Japanese Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Reactors

[dorispulaski]

The IAEA has its daily report up:

IAEA Briefing on Fukushima Nuclear Accident (10 April 2011, 15:00 UTC) Presentation

Summary of Reactor StatusOn Sunday, 10 April 2011, the IAEA provided the following information on the current status of nuclear safety in Japan:
1. Current Situation
Earthquake of 7th April

External power has been restored at all sites affected by the 7th April earthquake. The 3 litres of water that were spilled at Onagawa NPP have been cleaned up.

Changes to Fukushima Daiichi Plant Status

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

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. In Unit 2 water transfer from the condenser to the condensate storage tank was completed on 9th April.

Nitrogen gas is being 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 7 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 235°C and at the bottom of the RPV is 120°C. In Unit 2 the temperature at the feed water nozzle of the RPV is 145°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 97°C and at the bottom of the RPV is 109°C.
The concrete pump vehicle sprayed fresh water (90 T) to the spent fuel pool in Unit 4 on 9th 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 9th April, deposition of both iodine-131 and cesium-137 was detected in 5 and 6 prefectures respectively. The values reported for iodine-131 ranged from 7.8 to 650 becquerel per square metre and for cesium-137 from 3.3 to 370 becquerel per square metre. The highest deposition was reported for both, iodine-131 and cesium-137, in the prefecture of Ibaraki.
Gamma dose rates are measured daily in all 47 prefectures, the values tend to decrease. Dose rates are also reported daily for the Eastern part of the Fukushima prefecture, these values are decreasing as well. As of 9th April, the gamma dose rates, reported for distances of more than 30 km to Fukushima-Daiichi, ranged from 0.2 to 26 μSv/h.

This looks quite good, especially for Fukushima City. But I wonder where in East Fukushima the gamma dose rate is 26 uSv/h and why it is so elevated there.

In an additional monitoring programme, set up by MEXT in cooperation with local universities, measurements are made in 27 cities in 14 prefectures. As of 9th April, in 19 cities, the gamma dose rates were below 0.1 μSv/h. In 7 cities, gamma dose rates range from 0.13 to 0.21 μSv/h. In Fukushima City, a value of 0.46 μSv/h was observed. Typical normal background levels are in the range of 0.05 to 0.10 μSv/hr.

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

On 9th April, the IAEA Team made measurements at 8 different locations in the Fukushima area at distances of 32 to 62 km, North and North West from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. At these locations, the dose rates ranged from 0.4 to 3.7 microsievert per hour. At the same locations, results of beta-gamma contamination measurements ranged from 0.03 to 0.19 Megabecquerel per square metre.

3. Marine Monitoring
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 Map 1

Here's the map:
http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/images/seawater-sampling-1-100411.jpg

Dumping of contaminated water into the sea stopped today, so I would hope to see that hereon, that contamination in the sea would decrease.

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 10th April new data (7th April sampling day) for all TEPCO sampling points have been reported. At the near-shore sampling points TEPCO 1, TEPCO 3 and TEPCO 4 a further decrease with respect to the results for the sampling day 5th April, in the concentration of I-131 and Cs-137 have been reported. At the sampling point TEPCO 2 a further increase in the concentration of I-131 (from about 40 kBq/l on 6 April to about 150 kBq/l) and Cs-137 (from about 25 kBq/l on 6th April to about 65 kBq/l) was observed.

For the six sampling points TEPCO 5 to TEPCO 10th on April 7th the following has been reported: as TEPCO 5, TEPCO6 and TEPCO10 a further decrease of the levels of I-131 below 0.2 kBq/l and of Cs-137 below 0.1 kBq/l were measured.

At TEPCO7 an increase of the level of I-131 has been recorded. At TEPCO8 and TEPCO9 an increase in the levels of both I-131 and Cs-137 has been measured. The reading at TEPCO 9 is from about 0.07 kBq/l (6th April) to about 0.37 kBq/l for I-131 and from about 0.05 kBq/l to about 0.21 kBq/l for Cs-137.

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 added to the off-shore sampling scheme. On 4th April, MEXT added two 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

Here's a link to the map:

http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/images/seawater-sampling-2-100411.jpg

4. IAEA Activities

The team of three agency experts in BWR technology will conclude their mission on Monday with meetings with NISA, MOFA(Ministry of Foreign Affairs), MEXT, Atomic Energy Commission (AEC), and Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC).
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: USA, Czech Republic and Latvia.

 

[Blue Bead]

Into what sort of containers are they putting this radioactive debris, and considering the magnitude of debris, where are they going to store all these containers? The space required, alone, could amount to a small city, lol.

 

[dorispulaski]

MIT's group posted this, a discussion on what to make of the amount that various radioactive emissions exceed Regulatory Limits. Like much about the health effects of radiation, it's not completely definitive, but there are several interesting points to me:

1. Public health limits are much lower than what will actually hurt a member of the public, for safety's sake.

2. MIT believes that hormesis for lower level radiation is a proven fact. When I read about this in Wormwood Forest, I was a bit dubious, but it makes a kind of sense. The claim is that low dose radiation stimulates your cancer resistance, thus making you overall, healthier. It cites the health of people who live in high radiation parts of the earth, and animal studies.

So perhaps some people will do better for having some low level radiation? I hope so.

Regulatory Limits on Radiation Dose

Posted on April 7, 2011 10:28 pm UTC by mitnse

Safety Limits: What are they? How are they determined?

Much of the discussion concerning radiation levels and radioactive material releases has been presented in the context of safety limits set by a regulator. Examples of such limits include the I-131 limit for drinking water (210 Bq/L) or an annual occupational radiation dose limit (0.05 Sv). What is often left out of these discussions is how these limits were determined and what exceeding a limit implies. This post is intended to provide a general description of the implications of safety limits.

What is a Safety Limit and how are Safety Limits determined?

Safety limits are designed to protect the public from a potential harm and are often set well below the point of potential danger to prevent that point of danger from being accidentally reached. Safety Limits are determined in two steps. First, by identifying the amount of exposure to any given agent, above which causes a health effect to be observed. This amount is determined for the most vulnerable members of the population, and considers the effects of both short and long-term exposure. That resulting number is then divided by a safety factor to ensure that the public is never exposed to dangerous levels. The reason for the safety factor is so the regulator will have time to fix the problem before the levels reach a point that can cause harm to the public, if for whatever reason, the safety limit is exceeded. The more uncertain the dividing line between safety and harm is, the larger the safety factor used to protect the public.

Key Principles of Radiation Protection at Low Radiation Exposure

The probabilistic nature of low-dose radiation health effects makes it impossible to derive a clear distinction between ‘safe’ and ‘dangerous’ level of radiation. This also creates difficulties in explaining the control of radiation risks. The major policy implication is that some finite risk, however small, must be assumed and a level of protection established based on what is deemed acceptable. This leads to a system of protection based on three key principles recognized by the International Commission of Radiation Protection (ICRP) and endorsed by the US National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurement (NCRP) and all other national agencies:
- Principle of Justification, based on the analysis of benefit versus risk of exposure;
- Principle of Optimization of Exposure, based on the ALARA (As Low As Reasonably Achievable) principle;

- Principle of limitation of exposure to any person;

The ICRP, in its latest Recommendations on Radiological Protection, stated that for radiation doses below around 100 mSv in a year, the increase in the incidence of stochastic effects is assumed to occur with a small probability and in proportion to the increase in radiation dose over the background dose. The use of this so-called linear-non-threshold (LNT) model is considered by the ICRP and by NCRP the best practical approach to managing risk from radiation exposure and commensurate with precautionary principle, being a prudent basis for radiological protection at low doses and low dose rates. However, uncertainties on the over-conservatism on this judgment are recognized by the ICRP and the NCRP, which have stated the need for further evaluation based on new research results.

