Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster

[elbows]

More past regulatory shenanigans:

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/02_08.html

Nuclear agency's meddling revealed again
Another case of questionable conduct by Japan's nuclear regulator has come to light. A former official of the nuclear safety agency has admitted asking a regional utility to mobilize its people for a government symposium on nuclear power 5 years ago.

One of the agency's former section chiefs told NHK that he made the request to an executive of Shikoku Electric Power Company ahead of the symposium in Ehime Prefecture.

The former section chief said he pushed the utility to take part actively in the event by posing questions and expressing opinions. He said he wanted its participation because opponents of nuclear power had prevented constructive debate at a similar symposium the previous year.

 

[elbows]

As I speculated a few days ago, the cooling of spent fuel pool at reactor 4 is progressing swiftly now that they have a system in place, with the temp already down to 44 degrees C as of 11am today Japanese time.

 

[elbows]

And in regards to the sampling of air from inside the reactors, the results came back for reactor 1 and the levels were way lower than they expected, leaving them scratching their heads about what this means. I haven't seen any decent reports about this in English yet though.

 

[elbows]

Apparently they have found 5 Sieverts/hour levels of radiation in one location at floor 2 of the reactor 1 building, perhaps in pipework that ends up at the stack where >10 Sieverts/hour was recently discovered.

The following article is unusually glum and blunt in its dealings with several other important nuclear contamination realities in Japan:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-...dly-radiation-reading-at-fukushima-plant.html

eg:

“If nuclear fuels melted through containment chambers, Tepco will find even higher radiation readings after water in building basements is removed,” said Tetsuo Ito, the head of the Atomic Energy Research Institute at Kinki University.
Tepco has been criticized by the government for withholding radiation data and other missteps that have compounded the crisis, which led to 160,000 people being evacuated from near the plant.
Radiation leaks from the Fukushima reactors have spread over 600 square kilometers, Tomio Kawata, a fellow at the Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Japan, said in a research report published on May 24 and given to the government.

Radioactive soil in pockets of areas outside the exclusion zone around the plant have reached the same level as in Chernobyl following a reactor explosion in the former Soviet Union territory 25 years ago, the report said.
The threats to Japan’s food chain are also multiplying as radioactive cesium emissions from the Fukushima plant spread. Contaminated beef has been found on supermarket shelves around the country, forcing the government to ban cattle shipments from areas in northern Japan.

 

[elbows]

A NHK story about the 5 Sieverts/hour inside the building:

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/02_32.html

The Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, said on Tuesday that the level in a room on the second floor of the Number One reactor building was 5,000 millisieverts per hour.

The utility restricted access to the room, saying it will consider measures to block the radioactivity and that it has no immediate plans for operations needed in the room to bring the troubled reactor under control.

TEPCO says the level was detected because pipes running through the room were used to vent air containing radioactive substances from the reactor on March 12th.

Other news I've seen is that the new & improved water decontamination system has been assembled and is undergoing testing. Results of rice testing from one prefecture may be known on Wednesday. Contamination of compost & manure has now shown up on the radar.

 

[elbows]

I did wonder whether this disaster would mark the final nail in the coffin of the Sellafield MOX plant, and it seems that it has:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/aug/03/sellafield-mox-plant-close

The Mox nuclear fuel plant at Sellafield will be closed on Wednesday afternoon, with the loss of about 600 jobs.

The closure is a consequence of the Fukushima incident in Japan, in March.

Workers at the plant were told on Wednesday morning that there was "considerable scope" for them to be re-employed in other parts of the Sellafield complex.

It will take several months for the plant to close fully.

The West Cumbrian mixed-oxide fuel plant has cost the taxpayer £1.4bn since it was commissioned in the early 1990s.

The plant, operated by the government-owned Nuclear Decomissioning Authority, was set up to create mixed-oxide fuel for use in nuclear power plants, with its chief customers the Japanese nuclear industry, including the Fukushima complex.

The plant was built in 1996 and became operational in 2001.

NDA denied there were any repercussions for the troubled Thorp reprocessing plant, although Thorp is also involved in generating Mox fuel, which is made from plutonium and uranium.

The announcement will officially be made public at 2.30pm on Wednesday afternoon.

 

[elbows]

More heads rolling as part of trying to demonstrate that things have changed.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/04/japan-fire-nuclear-officials-fukushima

Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan's administration has announced it is to sack three senior nuclear policy officials amid scandals suggesting Japan's government had grown too cosy with the nuclear power industry.

