Japanese Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Reactors

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Kan has announced at the Hiroshima ceremony that he is no longer representing a no-nuclear power future as his personal choice, but as a governmental direction. He apparently did not describe how that is to be achieved, though.

Meanwhile

Govt may allow brief home visits to evacuees within 3 km of Fukushima Daiichi


The Japanese government may allow evacuees whose homes are close to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to return home temporarily.

In response to the nuclear accident in March, the government set up a 20-kilometer no-entry zone around the plant. Later, it allowed brief visits by residents whose homes are located within 3 to 20 kilometers of the plant.

But visits to homes within 3 kilometers of the plant have been banned.

The government says it is now making arrangements for those residents to return temporarily because the plant's reactors are being cooled in a stable manner, and radiation levels are declining.

The government will soon begin detailed radiation monitoring in the area to ensure the safety of the returning evacuees.
Saturday, August 06, 2011 09:04 +0900 (JST)

 

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Data from Fukushima, Daiichi, August 7th

Temperature at Reactor Pressure Vessel Bottom Head (Goal - below 100 C)
Unit 1 93.9 C ( 11 am JST, August 7)
Unit 2 119.5 C ( 11 am JST, August 7)
Unit 3 106.8 C (11 am JST, August 7)

TEPCO Status 3 PM JST, August 7

- At 7:19 am on August 7, as we observed increase of water injection to reactor on unit 3, we adjusted water injection rate to approx. 9.0m3/h.

- Low level accumulated water had been transferred from Unit 6 turbine building to temporary tanks. At 10 pm on August 6, we restarted transferring the accumulated water from temporary tanks to mega-float, and stopped at 5 pm on the same day.

- At 11 am on August 6, we restarted transferring the accumulated water on the basement of Unit 6 turbine building to temporary tanks, and stopped at 4 pm on the same date.

- At 8:07 am on August 7, water treatment facility has stopped as decontamination instrument has automatically stopped due to the trip of chemical injection pump of high speed coagulant facility. Water injection to the reactor of unit 1 to 3 has been continuing.

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/images/handouts_110806_02-e.pdf

Because, as the concentration of radioactive materials in the air has continued to decrease, measurements at the West Gate have not been detecting any radioactive materials. Consequently, TEPCO increased the sampling time per sample from 40 minutes to 300 minutes. This change increases the lower detection limit from 4.0 x 10 (-6) becquerels per cm2 to 4.3 x 10(-7) becquerels per cm2 for Cesium 137, for example.

Consequently, if you look at the West Gate air charts, which have had no detections for the last couple of weeks, and suddenly see data at a lower level, you will now know why.

DAINI
3:00 PM JST Status Report

Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Station: Units 1 to 4: shutdown due to the earthquake - From 2:22 pm on August 6, we started commissioning of Residual Heat Removal (RHR) system (A) of Unit 2, which had been stopped due to tsunami. At 3:02 pm on the same day, commissioning has completed and transited to stand by mode.

NHK

Decontamination system stops at Fukushima Daiichi

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is facing yet another problem with its wastewater filtering system. The system came to a halt again on Sunday.

Tokyo Electric Power Company has been filtering highly contaminated water in basements to remove radioactive material and then pump the water back into the reactors as coolant.

Shortly after 7 AM on Sunday, some of the pumps in a US decontamination device stopped and could not be restarted. The equipment is used to remove radioactive cesium.

About an hour later, a pump in a French device also stopped working.

A back-up pump also failed to work, bringing the whole decontamination system to a halt. TEPCO says it is continuing to inject cooling water into reactors by using treated water.

The decontamination system has faced earlier problems. On Thursday, another pump stopped at one time. On Friday, an alarm went off and the system stopped operating.

TEPCO added a Japanese-made decontamination device to the system to make it more stable. But the utility wanted to treat wastewater before the test run of the new device, because there is little available storage space for the contaminated water.

TEPCO is trying to determine the cause of the malfunctions while working to restart the system.
Sunday, August 07, 2011 12:46 +0900 (JST)

The water they are attempting to filter and return to a state clean enough to return to the reactors is being pumped from basements and pipe trenches. It has everything under the sun in it: dirt, salt water, radioactive material, oil, mystery whatever. And the system is still choking on it from time to time. It will be interesting to see what the SARRY system does when it is up and fully running.

And the world must think that all is in control in Japan & Fukushima. Not only is the UN Secretary General coming to Fukushima, he is coming to ask Japan to send aid.

Ban Ki Moon to visit Japan to meet disaster survivors

UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon will visit Japan later on Sunday to meet disaster survivors and stress the importance of safety at nuclear power stations.

It will be the first time in about a year that Ban will come to Japan. He made a trip to Hiroshima and Nagasaki last year.

On Monday, Ban will go to Fukushima prefecture to directly deliver messages from the global community to survivors.

Earlier, he told reporters that he will express his respect to people who are striving to reconstruct the devastated areas, and tell them that there are strong bonds between Japan and the United Nations.

Ban is also scheduled to make a speech to stress the importance of ensuring the safety of nuclear plants. The United Nations will hold a summit-level meeting to discuss nuclear safety in September.

Ban will meet Prime Minister Naoto Kan to discuss nuclear issues. He is also expected to ask Kan to send Ground Self Defense Force troops on a peace keeping mission to South Sudan, which became independent last month.
Sunday, August 07, 2011 05:15 +0900 (JST)

And summer festivities continue. I had no idea what Cosplay was; this is a cool festival.

World Cosplay Summit opens in Nagoya

About 200 costumed role players took to the streets of Nagoya on Saturday as the annual World Cosplay Summit got underway.

Nagoya Mayor Takashi Kawamura joined the parade in a samurai costume, with 3 members of a local pop group playing the role of his concubines.

Performers from 17 countries arrived to compete in a cosplay championship, dressed as characters from anime, manga or computer games.

The annual event began 8 years ago to boost tourism to Nagoya and promote Japanese pop culture.

A 20-year-old woman dressed as an anime character said she enjoyed dressing up and meeting people from other countries.

The 3-day summit will close on Monday following a symposium to discuss cosplay culture.
Saturday, August 06, 2011 22:09 +0900 (JST)

Really great costumes! Right up an ice dance fan's alley.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_YF1tNfQVN8w/S9BVdjqpW2I/AAAAAAAAx6Y/Qbrj-FaVKnU/s1600/1.jpg


However, this is more my kind of festival, and so symbolic of the clean up of radioactive dust and materials, too, this year, for me. Coincidentally, this Buddha is the same approximate height as the tsunami, too.

Todaiji Buddha undergoes annual dusting ritual

The Buddha statue at Todai-ji temple in the Japanese ancient capital of Nara has undergone a traditional dusting.

The ceremonial service is held every year ahead of the Bon Buddhist festival when people welcome back their ancestors' spirits later this month.

At 7 AM on Sunday, about 150 Buddhist priests and others gathered for a ceremonial chanting of sutra.

The priests then climbed onto the hands and knees of the statue and carefully removed dust with brooms and dusters.

Some workers were raised on hanging chairs to clean the 15-meter-tall statue's head and shoulders.

Visitors took photos and videos of the unusual scene, as dust filled the temple hall.

A man from Osaka says he can really appreciate the size of the Buddha when people climb onto it. He said he is glad that he had a chance to see it being cleaned.
Sunday, August 07, 2011 14:58 +0900 (JST)

I found this photo awe-inspiring:

http://0.tqn.com/d/buddhism/1/0/K/3/-/-/bigbigbuddhanara.jpg

 

[dorispulaski]

Temperatures Reactor Pressure Vessel, Bottom Head (Goal, under 100 C)
Unit 1: 94.0 C
Unit 2: 119.6 C
Unit 3: 105.3 C


TEPCO Status August 8, 10 am JST
The water treatment center is back up again.

-At 8:07 am on August 7, decontamination facility in the water treatment system has automatically stopped due to the trip of chemical injection pumps (A) in the facility, and all of water treatment system has stopped. After confirming the soundness of that pump, at 3:31 pm, we started the water treatment facility and at 4:54 pm, resumed treatment of accumulated water.

-At 4:11 pm on August 7, we completed commissioning of additional two evaporative condensation facilities to the water treatment facility to make freshwater from condensed seawater from desalination facility. We put those additional facilities to full-scale operation.
Diagram of desalination system:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/images/handouts_110808_01-e.pdf

-At 10:00 am on August 8, we started transferring low level accumulated water from outdoor temporary tanks to Mega Float.

A leakage point was found. This is a press handout on the subject. It does not appear to be much of a leak, from the picture.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/images/handouts_110808_02-e.pdf

Fukushima evacuees briefly return home
Some evacuees in Fukushima Prefecture have briefly returned to their homes to prepare for the Bon holidays in mid-August.

One district in Kawamata Town is designated as an evacuation zone due to exposure to radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Almost all the residents of the district have left their homes.

The zone is off-limits, but the town allowed the evacuees to return to the area for 4 hours on Sunday to weed their homes and graves ahead of the Bon festival, when people pay visits to their ancestors' graves.

