne out by the way it took the initiative in promoting nuclear power plants operated by private-sector companies. Should nuclear power generation continue despite the potential risks and social costs? If another severe nuclear accident occurs, who should take the responsibility for dealing with the aftermath and in what ways? These are just some of the fundamental questions about nuclear power policy raised by the need to revamp the compensation system.
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Japan’s Onagawa nuclear reactor No 1 to be scrapped
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Tohoku Electric to scrap aging No. 1 unit at Onagawa nuclear plant, Japan Times, 25 Oct 18
KYODO, SENDAI – Tohoku Electric Power Co. said Thursday it will scrap the idled No. 1 unit at its Onagawa nuclear power plant in Miyagi Prefecture, more than 30 years after it started operations. The company cited difficulties in taking additional safety measures as well as the relatively small output of the reactor that made it unprofitable. Tohoku Electric President Hiroya Harada conveyed its decision to Miyagi Gov. Yoshihiro Murai. “We decided to decommission (the reactor) at a board meeting today. We took into consideration technical restrictions associated with additional safety measures, output and the years in use,” Harada said when the two met at the prefectural government office….. The basement floors of the Onagawa plant’s No. 2 unit were flooded in the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster. The company is building a 29-meter-high sea wall to guard the complex. Tohoku Electric aims to resume operations of the No. 2 unit at the Onagawa plant in fiscal 2020 at the earliest. The Nuclear Regulation Authority, the country’s nuclear watchdog, has been screening its safety measures. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/10/25/national/tohoku-electric-scrap-aging-no-1-unit-onagawa-nuclear-plant/?fbclid=IwAR3HINMvYO5K5lpiyVwPaXXDlWvNy3cu4walE_uEkDivJ-5sn7uPRSnDEzE#.W9aIxWgzbIW |
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Taiwan’s phaseout of nuclear power
Taiwan on right rack to phase out nuclear power: German envoy, Focus Taiwan, 2018/10/28 Taipei, Oct. 28 (CNA) By Joseph Yeh Taiwan’s government is on the right track to install more capacity for renewable energy as it moves toward phasing out nuclear power by 2025, Germany’s new top envoy to Taiwan told CNA during a recent interview.
During an interview conducted on Wednesday, Thomas Prinz, the new director general of German Institute Taipei, told CNA that based on his understanding, the Taiwan government’s plan to substitute nuclear energy is “very realistic and can be achieved.”
The German government decided to close down all the country’s nuclear power stations in the wake of the Fukushima accident in Japan on March 11, 2011, when the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant was hit by a tsunami after a magnitude 9 earthquake knocked out power to its cooling systems sending its reactors into meltdown.
“However, it is not only the decommissioning which is interesting, when you shut down nuke plants you have to find other sources of energy. That is where your government is so far on the right track to install more capacity for renewable energy,” he added.
President Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) administration has set itself the goal of phasing out nuclear energy in Taiwan by 2025. An amendment to the Electricity Act was approved by the Legislative Yuan on Jan. 11, 2017 requiring all nuclear power operations to end by 2025.
Ikata nuclear reactor goes back online
The No.3 reactor restarted on Saturday. Workers in the central control room removed the control rods that suppress nuclear fission at 30 minutes past midnight.
Shikoku Electric Power Company shut down the reactor last October for regular inspections. It was kept offline by an injunction issued 2 months later by the Hiroshima High Court.
The ruling was revoked last month by another judge at the High Court, paving the way for a restart.
Shikoku Electric says if the process goes smoothly, the Ikata reactor will likely reach criticality — a self-sustaining nuclear reaction — on Saturday night.
It is expected to begin power generation and transmission on Tuesday, and start commercial operations on November 28th.
Ikata Mayor Kiyohiko Takakado in a statement called on Shikoku Electric to continue pursuing safety and reliability at the plant, and provide highly transparent information disclosure.
Members of a civic group opposing the nuclear plant on Saturday staged a demonstration at the site. One participant said she has heard nuclear reactors are needed to ensure stable energy supplies, but she finds it problematic life-threatening radioactive materials are being used to generate power.