The move is the latest attempt by Kan and his cabinet to shake off criticism they have not dealt sternly enough with nuclear power operators and to show they can push reforms deemed necessary after Japan's 11 March earthquake and tsunami touched off the world's worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl at the Fukushima plant.

The trade and industry minister, Banri Kaieda, said the shakeup would involve three senior officials: the head of the Energy Agency, the head of the Nuclear Industrial Safety Agency and a vice-minister at the trade and industry ministry.

"We want to refresh and revitalise the ministry," Kaieda said. The three posts are under his supervision.

Kaieda, one of the most prominent faces in Kan's cabinet, is also expected to announce his resignation but, again, has refused to say when.

He recently broke down in tears under intense questioning in parliament and said he was willing to quit as soon as the proper time came.

In other news, there are continuing whispers that the government will try to lift evacuation in parts of the 20-30km zone sometime later in August, and we see some activity surrounding this issue, such as the company being asked to present plans showing how they would deal with a future loss of the makeshift cooling systems at the Fukushima reactors.

There was also a meeting the other day of the body that is in charge of the long term plan for Fukushima site recovery. Trying to find a decent article about this now, but in a nutshell they have heard from someone about the Three Mile Island experience, how it took 10 years to remove the fuel rods. But since Fukushima has multiple reactors with worse meltdowns, and the fuel is mostly in unknown state & location, they can't really come up with a detailed plan or timescale at this point. For now they have to be content with guesses such as doubling this timescale to 20 years for Fukushima.

 

[elbows]

Here is an industry article about the investigation into current Fukushima plant stability, consequences if further problems happened, and evacuation zone:

http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Study_coming_on_Fukushima_evacuation_zone_0408111.html

Given that some people were not evacuated quickly enough in the first place, and that there is quite some denial about health affects from concentrations of radioactive contamination that are already in the environment, I am watching this issue closely expecting to see more horrific decisions being made.

 

[elbows]

I didn't find a hugely detailed report about the decommissioning meeting, so this will have to do for now:

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/04_13.html

I really don't know how they can hope to create a timetable with any certainty by next January but we shall see.

 

[elbows]

Naughty, naughty.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/10_22.html

Panel: Kyushu Electric destroyed evidence
A panel investigating attempts by Kyushu Electric Power Company to manipulate public opinion via an e-mail scam says that the utility has destroyed evidence related to the probe.

The panel was set up after workers at Kyushu Electric and its affiliates were found to have sent e-mails in favor of restarting the Genkai nuclear plant in Saga Prefecture during a government meeting with local residents in June.

Panel head Nobuo Gohara told reporters on Tuesday that the utility destroyed documents related to its activities in 2005 to try to win public support for using plutonium-uranium mixed-oxide fuel at the plant.

He said the utility's nuclear energy division removed and destroyed the documents on July 21st.

Gohara added that the company's Saga branch tried to dispose of 15 files his panel had requested last week after beginning the probe.

Gohara claims that Akira Nakamura, the deputy head of the nuclear energy division, ordered the destruction of documents that could cause trouble to individuals.

Nakamura also allegedly played a role in the e-mail scam.
Wednesday, August 10, 2011 16:57 +0900 (JST)

 

[elbows]

Recent developments on site in brief:

More water decontamination system problems (not sure they will ever get it running smoothly)

Reactor 1 spent fuel pool is now being cooled (this was the last one left without cooling until today)

Work has now started on putting the steel framework round reactor 1 building. (actual framework now being placed round building, rather than just preparing for this)

They have sampled gas from inside reactor 2 containment again, and the results still show a very low level of radioactive substances.

 

[elbows]

The exact detail on when the PM will step down has now been revealed. When he first said he would step down, some people said that August would be the month, and they are probably right, although it could slip into September if legislation is delayed.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/10_25.html

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

[elbows]

For fucks sake...

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

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

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

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

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

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

And no, I don't think its at all reasonable for the media to say things like 'the amount is not considered a health threat' when talking about 35 millisieverts internal exposure of a 4 year old.

 

[xes]

This guy has not been to Fukishima.
http://fukushima-diary.com/2011/08/...-citizen-turned-out-to-be-internally-exposed/

A man from Tokyo went to Hokkaido for sightseeing.
He had a whole body counter check to see if he’s taken radioactive particles into his body.
The result was “positive”.
Cesium137 ; 868bq
Cesium134 ; 6373bq
The doctor asked him if he went to Fukushima,he replied no.
He normally spent days in Tokyo.
Now it’s pretty rational to think most of the other people are equally dosed.