Despite the fact that the actual onset of latent cancer and other long term effects in relationship to radioactivity exposure is unknown, we do know that those effects are not statistically significant at very low doses. In simpler terms, the number of cancers caused by exposure to low doses of radiation is so small that we can’t sort it out from the noise – the natural rate of cancer incidence.

In 1980, the US National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurement (NCRP) published a report examining and quantifying the dose rate effect. In examining all laboratory data regarding tumor induction published at that time, they found that lowering the dose rate from acute (eg 180 mSv/hr) to about 4.8 milliSieverts/hr reduced the rate of tumor generation by an average factor of 4. They called this the ‘dose rate effectiveness factor’, DREF. When the irradiations were much longer term irradiations, comprising “a significant or sizeable fraction of the life span” an even larger reduction in effect was observed, an average of a factor of 10; this was called the ‘protraction factor’ (PF). With few exceptions, the dose rates used in all of the laboratory studies cited in NCRP 64 used ‘low dose rates’ at least a factor of 4000 times higher than normal background dose rates. It is the results of these experiments and others like them, plus corresponding safety factors, which are used to establish regulatory limits on dose and dose rate to the general public.

However, what is of interest today in Japan are dose-rates more like 10, 30, or 100 times background. What about these dose rates? The problem noted by the NCRP was that deleterious effects of these very low dose rates could not be observed. In fact, low doses and low dose rates led to increased longevity rather than the decreased lifespan seen at higher doses and dose rates. In addressing the apparent life lengthening at low dose rates, the NCRP interpreted this effect as reflecting “a favorable response to low grade injury leading to some degree of systemic stimulation.” They go on to state that “…there appears to be little doubt that mean life span in some animal populations exposed to low level radiation throughout their lifetimes is longer than that of the un-irradiated control population.” In the future, the accurate examination of residents of high background radiation areas around the world might generate the needed information on this phenomenon, which is termed “radiation hormesis”. Based on the presently available data, residents of high background radiation areas (sizeable population is exposed up to 20 mSv per year from natural background) do not appear to suffer adverse effects from these doses.

Areas characterized with background radiation significantly higher than average can be found in Iran, Brazil, India, Australia and China. In the U.S., the population of Denver receives more than 10 mSv per year from natural background.

 

[dorispulaski]

NEI has its daily update:

UPDATE AS OF 11:30 A.M. EDT, SUNDAY, APRIL 10:
Management of water continues to be a top priority at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

TEPCO has begun to install steel sheets and a silt barrier at the intake structure for reactor 2 to prevent further spreading of radioactive water that is leaking from the power plant, Kyodo news service has reported. Plans are under way to install similar barriers at other locations near the plant in an effort to contain contaminated water within the plant’s bay. Last week, TEPCO used a sealant to block a leak from a concrete enclosure near reactor 2.

Meanwhile, 60,000 tons of contaminated water must be removed from the reactor 1, 2, and 3 turbine buildings and nearby underground enclosures, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported. The water will be pumped into the condensers of each reactor and into a radioactive water storage tank. TEPCO made room in the tank by discharging low-level radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean. TEPCO also has ordered temporary storage tanks for the site.

Injection of cooling water into reactors 1, 2 and 3 continues. Workers are spraying water into the spent fuel pools for reactors 1-4 as needed. 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.

The utility is now using remote-controlled bulldozers and power shovels to remove radioactive rubble from around the plant. Operators are using cameras on the equipment and elsewhere on the site to control the equipment from hundreds of yards away. The rubble will be stored at the plant site.

The Japan education ministry is expected this week to release radiation exposure safety guidelines for school children in areas outside the evacuation zone surrounding the power plant, the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum reported. The guidelines will require schools to suspend classes, stop outdoor lessons, or ensure students wear face masks if radiation surpasses certain levels.

 

[dorispulaski]

mot posted a link to a website that listed contributions from so many countries, all pouring in to Japan, even from very, very poor countries.

http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/sh...-Championships&p=559624&viewfull=1#post559624

And what's amazing, I know that there are more things, just on the nuclear front:

USA:
2 US Navy barges
2 huge concrete pumps
2 remote controlled helicopters

France
trips by Sarkozy
Areva nuclear team came to Japan with advice
2 remote controlled helicopters

Germany
2 more huge concrete pumps

not to mention all the people from the IAEA, working on monitoring, teaching farmers how to cope with radioactive materials on food & fields, and experts on BWR reactors

and I am sure I am missing many more contributions and help. I wish it did not take a disaster to bring this spirit of cooperation out in the world.

Radiation measurements

Wind is in the west soutwest
Gamma radiation
Daini 9:00 PM April 10 Measure point 4:: 2.8 microSievert per hour
Daiichi 9:00 PM April 10 West Gate:: 45.9 microSieverts per hour

Radiation Dose
Daiichi Main Building 9:00 PM April 10, 0.610 milliSieverts per hour (same as 610 microSieverts per hour)
Daiichi Main Gate 9:00 PM April 10, 85 microSieverts per hour
Daiichi West Gate, 9:00 PM April10, 36 microSieverts per hour
Eight Measure points on the periphery (13, 40, 39, 38, 74, 116, 241, 202) microSieverts per hour

TEPCO Status update 5:30 PM April 10,

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. The transfer was completed at 9:30 am on April 10th.

Casualties
-At approximately 11:10 am on April 10th, an employee of other company who was in charge of laying out work of drainage hose in Unit 2 yard felt sick and was hospitalized afterwards. At around 11:00 am on April 10th, at the yard of Unit 2, a worker who wore an anorak and a full face mask said that he felt sick while he was laying a discharging hose. A medical personnel rode on the same vehicle from Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Station and sent him to J-Village with conducting a course of injections. And after that, at 2:27 pm, he was sent to Sougou Iwaki Kyoritsu Hospital by an ambulance. No radioactive material attached to his body-

From April 2nd, we began to transfer the radioactive water we collected from the Central Environmental Facility to the Unit 4 turbine building. On April 4th, water level of the pit in the trench of Unit 3 increased by 15cm from previous day. Pathway of water flow is unknown. We can not deny the possibility that water in the turbine building of Unit 4 flows into the trench of Unit 3. So, we stopped transferring water to the Unit 4 turbine building to make assurance. Present water level of the pit in the trench of Unit 3 is not changed from the time we stopped transferring, and is being stable.
...

-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 3:59 pm to 4:28 pm on April 10th, an unmanned helicopter was sent over Unit 1 to 4 to grasp the situation of reactor building.

Spent Fuel Pools
-At 10:37 am on April 10th, water injection into a spent fuel pool of Unit 2 by a temporary motor driven pump was initiated. At 0:38 pm on April 10th, the water injection was finished.

Spraying Dust Inhibitor
On April 8th, we conducted trial spraying of the inhibitor at the mountain side area of the common spent fuel pool in the range of 680m2. On April 10th, we sprayed it inthe range of approximately 550 m2.

Since they stopped pumping contaminated water into the ocean, the level in the sea near by to Daiichi is dropping again:

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110410e5.pdf
and
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110410e4.pdf

the raw data
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110410e3.pdf

Scaling factor has dropped from tens and hundreds of thousands to a high of 330x down to 6.8x.

Radioactive materials in the air continue to drop at Daini
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110410e8.pdf

And at Daiichi, they are back down below what they were on the second earthquake on April 7th
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110410e7.pdf

Raw data.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110410e6.pdf

 

[dorispulaski]

http://dgr4quake.wordpress.com/ibaraki-radioactivity/

This blog has a very nice representative of radioactivity measured in sites between Ibaraki & Tokyo, and good explanations of the data.

