Japanese Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Reactors

[dorispulaski]

September 1st, 6 AM EDT Report:

Reactor temperatures at Fukushima Daiichi as of September 1, 11:00 AM JST
Goal for the second milestone, cold shutdown, is under 100 C at the Reactor Pressure Vessel Bottom Head:
Unit One 87.8 C
Unit Two 113.1 C
Unit Three 109.8 C

Radiation counts at Fukushima Daiichi, September 1st, 11:00 AM JST
Eight peripheral measurement points ( 5, 21, 13, 12, 15, 35, 103, 80) millisieverts per hour
Main Office Building 305 millisieverts per hour
Main Gate 31 millisieverts per hour
West Gate 12 millisieverts per hour

TEPCO Status Reports for August 31 and September 1

* At 9:35 am on August 31, we implemented the drainage work of spent vessels at the temporary storage area for spent vessels for the water treatment system. When workers, who assumed the valve was closed, dismantled the hose, water from the tank and the hose scattered towards two (2) workers from one of our affiliated companies. High-level radiation dose was confirmed by measuring the radiation of the filters of the mask worn by the workers. On the other hand, internal exposure was not confirmed according to the results per the whole body counter.

At 10:00 am on September 1, we started transferring accumulated water from the turbine building of Unit 6 to a temporary tank.

* At around 3:00 pm on August 31, we confirmed water leakage near the sludge transfer pump (B) for the coagulation settling instruments inside the water treatment system (decontamination instruments). We bypassed a part of the coagulation setting instruments and segregated the pump's surroundings, then the leakage stopped. The treatment of the accumulated water is continuing.

-At 2:00 pm on August 31, we finished commissioning and started full operation of three evaporative concentration apparatuses which we had additionally installed in water treatment facility in order to generate fresh water from condensed seawater generated in water desalination facility.

*At 6:56 pm on August 30, as we confirmed that the rate of water injection to the reactor of Unit 2 dropped, we adjusted the rate to approx. 3.8㎥/h.

A report with pictures of the process is here:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/images/handouts_110831_02-e.pdf

*In order to modify the software, at 3:32 am on August 30, we stopped the evaporative concentration apparatus 2A. At 4:16 am, we stopped the evaporative concentration apparatus 2B. After that, at 7:09 am on the same day, we stopped the desalination facility (RO) 1A. At 7:16 am, we stopped the desalination facility (RO) 2. We started the desalination facility (RO) 1A at 12:28 pm, and the desalination facility (RO) 2 at 12:42 pm on the same day. We started the evaporative concentration apparatus 2B at 3:44 pm and the evaporative concentration apparatus 2A at 4:34 pm on the same day,

TEPCO reports that it is considering building further seawalls to prevent contamination of the ocean.

We have been considering water shield walls to prevent further seawater contamination by underground water, and plan to start construction during the Step 2 period, as we announced in the press release "Pre-installment of Water Shield Wall at the Seaside" on August 1, 2011. We announce that we have put together the basic design of water shield walls to prevent further seawater contamination by underground water. We will conduct further study and plan to start construction during the Step 2 period. Attachment: Basic Design of Water Shield Wall at the Seaside (to be posted) *English translations of the reports and the appendixes are now being developed and it takes a while to complete them. We will post the translations one by one when it is prepared. (The documents written in Japanese below will be replaced by English translations.) We apologize for this inconvenience caused.

Here is the untranslated report. The pictures at the bottom of the report show the proposed shield walls.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/cc/press/betu11_j/images/110831i.pdf

And they have been collecting radioactive dust in reactors one and two and having them analyzed:
Reactor one upper level: Radioactive material levels in dust about what was found at the West Gate a month or two ago, depending on where samples were taken, and in one spot 10x higher than that. Reactor two levels are 50x higher, but are just within the limit at which you can allow workers in. (75% of the allowed amount of dust in the air).
Unit one
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/images/handouts_110830_06-e.pdf
Unit two
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/images/handouts_110830_06-e.pdf

Also, they have been investigating the cause of the leak in the new recirculating cooling system at Reactor Four's spent fuel pool.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/images/handouts_110901_03-e.pdf
Following SEM analysis, they feel the leak was due to a weld failing due to the corrosive effects of highly saline water. Corrosion was not found on the bellows. They believe the primary cause was the high salinity and high temperature of the Unit 4 spent fuel pool at the start of cooling. Due to the fact that Unit 3's pool is colder (under 40 C vs. 80C at Unit 4), and its salinity much lower ( 20 ppm vs. 2000 ppm in Unit 4), they believe that a core spray system installed on Unit 3 will not show a similar problem. They will begin injecting water to Unit 3's spent fuel pool via a core spray system on September 1.

The report shows the SEM photographs of the failing weld and the bellows.

Fukushima DAINI

*At 11:53 am on August 31, we completed restoring and started operating Unit 3 emergency diesel generator (A).

NHK Reports

Ban Ki-moon sends letter to Noda

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has invited Japan's new Prime Minister to a summit meeting on nuclear power in New York later this month.

UN sources said Ban sent a letter to Yoshihiko Noda and congratulated him on his new post. Ban expressed hopes that Noda will show leadership in reconstructing the regions hit by the March 11th disaster.

The UN Secretary General also urged the Japanese government to actively take part in UN peacekeeping missions. He said Japan's role is indispensable.

Ban will host a meeting to discuss nuclear power in New York on September 22nd while world leaders are meeting at the UN headquarters for its General Assembly. He said he strongly hopes that Noda will attend.

Others sources said the UN is arranging Noda's keynote speech at the conference. He is expected to explain how the Japanese government coped with the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Thursday, September 01, 2011 07:48 +0900 (JST)

80% of Japan's reactors out of service
Another nuclear reactor in Japan will soon be shut down for regular inspections, leaving nearly 80 percent of the country's reactors out of service.

Kyushu Electric Power Company says it will begin work on Wednesday to halt operations at the No.2 reactor at the Sendai nuclear power plant. The reactor will be shut down by Thursday morning.

The utility wants to restart the reactor in 4 months, after exchanging fuel rods and making detailed checkups on turbines.

But it is unclear when the company can restart the reactor, as well as another one at the plant which remains out of service although regular checkups have been completed.

After the Fukushima accident, underhanded practices of power companies and the government have come to light.

Kyushu Electric and other utilities reportedly tried to influence government-sponsored town meetings in favor of nuclear energy, and mobilized people behind the scenes to win local approval for nuclear power generation.

Such practices have spurred public distrust in utilities and government oversight of the nuclear industry.

After the Sendai No.2 reactor is shut down, 42 nuclear reactors among 54 in Japan will be out of service.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011 11:17 +0900 (JST)

NHK reports on the recent accident to the workers at Fukushima Daiichi:

2 workers showered with highly radioactive water
Tokyo Electric Power Company says 2 male workers at its troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant were showered with highly radioactive water by mistake.

The accident occurred on Wednesday morning.
The two subcontracting workers were suddenly splashed with water leaking from a container whose valve was not shut. The container was part of the contaminated water processing system.

TEPCO says one of the 2 workers was found to be exposed to 0.16 millisievelts of radiation, which is higher than the safety limit, and was decontaminated.

The other, who was wearing a raincoat, was exposed to 0.14 millisievelts of radiation, a slightly smaller dose than the other man.

The utility says that the 2 workers did not complain of symptoms such as burns and they had no internal radiation exposure.

TEPCO is investigating how the accident occurred.

Last Sunday, 2 TEPCO workers at the plant were exposed to radiation by mistake while they were replacing parts of the contaminated water processing system, which is key to bringing the crippled reactors under control.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011 22:23 +0900 (JST)

According to the Mainichi Times, the workers ignored their dosimeters. The amount of radiation is well below the regular standard for nuclear workers, which is 100 millisieverts per year, and the emergency standard of 250 millisieverts per year.
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110831p2a00m0na001000c.html

TEPCO's drawing of what the workers were doing
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/images/handouts_110901_01-e.pdf

TEPCO presents plan to extract melted rods
Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, has announced a plan to extract melted nuclear fuel rods at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

TEPCO presented the 9-stage plan on Wednesday to an expert panel of the Atomic Energy Commission, which is discussing a process to decommission the plant's reactors.

The first 3 stages of TEPCO's plan are devoted to removing radioactive materials from the reactors' buildings to repair containment vessels and stop water leaks.

The utility plans to then put water in the vessels and take pictures to determine the amount of nuclear fuel that has leaked from the reactors.

In the final stage, the company plans to fill the vessels with water and use robots to extract the rods.

Extraction of fuel rods that have leaked outside of reactors has never been performed at any nuclear plant.

TEPCO faces the tough challenges of coping with high levels of radiation and developing highly efficient robots.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011 20:38 +0900 (JST)

This method is very similar to what was used to remove the fuel rods at Three Mile Island. Scientific American has a slideshow of some of the robots used.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/slideshow.cfm?id=three-mile-island-robots

Additionally, there are two videos available which show step by step, how the cleanup of Three Mile Island Reactor Number Two was done. The mini-submarine robot is particularly interesting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3CWS1z_py4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wY3qCKZOF30

The Penn State Engineering Library has stored the videotapes and reports of the cleanup.
http://www.libraries.psu.edu/psul/eng/tmi/reports.html

And

Farmers in 11 prefectures seek damage from TEPCO
Farmers' groups from 11 prefectures in eastern Japan have sought fresh damages totaling nearly 140 million dollars from the operator of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Groups of farmers have filed for damages from Tokyo Electric Power Company every month since April.

On Wednesday, representatives from 11 prefectures --the largest number ever, including first-time participants Miyagi, Yamagata, Niigata, Saitama and Shizuoka prefectures -- met Tokyo Electric President Toshio Nishizawa at the company's main office.

They demanded compensation for beef, tea leaves and other products that have been banned from shipment or whose prices have plunged due to radiation contamination.

The farmers' demands for payments since April have added up to 750 million dollars.

Tokyo Electric has said it would make payouts every 3 months, but farmers who are strapped for cash demanded the payments be made more regularly.

The head of the farmers' group in Miyagi, Akio Sugawara, said they want the utility to respond with sincerity to their request for monthly payouts, because they cannot wait for 3 or 4 months.

Tokyo Electric's managing director Naomi Hirose said monthly payouts are almost impossible, considering that the company has so many groups and individuals to compensate. But he said the company would study the farmers' request.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011 18:38 +0900 (JST)

Meanwhile cleanup from the tsunami and earthquake is still not done.

Removing debris remains a challenge in Tohoku
Local governments in northeastern Japan are still struggling to remove debris from the March 11th earthquake and tsunami, nearly 6 months later.

The Environment Ministry estimates that the disaster left behind some 23 million tons of debris.

The ministry earlier called on cities and villages to remove all the debris in residential areas to temporary storage by the end of August.

It says residential clearance is almost complete in 32 coastal cities and villages in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, except in the no-entry zone near the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.

The government's goal is to completely clear the disaster-hit areas by the end of next March.
But 12 local governments, accounting for about one-third of the total, say less than half the debris has been cleared. They say problems with demolishing damaged homes and other structures are holding things up.

The local governments say they need building owners' approval for demolition, and that they do not have enough personnel to do the work. Specialist companies must also be hired to remove asbestos from damaged buildings.

The ministry says it will provide assistance to these local governments after grasping the full picture.
Thursday, September 01, 2011 07:48 +0900 (JST)

photo
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/update/images/01_04_v_s.jpg

The Japanese version of the American National Guard, the SDF, has finished its largest tasks supporting the cleanup at this time.

SDF's major disaster relief activities end
Self-Defense Force units ended most of the aid missions they had undertaken in northeastern Japan following the March 11th earthquake and tsunami on Wednesday.

The SDF had deployed as many as 107,000 personnel to 7 disaster-hit prefectures, including Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima.

They have been engaged in search and rescue operations and have helped prepare meals for survivors at evacuation centers.

The SDF has also been instrumental in attempts to cool the crippled reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant by spraying water from the air and ground.

The size of SDF deployment had been gradually reduced in line with the needs of local residents and evacuees.

The SDF will continue to keep about 200 personnel in Fukushima Prefecture to help decontaminate residents who temporarily return to their homes in exclusion zones near the nuclear plant.
Wednesday, August 31, 2011 19:09 +0900 (JST)

 

[dorispulaski]

I've been meaning to write several essays on energy related subjects, and today's news of the bankruptcy of Solyndra Solar motivated me to write this one.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/polit...tees/2011/08/31/gIQAB8IRsJ_story.html?hpid=z2

Solyndra Solar goes bankrupt in California

A company that served as a showcase for the Obama administration’s effort to create jobs in clean technology shut down Wednesday, leaving 1,100 people out of work and taxpayers obligated for $535 million in federal loans.

This company was a big beneficiary of stimulus money, and the plant was visited by President Obama and Secretary of Energy Chu.


Why the administration thought PV solar would generate permanent jobs in the US is a mystery to me.

Considering that it is a sister technology to computer chip manufacture, and that has moved to Asia, and considering that over half of solar panels were already manufactured in Asia, why they would have predicted a different result for solar than for computer chip manufacture cannot be explained.

The Washington Post article tries to make this a case of Chinese subsidies to solar panel manufacturers, but that is not the whole story.

The technology is already price-challenged. It can't afford the price of US labor stacked on top of it.

