Japanese Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Reactors

[dorispulaski]

Daiichi is not the first time that nuclear material has been disposed of at sea:

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/k19/radiation_main.html

Radioactive nuclear reactors are resting around the globe on the seafloor in derelict subs—some the results of accidents, some intentionally dumped. Whether they pose a threat to marine and human life now, or if they ever will, remains an open question—and one that may not be answered for another thousand years.
The remains of two U.S. and three Soviet nuclear subs, including reactors and in some cases nuclear-tipped torpedoes, all rest in deep water on the bottom of the Atlantic; any removal efforts would be extremely difficult and costly.

The Russians also dumped a number of old submarine reactors in the Arctic Ocean from about 1960 to 1990. They lie at depths from about 40 feet (12 meters) to 985 feet (300 meters).

While this would seem dire, experts say the chances of harmful radiation leaks are slim. In addition to thick metal shielding around the U.S. reactors, the radioactive fuel rods are encased in an alloy that corrodes extremely slowly. Even if the reactor shielding were ruptured, the alloy should keep seawater out of the rods for centuries.

Within a thousand years, most of the radioactive material will likely decay before it is released. Soviet and Russian reactors have similar safety features, and nuclear-tipped torpedoes also have protective shielding.

Unsettling Uncertainties

Seafloor reactor sites and surrounding waters are periodically tested for radioactivity levels. Mildly elevated radioactivity has been detected at some sites but not at levels that appear dangerous. The safety features seem to have been effective so far.

Nonetheless, some environmentalists are concerned that the sites pose significant threats, because no one can rule out the possibility of harmful leaks now or in the future.

While it is possible that released radioactive material would be confined to surrounding sediment, some spreading is also conceivable. Either way, marine life could be contaminated, as could humans who eat contaminated seafood.

Based in part on such concerns, most of the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk, which sank in 2000 in relatively shallow water (350 feet/107 meters), was raised last year.

Radioactive Graveyard

Most agree that a more immediate and dangerous threat than reactors on the seafloor is reactors in inactive submarines docked in Russia. Dozens of subs with radioactive fuel are deteriorating in port, and the Russian government cannot afford to dispose of them.

The U.S., Norway, and Russia are currently working to fix the problem in an effort called Arctic Military Environmental Cooperation.

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110408e5.pdf

Meanwhile Tepco announces north canal concentration from April 7
Iodine 131 2.2 Becquerels per cubic centimeter
Cesium 134 1.1 Becquerels per cubic centimeter
Cesium 137 1.1 Becquerels per cubic centimeter

 

[dorispulaski]

6:00 PM TEPCO April 8th

The man who became sick yesterday:

After we confirmed that
he was not contaminated by completing the radiation survey of his body, he was brought to Iwaki City Kyoritsu Hospital by an ambulance. Later, he was diagnosed with dehydration and transient exanimation.

We forget what difficult living conditions all these workers are living under.But I don't know what transient exanimation is? A quickly passing fainting spell?

And they are still cooling spent fuel pools:

From 5:06 pm on April 8th, spraying water to Unit 3 by concrete pump
vehicle was conducted.

They are preparing to analyze the puddle water again:

*We detected radioactive materials contained in the puddles found in the turbine building of Unit 1 to 4. We are planning to conduct water analysis in preparation for treating the water. The analysis will be carried out in Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Station with support from other nuclear companies (Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited).

I'm not sure what they mean by "treating the water".

 

[mot]

Daiichi is not the first time that nuclear material has been disposed of at sea:

And Russia was caught dumping low-level radioactive nuclear waste in Sea of Japan in 1993 (by Greenpeace activists) - and admitted they were dumping high-level wastes before that.

http://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/19/world/nuclear-material-dumped-off-japan.html
http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/multimedia/photos/Greenpeace-documenting-Russian-ship/

Thousands, possibly millions of Japanese have eaten seafood and fish from Sea of Japan ever since Russia started nuclear waste dumping, including myself - ah, how much I love those big fat crabs from Sea of Japan!!! - but I've never heard of anyone dying of radiation-related illness.


Doris, I sent the links to this thread to my friend. Hope it will be of help. She found it amazing all this was going on international figure skating forum. No, unfortunately, she's more of baseball fan than fs fan. May be converted after this though.

ETA:

We forget what difficult living conditions all these workers are living under.But I don't know what transient exanimation is? A quickly passing fainting spell?

I checked Japanese language version of the press release, and yes, it is a quickly passing fainting spell.

 

[dorispulaski]

Yes, I hope so! We can always use more skating fans.

IAEA has their afternoon update

IAEA Briefing on Fukushima Nuclear Accident (8 April 2011, 15:00 UTC)
.by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Friday, April 8, 2011 at 7:57am.1. Earthquake of 7th April

The IAEA confirms that an earthquake occurred in Japan at 14:32 UTC 7th April. The IAEA International Seismic Safety Centre has rated it as a 7.1 magnitude, revised from an initial 7.4 magnitude. The epicenter of the earthquake was 20 km from the Onagawa nuclear power plant and approximately 120 km from the Fukushima Daiichi and Daini nuclear power plants.

The IAEA has been in contact with NISA and can confirm the status of the following nuclear facilities:



Fukushima Daiichi NPP

No changes have been observed at the on-site radiation monitoring posts. The injection of water into the reactor pressure vessels of Units 1, 2 and 3 was not interrupted.



Fukushima Daini NPP

No changes have been observed of the readings at the on-site radiation monitoring posts.



Onagawa NPP

All reactors have been in cold shutdown since the 11th March earthquake.

Two out of the three lines supplying off-site power to the site were lost following the 7th April earthquake. Off-site power continues to be supplied through the third line.

Cooling of the spent fuel pool was temporarily lost, but has subsequently been restored.

No change has been observed in the readings from the on-site radiation monitoring post. The status of the plant is currently being checked.



Tokai Daini NPP

Tokai Daini nuclear power plant remains in cold shutdown since the 11th March earthquake. No abnormality has been observed.



Higashidori NPP

The Higashidori NPP was shut down and in a maintenance outage at the time of the 7th April earthquake. Off-site power was lost temporarily. Emergency power supply to the site operated as expected until off-site power was restored. All the fuel had been removed from the reactor core and stored in the spent fuel pool. Cooling of the spent fuel pool is operational.



Tomari NPP (in Hokkaido)

At the time of the 7th April earthquake Tomari Unit 1 and Unit 2 were in operation. Following the 7th April earthquake, the Hokkaido Electric Power Company reduced the generating power to 90% of capacity.



Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant

Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant and uranium enrichment facility lost off-site power. Emergency power supply to the site is operating.



