Japanese Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Reactors

[dorispulaski]

mot, Thanks for sharing about the reasons for the two frequencies. Not only is it interesting (I knew the bare facts, but not the history.)

I'm sorry to hear that earthquake proof building is not taught in the UK, for your sake, and that you would not be able to go and help. That is sad.

Olympia,
http://www.snopes.com/history/american/gauge.asp

Snopes does a really long run-down on railroad gauges (skip the initial false email, and go straight to the goods) to debunk an email. The US has one gauge because the North won the Civil War, and rebuilt the Southern railways to match. And the size of railways got determined by where the engines and cars were purchased (rather like the Japanese electrical generators).

But when you think about it, both electricity and railways demonstrate that private enterprise is not always a plus when building something that must serve a whole nation. Government and standardization have something to say for themselves as well.

The other thing that is interesting about both the rail gauge and electricity frequency stories is that they are about how standards come about, which feeds into a radiation story that I will get to later.

Yesterday's NHK stories:

Nice to see TEPCO doing some of the stuff that is on their recovery plan:

Work to reinforce No.4 reactor building begins

Work began on Monday at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to reinforce the structure supporting the No.4 reactor's spent fuel pool.

Tokyo Electric Power Company, the plant's operator, says the work is necessary to install a cooling system for the stored spent fuel.

An explosion that occurred 4 days after the March 11 earthquake damaged the spent fuel pool inside the building housing the No.4 reactor.

TEPCO's plan calls for building a new concrete structure under the pool to prevent its bottom from falling out. 30 steel columns will be set up on the second floor of the building to support the new structure.

Workers entered the building on Monday. They shielded the heat exchanger to prevent high levels of radiation from affecting workers. They also removed walls that might hinder their activity, and erected a scaffold.

TEPCO says it hopes to erect the columns next month and complete the reinforcement by the end of July.

The utility's latest plan for putting the reactors under control has an end-of-July deadline for the installation of a water recycling system for cooling the No.4 reactor's spent fuel pool.

The water inside the pool remains hot, at around 80 degrees Celsius.
Monday, May 23, 2011 12:59 +0900 (JST)

And this is an example of what happens when realities, fears, standards, and financial considerations all collide. Frankly, the human race is quite risk-averse, and does not "boldly go where no man has gone before" without very good reasons. Chernobyl was like this, but less so. Ukraine/Russia/Belarus have lots of land compared to their populations, and can lock the door in an area the size of Rhode Island and ignore what's in there...at least for the most part. Perhaps Japan cannot. It's one of the interesting parts of this ongoing story to me.

This is IMO, a sane way to cut the balance between real risk and feared risk versus cost.

[/B]Companies in no-go zone begin radiation checks[/B]

Companies in a village near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant that have been granted permission to continue operations have begun daily monitoring of their workplace radiation levels. The government expanded the 20-kilometer evacuation zone around the plant last month, due to the risks associated with long-term radiation exposure. Residents of Iitate Village, 30 kilometers northwest of the plant, must evacuate by the end of May.

But the government has allowed 9 companies in the village to continue operations on the condition that they monitor and report their workers' exposure to radiation. A local precision equipment maker began conducting worker radiation checks on Monday.

Some 60 employees received instructions on how to use a radiation dosimeter. They then measured and recorded their radiation levels. The company's workers are to take exposure readings on a daily basis before going home from work.

The company says it is also using various strategies to reduce the amount of radioactive matter that enters the factory, such as keeping windows closed and moving outdoor air conditioning units above the ground.
Monday, May 23, 2011 18:09 +0900 (JST)

Take precautions where you can (like moving the air conditioner air intake) and measure the results. Sounds good to me, and should provide maximum protection at a minimum of expense. Only thing I'd do differently is to have the workers wear the dosimeters all the time. If their total dose matters, it matters all the time. And the results of knowing those doses would add to knowledge of effects of low dose radiation, experiments we sorely need to have done.

The next one is not a complete story. Just because there is a gap in time between when the Areva water conditioning system is complete (scheduled for June) and when the 2 tank buildings are full doesn't mean that TEPCO is just going to throw up its hands and watch the water rise indefinitely. There are several options:

1. The Mega barge just docked, and can be used.
2. There are other on site buildings that can be sealed and used as tanks, just as the last 2 buildings were used.
3. Since it is for a short time, in a pinch, built on site tanks, like those used for Unit 6's water, can be used.

It's just that at this point, TEPCO hasn't said what they are going to do.

Contaminated water removal to be suspended soon

The operator of the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant is continuing the transfer of highly radioactive water from 2 reactor buildings to storage facilities within the compound, but the facilities are expected to become full within 3 or 4 days.

About 47,000 tons of contaminated water has accumulated in the turbine buildings and utility tunnels, hampering Tokyo Electric Power Company's efforts to bring the plant under control.

TEPCO is pumping a total of 14,000 tons of such water from the Numbers 2 and 3 reactors to the storage facilities. But one of the facilities is expected to reach its capacity in 3 days and the other in 4 days, forcing the transfer to be suspended.
TEPCO says it is studying whether it is possible for the storing facilities to accept additional radioactive water for the time being, until it starts operating a new facility.

The new facility is designed to lower the radiation level of the contaminated water on a full-fledged basis, and then use the water to cool the reactors. The facility is expected to be completed by mid-June.

The utility says the levels of the remaining contaminated water at the 2 reactors remain almost unchanged and that there is no immediate risk that the radioactive water will leak into the ground or the sea. TEPCO says it is monitoring operations closely to prevent any leaks.

TEPCO reported that it had discovered contaminated water leaking into the sea in April, and again earlier this month. The utility has since taken measures to prevent further leaks.
Monday, May 23, 2011 19:25 +0900 (JST)

[dorispulaski]

TEPCO stuff from May 23rd

-On May 23rd, we changed the rate of water injection to Unit 3 through the fire extinction system piping arrangement from approximately 6 m3/h to approximately 5 m3/h at 11:31 am and from approximately 5 m3/h to approximately 4 m3/h at 2:08 pm.

-On May 23rd, we improved the working environment around a monitoring post (No.3) out of 8 posts located at the border of the plant site by decontaminating the detectors and installing shields to the lower half of detectors.

-On May 23rd, we sprayed dust inhibitor areas including nearby Noninflammales Treatment Facility, using the conventional method.