He says:

You can appreciate how:
•Tokyo only went pass European usual background radioactivity for 3 or 4 hours during the hydrogen explosions at #FNPP1
•The first rain brought down to earth quite a bit of what was released to the air during those explosions, but otherwise radioactivity decreases smoothly day after day
•Most graphs halve in about 8 days, indicating that most of the radioactive isotopes that escaped during those explosions were short-lived Iodine 131 (~8 days half life)

It's important to note that having mostly Iodine 131 means those places will not have much radioactivity long term due to the accident, provided nothing else happens.

And he observes:

Notes:
•Periodic absorbed dose rate increases in northern locations (KitaIbaraki, Takahagi) are due to early morning wind direction changes after sunrise (blowing towards the sea at night, back to the shore after sunrise)

Here is his interpretation of the data that's been given on Unit1:
http://dgr4quake.wordpress.com/fukushima-npp1-parameters/

This blog also comments on the data:
http://neinuclearnotes.blogspot.com/

For instance, the chart below shows the continued increase in pressure in unit 1’s reactor pressure vessel over the past two and a half weeks. The other two RPVs have been flat and stable. The RPV pressure indicator shows an accumulation of gas in the core (likely including hydrogen). Nitrogen is currently being injected in the core so it can reduce the chance of fires or explosions from the hydrogen. According to his notes, the RPV normal operating pressure is 7MPa and maximum design pressure is 8.7 MPa. Right now unit 1 RPV pressure is almost 0.9MPa so the reactor can withstand the pressure increase for awhile

However, they can't let the pressure increase forever. They either have to add more water (now that they have the cellar pumped more dry, perhaps they can do that). Or they have to vent briefly, hoping that there is enough nitrogen mixed with the hydrogen that there will be no explosion. Or they have to slow the rate they are injecting nitrogen.

They have gone to highest purity nitrogen, as far as I remember.

For another thing, no one knows how accurate the instrumentation is either, at this point.

And to the good, the temperature is beginning to drop back a little bit again.

The other 5 reactors have been stable for about 2 weeks now, so "only" Unit 1 is giving me any concern at this point.

 

[mot]

Doris, thanks for the link to the blog by a Spanish researcher at JAEA. Internet is just an amazing thing - I am increasingly delighted and mind-boggled. So many information released from so many sources... It's a mine field yet full of treasures. I am sure so many non-Japanese speakers in Japan rely on information like he's providing, especially if they know media soundbites can be a thing of danger. Well, just like I come to this thread daily for updates.

We have to thank endlessly to the help and contribution by US forces too. They have been utterly amazing. There have been some sad and regrettable incidents and conflicts between US forces (especially about their bases in Okinawa) and some Japanese people, but hopefully we can learn how to treat individual incidents as just an individual incident and stop generalising and stereotyping a large group of people based on them. Something good can always emerge from the worst tragedies, it is up to us whether it can be harvested and nurtured.

 

[dorispulaski]

mot, I am hoping that the world will really continue coming together around this--it is the advantage of a having a situation that many countries feel they have an investment in, and that by its nature will last a number of years during the clean up.

I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed for no more hydrogen explosions, and for good fortune finding all the leaks, when the radiation has died down enough that people can safely look for them.

I was hoping that NHK would show the radio controlled backhoes and trucks with grabbers on them in action. I'm such a nerd for heavy equipment.

 

[Olympia]

mot posted a link to a website that listed contributions from so many countries, all pouring in to Japan, even from very, very poor countries.

http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/sh...-Championships&p=559624&viewfull=1#post559624

And what's amazing, I know that there are more things, just on the nuclear front:

USA:
2 US Navy barges
2 huge concrete pumps
2 remote controlled helicopters

France
trips by Sarkozy
Areva nuclear team came to Japan with advice
2 remote controlled helicopters

Germany
2 more huge concrete pumps

not to mention all the people from the IAEA, working on monitoring, teaching farmers how to cope with radioactive materials on food & fields, and experts on BWR reactors

and I am sure I am missing many more contributions and help. I wish it did not take a disaster to bring this spirit of cooperation out in the world.

That list of Mot's was awesome. Contributions and/or assistance came from Rwanda, Algeria, and Sudan among other countries. It's mindboggling. People are capable of so much greatness; I just wish we could think at that level all the time. Well, I give thanks for any glimpses of such behavior that occur.

That's an interesting question about the asbestos. If you all recall, some of the worries at the World Trade Center site involved ordinary-seeming objects that become lethal when damaged, such as fluorescent lightbulbs. 110 floors worth of them can mean dreadful risks for people working in the ruins. I don't know what was released besides nuclear elements at the Japanese plant, but these events are never tidy.

 

[dorispulaski]

That is quite true, that big accidents are never tidy. Health problems among the aid workers in NYC are still a huge problem

And MSNBC said in 2006, nearly 70% of the first responders to the World Trade Center disaster had had lung problems.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14681710/ns/health-health_care/

NEW YORK — Nearly 70 percent of recovery workers who responded to the attacks on the World Trade Center have suffered lung problems, and high rates of lung “abnormalities” continue, a new health study released Tuesday shows.

Doctors at Mount Sinai Medical Center, which conducted the study, said the results prove that working in the toxic gray dust at ground zero made many people sick, and some will likely suffer the effects for the rest of their lives.

“There should no longer be any doubt about the health effects of the World Trade Center. Our patients are sick,” said Dr. Robin Herbert, co-director of the group that investigated the long-term effects from exposure to dust at the site.

The study, the largest involving health issues linked to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and is to be published Thursday in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, just days before the fifth anniversary of the towers’ collapse

And yet at the time, the EPA said the World Trade Center site was all safe. They did not evacuate anyone.

While untidy, the response to taking care of the public at Daiichi has been better managed, even if some might say it is not perfect.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/11_07.html

151,150 people are still in shelters, but some are there because their houses were destroyed, not because of the reactors. About 450,000 were in shelters at one point.

Japan's land ministry says municipalities in Miyagi, Iwate, Fukushima, and other prefectures have requested that a total of 62,000 houses be built. The ministry says construction is underway on 7,800 houses, which is only 13 percent of the number requested. One major obstacle is a shortage of land, especially in submerged areas.

Many evacuees are scattered in cities outside of quake-hit Miyagi, Iwate, and Fukushima prefectures

I believe that Habitat for Humanity will be involved in both the clean up and housebuilding.

http://www.habitat.org/intl/country..._Volunteers_For_Earthquake_Response.aspx#1_16

They are looking for volunteers.

It may be several weeks still before we know how and when people can help, but we are taking names now so we are ready to go when the time is right,” Kentaro Yamazaki, Habitat for Humanity Japan’s manager of national office, said

NYC's Empire State Building is lit with the white and red of Japan's flag in solidarity with the Japanese people at this time:

http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/04/05/iconic-buildings-shine-japans-colors-to-encourage-relief-effort/

In a show of solidarity with the stricken island nation, landmarks across the world glowed the red and white of Japan's national flag beginning Monday evening.
The expression of international support was led by New York City's Empire State Building, whose upper decks lit up with Japan's chosen colors at sunset. “We are proud that buildings around the globe have agreed to join our efforts to raise awareness for earthquake and tsunami relief in Japan,” Anthony E. Malkin of the Empire State Building Company said in a statement.

 

[Olympia]

One group I felt especially terrible for from the WTC cleanup was American Indian construction workers. For those of you from other countries, Native Americans from the Mohawk and related groups have long been famous as high-altitude ironworkers on skyscrapers. They have helped to put up many of the skyscrapers and bridges in the Northeast and elsewhere, and they have even traveled abroad for this purpose. Many of the workers helping in the ruins had had fathers, grandfathers, and uncles who helped build the towers. So groups from upstate New York felt duty-bound to help with the cleanup. I heard a talk given by some of them, and one guy said that he found a girder that had a relative's mark on it. Has anyone done a special study of the Native American group's health situation? I imagine they must have even less access to medical care than retired police officers and firefighters.