Some evacuees left flowers on the graves because they do not know if they can come again during the holidays.

Yoshiichi Miura, who is 65, says it's sad to see the district deserted and his ancestors would never have dreamed about such a situation.

He adds that he will continue to take care of the grave, even though he cannot return as often as he would like to.
Sunday, August 07, 2011 22:58 +0900 (JST)

Ban meets evacuees in Fukushima
UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon has met evacuees of the March 11th disaster and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident. He told them that the world body will make efforts to improve the safety of nuclear power.

Ban arrived in Japan on Sunday. During a meeting with Fukushima Governor Yuhei Sato on Monday morning, Ban was briefed on the impact of the nuclear accident, including health checks for residents and problems with the removal of radioactive substances.

Ban visited a shelter in Fukushima City and spoke to the evacuees in Japanese, saying the world is behind them.

The UN chief also met students at Fukushima Minami Senior High School.

He told the students that the disaster may have had a serious impact on them, but he believes Japan will recover. He said the United Nations and the world are supporting them.

He also said that the UN will hold a summit-level meeting on nuclear issues in New York next month.
Monday, August 08, 2011 12:24 +0900 (JST)

Ban to ask Japan to serve as cochair of UN meeting
UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon is expected to ask Japan to serve as a co-chair of a subcommittee meeting of a summit-level conference on nuclear issues that is planned to be held in New York in September (ETA on September 23rd).

Ban is expected to make the request in a meeting with Prime Minster Naoto Kan in Tokyo on Monday.

Before his visit to Tokyo, Ban will meet survivors of the March 11th earthquake and tsunami in Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan on Monday.

He will also meet Fukushima Governor Yuhei Sato to hear his account of the impact of the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Ban plans to give speeches in the prefecture on the importance of safety management of nuclear power.

Later on Monday he will travel to Tokyo for talks with Prime Minister Naoto Kan. The 2 are expected to exchange views on nuclear power generation.

Sources say that the United Nations wants to ask Japan to serve as a co-chair of the subcommittee and that Ban is likely to tell Kan that it is hoped Japan will lead discussions in the summit-level conference on nuclear issues.

Meanwhile, the UN chief is likely to ask Japan to send Ground Self-Defense Force troops on a peacekeeping mission to South Sudan, pointing out that the country should be supported by the whole of the international community. South Sudan achieved independence last month.
Monday, August 08, 2011 06:09 +0900 (JST)

China starts operating nuclear power plant
China has begun operating a new nuclear power plant in the southern province of Guangdong, showing that the nation's policy of promoting nuclear power generation remains unchanged.

The state-run Xinhua News Agency said that the Number 4 reactor of the Ling'ao nuclear power plant in Shenzhen became operational on Sunday.

The reactor, called the CPR-1000, is a new type of pressurized water reactor, with a generation capacity of one million kilowatts. It was based on French technology, but was constructed by China.

This is China's first reactor to become operational after the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in March in Japan.

China now has 14 nuclear reactors in operation, with 27 more under construction.

Xinhua said the Number 4 reactor of the Ling'ao is uniquely Chinese, in terms of design, manufacture, construction and administration.

The nuclear reactor is likely to have undergone extra inspections after the Fukushima nuclear crisis. It became operational after a delay of about 2 months.

However, people living near the plant said that no explanations were offered by the government or the operator. One local person said they don't know how they should respond in the event of an emergency situation.
Monday, August 08, 2011 06:09 +0900 (JST)

I think that one of the lessons of Fukushima Daiichi is that explicit information should be given to people living near nuclear plants about what to do in case of an emergency at the plant.

And farmers should be given info about how to deal with any potential release of radioactive material, and how to keep it out of the food chain as much as possible.

China should be doing that...and it isn't.

 

[let`s talk]

And this is nice to think of.

Yeah. Sendai Tanabata Festival is gorgeous. Have never seen it myself. Hope will do one day. www.flickr.com/photos/arditpg/sets/72157627243062621/detail/

 

[dorispulaski]

What wonderful photos. I'd really love to be able to see that myself.

 

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NEI issued an update on Monday.

One thing they list that I hadn't heard is that TEPCO working on reducing the volume of cesium contaminated water on site by evaporation. They have a large number of temporary tanks, including the MegaFloat, holding a lot of not very radioactive water. If they could evaporate some of the water to steam, without having any cesium in the steam, the total amount of water on site would of course decrease. Also, the resultant water, which would now be more concentrated, and could be passed back through the decontamination system to lower the cesium content yet again.

Japan’s 2012 GDP Could Drop 5.6% If Reactors Remain Shut

Plant Status

• Tokyo Electric Power Co. reports that the water decontamination system recycling accumulated water to cool the Fukushima Daiichi reactors stopped working Sunday after several pumps failed. TEPCO is working to reduce the volume of contaminated water in the basements of the reactor and turbine buildings, but the decontamination system continues to perform below capacity. The company is pumping the water into temporary storage tanks and has begun testing a system to reduce its volume by evaporation. TEPCO says about 21,000 tons of untreated water remains at the plant.

Industry/Regulatory/Political Issues

• A short-term energy outlook report released by Japan’s Institute of Energy Economics estimates that if the country’s nuclear plants do not begin to restart this fall after shutting down for periodic inspections, there will be a 7.8 percent shortage in the primary energy supply by next summer and a 5.6 percent, $98 billion drop in gross domestic product. Presently only 15 of Japan’s 54 reactors are generating electricity, all of which could be shut down for inspection by next summer.

• Japan’s Ministry for National Policy has begun deliberations to consider Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s call to gradually reduce the country’s “dependence on nuclear power.” The Ministry’s Energy and Environment Council said it will “thoroughly examine” Japan’s energy policy and will promote a national debate on the “best mix” of energy sources. Meanwhile, the cabinet confirmed that Japan should continue to export nuclear power technology and to engage in nuclear technology cooperation with other countries.

• The Japanese government has issued guidelines on compensating people affected by the Fukushima accident. The rules cover evacuees and businesses, including cattle farmers, green tea producers, travel agents and merchandise exporters. The Japanese parliament last week passed a bill providing government support for TEPCO to pay compensation claims.

And the NEI has posted what the US does for emergency preparedness for nuclear plants. i won't copy it in full, but here's the core of the program. A number of states have copied their emergency programs for other disasters from the nuclear industry's plans for reactors in their states.

http://safetyfirst.nei.org/news/nei-fact-sheets/emergency-preparedness/

The industry’s emergency response plans and preparations have been proven so effective that, in many instances, state and local governments use them to protect citizens during natural disasters and emergencies in other industries. A federally approved emergency plan is required for the plant to maintain its Nuclear Regulatory Commission operating license.

■America’s nuclear plants exceed federal standards and have enhanced capacity for fighting large fires, alternatives for supplying cooling water to reactors and used fuel storage pools, and several sources of backup power to enable safety systems.

■A nuclear plant’s emergency response plan must provide protective measures, such as sheltering and/or evacuation of communities within a 10-mile radius of the facility, and a 50-mile monitoring zone for food, livestock and water to prevent radiation exposure from contaminated foodstuff.

■Since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, new NRC requirements have been incorporated into emergency response plans that address such issues as on-site sheltering and evacuation, public communications and emergency staffing in the specific context of a security breach.

■Emergency exercises are conducted every two years, in coordination with state, local and federal officials, local law enforcement and other first responders.

■Strategies are in place to recover the plant before radiation is released into the environment, even if large areas of the plant are inaccessible or destroyed.

■All plants have the ability – using diesel-driven portable water pumps, for example – to bring cooling water to the reactor and fuel storage pool without offsite or onsite electric power.

 

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Reactor temperatures (Goal: Under 100C)
Unit 1 93.8 C
Unit 2 117.5 C
Unit 3 104.7 C

Radiation measurements Daiichi August 9, 2:00 PM JST
Eight peripheral points ( 5, 22, 14, 13, 16, 36, 108, 89 ) microSieverts per hour
Main Office Building 316 microSieverts per hour
Main Gate 33 microSieverts per hour
West Gate 12 microSieverts per hour

Radiation measurements Daini August 9, 2:00 PM JST
Seven peripheral measurements ( 1.9, 1.2, 1.8, 1.7, 1.5, 1.0, 1.1 ) microSieverts per hour

TEPCO status August 9, 9:00 AM JST
They are still having intermittent problems with the water system.
Drawing of where the trouble points are:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/images/handouts_110809_01-e.pdf

Unit 6
- From 9:30 am on August 9, we initiated plumbing between temporary pump and residual heat removal system pump (A) to enforce the connection method. We stopped the power source of residual heat removal system pump (B) during this work. Even though cooling of a reactor and a spent fuel pool were temporarily suspended, there are no safety issues regarding this.
Other

- From 10:00 am to 5:00 pm on August 8, we transferred low level accumulated water from outdoor temporary tanks to Mega Float.

- From11:00am to 4:00 pm on August 8, we transferred accumulated water from the turbine building of Unit 6 to a temporary tank.

