TEPCO starts prep work to take cover off damaged Fukushima reactor
The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant began work on Friday morning to dismantle the cover of the No.1 reactor building.
The cover was installed after the March 2011 nuclear accident to prevent radioactive dust from dispersing. The reactor experienced a hydrogen explosion at the time of accident.
Tokyo Electric Power Company plans to remove the cover in order to clear away radioactive debris on the upper part of the building and remove spent nuclear fuel still stored inside. It is part of an effort to decommission the reactor.
For about one week, workers will spray chemicals over the debris inside the cover by using a remote-controlled crane to prevent radioactive dust from spreading.
They will proceed with the work to remove the cover over the period of about one year. Company officials say they will enhance monitoring of radiation levels during the procedure.
TEPCO says a preliminary test last year showed no scattering of radioactive materials when dismantling the cover.
The utility initially planned to start dismantling the cover on the No.1 reactor building in July of last year. But the work was delayed after the removal of debris from the No. 3 reactor in 2013 caused radioactive dust to spread, sparking fear among local residents. The death of workers at the plant also affected the plan.
Source: NHK
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150515_08.html
Tokyo Electric Power Co. began preparations on May 15 to remove the cover around a damaged reactor building at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the first step in a lengthy process to extracting nuclear fuel inside it.
The work is part of a preparatory process that could take several years for the eventual removal of nuclear fuel from the spent fuel pool in the No. 1 reactor building.
On the first day of the work, TEPCO, the plant operator, sprayed a chemical agent in the reactor building to prevent radioactive dust in the building from being released into the air when the cover is removed.
On May 15, a large crane lifted a spraying machine to insert a thin, long nozzle into the building through holes created on the top cover to spray a glue-like chemical to contain dust and other materials generated by a hydrogen explosion triggered by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.
The agent will be sprayed through the nozzle at 48 points. After it completes the spraying, TEPCO plans to begin retracting the roof cover on May 25 at the earliest to remove debris from the upper part of the building.
When the utility was removing debris from the No. 3 reactor building in the summer of 2013, a large amount of radioactive substances was released into the environment, fostering the public’s distrust in the process.
Subsequently, TEPCO has cautiously been proceeding with preparations for removing the cover around the No. 1 reactor building, such as testing anti-scattering agents in advance last October.
Because it is currently rice planting season around the Fukushima plant, TEPCO has pledged to suspend its work and inform surrounding local governments within 30 minutes when amounts of released dust and radiation exceed certain levels.
Source: Asahi Shimbun
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201505150060
Fukushima No. 1 workers exposed to high radiation surged 1.5-fold in 2014
The number of workers exposed to high radiation at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 power plant in fiscal 2014 has grown 1.5-fold from the year before, data from Tokyo Electric said Saturday.
A total of 992 workers, mostly those employed by subcontractors, saw their doses top 20 millisieverts in the year ended in March. The previous year, the number of workers with such high exposure levels stood at 660, according to the data.
Since the five-year radiation limit for Fukushima No. 1 workers is 100 millisieverts per person, many could be barred from working at the plant.
The yearly limit for decontamination workers stands at 50 millisieverts, according to the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry.
Of those who topped the 20-millisievert level in 2014, only 11 are from Tepco, with 981 from subcontractors. The highest doses logged were 29.5 millisieverts among Tepco’s staff and 39.85 millisieverts among the subcontractors.
The data also showed that 20,695 plant workers were exposed in fiscal 2014, with doses averaging 4.99 millisieverts. That’s higher than the 14,746 exposed in the previous year, but lower in terms of dosage, which averaged 5.25 millisieverts in 2013.
The jump in exposures was partly attributable to an overall increase in workers at the plant since the previous year.
A public relations official at Tokyo Electric Power Co., which runs the meltdown-hit plant, said the amount of decontamination and debris-removal work in high-radiation zones there is also rising.
Highly Contaminated Water Remains in Unit 1 Basement
As groundwater has been pumped up via the outdoor subdrain pits, this has created a situation where the standing water in the basements could end up higher than the surrounding groundwater.
TEPCO is making an effort to lower the water level in some of the basement rooms of the unit 1 reactor buildings.
This work also showed that much of the water still sitting in certain areas of the basements of unit 1 is highly radioactive as seen in this table below.