The technology is cheaper if you don't have to worry about environmental regulations, and US EPA standards can't be afforded for solar either..Chinese standards almost don't exist.

And some of the PV solar processes use some of the more esoteric rare earth elements, of which China is the world's largest source.

Just craziness.

The only green jobs for solar would be remarketers of the plant equipment and minimum wage installers.

Oh-and truck drivers, to manage shipping the panels from ports, and dump attendants to deal with them after their 20 year life is over.

This isn't the first US solar panel company to go bankrupt this year. Evergreen Solar in Massachusetts went bankrupt two weeks ago, owing the state of Massachusetts over a million dollars in rent.

http://articles.boston.com/2011-08-...on-and-debts-solar-projects-bankruptcy-filing

 

[dorispulaski]

TEPCO STATUS as of 3:00 PM JST September 2

Unit 1
-At 3:20 pm on September 1, water injection amount through reactor feed water system piping arrangement was adjusted to approx. 3.8㎥/h, since it is confirmed that water injection amount into the reactor was decreased. Water is currently injected at approx. 3.6㎥/h through reactor feed water system piping arrangement.

Unit 2
-At 7:17 am on September 2, water injection amount through reactor feed water system piping arrangement was adjusted to approx. 3.8 ㎥/h, since it is confirmed that water injection amount into the reactor was decreased. Water is currently injected at approx. 3.8 ㎥/h through reactor feed water system piping arrangement.

Unit 3
- From 2:09pm to 2:58pm on September 1, we controlled the water flow into the reactor and started water injection (at approx. 1 m3/h) by core spray system in addition to water injection (at approx. 7 m3/h) by the reactor feed water system piping arrangement. Thereafter, since it is confirmed that water injection amount into the reactor was decreased, at 6:45 pm, water injection amount through reactor feed water system piping arrangement and through core spray system were adjusted to approx. 7 m3/h and approx. 1 m3/h, respectively. At 2:50 pm on September 2, water injection amount through reactor feed water system piping arrangement and through core spray system were adjusted to approx. 7 m3/h and approx. 2 m3/h, respectively.

*At around 10:00 am on September 1, we restarted transferring accumulated water at basement of turbine building of Unit 6 to temporally tank.

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/11090110-e.html

0.11 Bq/kg of cobalt 60 was found in pine needles at Kashiwazki-Kariwa nuclear plant. TEPCO feels this extremely tiny amount of radioactive material was from that plant, not Fukishima Daiichi. If you ate one kg of these needles, you would have ingested 1/330,000 of the maximum yearly dose.

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/11090207-e.html

TEPCO, under fiat by NISA, has found 33 articles in the scholarly literature about the tsunami and earthquake that it thought worthy.

*Instruction by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (May 8th, 2009) "Continuous scientific/technical knowledge collection on earthquake-proof safety of nuclear power plants and efforts on improvement of assessment"
1. Mid-and-long term plan and systematic and steady progress are required since it would take long time to collect new knowledge on earthquake-proof safety and reflect the new scientific/technological knowledge to the efforts toward the enhancement of earthquake-proof safety of nuclear plants.
2. It is required to collect information on the soil/ground of and around the premise and widely collect new knowledge on earthquake-proof safety through soil/ground investigation or seismic observation.
3. If the operator finds some knowledge necessary to be reflected among the knowledge collected based on 2, it is required to report to NISA by the end of April of next year. Notwithstanding the foregoing, as to knowledge considered as particularly important to the enhancement of earthquake-proof safety of nuclear plants, it is required to report to NISA as soon as possible and share it with other operators of nuclear plants.
4. As a part of maintenance activity based on the quality assurance plan, it is required to reconfirm the earthquake-proof safety of the nuclear plant and conduct repair work

NHK
Apparently some of the reactors have done the stress tests, but I have not seen the results, and I have not read anything about NISA or the new replacement for NISA having evaluated the results.

Fukushima residents want new cabinet to work hard
People in Fukushima Prefecture, site of the ongoing nuclear plant accident, have expressed hope that Japan's new cabinet will be aware of their needs.

The mayor of Futaba Town, located within the 20-kilometer no-entry zone around the crippled plant, said he wants the cabinet to first deal with compensation for people affected by the accident.

Speaking in Saitama, the prefecture north of Tokyo where the town's office has been relocated, Katsutaka Idogawa urged the cabinet to do its best for an early recovery of Fukushima and the rest of Japan.

In Fukushima City, the prefectural capital, a man in his 40s welcomed the reappointment of Goshi Hosono as minister in charge of the nuclear crisis. The man said he can expect continuity in tackling a difficult issue.

A woman in her 20s said she wants the new ministers to see the disaster area with their own eyes and respond to local needs.

Residents being forced to live in temporary housing said they want the government to quickly contain the accident so that they can return to their homes.
Friday, September 02, 2011 18:07 +0900 (JST)

And Prime Minister Noda says he will work hard

Noda vows to speed up reconstruction efforts
Japan's new Prime Minister, Yoshihiko Noda, says he will speed up recovery from the March 11th earthquake and tsunami and work to contain the nuclear accident in Fukushima as his top priorities.

Speaking to reporters after he launched his Cabinet on Friday, Noda also pledged to rebuild the economy and tackle Japan's fiscal crisis.

Noda said restoration and reconstruction following the disasters remain top priority. He said the previous Cabinet did its best in the effort but that it was accused of not doing enough to build temporary housing, clean up debris and support survivors. He said his Cabinet's biggest mission will be to speed up restoration and reconstruction.


Noda also referred to the contamination of wide areas by nuclear fallout from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. He said the government will lead the decontamination effort beyond the barriers of government ministries and agencies. He said the government will do all it can to ensure the safety of pregnant women and children. He said there will be no revival of Japan without the revival of Fukushima.


The new Prime Minister said he will rebuild the economy, despite the limitation of energy supplies, by preventing the historic rise of the yen against the dollar from causing a hollowing out of Japan's industry.

He said he will tackle the fiscal crisis Japan already faced before the March 11th disasters and take every possible measure to avoid a credit crisis. While stressing the urgent need to restore fiscal health, Noda said he is not a fiscal fundamentalist and that he wants to take a realistic approach. He promised to strike a balance between economic growth and fiscal reconstruction.

Noda said the government will promote administrative reforms to achieve a thorough cut in wasteful spending.

He also said he must execute the previous government's plans to double the consumption tax rate from the current 5 percent by the mid 2010s to fund ballooning social security costs.
Friday, September 02, 2011 20:09 +0900 (JST)

Nearly 90% of Japan's nuke reactors to be halted

One of the reactors at a nuclear power plant in southwestern Japan is due to be halted for regular inspections on Sunday. With the planned shutdown of this and 5 other facilities, nearly 90 percent of the country's nuclear reactors will be offline ahead of winter.

Shikoku Electric Power Company says it will suspend operations of the No.1 reactor at the Ikata power plant for routine checks on Sunday.

The utility wants to restart the plant's No.3 reactor, which has already been shut down for routine inspections. It plans to report on the results of the so-called "stress tests" on the reactor by the end of the month. The government requires the safety test for all suspended reactors before they can be restarted.

Other utilities, including Kansai Electric and Hokuriku Electric, are also conducting stress tests with the goal of restarting halted reactors in anticipation of a rise in electricity demand this winter.

However, there are hurdles to be cleared. The country's 2 nuclear safety watchdogs must screen the results of the tests, and then the central government will decide whether to restart the reactors. Finally, any restart has to be approved by the municipalities hosting the reactors.

Japan's remaining 6 active reactors will be halted for regular inspections by next spring. If the currently suspended reactors are not back online by then, all the country's nuclear facilities will be out of operation.
Saturday, September 03, 2011 03:03 +0900 (JST)

 

[dorispulaski]

September 3, 3:00 JST, TEPCO Status

From 8:30 am to 9:55 am on September 3, we transferred accumulated water from the basement of Unit 6 reactor building to the turbine building.

Unit 1
At 9:40 am on September 3, as it was confirmed that there was a decrease in the amount of water injection for the reactor , we adjusted the rate of water injection through reactor feed water system piping arrangement to approx. 3.8 m3/h.
Unit 2
At 9:40 am on September 3, as it was confirmed that there was a decrease in the amount of water injection for the reactor , we adjusted the rate of water injection through reactor feed water system piping arrangement to approx. 3.8 m3/h.

Unit 3
*At 2:37 pm on September 3, we adjusted the rate of water injection at vapprox. 7 m3/h through reactor feed water system piping arrangement, and at approx. 3 m3/h through core spray system.

We discussed the matter of tea before. Because it is a dehydrated product, and because it is a product made from young shoots and leaves, it is very susceptible to having cesium contamination exceeding the 500 becquerels/kg regulatory amount.

Cesium beyond limit found in Chiba, Saitama tea

The Japanese health ministry says radioactive cesium exceeding the government's safety limit has been detected in tea leaves in Chiba and Saitama prefectures, near Tokyo.

This is the ministry's first discovery of radioactive substances beyond the legal limit since it began unannounced tests of food products last month.

The tests were started in order to verify local government data using different numbers and kinds of food samples.

The ministry says the leaves of one type of tea from Chiba Prefecture contained 2,720 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram, more than 5 times the safety limit.

Meanwhile, a maximum level of 1,530 becquerels per kilogram was detected in 3 kinds of tea leaves from Saitama Prefecture.

The prefectural governments of Chiba and Saitama say they will investigate where the teas were grown and how much has made its way to market.

They say they will order tea producers to recall their product, if necessary.
Saturday, September 03, 2011 22:23 +0900 (JST)

It's nice to see old ceremonies continuing.

Baby sumo wrestlers attend ring-ceremony
A group of babies took part in a sumo ring-entering ceremony at a shrine in Nagasaki Prefecture, western Japan, on Saturday.

The Hijikuro Onsen Shrine in Kunimi Town has been hosting the event for about 300 years to pray for children's health.

The 40 babies wearing ceremonial aprons bearing their names entered the ring accompanied by local sumo wrestlers.

Aged 3 months to one-year, the babies came from as far away as Tokyo to take part in the event.

Before entering the ring, a small amount of salt was sprinkled onto the babies in a purification ceremony.

The babies, supported by adults, then stamped their feet as adult wrestlers do prior to a match.

Some babies began crying as soon as they entered the ring while other took the occasion to enjoy a nap.

For the past 5 years, girls have been allowed to participate in the ceremony. This year, 5 girls joined the event.

A mother of a 6-month-old boy from Aichi Prefecture, central Japan, said she was pleased with her baby's entrance. She said she hopes he will enjoy good health.
Saturday, September 03, 2011 22:23 +0900 (JST)

Because it is a not a very newsy day, I'm including this article that I found interesting in trying to understand why different countries are choosing different paths in energy sources.

PEST(EL)* in the Nuclear Industry – The Economic (part 5)


Margaret Harding; Four Factor Consulting


http://www.4factorconsulting.com/en...nuclear-industry-the-economic-part-5Subscribe


Posted on September 2, 2011, 2:16 pm, by Margaret, under Energy Industry.


And now back to our regularly scheduled programming.
Last time we looked at the US economics of nuclear. The international view is more variable and worth a look at the same issues.


It is interesting to note that most countries (with a few notable exceptions) have not changed their stance on building (or not building) new nuclear plants since the events in Japan. Economics seem to be a key driver in those decisions.


Western Europe is much like the US in regards to economics at this time. Some countries are in more financial trouble than others, but stagnant economic growth and low interest rates dominate. However, there are some key differences that are driving different behaviors in different countries.


United Kingdom


The UK’s economy is much like the US, but with some key differences in the electricity and energy demand market. The UK was more strongly building wind turbines both onshore and off. With such efforts, the inefficiency of wind to meet energy needs has become more obvious. Solar was never really much of an option in the British Isles, and the decline in the North Sea oil and gas reserves as well as rising natural gas prices has given the country notice that other alternatives are needed.


The UK also had to shut down much of its aging nuclear fleet. The technology used in many of the reactors has not been as robust as was initially believed. In shutting these reactors down, the need to develop significant suitable replace power became much more obvious to policy makers and thus made nuclear as more acceptable option.


France


The French have maintained a nuclear program and have not indicated any rejection of nuclear. However with 75% of electricity already generated by nuclear, France has not indicated a plan to embark on any major building programs. As the current fleet ages, it is not yet clear how France intends to manage the impact. Some plant life extension, which is less expensive is clearly possible, but currently, there is little economic incentive for new build.


Germany


Germany has been quite divided about nuclear power with the industrialized south generally more supportive of nuclear due to its low cost and generally high reliability. However, politics seem to have driven the country to drop the nuclear option. There is an economic factor that should not be ignored. Germany has considerable in country coal deposits as well as significant economic interests in Russian natural gas. Together with low growth rates, and some that are willing to try to make wind and solar work, these unlikely interests come together to eliminate nuclear from their current strategy.


Switzerland


The Swiss had an initial knee-jerk reaction to follow in Germany’s footsteps, but at a much more measured pace. The Swiss have little outside resources beyond the hydro-electric system that they operate so well. Swizterland is a mature economy with limited growth and so has some time to make these decisions.
Eastern Europe


Several eastern European nations have looked at Germany’s announced exit from nuclear power as a potential opportunity to provide energy in the shortfall. Poland and the Czech Republic both continue to be strongly supportive on nuclear programs. With the drop in production in Germany, the economic potential of new nuclear in both countries seems to tile more in favor of building new nuclear plants.