-At approximately 10:20 am on May 23rd, a partner company's worker who was unloading a tank for the treatment water at the carry-in gate for large stuff, the 1st floor of On-site Bunker Building, had his left hand injured. After having diagnoses at the medical room of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station and at J village, he was transferred to Iwaki Kyouritsu Hospital by an ambulance. No contamination to his body was confirmed.

The cleanup around monitoring post 3 didn't change its readings particularly. On the other hand, the cleanup around the last monitoring post they did made a big change. In each case, they moved the monitoring cart that is usually near the west gate to the cleaned up space to be sure that any changes from the cleanup were real and not an artifact of a damaged monitoring point.

I like that.

[dorispulaski]

Today's TEPCO info so far:


May 24th, 9:00 PM JST
Wind southeast

Daiichi
Eight peripheral points ( 6, 25, 16, 16, 20, 41, 128, 107 ) microSieverts per hour
Main Building 383 microSieverts per hour
West Gate 15 microSieverts per hour
Cart near West Gate 15.8 microSieverts per hour

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp...1052402-e.html

TEPCO has written a huge report, answering questions from the government and NISA about

Thereafter we put together the contents in a report on the result of investigation of causes that brought about damage situation of power facilities inside and outside of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station and those why protective devices of transmission lines worked and electric transmission was suspended (Countermeasures in the future are included in the result). We announce we submitted the report to NISA yesterday on May 23.

The report, being huge, will take a while before it is available in English.

On May 24th they have reported so far:

- On May 23rd, we changed the rate of water injection to Unit 3 through the fire extinction system piping arrangement from approximately 4 m3/h to approximately 3 m3/h at 5:19 pm. The current rate of water injection is approximately 3 m3/h through the fire extinction system piping arrangement and approximately 12 m3/h through the reactor feed water system piping arrangement.

As mentioned before, hydrazine is a corrosion inhibiter. I presume its going into spent fuel pools, prepatory to installing the heat exchanger system, where corrosion would be a bad idea. If you remember, there was a lot of salt water dumped into the spent fuel pools, and as a result, the water in the pools is likely prone to cause corrosion.


They are continuing to lower the rate of water injection into Unit 3. The rate was raised because Unit 3 had heated up quite a bit. Now it is cooler. They are changing the rate gradually to hit the balance between low temperature and excessive water weight, not to mention likely increased contaminated water to deal with later.
The temperature at the water nozzle is below 110 C, less than the other two reactors now.

- On May 23rd, from 4:00pm to 7:09pm we sprayed water to the spent fuel pool of Unit 4 by the concrete pumping vehicle (from 2:17 pm to 2:37 pm, we sampled, on a trial basis, radioactive materials in the ambient air at the opening of the Reactor Building. We added hydrazine from 4:08pm to 6:30pm). - We will

More spraying of dust inhibitor

- On May 24th, we are spraying dust inhibitor on the east side of the turbine buildings of Units 2 and 3 using an unmanned crawler dump truck in order to prevent diffusion of radioactive materials on the ground. - On May 24th, we are spraying dust inhibitor to areas including nearby Solid Waste Storing Facility in a conventional method.

What's interesting is that you can now actually see the effects of the dust inhibiter:
Here's the graph of radioactive dust at Daini
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp...s/110524e6.pdf

and here's the graph of radioactive dust at Daiichi
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp...s/110524e5.pdf

There is actually more Cesium 137 in the air at Daini than Daiichi.

Concentration of radioactive materials in seawater, outside the inner harbor, continues to decrease and is below reporting limits for Cs 134, Cs 137, and I 131 at all points, including the Daiichi north and south discharge channels.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp.../110524e12.pdf

As do the concentration of materials in the subdrains. There has been no radioactive material found in the deep well for over a month.

In the inner harbor, all measurements except for the one near the units 1 to 4 intake have returned to the level they were at before the Unit 3 spill. Yesterday's measurement for the one exception spiked up from the day before. This may be simply due to some large random particle in the sample, or may be a sign of things to come.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp...s/110524e8.pdf

[dorispulaski]

Actually, this data has been analyzed by a number of people a number of times, and the conclusions have been different. Last week, you would have thought the bottom of the primary containments of Unit One and Unit Three were indistinguishable form sieves. Today, the temperatures are down, and the Unit Three leak appears to have been another pipe chase leak, and relatively easy to stop. Everybody says the fuel melted down, but there have been disagreements as to what percent melted down.

Actually, the best news overall would be if there were 3 complete nuclear plant meltdowns with no one killed or severely sickened due to radiation.

It isn't exactly the picture of a nuclear disaster that people were sold by Greenpeace & so forth. One meltdown was supposed to cause the end of life as we know it. They were wrong.

On the other hand, it occurred. If NPP operators in Japan were selling that accidents never occurred, they have been proved wrong, too.

What is clear is that if 3 plants melt down, there will be an expensive cleanup that is very disruptive to people's lives. In fact, the expense is the thing that will most go toward keeping power companies who own nuclear plants being very, very careful, if they weren't already



Meltdowns also at No.2 and No.3 reactors

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant says fuel meltdowns are believed to have occurred at the No.2 and No.3 reactors within a few days after the March 11th earthquake and tsunami Tokyo Electric Power Company said earlier this month that fuel rods at the plant's No.1 reactor had melted.

The utility said on Tuesday that data analysis shows the No.2 reactor may have lost its cooling system shortly after 1:00 PM on March 14th, 3 days after the quake. If all the fuel rods were exposed, they would have started melting at around 8:00 PM that day. By 8:00 PM on March 15th --- some 101 hours after the quake --- much of the fuel would have melted and collected at the bottom of the reactor pressure vessel.

The No.3 reactor likely lost its cooling system at around 2:00 AM on March 13th. Fuel would have begun melting at around 9:00 AM that day, and most of it would have dropped to the bottom of the vessel by 3:00 AM on March 14th --- about 60 hours after the quake. The possibility of a meltdown would have been the same even if the rods were partially submerged in water. Nearly half the fuel rods at the 2 reactors would have melted down within a week of the March 11th disaster.

