Earthquake study in Japan may bring all its nuclear reactors to a close
seismic experts in the pay of the nuclear power industry have drawn severe criticism for playing down the risk of massive quakes and tsunami before the catastrophic breakdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant.
The expert panel’s judgment on the Oi plant is likely to have a significant impact on the fate of many other nuclear plants and probably the future of national energy policy as well
Fault study at Oi nuke plant may impact all offline reactors Noted geologist worries warning signs will continue to go unheeded Japan Times, By REIJI YOSHIDA. 15 Nov 12 Toyo University professor Mitsuhisa Watanabe, a polemicist on active faults, has fought a long losing battle against Japan’s nuclear industrial complex. His research, ringing the alarm bell about active faults under and near nuclear power plants, has always fallen on deaf ears.
According to Watanabe, nuclear regulators and power companies have a long history of willfully underestimating the danger posed by active faults near a number of reactors.
But now the Fukushima nuclear crisis may have finally changed the rules of the game. Continue reading
Highly radioactive fish in seas near Fukushima
Asahi: Gov’t worried about highly radioactive fish — Why are radiation readings still 100s of times over official safe limits? http://enenews.com/asahi-govt-worried-about-highly-radioactive-fish-why-are-radiation-readings-still-100s-of-times-over-official-safe-limit
November 13th, 2012
(Subscription Only) Title: Worries over highly radioactive fish prompt study
Source: Asahi
Author: HIROSHI ISHIZUKA
Date: November 13, 2012
Persistently high radioactivity in some fish caught close to the Fukushima nuclear plant has sparked a government investigation into the physiological basis for contamination and why radiation readings in some specimens remain hundreds of times over the official safe limit.
[…] The overall trend has been a decline in detected amounts of radioactive cesium.
However, in August, two greenlings caught 20 kilometers north of the Fukushima plant were found to have cesium levels of 25,800 becquerels per kilogram, the highest level ever measured in fish since the nuclear accident. The government standard for food is 100 becquerels per kilogram.
And in March, tests recorded a level of 18,700 becquerels per kilogram
in freshwater salmon in the Niidagawa river near Iitate […]
[…] cesium in freshwater salmon and char caught since March has not been decreasing, leading to restrictions on the shipment […]
The forthcoming study will analyze cesium levels in the fish’s otolith, a part of the inner ear. The otolith is widely used in such research because it is an organ where trace elements tend to accumulate over the animal’s lifespan, leaving a growth record that can be likened to the rings of a tree. […]
Japan’s desperate, endless battle with nuclear radiation
Top Nuclear Official: Japan in “desperate, seemingly endless battle with radiation” — “Seemingly infinite damage to the daily life of residents” http://enenews.com/top-nuclear-
official-japan-desperate-seemingly-endless-battle-radiation-seemingly-infinite-damage-daily-life-residents
November 12th, 2012
Source: Proceedings of the Japan Academy, Series B; Vol. 88 (2012) No. 9 p. 471-484Title: (1.7MB pdf) Accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Stations of TEPCO —Outline & lessons learned
Author: Shunichi Tanaka, Chairman Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority
Date: Nov. 9, 2012
The severe accident that broke out at Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power stations on March 11, 2011, caused seemingly infinite damage to the daily life of residents. Serious and widespread contamination of the environment occurred due to radioactive materials discharged from nuclear power stations (NPSs). […]
The accident has seriously contaminated the environment, such as houses, farmland, forests and seacoasts, resulting in significant radiation exposure to residents. After one year, there seems to be no concrete program to recover from the damage to the environment and to nuclear power applications, while the nation is forced to struggle with a desperate, seemingly endless battle with radiation. […]
Fukushima is not a city where people can live: Video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko1t92IM44A Mother: I want the world to know Fukushima is in a state of dying — I reaffirmed severe radioactive contamination — I alone can’t do anything, I tried (VIDEO) http://enenews.com/mother-world-fukushima-state-dying-alone-anything-severe-radioactive-contamination-video
November 11th, 2012
Title: Fukushima is not a city where people can liveWatch the video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ko1t92IM44A
By: 148 Production
Date: November 10, 2012
If you do not want to die, run away from Fukushima.
[…]
Fukushima Mother: Since the government was hiding information about radioactive contamination has paralyzed our crisis management. […] I reaffirmed severe radioactive contamination […] I alone cannot do anything I tried to help Fukushima. So, I want to know in world, Fukushima is in a state of dying.
Worsening working conditions at Fukushima – Video
NHK Documentary: Recently deteriorating working conditions at Fukushima plant causing workers to quit — Company hasn’t been able to recruit a single employee (VIDEO) http://enenews.com/nhk-documentary-working-conditions-deteriorating-fukushima-plant-many-workers-leaving-company-hasnt-able-recruit-single-worker-video
November 13th, 2012
Title: WANTED: Workers for Fukushima Decommission
Source: NHK
Uploaded by: MissingSky101
Date: Nov 12, 2012
NHK Narrator: This company that manages and maintains nuclear plant
instruments hasn’t been able to recruit a single worker for the plant
since the accident.