 

[dorispulaski]

Blue Bead, I don't have any details about the containers yet-I imagine they will use stuff similar to whatever is used at the Idaho National Lab, where the US military has the results of the cleanup of Three Mile Island, SL-1 reactor, parts of Hanford, and the innards of a number of nuclear submarines corralled. When things get radioactively colder, they are shipped to the WIPP, (Waste Isolation Pilot Plant) which is in a salt formation in New Mexico. WIPP has been in use for some time now; I think about 12 years, perhaps.

Oddly enough, the US doesn't need Yucca Mt--it just needs to expand the WIPP. It's an interesting story, and is in the book "Power to Save the World" by Gwyneth Cravens.

I imagine that the containers will stay right where they are put in some region of the Daiichi site. TEPCO was scheduling to build 2 more reactors at Daiichi. That build has been cancelled. There is plenty of room to store the containers, whatever they are.

Olympia, The St. Regis Mohawks have a huge bingo hall and a casino, and what sounds like a fairly organized health operation whose budget is $15,000,000 a year. They also run their own pharmacy. The Senecas also have a recently opened casino, and a serious health care plan. I hope that the high steel workers are getting adequate care.
http://www.sni.org/node/4

Meanwhile, JAIF has an update, and there are some NHK stories that are new> TEPCO is moving the contaminated water to the Contamination Storage Tank from Unit 1 & Unit 2:

April 9th:

03:29 Nitrogen injection valve was closed in order to switch to the high purity nitrogen gas generator. (04:10 The valve was reopened.)
13:10 Transfer of water from the main condenser to the CST was completed at Unit 2.
April 10th:
09:30 Transfer of water from the main condenser to the CST was completed at Unit 1.

JAIF has up their plot of radiation readings in the areas about Daiichi. All trends are down. Data runs up throught April 8th.
http://www.jaif.or.jp/english/news_images/pdf/ENGNEWS01_1302486267P.pdf

Meanwhile, from NHK:

G20 to discuss Japan's nuclear disaster issues
Finance ministers and central bank chiefs of the Group of 20 nations will likely discuss Japan's efforts to overcome the March 11 disaster and to deal with the nuclear emergency at their next meeting.

The meeting will be held on Thursday and Friday in Washington. Japanese Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda and Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa will be attending.

With a number of Japanese factories still closed, G20 nations are becoming increasingly concerned that shortages of machinery parts made in Japan may have an impact overseas. Concerns are also mounting over the prolonged troubles at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Observers say participants will likely discuss how Japan could deal with the aftermath of the disaster. The Japanese side is expected to explain various measures, including supplementary budgets. Japan will pledge all-out efforts to get its economy back on a recovery track, despite forecasts saying it may slow down temporarily.

Some nations are expected to express concerns over a possible delay in Japan's fiscal restructuring. Japan will likely highlight the importance of reconstructing itself, while keeping its fiscal condition in order.

Finance ministers and central bank governors of the Group of 7 industrialized nations will have a separate meeting before the G20 meeting. Attention is focused on whether Japan can show the international community a persuasive roadmap to its reconstruction and to end their worries.
Monday, April 11, 2011 06:48 +0900 (JST)

Kan vows to help rebuild fishery industry
Prime Minister Naoto Kan has vowed to provide full support to disaster-hit coastal areas in northeastern Japan to help reconstruct the local fishing industry.

Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Kan made the pledge during his visit to Ishinomaki City in Miyagi Prefecture.

The prime minister said he realizes how badly the fishing industry has been hit by the March 11th earthquake and tsunami and how much effort and resources are needed to rebuild it.

He stressed that the government should do all it can to restore the industry, which has provided people with their livelihood for centuries.

In response to requests from the prefectural governor and city mayor, Kan also pledged the government would build 70,000 temporary houses as quickly as possible for those who have lost their homes.

During a visit to a shelter for disaster survivors, Kan was seen asking them what is needed most.

At a Self-Defense Force base in Sendai City, Kan told personnel of SDF and the US military that US troops have been very supportive of both relief efforts in disaster-affected areas and responses to problems unfolding at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Kan said he will never forget Operation Tomodachi, which he believes has strengthened bilateral ties.
Sunday, April 10, 2011 17:00 +0900 (JST)

The US Military has been very active in helping as much as it can since the beginning of the disaster. The operations even have a wikipedia page already. It's very touching that Kan particularly mentioned that he will never forget it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Tomodachi
Operation Tomodachi (トモダチ作戦, tomodachi sakusen?, lit. Operation Friend(s)) is a United States Armed Forces assistance operation to support Japan in disaster relief following the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. As of 29 March 2011, the operation, including relief supplies provided to victims of the disaster, was expected to cost a total of $80 million.[1]

 

[dorispulaski]

There was a 7.0 quake in Japan last night (April 11, 5:16 PM local Japanese time)

NHK says:

M 7.0 quake hits northeastern Japan
A strong earthquake struck north-eastern Japan at 5:16 PM, local time, on Monday. The Meteorological Agency at one time issued tsunami warnings for the coastal areas of Ibaraki Prefecture.

The agency said the earthquake's magnitude was 7.0, and that its focus was in Fukushima Prefecture at a depth of 10 kilometers.

Intensities of 6 minus on the Japanese scale of 0 to 7 were registered in some areas of Fukushima and Ibaraki prefectures, including Furudono Town, Nakajima Village and Hokota City. An intensity of 5 plus was registered in many areas in the southern Tohoku and northern Kanto regions.

The Meteorological Agency lifted the tsunami warnings about fifty minutes later. A tsunami advisory for the coastal areas of neighboring prefectures was also lifted.

Several minor quakes occurred following the major quake at 5:16. The agency is also warning of possible aftershocks with intensities of 6 plus or 6 minus.

The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Tokyo Electric Power Company, says radiation figures at monitoring posts around the plant remain unchanged. The utility firm also says outdoor workers had been ordered to temporarily evacuate.
Monday, April 11, 2011 18:46 +0900 (JST)

If there is a tsunami warning (as there was with the quake a couple days ago, the workers are sent to higher ground, not evacuated off site.)

and

Water injection resumed at Fukushima Daiichi plant
The operator of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says water injection into the crippled reactors was briefly suspended after outside power lines were shut down by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake on Monday evening.

Tokyo Electric Power Company said that outside power was restored for reactors No.1, 2 and 3. Water injection was resumed for these reactors after a suspension of about 50 minutes.

This was reported April 11th at 6:34 PM.

Monday, April 11, 2011 18:34 +0900 (JST)


TEPCO"s 9 AM April 11 STATUS (This is of course, before the quake)

Gamma Radiation
Daini April 11, 3:00 PM 2.8 microSieverts per hour
Daiichi April 11, 3:00 PM West Gate 33.5 microSieverts per hour

Radiation Dose
Daiichi Main Buliding 0.59 milliSieverts per hour
Daiichi Main Gate 80 microSieverts per hour
Daiichi West Gate 35 microSieverts per hour
Daiichi 8 peripheral measuring points (12, 39, 38, 37, 70, 112, 235, 198) microSieverts per hour

It's the one month anniversary of the earthquake. The president of TEPCO issued a letter apologizing to TEPCO's customers and the Japanese people for the incident at Daiichi, and acknowledging the help TEPCO had received, from both the Japanese government and foreign companies and governments. He mentioned the US and France particularly. He also said that rolling blackouts will not be implemented this summer.

TEPCO lists the two bolded items as new. I take the first one to mean that they have checked out the Central Radioactive Waste Disposal facility, to determine that it is completely empty, probably while checking out that it is in good shape.

From 7:03 pm, April 4th, we are discharging the low level radioactive wastewater stored in the Central Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility to the south of the water discharge canal. We're confirming whether there is stored waste water or not. 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 1,323 tons.