TEPCO is installing more water level monitoring sensors to better control the water in the basements.
This could lead to more contaminated water leaking out of the buildings.
Source: Tepco handout
Tepco: Technology To Decommission Fukushima Needs To Be Invented
April 4, 2015
by Richard Wilcox, PhD
Anyone with a brain could have told you back in 2011 at the time of the Fukushima nuclear triple meltdown that Tokyo Electric (Tepco) was lying about the true condition of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant No. 1 (“Dai-ichi”). Four years later, Tepco officials have finally admitted that it may not be technologically possible to decommission the plant.
The long history of the criminal insanity and negligence of the nuclear industry is revealed in our book, Fukushima: Dispossession or Denuclearization? (edited by Nadesan, Boys, McKillop & Wilcox) which was published last year, and includes detailed chapters from a number of writers who document the nuclear crimes.
In the case of Tepco (Tipkill), the facts are overwhelming that not only was Fukushima an “accident waiting to happen” but rather “a foregone conclusion.” The location of the plant on soft fill soil at a low altitude near the ocean in a tsunami zone was the first big mistake of the planners, who must have graduated from the Homer Simpson school of donutology. Cost-cutting, corruption and incompetence is part of the well-documented history, which ultimately led to the triple meltdowns.
Will the destroyed reactors ultimately need to be buried in a sarcophagus as has been done with Chernobyl which now has the world’s largest moveable “building” covering it (at no small expense)? One big problem — Chernobyl was just one reactor and rests on rock-solid ground, so the radiation can’t go too far downward. At Fukushima the reactors rest on a mushy place next to the ocean which is also atop an underground aquifer/river deep below it. It is theoretically possible that the radiation could leak into that aquifer and reach Tokyo someday.
If they have to build a sarcophagus it will be Mission Impossible since the shielding would have to be underground as well. Nuclear engineer, Arnie Gundersen proposed this as the only solution and noted a complicated underground piping system would have to be installed to process the leaking radiation before it escapes to the ocean. He also said it may take 500 years to decommission Fukushima.
Now, some of the big-wigs at Tepco have admitted it may be impossible to decommission Fukushima due to the technical hurdles, namely, that retrieving the melted fuel is going to take years to accomplish since the technology does not yet exist (1; 2). Decommissioning Fukushima will involve a great deal of time and money, but also intelligent coordination of R&D, which has thus far not been the path. Bureaucracies, as everyone knows, do just the opposite, they wallow in inefficiency. Maybe Japan needs a strong and benevolent dictator.
One of the main technical problems with retrieving the melted fuel is that it must constantly be cooled in water, but the containers are full of holes and leaks. However, as our friend Nancy Foust of the Simply Info website points out, “the International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning (IRID) already includes a ‘no water’ option in their rough planning. If that is the route they will have to go then they will need to put all their effort into that research” (personal communication, April, 2015).
Focusing effort into the right research is good advice, however IRID also made the dubious claim that the fuel could be retrieved within ten years which contradicts the pessimism of other officials and draws into question IRID credibility. Somebody ought to get the story straight.
The level of BS at Fukushima is almost as deep as how far the fuel may have melted underground. One scenario from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) describes the melted fuel in a state whereby it “erodes sideways…. The final size of the pooling maximum case is 10 to 15 meters in diameter, and 6-7 meters deep– or even deeper” (3).
Fukushima Diary reports that “Tepco and the government of Japan have been saying though molten fuel had a core-concrete reaction in [the] pedestal, but [has] stopped sinking in the concrete.” Now Tepco is starting to admit the fuel may be “outside of [the] pedestal, Tepco needs to investigate the sub-basement floor of Reactor 1. It is reported that the feasibility of inspection would be confirmed in the end of 2015” (4). Maybe they are now getting ready to admit it is indeed outside the concrete floor.
Foust told me that the location of the fuel could have been determined back in 2012 using “muon” cosmic ray scanners. Apparently this was not done because Homer Simpson, who is in charge of Fukushima decommissioning, spent the funds on donuts.