Tokyo Electric says it had assumed from the start that the fuel roads were damaged, but had focused on cooling the reactors rather than assessing the extent of damage. Goshi Hosono, who serves as advisor to the prime minister, said the delay in publicizing the extent of damage may have been inevitable.But he expressed remorse over the government's overly optimistic response to the crisis. Masanori Naito of the Institute of Applied Energy says analysis of data on the reactors' conditions is easy, and could have been completed in a day. He says the analysis should have been done much earlier, as it would have provided important clues to long-term cooling and other measures.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011 19:12 +0900 (JST)

TEPCO still looking into emergency cooling system
The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is still unable to determine how long an emergency cooling system at the Number 1 reactor remained off after the March 11 earthquake.
Officials of Tokyo Electric Power Company spoke to reporters on Tuesday about the system, which can function without external sources of power.

Operating records at the plant show that the system turned on automatically 6 minutes after the earthquake, at 2:52 PM, and halted 11 minutes later, at 3:03 PM. The system was back on more than 3 hours later, at 6:18 PM.

TEPCO says that based on hearing from workers, it has confirmed that the system was manually shut down at 3:03 PM.. It said this step was made based on a manual, in order to prevent damage to the reactor, because the temperature of the water to cool the No.1 reactor had dropped sharply.

TEPCO says the system may have been turned on in the 3 hours until 6:18, but that it cannot clearly determine the course of events based on studies of circuits and interviews with workers.

The utility firm says at this point it cannot determine to what extent the emergency system was functioning, and that it will continue investigating. The firm also said that data taken in the 30 minutes after the earthquake show no irregularities in all safety features of the Number 1 to 3 reactors such as emergency power sources and in major facilities of the plant.On May 16th, TEPCO disclosed the plant's operating records from immediately after the earthquake. The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency has instructed the firm to submit a report after analyzing them further and assessing their effects on nuclear safety.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011 14:00 +0900 (JST)

Cow are sometimes treated better than people.

Cattle moved out of evacuation area
Residents in an evacuation area near the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have started moving their cattle to a neighboring city.Katsurao village is helping livestock farmers move their animals as it aims to complete the evacuation by the end of May. More than 400 cows are still in the village.

The transfer of about 170 cows from the village to neighboring Tamura City started on Tuesday. Earlier this month, small amount of radioactive cesium was detected in beef processed from cows carried from Katsurao Village to Aomori Prefecture.

The cattle transfer from the village to Tamura City is to continue through this week. Many livestock farmers in other communities under evacuation orders have stayed on their farms, as they have animals to take care of.

Fukushima prefectural government is trying to evacuate them, by seeking places to move their animals, or urging them to sell the livestock.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011 19:11 +0900 (JST)

And NISA wants another report. Despite public unhappiness, TEPCO has not done a bad job with seawater. Clearly, they learned a lot between leak one and leak two.
100x the yearly limit is a lot better than 20,000x the yearly limit.

NISA wants measures to stop seawater contamination
Japan's nuclear regulatory agency has instructed the operator of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to take additional measures to prevent further leakage of radioactive water into the sea.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, found on May 11th that highly radioactive water was flowing into the sea through a pit near a water intake for the plant's No. 3 reactor.

TEPCO estimates that 250 tons of contaminated water was discharged in 41 hours, and that it contained 20 terabecquerels of radioactivity -- about 100 times more than permitted annually at the plant.

In April, contaminated water with about 4,700 terabecquerels -- 20,000 times more than the annual limit -- was discharged into the sea from the No. 2 reactor.

TEPCO is trying to plug pits at the plant with concrete and studying the feasibility of building a system for purifying seawater near the water intake.

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency ordered TEPCO to also survey other places at risk of radioactive leakage and take preventive action.

The agency has also asked TEPCO to wrap up a plan for storing and treating radioactively contaminated water at the plant by June 1st.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011 20:52 +0900 (JST)

Hint: TEPCO already submitted this plan as part of its post unit 3 report.
and the government is setting up a study panel. Clearly this is winding down, then.

Govt to set up panel to probe Fukushima accident
The Japanese government has decided to set up a panel to investigate the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

At a news conference on Tuesday, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku announced that the investigation and verification committee will be headed by Yotaro Hatamura, Professor Emeritus at the University of Tokyo.

The 70-year-old Hatamura has been involved in probing serious accidents, including a 2005 train derailment where 106 passengers and driver were killed. He advocates "failure science" -- learning from past failures to prevent recurrences.

Sengoku added that as many panel members as possible will be chosen among people who have not worked in atomic power related fields, in order to carry out an impartial investigation.

The panel is to compile an interim report by the end of the year.

[b]Sengoku says Tokyo Electric Power Company, related administrative organizations, Prime Minister Naoto Kan and other cabinet members will be subject to investigation without exemption.]/b\Tuesday, May 24, 2011 14:00 +0900 (JST)

ahh. Definitely it is punish the innocent and reward the non-participants time. It is report writing season.

Kaieda holds talks with IAEA investigating team
A team of experts from the UN's nuclear watchdog group has arrived in Japan to investigate the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and has met with Japan's industry minister Banri Kaieda.

Kaieda met the team from the International Atomic Energy Agency in Tokyo on Tuesday evening. The team of nuclear experts from Britain, France and other nations arrived in Japan earlier in the day.

Kaieda said his government will fully cooperate with the team's investigations.

Team leader Mike Weightman said his agency wants to make use of lessons from the accident to improve the safety of nuclear power plants across the globe.

Weightman later told reporters that his team will investigate how the accident occurred, the management and administration of the plant and what measures have been taken after the accident.

The team will carry out its investigation until the beginning of June and will present a report at a ministerial conference of IAEA member states that will begin on June 20th in Vienna.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011 20:52 +0900 (JST)

It should be remembered that Weightman also was the guy who firmly OK'd the British plan to expand and keep nuclear power plants because Britain is not prone to earthquakes or tsunamis, and has no nearby subduction fault.
and UNSCEAR will be studying any radiation effects from Daiichi. This is the UN group that has been doing the post-Chernobyl studies.

UN to investigate Fukushima radiation effect
A UN body says it will study the effect of radiation from the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant using data provided by the Japanese government.

The United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, or UNSCEAR, made the decision at a regular meeting at its headquarters in Vienna, Austria, on Monday.

The organization says it will spend one year analyzing radiation data from the Japanese government to discern the effect on humans and the environment. It will report interim results to the UN General Assembly by May next year.

UNSCEAR, comprised of scientists from 21 countries, has conducted long-term studies on survivors of the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is also monitoring the impact on human health of the Chernobyl accident in 1986.

UNSCEAR Chairperson Wolfgang Weiss told reporters that, based on the obtained data, he does not think the Fukushima accident has affected residents' health so far.