- At 8:20 pm on August 8, water treatment facility has stopped due to the water level gauge's error alarm of SPT tank. Subsequently, we confirmed no problems with Water Treatment Facility and the facility has started at 10:22 pm on the same day and resumed operation at 10:45 pm.

- At 1:50 am on August 9, an alarm showed low level of water at waste RO supply tank and water desalinations automatically stopped. Water desalinations reinitiated at 9:35 on the same day after the confirmation. Water injection to reactors of unit 1, 2, and 3 are ongoing.

- At 10:00 am on August 9, we started transferring low level accumulated water from outdoor temporary tanks to Mega Float.

 

[dorispulaski]

Reactor Temperature at Bottom Head ( Goal, under 100 C )

Unit 1 93.9 C
Unit 2 117.7 C
Unit 3 105.0 C


August 10, 10:00 AM JST TEPCO Status Report
The flow into reactors continues to be varied by 0.1 m3/hr from time to time.
Also water contaminated with radioactive materials was pumped into various tanks.

At 7:09 am on August 4, we started transferring accumulated water from vertical shaft of Unit2 Turbine Building to Centralized Radiation Waste Treatment Facility(Process main building). At 4:56 pm on August 9, we stopped transferring.

This is the start of a major milestone.

Unit 1
-At 9:00 am on August 10, we started to assemble steel frame for the Reactor Building Cover.

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/images/handouts_110809_02-e.pdf
The above press handout has pictures.

I'm not quite sure what the goal of this sampling was. Perhaps we will hear later.

Unit 2
From 10:39 am to 11:13 am on August 9, we conducted gas sampling in the Primary Containment Vessel of Unit 2.

Unit 6
-From 9:30 am to 1:40 pm on August 9, we conducted plumbing between temporary pump and residual heat removal system pump (A) to enforce the connection method. We stopped the power source of residual heat removal system pump (B) during this work. Even though cooling of a reactor and a spent fuel pool were temporarily suspended, there are no safety issues regarding this.

August 9, 3:00 PM JST
TEPCO status report

Since SPT waste liquid pump and SPT receiving water transfer pump stopped due to power lost of water glass of SPT tank, an alarm showed low level of water at waste RO supply tank at 1:50 am on August 9 and water desalinations automatically stopped. At 6:57 am, water glass of SPT tank recovered. At 9:35 am on the same day, water desalinations restated as the water level at waste RO supply tank recovered.

- At 10:00 am on August 9, we resumed transferring low-level accumulated water to Mega Float which had been transferred from turbine building of Unit 6 to temporary tank. At 10:12 am the transfer was paused due to leakage from the transferring hose. At 1:35 pm on the same day, we restared the transfer after replacing the hose.

- At 11:00 am on August 9, we restarted transferring accumulated water from the underground level of reactor building of Unit 6 to a temporary tank.

- At 9:27 am on August 9, we conducted plumbing between temporary pump and residual heat removal system pump (A) to enforce the connection method. We stopped the power source of residual heat removal system pump (B) during this work. Even though cooling of a reactor and a spent fuel pool were temporarily suspended, there are no safety issues regarding this. At 2:01 pm, we restarted cooling a reactor and a spent fuel pool.

- At 9:30 am on August 7, at cooperative firm rest area inside the site, a cooperative firm worker who was managing access control expressed dull feeling in the right knee and he was sent to Iwaki Kyoritsu Hospital by an ambulance. However, the cause was unknown. As a result of medical reexamination at Chiba Social Insurance Hospital, he was diagnosed as "Traumatic right knee synovialis ecchymoma"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecchymosis
As far as I can tell, he has a severe bruise on his knee.

NHK News

I am so glad to see this attitude emerging:

Fukushima students visit Nagasaki
Junior high school students affected by the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant have visited Nagasaki City as it marked the 66th anniversary of its atomic bombing by the United States on Tuesday.

The city invited the 43 students from Iwaki City in Fukushima Prefecture so that they could learn how Nagasaki recovered from the bombing.

One of the students, Ryoka Endo, had been forced to stay indoors after the accident as her home is within 30 kilometers of the plant.

On Tuesday, the students visited the Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Museum, which features items showing the aftermath of the bombing, including photos of burned people. Endo said she cried in shock upon seeing the horrible impact of radiation on people.

The students also visited the Nagasaki National Peace Memorial Hall for the Atomic Bomb Victims, where survivor Takeshi Yamakawa assured them that Fukushima will also recover.

Endo said she wants to help Iwaki City rebuild itself even if it takes a long time.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011 01:14 +0900 (JST)

Japanese consumer confidence up for third straight month
Japan's government says consumer confidence improved for a third straight month in July.

The Cabinet Office said on Tuesday that the index was 37, up 1.7 points from the previous month. The index is based on the office's monthly survey of over 6,700 households nationwide about whether they think conditions will improve or worsen in the next 6 months.

The latest rise is attributed to continuing recovery in corporate production after the March 11th disaster and resulting improvement in consumer outlooks on jobs, lifestyle and income.

But as the index has yet to return to its pre-disaster levels, the office has decided to keep its assessment that consumer confidence remains severe, but is improving.

The office says the yen's appreciation and plunging stock prices could negatively affect consumer confidence.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011 01:14 +0900 (JST)

Kan has said he will resign before, but will he?

Kan to resign after key bills pass Diet
Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan says he will step down after 2 key bills are enacted, possibly in late August.

Kan has called for the passing of 3 bills that he considers vital for Japan's recovery as a condition of his resignation.

The first, the second supplementary budget, has already passed the Diet. Two remain, one for issuing deficit-covering bonds and a second promoting the use of renewable energy.

Kan was speaking on Wednesday at a lower house committee meeting, where the deficit-covering bill was discussed.

He said that once the condition is met, his Democratic Party will quickly call a presidential election. He added that when a new leader is chosen, he will resign and the Diet will select a new prime minister.

The deficit-covering bond bill was approved by the committee on Wednesday, and is likely to be enacted by August 26th.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011 16:16 +0900 (JST)

An antinuclear group, organized by lawyers, who are themselves organized to sue TEPCO and the government over the Fukushima disaster, held a symposium. The symposium advises the phase out of nuclear power. This is hardly a big surprise result. Needless to say, a fine opportunity for the lawyers to find and meet their target clients.

And another non-surprise news item: apparently an executive with Kyushu Electric was found to have had emails and files destroyed that related to the scandal surrounding the restart of Genkai nuclear plant. I presume he will resign.

This, on the other hand, is an eye-opener as to how large the tsunami really was:

NASA: Japan tsunami broke Antarctic ice
US researchers say the tsunami generated by Japan's March 11th earthquake broke off chunks of an iceberg in Antarctica about 13,000 kilometers away.

US space agency NASA says it's the first ever observation of a tsunami causing Antarctic ice to crack.

NASA says it observed the breaks from the Sulzberger Ice Shelf in images shot from 2 satellites right after the huge quake. Pictures from March 16th show 125 square kilometers of new icebergs floating at sea.

NASA says the waves that reached Antarctica were only 30 centimeters high at most, but that they likely affected the ice shelf because they hit many times. Scientists say the finding underscores the strength of the tsunami in northeastern Japan.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011 11:47 +0900 (JST)

 

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August 11th-

Temperature at bottom head of reactor pressure vessel ( Target: under 100 C )
Unit 1 93.6 C
Unit 2 116.4 C
Unit 3 104.6 C
Despite the problems with the contamination/cooling system, the Unit 2 and Unit 3 temperatures are going slowly down all the time.
TEPCO Status Report, August 11, 3:00 PM JST
Now that the Unit 1 spent fuel pool is being cooled by recirculation, the entire site is in a good way to being under control

- At 10:00 am on August 11, we started transferring of accumulated water from inside the Unit 6 turbine building to temporary tanks.

- At 12: 25 pm on August 11, water treatment facility stopped after the process abnormal alarm was issued due to the water level of the decontamination instrument tank beyond the range measurable by the water level indicator. Later we judged it was a malfunction of the indicator since there was no abnormality such as the leakage. We reactivated it at 12:40 pm using another existing indicator, and then at 12:58 pm resumed the operation of the water treatment.

- At 11:20 am on August 11, as we found a little water leakage in the primary hose of the circulating cooling equipment for the spent fuel pool in the centralized radiation waste treatment facility of Unit 4, we covered and reinforced the leakage part with plastic. We are planning to replace the hose, etc. We have been continuing circulating cooling of the spent fuel pool.

- At 11:22 am on Aug 10, we started cyclic cooling of Spent Fuel Pool of Unit 1 by using alternative cooling system of the Pool's cooling and filtering system.

- At 10:00 am on August 11, we started transferring of accumulated water from inside the Unit 6 turbine building to temporary tanks.

- At 4:22 pm on August 10, as we found some variation in the amount of injected water into the reactor of Unit 3, we adjusted the amount to approx. 9.1 m3/h.