Seriously, not only is this a kind of gross incompetence (which is reminiscent of the way nuclear operations have been carried out throughout most of the world since the technology was adopted) but also appears to be a blatant political cover-up. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) want to keep news of the actual location of the fuel secret until after they have restarted a number of the currently idled reactors in Japan. Politicians lie, governments lie, corporations are amoral killing machines. Abe even admitted he lied to the Olympic committee in order to get the 2020 Olympics bid when he told them “everything is under control” at Fukushima.
Could it be these admissions by Tepco of the dire situation are part of a psychological conditioning to get more money out of the government? One should never take statements from powerful individuals or governments/corporations at face value. On the other hand, the new chief of decommissioning, Mr. Masuda, may be a more honest and intelligent engineer and sincere about getting at the problem.
Foust provides us with a useful overview and summary of the sorry situation:
At some point the true state of Daiichi will have to be made public. The true state must be known and understood in order to do the needed research towards whatever resolution is determined to be the end goal. Right now that is fuel retrieval so the buildings could eventually be torn down. The muon scans are a step in that direction. They can use those to establish if any fuel is left in the reactors or not. If you remember back to 2011 TEPCO was insisting that most of the fuel was still in the reactor vessels. As more data is completed TEPCO is forced to admit reality.The next step after the muon scans for units 1-3 is to put the Hitachi shape changing robot into containment. If that goes as planned it will tell them where the fuel is, or isn’t. That is going to be the huge bit of data. Once the fuel is located and disclosed the extent of the meltdowns will have to be admitted. IMHO this is why LDP is so intent on getting reactors restarted right now.
What is problematic in all of this is that TEPCO is still involved. Because TEPCO is involved and also ultimately responsible for the bill for the entire mess, it is a conflict of interest. They want to deal with the problem but as cheaply as possible. You can’t have a challenge of international proportion and a self serving company who only cares about profits. TEPCO has a documented habit of taking concepts put forth by contractors or outside researchers then trying to do them on the cheap. Then the project doesn’t perform as planned and the money is wasted. The holding ponds are a perfect example of that.
Some of these efforts really are experiments. Nobody has tried these things before in this context. So it should be expected that some things won’t work as hoped right out of the box, some might need adjustments. But when you add TEPCO cost cutting to that challenge is becomes very problematic.
As far as the condition of the reactors. We had a pretty good idea in 2011 about what took place in the three melted down units. TEPCO won’t admit the possibility of something until there is no denying it so it is a slow process of enough evidence that some facet can no longer be ignored.
I must remind readers that alternative energy is viable, it is here and now. Even Forbes magazine published an article by the world’s leading alternative energy expert, Amory Lovins, proving irrefutably that Japan could be a rich source for solar and wind power which could significantly diminish the need for carbon let alone nuclear energy sources.
Ultimately nuclear power is rooted in the liberal ideology of unleashing nature’s potential as an inevitable process of human development. However, as Russia’s leading political philosopher, Alexander Dugin points out, “liberalism” in its truest form leads to the ultimate destruction of humanity: by replacing traditions with corporate hegemony; by replacing nature with artificial reality; and by replacing humans with robots (transhumanism) (5).
It could be argued that the wind and sun are natural sources of energy in keeping with his conservative ideology. In that sense, Dugin states correctly:
If you are in favor of global liberal hegemony, you are the enemy.
References
1. Decommissioning Chief Speaks Out
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/features/201503312108.html
2. Japan faces 200-year wait for Fukushima clean-up
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:bfGJG7i7o0gJ:https://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/asia/article4394978.html+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&client=firefox-a
3. AP: Melted fuel may have “dropped even beyond” the bottom of Fukushima plant
http://enenews.com/ap-melted-fuel-could-dropped-beyond-bottom-fukushima-plant-iaea-expert-pools-corium-could-be-taller-2-story-house-video
4. Tepco started stating molten fuel might be out of pedestal of Reactor 1
http://fukushima-diary.com/2015/04/tepco-started-stating-molten-fuel-might-be-out-of-pedestal-of-reactor-1/
5. Alexandr Dugin – The Fourth Political Theory
http://www.redicecreations.com/radio/2015/03/RIR-150327.php
“Radioactive cover-up” at Fukushima — Experts believe “other sources of contamination” are flowing into ocean
March 1, 2015
Asahi Shimbun, Feb 28, 2015 (emphasis added): The nation’s nuclear watchdog body slammed [TEPCO] over its failure to disclose information on the leakage of radioactive rainwater into the sea… TEPCO President Naomi Hirose… apologized profusely… TEPCO became aware more than a year ago that the concentration of radioactive materials in the water flowing… was high [first disclosing it to regulators] January 2014… TEPCO continued to conceal details, including the fact that the concentration became high whenever it rained… However, TEPCO had decided long ago there was no need to monitor rainwater for radioactive materials.