But he emphasized that people around the plant must be monitored for a long time.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011 07:05 +0900 (JST)

Govt concerned over nuke crisis impact on economy
Japan's government has left its basic economic assessment unchanged, while expressing concern over the negative impacts of the ongoing Fukushima nuclear accident on the domestic economy.

In its monthly economic report for May, released on Tuesday, the Cabinet Office lowered its evaluation of corporate earnings, capital investment and housing construction.

The report says corporate production is falling due partly to disrupted supplies of industrial parts, which is leading to a decline in exports.

The report concluded that the economy is showing continuing signs of weakness, and maintained its April assessment, which was downgraded for the first time in 6 months following the disaster in March.

The government says the ongoing nuclear accident could further increase consumer reluctance to spend and hurt Japan's tourism and retail industries. It adds that overseas fears of radiation may also undermine exports of Japanese farm and industrial products.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011 17:52 +0900 (JST

However, Toyota is coming back!

Toyota's output to be 90% of pre-disaster level
Toyota Motor plans to raise its domestic output next month to about 90 percent of the pre-disaster level, moving up the maker's production recovery timetable.

Industry sources say Toyota will increase its daily production level to 11,000 units.

Toyota's output is now around half of what it was before the March disaster. The firm initially forecast that its output would return to about 70 percent by June.

The faster-than-expected recovery has been helped by a restoration of suppliers of key components such as microcontrollers. Toyota has also found alternative supply sources.

The maker had planned to return to full production in November or December, but this schedule is now expected to be moved up as well.

Toyota is expected to run its factories even on holidays to increase output.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011 16:36 +0900 (JST)

There is one other story I need to cover, but I'm not finished with it yet.

[Olympia]

Doris, thanks for the info about railroad gauges, as well as all the regular updates. I had always read that the North had an advantage to begin with in the war largely because they had so many more railroad lines and trains than the South, and this article confirms that and adds more detail.

Your point about the role of government in many industries is an excellent one. It's a good pathway for imposing standards, not just of quality, but also of uniformity, so that everything works well together.

Your image of the Soviet Union, rich in land, just "closing the door" on a huge area, is so vivid. That difference between the USSR and constricted little Japan--not even an entire contiguous land area, just a collection of islands--has stood out starkly for me as well. They can't just leave that area behind and move on. They have to try to protect and reclaim it. That factor makes it even more puzzling to me that Japan seems to have been so cavalier about regulation and preparation. They will indeed have to learn from failure, alas.

[dorispulaski]

Well, yes, we all have to learn from failure. Mostly, we learn that we, too, can make mistakes.

It is worth remembering that if they hadn't underestimated the size a tsunami could be at Daiichi, that there might have been a significantly smaller problem, and perhaps no problem at all. At most, there would have been a problem with Unit 1.

And as to TEPCO's 3:00 PM JST March 25th status

Daini 9:00 PM JST March 25th
Six peripheral points ( 1.8, 1.4, 1.9, 1.6, 1.6, 1.6 ) microSieverts per hour
Manual 9:00 AM 1.1 microSieverts per hour

Daiichi May 25th, mostly 2:00 PM JST
Data on measure points 7 & 8 were done by monitoring car, due to power switchover
Eight peripheral measure points (6,25, 17,16, 20, 42) microSieverts per hour
Main Office Building 374 microSieverts per hour
Cart near West Gate at 8 am JST 15.9 microSieverts per hour
Measure point 7 by Cart at 1:30 PM JST 107.3 microSieverts per hour
Measure point 8 by Cart at 1:45 PM JST 109.7 microSieverts per hour



http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp...s/110525e3.pdf
All the seawater charts for the inner harbor are down today. It seems yesterday's spike at the 1-4 intake was just a big, nasty particle in the sample.

- Due to the change of onsite power source structure after the restoration of Okuma No. 2 line, power source to electromagnetic valve in Unit 1 nitrogen injection line was switched. Due to the switch, nitrogen injection was temporarily suspended at 9:14 am May 25th and was resumed at 9:18 am May 25th.

- Due to the stoppage of temporary power panel associated with the above structure change, transfer of water from vertical shaft of Unit 2 turbine building to centralized radiation waste treatment facility was suspended at 9:05am May 25th.

- Transfer of accumulated water from Unit 3 turbine building to centralized radiation waste treatment facility (miscellaneous solid waste volume reduction treatment building) was suspended at 9:10am May 25th in order to check the transfer lines and buildings. - On May 25th, we have sprayed dust inhibitor to areas including nearby Solid Waste Storing Facility.

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp...1052507-e.html
Invocation of Article 27 of Electricity Business Act

TEPCO is worrying about meeting summer electricity demands, particularly if it is a hot summer.
And if you look at their analysis of soil, the only relatively long lived isotope in it is Cesium 137 at 30 years. They aren't finding any significant amount of plutonium. The next longest lived is Cesium 134 at a half life of 2 years. However, they need to do some more measurement of Strontium, which has the same half life as Cesium 137, approximately.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp.../110525e11.pdf
Update on the worker who was injured:

Injured -We announced on May 23 that a worker who was unloading a tank had his left hand injured and was transferred to Iwaki Kyouritsu Hospital, On May 24, he was diagnosed as "crushed wound on his left thumb " with the prospect of one-month hospital visit

JAIF has some more info on core status of the 3 reactors, adding something to yesterday's NHK report:

TEPCO has been working to create a system to decontaminate and circulate water back into the reactors to cool them down since the discovery that water level in reactor No1 is very low.
TEPCO announced the results of the core damage analyses, which showed the fuel pellets have melted and fallen to the bottom of the reactor vessel at Unit 1 while at Unit 2 and 3 the core had been stayed at the fuel area in the vessel, without damaging the vessel, even though the part of the core had melted (5/15, 23). Another analysis, which was performed assuming that the reactor water level had not recovered after dropping below the bottom of the fuel at Unit 2 and 3, showed that the most of the core had melted and fallen to the bottom of the reactor, causing a limited damage to the vessel. TEPCO also predicts that an event associated with large amount of radioactive material release is not likely to happen in the future since the reactors have been cooled by means of water injection.*2

[dorispulaski]

This morning's new NHK articles:

Kan discusses nuclear safety with Sarkozy

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan is meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris to exchange views on the safety of nuclear power plants. Kan is in Paris to attend the Group of Eight summit, which opens in Deauville, northwestern France, on Thursday. At the bilateral summit on Wednesday, Kan is expected to express his gratitude for France's support in the aftermath of the March 11th earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan.