Of course, there is a political aspect to any programs in these generally smaller countries within the EU. There is significant pressure from both Germany and Austria for these countries to give up their nuclear ambitions. In order for them to be able to fully leverage such opportunities, some support from pro-nuclear governments is needed.


Emerging markets


I include here China, India, the Middle-East, and other countries rapidly moving up the economic ladder. In all of these countries economic growth is enormous and in many there is significant shortage of energy. The choices to get large amounts of reliable power and still hold GHG emissions and cost within some reasonable limit are few. Thus, most of these countries have looked at what happened in Japan, concluded that modern designs are less prone to similar failures and are proceeding with new nuclear as quickly as they can safely do so. In many of these countries, alternative energy supply are also being pursued aggressively, but in the middle east, for example, the goal is to stop using oil for energy production so that it can be sold to other nations to continue economic growth at home.


Summary
This is a quick summary analysis of extremely complex economic drivers in the international arena. However, it is clear that in general the drive to build new nuclear around the world is more clear in economies with considerable growth. Unfortunately, many of these countries do not have as clear a track record in safe operations of such complex facilities. Countries with well developed programs need to remain engaged in the construction and operation of nuclear power plants in order to remain in a position to influence developing countries despite the unclear economic drivers for nuclear power.

and what I feel is an interesting comment that was made to this blog entry, on driving factors in the UK.

Margaret,
I think you miss one other influence, in the context of the UK – that we’ve deregulated our energy sector far more aggressively than is the case in pretty much all of the US (with the possible exception of Texas).
That gives us particular advantages, as well as challenges. It reduces the opportunity for political grandstanding in terms of technology selection, but it increases the risk for investors in nuclear plant.
The early aggressive attempts to develop wind have left us acutely aware of what’s implicit in that. The deregulation structures make the costs and technical challenges of wind integration acutely apparent;

*PESTEL stands for Political, Economic, Social, Technical, Environment and Legislative

 

[dorispulaski]

September 5, 3:00 PM JST TEPCO status

There isn't much in the news, but Fukushima Daiichi has passed two little milestones. Another reactor is now approaching the criterion for cold shutdown. TEPCO has changed the way cooling water is fed into Unit 3, and after some adjustments, it seems to be working. I expect them to use this method for Unit 2 as well:

Reactor Bottom Head temperatures (goal is less than 100 C)

Unit 1 85.4 C
Unit 2 112 C
Unit 3 97.4 C (This unit has cooled off a lot this last week-it was 111 C three days ago)

Another small thing: No radioactive dust detected at West Gate or at Measure Point 1, even with longer sampling times. Detection limit is at about 10e-7 becquerels/cm3 for iodine and 4x10e-7 for Cs 134 and Cs137. And for the first time, the Main Office Building is under 300 microSieverts per hour. Back at the beginning of the accident, this reading was over 1000 microSieverts per hour. Improvement reflects cleanup as well as the natural phenomenon of radioactive decay.

DAIICHI September 5th, 2:00 PM JST
Eight monitoring points ( 5, 21, 14, 12, 15, 35, 104, 80 ) microSieverts per hour
Main Office building 297 microSieverts per hour
Main Gate 31 microSieverts per hour
West Gate 12 micro Sieverts per hour

DAINI September 5th, 2:00 PM JST
Seven peripheral point ( 1.8, 1.2, 1.7, 1.6, 1.5, 0.9, 1.1 ) microSieverts per hour

From TEPCO Status Reports

Unit 3
At 2:43 pm on September 5, we adjusted the rate of water injection through reactor feed water system piping arrangement to approx. 6 m3/h. Water is currently injected at approx. 6 m3/h through reactor feed water system piping arrangement, and at approx. 3 m3/h through core spray system.


* Considering the current balance between the storage capacity of fresh water and the amount of water injection to reactors, we stopped all of the evaporative concentration apparatuses of water desalination facilities at 7:44 pm on September 4, while desalination and water injection through desalination facilities (reverse osmosis membrane type) continue.

Oil producing countries, like Iran and Saudi Arabia, are proceeding with nuclear plans so they can sell more oil to the rest of us.l

NHK

Iran's 1st nuke power plant starts operation

Iran says its first nuclear power plant is now up and running.

The Iranian Atomic Energy Organization said on Sunday that the plant in the southern city of Bushehr was connected to the national power grid on Saturday.

Iran says the plant will send a low output of electricity for the time being and undergo regular safety inspections. It is scheduled to go into full operation at year-end.

The plant was built with Russian help. Russian will take charge of delivering nuclear fuel rods and retrieving of spent fuel.

Iran says it will build 20 more nuclear plants and that it needs to enrich uranium to procure fuel on its own.

Iran has maintained that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. But Israel and Western countries are concerned that the opening of the Bushehr plant could pave the way for Iran to develop nuclear weapons.
Monday, September 05, 2011 06:17 +0900 (JST)

One thing you can do with the output from sewer plants (slightly radioactive or otherwise) is use it as the input to nuclear plants. This is done at the huge nuclear plant in Arizona, Palo Verde.
http://nuclearfissionary.com/2010/04/07/using-sewage-at-a-nuclear-plant/

What do you do when you have a thirsty nuclear plant in the desert near a couple of cities that are strapped for cash? Sell treated sewage from the waste water plant to the nuclear plant for use in its cooling towers.
...
Widely considered a waste product, effluent water is becoming increasingly valuable in areas strapped for water, cash, or looking to reduce environmental footprint. The Palo Verde situation has already attracted the attention of Florida Power and Light which will use effluent water for the new reactors it plans to build at the Turkey Point nuclear plant.

True story-the incoming effluent is slightly radioactive, due to radioactive materials being excreted by people who have had interventional radiology treatments and radiological imaging done at hospitals. The radioactive dyes are excreted in people's urine, which of course, goes to the sewage plant. Palo Verde had to get a special NRC license to use the effluent as cooling water because of the effluent's radioactivity.

Tochigi moving radioactive ash to 6 sewage plants
Tochigi Prefecture, northeast of Tokyo, has begun moving radioactive sludge from a temporary storage site to several sewage plants, where it can only be kept for the time being.

Following the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, high levels of radioactive material were detected in sludge at waste water plants across eastern Japan.

Tochigi Prefecture had incinerated the sludge from its sewage plants at its waste water recycling plant, and melted the ash to reduce its volume. But the amount of ash has reached 1,000 tons, close to the storage capacity.

To deal with the problem, the prefecture decided last month to keep the radioactive waste at 6 of its waste water treatment plants.

On Monday, 50 tons of contaminated ash was being delivered by truck to a sewage plant in Kaminokawa Town. The ash contains around 30,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram.

Tochigi Prefecture says the ash will pose no health hazards to residents or the environment, because it will be covered with water-proof sheets and stored at sites more than 20 meters from the nearest houses.

But the head of a local residents' group says that although they have agreed to the storage, they still have doubts about safety. He said he wants the authorities to be clear about how long they intend to keep the waste at the sewage plants.
Monday, September 05, 2011 14:56 +0900 (JST)

Or they could just store it at Fukushima Daiichi.
Lest we forget how this all started:

Photo exhibit of 3/11 disaster opens in Tokyo
A photography exhibition in Tokyo is showing images of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami along with reconstruction efforts.

On display are 125 photos taken by professional photographers and newspaper staff. UNICEF is the major sponsor.

One of the photos shows a festival parade with a float brightly lit in an area where rubble still remains. It was taken last month in Rikuzentakata City, Iwate Prefecture by a photographer who lost his mother in the tsunami. The image depicts people in the disaster-hit region taking steps toward rebuilding their lives.

Many of the photos depict scenes from the March 11 calamity. One shows a tsunami forming a black current as it sweeps away houses and cars.

Photojournalist Kenichi Shindo helped organize the show. He says he hopes visitors will share the anguish and suffering of the survivors through the photos. He also hopes the exhibit will help people think more about this unprecedented disaster.

The exhibition will continue at Tokyo International Forum until Sunday. Similar shows will be held in 11 other countries.
Monday, September 05, 2011 16:55 +0900 (JST)

And the world is still praying for and supporting Japan, including the Ukrainians, and other countries which have had huge disasters.. I like the idea of the lanterns floating into the sky.

Victims of 3.11 disaster remembered in Ukraine
People in Ukraine have held a memorial service for Japanese victims of the earthquake and tsunami in March. They floated hundreds of lanterns into the sky.

An international series of memorial ceremonies organized by Japanese fashion designer Kansai Yamamoto was launched last month on the Indonesian island of Bali, which was hit hard by a massive tsunami in 2004.

The event was staged this time in Ukraine which experienced the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986.

On Sunday, about 3,000 people gathered at a park in central Kiev to release around 500 lit lanterns into the night sky to mourn those died when a devastating earthquake and tsunami hit northeastern Japan on March 11th.

Participants expressed empathy for the victims as they also experienced a staggering tragedy. Those taking part said that they hope Japan will overcome the disaster and prosper.

Kansai Yamamoto said that countries which share similar painful experiences should support each other and work together for a better future.

The series of memorial events will close on September 10th in disaster-hit Soma City, Fukushima Prefecture.
Monday, September 05, 2011 08:27 +0900 (JST)

And on the silly, fun side of things, I'm glad to hear that there is now time for silly fun things in Japan:

High-school hula dance competition held in Tokyo
A hula dance competition for high-school students was held in Tokyo's Akihabara district on Sunday. The venue was moved from Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture, due to the March 11th earthquake and tsunami.

The idea for the competition came from the movie, "Hula Girls", in which professional hula dancers help to revive their hometown by dancing at a Hawaiian tourist attraction in Iwaki City.

The organizer decided to hold the event, which was originally scheduled for March 23rd, after receiving calls from high-school students and fans who said it would help to cheer up people in the disaster-hit areas.

Thirteen high-school teams took part in the competition.

Some students met their classmates for the first time since they evacuated from their homes.

A student of Yumoto Senior High School, Iwaki City, said she really enjoyed herself and she hopes their dancing can promote tourism and contribute to the city's recovery.

The organizer plans to hold a second competition in Iwaki City next summer.
Monday, September 05, 2011 00:05 +0900 (JST)

 

[dorispulaski]

Although the other areas in the inner harbor have radioactive cesium levels that are the same or decreasing, at Unit 3 inside the silt fence, it looks like they may be experiencing a slow leak of radioactive water from somewhere...not very fast, but the amount of cesium has been slowly rising there for some days, 5-7 days-maybe from the basement of the turbine building of Unit 2, since they are reporting that the water level had dropped there. (Sept. 7). I don't believe in water that spontaneously goes missing from basements. Time will tell.

TEPCO Status 3:00 PM JST September 7.

The water treatment system, which used to have a problem every other day, is now down to once a week. It has had its weekly problem. The fix, however, did not address the original trouble, and I would not be surprised if it went down again soon. Changing the value that trips the alarm is not a fix, it's a bandaid.

At 5:51 am on September 6, the decontamination instruments of Waste Treatment Facility stopped with an alarm showing mixer trouble of High Speed Coagulation Settling Facility. We restarted the instruments by resetting the system. However, at 6:21 am, the same alarm and serious fault alarm went off, and the decontamination instruments and Cesium adsorption Instruments stopped. As it was confirmed that the current value of overload trip of decontamination instruments was nearly the same level of that for normal operation, we adjusted the value and at 3:13 pm on the same day we restarted the water treatment facility, and at 4:35 pm it reached normal volume of flow.

- From 10:11 am to 2:54 pm on September 6, we transferred accumulated water in turbine building of Unit 2 from the condenser to the basement.

Unit 1
Water is currently injected at approx. 3.5 m3/h through reactor feed water system piping arrangement.

Unit 2
At 4:27 pm on September 6, as it was confirmed that there was a decrease in the amount of water injection for the reactor, we adjusted the rate of water injection through reactor feed water system piping arrangement to approx. 3.8 m3/h.

Unit 3
At 2:43 pm on September 5, we adjusted the rate of water injection through reactor feed water system piping arrangement to approx. 6 m3/h. Water is currently injected at approx. 6 m3/h through reactor feed water system piping arrangement, and at approx. 3 m3/h through core spray system.

* At 10:03 am on September 6, we stopped the alternative cooling of Spent Fuel Pool in order to clean up the tank of secondary cooling tower of alternative coolant system for Spent Fuel Pool, Unit 2. At 10:42 am on the same day we restarted the alternative cooling of Spent Fuel Pool.

* At 10:11 am on September 6, we started the transfer of accumulated water from the condenser to the basement of turbine building, as it was confirmed that there was a decrease in the level of accumulated water at the basement of turbine building of Unit 2, and stopped at 2:54 pm on the same day.

The Asahi Shimbun on September 6 reported "TEPCO is considering 15% tariff increase." However, this is not a fact.

We are not in a position to mention a tariff revision, as we are currently striving to stabilize the accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.

Again, we regret the deep concern and inconvenience caused by the accident at our nuclear power plant.

The Yoimuri Shimbun reported TEPCO was considering at 10% tariff increase. That was denied in the same language


NHK NEWS

I would be pessimistic too. However, since there are those (11%) who never wish to return to their homes, it would make sense for the government to assist them to move as soon as possible. There is no point in keeping them in evacuation shelters. For the others, it would make sense for them to be involved as soon as possible in helping to decontaminated and check out the areas that are mostly nearly ready to be repopulated.