2. Current Situation



Overall, the situation at the Fukushima Daiichi plant remains very serious although there are early signs of recovery in some functions such as electrical power and instrumentation.

As of 6th April, TEPCO started injecting nitrogen gas to Unit 1 containment vessel to reduce the possibility of hydrogen combustion within the containment vessel.

The leakage of highly contaminated water from the 20 cm crack in the cable storage pit of Unit 2 directly to the sea reported on 2 April was stopped by injection of coagulation agents (liquid glass) on 5th April. Additional activities to secure the leak were reported finished on 6th April.

To prevent discharge of contaminated water from the Fukushima Plant to the open sea, construction work was carried out at the breakwater in the southern part of the Plant on 5th April.

In Unit 1 fresh water has been continuously injected into the reactor pressure vessel through feed-water line at an indicated flow rate of 6 m3/h using a temporary electric pump with off-site power. In Units 2 and 3 fresh water is being injected into the reactor pressure vessels continuously through the fire extinguisher lines at indicated rates of 8 m3/h and 7 m3/h using temporary electric pumps with off-site power.

The reactor pressure vessels’ temperatures remain above cold shutdown conditions (normally less than 95oC). In Unit 1 indicated temperature at the feed water nozzle of the RPV is 224oC and at the bottom of RPV is 117oC. The pressure in the RPV is increasing as indicated on both channels of instrumentation. NISA has indicated that some instruments in the reactor vessel may not be working properly. Drywell pressure is increasing slightly due to the addition of nitrogen. In Unit 2 the indicated temperature at the feed water nozzle of the RPV is 144oC. The temperature at the bottom of RPV was not reported. Indicated Drywell pressure remains at atmospheric pressure. In Unit 3 the indicated temperature at the feed water nozzle of the RPV is 88oC and at the bottom of RPV is 112oC. Fresh water was sprayed onto the spent fuel pool by concrete pump vehicle (50t/h) from 21:53 UTC, 6th April.



No change in status in Units 4, 5 and 6 and the Common Spent Fuel Storage Facility.



3. Radiation monitoring



On 7th April, low levels of deposition of both iodine-131 and cesium-137 were detected in 5 and 4 prefectures respectively. The values reported for iodine-131 ranged from 3.8 to 20 becquerel per square metre, for cesium-137 from 9.7 to 25 becquerel per square metre.

Gamma dose rates continue to decrease. For Fukushima, on 7th April a dose rate of 2.3 μSv/h, for the Ibaraki prefecture a gamma dose rate of 0.16 μSv/h was reported. Dose rates reported for the Eastern part of the Fukushima prefecture, for distances of more than 30 km to Fukushima-Daiichi, range from 0.2 to 28 µSv/h.

As part of a new measurement program carried out by MEXT in cooperation with universities, gamma dose rates have also been measured in 26 cities in 13 prefectures for the period 5 to 7 April. In 19 cities, all measurements are below 0.1µSv/h. In a further five cities, some measurements are up to 0.21µSv/h. In the city of Tsukuba in the prefecture of Ibaraki, dose rates are in the range 0.17 to 0.2 0 µSv/h. In Fukushima City, the range is 0.42 to 0.5 µSv/h. typical normal background levels are in the range 0.05 to 0.1 µSv/h.





As of 6th April, iodine-131 and cesium-137 was detectable in drinking water in a few prefectures at levels far below those that would initiate recommendations for restrictions of drinking water. As of 7th April, one restriction for infants related to I-131 (100 Bq/l) remains in place as a precautionary measure in only one village of the Fukushima prefecture.

Since our written briefing of yesterday, data related to food contamination was reported on 7th April by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. These reported analytical results covered a total of 63 samples taken from 5th -7th April. Analytical results for 62 of the 63 samples for various vegetables, spinach and other leafy vegetables, various meats, unprocessed raw milk and seafood in nine prefectures (Chiba, Fukushima, Gunma, Hyogo, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Niigata, Tochigi and Yamagata) indicated that I-131, Cs-134 and/or Cs-137 were either not detected or were below the regulation values set by the Japanese authorities. One sample of spinach (grown outdoors) taken on 6th April in Ibaraki prefecture was above the regulation value set by the Japanese authorities for I-131.

TEPCO is conducting a programme for seawater (surface sampling) at a number of near-shore and off-shore monitoring locations. The near-shore sampling point for Daiichi Units 1 – 4 is located 330 m south of their common discharge point. The near-shore sampling point for Daiichi Units 5 and 6 is located 30 m north of their common discharge point.

Until 3rd April a general decreasing trend was observed at these sampling points. After the discharge of contaminated water on 4th April, a temporary increase has been reported. On the 5th April a decrease was again observed at these points.

At the Daini site, near-shore samples are being collected at two locations: directly north of the common discharge point of Daini, and close to Iwasawa Beach, which is south of Daini NPP. The latter monitoring point is 16 km south of Daiichi NPP on the northern boundary of TEPCO’s Hirono thermal power plant. Starting from the 2nd April, TEPCO collected samples at three additional sampling points lying on a north-south transect that runs parallel to the coast but at a distance of 15 km from the shore. On 4th April, a further set of three sampling points, also at 15 km from the shore, was added. All six sampling locations lie along a north-south transect.

Since 5th April TEPCO is sampling daily at 6 points situated 15 km offshore along a north-south transect. Levels of radionuclides reported at these locations for the 5th of April are in the range 57 – 200 Bq/l for I-131, 57 - 310 Bq/l for Cs-134 and 18 – 320 Bq/l for Cs-137. Values of Cs-134 and Cs-137 measured at the sampling points situated at the North and South ends of the transect are considerably lower than those measured at the stations directly offshore from the release points.

MEXT initiated the off-shore monitoring program on 23rd March. Initially, the monitoring was carried out at 8 points lying on a north-south transect parallel to the coast and 30km off-shore. Sampling points 1 to 8 are separated by about 10km. On the 28th March, points 9 and 10 were added to the off-shore sampling scheme. Points 8, 9 and 10 lie in one line perpendicular to the coast. Points 8 to 10 are also separated by 10km. On 4th of April MEXT added two sampling points to the north- west of sampling point 1. These are referred as point A and B. Monitoring at off-shore points consist of:

1) Measurements of ambient dose rate in air;

2) Collection and analysis of surface sample of seawater;

3) Collection and analysis of samples of sea water collected 10 metres above the sea water bottom.

On the 8th April the only data reported concerned the 15km offshore north-south transect.



4. IAEA Activities

A team of three agency experts in BWR technology continue to meet with TEPCO and NISA officials in Tokyo and are expected to be back in Vienna on 13th April 2011.