He is also expected to outline Japan's contribution to nuclear power generation safety efforts by offering all the information his government has on the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. Kan and Sarkozy are expected to affirm continued bilateral cooperation to resolve the crisis, and work to have the G8 summit agree on safety standards for nuclear power plants.

Along with nuclear safety, the G8 summit is expected to focus on negotiations for an economic partnership between Japan and the European Union. The leaders are also expected to discuss the Middle East and North Africa, where tension has continued in the wake of public protests demanding the democratization of their nations.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011 21:38 +0900 (JST)

This is a sane, sensible thing to do. The results of the study will definitely be valuable.

DPJ calls to keep Fukushima cattle for research
Japan's governing Democratic Party has proposed that livestock left near the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant be kept for research purposes rather than culled as planned by the government. DPJ deputy policy chief Koriki Jojima said at a news conference on Wednesday that his party hopes to negotiate with the government on the proposal.

The government has already instructed the Fukushima prefectural government to cull livestock left in a 20-kilometer exclusion zone, with their owners' consent. The DPJ says its proposal is for animals whose owners have rejected the government plan.

Veterinary scientists at Wednesday's news conference told reporters that the proposed research would be very valuable since almost no studies have been conducted on livestock continually exposed to low levels of radiation.

The party says it will look for fields in the exclusion zone that can be made available for keeping the animals.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011 19:48 +0900 (JST)

Part of the cows should be pastured in a non-contaminated area.
They have been behaving as though radioactivity were somehow contagious by touch.
Japan pledges full cooperation with IAEA

Japan has pledged full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency in its investigation into the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano made the pledge when he met IAEA team leader Michael Weightman in Tokyo on Wednesday. Edano said it is extremely regrettable that the accident has caused worry and trouble around the world. He added that Japan is doing all it can to bring the plant under control, and that it has made efforts to disclose information with maximum transparency.

Edano said the IAEA's study will be crucial to secure transparency, and he asked the team to conduct a full, professional investigation. He added that the government has instructed relevant offices to provide utmost cooperation.

Weightman said the fact-finding mission provides an important opportunity for the world to learn lessons from the accident. He said the team will submit its findings to an IAEA ministerial meeting scheduled for the end of June. After the meeting, the chief British nuclear regulator told reporters that his team expects to find out what's happened and what is happening at the Fukushima plant, and the conditions of the sites. He said the team wants to find lessons to learn because high standards in nuclear safety are based on continued improvement.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011 19:44 +0900 (JST)

[ b]Quake may have damaged key piping at No.3 reactor[/b]

Tokyo Electric Power Company has released data which suggests the March 11th earthquake damaged a critical piping system in the No. 3 reactor at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

The utility said that analysis of pressure and temperature data from the days after the quake shows that the No.3 reactor lost its cooling system on March 13th. Much of its nuclear fuel likely melted down and collected at the bottom of the pressure vessel over the next 24 hours.

The analysis also shows that piping in an emergency cooling mechanism, known as a high-pressure coolant injection system, may have been damaged by the earthquake. The system is designed to maintain the water level inside the reactor vessel during an emergency.

The system is known to have automatically switched on shortly after noon on March 12th.

Pressure inside the reactor, which was 75 atmospheric pressure, plunged to about 10 atmospheric pressure over the next six hours.

Tokyo Electric says the drop in pressure is consistent with analysis which assumes the piping system had been damaged.

The piping system is one of the plant's most important structures in terms of safety, and must be damage-proof.

Tokyo Electric refuses to confirm, however, that the key piping system was damaged by the quake, and suggests that it is possible a gauge malfunction may be to blame for the data fluctuation.

Experts note that extensive investigation is needed to examine whether the massive earthquake damaged the cooling system.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011 18:46 +0900 (JST)

Either explanation would work.
You may recall that TEPCO reported they were checking air quality over the reactors the other day, and would report the analysis. This is the report.
High levels of cesium detected above No.1 reactor

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant says the density of radioactive cesium above the No.1 reactor is 18 times the permissible level for the edge of the plant's compound.

Large amounts of radioactive substances have been released into the air since reactor cores and buildings were damaged, but measurements were not available.

On Sunday, Tokyo Electric Power Company began measuring the density of radioactive elements above the No.1 and No.4 reactors.

The firm used instruments attached to the crane pumps that are injecting water into the reactors.

TEPCO detected 360 becquerels of cesium-134 per cubic meter above the No.1 reactor, where most of the fuel rods are believed to have melted. The amount is 18 times the allowable limit for the plant's perimeter.

The firm also discovered 7.5 times the limit of cesium-134 above the No.4 reactor, which has no fuel in its core. The substance is believed to have come from the fuel storage pool and the neighboring No.3 reactor.

TEPCO says it will measure the levels of radioactive elements above the No.2 and No.3 reactors. It also plans to cover the reactor buildings with polyester sheets to prevent the further dispersal of radioactive materials into the air.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011 07:48 +0900 (JST)

OK, there are 1,000,000 cubic centimeters in a cubic meter.
TEPCO just measured the Cesium 134 at the West Gate of Daiichi and at Measure point 1 at Daini:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp...s/110525e6.pdf
DAINI
Cesium 134 at West Gate 8.8 Becquerels per cubic meter
Cesium 134 at Daini 13 Becquerels per cubic meter.
Cesium 134 at Unit 4 Daiichi 150 Becquerels per cubic meter
Cesium 134 at Unit 1 Daiichi 360 Becquerels per cubic meter
Typically, there should be a similar amount of Cesium 137, which has a much more important long term effect, however, it's release limit is higher: net result is that the news report would be slightly less shocking.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp...s/110525e7.pdf
If you will check the Daiichi trend chart, you will note the release levels for allowing workers to work on the right hand side. Cesium 137 limit is higher than Cesium 134.
And this is all speculation, pretty much, and will be until someone can take the reactors apart and actually look at them. I still find it hard to believe that Unit 1 can maintain the level of pressure it has with a hole in the pressure vessel.

TEPCO: reactor damage includes holes
The operator of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant says data analyses suggest damage to its reactors may have caused cracks and openings in the reactor containment vessels equivalent to a 10-centimeter hole.