Fukushima evacuees pessimistic about going home

An NHK survey shows that more than half of those who fled Fukushima Prefecture after the March 11th disaster think it will be hard for them to return to their hometowns.

NHK surveyed 187 people living in shelters or temporary housing in and outside Fukushima Prefecture nearly 6 months after the earthquake and tsunami and the start of the nuclear accident.

Asked if their plans about where they will live have changed compared to right after the disaster, 26 percent of the respondents said they feel a stronger desire to go back to their hometowns.

But 43 percent said they feel more strongly that they won't be able to go home, while 11 percent said they're resolved not to do so.

Asked why they feel they won't be able to return or wish not to, many cited what they saw on temporary return visits -- run-down houses, deserted towns and high radioactivity readings in their homes.

Many respondents apparently want the government to restore their land to its pre-disaster state if possible, or government support so they can move elsewhere. Asked what they want from the government, 43 percent said thorough decontamination of soil, and 19 percent said they want the government to purchase their property.
Tuesday, September 06, 2011 19:04 +0900 (JST)

On the more optimistic side, apparently both of the methods tried for decontaminating rice paddies has worked. Rice, particularly white rice, does not have much of an uptake of cesium, so having a little in the dirt and water does not affect the finished product. Tea and shiitake mushrooms would be more susceptible, and this level of contamination would not do for those products.

Land to be cleared of radiation for planting rice
Japan's Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry is working towards reducing radiation levels in rice fields near the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

The goal is to meet government standards. Experiments have been ongoing since May.

One method has been to scrape off the contaminated topsoil from dry paddies. Another involves removing the soil after its been stirred in water-filled paddies. Both methods have substantially reduced radiation levels.

Radioactive cesium per kilogram of soil was reduced from more than 10,000 becquerels down to 2,000 becquerels. These figures fall within the government's guideline of under 5,000 becquerels for rice planting.

The ministry will use these methods in selected fields in the prefecture. It will request special funds from an extra budget planned for the current fiscal year.
Wednesday, September 07, 2011 05:01 +0900 (JST)

And the early shoots of any plant are the most contaminated always (not just tea), and yet the early shoots were the ones they weren't measuring. They were, of course, the ones they should most have measured. Note that the later picked leaves were measured, and, presumably, were within the standards.

Saitama asks tea growers to refrain from shipments

Japan's Saitama prefecture has asked tea producers there to avoid shipping tea made from early picked leaves.

The request came on Tuesday after radioactive cesium beyond government safety levels was detected by the Health Ministry in local tea products.

The ministry found over 500 becquerels of cesium per kilogram of processed tea in inspections earlier this month in Hidaka and Tsurugashima, both in Saitama.

According to the prefectural government, tea in Kawagoe also showed 800 becquerels per kilogram. Separately, 1,240 becquerels of cesium was found in tea from Iruma, in Saitama, in a test conducted by Koganei in Tokyo.
Saitama says the tea tested in Hidaka and Tsurugashima was made from young leaves, and has asked producers and dealers in the prefecture to refrain from shipping tea made from such leaves until they are confirmed safe.

Saitama says it did its own tests but didn't find unsafe levels of cesium. It now says it had not checked early picked leaves.
Tuesday, September 06, 2011 16:04 +0900 (JST)

And at least some ideas are coming out of the government now that are attempting to deal with the problems-more than waving their hands and obsessing over poll numbers.

Hosono promotes radiation reducing technology

Japan's nuclear crisis minister says the government may develop technology to cut radiation and the volume of waste from the Fukushima nuclear accident.

Goshi Hosono told reporters on Tuesday that reducing the volume of nuclear waste will be very important in the decontamination process.

He said there will be no progress in that process unless irradiated soil can be temporarily stored in the contaminated area.

He said it is not fair to nearby residents to leave such waste for long periods, so a storage facility will have to be created in Fukushima prefecture for the mid-term.
Tuesday, September 06, 2011 14:57 +0900 (JST)

My suggestion would be to store it at Fukushima Daiichi, where it came from. There is actually quite a lot of land there.
Meanwhile there are other cancer causing industrial escapes in Japan that are not causing people to be evacuated from there homes, and I would be a lot more concerned if a lived in a house, particularly one with a well, if it were near these rivers:

High dioxin levels found in disaster-zone rivers
Levels of dioxin exceeding the safety standards have been found in rivers and groundwater in 3 Japanese prefectures hit by the March 11th disaster.

The Environment Ministry says it does not think the discovery poses any immediate risk to human health, but it will continue to monitor the toxic chemical.

The ministry checked the sea, rivers and groundwater for dioxins between May and July at 320 locations in 5 prefectures affected by the disaster. The ministry feared that harmful substances may have leaked from factories damaged by the earthquake and tsunami.

It found dioxins exceeding the safety standards at 6 locations in rivers in Miyagi, Fukushima and Ibaraki prefectures and in groundwater in Fukushima.

The high dioxin levels could be harmful if the contaminated water is ingested over a long period of time.

All measurements at sea locations cleared the safety standards.
Wednesday, September 07, 2011 05:01 +0900 (JST)

And dioxin does not decay away to nothing eventually.
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs225/en/
From WHO:

Background
Dioxins are environmental pollutants. They have the dubious distinction of belonging to the “dirty dozen” - a group of dangerous chemicals known as persistent organic pollutants. Dioxins are of concern because of their highly toxic potential. Experiments have shown they affect a number of organs and systems. Once dioxins have entered the body, they endure a long time because of their chemical stability and their ability to be absorbed by fat tissue, where they are then stored in the body. Their half-life in the body is estimated to be seven to eleven years. In the environment, dioxins tend to accumulate in the food chain. The higher in the animal food chain one goes, the higher the concentration of dioxins

Radioactive cesium only has a half life in the body of 70 DAYS, not 7 YEARS, by contrast.

 

[Olympia]

I'm not working on all watts this morning, being waterlogged (as I'm sure you are). What is the cause of the dioxin increase in this region? That's very disturbing.

 

[dorispulaski]

I thought it was disturbing. In this US, this kind of reaction to high dioxin is seen:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2000/05/17/tech/main196416.shtml

February 11, 2009 9:46 PM
Print
Text
Dioxin Causes Cancer: EPA Draft
(CBS) The U.S. government is poised to declare firmly that dioxin, a toxin found throughout the food supply and in Agent Orange which U.S. troops sprayed over Vietnam, causes cancer in people, officials said Wednesday.

Made notorious when it was fingered as the toxic component in Agent Orange -- used to clear forests in the Vietnam War -- dioxin caused the evacuation of the town of Times Beach, Missouri, in 1983. The town was later bulldozed because it was found to be contaminated with the chemical.

I'm presuming the dioxin is in the water because of damage to tanks at chemical plants, caused by the earthquake.

According to the WHO article

Dioxins are unwanted by products of a wide range of manufacturing processes including smelting, chlorine bleaching of paper pulp and the manufacturing of some herbicides and pesticides. In terms of dioxin release into the environment, uncontrolled waste incinerators (solid waste and hospital waste) are often the worst culprits, due to incomplete burning. Technology is available that allows for controlled waste incineration with low emissions.

Although formation of dioxins is local, environmental distribution is global. Dioxins are found throughout the world in the environment. The highest levels of these compounds are found in some soils, sediments and food, especially dairy products, meat, fish and shellfish. Very low levels are found in plants, water and air.

Extensive stores of PCB-based waste industrial oils, many with high levels of PCDFs, exist throughout the world. Long-term storage and improper disposal of this material may result in dioxin release into the environment and the contamination of human and animal food supplies. PCB-based waste is not easily disposed of without contamination of the environment and human populations. Such material needs to be treated as hazardous waste and is best destroyed by high temperature incineration.

and chemical factories (although I don't think the Japanese are making Agent Orange, they could be. It's a great defoliant for clearing out underbrush under power lines in areas that are hard to get to.)

Large amounts of dioxins were released in a serious accident at a chemical factory in Seveso, Italy, in 1976. A cloud of toxic chemicals, including 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, or TCDD, was released into the air and eventually contaminated an area of 15 square kilometres where 37 000 people lived. Extensive studies in the affected population are continuing to determine the long-term human health effects from this incident. These investigations, however, are hampered by the lack of appropriate exposure assessments. A minor increase in certain cancers and effects on reproduction have been detected and are being further investigated. Possible effects on the children of exposed people are currently being studied.

TCDD has also been extensively studied for health effects linked to its presence as a contaminant in some batches of the herbicide Agent Orange, which was used as a defoliant during the Vietnam War. A link to certain types of cancers and also to diabetes is still being investigated.

http://www.nytimes.com/1983/05/09/nyregion/source-of-dioxin-in-hudson-river-fish-investigated.html

Dioxin was found in the Hudson River.

Furthermore the fish adapt to it:
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/69976/title/Packing_away_the_poison

From 1947 to 1976, two General Electric manufacturing plants along the Hudson River produced PCBs for a range of uses, including as insulating fluids in electrical transformers.

GE is still getting hauled over the coals for this, and the EPA keeps dropping the amount of dioxin allowable so they have to do more and more.

One point here with a systemic problem detected, no one is bulldozing houses for dioxin or evacuating people. Or even getting very upset about it. And there's better proof that it is a carcinogen in low doses than radioactive cesium in low doses, since it stays in the body and the environment longer than radioactive cesium.

 

[dorispulaski]

TEPCO STATUS 3:00 PM JST

Unit 1
At 2:53 pm on September 7, as it was confirmed that there was a decrease in the amount of water injection for the reactor, we adjusted the rate of water injection through reactor feed water system piping arrangement to approx. 3.8 m3/h.

Unit 2
At 2:55 pm on September 7, as it was confirmed that there was a decrease in the amount of water injection for the reactor, we adjusted the rate of water injection through reactor feed water system piping arrangement to approx. 3.8 m3/h.

Unit 3
At 2:46 pm on September 7, we adjusted the rate of water injection through reactor feed water system piping arrangement to approx. 5 m3/h. Water is currently injected at approx. 5 m3/h through reactor feed water system piping arrangement, and at approx. 3 m3/h through core spray system.

*At 10:19 am on September 7, we started transferring accumulated water from Site bunker building to Process main building at Centralized Radiation Waste Treatment Facility.

Fascinating pictures of Fukushima Daini, after the quake and today.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/news/110311/index-e.html


http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110907e12.pdf

I'd like to know what is going on at Unit 3 inside the silt fence in the inner harbor. At a time when every one of the other 10 inner harbor charts is going down or staying the same, the Cs 137 and Cs 134 concentrations keep going up there. I wonder whether they might have a slow leak going on. (Perhaps the water is coming from the turbine 2 basement, which had a drop in water yesterday).
If so, this is a good idea. It's been talked about before. Here NEI mentions it.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. plans to build an “iron wall” between the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear energy facility and the ocean to keep radioactive water out of the sea. Thousands of 24-yard-long iron pipes will be sunk into the earth, extending to below the sea bed, to create a wall around the water intakes for reactors 1-4. Construction of the 875-yard wall is expected to begin by the end of the year and be complete in about two years.
http://safetyfirst.nei.org/japan/tepco-to-build-iron-wall-to-contain-radioactive-water/


NEI reports this as well


Early-harvest rice from Fukushima Prefecture has cleared radiation testing, and farmers are shipping to market. This variety of rice accounts for only a small portion of the crop; other varieties will be tested later.
http://safetyfirst.nei.org/japan/tepco-guidelines-outline-compensation-for-accident/


NHK Stories

Nishizawa:TEPCO to scrap Fukushima reactors
Tokyo Electric Power Company president Toshio Nishizawa says his company will scrap the 4 severely damaged reactors at its disaster-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

He made the remark on Wednesday at a session of the Fukushima Prefectural Assembly, which is investigating the accident at the plant.

Nishizawa deeply apologized for causing the serious nuclear accident, and, in particular, for mentally and physically affecting evacuees from areas around the plant.

He also stressed that TEPCO will do its utmost to bring the crisis under control and compensate those who have been affected by the accident.

Answering a question by a prefectural assembly member, Nishizawa said that TEPCO will scrap the damaged No.1 to No.4 reactors of the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

He added, however, that TEPCO will judge, based on the opinions of local municipalities, whether the remaining reactors that are less damaged will be abolished. He was referring to 2 reactors at the Daiichi plant and 4 reactors at the Fukushima Daini nuclear plant. The Daini plant is located about 10 kilometers south of the Daiichi plant.

Another prefectural member asked if the utility had taken adequate anti-quake, anti-tsunami and other safety measures in spite of predictions of a higher-than-expected tsunami.

Nishizawa says he thinks that the company had prepared for the possible damage based on various studies, but that it needs to consider such predictions more humbly. He admitted to insufficient damage prediction by his company.
Wednesday, September 07, 2011 20:56 +0900 (JST)

Farm minister briefs locals on decontamination plan

Japan's agriculture minister has briefed residents of a village near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant on the government's plan to decontaminate local farmland.

Michihiko Kano visited Iitate Village in Fukushima Prefecture on Wednesday to check on experiments his ministry has been conducting since May to remove radioactive material from paddies and other fields.