In addition to those reported in previous briefs the following countries have submitted monitoring data and/or links to national websites where data is available: Denmark, Germany, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico and Portugal.



...

 

[dorispulaski]

NEI 11:30 PM Eastern Daylight time update:

UPDATE AS OF 11:30 A.M. EDT, FRIDAY, APRIL 8:
No nuclear power plants were seriously damaged in the heavy aftershock that rattled northeastern Japan Thursday, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported. The epicenter of the 7.1 magnitude earthquake was 12.5 miles from the Onagawa nuclear power plant and about 75 miles from the Fukushima Daiichi site, where engineers are working to restore fuel cooling capabilities that were lost in the original March 11 temblor and tsunami.

Fukushima Daiichi
At Fukushima Daiichi, the injection of cooling water into the reactor pressure vessels of reactors 1, 2 and 3 continued Friday, along with injection of nitrogen gas into the containment vessel of reactor 1. The nitrogen will prevent possible ignition of hydrogen that may be accumulating in the containment. Tokyo Electric Power Co. is continuing the discharge of low-level radioactive water from a waste storage tank into the Pacific Ocean to make room for highly radioactive water pooled in the basement of the reactor 2 turbine building.

Isolated spikes in radiation inside reactor 1 containment have been associated with possible fuel movement during the April 7 aftershock, but radiation dose rates elsewhere at the site continue to decline.

The government lifted restrictions on shipments of raw milk and some produce from municipalities near Fukushima Daiichi. An official said tests show the food is safe to consume.

The aftershock of April 7 caused minimal, if any, disruption at other nuclear power plants.

Fukushima Daini
All reactors have been shut down since the March 11 earthquake. There have been no changes in the radiation readings at on-site monitoring posts.

Onagawa
All reactors have been safely shut down since the March 11 earthquake. Reactor cooling operations continue with power from the electric grid. A small amount of water was spilled from the spent fuel storage pools of all three reactors. Workers also found water leaks in several locations at the plant. Cooling for a spent fuel pool was lost briefly. There was no change in off-site radiation levels.

Tokai Daini
The plant has been shut down since the March 11 earthquake. No abnormalities have been observed.

Higashidori
The plant was shut down for maintenance at the time of the aftershock. Fuel had been removed from the reactor core and stored in the spent fuel pool. Off-site power was lost in the aftershock, and the plant operated for a few hours on backup generators. Later, off-site power was restored.

Tomari
Reactors 1 and 2 were in operation at the time of the aftershock. Hokkaido Electric Power Co. reduced the generating power to 90 percent of capacity.

Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant
Off-site electric power was lost in the aftershock. Backup power supply to the site is operating the cooling systems

 

[dorispulaski]

Daini 9PM April 8th 2.9 microSieverts per hour
Daiichi West Gate 9 PM April 8th 52.8 microSieverts per hour (wind is north)

Radiation Dose 9 PM April 8th
Main Building 0.65 milliSieverts per hour
Main Gate 93 microSieverts per hour
West Gate 40 microSieverts per hour

TEPCO is reporting on the subdrainage under the buildings and in the deep well on site:

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110408e6.pdf

The largest about of stuff is 72 becquerels per cubic centimeter of I 131 under unit 1.
The smallest is in the deep well 0.079 becquerels per cubic centimeter of I 131. At each spot, the cesium is a lot less.

The iodine appears to remain suspended in the ground water much more than the cesium. I have to read up on this to understand why. I believe it is because it ionizes in water more easily, while the cesium settles, and also sorbs to clay, if you've got a clay-y soil. There are cesium-fixing bacteria for one thing.

The seawater is very elevated again, but they have been dumping up till today. Measurements were taken just off the quai, which they are supposed to do, to monitor the effects of the dumping.

They are about 58,000 x the limit for iodine 131 and 17,000x for cesium 137.
Actual reading 720 becquerels per cubic centimeter for iodine, 440 becquerels per cubic centimeter of cesium 137.

Clearly, they will have to be doing remediation of the ground water. Fortunately, they are on a point by themselves, and this sort of remediation is fairly well understood, although expensive.

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110408e8.pdf

Analysis of different isotopes in the air show that they are slowly dropping. Here's a logarithmic trend chart, so the drop is more precipitous than it looks:

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110408e12.pdf

 

[dorispulaski]

The huge float for loading contaminated water in has arrived at Yokohama, where it will be refitted to hold contaminated water:
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS-Mega-Float_readies_for_service_at_Fukushima-0704117.html

Here a picture of it when it was a fishing park. It's the size of a football field.
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/uploadedImages/wnn/Images/mega float_1.jpg

The Mega-Float is 136 metres long and 46 metres wide - similar in size to a football pitch - and three metres high. It can store approximately 10,000 tonnes of water. The float has been provided by Shizuoka prefecture, at the request of the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco). It has now arrived at the port of Yokohama, where it will be examined and modified so that it can be used to store contaminated water from the plant. The work is expected to take one or two weeks.

Meanwhile, energy prices in Europe are rising as Germany scrambles to buy power to cover the power lost by putting a moratorium on 7 nuclear plants.

Germany is buying 1.5 reactors worth of power from nuclear power exporters, France and Czech Republic.
http://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Germany-net-energy-importer-after-nuclear-closure-1321260.php

And the operator of one of the plants that was closed is suing:
http://neinuclearnotes.blogspot.com/

One German utility, RWE AG, has filed a lawsuit challenging the shutdown of its Biblis A nuclear plant. The company's chief executive officer said power shortages may be looming. :

Meanwhile Merkel is buying even more natural gas from Gazprom, the Russian natural gas supplier:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-...for-germany-as-merkel-turns-from-nuclear.html

German power for next year has risen about 10 percent since Merkel’s announcement, reaching its highest price in more than 19 months on April 4, according to broker data compiled by Bloomberg. Gas for delivery in 2013 cost 7 percent more at the Dutch-based Endex TTF gas exchange yesterday.

Europe’s most populous nation, Germany imports 85 percent of its natural gas and is already more reliant on Russia to meet its needs than the European Union as a whole. Germany imports about a third of its gas from Russia, compared with about a quarter for the EU.

And the LA Times says the crisis in Japan is ebbing:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-japan-nuclear-20110408,0,2828502.story

And the CEO of Georgia Power says they are going ahead with the build of 2 more nuclear plants.
http://www.energycentral.com/functional/news/news_detail.cfm?did=19536726#nextpart

Tony Sammons, area manager for Georgia Power and a member of the chamber, told the membership he supports the company's pursuit of nuclear power.