NHK transcript, Feb 27, 2015 : Experts and local government officials visited the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to examine sources of contaminated water flowing into the sea… Experts urged the operator to investigate whether rooftops of other reactor buildings are also sources of tainted water.
Yomiuri Shimbun, Feb 26, 2015: NRA chief slams TEPCO for data reporting delay… after rainwater contaminated with high-level radioactive materials leaked… into the sea… TEPCO reported in January last year that the radioactivity concentration in that trench was higher… TEPCO at last announced… high-level radioactivity [in water] on the rooftop of the No. 2 reactor building… might be one of the sources of contamination… The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry… pointed out the likelihood of there being other sources of contamination… The Fisheries Agency on Wednesday conducted an emergency hearing with TEPCO officials… and told the utility firm to take measures to minimize damage impacting marine products… “We urge TEPCO to make details clear.”
Japan Times, Feb 26, 2015: [Tepco] admitted Thursday that its latest problem with radioactive water has shattered the trust it was building in Fukushima… and that the decommissioning of the Fukushima No. 1 plant might be delayed [after] the surge in radiation detected in the water draining into the sea… The utility said the source of the contamination is the roof of the No. 2 reactor building, which… remains heavily contaminated.
Naohiro Masuda, head of Tepco’s unit in charge of scrapping Fukushima Daiichi: “The trust of the people in Fukushima is the most important thing… we have damaged that trust… Due to the damaged trust, all of the schedules for the decommissioning tasks could be delayed.”
Arirang, Feb 26, 2015: Tokyo under fire for alleged cover-up of radioactive water — [TEPCO] is under heavy fire for staying silent over a radioactive leak… flowing into the Pacific Ocean.
Source: Enenews
Fisheries ‘shocked’ at silence over water leak at wrecked Fukushima No. 1 plant
Feb 25, 2015
Fishermen in Fukushima Prefecture slammed Tokyo Electric Power Co. on Wednesday after it emerged that water containing cesium and other radioactive isotopes has been draining into the Pacific near the Fukushima No. 1 plant and that Tepco did nothing to prevent it despite learning of the leak last May.
“I don’t understand why (Tepco) kept silent even though they knew about it. Fishery operators are absolutely shocked,” Masakazu Yabuki, chief of the Iwaki fisheries cooperative, said at a meeting with Tepco officials.
Local fishermen have already given Tepco approval to dump groundwater into the ocean before it becomes tainted, to reduce the volume of water stored in tanks at the site. The operator is now doing this, pumping water from wells, monitoring it and piping it into the ocean.
The latest incident threatens to delay a second round of approval that Tepco wants the fishermen to provide.
The utility admitted Tuesday it failed to disclose leaks of rainwater containing radioactive substances from a drainage ditch at the stricken plant even though it was aware of high radiation in the water last spring.
The ditch receives runoff from the roof of the No. 2 reactor building, which is highly contaminated with radioactive substances such as cesium.
Tepco has said it recorded 29,400 becquerels of radioactive cesium per liter in water pooled on the rooftop.
The water also contained 52,000 becquerels of beta-ray-emitting radioactive substances such as strontium-90. It also detected some 1,050 becquerels of radioactive cesium and 1,500 becquerels of beta ray-emitting radioactive materials per liter near an outlet leading to the sea.
Tepco said there is no major change in the concentration of radioactive substances in seawater it sampled about 1 km from the drainage outlet.
Meanwhile on Sunday, Tepco reported water contaminated with high levels of radiation was flowing into the ocean at the plant’s port through another drainage ditch.
Yuji Moriyama, a Tepco spokesman said the utility did not disclose the information because there is no evidence of environmental impact.
“We were aware that the levels of radioactive materials around the drainage ditch were higher than other places,” Moriyama said, adding that they have been investigating the sources of contamination since last spring.