 

[elbows]

One series of interesting unanswered questions concerns reactor 3 on days such as March 21st and March 23rd, when unpleasant smoke was seen. And in the very early hours of March 21st official data showed a big spike in reactor pressure, and also some leaps in temperature around the same time. But we never got any decent answers from officials about these events, and pretty much all of the analysis of events ends well before the 21st.

Well someone who should know their stuff has been looking into this and has apparently made a report which is to be presented next month. This news is now some days old but I missed it at the time.

http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201108080276.html

A second meltdown likely occurred in the No. 3 reactor at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, a scenario that could hinder the current strategy to end the crisis, a scientist said.
In that meltdown, 10 days after the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake, the fuel may have leaked to the surrounding containment vessel, according to a report by Fumiya Tanabe, a former senior researcher at what was then the government-affiliated Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute.

According to data released by TEPCO, about 300 tons of water was pumped into the No. 3 reactor core daily until March 20, which likely cooled the fuel into a large clump.
However, between March 21 and 23, only about 24 tons of water was pumped in, while on March 24, about 69 tons entered the reactor.
One possible cause for the decline in water volume was that pressure within the pressure vessel increased, making it more difficult for water to enter the vessel.
According to Tanabe, who analyzed the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island in the United States when he was a researcher at the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, the volume of water pumped in on those days was only between 11 and 32 percent of the amount needed to remove decay heat from the nuclear fuel in the core.
In such a situation, the fuel could reach high enough temperatures to begin melting again in just one day.
Tanabe also estimates that the second meltdown led to the release of large amounts of radioactive materials, and that much of the fuel fell through the pressure vessel to the surrounding containment vessel.
The fuel is now believed to have formed another clump after being cooled.

At the No. 3 reactor building, black smoke spewed from the reactor building on the afternoons of March 21 and March 23. Tanabe said the smoke may have been the result of what is referred to as a core-concrete reaction, when melted fuel comes in contact with the concrete of the containment vessel. Such a reaction typically occurs when insufficient cooling follows a core meltdown.

Its only educated speculation based on the same data that has been public for months, but its good to see these possibilities at least being discussed, rather than these questions being ignored and core possibilities glossed over.

 

[elbows]

A plan to inject water into reactor 3 in a new way in a few days time:

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/images/handouts_110823_01-e.pdf

They have somewhat reduced their estimates for amount of radioactive material released, though the key large releases on March 15th are still thought to be the main factor (I assume from reactor 2):

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/23_11.html

Japan's Nuclear Safety Commission has revised downward the estimated amount of radioactive substances released from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

The commission now judges that 570-thousand terabecquerels of radioactive iodine 131 and cesium 137, about 10 percent less than its earlier estimate, leaked from the plant between March 12th and April 5th.

The commission put the total at 630-thousand terabecquerels in April.

The new figure was obtained by analyzing freshly released data on radiation levels measured at monitoring posts and amounts of radioactive materials in the air.

The commission also believes that leakage of radioactive substances peaked from 1 PM to 5 PM in the afternoon of March 15th when explosions occurred at reactors No. 2 and No. 4.

The timing is not much different than the commission's initial estimate, but the new figures revise downward the amount of radioactive substances released during the period by 60 percent.


The Japan Atomic Energy Agency is expressing confidence in its new estimates, saying they are not largely different from earlier ones and are nearly consistent with changes in radiation measurements.

 

[elbows]

Oops:

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/25_26.html

TEPCO executive knew about tsunami predictions
The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says a top executive knew about a simulation 3 years ago suggesting that a tsunami over 10 meters high could hit the plant in the event of a major earthquake.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company said at a news conference on Thursday that then-senior vice president Ichiro Takekuro was briefed about the simulation results conducted in the spring of 2008. The plant was designed to withstand a tsunami only up to 5.7 meters high.

A spokesperson of the utility said it did not publicize the results because they were based on a hypothetical situation.

Japan's nuclear regulatory agency disclosed on Wednesday that Tokyo Electric did not report the prediction to the agency until March 7th -- 4 days before the more-than-10-meter-high tsunami hit the plant.

An agency official criticized the firm for withholding the information for so long, saying it would have helped in risk assessment.

On Thursday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said he'd been told that Tokyo Electric knew in 2008 about the possibility of a major tsunami.

Edano said it's extremely regrettable that the utility did not act on the simulation results and beef up the plant when it had plenty of time to do so.