Reactors 1 through 3 at the plant suffered nuclear fuel meltdowns after the March 11th earthquake and tsunami. This is likely to have created holes and cracks at the bottom of the pressure vessels protecting the reactor cores and damaged the containment vessels.

Massive amounts of highly radioactive water also leaked from the structures.

Tokyo Electric Power Company analyzed the changes in pressure levels inside the pressure and containment vessels to gauge the scope of the damage.

TEPCO said the analyses show that holes in the Number 1 reactor containment vessel amounting to 3 centimeters in total may have formed 18 hours after the quake. It said that may have expanded to 7 centimeters at least 50 hours after the quake.

The utility said holes and cracks equivalent to 10 centimeters in diameter may have formed in the Number 2 reactor's containment vessel about 21 hours after the quake. It said a similar amount of holes could have been created in the suppression pool chamber by an explosion heard coming from there on March 15th.

TEPCO said these results were obtained through data calculations, and that it has yet to confirm whether such holes actually exist.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011 12:56 +0900 (JST)

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NEI posted its weekly update 2 days early:

UPDATE AS OF 4 P.M. EDT, TUESDAY, MAY 24:
Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said today that fuel damage likely occurred in reactors 2 and 3 of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear energy facility in the first few days after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Both reactors are now reported to be stable and at relatively low temperatures. The extent of the fuel damage is unknown. If the water gauges inside the two reactors are accurate, there was sufficient water in the reactors to prevent damage to all the fuel, the company said.

Most of the fuel damage that occurred in reactor 2 is believed to have taken place within 100 hours of the earthquake. TEPCO believes fuel was damaged in reactor 3 within 60 hours. The company previously confirmed that fuel was damaged in reactor 1.

TEPCO plans to install two heat exchangers today to lower the temperature of the used reactor fuel at reactor 2.


UPDATE AS OF 1:30 P.M. EDT, FRIDAY, MAY 20:
Below is a round-up of noteworthy news that happened this week with regard to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant and the U.S. nuclear industry's response.


Plant Status
Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) workers entered reactor buildings 2 and 3 Wednesday for the first time since explosions at the facility. Radiation levels in building 2 peaked at 5 rem per hour. Facing high heat and humidity, the workers remained in the building for only 15 minutes. In reactor 3, radiation peaked at 17 rem per hour near a pipe connected to the reactor. TEPCO employees first entered the reactor 1 building on May 5.

TEPCO is looking at how to begin nitrogen injection into reactors 2 and 3 to further stabilize them. The company has been injecting nitrogen into reactor 1 for several weeks. High humidity in building 2 is hampering operations. In building 3, high radiation levels must be reduced before workers can begin efforts to inject nitrogen. TEPCO announced plans to install new cooling systems for fuel pools in four of the six reactors at the site. It is believed the new systems will reduce the high humidity in the reactor buildings.

TEPCO provided a new timeline for recovery of the damaged reactors, recognizing challenges the company has encountered are slowing progress on certain activities. The company reaffirmed that the target timeframe for stabilizing the plant-between October and January-remains unchanged.

Radiation levels in the ocean near the Fukushima Daiichi facility increased again on Thursday, but overall radiation is decreasing in seawater and other areas around the facility.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has created two radiation-proof forklifts to assist TEPCO workers in removing debris from the Fukushima Daiichi site. TEPCO has been using robotic and remote-controlled equipment for clean-up activities. The forklifts, with cabins sealed by 10 centimeter-thick steel plates and more than 20 centimeter-thick lead-glass, have filters that keep out radioactive dust.

Industry/Regulatory/Political Issues

Industry consultant Lake Barrett told the House Science, Space and Technology Committee on May 13 that the tsunami, not the earthquake, caused most of the damage at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

A blue ribbon commission studying U.S. used fuel policies heard briefings May 13 on the Fukushima Daiichi accident from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Energy Department. The NRC representative summarized agency activities since the earthquake and tsunami damaged the facility. The DOE spokesman also discussed his agency's activities, including a workshop scheduled for June 6-7 that will bring the nuclear energy community together to discuss lessons learned from the Japan event and potential actions that could further enhance nuclear safety.

Media Highlights

TEPCO had a net loss of $15.4 billion for the fiscal year that ended March 31, and the company's president has announced his resignation, CNN reports.

Japan will continue to use nuclear power plants "that are deemed safe," Prime Minister Naoto Kan said in a Reuters report, but "we need to fully consider what needs to be done to enhance the safety of nuclear power."

TEPCO said the earthquake that struck Fukushima Daiichi March 11 exceeded design specifications at three of the site's six reactors, Reuters reported. "This was clearly a larger earthquake than we had forecast," said Junichi Matsumoto, a TEPCO spokesman. "It would have been hard to anticipate this."

Operators of nuclear energy facilities have fixed or scheduled for correction all the issues NRC inspections found in post-Fukushima inspections, The New York Times reports.

Five tons of seawater may have flooded a reactor at the Hamaoka nuclear energy site, Japan Today reports. The site closed last week at the request of Japan's prime minister for fears of a possible earthquake.

Japan's utilities could have trouble meeting summer electricity demand, unless nuclear reactors-including those unaffected by the earthquake and tsunami but were shut down for maintenance at the time-are restarted, Reuters reports.

The Week Ahead
The Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board of the National Academy of Sciences will discuss the aftermath of Fukushima, beginning at 12:30 p.m. EDT May 26 at the Keck Center, 500 5th St., NW, Washington, D.C.

The NRC's Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards will review events at Fukushima, beginning at 1 p.m. EDT May 26 at NRC headquarters, Room T-2B1, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland.

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From NEI's blog by Mark Flanagan, this gem about Justin Bieber's crew being fearful about going to Japan, and then deciding to go:
http://neinuclearnotes.blogspot.com/...-in-japan.html

It's kind of depressing that the E! OnLine Answer ***** should have better info on radiation than most of our newspapers here in the states. And she actually asked someone who really knows about it, even better.

...
That comes from Gossip Cop. Now, let’s let E! Online answer the important question:

What's this about Justin Bieber's crew refusing to tour Japan? Are their fears about radiation justified?
—Clara, Switzerland, via the inbox

The Answer ***** answers thusly:

No, at least, not on the radiation front.

In Tokyo and other major cities, "the radiation exposure is no different from where it was a year ago," says Dr. David Brenner, professor of radiation biophysics at the Center for Radiological Research at the Columbia University Medical Center. "There was an increase in radiation in March, but now it's down to normal levels again."