Source: Japan Times
Tepco covered-up an ongoing leak into the sea since last year April 2014
February 24, 2015
Tepco admits that it failed to disclose a leak since last year April 2014.
Unit 2′s roof and downspouts have been draining directly out to sea since the disaster. Water found on unit 2′s roofs was highly radioactive with 52,000 bq/liter on one roof
TEPCO did attempt to manage this by throwing down bags of zeolite at the downspout entrance and again at the drainage canal exits. Plans submitted to IRID for a drainage canal filter system called for a much more sophisticated system that would have forced any water leaving these drainage canals through a series of filters.
Zeolite bags were also placed around the entrance to the downspouts on the building roofs. Radiation readings in the downspout water was significantly lower than the water on the roof. A filter that forces all outgoing water through the filter media would have at least worked to more effectively filter water.
Source: Tepco
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/handouts/2015/images/handouts_150224_01-e.pdf
7,230,000 Bq/m3 of all β nuclide leaked from drain to the sea / “Contamination level suddenly jumped up”
On 2/22/2015, Tepco announced the radiation level suddenly jumped up in the plant area drain to let it flow to the sea.
According to Tepco, 2 radiation monitors detected the rapid increase of all β nuclide density (to include Strontium-90) around 10:00AM.
The indicated radiation level was 5,050,000 〜 5,630,000 Bq/m3.
It made Tepco check the potential leakage of the contaminated water tanks upstream and contaminated water transferring system, but they did not shut down the drain outlet for nearly 3 hours for some reason.
Extremely high level of all β nuclide was detected from seawater near the outlet, which was 3,000,000 Bq/m3. The contaminated water flowed to the sea.
The highest density detected by the monitor was 7,230,000 Bq/m3, which was 10 〜 100 times much as usual.
After all, Tepco found no leakage from contaminated water related facility upstream. There is a possibility that highly contaminated groundwater moved and flowed to the drain.
Currently they are collecting the water from drain by vacuum truck.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/cc/press/2015/1248294_6818.html
http://www.tepco.co.jp/cc/press/2015/1248296_6818.html
http://www.tepco.co.jp/cc/press/2015/1248297_6818.html
http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/fukushima-np/roadmap/images/l140616_04-j.pdf
Source: Fukushima Diary
Strontium-90 levels spike alarmingly at Fukushima No. 1 plant
Feb 22, 2015
The Nuclear Regulation Authority said Sunday that an alarm went off at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant signaling high radioactivity levels in drainage ditches.
According to the NRA and plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co., the first alarm sounded at around 10 a.m., and another alarm 10 minutes later indicated much higher levels. Officials said contaminated water may have been discharged into the ditches.
The levels of beta ray-emitting substances, such as strontium-90, measured 5,050 to 7,230 becquerels per liter of water between 10:20 a.m. and 10:50 a.m. Tepco requires radioactivity levels of groundwater at the plant discharged into the sea to remain below 5 becquerels.
Since the drainage ditches are connected to the port of the No. 1 plant, the NRA has instructed Tepco to shut the gates there, officials said.
Tepco confirmed that no leaks from tanks containing radioactive water were found, but said it was investing further.
Source: Japan Times
Fukushima radioactive contamination sets off alarm
The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says it has detected high levels of radioactive substances in a drainage channel on the plant’s premises on Sunday. The Tokyo Electric Power Company is investigating the cause.
TEPCO says the plant’s alarm system went off around 10 AM. It showed a rise in radioactivity in the channel that leads to a nearby port.
Measurements showed that levels of beta-ray emitting substances, which are not detected under normal circumstances, had risen to up to 7,230 Becquerels per liter.
The figure is 10 times higher than when rain causes the level to rise temporarily.
The utility suspects that contaminated water in the channel may have leaked into the port.
It has suspended all operations to transfer contaminated water and closed a gate of the channel by the port.
The drainage channel used to be connected to a section of coast beyond the port. TEPCO rerouted it after a series of leaks in 2013.
The company says the water level in a tank that contains contaminated water remains unchanged, showing no signs of leakage, and drain valves that keep water from leaking near the tanks remain closed.
The utility is investigating the cause of the rise of radioactivity in the channel.