"I'm excited to see us actively pursuing this, because in the long run, that's how we'll meet the demands of the future and address environmental concerns, as far as clean energy," Sammons said.

Preliminary site work began on the two new 1,100-megawatt reactors in 2009, when the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued an early site permit. This allowed limited safety-related activities to begin before the issuance of a license for construction and operation.

One of the new units will begin commercial operation in 2016 and the other in 2017, according to the website of Southern Co., which owns Georgia Power.

Meanwhile, people are talking about how to scrap out the four destroyed reactors and clean up the site. It's a daunting task in an earthquake destroyed landscape, but Daiichi has a breakwater-ships can land heavy equipment there directly. Reuters says Toshiba says they could clean it up by 2020.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/04/07/japan.concrete.pumps/

The two huge concrete pumps are just about set to depart the US.

 

[dorispulaski]

Wind is in the north north east
Gamma Radiation
Daini April 9th 3 PM 2.9 microSieverts per hour
Daiichi April 9th 3 PM West Gate 48.5 microSieverts per hour

Radiation Dose:
Main Building 0.62 milliSieverts per hour
Main Gate 86 microSieverts per hour
West Gate 38 microSieverts per hour
The whole array of 8 measure points on the periphery of Daiichi are now up. At 3 PM April 9th:
(13, 40, 41, 40 78, 123, 248, 205) microSieverts per hour

Spraying at Unit 3

From 5:06 pm, April 8th, water spray by the concrete pumping vehicle was started, and finished at 8:00 pm.

Sea Water graphs (scroll down) Scale is logarithmic.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110408e23.pdf

TEPCO Reports:

Kashiwazaki Kariwa Nuclear Power Station: Units 1, 5, 6, 7: normal operation (Units 2 to 4: outage due to regular inspection) *No damage has been done to the power station by the magnitude 7.4 earthquake occurred at approximately 11:32 pm, April 7th in the offshore of Miyagi Prefecture

JAIF reports on the Onegawa plant (not owned by TEPCO). This looks OK. This is the plant where people whose town has been destroyed are sheltering.:

3 out of 4 external power lines in service with another line under construction broke down after an earthquake occurred off the shore of Miyagi prefecture at 23:32, Apr. 7th. Now 2 external power lines are available. Monitoring posts' readings have shown no abnormality. SFP cooling systems had been restored after shutting down due to the earthquake.

 

[dorispulaski]

JAIF has posted the NHK translations from the last 24 hours
The drone helicopter is probably one donated by the French, but I heard the Americans are also donating a drone helicopter. :

1
No. 47: 18:00, April 9
NHK news regarding status of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station yesterday and today.

●US nuclear unit drill
The US military has demonstrated to the public drills by a special unit dispatched to deal with the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. About 150 members of the unit, which specializes in dealing with the effects of nuclear-related disasters, carried out the drills at Yokota Air Base in Tokyo on Saturday. In an exercise to rescue people trapped in a building, members wearing protective gear first carefully carried out procedures to measure radiation levels. In a tent set up near the building, radioactive materials were washed off the rescued people, and doctors performed physical examinations. The drill included rescuing people trapped in a car, and a surveillance robot was unveiled that can operate in hazardous environments. In preparation for a joint operation, the special unit confirmed various procedures with its Self-Defense Force counterpart, including ways to wash off nuclear contamination. The unit's commander says his team is working day and night along with the Self-Defense Forces to utilize their abilities to the fullest, and that their morale is high. The United States has also dispatched experts to help the Japanese government bring the situation under control at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.Saturday, April 09, 2011 16:42 +0900 (JST)

●TEPCO steps up effort to remove contaminated water
The operator of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has stepped up its effort to remove highly radioactive water that is hampering restoration of reactor cooling systems. Tokyo Electric Power Company says contaminated water in a concrete tunnel of the Number 2 reactor has risen 10 centimeters since leakage of the water into the ocean stopped on Wednesday. The company says the gap between the surface of the waste water and the top of the tunnel was 94 centimeters as of 7 AM on Saturday. It denies any possibility that the water could overflow from the tunnel. The source of the contaminated water has not been identified.

TEPCO plans to transfer the waste water either to a processing facility for nuclear waste or turbine condensers depending on the progress in current operations. The company also continues discharging less-radioactive water into the ocean from the processing facility to make room for more-radioactive water. Some 7,700 tons of less-radioactive water have been released into the sea and the release of the remaining 800 tons is expected to come to an end on Saturday. In a separate operation to inject nitrogen gas into the containment vessel of the Number 1 reactor to prevent a possible hydrogen explosion, TEPCO plans to increase the purity of nitrogen gas from 98 percent to 99.98 percent. The plant operator says a strong aftershock on Thursday night did not damage any facilities of the compound, but the surface temperature of the Number 1 reactor rose sharply immediately after the tremor that hit northeastern Japan minutes before midnight. The reading stood at 223 degrees Celsius at 7 PM, but it rose nearly 40 degrees just after the quake. The temperature had fallen back to 240 degrees at 6 AM on Saturday. TEPCO says it will continue close monitoring as what caused the sudden rise in temperature is not known. The company also plans to fly an unmanned small helicopter equipped with an infrared camera over the plant to take pictures of facilities that it has been unable to check. It hopes the photos will help to determine how to proceed with restoration work.Saturday, April 09, 2011 12:36 +0900 (JST)

●Power firms under pressure to review backup plans
Thursday's major earthquake has forced nuclear power plants and related facilities in northern Japan to rely on emergency power after their electricity was cut off. No major safety problems occurred, but people are calling on power companies to review their backup plans so that they can better deal with such contingencies. Thursday's quake knocked out all external power lines at Higashidori nuclear power plant in Aomori Prefecture, forcing it to use emergency diesel generators. The tremor also disabled all external power lines at a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in Aomori Prefecture. It also shut down 3 of the 4 external power lines at the Onagawa nuclear plant in Miyagi Prefecture. Since the March 11th quake and tsunami, operations have been suspended at all nuclear power plants from Aomori to Ibaraki prefectures. But electricity is still crucial, because the plants need to keep their cooling systems working. Utility firms are deploying power-generating vehicles as part of an additional backup effort, in case both the existing emergency systems and diesel-powered generators fail. But pressure is rising on power companies to review their backup plans to deal with such scenarios.
Saturday, April 09, 2011 09:06 +0900 (JST)