TEPCO to scrap Onagawa NPP’s reactor#1
Utility plans to scrap reactor at Onagawa plant
Tohoku Electric to scrap aging No. 1 unit at Onagawa nuclear plant
Stop the return of women and child evacuees to radioactive parts of Fukushima – UN’s call to Japan
U.N. rights expert urges Japan to halt women and child evacuee returns to radioactive parts of Fukushima https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/10/26/national/science-health/u-n-rights-expert-urges-japan-halt-women-child-evacuee-returns-radioactive-parts-fukushima/#.W9PVHmgzbIU
KYODO GENEVA – The Japanese government must halt the return of women and children displaced by the March 2011 nuclear disaster back to areas of Fukushima where radiation levels remain high, a U.N. human rights expert said Thursday.
The special rapporteur on hazardous substances, Baskut Tuncak, also criticized in his statement the government’s gradual removal of evacuation orders for most of the radioactive areas as well as its plan to lift all orders within the next five years, even for the most contaminated areas.
“The gradual lifting of evacuation orders has created enormous strains on people whose lives have already been affected by the worst nuclear disaster of this century. Many feel they are being forced to return to areas that are unsafe,” he said.
An official of Japan’s permanent mission to the international organizations in Geneva rebuffed the statement, saying it is based on extremely one-sided information and could fan unnecessary fears about Fukushima.
Tuncak expressed concerns about people returning to areas with radiation above 1 millisievert per year, a level previously observed by Japan as an annual limit so as to prevent risks to the health of vulnerable people, especially children and women of reproductive age.
“It is disappointing to see Japan appear to all but ignore the 2017 recommendation of the U.N. human rights monitoring mechanism to return back to what it considered an acceptable dose of radiation before the nuclear disaster,” he said.
In the wake of the Fukushima reactor meltdowns, the Japanese government heightened the annually acceptable level of radiation to 20 millisieverts, raising concerns for the health of residents.
In August, Tuncak and two other U.N. human rights experts jointly criticized the Japanese government for allegedly exploiting and putting at risk the lives of “tens of thousands” of people engaged in cleanup operations at and around the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, a claim Tokyo dismissed.
Japan’s government refuses UN call to stop returning evacuees to irradiated areas of Fukushima
Japan rejects UN call to stop returns to Fukushima, Channel News Asia, 27 Oct 18 TOKYO: Japan’s government on Friday (Oct 26) rejected calls from a UN rights expert to halt the return of women and children to areas affected by the Fukushima nuclear disasterover radiation fears.
UN special rapporteur Baskut Tuncak on Thursday warned that people felt they were “being forced to return to areas that are unsafe, including those with radiation levels above what the government previously considered safe.”
In the wake of the Fukushima disaster, Japan’s government lifted its standard for the acceptable level of radiation to 20 millisieverts per year from 1 millisievert.
It has been urged to revise that level back down again, but has rejected calls to do so, a decision Tuncak called “deeply troubling.”
“Japan has a duty to prevent and minimise childhood exposure to radiation,” he said.
But Japan’s government rejected the criticism, saying Tuncak’s comments were based on “one-sided information and could fan unnecessary fears about Fukushima,” a foreign ministry official told AFP.
Japan’s government has gradually lifted evacuation orders on large parts of the areas affected by the disaster, which occurred when a massive tsunami sent reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant into meltdown in March 2011.
But other areas remain under evacuation orders because of continued high levels of radiation.
Japan’s government has pushed hard to return affected areas to normal, but has faced criticism that what it refers to as “safe” radiation levels are not in line with international standards. …….. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asia/japan-fukushima-meltdown-radiation-fears-10867932
Toshiba to dissolve its British nuclear unit NuGeneration?
Toshiba considers liquidation of British nuclear unit NuGeneration https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20181026/p2g/00m/0bu/070000c
October 26, 2018 (Mainichi Japan) TOKYO (Kyodo) — Toshiba Corp. is considering dissolving its British nuclear subsidiary NuGeneration Ltd. as negotiations for its sell-off have stalled, sources close to the matter said Friday.
