Doubts on when, or IF, Japan’s idled nuclear reactors will restart
Restart schedule for idled nuclear reactors still in limbo, Mainichi Daily News, Japan July 16, 2011 The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency’s draft plan for two-stage stress tests on Japan’s nuclear reactors does not state how long the first stage of the assessments will take, making it impossible to predict when currently idled reactors can be restarted.
The government agency simply said timing for the restart of reactors idled for regular inspections or shut down in the aftermath of the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant depends on the investigative reports to be submitted by nuclear plant operators. Furthermore, Prime Minister Naoto Kan and three Cabinet members will decide whether to allow any of the idled reactors to be restarted. Continue reading
Japan might suspend developing its troubled fast breeder reactor
Unlike regular light-water reactors fueled by uranium, the Monju reactor, operated by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, runs on an oxide mix of plutonium and uranium, or MOX, made from spent nuclear fuel from existing plants.
The reactor first achieved criticality in 1994, but was shut down due to a serious accident involving a leak of sodium coolant and a resulting fire in 1995.
Science minister says gov’t will mull halting Monju prototype reactor project, Mainichi Japan) July 15, 2011TOKYO (Kyodo) — Science minister Yoshiaki Takaki indicated Friday that the government will consider suspending the development of the prototype fast-breeder reactor Monju in the wake of the country’s worst nuclear crisis that continues at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. Continue reading
Japanese mothers and pregnant women at risk from Fukushima radiation
VIDEOS, (scroll down page for videos) http://womennewsnetwork.net/2011/07/13/nuclear-radiation-mothers-japan/Nuclear radiation exposure
concerns mount for mothers Japan Women News Network, Eva Fernández Ortiz and Shubhi Tandon 14 July 11, As parents from Fukushima prefecture line up in
Tokyo for public protests and a more recent 7.0 level earthquake hit off shore of the east coast of Honshu, Japan on July 9, the latest data on nuclear power reveals: the amount of radiation inside the plant’s reactor has reached much higher than originally expected levels. Current released figures through JAIN – Japan Atomic Industrial Forum show 4,000 millisieverts per hour of radiation on June 4 was measured in Reactor No. 1 through a steam release rising from a crevice in the floor……
Current radiation release figures from TEPCO, the power company that operates and manages the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant now reveals that larger than originally reported releases of radiation at 770,000 terabecquerels did happen, a level that may hold much more significance as the disabled plant is expected to continue to release radioactive isotopes over an extended period of time. Continue reading
Billions of yen, and decades, to clean up Fukushima’s radiation
Japan aims to totally clean Fukushima of radiation, Prokerala News 15 July 11, The Japanese city of Fukushima, whose nuclear power plant was badly damaged by a magnitude-9 earthquake, has now revealed a plan to clean every building and road of radiation, a British newspaper reported.
The local government said the plan to scrub every building and road clean of radioactivity may take up to 20 years, the Daily Telegraph reported from Tokyo.
“We are drawing up a plan to clean our city and the first phase of the project will be announced early next month,” said Akane Saito, a spokeswoman for thecity government.
Authorities are hoping to receive funding from the national government and the Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the crippled nuclear plant. The cost of the two-decade clean-up operatioon is likely to run into billions of yen.
An 18-mile exclusion zone has been declared around the plant, where emergency teams are working around the clock to keep the plant reactors cool and contain further leaks of radioactivity.
However, radioactivity has gone well beyond the no-go zone. At least 10 children from Fukushima had urine samples tested for radioactivity and came back positive….. http://www.prokerala.com/news/articles/a234067.html
Pakistan wants to join the nuclear power cartel
Pakistan wants to join Nuclear Suppliers Group, The Express Tribune, July 15th, 2011., By Zia Khan, ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has offered to join four nuclear export control regimes, including the Nuclear Suppliers Group, if the international community recognises it as a nuclear weapons state, but remains unwilling to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
At a meeting in Islamabad on Thursday, the country’s top political and military leadership said Pakistan wished to be part of global non-proliferation efforts but only if it was accepted as a nuclear weapons state…..
Foreign Office spokeswoman Tehmina Janjua later told The Express Tribune that Pakistan was willing to join four ‘technology cartels’ that control the international trade of nuclear and missile technologies: the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), the Australia and the Wassenaar groups.
The MTCR and the NSG deal with the international trade of missile and nuclear technologies while the Australia and the Wassenaar groups manage trade in conventional small weapons and various materials used in the manufacturing of arms respectively.