Yukiteru Naka, Chairman: If nothing changes there will be no young
workers at the plant in future. I think that’s very clear.
[…]
NHK Reporter: Many workers in areas with high radiation levels are
quitting. They have to leave in around 3 months when their level of
exposure is at the safety limit.
Recently deteriorating working conditions are also making others leave.
Tons of radioactive water around Fukushma nuclear plant
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDsSgVoJhuw Japan Nuclear Engineer: “Mind-blowing… truly outrageous” — Many massive pools of contaminated water are spread around Fukushima plant http://enenews.com/japan-nuclear-engineer-mind-blowing-truly-outrageous-many-massive-pools-of-contaminated-water-are-spread-around-fukushima-plant
November 12th, 2012
Title: Japanese tread radioactive water, attempt damage control
Source: The Guilfordian
Author: Haejin Song
Date: Nov. 12, 2012
[…] “Water works well for this system since it has a very high capacity … and can be treated if it is contaminated,” said Angie Moore, associate professor of geology. “However, when there is a reactor accident like at the Fukushima, the systems that prevent nuclear contamination of the cooling water have failed and there is direct contact between the water and the radioactive material.”
Masashi Goto (Credit: Shunji Iwai)
[…]
“There are pools of some 10,000 or 20,000 tons of contaminated water in each plant, and there are many of these,” said nuclear engineer Masasahi Goto to news source Al Jazeera.
“To bring all these to one place would mean you would have to treat hundreds of thousands of tons of contaminated water which is mind-blowing in itself,” continued Goto. “It’s an outrageous amount, truly outrageous.” […]
Watch Goto’s presentation at the Foreign Correspondent’s Club of Japan here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDsSgVoJhuw
As massive sea wall slowly erected, no sign of restart at Japan’s biggest nuclear plant
Four years before Fukushima, the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant was damaged by an earthquake, triggering a fire and radiation leaks
Japan’s Tepco sees no quick re-start for biggest nuclear plant Planet Ark, 14-Nov-12 Risa Maeda and Aaron Sheldrick Tokyo Electric Power Co sees no imminent resumption of operations at the world’s biggest nuclear plant, shut down after last year’s Fukushima disaster, further raising its costs as it spends more on fossil fuels to generate electricity.
A wall to protect the 8,212-megawatt Kashiwazaki-Kariwa station’s seven reactors against tsunamis will not be finished until June next year, said Shiro Arai, deputy site manager.
“It is too premature to talk about when reactor restarts will happen,” Continue reading
Mongolia could meet all its energy need through renewable sources
Mongolia to Increase Renewable Energy Development, Xinhua Says http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-12/mongolia-to-increase-renewable-energy-development-xinhua-says.html By Ehren Goossens – Nov 12, Mongolia plans to increase the amount of energy produced from renewable sources, the country’s President Tsakhia Elbegdorj said Monday, according to China ’s official Xinhua News Agency.
The country expects to produce 20 percent to 25 percent of its electricity from wind, solar and other renewable resources by 2020, Elbegdorj said at the Northeast Asia Renewable Energy Resources Cooperation Forum. He didn’t say how much renewable energy is produced now.
Mongolia has the potential to meet its entire domestic energy demand with renewable power, Elbegdorj said.
South Korea’s nuclear export industry at risk, as nuclear scandal widens
South Korea has its own nuclear challenge, Kearney Hub, 12 Nov 12 “….The Republic of Korea’s government has shut down several nuclear reactors after the discovery that safety certificates had been forged for some parts …. ,
public anxiety and criticism has spread rapidly — understandable after the Fukushima nuclear accident when the March 2011 tsunami and earthquake struck Japan. Moreover, South Korea has given high priority to developing a global nuclear export industry.
Several years ago, Korean firms won a $20 billion contract to build four nuclear reactors in the United Arab Emirates. South Korea plans to build 80 nuclear power reactors worldwide, worth an estimated $400 billion, by 2030. This would place the country on a
par with Russia and just behind France — the world leader in nuclear power export. U.S. government officials describe nuclear power as a foreign-trade high priority, along with automobiles, semiconductors and shipbuilding.
The unfolding Korean nuclear scandal doubtless will have regional and global impact. Today, any major production disruption in principal industries has immediate ripple effects. ….
South Korea’s problem occurs at a bad time. Last May, a Beijing summit brought together government officials from China, Japan and Korea to negotiate a new free-trade agreement and sign an initial accord on Promotion, Facilitation and Protection of Investment. …
China’s process of change in political leadership – anything but democratic
China’s chosen few get to glimpse behind the curtain, The Age, November 12, 2012, Virginie Magin, Malcolm Moore “…..in reality, the process has the thinnest veneer of democracy, since the number of places on the Politburo Standing Committee will match the number of candidates put forward..