- At 4:47 pm on August 10, we started transferring the accumulated water from the vertical shaft of Unit2 Turbine Building to Centralized Radiation Waste Treatment Facility (Process Main Building). - At 11:00 am on August 9, we resumed transferring the accumulated water in the basement of Unit 6 Turbine Building to the temporary tank. At 5:00 pm on August 10, we finished transferring.

- Around 12:05 pm on August 10, one partner company worker who was mowing on the west side of Centralized Radiation Waste Treatment Facility (outside) was injured by sickle. After the first aid at the sickbay in Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, he was transferred to the J village by ambulance around 1:12 pm. At 2:11 pm he was transferred from J village to the Fukushima Rosai Hospital. His body has no contamination. He has been diagnosed as contused wound of lower right thigh.

Ocean soils; Cesium 137 and 134

If this were under UN control, and the soil was food, 1000 becquerels/kg is considered OK.
The worst numbers:
3 km off Ena, 1400 becquerels/kg of Cs 137
Daiichi south discharge canal 1,700 becquerels/kg
Daiichi north discharge canal 9,600 becquerels /kg
3 km off Iwasawa 630 becquerels/kg
8 km off Iwasawa 870 becquerels/kg
Page 2 has a map showing the distribution
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110811e16.pdf


Nothing found in seawater anywhere, other than in the inner harbor.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110811e16.pdf


With increased accuracy of sampling, you can really see how the concentration of radioactive materials in the air at Fukushima Daiichi has dropped.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110811e6.pdf
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110811e5.pdf
No particles larger than 1 micron in diameter found.

If you're interested in the exact details of the exposure of TEPCO employees and contractors to internal and external sources of radiation, a revised report is here:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110810e18.pdf
Tepco also reports:
Turbines donated by Thailand are now on line

The generous donation of these gas turbines is the result of a longstanding friendship between Thailand and Japan and a cooperative MOU entered into between EGAT and TEPCO in 1998. The turbines have been installed at Kawasaki Thermal Power Station and Ooi Thermal Power Station. As TEPCO in close collaboration with the Japanese Government and through the combined energy-saving efforts of all members of society strives in many ways to stabilize power demand and supply balance, this most considerate gesture of goodwill is highly welcome and greatly appreciated.

And there's a TEPCO Twitter account in Japanese language for rolling blackouts that you can follow
http://www.tepco.co.jp/twitter/index-j.html

• TEPCO has established a means of sampling the liquids and gases in the primary containments at Fukushima Daiichi. Samples have been taken from the containments for reactors 1 and 2. I still haven't seen any data on the analysis of these liquids.
And a major milestone.
NHK news for August 11

Circulatory cooling begins at No.1 reactor pool
The operator of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has switched from a water-injection system to a circulatory cooling system at the plant's Number 1 reactor's spent fuel pool.

Tokyo Electric Power Company put into operation the new system for cooling water in the pool for spent fuel rods on Wednesday.

For the first time since the March 11th disaster, all four damaged reactors at the plant are now using circulatory cooling systems and are on track to stable cooling.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011 21:49 +0900 (JST

And although the performance of the contamination system is not good, the data shows everything cooling nicely, and the second milestone should be met on time, despite the worryworting of NHK in this article.

Filtering system not working well at TEPCO plant
The decontamination of radioactive water at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is failing to reach its target, putting the timetable for bringing its reactors under control in doubt.

Exactly five months have passed since the plant's cooling system was shut down by the earthquake and tsunami disaster on March 11th.

Operator Tokyo Electric Power Company has entered stage two of its timetable to end the nuclear crisis. TEPCO aims to stably cool the reactors by January next year.

Decontaminating thousands of tons of wastewater at the site holds the key.

But failures of the installed filtering system have prevented the utility from achieving its initial operating rate of 90 percent. The figure as of Wednesday stands at 66 percent.

The system has been hit by a string of different malfunctions, though it has been fully operating for more than a month.

The man in charge of nuclear disasters at the Nuclear Safety Commission, Yoshinori Moriyama, said on Wednesday that Tepco must improve the system by pinpointing the common root of problems, rather than addressing them ad hoc.

To complete the second stage, Tepco must reduce the amount of polluted water to prevent radioactive materials from spilling outside. That means it must operate the decontamination system effectively.
Thursday, August 11, 2011 03:18 +0900 (JST)

Not exactly. TEPCO must keep the amount of contaminated water on site getting smaller, and not release any more contaminated water into the ocean or ground water, something it has done despite the performance of the water system.
The government, on the other hand, has not performed as well as TEPCO, and it hasn't had to deal with even a small part of the challenges, either in communications, or in data.

Nuclear commission erases children's exposure data
Japan's nuclear watchdog has been found to have erased from its website, data on the results of thyroid checkups for children in Fukushima Prefecture.

The Nuclear Safety Commission had uploaded the test results carried out by the government in March. More than 1,000 children aged 15 or younger were checked to see whether radioactive substances are accumulating in their thyroid.

The results included information that showed a 4-year-old infant in Iwaki City was exposed to 35 millisieverts of radiation. This amount is not considered a health threat.

But the commission removed all the data earlier this month. It cited the possibility that individual children could be identified because detailed information such as the 4-year-old's address was included.

The deletion is drawing criticism as no other similar data is available on children's health. Children have greater risks of developing thyroid cancer.

Professor emeritus Hirotada Hirose of Tokyo Woman's Christian University says the commission cannot escape blame that it removed the data fearing a negative reaction to children's exposure. He said the move runs counter to providing accurate information to the public.
Thursday, August 11, 2011 10:24 +0900 (JST)

Strictly speaking, the data will be recoverable when the thyroid cancer rate of the children is calculated in five years. However, the data could have been kept with the names and addresses (other than the city) removed.

US military keeping radioactive waste in Futenma
The Okinawa prefectural government has asked the Foreign Ministry to provide information on radioactive waste held at a US base in the prefecture.

The US military carried out an operation to help Japan's northeastern areas that were hit by the earthquake and tsunami in March.

Aircraft and other equipment mobilized in the operation were contaminated by fallout from the ensuing nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Radioactive waste such as cloth and other material used to remove contamination are being kept at the US Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa, as well as at a US naval base in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture.

The Foreign Ministry notified the Okinawa prefectural government about the matter on Wednesday.

The Japanese government is reportedly working on setting standards and guidelines for disposing of radioactive waste

A spokesperson for the US Marines in Okinawa said the US military will properly keep the waste until the Japanese government disposes of it, adding its radiation level is so low that there is no possibility of a leak to the outside..
Thursday, August 11, 2011 11:57 +0900 (JST)

This is good news:

Machinery orders in June rise for 2nd month
Machinery orders in June jumped 7.7 percent from the previous month, marking the 2nd straight month of increase as orders resumed in many industries.

The Cabinet Office said on Thursday that Japan's core private-sector machinery orders excluding those for ships and power plants rose to 789.7 billion yen, or 10-billion dollars.

Following a slump in the aftermath of the March 11 disaster, large gains were seen in the chemical, trucking and postal industries. Orders in the general machinery and steel and iron industries recovered from a slump.

The Cabinet Office upwardly revised its assessment for the first time in 10 months, saying that orders are inclined toward recovery.
Thursday, August 11, 2011 11:41 +0900 (JST)

And this is funny, to my warped sense of humor. When the air conditioning fails, people go back to the caves. It's nice they were able to get cool!!

Tourists enjoy freezing temperatures in a cave
Japanese tourists are flocking to a cave near Mount Fuji to experience near freezing temperatures amid the recent heat wave engulfing the country.

The Narusawa cave in Yamanashi Prefecture was formed when the volcano erupted about 1,200 years ago. It is designated as a natural treasure in Japan.

The temperature inside the 21-meter deep cave is close to zero degrees Celsius even in summer as it is constantly cooled by underground water.

Its management company says the number of tourists this summer is about 20 percent higher than average due to the heat wave. It adds that visitors currently have to wait about 2 hours to go inside.

One of the tourists said the cave was like a whole new world and much cooler than an air-conditioned room. He said he was reminded how hot it was outside when he came out.
Thursday, August 11, 2011 14:54 +0900 (JST)

I'm still bemused by the different effects in public opinion by country of the effects of Fukushima Daiichi:
http://www.ipsos-mori.com/assets/docs/polls/ipsos-global-advisor-nuclear-power-june-2011.pdf
http://www.worldnuclear.org/_news_feature/index.cfm?NN_Flash=0&site=1
Support for new build was lowest in Italy (17 percent), Germany (15 percent), Mexico (13 percent) and Brazil (11 percent).

and
http://www.worldnuclear.org/_news_feature/index.cfm?NN_Flash=0&site=2
Britons Still See Major Role For Nuclear, Says Post-Fukushima Poll
Comment & People

8 Aug (NucNet): The British public sees “a major role” for nuclear power plants as part of a balanced energy mix, according to an opinion poll commissioned by the Nuclear Industry Association (NIA).

The Ipsos-MORI poll comes five months after the events at Fukushima-Daiichi in Japan.

It shows 68 percent of the public support nuclear as part of the UK’s energy mix.