One experiment involved scraping topsoil from paddies, resulting in a 75-percent cut in radioactive cesium.

Other experiments included stirring water that had filled a paddy and removing contaminated soil from the resulting mixture.

The experiments have helped reduce the levels of radioactive cesium in the area from more than 10,000 becquerels to 2,000 to 3,000 becquerels per kilogram of soil -- low enough for farmers to plant rice.

Kano told Iitate Deputy Mayor Shinichi Monma that the government will go ahead with its decontamination plan as the experiments have proved successful.

Monma welcomed the move, saying villagers cannot return home unless radioactive material is removed.
Wednesday, September 07, 2011 17:34 +0900 (JST)

Toshiba to expand overseas nuclear production
Electronics giant Toshiba will acquire an additional 20 percent of the US nuclear power plant maker Westinghouse Electric. This raises its share to 87 percent.

Toshiba says it will increase its holdings by purchasing nearly 1.7 billion dollars in shares from US engineering and construction firm Shaw Group.

Toshiba says it is also considering selling part of its Westinghouse stake to companies that could help it expand its nuclear business overseas.

It says several companies have already expressed interest, particularly from emerging economies where demand for nuclear power is still strong.
Wednesday, September 07, 2011 11:42 +0900 (JST)

JAIF's new issue of Atoms in Japan has come out.

http://www.jaif.or.jp/english/news_images/pdf/ENGNEWS01_1315203692P.pdf
A more detailed description of how the government expects to live up to its goal of reducing radiation exposure by 1/2 everywhere in the next two years. In the exclusions zone, work will be done by the government. In other places, the government will sent experts and tools and expects the municipalities to follow their guidelines.

 

[dorispulaski]

September 8th

NHK News

The new government does seem to be taking actions to resolve the situation in Fukushima, and to getting the other reactors that are off line tested, and if the local mayors and governors agree, back on line.

And he's asking for money to rebuild Fukushima prefecture. Good!

Noda:govt to seek legislation to rebuild Fukushima
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has promised his government will do all it can to enact legislation to help Fukushima Prefecture recover from the nuclear accident.

Noda responded to a request for the legislation from Fukushima Governor Yuhei Sato on Thursday in his first visit to the prefecture since taking office last week.

Noda began the meeting with an apology, saying the government is heavily responsible for leaving many Fukushima residents still in shelter since the nuclear accident, which was triggered by the March 11th earthquake and tsunami.

Noda said there will be no revival of Japan without the revival of Fukushima.

He added that his Cabinet will approve a plan to allocate 220 billion yen, or about 2.8 billion dollars, from reserve funds in the second supplementary budget for fiscal 2011, to help revive the prefecture.
Thursday, September 08, 2011 20:59 +0900 (JST)

And I liked that he praised the workers at Fukushima Daiichi. Their job has been so difficult, dangerous, and to this point thankless.

Noda inspects Fukushima Daiichi and other key locations in Fukushima
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has visited the Fukushima Daiichi power plant and asked workers there to keep doing their best to bring it under control.

Noda's visit on Thursday was the first since he became prime minister a week ago. Wearing protective clothing, he inspected the damaged reactor buildings.

Speaking before about 200 Tokyo Electric Power and other workers, he thanked them for working day and night since March.

He said thanks to them, levels of radiation in waste water inside the plant have fallen by a factor of 10 million. He said the whole world is waiting for an end to the Fukushima crisis and their efforts are the key.

Noda said he will do his utmost and work closely with them toward achieving the goal of ending the crisis.

Before visiting the plant, Noda dropped by the government's nuclear disaster-response headquarters, in a nearby sports facility. He met Self-Defense Force personnel working there to thank them.

Noda later visited Date City, northwest of the power plant, where relatively high levels of radiation have been detected. He watched officials measuring radiation levels in a ditch and was briefed about decontamination work.
Thursday, September 08, 2011 18:59 +0900 (JST)

The Prime Minister's thanks may mean more to the workers at Fukushima, but this is very nice, too:

"Heroes of Fukushima" win Spain's Asturias award

People who worked to help contain the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi plant have won Spain's prestigious Prince of Asturias Award for Concord.

The Prince of Asturias Foundation said on Wednesday that this year's award goes to those it called the "heroes of Fukushima."

They include nuclear plant workers and firefighters who battled to cool the damaged reactors. Also among them are Self-Defense Forces personnel who helped evacuate residents from around the plant.

The foundation praised their actions as courageous and exemplary as they risked their own safety to contain the crisis. It added that they embodied the highest human values, which it said are deeply rooted in Japanese society.

The Prince of Asturias Awards was created in 1981. Individuals and organizations are annually honored for their achievements in scientific, cultural, and social fields.

Astronaut Chiaki Mukai is one of the previous Japanese recipients.

The award ceremony will be held in Oviedo in northern Spain in October. The winners will receive 70,000 dollars.
Thursday, September 08, 2011 12:40 +0900 (JST)

This should have happened at the beginning of the accident. You can always learn from others who have been in a similar siutation. However, what I'd rather see than doctors (since frankly, the medical consequences of Chernobyl have not been that great, so far) and government officials, is more meetings with farmers and more mayors and more evacuees.

Research team from Fukushima to visit Chernobyl

A group of experts and municipal officials from around the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant will visit Chernobyl to learn first-hand about post-nuclear crisis efforts.

The trip is being organized by Fukushima University. It says more than 20 medical and other specialists and municipal officials will take part in the 8-day trip starting on October 31st.

They include Yuko Endo, the Mayor of Kawauchi Village near the disaster-stricken nuclear plant.

The group plans to visit the site of the 1986 Chernobyl accident, as well as schools and hospitals in areas where radiation levels are still high.

The university says the group hopes to meet regional government officials and residents to find out when evacuees were allowed to return home, and what measures were taken to decontaminate the polluted areas.

The group also hopes to learn about the arrangements to check residents' health and the compensation systems for the public.
Thursday, September 08, 2011 05:27 +0900 (JST)

With the change of government, the stress tests needed to get nuclear plants back on line have started.

TEPCO to start "stress test" on plant in Niigata

Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, says it will start "stress tests" on two reactors at its Kashiwazaki-kariwa plant in Niigata Prefecture on Friday.

TEPCO said on Thursday that it will start the first stage of the safety assessments on the Number 1 and 7 reactors on Friday. The first stage is required in order to resume operations of the reactors that were halted in order to hold regular safety checks.

The utility wants to use the assessment to confirm safety and obtain the approval of local governments for restarting operations of the reactors.

The governor of Niigata Prefecture, which hosts the plant, is cautious about resumption.

Governor Hirohiko Izumida has said conducting stress tests will not lead to the prefecture approving of the resumption of such reactors. He has indicated that his prefecture will not make a decision on the matter until the results of investigations into the Fukushima accident are published.

A TEPCO official said the company wants to confirm the safety of the plant through "stress tests" and explain the results to local communities.

In July, the government introduced an additional safety assessment called the "stress test", following the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station. The test uses computer simulations to assess how well nuclear power plants can withstand earthquakes, tsunamis and the loss of external power.

The second stage of the "stress test" will apply to all 48 reactors in Japan, excluding those at Fukushima.
Thursday, September 08, 2011 16:51 +0900 (JST)

And it looks like TEPCO has not given up on Fukushima Daiichi's Reactors 5 & 6 and Fukushima Daini's 4 reactors.

Nishizawa:TEPCO to scrap Fukushima reactors-except some

Tokyo Electric Power Company president Toshio Nishizawa says his company will scrap the 4 severely damaged reactors at its disaster-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

He made the remark on Wednesday at a session of the Fukushima Prefectural Assembly, which is investigating the accident at the plant.

Nishizawa deeply apologized for causing the serious nuclear accident, and, in particular, for mentally and physically affecting evacuees from areas around the plant.

He also stressed that TEPCO will do its utmost to bring the crisis under control and compensate those who have been affected by the accident.

Answering a question by a prefectural assembly member, Nishizawa said that TEPCO will scrap the damaged No.1 to No.4 reactors of the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

He added, however, that TEPCO will judge, based on the opinions of local municipalities, whether the remaining reactors that are less damaged will be abolished. He was referring to 2 reactors at the Daiichi plant and 4 reactors at the Fukushima Daini nuclear plant. The Daini plant is located about 10 kilometers south of the Daiichi plant.

Another prefectural member asked if the utility had taken adequate anti-quake, anti-tsunami and other safety measures in spite of predictions of a higher-than-expected tsunami.

Nishizawa says he thinks that the company had prepared for the possible damage based on various studies, but that it needs to consider such predictions more humbly. He admitted to insufficient damage prediction by his company.
Wednesday, September 07, 2011 20:56 +0900 (JST)

And once again we are reminded that especially for the middle aged and elderly, evacuation seems to be more debilitating (and, for that matter, deadly) than staying in place. I hope someone notices.

Need for nursing care increased over three fold after disaster

NHK has learned that the number of elderly people who need nursing care has increased in areas hardest hit by the March 11th earthquake and tsunami.

NHK surveyed 34 communities in coastal areas in the three prefectures of Iwate, Fukushima and Miyagi.

The number of people who have newly been certified as being in need of care since April totals 13,374. The figure is up by 2,802, or about 30 percent, from the same period last year.

In Fukushima Prefecture, the number of such people grew three-point-five fold in Namie Town, while the towns of Tomioka and Okuma saw a 3-fold increase.

Answering multiple-choice questions, 71 percent of the communities attributed the trend to a decline in physical activities among older people due to staying for long periods in evacuation facilities.

38 percent of the communities cited lowered physical ability because of the elderly peoples' new lives in temporary housing, where many of them are discouraged from going out.

Minamisanriku Town in Miyagi and 4 other communities said they are unable to provide adequate nursing care due to the increase in the number of people newly certified as needing care.

The communities will have to strengthen support for elderly people, as it is expected that many old people will continue to live in temporary housing.
Thursday, September 08, 2011 19:33 +0900 (JST)

And the new government seems not support the idea of the former Prime Minister Kan that Japan should stop Japanese companies from selling Japanese nuclear technology abroad. This is key to other reactor builds in the rest of the world, because at this time, Japan is the only place that can cast the huge steel containment vessels.

Japan-Vietnam talks resume on nuclear power plant
Suspended talks between Japan and Vietnam are due to resume in Tokyo on Thursday over a project to build 2 nuclear reactors in Vietnam.

Both governments began negotiating the project in January. Japanese firms would build the reactors, to be operated in 2021.

Vietnam plans a total of 14 reactors by 2030 to meet growing demand for electricity.

But the talks have been suspended since the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, sparked by the March 11th earthquake and tsunami.

In August, the governments agreed to continue with the plan unchanged.

In the new talks, they are expected to discuss how to share the costs of the project and train engineers.

Japan also plans talks with Turkey on similar projects.
Thursday, September 08, 2011 07:52 +0900 (JST)

The rationale behind this recalculation seems valid to me. The SPEEDI maps show that more radioactive material fell in the sea than on the land. Last month, the researchers cut the amount deposited on land significantly.

Radioactive release into sea estimated triple

A group of Japanese researchers say that a total of 15,000 terabecquerels of radioactive substances is estimated to have been released from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea.

Researchers at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, Kyoto University and other institutes made the calculation of radioactivity released from late March through April.

The combined amount of iodine-131 and cesium-137 is more than triple the figure of 4,720 terabecquerels earlier estimated by Tokyo Electric Power Company, the plant operator. The utility only calculated the radioactivity from substances released from the plant into the sea in April and May.

The researchers say the estimated amount of radioactivity includes a large amount that was first released into the air but entered the sea after coming down in the rain.

They say they need to determine the total amount of radioactivity released from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant in order to accurately assess the impact of the disaster on the sea.

And at Genki, it was not the power company, it was the prefecture's governor who was the first cause of the email scandal! This was a surprise to me.

Panel:Saga governor triggered e-mail scam

A panel of experts investigating allegations that Kyushu Electric Power Company manipulated public opinion on nuclear power says the attempt was triggered by a remark by the governor of Saga Prefecture.

Yasushi Furukawa told utility executives that some in the business community favored resuming two reactors at the Genkai plant and that it was necessary to look at such views in a public meeting. The prefecture hosts the plant.

The panel disclosed its interim report on Thursday. It was set up after workers at Kyushu Electric and its affiliates sent e-mails in favor of restarting the reactors during a government-sponsored meeting with local residents in June.

A memorandum compiled by the utility also suggests that Governor Furukawa urged it to offer opinions and questions in favor of the reactors' resumption via the Internet. Furukawa denies the allegations.

But the interim report said it cannot be denied that Furukawa made a remark that is the same or similar to the description on the memo.

The panel plans to continue investigating and finalize its report around September 18th.
Thursday, September 08, 2011 22:16 +0900 (JST)

And why has this German no concern? Because they are building coal and oil power plants. So much for the German's lip service to limiting their carbon footprint.

German:No concern for post-nuclear energy supply

The energy minister of a major industrial state in Germany says the country's decision to shut down all its nuclear plants by 2022 will not destabilize its electricity supply.

Economy and Energy Minister of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Harry Kurt Voigtsberger, downplayed concerns from the industrial sector during an interview with NHK in Tokyo on Thursday. His state is home to the Ruhr industrial belt.