*From 3:59 pm and 4:28 pm on April 10th , we conducted video recording of Unit 1 to 4 reactor buildings from the air by using an unmanned helicopter to check the current status of the buildings.

JAIF Status 2 PM April 11 is also before the earthquake.

Onegawa
All 5 external power lines have become available by Apr. 10th.

They also had done some graphing and mapping to try to make some sense of the seawater sampling program.

http://www.jaif.or.jp/english/news_images/pdf/ENGNEWS01_1302497619P.pdf

Data for the 10 TEPCO seawater sampling points, which are closer to shore than the MEXT sampling points, were reported by JAIF. Points T1-T4 were sampled on April 7th. Points T5-T10 were sampled on April 9th. Measureable concentrations of I 131 were found in all samples

The MEXT sampling points are located 30 km off shore, except for MA and MB, north of Daiichi, and M9 and M10, which closes the area measured to the south of Daiichi. None of the points actually 30 km out showed any concentration of radioactive materials when sampled at depths. M9 and M10, which are closer to shore, showed 10 Becquerels per liter on April 9th, and 12 Becquerels per liter on April 7th, respectively, at depth. M9 is at about the line of the TEPCO sampling spots, and M10 is closer in still.

MA, MB, M1, and M2 did not show any surface contamination either. This reflects the fact that there are inshore currenst running south in Daiichi rather than north. Daiichi is at the spot where the warm current meets the cold current and the flows are not simple there.

It's hard to make sense of this data, since some of it was taken on the 7th, and some on the ninth, and there were the circumstances of the inadvertent release of highly radioactive water and the deliberate pumping of less radioactive water. However, the highest surface points were at M3 (77.4 Becquerels per liter just north of Daiichi, measured on April 9th, and M6, off the Ibaraki coast welll south of Daini, measured on April 7th, at 56.3 Becquerels per liter).

JAIF also reported this today.

French and Japanese Leaders Meet to Discuss Responses to Fukushima Crisis
On March 31, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan met with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was making an urgent visit to Japan to discussdevelopments at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (NPS). The two leaders then spoke to the press.

Prime Minister Kan stated that Japanese people were determined to work together to face and overcome the national crisis. He went on to say that it was Japan’s responsibility to examine the lessons learned and share them with the international community, so as to prevent similar occurrences from happening again. He said that Japan would do its utmost to prevent the disaster from expanding, and that it would thoroughly examine the entire sequence of events once things have settled down. President Sarkozy said that he was moved by the composed response and the courageous actions of the people of Japan in the face of the major crisis, the worst for the nation since 1945. He also stated that it was necessary to establish international safety standards to make nuclear energy safe– preferably as early as the end of this year – in the wake of the occurrences at Fukushima.
In response to a request from the French president, Prime Minister Kan said that he would make an opening statement at the G8 summit meeting to take place in France on May 26-27, appear at a G20 meeting that France wants to convene in May to discuss the international nuclear safety standards, and discuss the issues at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Ministerial-level Conference in June. Regarding the particular situation at Fukushima, France declared its offer of “maximum possible support” as an advanced nuclear nation to control the situation at the NPS. It will do such things as supply a robot that can work in areas of high radioactivity and provide technological advice on reactor decommissioning.

 

[dorispulaski]

My rollup of April 11, 12:01 PM Eastern Daylight Time


TEPCO Daiichi reports on the earthquake of April 11th:

Wind is in the north.

Daini 9pm April 11 - 2.8 microSieverts per hour
Daiichi 9 pm April 11 West Gate 42.0 microSieverts per hour

Daichi 8 periphery points (12,38,36,35, 66,107,225,190) microSieverts per hour
Daichi Main Building 0.58 milliSieverts per hour
Daiichi Main Gate 73 microSieverts per hour
Daiichi West Gate 33 microSieverts per hour

We have observed that the maximum seismic acceleration was 55.5 gal at the basement mat of the reactor building of Unit 6. Influence of radioactivity outside: None The figures indicated at monitoring posts at the station boundary are within the usual range, and there is no influence of radioactivity outside as of now

Tepco Daini reported the earthquake was stronger there but:

We have observed that the maximum seismic acceleration was 92.5 gal at the basement mat of the reactor building of Unit 3. Influence of radioactivity outside: None

TEPCO shows the concentration of cesium and iodine in seawater at the quay at Daiichi is now below the value it had on April 3rd, the first day they measured in that position.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110411e5.pdf

The second plot in that group shows that concentration is hugely down at the Unit 2bar screen where the highly contaminated water was pouring out before they stopped it. (from 300,000 becquerels per cubic centimeter ) and the third plot shows the concentration at the Unit 4 bar screen. It has gone down from 10,000 Becquerels per cubic centimeter to about the same as Unit 2 on April 10th. (I131 220 or so, Cs134 160, Cs137 170) becquerels per cubic centimeter.



And here are the daily charts on volatile & particulate iodine and cesium in the air at Daiichi:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110411e2.pdf
and at Daini:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110411e3.pdf

JAIF has some articles from overnight from NHK

●Expanded evacuation considered
The Japanese government is considering expanding its current 20-kilometer evacuation radius around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, taking into account the risks of long-term accumulated radiation exposure. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said on Monday that the government may advise residents in areas between 20 and 30 kilometers from the plant to evacuate, based on accumulated radiation exposure levels. Currently such residents have been advised to remain indoors. Edano also said the government is considering advising residents to evacuate even from areas outside the zone where cumulative radiation exposure risks are higher. He said the possibility that the situation at the plant will worsen cannot be ruled out. Iitate Village in Fukushima Prefecture could be the target of the evacuation instruction, because high levels of accumulated radiation have been recorded in some areas there. Most of Iitate lies farther than 30 kilometers from the power plant. Iitate Mayor Norio Kanno told NHK that the village learned on Sunday that the government may put the entire village under an evacuation instruction for a certain period of time. He said he is opposed to designating the entire village as an evacuation zone, because radiation levels in parts of the village remain low. But he said the government is unlikely to listen to him. He added that he wants to remain in the village and deal with the disaster's aftermath.
Monday, April 11, 2011 14:05 +0900 (JST) 3

JAIF reports the evacuation situation this way:

　<5>The
20km evacuation zone around the Fukushima Daiichi NPS is to be expanded so as to include the area, where annual radiationo exposure is expected to be above 20mSv. People in the expanded zone are ordered to evacuate
within a month or so. People living in the 20 to 30km and other than the expanded evacuation area mentioned above, are asked to get prepared for going and staying indoors or evacuation in an emergency.

●One month since disaster hits nuclear plant
One month after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was crippled by the quake and tsunami that devastated Japan's northeastern coast, the plant's operator is still struggling to regain control. Tokyo Electric Power Company has been striving to restore reactor cooling systems since the March 11th disaster knocked out electricity at the plant. The power station continues to release radioactive substances into the air and sea. Heavily contaminated water in turbine buildings and a concrete tunnel has been hampering restoration efforts and preventing workers from even inspecting the pumping systems. On Sunday, TEPCO began removing debris from the plant using unmanned heavy machinery. It plans to start moving highly radioactive water from the concrete tunnel to another storage facility on Monday. At a news conference on Sunday, TEPCO said it is studying using air instead of seawater for cooling. It said cooling the reactors' containment vessels with water is also under consideration. But a TEPCO executive said that at this point, the company is still examining viable options and cannot say when it will be able to achieve stable cooling and control the radiation.
Monday, April 11, 2011 10:22 +0900 (JST)

From NHK at 10 PM April 11:

These measurements are taken inside a bay,and right next to the Unit 2 intake, so this is looking better, for sure; it will take a while for the bay to flush itself.

Water radiation levels down
The operator of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says radiation levels in the seawater near the plant have dropped.