And that goes for water and air. As for food, "the government every day is modifying their list of what can be sold and where it can be sold, and contaminated food is not being sold. It's being monitored pretty intensively."

She gets some even better information:

In fact, says Dr. Peter Caracappa, clinical assistant professor of nuclear engineering at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute:

"They'd actually receive a lot more of a radiation dose on the flight to Japan because of exposure to cosmic rays. So if they decide to go to Amsterdam instead of Tokyo they have not saved themselves.

Dr. Caracappa is being a bit tongue in cheek, but he is talking to E! Online.

So what will Justin and crew do?

But Bieber's manager Scooter Braun told the hesitant travelers on his team to "Man the **** up and do the right thing by these kids" during a recent staff meeting, according to TMZ.com.

Braun continued by saying Bieber would not disappoint his Japanese "Beliebers" by failing to show for his May 17 performance in Osaka and his Tokyo concert two days later -- adding that Maroon 5 is moving forward with its May tour in Japan.

Well, if Maroon 5 is going over! This bit suggests that Bieber is being led into something he may not want to do himself. But no. If I wasn’t before (hint: I wasn’t), I’m a Belieber now, that’s for sure. Especially because:

First he made the ballsy move of following through with his tour dates in Japan despite radiation concerns. Now Justin Bieber has taken it a step further. The tween pop star took time out of his hectic schedule to meet with children who had been affected by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Good for him. This is fan service and good publicity for him, but nothing demanded he do it and he did do it. So, excellent.

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And the IAEA reports on its team's first day of investigations. It's not much of a report, but it does document whom they talked to:

UPDATE: Fact-Finding Mission in Ministerial Meetings (25 May 2011)


The IAEA's Fact-Finding mission in Tokyo completed on 25 May 2011 its first full day of work to identify lessons from the Japanese nuclear accident that could improve global nuclear safety.

The 18-member team, including experts from 12 nations, held three hours of technical meetings at Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA), as well as three ministerial meetings. The team met Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano, and Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Yoshiaki Takaki.

"We had interesting discussions and very open discussions, and we have had full cooperation while we've been here. We look forward to more interesting discussions as we go forward," said team leader Mike Weightman, the United Kingdom's chief nuclear inspector.

[Olympia]

I like the proposal of keeping the cattle alive for study. The thought of one group being fed with definitely uncontaminated food is also clever. This study could provide lots of useful information.

Very cute article about Justin Bieber. Every generation is going to have one or more cute boys to swoon over at the bubblegum age, and he's the current one. Good for him if as well as making money, he's also practicing social responsibility. When the rest of the world has long forgotten him, a group of kids from Japan will remember him for showing up in a dark hour. That kind of gesture has an incalculable effect.

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Here's the article I have been mulling over:

Parents demand lower radiation limit for children

A group of parents of school children is calling for lowering the government-set radiation limit for children. The group is from Fukushima Prefecture, where a crippled nuclear power plant is posing the danger of nuclear contamination. On Monday, members of the group visited the education ministry and submitted a petition bearing more than 15,000 signatures.

After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant accident, the government set the yearly limit for accumulated external radiation for children undertaking outdoor activities at 20 millisieverts.

The parents have been pointing out that the government safety level is too high for children and are demanding that it be lowered to 1 millisievert per year.

One millisievert per year is the level recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection as a long-term annual reference level for humans.

The parents say the government should take as many measures as possible to reduce children's radiation exposure, such as removing contaminated topsoil from schoolyards.

A ministry official admitted that the 20-millisievert yearly level is not necessarily an appropriate limit for children. The official told the group that the ministry wants to consider all possible measures to reduce radiation risk.
Monday, May 23, 2011 21:29 +0900 (JST)

It's only natural that parents want to keep their children safe, but in some ways, this is completely insane.

What they are asking (1 milliSeiverts) is not really obtainable in any country with either granite rock sections or mountains. On the other hand, asking to have the dirt removed from the schoolyard is reasonable. Eating and rolling in dirt is different than just walking around. But I could be wrong. Read on.

The average exposure in the US is 3 milliSieverts per year.
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-co...radiation.html

In fact, quite a few areas of the USA, most notably in the SouthWest and at places like the Colorado Plateau that are at mile-high altitudes are significant more than 3 milliSieverts. France has about the same average background radiation.

And yet the parents are right: the ICRP does indeed say that 1 milliSievert per year and under is the correct number for children. Of course, if anyone actually did anything about those guidelines, none of the parents in Denver or in parts of Finland and Spain should have children living with them.

What is the ICRP thinking when it has such an unachievable number?

Well, in one sense, the child would only receive that size dose (20 milliSieverts) if he spent his whole 24 hour day outside, which of course, no one does.

In everything I've read where people try to explain an unreasonable fear of radiation, sooner or later they always say that people fear what they can't see or hear. So I think that every person in the zone where radiation is a concern should be issued a dosimeter. Then they could indeed see and hear the cumulative radiation that they have experienced over a year's time, and if they think they are approaching too much exposure, they could do something about it. I did notice that the Ukrainian workers in the Chernobyl exclusion zone spoke quite cavalierly about radiation, and made choices all the time based on their dosimeter readings. They behaved like people who feel in control of their smoking, because they only smoke 10 cigarettes a day. Well then. Get the kids and the parents dosimeters, so that instead of fear, they can make informed choices.

That said, 20 milliSieverts is higher than what France uses for a nuclear emergency. They recommend 10 milliSieverts.

http://uvdiv.blogspot.com/2011/05/is...effects-i.html

French public radiation-protection agency Institut de radioprotection et de sûreté nucléaire released a report Monday (in French only). Based on the French standard of 10 mSv/year to the public after a nuclear accident, they are calling for further evacuations of an additional 70,000 Fukushima residents.

Staying in this area means the inhabitants would be exposed to radiation of more than 10 millisieverts (mSv)in the year following the disaster, according to the IRSN.
This level is used in French safety guidelines for protecting civilian populations after a nuclear accident. In France, 10 mSv is three times the normal background radiation from natural sources.
"Ten mSV is not a dangerous dose in and of itself, it's more a precautionary dose," said Champion, noting however that this figure that does not include any additional doses from contaminated food or water.
(If I remember right, Japan is using a 20 mSv/year standard).
(Note that if the standard were more conservative by just a factor of two, several major cities would be encompassed, including over one million people. Or: about one million people will be exposed to ~5 mSv external dose this year, the equivalent of a CT scan.)