Source: NHK
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150222_18.html
Japanese media reports IAEA urged to dump contaminated water into ocean but no such statement made in real
February 19
Japanese media is misleading the Japanese citizens to accept the discharge of contaminated water to the Pacific as a request of an international organization
On 2/17/2015, IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) completed third review of Japan’s plans to decommission Fukushima plant.
NHK and other major Japanese media covered the press conference by Juan Carlos Lentijo, leader of IAEA inspection team and reported that he strongly recommended to consider discharging contaminated water into the Pacific.
They read the increasing contaminated water storage is stopping the decommissioning plan, they are running out of the storage place.
However on the website of IAEA, they actually state only “The IAEA team considered the current practice of storing contaminated water a temporary measure and highlighted the need for a more sustainable solution. “, which does not mention “discharge”. In the statement they highly evaluated “the improvement and expansion of systems to clean contaminated water”, “the installation of new, improved tanks to store contaminated water” and “the operation of an underground water bypass system”, which have been implemented since 2013.
None of the Japanese media released the unedited press conference video without interpreted subtitle.
http://ai.2ch.sc/test/read.cgi/newsplus/1424236682/
Source: Fukushima Diary
Walking atop an underground battle
February 19, 2015
FUKUSHIMA — The mass of machinery that engineers hope can stem the relentless flow of water into the gutted Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant impresses by its sheer size as well as its ambitious aim.
Huge 55cm-diameter ducts snake out from the roof of the refrigeration plant that forms the heart of this beast, which Tokyo Electric Power Co. showed the media for the first time Wednesday. When it starts beating, a minus 30 C solution of calcium chloride will course through them at 2 meters per second.
This refrigerant will circulate through more than 1,500 buried pipes encircling four of the plant’s six reactor buildings. If all goes according to plan, a “frozen earth” wall will form, stopping the influx of groundwater that now leaks back out as streams of radioactive contamination.
The refrigeration plant houses 30 units, each with a capacity of about 70 tons of refrigeration, defined as the heat reduction needed to freeze a ton of 0 C water in 24 hours. To put this in perspective, a Tepco guide described it as the freezing capacity of two tuna-fishing ships.
While the system entails 3.5km of ductwork, it will operate by the same principle as a household fridge. After absorbing heat from the soil and re-emerging from the ground, the refrigerant, now warmed up to minus 20-something, will be cooled back down to the right temperature with CFCs. All 30 units will go on full blast until the soil congeals, after which about half will be turned off, Tepco said.
Only about 15% of the equipment is in place. Tepco plans to start freezing the ground on the inland side, which is about 90% finished, before closing the circle on the coastal side.
Tepco had initially aimed to complete the installation by the end of March. But a fatal accident brought everything to halt for roughly two weeks while the company performed safety checks. Work resumed Feb. 3 but is running two to four weeks behind schedule.
“We’re putting safety before our schedule,” Fukushima Daiichi manager Akira Ono said.
Roughly half of the workers at the plant call Fukushima Prefecture home. For them, staying safe is not only about protecting themselves, but also about sparing their disaster-ravaged communities any more pain.
Snow fell at the plant on the day of the media tour. Gloves were little help against the biting cold, and the goggles shielding our eyes from radiation kept fogging up. For the 6,000-plus workers a day who toil at the ruined plant, such grim conditions have become a fact of life.
Source: Nikkei Asian Review
http://asia.nikkei.com/Japan-Update/Walking-atop-an-underground-battle
Inspectors urge Japan to dump water from Fukushima plant into ocean
February 17, 2015
Nearly four years after Japan’s massive March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, the country has made “significant progress” toward stabilizing and decommissioning the ravaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, international nuclear inspectors said Tuesday.
However, the nearly 160 million gallons of contaminated water stored on-site pose massive logistical challenges, and examiners strongly urged Japan to consider controlled discharges of the liquid into the Pacific Ocean once it is treated.
The situation at the crippled plant remains “very complex” and “the benefits [of discharges] could be very, very huge” said Juan Carlos Lentijo, who led the team of 15 inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency on a nine-day mission that follows surveys in April and November 2013.
Japanese officials have been reluctant to take such a step at the plant 160 miles northeast of Tokyo, fearing it might further antagonize local fishermen and other residents affected by the initial accident and its aftermath.