Voigtsberger said the ongoing construction of 7 coal-or-oil based power plants in his state will provide enough electricity to offset a loss from the shutdown of nuclear plants.

He said businesses are not likely to suffer from higher electricity rates because the federal government is considering relief measures for major electricity users.

Voigtsberger added that his state will work to make sure that renewable energy will produce 25 percent of its energy needs by 2020, and 90 percent by 2050.
Thursday, September 08, 2011 16:51 +0900 (JST)

The Economist reports on Germany's situation as of August 20 here:
http://www.economist.com/node/21526366

A study commissioned by the economics ministry has estimated the cost of that decision, in lost jobs and higher energy and carbon prices, at around €32 billion ($46 billion). The government had planned to extend the life of nuclear plants by an average of 12 years.

...

The nuclear gap, says a study prepared jointly by the Institute of Energy Economics at Cologne University, and two consultancies, GWS in Osnabrück and Prognos in Basel, Switzerland, is more likely to be filled by new gas-fired power plants and electricity imports. Both will be expensive and increase Germany’s dependence on foreign and sometimes fickle gas suppliers. Prolonged use of coal and lignite plants, without carbon capture, will drive up the price of carbon-emission certificates and hence the cost of electricity, not only for Germany but across the European carbon-trading area
...
A bleak picture indeed, without much sunlight from the solar industry. It was, though, always an artificial market, says Wolfgang Hummel, an energy expert at the University of Applied Sciences in Berlin. Solar-panel producers flourished, especially in eastern Germany, mainly because of the guaranteed premiums, known as feed-in tariffs, that solar-power suppliers can get for electricity sold to the grid. The government-guaranteed premiums have been sharply reduced, while those for wind farms have been kept high—higher still for offshore ones. Now investors in solar arrays have to compete with fewer subsidies. That has sent the share prices of Germany’s solar champions, such as Phoenix, SMA Solar and Solarworld, spiralling downwards.

.

Even this pessimistic article feels that a combination of power bought from other countries (France, Czech Republic for example) and coal, oil and gas plants hastily built will keep the lights from going out in Germany.

 

[dorispulaski]

TEPCO Status reports for September 9th and 10th do not have much in them:

From 1:20 pm to 2:45 pm on September 8, we transferred accumulated water in the basement of the reactor building of Unit 6 to the turbine building.

*At 10:33 pm on September 8, as it was confirmed that there was a decrease in the amount of water injection for the reactor of Unit 2, we adjusted the rate to approx. 3.8m3/h.

Also some adjustments were made to water flow into the reactors.
Unit 1 would be considered in cold shutdown if this were a normal situation. All temperature measurements are well under 100 C. The Reactor Pressure vessel bottom is 85.6 C.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/f1/images/11091006_temp_data_1u-e.pdf

Unit 2 is not cooling as quickly as the other two reactors:
The Reactor Pressure Vessel Bottom is still at 113.7 C. and there is a lot of variability in all the measurements.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/f1/images/11091006_temp_data_2u-e.pdf

Temperatures of reactors:
Unit 3 has cooled down a lot, 97.7 C at the Reactor Pressure Vessel Bottom, and most measurements are under 100 C or approaching it.:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/f1/images/11091006_temp_data_3u-e.pdf


TEPCO reports in the press handouts that the steel frame work for the enclosure of Unit 1 is complete.
Here's a photo:
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/news/110311/images/110910_1.jpg

They've also released a lot of other phots:

Here's an aerial shot of the plant. You can see the silt fences if you look hard.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/news/110311/images/110909_47.jpg

Closeups of the waterside destruction left over from the tsunami have been uploaded. They are listed as September 8th photos on this page. There are a lot of them.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/news/110311/index-e.html

An odd story. I'm not sure why they even reported it.

TEPCO reports that back in 1993, a kid lied about his age to work in the nuclear plant. You are not supposed to work in a nuclear plant if you are under 18. He applied for a job recently, and a discrepancy in his birth date from 1993 was found.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/11090910-e.html

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110909e11.pdf
After nine days of slowly rising, the concentration inside the silt screen at Unit 3 has dropped back in line with other measurements of water inside the inner harbor. Sometimes data is just like that. (I'm relieved)

They have started trend charts of radioactive materials detected in ocean soil 3 km off various cities. Samples appear to be taken once a month. Of the seven sites, 3 km off Ena is the only one in this group of samples over 500 Becquerels per kg.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110909e6.pdf

There isn't much left in the seawater-very seldom is anything found at the sample sizes they are using.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/betu11_e/images/110909e4.pdf
Today nothing was found in any sample.

NHK News

Electricity usage limits ended on Friday

Much of Japan breathed a sigh of relief on Friday night, as months of government-mandated power-saving came to an end.

The authorities had asked individuals and businesses to reduce power consumption by 15% from July due to electricity shortages following the Fukushima nuclear plant accident in March.

That request was officially withdrawn on Friday night, sooner than originally planned due to falling temperatures and declining electricity demand.

While the requirement was in effect, large users served by Tokyo and Tohoku electric power companies were legally mandated to reduce their power consumption.

To meet the target, businesses adjusted their work schedules. Car makers closed plants on weekdays and operated on weekends instead. Private homes were also asked to chip in.

In the end, though, the power suppliers didn't have to resort to planned outages during summer. The industry ministry says the power-saving efforts by companies and private homes proved more than effective.

But there are concerns about possible power shortages this winter. That's because a large number of nuclear power plants around Japan are to be shut down for inspection.

Industry Minister Yoshio Hachiro says the government will review the effectiveness of this summer's power-saving measures and study steps it should take in winter.
He said the government will try to avoid imposing an electricity usage limit again.
Friday, September 09, 2011 20:20 +0900 (JST)

and this is appropriate:

TEPCO thanks customers for saving electricity

Tokyo Electric Power Company has expressed gratitude for the conservation efforts by electricity users.

A spokesperson read an official statement by TEPCO president Toshio Nishizawa. It said the firm was very sorry for forcing users to reduce their power consumption.

He added that TEPCO wants to thank households as well as large business users for their cooperation.

But the spokesperson declined to comment on the possibility of similar energy-saving measures this winter.
Friday, September 09, 2011 15:06 +0900 (JST)

I'm glad that they are reporting of the results of their cleanup experiments. Now if they would only plant deer truffles in between the sunflower rows, they could really sequester some cesium.

Sunflowers help remove radiative materials

A Japanese study shows that sunflowers can help reduce the levels of radioactive materials in farmland soil by up to half.

The findings were announced on Thursday by a Kobe-based private-sector group made up of former staff members of Japan's RIKEN research center.

They grew sunflowers in 4 fields in Minamisoma City, within 30 kilometers of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The researchers said in one of the fields the level of radioactive cesium per kilogram of soil fell by 20 percent, from 2,100 becquerels to 1,680 becquerels, in 2 months. In another field, the level fell by around half.

Sunflowers that have absorbed radioactive materials need to be buried in the ground, and the group says finding disposal sites will be the key to promote the decontamination method.

The group said it will ask farmers near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to grow sunflowers so it can check levels of radioactive materials in soil on a regular basis.
Friday, September 09, 2011 06:50 +0900 (JST)

Even 20% drop is significant. In 6 growing seasons, the contamination can be reduced to 25% of what it was, significantly faster than just relying on radioactive decay.

Noda offers Fukushima municipal chiefs help

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has assured the heads of municipalities around the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant that the government will do all it can to help evacuees return to their hometowns.

Noda met the 12 community heads in Fukushima City on Thursday. Residents of the municipalities evacuated following the March 11th nuclear accident.

Noda said the government will make the utmost effort to revitalize Fukushima and to help the evacuees return home.

He said the government will spend 220 billion yen, or about 2.8 billion dollars from the second supplementary budget of fiscal 2011 to clean up the areas contaminated by radioactive materials.

He added the government will designate districts for decontamination work.

Some municipal chiefs asked for financial aid for decontamination. Others requested decontamination of hilly and other non-residential areas and assistance for the education of children affected.

Mayor Tamotsu Baba of Namie Town said he hopes to see the new government make decisions quickly, noting that the new Prime Minister came to Fukushima quickly compared to his predecessor. But he said he wanted to hear a more detailed explanation of the decontamination plans.

Mayor Toshitsuna Watanabe of Okuma Town commented he appreciated Noda's strong resolve to tackle the disaster and the nuclear accident.

Mayor Katsutaka Idogawa of Futaba Town noted children that have been evacuated need the proper environment to study as they will have major challenges with school entrance examinations.

He also said exposure to radiation could have been prevented if the government had offered information about the spread of the radioactive fallout. He added that a quick disclosure of accurate information is needed.
Friday, September 09, 2011 06:50 +0900 (JST)

 

[Olympia]

Thanks, Doris.

Glad nothing eventful is happening.

 

[100yen]

Yes, as well as the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, today also marks 6 months since the earthquake and tsunami struck Japan. Both cases seem to be healing now<3

 

[dorispulaski]

If you happened to start the day with either The Huffington Post or AOL News, you would have thought that there was an explosion at a nuclear reactor in France. Actually, there was an explosion at a scrap melting oven at a facility in the same industrial park as France's nuclear recycling facility which is not owned by Areva (the French nuclear company). It is called Centraco & is owned by SOCODEI. Centraco is licensed to handle low level nuclear waste; about the same level as hospitals generate. Here are the press releases of ASN, Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire, the French Nuclear Safety Authority:

http://www.french-nuclear-safety.fr...of-the-event-in-Centraco-Gard-press-release-2

The event that occurred this morning in Centraco, nuclear installation located near Marcoule site (Gard) is considered as closed.

The explosion of a furnace dedicated for the melting of the metallic radioactive waste triggered a fire that ended at 13h00 (11.00 UTC)

The building where the explosion occurred was not damaged. Injured people do not suffer from any radiological contamination and all measures conducted by the licensee outside of the building have shown no trace of radioactive contamination.

One worker died and 4 others have sustained injuries, one of whom suffered deep burns.

This event does not involve any radiological issue and no protective actions was required for the population.

ASN, the French Nuclear Safety Authority, has suspended its emergency organization; ASN is still in permanent contact with the prefecture of Gard and the licensee Socodei. ASN will conduct dedicated inspections in liaison with Labour inspection in order to analyse the reasons of the accident.

Centraco is owned by SOCODEI. The installation is dedicated to the treatment and conditioning of low level radioactive waste, either by melting of metallic waste or by incineration of incinerable waste.

ASN Media contact : +33 1 40 19 87 25 / + 33 1 40 19 86 12

Original ASN press release

Information on the accident in Centraco (Gard) : press release #1

ASN, the French Nuclear Safety Authority, activated its emergency centre located in Paris XII at 12.30 following the accident that took place in Centraco (centre for treatment and conditioning of low level radioactive waste) located in Codolet near Marcoule (Gard, South-East of France).

An oven dedicated to melt low and very low radioactive metallic waste exploded inside the building. The radioactivity was contained inside the building.

According to a first estimations, there are one casualty and four injured persons, including one severely injured. None of them is contaminated.

There are no releases outside the installation.

The licensee activated its on-site emergency plan accordingly to the procedures.

Centraco is owned by SOCODEI. The installation is dedicated to the treatment and conditioning of low level radioactive waste, either by melting of metallic waste or by incineration of incinerable waste.
ASN is in permanent contact with the prefecture of Gard and the licensee. The division of ASN in Marseille is also following the situation and sent inspectors to the prefecture and to the site.
ASN Media contact : +33 1 40 19 87 25 / + 33 1 40 19 86 12

 

[dorispulaski]

September 12, 3:00 PM JST
TEPCO Status

From 8:05 am to 9:35 am on September 12, we conducted dust sampling at thev upper part of reactor building of Unit 3 using a large crane vehicle.

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/images/handouts_110912_01-e.pdf
The Data is above. [ETA You can see that there is no evidence of recent nuclear reactions from this data. There is no Iodine 131 and the Cesium 134 (which has a half life of 51 days) is significantly less than that of Cesium 137,( half life 29 years). Back in the day we saw concentrations similar to this at the West Gate.]

Here's a picture of the crane
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/news/110311/images/110912_1.jpg
and a close up of the dust collecting apparatus.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/news/110311/images/110910_2.jpg

*At 2:01 pm on September 12, we adjusted the rate of water injection to Unit 3 reactor to approx. 4.0 m3/h through reactor feed water system (the rate of water injection through core spray system remains unchanged, approx.3.0 m3/h).

*At 11:30 am on September 12, we resumed transferring accumulated water from the basement, T/B of Unit 6 to the makeshift tank.

*Around 10:00 am on September 12, we confirmed that indication of a movable monitoring post was unreadable. The post had monitored the dose at the main gate of the Power plant. The data transmission was resumed at 10:30 am on the same day.

*At 10:06 am on September 12, waste liquid discharge pump (B) in the suppression pool water surge-tank (hereinafter called "SPT") stopped due to overload. At 11:23 am on the same day, SPT waste liquid discharge pump (A) was activated. After that, we inspected SPT waste liquid discharge pump (B) and confirmed that there was no defect in the pump. At 11:53 am on the same day, we restarted SPT waste liquid discharge pump (B) and stopped SPT waste liquid discharge pump (A).