Tokyo Electric Power Company said it detected 200 becquerels of radioactive iodine-131 per cubic centimeter in seawater samples taken around the water intake of the No.2 reactor on Sunday.

The figure is 5,000 times the maximum allowed under government standards, but much lower than the 7.5 million times the standard that was detected at the same spot on April 2nd.

On Wednesday of last week, the company stopped a leak of radioactive water from a concrete pit outside the No.2 reactor after pouring a hardening agent into a layer of gravel around the pit.

In another effort to contain the nuclear trouble at the plant, the utility released 1,320 tons of relatively low-level radioactive water from the plant into the Pacific Ocean outside reactors No.5 and 6 between Monday and Saturday of last week.

TEPCO on Sunday detected 11 becquerels of iodine-131 per cubic centimeter in seawater samples collected 30 meters from outlets in the northern part of the complex. The figure was 280 times the government standard.

Measurements at the same spot were 2,800 times the standard last Thursday.
Monday, April 11, 2011 21:55 +0900 (JST)

Meanwhile some farmers in Fukushima are now shipping milk again
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/11_18.html

Some dairy farms in Fukushima Prefecture have resumed shipping milk after radiation levels in the milk cleared the government's safety standards.

The shipments are the first since the Japanese government lifted a ban last Friday on milk from 7 cities and towns in the prefecture.

The restriction was imposed by the health ministry last month after unsafe levels of radioactive substances were detected in milk from areas around the quake-damaged Fukushima nuclear plant.

A farmer who owns about 100 cows shipped 1.5 tons of milk on Monday. The farmer says he is glad because the milk he produces doesn't have to go to waste anymore.

He says he will do what he can to help other farmers who remain unable to ship their milk due to radiation contamination.

The prefecture will conduct follow-up radiation measurements once a week on milk shipped from the prefecture.

Excessive radiation in areas around Namie Town and Iitate Village.
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/11_35.html

At one location, in Namie Town about 30 kilometers northwest of the plant, 14,480 microsieverts of radiation had accumulated over the 17-day period to Sunday. 8,440 microsieverts of radiation were observed in Iitate Village.

In another location in Namie, the amount reached 6,430 microsieverts. People would be exposed to this accumulated amount of radiation if they had stayed outdoors throughout the entire period.

And someone surveyed 252 evacuees about their lives. In my opinion, this is adding insult to injury.
However,
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/11_22.html

In terms of the future, 55 percent said they are most concerned about the impact of radiation leaks from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which has been out of control since the March 11 massive quake and tsunami.

43 percent said they are concerned about future jobs and their livelihood, and 28 percent said they are wondering how to secure a place to live.

One respondent said he has no idea how to stick it out, although everybody tells him to do so. Another person is worried about how he will manage because has lost both his house and land.

For evacuees, anxiety over their future appears to be growing as life at the shelters is dragging on.
Monday, April 11, 2011 15:51 +0900 (JST)

 

[dorispulaski]

Meanwhile West Virginia State senator McCabe (Democrat) is talking about lifting the ban on nuclear energy in his state, whose electricity mostly comes from coal-fired plants, and dirty coal-fired plants at that.

Whatever you may or may not think about his conclusions, it's nice to see a politician basing his conclusions on what are primarily facts rather than polls:

http://www.register-herald.com/archive/x1075334246/Senator-wants-nuclear-plant-ban-to-be-lifted

“My whole feeling on nuclear power is I just didn’t feel we should exclude a possible, viable source of energy production,” McCabe, D-Kanawha, said.

“The fact that something like that would come to West Virginia is a stretch by any sense of the imagination.”

In fact, even if the ban were dismantled, McCabe said he doesn’t envision a plant being erected in this state in his lifetime.

“I would suggest that, at some point in the future, I think rather than these multibillion-dollar power plants, you’re going to see much smaller, in some ways more mobile, nuclear power plants — little, mini-plants, almost like you see in some of these natural gas turbines that are out there,” the senator said.

Fears mounted around the world in the wake of a tragic earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Japan that rattled a nuclear power facility, focusing new attention on the industry.

Yet, as McCabe emphasized, the real damage wasn’t caused by the quake itself, but, as scientists explained through various news outlets, rather the waves of destructive water. What’s more, the plant was old and in desperate need of upgrading.

“That’s an older plant that hadn’t been retrofitted,” McCabe said.

“There were some engineering design issues that they had already identified, and they were correcting the newer plants and had not corrected that plant. When you drill down to the specifics, there’s a lot of things that are specific to that situation.”

Moreover, the likelihood of a tsunami is on par with oceanfront property in the Mountain State.

“We don’t have to worry about that at all,” he said.

McCabe sees the nuclear industry shifting gears into smaller facilities that are cheaper, less invasive and more readily able to gain permits.
“Even with that, I don’t expect to see nuclear power in West Virginia in my lifetime,” the senator said.

“But the reason to eliminate the ban on it is, assuming there is a viable alternative out there, if we are an energy state, we ought to say we’re an energy state and not exclude anyone. In reality, we’re going to be focusing on coal, natural gas, geo-thermal and wind. And a little bit of biomass, maybe. That’s West Virginia’s future, and it primarily, in the near term, is coal and natural gas, and then, over time, it will move over into renewables.”

From his own view of the energy situation, McCabe said the nation must devise a means of making the country self-sufficient, sooner rather than later.

“Nuclear will have some part of that equation,” he said.

“How big it will be remains to be seen. Probably less substantial than it would have been prior to what’s happened in Japan. But I think technologies are changing and improving.”

And if America’s coal industry pleads against elimination, that position shouldn’t be advocated while at the same time making sure nuclear interests are left out of the picture, McCabe said.

“It’s a significant inconsistency when you start looking at trying to create a national discussion around the value and use of coal going forward,” he said.

Some states have turned to nuclear power since they lack the abundance of coal, natural gas and geothermal enjoyed by West Virginia, he pointed out.

“So, I’m not in any way fearful that by eliminating the ban, that you’re going to see somebody come forward in the next couple of years and say, ‘We’re going to build a big, nuclear plant,’” McCabe said.

“That’s not the issue at all. The issue is a consistency of our story we’re trying to tell at the national level. Recast the discussion of energy toward making this country self-sufficient in the intermediate term, not continue our dependence on foreign oil, and, to do that, it has to be a mix of all the above energy sources — renewable, coal, gas, hydro, geo-thermal, all of that, and nuclear will be some part of it.”

McCabe said he is concerned the federal government isn’t properly balancing a beefing up of environmental regulations with the need to maintain reasonable energy costs, which makes the nation less competitive globally.

“I have a real concern about maintaining affordable cost of electricity in this state so our industry can be competitive at the global level,” he said.

“If we’re not careful, we’re going to price ourselves out of manufacturing, and that would be just an unmitigated disaster.”

 

[dorispulaski]

Meanwhile, Gov. Scott Walker wants nuclear power back on the table in Wisconsin:

http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/119507734.html

The newspaper agrees with him.

The main points are:

1. Wisconsin is not in danger of a subduction style earthquake or a tsunami.
2. The US government is moving toward emissions standards, and nuclear has a zero carbon footprint. Cost of coal plants in your state is a huge potential issue.
3. New nuclear plants are better designed than the old plants of Fukushima.

(and no one has died of radiation related health problems there, for that matter).

 

[dorispulaski]

The IAEA has a 1 PM UTC April 11th status

Just as the wide spread mycelium of mushrooms causes them to have higher cesium & iodine content than other vegetables, it looks like the burrowing habits of sand lances might have something to do with their high cesium content--and / or their high surface area to volume ratio?. Apparently other types of seafood have no problems as yet.

IAEA Briefing on Fukushima Nuclear Accident (11 April 2011, 13:00 UTC)
Presentation:
→ Summary of Reactor Status

On Monday, 11 April 2011, the IAEA provided the following information on the current status of nuclear safety in Japan:

1. Current Situation

Earthquake of 7 April

External power has been restored at all sites affected by the 7 April earthquake.