●Water radiation levels rise north of nuclear plant
The operator of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says seawater radiation levels continue to rise in areas north of the plant. Tokyo Electric Power Company says it detected on Thursday 110 becquerels of radioactive iodine-131 per cubic centimeter in seawater samples collected 30 meters from outlets in the northern part of the complex. The figure is 2,800 times higher than the maximum allowed under government standards. Measurements at the same spot were 600 times the standard on Tuesday and 1,000 times on Wedneday. In a series of surveys 15 kilometers from the coastline, a reading 9.3 times the national limit was detected north of the plant, off the coast of Minami-soma City. The government's nuclear safety agency has instructed the Fukushima plant operator to review its monitoring activities, as the radioactive material is likely to be carried northward by ocean currents. The agency stressed the need to monitor areas of high radiation concentration more closely to clarify possible contamination of the ocean.
Friday, April 08, 2011 21:57 +0900 (JST)

●TEPCO: Aftershock did not affect Fukushima efforts
The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan says the strong earthquake on Thursday night has not hampered the ongoing work to restore reactor cooling systems at the plant. The powerful tremor was one of the largest since the devastating quake on March 11th. Tokyo Electric Power Company evacuated all staff from the plant after an intensity 5-minus on the Japanese scale of 0 to 7 was registered in Futaba Town, where the plant is located, and a tsunami evacuation advisory was issued. TEPCO says no new irregularities have been detected in radiation readings or other indicators, except for the surface temperature of the No. 1 reactor. Before the quake, that reading stood at 223 degrees Celsius at 7 PM on Thursday. Just after the tremor, it rose to about 260 degrees at midnight -- up nearly 40 degrees -- but fell back to 246 degrees at 1 PM on Friday. The government's nuclear safety agency says the sudden rise in temperature cannot be explained at the moment, but that it will continue close monitoring. TEPCO continued operations to pump water into No.1, No. 2 and No. 3 reactors, as well as work to inject nitrogen into the containment vessel of the No. 1 reactor to prevent a possible hydrogen explosion. The company says the pressure inside the vessel rose by 0.35 compared to the reading before the nitrogen injection, suggesting the work is going as planned. TEPCO also says there have been no fresh leaks of highly contaminated water into the sea from a pit near the No. 2 reactor. Leakage from the concrete pit stopped on Wednesday after workers injected a hardening agent beneath it. The operator also continued discharging water contaminated with relatively lower-level radiation into the sea from a storage facility. Some 7,400 of the 8,500 tons of contaminated water had been released by Thursday.

The work is designed to make room for highly radioactive water that leaked into a concrete tunnel and the basement of the turbine building next to the No. 2 reactor. Workers have completed drilling holes in the walls of turbine buildings connected to No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 reactors to install hoses. Highly radioactive water will be transferred through the hoses to the storage facility. The workers also checked for any damage by the latest quake to the floors and walls of the facility.
Friday, April 08, 2011 19:39 +0900 (JST)
End

 

[dorispulaski]

IAEA Update April 9th, 15:00 UTC

→ Summary of Reactor Status

On Saturday, 9 April 2011, the IAEA provided the following information on the current status of nuclear safety in Japan:

1. Current Situation

Earthquake of 7 April

The IAEA confirms that an earthquake occurred in Japan at 14:32 UTC 7th April. The IAEA International Seismic Safety Centre has rated it as a 7.1 magnitude, revised from an initial 7.4 magnitude. The epicenter of the earthquake was 20 km from the Onagawa nuclear power plant and approximately 120 km from the Fukushima Daiichi and Daini nuclear power plants. With the recovery of external power at the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant, all sites reported on yesterday have external power.

Changes to Fukushima Daiichi Plant Status

In Units 1, 2 and 3, 60,000 tons of contaminated water need to be removed from the turbine buildings and trenches. This water will be transferred to the condensers of each unit and the Radioactive Waste Treatment facility. In addition, temporary storage tanks have been ordered to provide additional capacity for the water and will be located adjacent to the Radioactive Waste Treatment facility.

Nitrogen gas is continuing to be injected into the Unit 1 containment vessel to reduce the possibility of hydrogen combustion within the containment vessel. The pressure in this containment vessel is increasing due to the addition of nitrogen.

In Unit 1 fresh water is being continuously injected into the reactor pressure vessel through feed-water line at an indicated flow rate of 6 m3/h using a temporary electric pump with off-site power. In Units 2 and 3 fresh water is being continuously injected through the fire extinguisher lines at indicated rates of 8 m3/h and 7 m3/h respectively using temporary electric pumps with off-site power.

In Unit 1 the pressure in the RPV is increasing as indicated on both channels of instrumentation. NISA has indicated that some instruments in the reactor vessel may not be working properly. In Units 2 and 3 Reactor Pressure Vessel and Drywell pressures remain at atmospheric pressure.

RPV temperatures remain above cold shutdown conditions, typically less than 95 °C. In Unit 1 temperature at the feed water nozzle of the RPV is 246 °C and at the bottom of the RPV is 119 °C. In Unit 2 the temperature at the feed water nozzle of the RPV is 141 °C. The temperature at the bottom of the RPV was not reported. In Unit 3 the temperature at the feed water nozzle of the RPV is 89 °C and at the bottom of the RPV is 110 °C.

The concrete pump vehicle continued to spray fresh water to the spent fuel pool in Unit 3 on 8 April.

There has been no change in status in Units 4, 5 and 6 and the Common Spent Fuel Storage Facility

2. Radiation monitoring

On 8th April, low levels of deposition of both iodine-131 and cesium-137 were detected in 10 and 7 prefectures respectively. The values reported for iodine-131 ranged from 1 to 46 becquerel per square metre, for cesium-137 from 5 to 42 becquerel per square metre.

Gamma dose rates are measured daily in all 47 prefectures and the values continue to decrease. For Fukushima, on 8th April a dose rate of 2.3 µSv/h, for the Ibaraki prefecture a gamma dose rate of 0.15 µSv/h were reported. The gamma dose rates reported for the other 45 prefectures were below 0.1µSv/h.

Since the end of March, MEXT has set up an additional monitoring programme in cooperation with local universities. Measurements are made in 26 cities in 13 prefectures. As of 8th April, in 17 cities, the gamma dose rates were below 0.1 µSv/h. In 8 other cities, gamma dose rates ranged from 0.13 to 0.17 µSv/h, In Fukushima City, a value of 0.42 µSv/h was observed. Typical normal background levels are in the range 0.05 to 0.1 µSv/hr.

The IAEA Team in Fukushima made measurements on the 8th April at 8 different locations at distances of 24 to 42 km, in Northwesterly directions from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. At these locations, the dose rates ranged from 1.6 to 56 microsievert per hour. At the same locations, results of beta-gamma contamination measurements ranged from 0.2 to 5.0 Megabecquerel per square metre. The highest beta-gamma contaminations have been determined at distances of less than 30 km.