Janjua said Pakistan’s ‘principled’ position on Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) was the same. About NPT, she added that Islamabad considered it as a ‘discriminatory’ arrangement and will not sign the CTBT unless the United States and India do the same….http://tribune.com.pk/story/210107/pakistan-wants-to-join-nuclear-suppliers-group/
Powerful nuclear clique opposes Japan Prime Minister’s renewable energy push
Kan told reporters yesterday. “We should reduce nuclear dependency in a planned, step-by-step manner and eventually we can do without atomic energy.”
“Japan’s nuclear village is worried and they’re extremely well connected,” Kingston, head ofTemple University’s Asian Studies program at its Tokyo campus, said in a phone interview. “They’re out to get Kan and it’s not because he’s that incompetent. What worries them is that he’s been making provocative statements that trample on very powerful toes.”….“All these things hit at the heart of the nuclear village and they’re not going down without a fight,” said Kingston,
fight,” said Kingston,
Kan Takes on Japan’s ‘Nuclear Village’ in Renewable Energy Drive, Bloomberg, By Stuart Biggs and Kanoko Matsuyama – Jul 14, 2011 Toshinobu Hatsui’s protest against construction of a nuclear power plant split friends and families in his hometown. After the biggest atomic accident in 25 years, resentment has turned to gratitude. “Those of us who opposed the plant can finally be proud of what we did,” said Hatsui, a 62-year-old fisherman, Continue reading
Safecast – citizen scientists monitor Japan’s radiation levels
Safecast took its first reading on April 16. Today, it has about 50 regular volunteers who collect data from their homes or while driving, build devices or assist in other ways. Those using vehicles equipped with Geiger counters cover an area that Franken estimates to be about 620 miles long by 185 miles wide. To date, they’ve collected 251,000 data points from their drives and fixed reporting stations, and have received about 60,000 more from other sources, including people with their own Geiger counters.
Japan’s citizen scientists map radiation, DIY-style, World Blog, By Miranda Leitsinger, Senior Writer and Editor, msnbc.com 13 July 11, With the Japanese government only providing spotty information about the radiation leaking from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant in the early days after the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami, a group of tech-minded citizen scientists set out to fill in the “black holes” in the knowledge base. Continue reading
Suspend Jaitapur nuclear plant, extend liability for reactor suppliers
Accusing the UPA government of not being transparent on the issue of nuclear power, Mr. Karat said it had “failed” to take people into confidence, especially after the nuclear crisis in Japan.
Mr. Raja demanded that the nuclear liability law be reformed to extend the liability to the supplier in case of design defect.
Left demands suspension of work at Jaitapur nuke project, MUMBAI, juillet 13, 201, THE HINDU, The Left parties on Wednesday demanded immediate suspension of work at the proposed 9900 mw Jaitapur nuclear power project and said it favoured an independent review of existing nuclear installations in the country. Continue reading
Japanese billionaire takes the lead in promoting renewable energy
His goal is to encourage local governments to shift to renewable energy sources and to provide land for mega-solar panels, wind turbines, geothermal, small hydropower generators, and other renewable energy forms.
Investment would come from Son’s fund as well as other public and private sources…..
As it takes a minimum of 10 years to build a nuclear plant, and given that the cost of solar power in other countries like the United States continues to fall thanks to ever more efficient solar panels, Son is betting that, by 2020, renewable energy technology will have developed to the point where it is extremely cost-competitive on a per kilowatt hour basis compared with nuclear power. And renewable energy would not have the social and environmental problems of nuclear power..
SON’S CLEAN ENERGY INITIATIVE, Son’s quest for sun, wind has nuclear interests wary, Japan Times, 12 July 11, By ERIC JOHNSTON, In late March, while engaging in volunteer work and making efforts to restore telecommunications networks in the quake-stricken Tohoku region, Softbank Corp. founder and Chairman Masayoshi Son met with evacuees from the area surrounding the troubled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
Days later, he returned to Tokyo and declared pursuit of a new energy policy, one emphasizing renewable sources, such as solar, wind and thermal energy, was needed. Continue reading
Japan must reduce its reliance on nuclear power
Japan PM says must reduce dependence on nuclear power
* PM Kan apologises for confusion over stress tests
* Suggests future of nuclear business open to debate..
By Linda Sieg, TOKYO, July 12 (Reuters) – Japan has no choice but to reduce its reliance on nuclear power, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said on Tuesday, as the country battles to end a four-month-old radiation crisis at a tsunami-crippled nuclear plant.
The unpopular prime minister appears increasingly sensitive to growing public concern about nuclear power, but whether he oversees an overhaul of energy policy is in doubt as he has promised to resign, although he has not specified when.