* At 5:40 pm on September 11, as it was confirmed that there was a decrease in the amount of water injection for the reactor of Unit 1, we adjusted the rate of water injection to approx. 3.8 m3/h. * At 5:40 pm on September 11, as it was confirmed that there was a decrease in the amount of water injection for the reactor of Unit 2, we adjusted the rate of water injection to approx. 3.8 m3/h.

In the US, we did not hear much about the tsunami 6 month anniversary. Our media were consumed with the 10 year anniversary of September 11th attack on the World Trade Center in New York.

NHK News

6-month anniversary events held for quake victims

Six months have passed since the major earthquake and tsunami devastated northeastern Japan on March 11th.

But the path to recovery still seems far away as many survivors continue to struggle in rebuilding their lives.

On Sunday, memorial services were held in disaster-stricken areas for the victims.

In Minamisanriku Town, Miyagi Prefecture, the 71-year-old mother of a town employee who died that day offered bundles of origami paper cranes in honor of her son.

The mother says she had prayed for early recovery of her son's body, but now she just wants to convey her gratitude to him.

The city of Rikuzentakata suffered the largest number of confirmed deaths in Iwate Prefecture.

People who lost their family and friends attended a memorial service at a local Buddhist temple.

A man says wounds in his heart have not healed for the past 6 months, but that he is trying to resolve his feelings at every opportunity to make a new start.

In Minami-soma City, Fukushima Prefecture, near the crippled nuclear plant, residents worked together to decontaminate students' commuting routes so that children can go to school safely when facilities reopen.

A community leader in a district within 30 kilometers from the nuclear plant says residents have to rely on themselves to protect their own community because the central government is so slow in acting.
Sunday, September 11, 2011 13:44 +0900 (JST)

TEPCO president apologizes for nuclear accident

The head of Tokyo Electric Power Company has apologized for the damage caused by the nuclear accident at its power plant in Fukushima Prefecture.

President Toshio Nishizawa released a comment on Sunday, apologizing for the trouble and concern that the accident has caused residents around the plant, other people in Fukushima, and the nation as a whole.

Nishizawa also said that the company is determined to do all it can to permit evacuees to return home as early as possible.

The company has lowered temperatures in the reactors to around 100 degrees Celsius by pouring in cooling water, while decontaminating highly radioactive waste water.

But more than 100,000 tons of untreated waste water remain within the plant.

The major challenge the company faces is to cool the reactors stably without increasing the amount of waste water.

TEPCO intends to review current reactor cooling and water treatment plans to achieve a cold shutdown with reactor temperatures being kept stable and below 100 degrees by January of next year.
Sunday, September 11, 2011 14:38 +0900 (JST)

It is very encouraging that 2 of the reactors are there or nearly there already, and there are 3 1/2 months left in the year.

Noda urges swift action on Fukushima

Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda urged his Cabinet on Sunday to promptly implement rebuilding plans for the area around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The call came six months after the March 11th disaster that caused the nuclear accident.

Noda made the remark at a joint meeting of Cabinet members in charge of reconstruction and nuclear disaster management.

The Prime Minister and his Cabinet held a moment of silence for the victims of the March 11th earthquake and tsunami at 2:46 PM.

Noda apologized for the resignation of Economy, Trade, and Industry Minister Yoshiro Hachiro, saying a member of his Cabinet had made inappropriate remarks.

He said he is sincerely sorry that the minister's remarks offended many people, especially residents of Fukushima Prefecture.

Noda repeated his view that Japan will not recover until the Fukushima plant is put under control. He said he had received many requests for decontamination from residents and heads of municipalities in the prefecture.

He called on his Cabinet members to make the maximum effort to respond to such requests, adding that the government knows what it is required to do to achieve the plan. He said the government must swiftly deal with the Fukushima problem and remove radioactive materials from the contaminated area to meet the evacuees' expectations.
Sunday, September 11, 2011 22:59 +0900 (JST)

Noda to appoint new METI minister on Monday

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda will appoint a new Economy, Trade and Industry Minister on Monday.

Noda is expected to appoint an ex-cabinet member who has a good knowledge of nuclear power generation.

The prime minister apologized to people of Fukushima Prefecture on Sunday for the resignation of Economy, Trade, and Industry Minister Yoshiro Hachiro after a slip of the tongue about the nuclear accident in Fukushima Prefecture.

Noda reiterated that he still believes that there will be no revival of Japan without the revival of Fukushima.

He added that the a new Economy, Trade and Industry minster must be able to be immediately effective because the ministry deals with restarting idled nuclear power plants and reviewing Japan's energy policy.

He is expected to appoint a new minister on Monday because the Diet will convene on Tuesday.
Monday, September 12, 2011 05:41 +0900 (JST)

Noda starts with one foot in the bucket-

Over 70% of municipalities feel recovery work slow

A survey has found that over 70 percent of the municipalities hit hardest by the March 11th earthquake and tsunami feel reconstruction work is making little or no progress even 6 months after the disaster.

NHK conducted a survey covering 42 municipalities in Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures, northeastern Japan, from late August to early September.

14 municipalities said reconstruction efforts are making no progress while 17 said such work is making progress, but slowing down.

Regarding the central government's responses, 22 municipalities said they are not completely happy while 4 said they are unhappy. This means more than 60 percent of the municipalities are not satisfied with the state's measures.

The survey also asked the municipalities what they expect from the central government. 41 municipalities replied securing enough funding. 33 said speedy decision and implementation of policies. 19 answered deregulations, including setting up special reconstruction zones.

The Mayor of Shichigahama Town in Miyagi, Yoshio Watanabe, said he wants the state to quickly present its policies and budget as his town alone cannot cover the several hundred million dollars predicted to be needed to realize its rebuilding plan.

The survey also asked 15 municipalities in Fukushima what the central government should do to deal with the nuclear crisis. 12 municipalities said expanding areas to be decontaminated by the state while 8 wanted thorough health checkups for residents. 7 municipalities answered detailed radiation monitoring.

The Mayor of Katsurao Village, Masahide Matsumoto, said that without decontamination, his town cannot proceed with its reconstruction plan. He said the central government should address various issues

Meanwhile there are towns that have started cleanup themselves. How many times have I said, just powerwash stuff and clean the gutters out afterward???
It really works.

Minami Soma residents clean streets for children
Residents of Minami Soma City in Fukushima Prefecture continue to clean up roads used by elementary and junior high school students 6 months after the nuclear accident.

The city's Masuda district is less than 30 kilometers from the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, and residents have been advised to be prepared to evacuate immediately when another emergency situation occurs.

The elementary and junior high schools in the area remain closed.

On Sunday, more than 30 people cleaned up a 500-meter stretch of a road that will be used by children when the schools reopen.

They measured radiation levels as they washed the sidewalks with high-pressure equipment and removed dirt from the sides of the road with spades.

Thanks to their efforts, radiation levels in some places have fallen from 3.6 microsieverts per hour to about one-third of that level.

The head of the district, Hirotoshi Kobayashi, says people are trying to protect the area by themselves.

He says he will work to lower the radiation levels and rebuild a community where children can go to school safely.

Minami Soma City plans to continue cleaning up roads and parks with the help of people from other districts.
Sunday, September 11, 2011 22:59 +0900 (

This meeting is more on a useful track:

Nuclear experts discuss radiation in Fukushima

Nuclear experts from around the world have exchanged views on how to provide information about radiation exposure.

Some 40 experts from 14 countries are taking part in the 2-day meeting in Fukushima City, Fukushima Prefecture.

The symposium was organized by the Nippon Foundation in cooperation with the International Commission on Radiological Protection. The body provides guidance and recommendations on protection from radiation.

An US epidemiologist, John Boice, said he does not think people's health will be affected by the Fukushima accident. He said Japan prevented contaminated food from being distributed, unlike what happened after the Chernobyl accident.

Boice said counseling and timely information are essential for those worried about radiation in food.

The participants discussed ways to provide information on radiation exposure. Some said the radiation levels following the Fukushima accident should have been made public as they were much lower than the levels deemed safe by scientists.

There was also a suggestion that comparative data with other risks such as traffic accidents should have been made available.

Makoto Akashi, whose organization is co-sponsoring the gathering, said he hopes to find ways to convince people that there will be no health impact from radiation from the Fukushima accident.

The experts will compile recommendations on ways to resolve the Fukushima accident including how to limit possible radiation exposure.
Sunday, September 11, 2011 22:59 +0900 (JST)

By the way, this is not a gathering of nuclear plant operators. This is a gathering of health and health physics professionals.

High levels of radiation found in remote areas

Japan's science ministry has compiled a map showing radiation levels in Fukushima and 4 surrounding prefectures, based on the results of an aerial survey.

Removal of radioactive substances will be required in the affected areas.

In the map, levels of radioactivity at locations one meter above the ground are highlighted in different colors.

Red is for areas where the radiation level is 19 microsieverts per hour or higher.

The red band spreads from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to the northwest and extends about 30 kilometers.

Areas with radiation levels of 3.8 microsieverts per hour or above are highlighted in yellow. The figure translates to above 20 millisieverts per year, a threshold in designating an evacuation zone. The yellow area extends beyond the current evacuation zone.

Light green shows levels between 0.5 and one microsieverts per hour. They still are far beyond the annual level of one millisievert which is believed to cause no harm to people. Much of Fukushima Prefecture, southern parts of Miyagi Prefecture, and northern parts of Tochigi and Ibaraki prefectures lie in this zone.
Sunday, September 11, 2011 10:49 +0900 (JST)

The map:
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/update/images/11_08_v_s.jpg

It is essentially the same picture that we've been seeing for months.

IAEA to hold meeting on Monday

The International Atomic Energy Agency will start its board meeting in Vienna, Austria on Monday.

Members will discuss a draft action plan to secure the safety of nuclear power plants in the world.

The draft includes a provision that would allow the IAEA to conduct regular safety assessments of the nuclear power plants of member countries on a voluntary basis.

Another item in the draft plan calls for the IAEA to confirm safety measures and designs of nuclear power plants of countries planning to build the plants, if the countries request such information.

Germany and Switzerland want the safety assessments to be compulsory. But countries including the United States and Britain are opposed and insist on voluntary assessments only.

Germany and Switzerland are moving away from nuclear energy while the United States and Britain are still promoting its use.

Our correspondent says that focus is on whether the board meeting can come up with a definite policy. The meeting lasts through Friday.
Monday, September 12, 2011 05:41 +0900 (JST)

And some things are going on as usual:

Autumn sumo tournament opens in Tokyo

The autumn grand sumo tournament opened in Tokyo on Sunday.

This is the first tournament to be held at the Kokugikan arena in 8 months, as the regular tournament in May was cancelled due to the bout-fixing scandal.

About 3,700 tickets for the opening day, or about 30 percent of the total, went unsold.

A man who bought a ticket on the opening day said he is looking forward to the tournament as there were many exciting bouts in the previous Nagoya tournament.

A woman who came with her husband said she hopes Japanese wrestlers will move to the upper ranks and bring more excitement to the sport.

As part of its efforts to attract more spectators, the Japan Sumo Association has started to ask 1,000 spectators to evaluate the bouts in the form of a questionnaire and disclose which wrestlers excited them the most.

It is also planning to study ways to attract more spectators.

Yokozuna Grand Champion Hakuho and Ozeki Champion Harumafuji, who is aiming to become a yokozuna, both won on the first day.
Sunday, September 11, 2011 22:59 +0900 (JST)

 

[dorispulaski]

And there were two other NHK stories I wanted to talk about in more detail:

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/Dozens-Killed-in-Nairobi-Explosion-129646408.html

At least 61 people in Kenya’s capital were killed Monday after a gasoline pipeline exploded.

Energy Minister Kiraitu Murungi told VOA the explosion was one of the worst accidents ever in Kenya’s energy sector.
He explained that trouble began when pressure caused a gasoline pipeline to break a valve. Fuel then spilled into an open sewer in the informal settlement of Mukuru wa Njenga.

It started with a simple leak today. Did you even hear about it?

And yet the explosion in the low level nuclear waste reprocessing plant in France was all over the news, including in Japan.

Here's NHK's take. It has churned out 5 stories on this industrial accident (I'm listing from most recent back to first):

France probes explosion at nuclear-related site
Authorities in France say radiation levels around the nuclear waste processing facility where an explosion occurred are normal. They add that the furnace did not explode.

The explosion happened on Monday in Marcoule, southern France, at a building housing a facility to melt low-level radioactive waste. One worker was killed and 4 others were injured in the accident.

According to the facility, the blast was not in the furnace, as initially presumed, but near the furnace.

The French Institute for Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety says radiation readings in the air around the facility are the same as before the accident. No evacuation order has been issued for nearby residents.
The country's nuclear regulatory authority has sent an emergency response team to the site to investigate the cause of the accident.

The ecology minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet has gone to the site to assure residents that there is no nuclear leak.

Observers say the French government is trying to reassure the public. There has been growing concern over nuclear power stations in France following the accident in March at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi plant.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 07:15 +0900 (JST)

For one thing, there is no nuclear plant at this site, nor is there a nuclear fuel reprocessing plant. It's irrelevant to whether French people should be nervous or not about nuclear power. It's about whether they want metal smelters around.

Previous article:

French institute examines radioactive samples
A French nuclear institute says metals containing 67,000 becquerels of radioactive substances were being burned at a nuclear waste treatment site near Nimes in southern France when an explosion occurred there on Monday.

The Institute for Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety says that the radioactive level is so low that there is no possibility of anything hazardous leaking into the environment.