 

[let`s talk]

The current Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency has been abolished and the new Nuclear Regulatory Agency is set up (expected to be officially approved by Monday).

The previous one was under the roof of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, that promotes nuclear energy. The new one is under the roof of the Environment Ministry. They believe it makes the agency more independent. Will see how it will work. :think:

 

[Olympia]

I hope the change means more effective monitoring, Let's Talk.

Doris, that's interesting about the Thai turbines and the switcheroo in the cooling system. Glad it seems to be working so far. It sounds so simple when you say it, but imagine the exertion and flat-out sweat it took to install everything and get it operational! There are hundreds if not thousands of unsung heroes in that place, aren't there.

 

[dorispulaski]

The current Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency has been abolished and the new Nuclear Regulatory Agency is set up (expected to be officially approved by Monday).

The previous one was under the roof of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, that promotes nuclear energy. The new one is under the roof of the Environment Ministry. They believe it makes the agency more independent. Will see how it will work. :think:

Good news that they are making this change quickly, ...I hope it was done well.

I hope the change means more effective monitoring, Let's Talk.

Doris, that's interesting about the Thai turbines and the switcheroo in the cooling system. Glad it seems to be working so far. It sounds so simple when you say it, but imagine the exertion and flat-out sweat it took to install everything and get it operational! There are hundreds if not thousands of unsung heroes in that place, aren't there.

Absolutely!

August 14th:


Reactor temperature are all decreasing slowly.
Water is being transferred to the Megafloat.
The big news, I suppose, is that it is a day without the failure of the contamination system.

I have a house full of guests, but there are several stories in this group from NHK that move me, and that I would like to comment on later, if I have time.

Reactor halts push up thermal plant fuel costs
Japanese power companies are suffering from rising fuel costs for their thermal plants, following shutdowns of nuclear reactors due to the March 11th disaster or regular inspections. Over 70 percent of the country's 54 nuclear reactors are currently out of service.

Costs of oil, natural gas, and other fossil fuels for 10 power companies from April to June rose more than 30 percent from the amount a year earlier to over one trillion yen, or about 13 billion dollars.

Tokyo Electric Power Company has increased operations of its thermal plants to cope with power shortages following the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in March.
The company's fuel costs for the April to June period were over 5.2 billion dollars, marking a 28 percent year-on-year increase.
Tohoku Electric Power Company, covering northeastern Japan, including disaster-hit areas, saw a fuel cost increase of nearly 60 percent. The company has halted all 3 reactors at its Onagawa nuclear plant in Miyagi Prefecture since the disaster.

Fuel costs also rose over 50 percent for Kyushu Electric, covering southwestern Japan. The utility has decided to postpone the restart of 2 reactors after regular inspections at its Genkai nuclear power plant.

Utility companies will have to face further fuel cost increases, as there are no prospects for restarting their halted reactors and fuel prices are still going up.
Sunday, August 14, 2011 02:16 +0900 (JST)

Lost items displayed in tsunami-hit Ishinomaki
People returning home for the Buddhist Bon holidays are looking for their families' belongings in tsunami-hit Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture.

The city has been displaying items washed away by the March 11th tsunami with the help of volunteers since May.

The photo albums, photos, bags and mortuary tablets have been divided up according to the areas where they were found.

People who evacuated to a remote location and those who returned home for the Bon holidays visited the venue on Sunday.

They looked closely at the photos that were partially covered by mold or looked for names on the bags, as they tried to find items belonging to their relatives or friends.

A woman in her 60's living in Saitama Prefecture and her younger sister in her 50's living in Tokyo found 3 pictures of their father who was killed in the tsunami.

They said they wanted to find a memento of their father, as his house and belongings were all washed away.

They said they were glad they had found photos of their father who seems to be looking at them.
Sunday, August 14, 2011 22:51 +0900 (JST)

Radioactive impact on wheat may be small
Researchers in Japan have found that wheat absorbs a relatively small amount of radioactive cesium from its roots, and the impact of the substance on wheat grain may be small.

The scientists at the University of Tokyo have been conducting research since immediately after the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, jointly with Fukushima Prefecture, to study the impact of radioactive substances on farm products.

They found 280,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilograms in wheat leaves which had grown before the disaster and were exposed to the radiation from Fukushima. Meanwhile wheat grain which grew afterwards showed about 300 bequerels of cesium, or about one 1,000th of the cesium found in leaves.

The scientists believe wheat absorbs only a small amount of radioactive cesium through its roots.

They believe the substance does not migrate from leaves to the grain, the edible part, which makes the impact small.

They also measured the distribution of radioactive cesium in rice paddies in Fukushima prefecture by collecting soil at 5 centimeter increments from the surface.

96 percent of the cesium was found at the 5 centimeter level from the surface.

The scientists will continue the research as they believe the impact of the radioactive cesium can be reduced significantly by removing the top soil.

Professor Sho Shiozawa of the University of Tokyo says he hopes to help revive the agriculture of Fukushima Prefecture by showing the actual impact level of radioactive materials on rice paddies and farming activities.
Sunday, August 14, 2011 11:20 +0900 (JST)

Radiation effect on children's thyroid glands
A survey shows that a small amount of radioactive iodine has been detected in the thyroid glands of hundreds of children in Fukushima Prefecture.

The result was reported to a meeting of the Japan Pediatric Society in Tokyo on Saturday.

A group of researchers led by Hiroshima University professor Satoshi Tashiro tested 1,149 children in the prefecture for radiation in their thyroid glands in March following the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Radioactive iodine was detected in about half of the children.

Tashiro says radiation in thyroid glands exceeding 100 millisieverts poses a threat to humans, but that the highest level in the survey was 35 millisieverts.

Tashiro says based on the result, it is unlikely that thyroid cancer will increase in the future, but that health checks must continue to prepare for any eventuality.
Sunday, August 14, 2011 02:16 +0900 (JST)

Bon Holiday in disaster-hit area
The four-day Bon period began in Japan on Saturday, during which Buddhists honor the spirits of their ancestors and deceased family members.

In cemeteries across Japan, families are offering flowers, sake, and silent prayers for their ancestors.

In the Tohoku region, the scars of the March 11th disaster are still overwhelming.

At a cemetery in Fukushima Prefecture, most of the tombstones were hit by the tsunami, and still haven't been moved back into place.

In Iwate Prefecture, priests at a temple which was washed away by the tsunami resumed holding funeral services in a temporary building.

A priest at the temple rented a lot on higher ground early this month and built the temporary hall.
And now they can hold funeral services for victims of the disaster.
Sunday, August 14, 2011 06:01 +0900 (JST)


http://images.smh.com.au/2009/09/10/724144/Gujo-Odori-Festival-Japan-420x0.jpg
Gujo dance festival comes to a climax
A traditional summer dance festival has reached its climax in the city of Gujo in central Japan.
Thousands danced all through the hot summer night.

The Gujo Odori festival dates back about 400 years.
It is held every year from July to September in an old town in the mountains of Gifu Prefecture. The festival is designated as an "Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property" by the national government.

The highlight is 4 consecutive nights of all-night dancing, which began on Saturday.

68,000 locals and tourists, including foreigners, gathered for the festival. People wearing yukata, a cotton kimono, danced to the music of Japanese flutes and drums.

Organizers expect about 200-thousand people will come to the festival.
Sunday, August 14, 2011 02:16 +0900 (JST)

 

[Olympia]

Thanks, Doris.

I'm a great believer in the power of photographs. They're like time machines to me. We weren't much of a picture-taking family, but I treasure photos of Mom and her siblings when they were all kids. I know how devastating it is to lose the faces of loved ones. It must be a comfort out of proportion to the size of the photos for those two ladies to have located their father's pictures.

Distressing to hear about the iodine, and I hope the statisticians are right that the amounts are all below the danger mark in the kids.

Enjoy your guests! Hope you're having better weather than we are.

 

[let`s talk]

Not only priests and temples are coming back to life. Average peope are coming back to normal too! One of my Canadian friends who live in Sendai had to postpone their vacations after the quake, and they couldn't join me for the Worlds too. But now they booked the trip to Belgium/ Holland in November. I am happy for them. And jealous, in a good way. Because no way I can get out of my job in November. Bon voyage, folks!

 

[dorispulaski]

Not only priests and temples are coming back to life. Average peope are coming back to normal too! One of my Canadian friends who live in Sendai had to postpone their vacations after the quake, and they couldn't join me for the Worlds too. But now they booked the trip to Belgium/ Holland in November. I am happy for them. And jealous, in a good way. Because no way I can get out of my job in November. Bon voyage, folks!

That is good news, indeed.

Meanwhile, recent NHK news:

Apparently, according to NHK, the message is that US & French made items will clearly be inferior, just because. However, the new SARRI system was built specifically to spec, rather than being cobbled together quickly to get something going, as the AREVA solution was. And learning has been incorporated into SARRI from the TEPCO experience with the Areva system.