“We must scrap the plan to have nuclear power contribute 53 percent (of electricity supply) by 2030 and reduce the degree of reliance on nuclear power,” Kan told the panel.
The crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co’s Fukushima plant has sparked public debate over the role of nuclear power in quake-prone, resource-poor Japan, as well as immediate concerns about power shortages as 35 of the country’s 54 reactors are currently off-line.
A 2010 basic energy plan had called for boosting nuclear energy’s share of the electricity supply to 53 percent by 2030 by building at least 14 new reactors, but many politicians agree that is nearly impossible now given the growing public anxiety….http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/12/japan-nuclear-kan-idUSL3E7IC0EN20110712
Radioactivity in waste incineration near Tokyo
The radioactive caesium was detected in plants in Kashiwa city in Chiba prefecture, northeast of Tokyo and about 200 kilometres (120 miles) from the plant that has leaked radiation since the March 11 quake and tsunami….
Authorities suspect the caesium may be from garden waste, such as tree branches and grass cuttings, that has been burnt in the facility.
Kashiwa city official Kiyoshi Nakamura told AFP: “Some people are believed to have cut plants and mown their lawns because of fear of radioactive contamination, and that waste was apparently brought to the plant.”…http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iPN-whkfu1E0C_LcAIeffM9uoHZQ?docId=CNG.30b3c946c2c894e47045f723d8b684af.b51
Taiwanese government not taking nuclear risks seriously
Nuclear safety inaction panned, By Lee I-chia Taipei Times Staff Reporte, 12 July 11, Four months after a powerful earthquake and tsunami sparked a crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Japan, environmental protection activists yesterday said the Taiwanese government remained flippant about nuclear safety.
RISKS:The former head of an anti-nuclear group said problems could occur at the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant given a lack of experienced engineers working there.
During a press conference at the legislature, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) said that if an earthquake of similar magnitude occurred in Taiwan, the operating power plants might be unable to withstand the impact and catastrophe might ensue at tremendous cost to society.
There are 108 schools located within a 20km radius of the Jinshan, Guosheng and Fourth Nuclear Power Plants in New Taipei City’s (新北市) Shihmen (石門), Wanli (萬里) and Gongliao (貢寮) districts respectively, Tien said.
“If something goes wrong at any one of the three plants, many schools will face total evacuation,” she said…..http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2011/07/12/2003508030
Fukushima Prefecture will give radiation monitors to 280,000 children
Dosimeters will be given to 280,000 children, NHK World, 24 June 11, Fukushima Prefecture has decided to distribute dosimeters to about 280 thousand children to monitor their radiation exposure caused by the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Voices of parents expressing concern about their children’s health have been growing louder. The prefecture said on Thursday it will give dosimeters to children ranging from infants to junior high school students.
The prefecture will also subsidize cities and villages to replace top soil in the school yards or set up air conditioners in schools.
Some municipalities in the prefecture have already distributed, or decided to distribute, dosimeters to children to monitor radiation exposure. The prefecture will provide financial help to those municipalities…http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/24_01.html
Nuclear power loses even more credibility as Japan’s crooked email scandal is exposed
There can be no doubt that the sending of the e-mails under the guise of ordinary residents of the prefecture was perpetrated systematically….Making the problem worse is the fact that the company at first tried to cover it up.
E-mail scandal could amplify distrust of N-power, The Yomiuri Shimbun, 11 July , If they thought they could use the deception to increase support for restarting nuclear reactors, the idea was extremely ill-advised.
This is in reference to the e-mail scandal involving Kyushu Electric Power Co., in which the utility sought to manipulate public opinion to favor reactivation of its Genkai nuclear power plant in Saga Prefecture. Continue reading
Fukushima cows ate irradiated straw
High radiation found in straw given to cows whose meat was contaminated, Mainichi Daily News, 11 July 11, FUKUSHIMA –– High levels of radioactive cesium have been detected in rice straw used as feed for cows from a Fukushima Prefecture city whose meat contained excessive levels of cesium.
The meat of 11 head of Japanese black cattle that were raised and shipped from a farm in the city of Minamisoma had 1,530 to 3,200 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram, while the maximum amount permitted is 500 becquerels per kilogram.
According to Fukushima prefectural officials, the farm operator fed the cattle rice straw that had been harvested last autumn and left outside. Officials believe it is highly likely that the rice straw eaten by the cows contaminated their meat, and are considering tightening rules on feed management…..http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110711p2a00m0na017000c.html
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