Since our written brief of yesterday, data related to food contamination has not been reported. However, on 8th April the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare reported that the Emergency Response headquarters had approved the lifting of restrictions on the distribution of unprocessed raw milk in certain locations in Fukushima prefecture (city of Kitakata and the towns of Aizumisato, Bandai, Inawashiro, Michima, Minamiaizu and Simogo) and on the distribution of spinach and kakina in Gunma prefecture.
As reported in the brief of 8th April TEPCO is conducting a programme for seawater (surface sampling) at a number of near-shore and off-shore monitoring locations as illustrated in the Map 1


Map 1: TEPCO Seawater Sampling Locations

Until 3rd April a general decreasing trend was observed at the sampling points TEPCO 1 to TEPCO 4. After the discharge of contaminated water on 4th April, a temporary increase has been reported.

On 6th April at the near-shore sampling points TEPCO 1, TEPCO 3 and TEPCO 4 a decrease in the concentration of I-131 and Cs-137 have been reported. However, at the sampling point TEPCO 2 an increase in the concentration of I-131 (from about 20 kBq/l on 5th April to about 40 kBq/l) and Cs-137 (from about 15 kBq/l on 5th April to about 25 kBq/l) was observed.

For the six sampling points TEPCO 5 to TEPCO 10 on 6th April levels of I-131 below 0.4 kBq/l and Cs-137 below 0.2 kBq/l were measured.

MEXT Off-shore Monitoring Programme

As reported in the brief of 8th April, MEXT initiated the off-shore monitoring program on 23rd March and subsequently points 9 and 10 were added to the off-shore sampling scheme. On 4th April, MEXT added two further sampling points to the north and west of sampling point 1. These are referred to as points A and B on the map below.


Map 2: MEXT Seawater Sampling Locations

0n 9 April new data have been reported for samples taken on the 5th April. These data were for the sampling points MEXT3 and MEXT5. At MEXT3 there was an increase from about 3 Bq/l on 1st April to about 10 Bq/l on 5th April for I-131. At MEXT5 there was an increase from about 12 Bq/l on 1st April to about 65 Bq/l for I-131and from about 15 Bq/l to about 40 Bq/l for Cs-137 on 5th April.

No new data for the other sampling points have been reported.

3. IAEA Activities

A team of three agency experts in BWR technology continue to meet with TEPCO and NISA officials in Tokyo.

 

[dorispulaski]

NEI has its 11:30 AM April 9th summary up:

UPDATE AS OF 11:30 A.M. EDT, SATURDAY, APRIL 9:
Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) has increased its efforts to remove highly radioactive water that is slowing restoration of reactor cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum reports.

For the last several days, TEPCO workers have been discharging low-level radioactive water from a storage tank to the Pacific Ocean to make room for highly contaminated water that has accumulated in the basements of reactor turbine buildings. After the discharge is complete, which is expected by Sunday, and after the storage tank has been inspected for possible earthquake damage, workers can begin to pump the radioactive water out of the turbine buildings.

Earlier this week, TEPCO sealed a crack in a concrete enclosure near reactor 2 that was allowing highly radioactive water to leak into the ocean. Since then, the utility has reported the water level in the enclosure has risen, but said it is not expected to overflow from the enclosure. TEPCO has not identified the source of the contaminated water.

Workers continue to use backup pumps to inject cooling water into reactors 1, 2 and 3 at the Fukushima Daiichi site. Spraying water onto the used fuel pools of reactors 1-4 continues on an as-needed basis. TEPCO also continues to inject nitrogen gas into the primary containment of reactor 1. The nitrogen will prevent possible ignition of hydrogen that may be accumulating in the containment.

TEPCO is preparing to fly a small, unmanned helicopter over the plant to take infrared photos of areas that have been out of reach. The photos may help the company plan its restoration work.

Overall, dose rates around the site continue to decline.

Meanwhile, Japan has created some guidelines for cesium in the soil. If the amount of radioactive cesium exceeds a certain amount, rice cannot be planted, and farmers will be compensated for not growing rice by the government. The rice planting season is about to start, so a decision had to be made rapidly. So far, only 2 places located in Iitate Village would be forbidden to plant rice. Rice has a long growing season, so there are especial fears for it. Also, there are fewer studies about rice since it is not typically grown in the Chernobyl area.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ap_on_bi_ge/as_japan_earthquake

 

[dorispulaski]

Meanwhile, there is more info about the differences between the way the tsunami struck Daini and the way it struck Daiichi. At Daiichi, the reactor buildings were actually flooded, and then the wave ran up the hill behind the buildings as well. There is a diagram in the attached file. I have suspectedt this was so, but apparently it is true. And it's no wonder there is water in the basements and subbasements, trenches and turbine buildings; some of it was from the reactors, but some left over from the tsunami:

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/11040910-e.html

[Inundation area]
<Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station>
Across the ocean-side areas where seawater pumps are placed.Most of the main building area where reactor buildings and turbine buildings are placed.

<Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Station>
Across the ocean-side areas where seawater pumps are placed.In the main building area where reactor buildings and turbine buildings are placed, only surrounding areas of Unit 1 and 2 buildings and south of Unit 3 building.(No run-up over the slope from the ocean-side area to the main building area was found.)

All Radiation values from 9:00 PM April 9th:

Gamma Radiation

Daini Measure Point Four 2.9 microSieverts per hour
Daiichi West Gate 48 microSieverts per hour

Radiation Dose

Main Building 0.62 milliSieverts per hour
Main Gate 87 microSieverts per hour
West Gate 37 microSieverts per hour
Eight periphery measurement points ( (12, 40, 40, 40, 77, 121, 248, 205 ) microSieverts per hour

Both particulate and volatile cesium and iodine continue to drop at Daini
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110409e8.pdf

There was a slight spike at Daiichi April 7th, but it's dropping back again.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110409e7.pdf

Seawater near the quay at Daiichi
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110409e5.pdf


Spent Fuel Pools

-From 5:07 pm on April 9th, spraying water to Unit 4 by concrete pump vehicle was conducted.

Injuries

-At 9:19 am April 9th, worker of a cooperative firm who was wearing full-face mask became sick during cable work conducted at the water-treatment facility. The worker accidently stepped into an open manhole located outside of the building and injured the leg. After being transferred to the hospital, the worker was diagnosed with "contusion of right knee" and "suspected medial collateral ligament injury of right knee". Meanwhile, physical survey was conducted and no contamination was detected.

 

[dorispulaski]

NHK reports this, but Sunday was the day that they were supposed to start pumping the contaminated water into the official contaminated waste tanks they have just emptied into the ocean.