The Japanese conglomerate is in the process of withdrawing from its overseas nuclear businesses after the bankruptcy of its U.S. subsidiary Westinghouse Electric Co. in 2017.
Korea Electric Power Corp. has been selected as the preferred bidder for the British nuclear subsidiary, but no agreement was reached before its preferred bidder status expired, the sources said.
Toshiba is also at odds over the terms of the unit’s sale with a Canadian asset management company which has shown interest in buying NuGeneration, they said.
NuGeneration plans to build a nuclear power plant with three reactors in Moorside, northwestern England. It was initially scheduled to use reactors manufactured by Westinghouse before the U.S. company went bankrupt.
5.0 magnitude earthquake off the east coast of Japan, close to Fukushima
Japan earthquake: Fukushima rocked by 5.0 magnitude quake off coast, JAPAN has been struck by an earthquake with a 5.0 magnitude off the east coast of the country, close to Fukushima. Express UK, By LAURA MOWAT, Oct 22, 2018 The earthquake had a depth of 46.6km and hit at 10:47am universal time (11.47am BST).
There has been an increase in seismic activity in the last 24 hours along the Ring of Fire – the Pacific plate which sees the most earthquakes and most active volcanoes.
An earthquake also struck Japan’s north island last night at a depth of 67km and a magnitude of 4.4.
Japan lies in the Ring of Fire, which is a major area in the basin of the Pacific Ocean where earthquakes and volcanoes are common……….
Earthquakes are common in Japan as the country is located in an area where several continental and oceanic plates meet.
Japan is hit by about 1,500 earthquakes each year, which includes daily tremors that are rarely felt.
An earthquake with a magnitude of five on the Richter Scale is usually felt, but normally only causes minor damage. https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/1034816/japan-earthquake-fukushima-tsunami-warning-center-USGS
Japan’s draft new nuclear legislation including unlimited redress from utilities for accidents at their nuclear plants
Draft bill omits state burden for nuclear accident compensation http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201810240030.html, THE ASAHI SHIMBUN, October 24, 2018 After more than three years of discussions, the nuclear damage compensation law will be left largely intact, including unlimited redress from utilities for accidents at their nuclear plants and vagueness about the government’s responsibility.Only minor changes will be made to the law, such as measures to accelerate provisional payments to victims of nuclear accidents.
Science ministry officials on Oct. 23 presented a draft of proposed legislation to revise the law at a committee meeting of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. The legislation is expected to be submitted to the extraordinary Diet session that began on Oct. 24.
An advisory committee on the nuclear damage compensation system within the Japan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) had been discussing possible revisions since 2015 in part because of the huge compensation amount–now more than 8 trillion yen ($71 billion)–facing Tokyo Electric Power Co. over the 2011 accident at its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
Electric power companies had asked for some sort of limit in the law, given the situation at TEPCO.
One suggestion was to more clearly delineate the responsibility of the central government and the utilities for compensating victims of nuclear disasters.
A committee member who once worked in Keidanren (Japan Business Federation) supported setting a limit, saying the companies would face a serious management problem if they are unable to predict potential compensation risks.
In return, the central government would shoulder the compensation amount above a certain limit, the member proposed.
However, the committee could not reach an agreement, and no change was made to the provision that sets unlimited compensation responsibility on the part of the utilities.
Utilities will have to continue setting aside a maximum 120 billion yen for each nuclear plant it operates as insurance for a major accident.
Although the insurance amount would appear to be a sort of limit on the electric power companies, the utilities must also contribute to the Nuclear Damage Compensation and Decommissioning Facilitation Corp. (NDF), which provides assistance when compensation demands concerning a single nuclear plant exceed 120 billion yen.
The central government also contributes funds to the NDF.
Calls arose to raise the insurance limit for electric power companies beyond 120 billion yen. However, the insurance industry would not agree to any higher amount, and no change was made in the limit.
Some committee members brought up the topic of whether the central government’s responsibility for compensation should be included in a legal revision.