However, two systems running simultaneously have got to be better, even if neither has the very best up-time statistics

TEPCO tests Japan-made decontamination unit


Tokyo Electric Power Company is conducting a trial run of a Japan-built water decontamination unit at its troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

TEPCO started testing the performance of the new equipment shortly past noon on Tuesday.

The domestic-made unit uses 14 cylindrical tanks, each 3.5 meters high and 1.4 meters across, that contain minerals to absorb radioactive materials.

The utility plans to continue the trial until Wednesday night, before starting full-fledged operations.

Since late June, TEPCO has been decontaminating highly radioactive wastewater from the reactors and then injecting the cleaned water back into the reactors to cool them.

But the decontamination system --- the key part of the water circulation process --- has been plagued with trouble and its foreign-made components have repeatedly stopped operating. TEPCO says it has been running at 66 percent of capacity, failing to meet the initial target of 90 percent.

The power company hopes the new, Japan-built decontamination unit will help achieve stable circulation for cooling.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011 16:50 +0900 (JST)

and this is an excellent move. You will remember that for quite some time, salt water was used to cool the spent fuel pools

TEPCO to use desalinating devices in pools
Tokyo Electric Power Company is planning to use devices to remove salt from spent nuclear fuel pools at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The operator fears that saltwater used to cool reactors 2 - 4 after the March 11 disaster could corrode stainless steel pipes and pool walls.

The new devices will arrive on 5 trucks and use special membranes and electricity to desalinate water.

TEPCO plans to first use the machinery by the end of this week at the number 4 reactor, which contains the most spent fuel. The concentration of salt is expected to be reduced by 96 percent in 2 months.

It will then follow up in reactors 2 and 3.

Water temperatures at all 4 reactor pools have been relatively stable since the installation of a circulating cooling system was completed on August 10th.

Reactor facilities to purify wastewater have all been equipped with desalinating filters.

Another device that uses the mineral, zeolite, to remove radioactive substances from circulating water has been installed in the cooling system of the number 2 to 4 reactors.

Through such measures, TEPCO hopes to stably operate the plant over the long-term until all the spent fuel is removed.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011 12:23 +0900 (JST)

In the better late than never category. What was Hosono's group doing before this?

Govt to compile decontamination plan
The Japanese government says it will prepare by the end of August a basic plan for decontaminating areas near the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Monday asked the nuclear crisis minister, Goshi Hosono, to begin compiling the steps that must be taken.

The government is planning to lift the designation soon of the zone extending from 20 to 30 kilometers away from the nuclear plant where residents have been told they must evacuate in the event of another emergency.

The measure would allow the return of some people who have left voluntarily, although worries about radiation persist among the affected communities.

The government plans to ease such concerns by adding more manpower to a taskforce in charge of decontamination. The basic plan could also call for closer analyses of contaminated crops and plants to find out whether the radiation came from the air or soil.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011 09:46 +0900 (JST)

let's talk reported this before it became available on the English version of NHK:

Cabinet endorses plans for new nuclear watchdog
The Japanese government has endorsed a plan to set up a new nuclear safety agency under the Environment Ministry.

The plan approved by the Cabinet on Monday is aimed at separating regulatory functions from the industry ministry, which promotes nuclear energy.

The move is part of the government's efforts to improve nuclear administration in the wake of the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

The new agency will take over the functions of the current nuclear regulator, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.

It will also be responsible for the advisory functions of the Cabinet Office's Nuclear Safety Commission, and the radiation monitoring undertaken by the science ministry.

The new agency will oversee safety management at nuclear plants, check if regular inspections are being carried out appropriately, and take charge of initial responses in the event of nuclear accidents.

The government will create the new nuclear safety agency under the Environment Ministry to ensure that it will not have any ties with the power industry.

The current nuclear regulator, under the industry ministry, has been criticized for trying to influence public symposiums in favor of nuclear energy promotion.

The government plans to submit bills to the Diet early next year and launch the new agency in April.
Monday, August 15, 2011 12:15 +0900 (JST)

And the IAEA will evidently be checking up on the new regulator, if it follows it's proposed plan:

IAEA seeks regular checks of nuclear regulators

In the wake of criticism of Japan's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency will seek regular checkups of nuclear regulators in member nations. The agency made the plan public on Monday.

The IAEA met in Vienna in June following the Fukushima Daiichi accident, and agreed to improve the response to nuclear crises and ensure the safety of nuclear power.

The IAEA worked out the new plan as part of such efforts and presented it to member countries.

The plan outlines a series of measures in 10 areas. These include assessments of safety measures taken by nuclear regulators every 10 years, and if necessary additional checkups in 3 years.

The draft also proposes the IAEA organize an independent group of experts to regularly assess nuclear reactor designs and measures to cope with critical nuclear accidents.

The plan is said to include proposals made by IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano at the June meeting.

The draft will be submitted to the IAEA general assembly in September after member states study it.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011 11:41 +0900 (JST)

And Somebody is getting rich!! I knew it would happen! Just as in Ukraine post-Chernobyl, the demand for new monitoring devices is being met by new businesses and products.

Japanese firms developing radiation checking devices
Japanese businesses are developing devices to gauge levels of radioactive substances in food to meet the needs of municipalities and food makers.

The move is prompted by recent news that contaminated meat was shipped from cattle suspected of having been fed rice straw containing radioactive materials.

Medical equipment maker, Hitachi Aloka Medical, has developed a device with a lead container, which almost completely blocks radioactivity. The device can measure amounts of radioactive elements in samples in about 10 minutes. The company says the measuring time can be shortened significantly by reducing the number of radioactive materials selected for scanning. The firm has already received around 200 orders for the equipment.

Another company, Fuji Electric, has developed a machine that can measure radioactive substances in products packed in containers such as cardboard boxes. The machine quickly displays whether or not products contain radioactive elements exceeding pre-set levels.

Demand for these devices is expected to rise as an increasing number of municipalities and food makers are gearing up to test products for radioactive materials.

Hitachi Aloka Medical Managing Director Shohei Matsubara says his company is currently unable to keep up with the demand for its radiation checking device.

He adds that his firm wants to develop products that meet the needs of society.
Monday, August 15, 2011 05:47 +0900 (JST)

and government may accept responsibility to help clean things up. However, if TEPCO goes bankrupt, there appears to be no mechanism for paying for the cleanup included in the bill.

Radioactive debris disposal bill to be submitted to Diet
Japan's main ruling and opposition parties have compiled a bill stating that the government will be responsible for cleaning up the fallout from the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The Democratic and opposition Liberal Democratic and New Komeito parties will submit the bill to the Diet this week, and aim to have it passed by the end of the current session on August 31st.

The bill calls on the government to collect and dispose of debris contaminated with high levels of radiation in the no-entry zone and areas near the troubled nuclear plant.

It also says the government will deal with debris whose radioactivity levels exceed pre-determined standards, regardless of where it is found.

The parties also propose that the government should oversee the decontamination of soil in areas where contamination is serious. The draft includes provisions that would allow the national and local governments to demand payment for the clean-up from Tokyo Electric Power Company, the operator of the disabled nuclear plant.
Monday, August 15, 2011 10:16 +0900 (JST)

Cesium levels down in seawater near reactors 2, 3
The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says the density of radioactive cesium in seawater near the water intakes of the No.2 and 3 reactors was down on Saturday to about one tenth of the levels detected on the previous day.

Tokyo Electric Power Company monitors the concentration of radioactive substances in seawater near the water intakes of the plant and offshore.

Seawater collected near the water intake of the No.2 reactor on Saturday was found to contain 0.058 [per cm3] becquerels of cesium-134, or 0.97 times the government-set safety limit. It also contained 0.056 becquerels of cesium-137 [per cm3], or 0.62 times the limit. Both figures were around one tenth of the level found on the previous day.

In April, the level of cesium-137 in seawater near the water intake of the No.2 reactor was found to be 1.1 million times the safety limit. Since then, the density of the radioactive element has been declining, and recently it has fallen below the limit sometimes.

Seawater sampled near the water intake of the No.3 reactor on Saturday was found to contain 0.087 becquerels[per cm3] of cesium-134, or 1.5 times the safety limit. It also contained 0.09 becquerels [per cm3] of cesium-137, or about the same as the limit. Both figures were less than one tenth of the level found on the previous day.

Seawater taken from 6 spots offshore was found to contain no radioactive materials.
Monday, August 15, 2011 05:47 +0900 (JST)

Somehow this doesn't surprise me as much as being able to film the tsunami breaking off icebergs in Antarctica, but it's still impressive.

[/b]80m-long fissure found in seabed off Sanriku[/b]

A Japanese research vessel has confirmed a new 80-meter long fissure beneath the sea at the focus of the massive earthquake that hit northeastern Japan on March 11th.

The Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology released on Monday video and photos of the seabed off the Sanriku coast taken from the agency's manned submarine, the Shinkai 6500, between July 30th and August 14th.

Some of the footage, shot 150 kilometers north-northeast from the quake focus some 5,350 meters below the ocean surface, shows a fissure about one meter wide and one meter deep, extending for 80 meters, north to south.