Radioactive water disposal delayed
Work to dispose of highly radioactive water at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is not proceeding smoothly as more time is needed for preparations.

Heavily contaminated water in turbine buildings and a concrete tunnel is hampering work to restore cooling functions in the troubled reactors. The total amount of water in question is estimated at more than 50,000 tons.

The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, plans to transfer the highly radioactive water to a nuclear waste processing facility and turbine condensers.

The utility firm is now working to lay hoses between the turbine buildings and the facility.

Holes have already been bored in the walls of the buildings, but work to install the hoses has yet to begin.

In addition, the waste disposal facility needs to be closely checked before the procedure can begin.

Meanwhile, the level of highly radioactive water filling the concrete tunnel of the No.2 reactor had reached 93 centimeters below the ground's surface as of Saturday evening. That is a rise of 11 centimeters since the leakage of the water into the sea was stopped on Wednesday.

Tokyo Electric plans to start moving the water in the tunnel into the reactor's condenser as early as Sunday.

Sunday, April 10, 2011 07:30 +0900 (JST)

More from NHK about the tsunami

15-meter waves hit Fukushima

The operator of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says the facility was hit by a tsunami as high as 15 meters on March 11th.

Tokyo Electric Power Company was reporting on Saturday on its survey of high-water marks left on the plant's buildings.

It says it found that the tsunami reached up to 15 meters on the ocean side of the reactor and turbine buildings. The figure is far beyond the company's originally estimated height of 5.7 meters.

TEPCO confirmed that the 6 reactors at Fukushima Daiichi power plant had been under as much as 5 meters of water.

TEPCO also revealed video footage taken by a plant worker during the tsunami. The man captured the images with his mobile phone while fleeing for higher ground.

The footage shows the waves pounding against cliffs to a height of more than 20 meters.

ETA: Here's the film (English)
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/fixed/asx/09_30_256k.asx

Saturday, April 09, 2011 22:09 +0900 (JST)

The government says there are about 27,000 that are either dead or still missing. Local authorities estimated there are about 14,000 people missing. The US military and Japan Self Defense forces are searching the wreckage for those still missing.
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/10_02.html

And the government has created rules for when to suspend school due to excessive radiation

The guidelines will mandate that schools suspend classes, stop outdoor lessons, and ensure students wear face masks if radiation surpasses certain levels.

The education ministry says it will seek technical advice from the Nuclear Safety Commission before finalizing the guidelines.

The commission told reporters on Saturday that given the high radioactive readings registered in various locations, many schools in the affected areas would be asked to meet certain conditions before resuming lessons.

There are reviews of safety at Japanese nuclear plants going on:

Nuclear safety review

Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says the safety measures for nuclear plants compiled before the problem at the Fukushima Daiichi facility are not sufficient.

Senior agency official Hidehiko Nishiyama spoke to reporters on Saturday.

He said he thought nuclear power plants across Japan were completely safe because they included multiple layers of protection systems.

But he said it is necessary to re-examine safety protocols beyond the regulations formulated in the past and to review the measures based on what happened to the nuclear power plants in the quake-hit areas.

The reactors at the Fukushima plant lost their emergency generators as well as their external power supply after the March 11th earthquake and tsunami.

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company has not yet restored the reactors' cooling systems.

Thursday's major aftershock disabled all outside power lines at Higashidori nuclear power plant in Aomori Prefecture.

The operator was able to use emergency power generators and eventually restored outside power.
But later it found that the emergency power generators were not functioning properly.

Saturday, April 09, 2011 22:10 +0900 (JST)

On the brighter side, the cherry trees have begun to bloom in Fukushima, something that is giving people hope.

 

[dorispulaski]

Wind is in the south
Gamma Radiation Measurements as of 3:00 PM April 10th, Japanese Time
Daini Measure Point 4 2.8 microSieverts per hour
Daiichi West Gate 46.7 microSieverts per hour

Radiation Dose Daiichi as of 3:00 PM April 10th, Japanese Time
Main Building 0.60 milliSieverts per hour
Main Gate 87 microSieverts per hour
West Gate 36 microSieverts per hour
Eight Periphery Measurement Points (12, 40, 40, 39, 75, 117, 243, 203) microSieverts per hour


Daiichi Status as of 11 AM, April 10th, Japanese Time

Operation for cooling the spent fuel pools
-From 5:07 pm to 7:24 pm on April 9th, spraying water to Unit 4 by concrete pump vehicle was conducted.
-At 10:37 am on April 10th, the injection of fresh water into Unit 2 with a temporary motor driven pump was initiated. -

They are still finding the same isotopes in the air and water

*On March 21st, 23rd to April 8th we detected technetium, cobalt, iodine, cesium, tellurium, barium, lanthanum and molybdenum from the seawater around the discharge canal of the station. (We are reevaluating) * On March 20th, 21st, 23rd to April 8th, we detected iodine, cesium, tellurium and ruthenium in the air collected at the site of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. (We are reevaluating)

They have finished pumping low level radioactive water into the ocean, and are checking that the ContaminationTanks, from which they pumped the water, are in acceptable shape so that they can start pumping the water that is stored in the condensers in the turbine building into these tanks.

Also, from 9:00 pm, April 4th, we are discharging the low level radioactive wastewater stored in the sub drain pits of Unit 5 and 6 by using one pump via the water discharge canal of Units 5 and 6. After that, at 6:52 pm, April 9th we finished discharging water. The amount of water was approximately 1,320 tons.

*On April 7th, we knocked holes in the external walls of turbine buildings at Units 2 to 4 for the preparation of draining the puddles to the centralized waste treatment facility. We are checking the health in the building of centralized waste treatment facility.
Draining water from underground floor of turbine buildings -From 1:55 pm on April 3rd to 9:30 am on April 10th, at Unit 1, transferring water from a condenser to condensate storage tank was conducted.

*

-From 7:03 pm, April 4, we started to discharge to the sea approximately ten thousand tons of the accumulated low level radioactive water in the Central Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility. From 9:00 pm on April 4 to 6:52 pm on April 9, we conducted discharging a total of 1,500 tons of the low level radioactive subsurface water stored in the sub drain pits of Unit 5 and 6. The amount of discharged water was approximately 1,320 tons

.

-From 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm, April 5th, in order to prevent diffusion of radioactive contaminated water out from the site port facility to breakwater area which is south to the power station, we began repair of breakwater by founding the large sandbag around it to replace damaged steel water bar. We will continue the operation to prevent diffusion. -

 

[dorispulaski]

NHK Reports:

●Kano on farm compensation
Agriculture minister Michihiko Kano says the government will fully compensate farmers who have not been able to plant crops due to radioactive contamination of their rice paddies.