The electric power industry said the central government should shoulder a greater portion of the compensation responsibility for nuclear accidents because it has continued to define nuclear energy as an important base-load energy source.
Members of the advisory committee brushed aside that suggestion, saying the public would never be convinced in light of the Fukushima accident and the various shortcomings revealed about TEPCO’s management.
Other members cited the possibility that utilities would cut back on safety investment if they knew the central government would pay for compensation.
Discussions about the central government’s responsibility never did get off the ground in the advisory committee, even though a number of recent court verdicts in civil lawsuits have awarded compensation while clearly stating the central government’s responsibility for the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
The minor change to the law to allow electric power companies to more quickly begin provisional payments of compensation was proposed to address problems that arose after the Fukushima accident.
TEPCO took about six weeks to begin provisional payments to disaster victims. The delay, according to TEPCO, was because the utility had no idea about the maximum amount of compensation it would have to pay.
Under the proposed change, the central government will provide loans to utilities so they can immediately begin making provisional payments. Utilities will be obligated to compile guidelines that define the procedures for applying for compensation and making those guidelines widely known.
(This article was compiled from reports by Yusuke Ogawa and Senior Staff Writer Noriyoshi Ohtsuki.)
USA issues stark warning against UK partnering with China on nuclear power stations
US warns Britain against Chinese alliances on nuclear plants, Security official claims evidence of civilian nuclear technology being put to military use, Ft.com, David Sheppard in London , 25 Oct 18
The US has issued a stark warning to the UK about partnering with China’s largest state-backed nuclear company on a host of new power plants, saying it has evidence that it is engaged in taking civilian nuclear technology and transferring it to military uses. Christopher Ashley Ford, the US assistant secretary for international security and non-proliferation, said that China General Nuclear (CGN), which is a partner on the £18bn Hinkley Point C nuclear project, among others, was at the forefront of Chinese efforts to militarise civilian nuclear technology.
“It’s quite clear now that essentially the entirety of the Chinese nuclear industry is lashed up with military-civil fusion,” Mr Ford said in a briefing with the Financial Times. “There is a growing pattern of information of which we have become aware over time related to technological theft issues.” Mr Ford said the US had shared evidence, both “open source” and from intelligence gathering, with the UK, showing CGN was involved in the transfer of technology that could be used for a range of military applications. That could include powering China’s new breed of nuclear powered submarines, aircraft carriers and “floating nuclear reactors for the ongoing militarisation of the South China Sea”, Mr Ford
“If CGN is engaged in helping the Chinese navy . . . with missiles that could presumably be pointed at western capitals, including London . . . It’s worth thinking about whether that’s a particularly good idea,” Mr Ford said. The bluntly delivered warning comes as UK prime minister Theresa May has tried to increase scrutiny of Chinese investment in key UK infrastructure compared to her predecessor David Cameron, including over involvement in nuclear power plants.
But the US intervention, given their status as the UK’s key military ally, is likely to increase pressure on Downing Street. The Trump administration is locked in a trade war with China, with tensions ramping up over tariffs and the balance of payments between the two countries. But the US this month also updated its own policies on civilian nuclear co-operation with China to say that there would be a “presumption of denial” for any US company seeking to transfer technology to CGN or its subsidiaries. …..
A contract between China and Westinghouse Electric Company, the US nuclear engineering group sold by Toshiba to Canadian asset manager Brookfield last year, is not, however, broadly affected by the US policy shift, although future deals could be. The second Westinghouse plant in China started up on Wednesday, 11 years after the deal to build four AP1000 reactors was first signed. …..
Last month, CGN told the Financial Times that political sensitivities could prompt it to give up the chance to operate a new atomic power plant at Bradwell in Essex, as the group also outlined ambitious plans for an industrial partnership with Britain. …..
CGN has invested more than £2bn in its British nuclear projects in the past two years, and has committed to spend £9.5bn in this area in total. https://www.ft.com/content/84ab26f6-d7a5-11e8-a854-33d6f82e62f
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Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
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