It says the building housing the furnace has not been damaged, and there is no need for residents around the plant to evacuate.

But the institute says as wind was blowing from north to south at the time of the accident, it is now examining radioactive levels at several locations in the south of the compound.

The institute says the results will be available within a few hours.

It also says a fire broke out immediately after the explosion, but has been extinguished.

The institute monitored the impact of highly radioactive substances on the sea, after the explosion at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in March.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 05:55 +0900 (JST)

The INSR is the group advocating a 1 mSv per year exposure threshold. If they say nothing happened, nothing happened.

And another NHK article

Explosion occurs at French nuclear facility
An explosion has occurred at a nuclear waste processing plant in the suburb of Nimes in southern France. The country's nuclear safety body says no radioactive leaks have been detected.

The blast in Marcoule took place shortly before noon on Monday.

One person reportedly died and 4 others were injured.

The nuclear agency says the explosion occurred in an oven used to melt metallic waste that contains very little radioactivity.

The plant is operated by a subsidiary of the EDF power company. A spokesperson says a fire broke out after the explosion, but it has since been brought under control.

Local media say no evacuation orders have been issued to residents living near the facility.

The nuclear safety authorities are investigating how the blast occurred.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has set up a task force. It is asking the French authorities to provide details of the accident in order to ascertain the situation.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 05:55 +0900 (JST)

And here's an article from NHK that is just plain WRONG.

Explosion occurs at nuclear facility in Marcoule
The nuclear waste processing facility where an explosion occurred on Monday is part of a complex of nuclear facilities in Marcoule, southern France.

One of the facilities at the complex processes spent nuclear fuel to produce plutonium-uranium mixed oxide or MOX fuel.

The MOX fuel is sold for use in nuclear power stations in Japan.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 05:55 +0900 (JST)

and the initial report

French envoy says no radiation leak from blast

A French envoy to the UN nuclear watchdog says there is no radioactive leakage after an explosion at a nuclear waste processing facility in southern France.

France's ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Florence Mangin, confirmed that there was an explosion but said it was not a nuclear accident and no radiation has leaked.

Mangin is attending an IAEA board meeting in Vienna, Austria.

She said the French government will send an emergency response team to the site to gather further information.

France's interior ministry says the explosion was an industrial accident, not a terrorist attack.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011 05:55 +0900 (JST)

So the initial report was correct--what the heck was NHK doing with the other 4 reports? NHK reported nothing about the 61 people who died in a gasoline pipeline explosion in Nairobi.

This kind of over-sensationalized, crap reporting has become typical in anything with the word nuclear in the report. Heck, I expect to read something about explosive fallout from the nuclear family some time very soon.


And here's Atomic Power Review by will davis, the most reliable blogger about Fukushima. The coverage is making him crazy, even more crazy than I am about it, particularly coverage from Russia & Azerbaijan:

Monday, September 12, 2011

The Rabid Media - and the Marcoule incident
From time to time, I like to do the sort of thing you're about to see me do. I always thank Fintan Dunne for putting me on to this. Let's go!

First, look at the headline of the following article:

"What You Need to Know About the Nuclear Explosion In France."
http://www.theatlantic.com/technolo...about-the-nuclear-explosion-in-france/244913/

There was no nuclear explosion in France. There was an industrial accident involving a furnace used to melt contaminated metal parts together into ingots for disposal. While this could involve, say, a fossil fuel explosion there isn't even a nuclear reactor in the facility in question.. and even THEN, there could not be a nuclear explosion because reactors cannot explode like nuclear weapons. So this has to be one of the most highly exaggerated headlines yet.

Here is just a horrible headline, and an even worse article:

France aims to limit fallout from nuclear accident.
http://en.trend.az/regions/world/europe/1930583.html

Where shall I begin?

-Clever use of the word "fallout" hints at radioactive fallout, but they really mean public reaction to the event.

-Note the use of the different serious scary words such as "blast" and "blown up."

-See the implication that the press has learned from anti-nuclear Fukushima press hack media guidelines vis a vis age of sites in this article when it mentions that this is one of the oldest nuclear sites in France. This is one of their new hot button things - age.

-Note how the article ends with "hasn't learned the lessons of Fukushima." Yes, well, lessons learned from one of the most massive natural disasters in modern times and how that relates to GE-Toshiba-Hitachi boiling water reactors in Mk I containment buildings really has little to do with an explosion and fire in and around a furnace that melts steel.

"Blast rocks nuclear plant in France."
http://rt.com/news/rocks-nuclear-plant-france-337/

It's not a nuclear plant. It's a waste processing facility. Can't we get a handle on the differences here, media? Please? What, do I need to issue you all a media guide? Nuclear energy 101, maybe I'll call it. By the way - don't even bother reading the article actually linked above because it's almost perfect in its incorrectness from front to back, top to bottom. It's a masterpiece of total inaccuracy.

"Jitters after nuclear accident in France."
http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/09/12/56071356.html

The Voice of Russia here makes it clear that they, and perhaps many others in Russia wish that something worse than Chernobyl would happen so that the spotlight is off them, and so that there's a new yardstick of "bad." Think I'm kidding? Read the last paragraph of this article twice slowly and you'll begin to realize I'm not.

I could go on and on like this, but I'd like you to compare all the articles you'll see in the blog roll on this site, and this site's own articles on the subject, with the various major media articles you have seen above on this post. The comparison - and the intent to scare and misinform by the major media - could not be more clear.

4:35 PM Eastern Monday September 12, 2011

Personally, I wouldn't be surprised if the Russian slant on this has more to do with promoting Russian fossil fuels- Gazprom and so forth, as the Russians are busily building and selling nuclear power plants in their own country and elsewhere.

 

[dorispulaski]

The second NHK story is this one:

And another NHK September 12th article. I decided to discuss this in a bit more detail, although we've all discussed the boars and the mushrooms before.

First the article.
Getting upset about wild boars and mushrooms is a fairly useless activity: it is well known that when there is any radioactive cesium present, it will concentrate in mushrooms (for example porcini mushrooms and deer truffles) and in any wild animals that eat them, like wild boars. It is no surprise that this works in Japan as well as in Germany, Czech Republic, and Ukraine:

Radiation checks on wild plants, animals urged
A Japanese expert is urging detailed checks on wild plants and animals for radioactive contamination after the recent discovery of high levels of radioactivity in a kind of mushroom and a wild boar.

Following the Fukushima nuclear accident, the central government set safety limits on radioactive substances in food. As of Saturday it has screened nearly 20,000 food products. The number includes items analyzed by prefectural authorities.

In March and April, vegetables and raw milk were found to contain unsafe levels of radiation. But recently, radiation levels, if detected, have not exceeded the safety standards.

Meanwhile, on September 3rd, a species of mushroom found in a forest in Fukushima Prefecture was discovered to contain 28,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram, an amount far above the safety limit. A wild boar was also found to have radiation amounts about 6 times the safety limit.

Gakushuin University Professor Yasuyuki Muramatsu says radioactive cesium on soil and fallen leaves in forests is easily absorbed by mushrooms and edible plants. He says wild animals like boars accumulate high levels of radiation by eating contaminated mushrooms and plants.

The professor adds that detailed studies should be carried out on wild plants and animals to examine the impact of the nuclear accident on them as wild fauna and flora across Europe have been affected by radiation from the Chernobyl accident.
Monday, September 12, 2011 05:41 +0900 (JST)

Mycio in Wormwood Forest reports very large concentrations in boars and in mushrooms at Chernobyl. In fact, so far, this Japanese wild boar is a mere piker compared to a Ukrainian boar she mentions which had 444,200 becquerels in a kilogram of meat and a boar from Belarus that had 661,000 becquerels per kilogram of meat [Wormwood Forest, p. 108].

As to how such boars became that contaminated, Mycio reports on p. 109, "One mushroom found in 2002 contained 900,000 becquerels." If the boar ate several mushrooms like that, everything is explained. Please note that 2002 is long after the 1987 Chernobyl accident.

First for those who don't know about wild boars and mushrooms, please consider that one preferred method of truffle hunting involves a pig.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1L-uev-hwg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-vmtCoiVnI

Note that the pig digs up the truffle with his snout, thus inhaling whatever is in the soil, including radioactive cesium, if there is any. And if there is no one around, he's going to eat the truffle.

How much ground does a pig without an attendant dig up? Here's what a wild boas did in Volusia County, Florida, where they are a significant pest. The amount of destroyed land is alarming:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjPnT9e8akA

So boars eat worms, grubs and mushrooms in the top layer of soil, where radioactive cesium is most concentrated. It's no wonder that are likely to have very elevated cesium levels in areas where there is even a small amount of radioactive cesium.
A few words about truffles and porcini mushrooms:

Porcini mushrooms
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boletus_edulis

Common names for Boletus edulis vary by region. The standard Italian name porcino means "piglet" in Italian, and echoes the term suilli, literally 'hog mushrooms', used by the Ancient Romans,[15] and still surviving in Southern Italian words for this mushroom.[16] The derivation has been ascribed to the resemblance of young fruit bodies to piglets, or to the fondness pigs have for eating them.[17]

So, yes, wild boars will be only too happy to eat porcini mushrooms as well as truffles.
And porcini can tolerate a huge amount of metallic contamination:

Heavy metal contamination

Boletus edulis is known to be able to tolerate and even thrive on soil that is contaminated with toxic heavy metals, such as soil that might be found near metal smelters. The mushroom's resistance to heavy metal toxicity is conferred by a biochemical called a phytochelatin—an oligopeptide whose production is induced after exposure to metal.[73] Phytochelatins are chelating agents, capable of forming multiple bonds with the metal; in this state, the metal cannot normally react with other elements or ions and is stored in a detoxified form in the mushroom tissue.

and it draws on metals acquired over an area that is large compared with the size of the mushroom itself:

Mycorrhizal associations
Boletus edulis is mycorrhizal—it is in a mutualistic relationship with the roots of plants ("hosts"), in which the fungus exchanges minerals extracted from the environment for fixed carbon from the host.

This Czech paper discusses how wild boar meat becomes contaminated with radioactive cesium in detail:

http://actavet.vfu.cz/pdf/201079S9S085.pdf

Transfer of Radiocesium into Wild Boar Meat]
Petr Dvořák1, Petr Snášel1, Katarína Beňová2

The paper also notes that since cesium does not remain in the body of either boar or human, in the non-mushroom eating season, boars have much less cesium than when they can find an abundance of mushrooms and truffles.

The seasonal variations were similar to those of the neighbouring Germany, i.e. the highest contamination was detected in the first half of year.

A wise government would limit the hunting of wild boar to the first half of the year, something Germany has not done. And a wise hunter would be sure to brine the meat, as the article suggests:

Ecological halflife models (Lettner et al. 2009) can be used as valuable and effective tools to specify the countermeasures for contamination reduction or meat consumption regulation. Cooking or salting, including meat brining can take part in such countermeasures (Dvořák at al. 2008).

Boiling reduces cesium concentration better than other forms of cooking.

Now this Polish paper notes that boar meat was reported contaminated with radioactive cesium in 1985, even prior to Chernobyl. The cesium presumably came from atmospheric testing of bombs in the 1950's and 1960's.

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0048969794905835
http://www.irpa.net/irpa10/cdrom/01299.pdf

"Concentration of Caesium Isotopes in Foodstuffs in Poland"

D.Grabowski, B.Rubel, W.Muszynski, W.Kurowski, J.Swietochowska, G.Smagala
Central Laboratory for Radiological Protection,
Radioactive Contamination Department, Konwaliowa St.7. 03-194 Warsaw, Poland

Table 3 shows activity of both caesium isotopes in mushrooms in Poland
...

during the period between 1986 – 1999 and activity of 137Cs in single samples in 1985.
One can be surprised by the fact that in a few samples of mushrooms from 1985, there were more 137Cs than in other food products (e.g. Xerocomus badius 169 Bq kg-1) (4). This suggests that the overall radioactive contamination of forest mushrooms might equally be attributed both to the nuclear weapon tests in the atmosphere and to the Chernobyl accident

The correct moral to draw is to grow as many wild mushrooms in the forest as possible and use them to sequester cesium. Then store them as hazardous waste and repeat the following year. The cesium will be gone that much sooner.

The second moral is that it isn't wise to eat any wild boar or wild mushrooms unless they have been checked out first.

 

[Olympia]

See, this is one of those moments when we can be grateful that we're not rich enough to afford delicacies like truffles (well, not the mushroom kind, at any rate--I do splurge on chocolate truffles when possible). And we can be confident that they won't sneak any hint of truffle into our foods to adulterate them, because it's far to costly an ingredient. Isn't it nice how life works out sometimes.

I really like your idea of using mushrooms to siphon off the cesium from the soil, though.

 

[let`s talk]

From today, 12th, train schedules are officially back to its normal, pre-earthquake, schedules. No more adjustments, special trains, etc. A lot of ads and signs in Greater Tokyo are still off.

 

[dorispulaski]

From today, 12th, train schedules are officially back to its normal, pre-earthquake, schedules. No more adjustments, special trains, etc. A lot of ads and signs in Greater Tokyo are still off.

Excellent!

And now that the warm season is over, I understand that a good deal of the electricity saving rules have been cancelled?

Have the altered work schedules gone back to normal yet?