A number of other new fissures and unleveled seafloors have also been found, including a 20-centimeter-wide fissure running for dozens of meters. It is located at a depth of 3,200 meters, about 90 kilometers north-northeast of the quake's focus.

Researchers say methane gas may be spewing out of the seafloor, as bacteria and other forms of life were found multiplying inside the fissures.

A senior researcher at the agency, Katsunori Fujikura, says the latest data sheds light on the earthquake's giant energy. He said scientists will analyze the information further to learn about the various phenomena triggered by the jolt.

.
Monday, August 15, 2011 22:21 +0900 (JST)

 

[dorispulaski]

August 16th 3:00 PM TEPCO Status report


Temperature at the Reactors. Goal is under 100 C.

Unit 1 92.6 C

Unit 2 115.4 C

Unit 3 103.6 C


Daiichi radiation count August 16th,

Eight peripheral points ( 5, 23, 14, 13, 16, 37, 110, 89 ) MicroSieverts per hour



Daini radiation count

Seven peripheral points ( 1.9, 1.3, 1.8, 1.7, 1.5, 1.0, 1.1 ) MicroSieverts per hour

Main Office Building 311 microSieverts per hour
Main Gate 32 microSieverts per hour
West Gate 12 microSieverts per hour

From 4:47 pm on August 10 to 11:43 am on August 16, we transferred accumulated water at Unit 2 turbine building to Centralized Radiation Waste Treatment Facility.

-From 11:00 am on August 15 to 9:00 am on August 16, we transferred accumulated water at Unit 6 turbine building to temporary tanks.

-At 12:04 pm on August 16, we stopped the operation of water treatment facility for the combined test of existing facilities and the second cesium adsorption equipment [SARRI] which was additionally installed.

The reverse osmosis desalination system that has been installed on the spent fuel pool of Reactor 4:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/images/handouts_110816_01-e.pdf

 

[dorispulaski]

Some news from various places August 17th

Despite doom saying, the floods are receding at Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, USA:


http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/15/us-nebraska-nuclear-plant-idUSTRE77E4EX20110815

(Reuters) - About 120 Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station employees moved back into the flooded plant's administration building on Monday.
The plant, which was idled April 9 for routine refueling and maintenance, remained shut down this summer after Missouri River floodwater spread across the riverside site near Blair, Nebraska, in June.
The river has dropped about two feet since its crest, allowing workers to dismantle elevated walkways and parking lots to reopen at the 478-megawatt plant.
The river was more than four feet above flood stage Monday at Blair. It is expected to be back in its banks in September.
Omaha Public Power District, which operates the plant, has sent plans for restarting the reactor to the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Again the government has to decide what level of sludge requires what treatment. It has to put together a plan, something it has been unable to agree upon for almost any radiation related matter for more than 2 days in a row.

Radioactive sludge piling up

Radioactive sludge from sewage facilities across Japan has been piling up in storage facilities, despite the government's plan to bury it.

NHK asked local governments in 17 prefectures in northeastern to central Japan how they are coping with sludge that's been contaminated by radioactive material from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Contaminated sludge from sewage facilities now totals more than 54,400 tons. 75 percent of it contains less than 8,000 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive cesium, the government-set limit for disposal by burial.

Despite this, some 27,700 tons of sludge --- 51 percent of the total --- remains in storage at water treatment plants.
Local governments say some burial projects have been rejected by residents near proposed sites.

In addition, 7 storage facilities in 4 prefectures have had to set up "no entry zones" where radiation levels have gotten too high.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011 22:51 +0900 (JST)

When the teachers haven't studied the subject, and it hasn't been taught in schools for 30 years, it's no surprise that discussion and training of teachers is needed.

Science teachers to cover radiation in class
Science teachers of Japanese junior high schools have discussed how to teach about radiation before the subject becomes compulsory from the next school year.

Japan's education ministry requires in its new curriculum guidelines that radiation be covered in junior high science classes starting in April. This is the first time in 30 years for the ministry to set such a requirement.

About 150 science teachers from schools in Tokyo attended a seminar on Monday.

An expert at the meeting explained features of radiation, how it is put to practical use, and its impact on the human body. The lecturer said it's important to have accurate knowledge about radiation rather than unduly fear it.

The participants then conducted an experiment in which traces of radiation were visualized by using a radioactive mineral ore and dry ice. In another experiment, the participants measured radiation levels in paints and rocks.

The teachers concluded the seminar by discussing how to teach about radiation in class. One participant said he should tell students about the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, but added that there's a lot he still doesn't know about the issue.

A 28-year-old teacher said she didn't study radiation in school and that she wants to learn about it before teaching the subject.
Tuesday, August 16, 2011 22:51 +0900 (JST)

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/pdf/energy/final_report_d16322_2011-08-02.pdf

Since Andrew Cuomo has been elected governor in New York state, he has been working to close the Indian Point nuclear power plant. It's not clear whether he can do this legally, and the Vermont vs Entergy case will be on point. The Department of Environmental protection in NY has produced the above report on the effect closing Indian Point would have on the state. It is 104 pages long.

It predicts more pollutions, grid instabilities, higher electricity costs, and subsidies for new plants needed from the state.

 

[dorispulaski]

And the August 18th edition of NHK news:


This is good news. The SARRY system is up and working. Two units are definitely better than one.

Japan-made decontamination unit begins operation

Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, has begun operation of a new Japan-made decontamination unit at its troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Full-fledged operations began Thursday afternoon following a two-day test run.

The new unit consists of 14 cylindrical tanks containing a mineral called zeolite, which absorbs cesium and other radioactive substances.

Cleaning radioactive water from reactors in a stable manner is among the most urgent issues to bring the ongoing nuclear accident under control. The decontaminated water is injected back into the reactors to cool them.

The existing decontamination system has been plagued with trouble, and its foreign-made components have repeatedly failed. This has brought the system's operating rate down to 69 percent, far below the initial target of 90 percent.

TEPCO plans to use the existing system along with the new one. The utility hopes the new unit will help achieve stable circulatory cooling of the reactors.
Thursday, August 18, 2011 12:41 +0900 (JST)

This article is kind of a mess, but I hope the basic assertion that things are hugely better than July is true.
One never knows whether the problems are with the reporter, the translator, the government and/or TEPCO.

The article uses interchangeably the emission of radioactive materials and radiation measurements, which are not the same thing. What I think they mean is emission of radioactive materials, since the Becquerel is a unit of quantity of radioactive materials in terms of the number of decays per second measured. I am guessing that what the basic measurement is is of material emitted from the reactors as measured directly over the roof of the reactors with the robot helicopter, or with gauges hanging off a crane. Both methods have been used in the past.

Also, there is a quote from "experts" about what it will take for the government to allow people back into the evacuation zone, which is then followed by a statement that the government will figure out what it will take next month. It annoys me that the identity of the "experts" is not given, but NHK does this quite a bit. Strictly speaking, all it takes for a government to do anything is to make a declaration. I presume the "experts" are perhaps political insiders in this case? Certainly previous information has not required as extensive a cleanup at the plant itself to be complete before repatriation as these experts are saying, because estimates in that case would be in the order of 10 years before people could go home.

Radioactivity down to one-fifth of July levels

The Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company say the amount of radioactive material being emitted from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has dropped to one-fifth that of a month ago.

The government and TEPCO said on Wednesday that [sic] maximum radiation levels around [ ETA should be maximum amount of radioactive material emitted from] the plant during the past 2 weeks were 200 million becquerels per hour.

This is one-fifth the levels detected in July, and one-10 millionth the levels in mid-March, shortly after the troubles began at the plant.

The state minister in charge of the nuclear crisis, Goshi Hosono, said the maximum reading of 200 million becquerels is just an estimate because the exact emission levels cannot be accurately measured. He pledged to seek methods for making precise measurements and for containing radioactivity inside the plant.

The government and TEPCO said there is no major change in their timetable for bringing the plant under control, and that their goal continues to be to achieve cold shutdown of the reactors while processing contaminated wastewater and reducing radioactive emissions.

The government said it will draw up a plan for decontaminating the current evacuation zone by the end of August, and it will launch a model decontamination project early next month. Experts say that before the government allows residents to return to the evacuation zone, it will be necessary to prevent new leakage of radioactive material, as well as decontaminate material already leaked and dispose of mud and sludge generated by the decontamination process.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 22:23 +0900 (JST)

Just saying, but any country as committed to nuclear energy as Japan was in the past owes it to itself to have more information on radiation included in the high school science curriculum. The US fails on this count as well. It's clear that in neither country does the populace have the basic information to understand what their risks are, and are not. Worse, other than confusing units, the information and concepts are not that difficult. After all, they teach relativity in high school, which is much more mind bending than basic radiation education.

Govt, TEPCO to train radiation experts
The government and the operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant plan to secure more experts on radiation management by training existing employees and new recruits.

The government and Tokyo Electric power Company recently reviewed a 2-stage plan to bring the nuclear plant under control.