Earthquake of 11 April

The IAEA confirms that an earthquake occurred in Japan at 08:16 UTC, 11 April. The IAEA International Seismic Safety Centre (ISSC) has rated it as a 6.6 magnitude, revised from an initial 7.1 magnitude. The epicenter of the earthquake is 68 km from Daichi, 60 km from Daini, 61 km from Tokai, 173 km from Kashiwazaki-Kariwa and 179 km from Onagawa power plants. The epicenter was in land (37.01 N/ 140.48 E) at a depth of 13.1 km. The IAEA has been in contact with NISA and can confirm the following. Based on a report by TEPCO, NISA confirms at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. No changes have been observed on the readings at the on-site radiation monitoring posts. Workers have been evacuated to the seismic evacuation shelter. Off-site power was lost and water injection pumps for Units 1, 2 and 3 stopped. NISA confirmed later that off-site power was restored and water injection resumed 50 minutes after the earthquake.

Changes to Fukushima Daiichi Plant Status

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

In Units 1, 2 and 3, 60 000 T 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. At Unit 1 and 2 water transfer from the condenser to the condensate storage tank was completed on 10 April.

In order to make room for higher contaminated water from the turbine buildings and trenches, 1 343 T of low level contaminated water from Units 5 and 6 sub-drain pit were released to the sea from 4 to 9 April. In addition, 9 070 T of low-level contaminated water was discharged from the Central Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility to the south discharge point.

Nitrogen gas is being 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.

Since 6 April, TEPCO has been moving debris from Units 1 to 4 to a common storage area on-site using remote controlled heavy equipment.

On 10 April additional anti-scattering agent was sprayed in an area of about 550 m2 on the mountain-side of the Common Spent Fuel Pool to prevent the radioactive materials on the ground from being scattered.

In Unit 1 fresh water is being continuously injected into the RPV through the 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 an indicated rate of 7 m3/h 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. In Units 2 and 3 Reactor Pressure Vessel and Drywell pressures remain at atmospheric pressure.

RPV temperatures remain above cold shutdown conditions in all Units, (typically less than 95 °C). In Unit 1 temperature at the feed water nozzle of the RPV is 228 °C and at the bottom of the RPV is 121 °C. In Unit 2 the temperature at the feed water nozzle of the RPV is 149 °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 92 °C and at the bottom of the RPV is 111 °C.

An additional 60 T of fresh water was injected via the Spent Fuel Cooling System line to the spent fuel pool in Unit 2 by a temporary pump on 10 April.

There has been no change in status in Units 4, 5 and 6.

2. Radiation Monitoring

On 10 April, deposition of both iodine-131 and cesium-137 was detected in 7 and 6 prefectures respectively. The values reported for iodine-131 ranged from 6.3 to 920 Bq/m2 and for cesium-137 from 7.9 to 800 Bq/m2. The highest deposition was reported for both, iodine-131 and cesium-137, in the prefecture of Ibaraki. /p>

Gamma dose rates are measured daily in all 47 prefectures, the values tend to decrease. For Fukushima, on 10 April a dose rate of 2.2 µSv/h, for the Ibaraki prefecture a gamma dose rate of 0.15 µSv/h was reported. The gamma dose rates in all other prefectures were below 0.1 µSv/h.

Dose rates are also reported specifically for the Eastern part of the Fukushima prefecture, for distances of more than 30 km to Fukushima-Daiichi. On 10 April, the values in this area ranged from 0.2 to 25 µSv/h.

MEXT has set up an additional monitoring programme, in cooperation with local universities, measurements are made in 26 cities in 13 prefectures. As of 10 April, in 19 cities, the gamma dose rates were below 0.1 µSv/h. In 6 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 of 0.05 to 0.10 µSv/h.

Only in a few prefectures, iodine-131 or cesium-137 is detectable in drinking water at very low levels. As of 10 April, a restriction for infants related to iodine-131 (100 Bq/l) is in place as a precautionary measure in only one village of the Fukushima prefecture.

On 10 April, the IAEA Team made measurements at 7 different locations in the Fukushima area at distances of 23 to 39 km, South and Southwest from the Fukushima nuclear power plant. At these locations, the dose rates ranged from 0.4 to 1.6 µSv/h. At the same locations, results of beta-gamma contamination measurements ranged from 0.01 to 0.18 Megabecquerel/m2. The highest beta-gamma contaminations have been determined at distances of less than 30 km from Fukushima-Daiichi.

Analytical results related to food contamination, reported by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare from 8 to 10 April covered a total of 157 samples taken from 6 to 10 April. Analytical results for 153 of the 157 samples for various vegetables, spinach and other leafy vegetables, shitake mushrooms, fruit (strawberries), pork, seafood and unprocessed raw milk in eight prefectures (Chiba, Fukushima, Gunma, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Nagano, Niigata and Saitama), 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.

In Fukushima prefecture, one sample of seafood (sand lance) taken on 7 April was above the regulation values set by the Japanese authorities for I-131 and three samples of shiitake mushrooms taken on 8 April were above the regulation values set by the Japanese authorities for I-131 and/or Cs-134 and Cs-137
3. Marine Monitoring

TEPCO Monitoring Programme

As reported in the brief of 8 April TEPCO is conducting a programme for seawater (surface sampling) at a number of near-shore and off-shore monitoring locations as illustrated in Map 1.

Map 1: TEPCO Seawater Sampling Locations:


Until 3 April a general decreasing trend was observed at the sampling points TEPCO1 to TEPCO4. After the discharge of contaminated water on 4 April, a temporary increase has been reported.

On 11 April new data (8 April sampling day) for TEPCO 1 - 4 sampling points have been reported. At the near-shore sampling point TEPCO 1 an increase from 2,2 kBq/l (7 April) to 19 kBq/l for I-131 and from 1.7 kBq/l (7 April) to 12 kBq/l for Cs-137 has been reported. As for TEPCO 3 and TEPCO 4 a further decrease as respect to the results for the sampling day, 7 April, in the concentration of I-131 and Cs-137 has been reported. At the sampling point TEPCO 2 a decrease in the concentration of I-131 to about 50 kBq/l) and Cs-137 to about 34 kBq/l as respect to the results obtained on 7 April was observed.

For the six sampling points TEPCO 5 to TEPCO 10 since 7 April no new data have been reported. The data since 7 April have been summarized in the previous brief of 10 April.

MEXT Off-shore Monitoring Programme

As reported in the brief of 8 April MEXT initiated the off-shore monitoring program on 23 March and subsequently points 9 and 10 were added to the off-shore sampling scheme. On 4 April, MEXT added two 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 11 April new data have been reported for MEXT 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 for 9 April sampling day.

At MEXT 1 both I-131 and Cs-137 were no longer detectable. At MEXT 3 an increase of the level of both I-131 and Cs-137 was recorded. At MEXT 5 the level of I-131 decreased and Cs-137 was not detected. At MEXT 7 and MEXT 9 an increase for I-131 was recorded and Cs-137 was no longer detectable.

No new data for the other sampling points have been reported at the date of 11 April 2011.

4. IAEA Activities

The team of three Agency experts in BWR technology have concluded their mission with meetings with NISA, Ministry of Foreign Affaires (MOFA), MEXT, Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC).

IAEA Update: New Earthquake in Japan (11 April 2011, 11:30 UTC)
The IAEA confirms that an earthquake occurred in Japan on 11 April at 08:16 UTC. The IAEA International Seismic Safety Centre has rated it as a 6.6 magnitude, revised from an initial 7.1 magnitude. The epicenter of the earthquake is 68 kilometres from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, 60 kilometres from the Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant, 61 kilometres from Tokai Daini nuclear power plant, 173 kilometres from Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, and 179 kilometres from Onagawa nuclear power plant. The epicenter was in land (37.01 N/ 140.48 E) at a depth of 13.1 km.