Yes, a CT scan is 5 milliSieverts. Would those parents let their child have a CT scan if the doctor advised it? And yet that scan is five times what they are asking.

And if the government ruled that children should not be exposed to 1 milliSievert, would they want to be moved to a gymnasium with limited hygiene opportunities, where the child might catch a serious contagious disease?

These are not easy questions, necessarily, but considering that the city of Denver has a background radiation of over 10 milliSieverts and is in one of the lowest cancer rate areas in the country should help people make a decision.

And from Lawrence-Livermore Lab, an entire paper on the subject of the non-correlation between background radiation and cancer:
http://www.irpa.net/irpa5/cdrom/VOL.2/J2_76.PDF
See Table 2.

Hawaii has the lowest background radiation, but one of the highest cancer rates. So does CT. (issues are age of population, air quality (bad in New England), percent of smokers, and other issues. Basically, background radiation does not correlate to cancer rate at all. If anything, you could make a case for the reverse.

http://statecancerprofiles.cancer.go...&1&0&1&6&0#map

The website doesn't give an option for childhood cancer, but does for cancer under age 50. Note that the northeast is the worst region-downwind from WVa's and PA's coal plants, and with lots of cars emitting cancer causing smoke, not the SouthWest.

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And there is a very interesting rundown on the tsunami and earthquake at Daini.

First there is a picture of the tsunami hitting the reactors that is quite chilling
http://depletedcranium.com/dainipics.jpg

And then a description of all the things that went wrong, and yet the plants were stabilized relatively quickly and without significant release of radiation or radioactive materials.

http://depletedcranium.com/the-other...r-power-plant/

The author of this blog concludes that it is all due to the fact that these reactors are BWR5 (same as Daiichi Unit 6), with Mark 2 or Mark 2 Advanced containment. And that has to have helped. However, However, one should not forget that external power was quickly available at Daiini, unlike at Daiichi.

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And the usual evening NHK News:

TEPCO is describing their first move to deal with the fact that the buildings they reworked into water tanks are filling up, prior to getting the water purification system going:

More wastewater to be moved at Fukushima

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is considering removing more radioactive wastewater from 2 of the reactors as the amount of accumulated water has seen no noticeable drop.

Tokyo Electric Power Company plans to transfer a total of 14,000 tons of highly radioactive water from the No.2 and No.3 reactors to a waste disposal facility within the plant compound.

More than 90 percent of the transfer has been completed, but the amount of contaminated water inside has not decreased much because the injection of water to cool the reactors continues.

TEPCO therefore hopes to remove about 5,000 more tons of wastewater to the disposal facility.

The utility will inspect the facility to see whether it can hold more water without it leaking outside or into nearby groundwater.

TEPCO plans to begin running a water purifier on an experimental basis early next month. Until then, its main challenge will be to prevent the wastewater from flowing out to sea or seeping underground.
Thursday, May 26, 2011 10:00 +0900 (JST)

[b]IAEA team briefed on Fukushima accident[b]

A team from the International Atomic Energy Agency has launched a full investigation into the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident with briefings by Japanese officials in Tokyo.

The team of 18 experts from 12 countries including Britain, France and South Korea was briefed on Wednesday by officials of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, or NISA, the Nuclear Safety Commission and the technology and science ministry.

At the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry, NISA Director-General Nobuaki Terasaka explained an analysis by the Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, of suspected meltdowns involving the plant's Number 1, 2 and 3 reactors.

TEPCO says a fuel meltdown likely occurred at the Number 1 reactor 15 hours after the magnitude-9.0 earthquake on March 11th, and that meltdowns also likely occurred at reactors 2 and 3 within days of the disaster.

Terasaka said Japan is striving to shift its efforts from stopgap measures to organized, stable containment of the accident.

The team's leader Michael Weightman said it will submit its findings at a meeting of the UN nuclear agency next month. He asked Japan to share all information so that the international community can learn from the country's experience.

The team is to visit the plant on Thursday and plans to submit an outline of its findings to the government next Wednesday.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011 18:39 +0900 (JST)

Kan to state nuclear safety

Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan will pledge at the upcoming Group of Eight summit to make nuclear power safe, following the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

The summit opens in Deauville in France on Thursday, chaired by French President Nicolas Sarkozy.

The safety of nuclear power will top the agenda.

Prime Minister Kan plans to express his deep gratitude for the support extended by many countries in the aftermath of the March 11th earthquake and tsunami.

Kan will also express his determination to realize the highest-possible levels of safety for nuclear power, by sharing the lessons of the Fukushima crisis with the international community, and by joining hands with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

The prime minister will also announce a policy of raising the ratio of solar and other renewable energies in Japan as a percentage of power generation from 9 percent to 20 percent by the next decade.
Thursday, May 26, 2011 04:39 +0900 (JST)

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And it appears that the Depleted Cranium blogpost on Daini was timely, because NHK is reporting the IAEA mission will be visting Daini tomorrow, having visited the Tokai plant today.

IAEA team visits Tokai Daini nuclear plant

Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency have visited the Tokai Daini nuclear power plant in Ibaraki Prefecture, eastern Japan, to see the damage caused by the tsunami.

The IAEA team has been in Japan since Tuesday to investigate the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

On Thursday, a 20-member team visited the Tokai Daini plant, which is operated by Japan Atomic Power Company.

The plant's only reactor shut down automatically after the March 11th quake. But a 5-meter tsunami disabled one of the plant's 3 backup sea-water pumps for cooling the reactor. The plant remains closed for a regular inspection.

The head of the IAEA fact-finding mission Mike Weightman says his team wants to gather information of what happened at the plant to learn lessons for improving nuclear safety around the world.

The experts inspected the damaged sea water pump and a backup diesel generator housed inside the reactor building. They also interviewed officials of the operating company about the damage suffered at the plant and additional safety measures taken after the disaster.

The IAEA team will head to Fukushima later on Thursday for a 2-day visit. They will go to the troubled Fukushima Daiichi plant and the Fukushima Daini plant. Both plants suffered damage from tsunami and Daini is now stable.

The IAEA team will compile their findings in a report to be presented at an international meeting in June.

Thursday, May 26, 2011 13:06 +0900 (JST