In the past year, Japan has succeeded in removing spent and fresh fuel from one reactor, Unit 4, and reduced the inflow of groundwater into the facility. It has also taken steps to clarify which entities are responsible for particular jobs, the IAEA team noted.
But about 80,000 gallons of groundwater continue to enter the plant per day, and building and maintaining storage tanks is increasingly taxing for the 7,000 workers toiling at the site, Lentijo’s team noted. In January, a laborer in his 50s who was inspecting an empty, 33-foot-tall storage tank fell into the vessel and died.
In wake of that accident, Japan’s nuclear regulator called on plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. to move toward discharges of treated water.
About half of the water stored on-site has been treated to remove most radioactive contaminants, the IAEA team noted, though current technology does not allow for the easy removal of tritium, an isotope of hydrogen.
Unlike other contaminants, which are suspended or dissolved in water, tritium actually modifies the water molecules and therefore is difficult to separate out.
Still, tritium is considered one of the least hazardous radioactive materials produced by nuclear power plants, and Lentijo said “controlled discharges are a normal practice in the industry.”
“Most of the nuclear power plants are discharging treated water,” he said at a news conference in Tokyo. “This is accomplished with negligible impact on the environment and the safety of the people.”
Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has solicited demonstration projects from several companies for technology that might effectively treat the tritiated water. Orange County-based Kurion said it was awarded a $10-million grant in November for a pilot programs of its technology in Japan to see if it would be effective at Fukushima.
Among its other recommendations, the IAEA team encouraged Japan to narrow down the number of options being considered for the overall decommissioning plan and to reinforce “safety leadership and safety culture” systems.
A final report from the IAEA team is expected in late March.
Source: Los Angeles Times
http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-iaea-japan-water-fukushima-plant-20150217-story.html
Radiation spike at Daiichi Unit 1 discharge canal
- A significant spike in contaminated water levels at Fukushima Daiichi in the unit 1 discharge canal was reported today.
- The only new work began between the 14th and 18th is the concreting of the unit 4 seawater piping trench.
- Readings between Feb 14th and Feb 18th saw a considerable jump beyond normal fluctuations for these two locations.
Source: Tepco
http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/fukushima-np/handouts/index-j.html
Elementary particle ‘X-Ray’ for Fukushima reactors
The project is aimed at finding clues as to the location of the melted fuel, a step that is indispensable to its removal from the damaged reactors, in order to continue with decommissioning work.
Three reactors at the plant suffered meltdowns following the massive earthquake and tsunami that struck the area in March of 2011. Extremely high radiation levels have been preventing experts from locating and determining the state of the melted fuel.
The experts will soon make use of a type of elementary particle called the muon to get a peek inside the reactors.
Workers wearing protective gear used a crane on Monday to install an observation device outside the Number 1 reactor building. The time they could devote to the task was limited, since radiation levels outside the reactor building are as high as 500 microsieverts per hour.
Muons are created when cosmic rays from space collide with the Earth’s atmosphere. Scientists say about 10,000 muons per square meter reach the Earth’s surface every minute.
Experts hope that observing the particles passing through the reactor building will create images of the nuclear fuel, in the same way an X-ray works.
After workers install another device at the Number 1 reactor on Tuesday, experts will conduct observations until March. It is believed that almost all the fuel in the reactor has melted and fallen down.
Experts also plan to use muons in a different way to probe the Number 2 reactor.
Fumihiko Takasaki, professor emeritus with the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, led the development of the observation devices.
He said the project, which was started soon after the disaster happened, is finally being used at the plant. He said he hopes the technology will help with the decommissioning of the reactors by determining whether the fuel is still in them.
1 This Month
petition to oppose the rapid increase of space-military industry threatening Jeju Island and the region.
[Petition by April 19th (KST)] Stop the joint military-Hanwha Systems-Jeju Provincial Government Sea Launch!
23 April – WEBINAR – Why new nuclear reactors are the wrong tools for decarbonization Thursday, April 23 • 1 AM – 2 AM AEST
World Nuclear Power. Reactors 1951-2026, 75 Years of Nuclear Power.
Interactive Map– https://dv.worldnuclearreport.org/
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/2352741955560
of the week–London Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Tell the Ukrainian Government to Drop Prosecution of Peace Activist Yurii Sheliazhenko
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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