The IAEA has been in contact with Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) and can confirm the status of the following nuclear facilities:

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

Based on a report by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), NISA confirms that no changes have been observed on the readings at the on-site radiation monitoring posts. Workers have been evacuated to the seismic evacuation shelter. Off-site power was lost and water injection pumps for Units 1, 2 and 3 stopped.

NISA confirms later that off-site power was restored and water injection resumed 50 minutes after the earthquake.

Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Plant

NISA confirms that no changes have been observed on the readings at the on-site radiation monitoring posts and that off-site power remained available.

Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant

The five off-site power lines remain available. No changes have been observed on the readings at the on-site radiation monitoring posts.

Tokai Daini Nuclear Power Plant

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

 

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NEI has its 11:30 update that comes up at 1:00 PM or so each day. In general, I love their succinctness.

UPDATE AS OF 11:30 A.M. EDT, MONDAY, APRIL 11:
No damage to Japan’s nuclear power plants was reported today after another strong aftershock hit the northeast coast. The temblor, measured at magnitude 6.6 by the U.S. Geological Survey, rocked the country one month after the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami struck March 11, damaging the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. A magnitude 7.1 aftershock rattled Japan April 7.

The Monday earthquake prompted the temporary evacuation of workers at the plant and interrupted the offsite electric power supply for less than an hour. Injection of cooling water to reactors 1, 2, and 3 resumed within an hour. Officials reported no new damage or increased radiation levels. Workers continued to spray water into the spent fuel pools of reactors 1-4 as needed.

As an additional safety measure, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) has brought additional diesel generators to the site as a backup in case offsite power is disabled.

Preparations are being made to transfer highly radioactive water from reactor 2 to a water storage tank. Workers are inspecting the tank to ensure there will be no leaks.

TEPCO is injecting nitrogen gas into the reactor 1 containment vessel to reduce the possibility of a hydrogen explosion. TEPCO plans to inject nitrogen into the containment vessels of reactors 2 and 3, the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum reported.

TEPCO used a drone helicopter to take aerial pictures of reactor buildings that are highly contaminated. TEPCO also is using remote-controlled heavy equipment to remove radioactive debris.

Japanese authorities announced that residents of some municipalities outside the 12.5-mile radius evacuation zone will be relocated to reduce long-term radiation exposure. Radiation can accumulate in some places based on weather and geographical factors. The relocation orders will apply to areas where there is a possibility of residents receiving a dose of 2,000 millirem over the course of a year.

Meanwhile I found a link to this; it seems fair for them to do this. In this world, there are both seller's remorse and buyer's remorse:

German energy giants ditch green fund over Berlin's nuclear U-turn

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: German energy companies are stepping up pressure on Berlin

German nuclear companies have announced they will stop contributing to an environmental fund after Berlin issued a moratorium on extending the life of the country's nuclear reactors.

Four companies that run German nuclear power plants said they have stopped payments to an environment fund as a result of a government moratorium on nuclear power extension plans.

EON, RWE, Vattenfall and EnBW have all been contributing to a fund since January that was designed to support renewable energy. The payments were a condition of the plan to extend the life of Germany's nuclear power program.

That energy plan was put on hold in the aftermath of the nuclear accident in Japan in March. The three-month moratorium on the prolongation plans was handed down instead, along with the closing of the seven oldest plants in Germany.

Quid pro quo

"We have decided to stop paying," at least for the duration of the government moratorium, EON spokesman Josef Nelles told AFP.

"We will stop paying; this will start with the April contribution," a spokeswoman for Vattenfall Europe, a subsidiary of the Swedish group, said.

"The very existence (of the fund) was conditioned on the prolongation of the life of the plants. As this prolongation was suspended, we are also suspending our payments. We will not pay until this issue has been clarified."

The fund for the promotion of renewable energies was set up in connection with the nuclear power plant life extension in 2010. Overall, the energy companies were expected to contribute revenue of 16.9 billion euros ($24 billion), most of which was expected to go to wind power.

The government communications service said it took note of the companies' decision and did not rule out a renegotiation of its agreement with them.

"The government is currently examining the financial consequences of the moratorium," a spokeswoman said, adding that once clarity has been obtained, it "may lead to a modification of the accord with the energy groups."

Author: Stuart Tiffen (AFP, dpa)
Editor: Toma Tasovac

 

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The NEI is an of course, pronuclear, organization of nuclear plant operators and engineers. They have a nuclear IQ test on line, testing what you know about nuclear power. Some of it is very interesting. Having followed this Japanese nuclear blog for some time, you might want to try it.

http://www.nei.org/iq/

For one thing, building a nuclear plant produces a lot of decent paying jobs. I was surprised at how many, although I suppose I shouldn't have been.

And there's one more news snippet out of TEPCO in the 4:00 PM all sites roll up status:

In order to prevent water containing radioactive materials from spilling from a plant's port to the sea, we installed 120 meter wide double silt fences around a breakwater on the south of the station at 10:45 am on April 11th

 

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If you're wondering how TEPCO is going to pay for all this, here's how, from NHK. Note all these banks are Japanese banks:

TEPCO receives total $24 bil. emergency loans

Tokyo Electric Power Company has received a combined 2 trillion yen, or nearly 24 billion dollars, in emergency loans from major banks.

The Development Bank of Japan on Monday offered the power company about 1.2 billion dollars in loans. The bank says it will consider further loans if the power company needs them.

At the end of last month, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, Mizuho Corporate, Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking and other trust banks lent the utility firm a total of about 22.5 billion dollars.

Tokyo Electric sought the funds to cope with the crisis at the quake-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The loans will also be used to repair and boost the company's thermal power generation facilities to address expected power shortages.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011 01:26 +0900 (JST)

And for those interested in the robot trucks and containers that have been picking up debris:

PC World is entranced by the robot trucks being used by TEPCO. Heck, anyone who had a sand pile and a bunch of Tonka trucks as a kid has stars in their eyes when they see these things. There's a youtube of the operation, and you can see the container when it is being loaded in the video:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/224837/robot_vehicles_help_clear_quake_debris_in_japan.html

The machinery consisted of an excavator and transporter, each equipped with a remote control system. Cameras were mounted on each piece of equipment and TEPCO set an additional six cameras around areas where work would take place.

The entire operation was managed from a mobile control room where staff could watch video from the cameras and manipulate the machinery, said Hiro Hasegawa, a spokesman for the electric utility.Theclearance operation began when both units rolled into place near an debris-strewn area. The excavator, which had been fitted with a giant grabber hand, picked up debris and dropped it into a container on the back of the transporter. It took about two hours for this to be completed.Once full, the excavator knocked closed the lid of the container and the transporter trundled to a temporary dump site. The Fukushima Daiichi plant, like other nuclear power plants in Japan, was built with plenty of open space so the debris can be temporarily collected together on-site, said Hasegawa.

The unloading operation took about an hour to complete, and then the cycle began again. The remotely controlled machinery was originally developed for use in hazardous construction environments, such as those near volcanos or where landslides could occur, said a spokesman forYoshikawa Co., which worked on the system. Several U.S. companies earlier sent robots that could take radiation readings.

The radio control system typically has a range of about 300 meters, but this time a radio relay station was used to boost the signal and allow the controllers to be up to 2 kilometers away, the Yoshikawa spokesman said.

TEPCO has also used remotely controlled drones and helicopters to get a close-up view of the reactor buildings.

On Monday, the company released a series of images and video shot a day earlier by an RQ-16 T-Hawk unmanned air vehicle. A helicopter-like remote-controlled craft that has been employed by the U.S. military in hot spots such as Afghanistan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rW_CaBaK0bo&feature=player_embedded