… Overall, the proceedings at the congress have been carefully choreographed, with delegates chosen to reflect the party’s inclusiveness. In turn, they make speeches praising the party, Mr Hu’s leadership and occasionally themselves, …… http://www.theage.com.au/world/chinas-chosen-few-get-to-glimpse-behind-the-curtain-20121111-296eg.html#ixzz2C2o9sv8s
International anxiety over A Q Khan’s entry into Pakistan politics
AQ Khan: Father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb jumps into politics, Christian Science Monitor 11 Nov 12 AQ Khan, lauded by many Pakistanis for giving the country the bomb, has launched a political movement targeting the youth vote. He has been accused of selling nuclear secrets to North Korea and Iran. By Taha Siddiqui, Correspondent / November 11, 2012 ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN
The father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb has launched a political party, which plans to participate in the next presidential election slated for early 2013. Abdul Qadeer Khan has started a 100-day campaign to tour Pakistan, starting with Kahuta, home to the first nuclear facility in Pakistan, established just outsideIslamabad, during the 1970s. Continue reading
Running Oi nuclear reactor on an earthquake fault? – a silly decision
Under government guidelines atomic installations cannot be sited on a fault – the meeting place of two or more of the plates that make up the earth’s crust – if it is still classed as active, that is, one that is known to have moved within the last 130,000 years.
Mr Watanabe said a heavy burden rests on those tasked with ensuring public safety, citing the jail sentences imposed on six seismologists in Italy after a court said their underestimation of the possible effects of an earthquake had contributed to the death toll in the central city of L’Aquila.
‘Silly’ to run Japanese nuclear plant on fault line, Herald Sun, AFP November 11, 2012 JAPAN’S only working nuclear power plant sits on what may be a seismic fault in the earth’s crust, a geologist has warned.
Mitsuhisa Watanabe says the earth’s plates could move under the Oi nuclear plant in western Japan, causing a catastrophe to rival last year’s atomic disaster at Fukushima – although some of his colleagues on a nuclear advisory panel disagree. Continue reading
Cracks in nuclear facility add to South Korea’s nuclear scandal problem
Cracks at South Korean nuclear plant raise fresh safety concerns By K.J. Kwon, CNN November 9, 2012 Seoul, South Korea (CNN) –– Tiny cracks have been found in tunnels at a nuclear plant in South Korea, increasing concerns about nuclear safety in the country following a recentscandal involving the use of unverified parts.
The reactor where the cracks were found will remain offline for weeks as regulators investigate the problem, putting extra strain on South Korea’s already stretched power supply going into the winter months…… the news could hurt South Korea’s efforts to export its
nuclear power technology to other countries.
The problems at the South Korean reactors come amid increased scrutiny of nuclear power worldwide following the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan during the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami that hit the country in March 2011.
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/09/world/asia/south-korea-nuclear-reactor/index.html
South Korea’s nuclear industry scandal widens
Eight companies submitted 60 false certificates to cover more than 7,000 parts used in the two reactors between 2003 and 2012, and Economy Minister Hong Suk-woo told parliament that most of the documents, which purported to come from certifying body UCI, were
forgeries
South Korea widens nuclear lapses probe; KEPCO chief resigns By Meeyoung Cho and Somang Yang SEOUL Nov 7, 2012 (Reuters) – South Korea widened a probe into how thousands of parts for its nuclear reactors were supplied using forged safety documents, with regulators set to inspect all 23 of the country’s facilities – a move that could test public support for the industry and threaten billions of dollars worth of exports.
Two reactors remained shut on Wednesday, and five others are closed for maintenance, or through other glitches, raising the prospect of winter power shortages…..
Kim Joong-kyum, president and CEO of power utility Korea Electric Power Corp (KEPCO), which owns the operator of the nation’s nuclear plants, tendered his resignation for what KEPCO officials said were “personal reasons”. Continue reading
Rokkasho: Japan’s nuclear reprocessing plant – to keep nuclear industry alive
Rokkasho has grown dependent on the reprocessing complex for nearly all its jobs and income.
“Without Rokkasho, we would not get approval to restart the other reactors—not ever,” says a member of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ).
Japan’s Nuclear Future, Rokkasho and a hard place The government’s fudge on its nuclear future remains unconvincing http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21566018-governments-fudge-its-nuclear-future-remains-unconvincing-rokkasho-and-hard-place Nov 10th 2012 | ROKKASHO THIS remote north-eastern coastal village in Aomori prefecture would delight a North Korean or Iranian spy. Not because of the rolling countryside, but the 
uranium-enrichment facility, the plant undergoing testing to make nuclear fuel by reprocessing spent uranium and plutonium, and the stash of a good part of Japan’s stockpiles of more than nine tonnes of separated plutonium—enough, experts say, to make more than 1,000 nuclear warheads.
The Rokkasho plant seems an anomaly in a country that forswearsnuclear weapons and that has shut down all but two of its 54 nuclear reactors. Yet the same government that says it wants to phase out atomic energy by the end of the 2030s also insists that it is committed soon to start reprocessing enough nuclear waste at Rokkasho to provide fuel for Japan’s nuclear-power plants to go flat out into the 2050s.
It does not take much prodding for officials to concede a potential contradiction, big enough to render Japan’s nuclear policy almost meaningless. Continue reading
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