Kano visited Fukushima Prefecture on Saturday to witness first-hand the situation faced by local farmers in the wake of the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. A rice farmer in Fukushima City said he has worked hard for decades to grow good rice, but that his farmland became contaminated very quickly. He said he can no longer sell his rice with confidence, and demanded that the government buy up the crop.

Kano responded that he will consider the farmers' feelings when studying what measures to take, and that he will make sure that they are fully compensated for
the damage. He then visited Iitate Village, where the rice fields have been found to be highly contaminated. Iitate Mayor Norio Kanno said it will be difficult to sell rice grown in contaminated soil, and asked Kano to take measures to revive the village's
agriculture industry.

The minister responded that he will make every effort to allow farmers to pass down their skills to the next generation. He said he will consult with the prefectural government and the village to make sure that the farmers are fully compensated for the damage they suffered. Fukushima Prefecture is conducting a reexamination of its soil after high levels of radioactive cesium were detected in 7 locations, including Iitate Village. The government will consult with the prefecture to decide whether to limit the planting of crops based on the findings.
Saturday, April 09, 2011 22:10 +0900 (JST)


●China expands food bans
China says it will expand its ban on agricultural imports from Japan due to public concerns about radioactive contamination in food following problems at the nuclear facility in northeastern Japan.

The Chinese government announced on Saturday that it was adding 6 prefectures to the current 5 to make a total of 11, including Tokyo, from which it will not accept food imports. It said the additional measure was taken because radioactive substances from the nuclear plant are contaminating agricultural products. It said it will require Japanese exporters to submit official documents on place of origin or certification that foods from outside prohibited areas have been tested for radioactivity.

The Chinese people became sensitive about radiation in food after authorities there detected an extremely low level of radioactive iodine in spinach grown in Beijing and Tianjin last Tuesday. They are also worried about the fact that the Japanese nuclear plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, had discharged low-level radioactive water into the ocean.

 

[dorispulaski]

At this point, TEPCO is really moving into the serious business of site remediation. It's difficult, expensive, and important to contain the radioactive junk properly. There are two really great pieces of news hidden in here:

1. They were able to get this unmanned equipment into the plant successfully, so no one will be increasing their yearly dose too much removing the highly radioactive junk.

2. They are putting the junk in containers, not just burying it. Burying it is easy, but it always causes problems later.

TEPCO uses unmanned equipment to remove rubble
Tokyo Electric Power Company has bugun using unmanned heavy equipment to remove radioactive rubble at the tsunami-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Hydrogen explosions blew off the ceilings and walls of the Number One and Number Three reactor buildings. The debris is emitting hundreds of millisieverts of radiation per hour in some places, hindering the restoration work.

The utility started using remote-controlled power shovels and bulldozers to remove the rubble on Sunday afternoon.

Operators are using cameras attached to the equipment as well as 6 fixed cameras at the site to carry out the work from hundreds of meters away.

A lead-covered mobile operating room will be used to remove debris from places that cannot be reached by radio waves.

TEPCO says the rubble will be put into containers and stored at the plant under strict supervision, as it may be contaminated with high levels of radiation.
Sunday, April 10, 2011 18:40 +0900 (JST)

Top Stories World Politics & Business Society & Others

There is a picture of the radio controlled machines:
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/update/images/10_21_v_s.jpg

I'm not at all sure how the lead covered operating room is going to work, and I hope there will be pictures.

 

[Olympia]

Well, if a lead cover works to protect Superman from kryptonite!

Excellent to hear both pieces of news. The unmanned machine idea is tailor-made for something like a nuclear plant.

 

[dorispulaski]

NHK again.
Measuring everything, pretty much everywhere, is very important to reassuring people, in those areas where dose is low, and in targetting areas for remediation, where dose is high. In my view, this is all good, except for one thing:

They are not going into the 20 km area around the plant. Given that Daini is only 10 km from Daiichi, and the counts in the air there are not excessive, I think that they should be starting to measure and characterize the areas to the south of Daiichi to determine whether people can return to their homes in that area. Daini consistenly has about one half the counts in the air of Iitate Village, and yet the Iitate Villagers are in their homes, and the people whose homes are to the south of Daini are not.

This makes no sense.
:

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/10_20.html

Fukushima prefecture to measure radiation levels

Fukushima Prefecture has decided to measure radiation levels at 2,700 locations and disclose the data amid growing concern about radioactive contamination.

Many residents have demanded information on the radiation levels in their communities following the radiation leaks from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Fukushima Prefecture and the government's disaster task force will measure radiation levels at 2,700 locations in 55 municipalities, except for those within a 20-kilometer radius of the power plant.

The levels of radioactive iodine and cesium in soil will be analyzed in some areas.

Seventy prefectural employees will carry out the work between Tuesday and Friday, and will disclose the results to residents.

Sunday, April 10, 2011 18:35 +0900 (JST)

 

[dorispulaski]

And in another NHK story, we learn that really toxic stuff, that lasts forever, has contaminated wells and streams. The company that caused this says it will get around to fixing it some time. And no, it didn't come from Daiichi:

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/10_18.html

Arsenic found in well water in quake-hit Kesennuma

Officials in disaster-hit Kesennuma City, Miyagi Prefecture, say that well water and streams near a defunct mine are contaminated with toxic arsenic.

They say that slag and mud containing arsenic and other toxic substances flowed out of Oya mine after the massive quake on March 11th. They believe these toxic substances have contaminated streams and soil in residential areas.

When the officials examined 6 water samples from the area, they found that 3 contained levels of arsenic which exceeded the permitted limits for drinking water.

The highest figure was 0.24 milligrams of arsenic per liter, or 24 times the legal limit.

Local health authorities are warning residents not to drink well water or from mountain streams, although water with this level of contamination can be used for washing and cleaning.

JX Nippon Mining & Metals says it will remove the contaminated slag as quickly as possible.

Sunday, April 10, 2011 18:35 +0900 (JST)

However, no one is protesting JX Nippon Mining and Metals.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/10_19.html
On the other hand, 2,000 people went to an anti-nuclear protest in Tokyo. Considering the size of Tokyo, that does not seem like a very large number, all things considered, to me, but I don't know what the typical size of a demonstration would be in Tokyo.

 

[mot]

^^^ this sounds really worrying. By concentrating too much on radiation fear and nuclear power plants, we might overlook other health risks caused by the effect of the earthquake.

I have also been wondering what is the extent of danger from asbestos released from the collapsed buildings. In most of old buildings, asbestos were used on just about everything, from external claddings, ceiling tiles to ragging of pipes. I hope people who are working on debris removal and search operations are properly protected against asbestos...