He also said it's regrettable that the firm did not provide the information until it was forced to do so because of a government probe.
Thursday, August 25, 2011 17:34 +0900 (JST)

 

[elbows]

As long anticipated, the PM has quit.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/26/naoto-kan-resigns-japan-pm

 

[elbows]

A paper about a simulation of depositions of radioactive substances from Fukushima, and how it compares to measured data. Its rather heavy but there are a variety of charts and maps near the end.

http://www.nies.go.jp/shinsai/Merge-2011GL048689-pip.pdf

 

[elbows]

Some government soil survey results are out. In some places the levels of contamination are higher than the closed zone around Chernobyl.

If I've read up properly, the red dots on this map are way over the limit, the yellow ones are not good either.

Some more info here:

http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2011/08/soil-contamination-in-34-locations-in.html

and here:

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/29_31.html

 

[elbows]

A longer term plan involving removal of melted fuel is being discussed, I need to see more detail before commenting in any depth, but any such plan likely faces immense hurdles and they won't really know what they can achieve until they know more about the melting and where exactly the corium went.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/31_32.html

A couple of workers were showered by highly radioactive water after someone forgot to switch of a valve before removing a hose:

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/31_34.html

 

[elbows]

As more nuclear power stations in Japan enter planned maintenance phases, and ones previously shutdown have not been restarted, the total offline now seems to be approaching 90%

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/03_04.html

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)

 

[elbows]

The other news seems to be more contaminated tea, and a radioactive sludge leak from the water treatment facility. And they have now started to spray water into reactor 3 via core spray system, with the hope this will do cooling more effectively and bring temperature down, which will also enable them to reduce the rate that water has to be sprayed in to that reactor. At the moment they are increasing the rate of water through the spray system whilst monitoring temperatures (which have dropped a little so far since they started on Sept 1), and if all goes well they will then gradually reduce the rate at which water is injected using the older method.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

Thanks for the updates elbows.

I've just realized that I have not been keeping up with this thread. It's now bookmarked.

 

[elbows]

An article in the independent which is a bit of a vague mishmash of bits and bobs. Its lacking the detail necessary to really strongly backup its 'Fukushima is worse than Chernobyl' headline but still probably worth a read if you haven't read much about how government is dealing with things and how people are sort of coming to terms with fact they can't code the long-term implications.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/w...disaster-is-worse-than-chernobyl-2345542.html

 

[elbows]

Plans to prevent groundwater escaping into the ocean, by constructing a wall made of iron 'pipes' that extends below the sea-bed:

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/06_03.html

Temperatures at reactor 3 have come down a bit since they started injecting water in to the reactor from a different point (now using core spray system). Now they are reducing the flow of water going into the reactor via the original route they've been using for months. No sign of temps going back up yet, they will be keeping a close eye on it.

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/f1/images/11090612_temp_data_3u-e.pdf

 

[elbows]

Oops again:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-14866276

Japan's new trade minister has quit after calling the area around the tsunami-hit Fukushima nuclear plant a "ghost town", media reports say.
Yoshio Hachiro is also reported to have rubbed his jacket against a reporter, saying "I will give you radiation" after visiting the plant on Thursday.
Mr Hachiro's comments were widely seen as insensitive and prompted calls by opposition parties for him to resign.
PM Yoshihiko Noda, who appointed him, later said they were inappropriate.
"Sad to say, the centres of cities, towns and villages around it are a ghost town ["shi no machi" in Japanese] without a soul in sight," Mr Hachiro said at a news conference on Thursday.
On Friday, Mr Noda said the remarks were inappropriate and that he wanted Mr Hachiro, who was appointed on 2 September, to apologise.

The 'I wil give you radiation' part of the story makes it a little difficult to use this story as an example of not being allowed to tell the truth about the evacuated areas and impact of the disaster, but thats still somewhat on display here anyway.

 

[maya]

News reports from Sweden: Japan have now banned the import of Swedish mushrooms from the Norrbotten area close to the Russian border, because 'they might contain traces of radioactivity from the Chernobyl'...

 

[Barking_Mad]

Excellent, long article from the Guardian

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/09/fukushima-japan-nuclear-disaster-aftermath

 

[elbows]

Cheers, that was good.

The steel frame round the outside of reactor 1 building has been completed:

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/images/handouts_110910_01-e.pdf

They are planning to remove debris from top of reactors 3 & 4, diagram on page 2:

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/images/handouts_110909_05-e.pdf