The first stage of the plan to achieve stable cooling of the reactors was completed on schedule in July. The utility and the government are now tackling the 2nd stage, which aims to implement cold shutdown of the reactors by January.

But concern is growing that an increasing number of workers could be exposed to unsafe levels of radiation during the work.

The government will train 250 workers in radiation measurement and control techniques. A system to hire more workers will also be introduced through relevant industrial bodies.

Keeping workers safe from excessive exposure to radiation will remain a pressing issue as work to decommission the reactors is expected to take years.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 12:13 +0900 (JST)

I don't know whose concern is growing? Presumably that of untrained people? If you look at the data provided by TEPCO, it is the people who were at the plant in March who had the highest total exposure.
Another month, another apology

Fukushima plant chief apologizes over the accident
The head of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station has apologized for the nuclear accident at his plant.

The operator of the plant, Tokyo Electric Power Company, released footage of workers at the facility on Wednesday, exactly one month after the utility entered stage 2 of its timetable toward ending the nuclear crisis.

The plant chief, Masao Yoshida, apologized to all Japanese people for causing the trouble, and said that with the help from people in Japan and from around the world, his plant has cleared the first stage of the timetable.

Yoshida said efforts are being made to achieve the goals required for the second stage so that evacuees will be able to return home as soon as possible.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 22:26 +0900 (JST)

It has been stated before that completing the second stage would be sufficient for evacuees to be able to return home. However, strictly speaking, the government has not gotten its act together on this, and says in an article above that next month they will have a plan together. And yet the government agreed to the TEPCO plan, and the TEPCO included the basic assumption that the completion of stage 2 was all that was needed for evacuees to return home.

Furthermore, the government has said that no reactors would resume operation until they had defined and administered a stress test, and yet a reactor has just been restarted. Again, what appears to be current procedure is that NISA conducts tests, and the prefecture grants official approval; then the reactor resumes operation. And no definition of the stress test has been published.

Hokkaido nuclear reactor resumes operation

A nuclear reactor in Hokkaido has become the first in Japan to resume commercial operations since the March 11th disaster.

The Number 3 reactor at the Tomari nuclear power plant had been in test-run mode for 5 months following a routine checkup. Test runs usually last about a month.

The government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency carried out final inspections on the reactor last week, opening the way for the resumption of commercial operations. But the Hokkaido prefectural government had criticized the plant's operator, Hokkaido Electric Power Company, for conducting final tests on the reactor before it had reached its own decision about the restart. Following Governor Harumi Takahashi's granting of official approval on Wednesday, the nuclear safety agency issued a certificate to the utility..

39 of Japan's 54 nuclear reactors are out of operation due to inspections or other reasons. The government has ordered all of them to undergo stress tests before they can be restarted.

The Tomari reactor had been generating electricity before the March 11th tsunami and accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 22:23 +0900 (JST)

Apparently there is some fruit coming out of government investigations.

Cooling stoppage unknown to plant chief

Government investigators have found that the chief of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant did not know that a backup cooling system for one of the plant's reactors was manually shut down on March 11th, the day of the quake and tsunami.

The investigators learned that Masao Yoshida was unaware that a worker stopped the system to prevent it from being damaged. The worker told the investigators that the system appeared to be operating at boiling temperature but was not producing steam.

Yoshida reportedly said it was a major error that he and other leaders did not immediately know such important safety information.

The plant's operator, TEPCO, says a fuel meltdown took place at the reactor 5 hours after the quake, generating large amounts of hydrogen that caused an explosion on the following day.

University of Tokyo Professor Koji Okamoto said the reactor lost all cooling functions due to the stoppage, and that the reactor's core should have been cooled by all possible means.

Okamoto said the failure of communication may have worsened the situation by delaying orders for water injections and government evacuations of nearby residents.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 22:20 +0900 (JST)

It's a fact that communications were much impaired on March 11th. Major disasters will do that to you. On the other hand, I find this next article hard to believe, just as hard as I find it to believe US government assertions that no one could have predicted that a plane might fly into the World Trade Center prior to September 11th, or that there might be trouble with the levees in New Orleans, if a Category 3 hurricane hit there, prior to Hurricane Katrina.

Hydrogen explosion was the major issue at Three Mile Island. The TMI reactor was the same model as the Unit 1 reactor. It seems very unlikely that any nuclear professional would be unaware of the risk of a hydrogen explosion. However, the report is ambiguous, and they may be referring to the explosion that happened in the Unit 4 spent fuel pool area. The possibility of the other 3 explosions were definitely predictable to anyone in the field.

TEPCO never expected hydrogen explosions: report

A government investigation has found that no one at the utility operating the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant had expected hydrogen explosions to occur at the plant.

The committee investigating the accident has been hearing the testimony of officials from government and the utility, the Tokyo Electric Power Company.

It has learned that Tokyo Electric officials discussed the hydrogen explosion that occurred at the No. 1 reactor building on March 12th, one day after the quake and tsunami.

The utility officials said nobody had expected such an explosion, and that attention was focused on the state of the reactors' cores and containment vessels.

They said they discussed ways to prevent similar explosions after the blast. But they were unable to implement them due to high levels of radiation at the site resulting in a 2nd explosion at the No. 3 reactor building on March 14th.

The reactors were deprived of their cooling functions after the quake and tsunami, causing damage to the reactor cores. It is believed this caused a massive buildup of hydrogen in the containment vessels resulting in the explosions.

TEPCO officials say they were aware that a core meltdown could cause a hydrogen explosion, but had never considered the possibility of a blast outside a reactor.

This finding exposes the utility's underestimation of the potential dangers at the plant.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011 13:36 +0900 (JST)

And it appears Prime Minister Kan will indeed be stepping down this month, as promised.

DPJ presidential election to be held in late Aug.

The Secretary General of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan, Katsuya Okada, has indicated that he wants the DPJ presidential election to take place sometime between August 28th and 30th.

The DPJ executives met on Wednesday. They agreed to leave the decision on when to hold the party's presidential election up to Okada and Prime Minister Naoto Kan, who doubles as DPJ President.

The winner of the vote will almost certainly become next prime minister after elected by the Diet.

During the meeting, Okada said the passage of a bill to promote renewable energy, one of the 3 conditions cited by Kan for his resignation, is likely to happen on August 26th.

Okada added he hopes the Diet will elect the next prime minister during the current session which ends on August 31st.

Another party executive said the upcoming presidential race should be held only after sufficient time has been taken by the party to prepare as the winner will become the next prime minister.

So far, Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda and former land minister Sumio Mabuchi have announced their intentions to run in the election.
Thursday, August 18, 2011 02:25 +0900 (JST)

 

[Olympia]

Yipes, Kan might step down? Wow.

As for the preparedness thing, you're probably right about all three. The Sept. 11 one is hardest for me to evaluate, though it certainly seems as though some people were onto something and weren't able (for whatever reason) to put things together with other clued-in people. I can't distance myself enough from that tragedy to think clearly about it. I get so angry about what we all could have been spared if the right people had been awake.

The New Orleans situation--well, when a major city with a dense population is that far below sea level and the levees have not been properly maintained, what mystery is there about the possibility of such a flood? Not unprecedented, either: that song they were singing about "six feet of water in the streets of Evangeline" was written about the 1926 flood. 9On that subject, I've noticed how shocked some people are when informed that Katrina was only a category 3 storm, not a 4 or 5.)

The Three Mile Island connection I take on your say-so. All this was unknown to me before, but as you've been explaining it, it seems that this should have been anticipated as a possibility, even more so in a geographically vulnerable area.

 

[dorispulaski]

TEPCO August Progress Report

Here is the video that was issued with the report, including the site manager's apology to Fukushima. It shows the progress they are making, too. The SARRY system, the desalination system, the beginning of the cover for Unit 1, the dormitories, the medical station, and the suiting up procedure for workers are all shown. It is definitely worth a look.

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/news/110311/images/110817e.wmv
]

TEPCO issued its monthly progress report on executing its plan to stabilize and decontaminate Fukushima Daiichi.


http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/11081703-e.html



Here's the Summary file
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110817e1.pdf

There is a graph in the summary showing the water level in the Unit 2 & Unit 3 Turbine Buildings as a function of date. The amount is generally decreasing, so that the distance the water would have to rise before overflow is larger; currently 3500 mm in Unit 2 and 3600 mm in Unit 3. Overflow occurs at 4000 mm.

Another graph shows that about 45,000 metric tons of water have been processed to date. Availability for the water system was 77% last week (not great, but improving).

All four spent fuel pools are now finished, including shoring up the Unit 4 spent fuel pool to be more earthquake resistant.

Dormitories planned for 1600 people are partially complete. 1200 workers are currently living there. 16 rest stations, planned for the use of 1200 workers, are complete and in use.

Six whole body radiation counters are in use; more are planned.

They are searching for, and planning to train, more workers in affiliated companies, searching through JAIF.

They still must complete the temporary enclosures of the Units 1 through 4.

They must complete the underground water shielding walls.

And they must finish the decontamination of the site.