*** Fukushima *** and other nuclear-----updates and links

Inner-shell leak on Hanford tank may be up to 520 gallons
[link to www.tri-cityherald.com]

EPA Puts Off Clean-up of Nuclear Dumpsite, As Lawsuits Pile Up and Activists Circle the Wagons
[link to blogs.riverfronttimes.com]

[snip]

It'll take a few billion years for 8,700 tons of radioactive waste illegally dumped in a suburban landfill in St. Louis County in the 1970s to stop emitting deadly radionuclides.

But before that happens, if this apocalyptic cocktail of Cold War-era nuclear byproducts and municipal toxic waste (just your garden-variety carcinogens and PCBs) continues to sit in an unlined, uncovered dump within the Missouri River floodplain, scientists say we should anticipate disaster, even if the federal government won't. You can bet that a flood will come along at some point and carry this dangerous radioactive material into municipal water supply.

There is something wrong, inherently.. with a
technology which requires such protections for its workers.

Radiation shield halves equipment operator's dose
[link to ajw.asahi.com]

Fukushima held 'secret meetings' on format of health surveys
[link to mainichi.jp]

[Contamination reached far western Japan] 80 Bq/Kg of cesium from tea leaves produced in Kagoshima
[link to fukushima-diary.com]

276,000 Bq/Kg from soil of Kashiwa Chiba
[link to fukushima-diary.com]

Chernobyl study shows need for caution in Fukushima
[link to www.japantimes.co.jp]

[snip]

A study released Thursday by a U.S. research team links protracted exposure to low-level radiation to a higher risk of leukemia among workers engaged in the cleanup of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, and points to the need to protect those involved in dealing with the Fukushima crisis.

Tepco meanwhile apparently lacks adequate procedures and discipline to minimize the radiation exposure.

Reports show workers have either misplaced dosimeters for measuring their radiation exposure or have worked without them. There was also an ethically questionable case in which dosimeters were covered by a lead sheet to suppress exposure readings, so workers could undertake operations beyond the exposure limit.

"In Japan, nobody exactly knows workers' conditions at nuclear facilities," said Masako Sawai of Citizens' Nuclear Information Center. "Even after the Fukushima crisis started, there have been moves to conceal exposure. In that sense, the latest U.S. data are very instructive and show the need for Japan to grasp what is going on."

NRA questions nuclear operator's Ohi probe

Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority has raised doubts over surveys conducted by the operator of the Ohi nuclear power station on fissures beneath the plant.

The authority is currently trying to determine if the fissures below Japan's only operational nuclear plant are signs of an active fault or not.

At the regulator's meeting on Wednesday, official Kunihiko Shimazaki questioned the Kansai Electric Power Company's explanations of its recent surveys.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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Date set for fissure survey at Fukui nuclear plant

Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority will examine fissures beneath the Tsuruga nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture to determine whether the cracks are active faults.

NRA officials will conduct the survey with 4 outside experts on December 1st and 2nd.

A meeting to assess the results of the investigation is scheduled for December 10th. If any of the fissures are judged to be an active fault, the NRA will prohibit the restart of the plant's No.1 and No.2 reactors.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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Interview with US nuclear watchdog chief

The head of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission says the job of a regulator is to ensure that nuclear facilities and power plants operate safely. She says this does not include promotion of the nuclear industry.

NRC chairperson Allison Macfarlane was speaking in an interview with NHK on Tuesday.

She was asked about Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority launched in September. The previous regulatory agency was abolished amid criticism it was located in the industry ministry, which was promoting the nuclear industry.

Macfarlane said an independent regulator is essential for the safe operation of nuclear facilities.

The surge in shale gas production in the United States is making electricity cheaper than that generated by nuclear power, forcing the closure of some nuclear plants.

Industry observers say stricter safety regulations could lead to higher operating costs for the nuclear power industry.

Macfarlane said it is not the NRC's job to ensure the nuclear industry succeeds. She urged Japan's regulatory authority to take the same stance.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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42 nations still regulate Japan food imports after nuclear crisis

A total of 42 countries and regions continue to impose import regulations on Japanese food products after last year's nuclear accident in Fukushima Prefecture, a government survey showed Wednesday.

The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry also said the number of countries that have already lifted the regulations stands at just nine, including Canada and Mexico.
[link to english.kyodonews.jp]
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?Thanks...

US Nuclear Plant Status for November 14, 2012

25 Plants that are shutdown:

FitzPatrick, Ginna, Millstone 2, Oyster Creek, Salem 2, Susquehanna 2, Browns Ferry 1, Crystal River 3, McGuire 2, Oconee 1, Saint Lucie 2, Sequoyah 2, Summer, Surry 2, Turkey Point 4, Dresden 3, Duane Arnold, Fermi 2, Point Beach 2, Prairie Island 1, Cooper, Fort Calhoun, San Onofre 2, San Onofre 3, Waterford 3.
[link to www.nucpros.com]
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Exelon Open to Closing Oyster Creek Reactor Pre-2019

Exelon Corp. (EXC), the largest U.S. nuclear plant operator, would consider closing its Oyster Creek station before the plant’s planned 2019 decommissioning, Chief Executive Officer Christopher Crane said.
Exelon would accelerate plans to close Oyster Creek in Forked River, New Jersey, if it faced unexpected new capital costs at a time when depressed power prices and cheap renewable energy are squeezing nuclear generation margins, Crane said in an interview yesterday.
Exelon already has deferred plans to boost capacity at its LaSalle nuclear station in northern Illinois and Limerick plant in Pennsylvania, saving $1.2 billion in the near-term, the chief executive said.
The Chicago-based company also plans to refuel its Clinton nuclear plant annually instead of every two years in a bid to boost profitability at the hardest-hit plant in Exelon’s 17- reactor system, he said.
[link to www.bloomberg.com]
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NRC postpones public discussion of San Onofre reactor restart

Federal nuclear safety regulators have postponed indefinitely a public meeting about restarting the Unit 2 reactor at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating station, originally scheduled for Friday night at Dana Point.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission confirmed the delay Tuesday in a one paragraph statement. Plant operator Southern California Edison will use the meeting, once rescheduled, to describe the technical basis for its plans to restart one of two reactors sidelined by faulty new steam generators.

Edison is proposing to restart the Unit 2 reactor at 70 percent power for a five-month stint. The Unit 3 reactor has been idled indefinitely with more significant damage.

Both reactors have shown accelerated degradation of steam generator tubes that carry radioactive water. The plant's four steam generators were replaced in 2010 and 2011 at a cost of at least $670 million.
[link to www.nucpros.com]
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US technology to be used in UAE nuclear plant

Abu Dhabi: The US technical knowledge will be involved in the construction of the first-ever nuclear power plant in the UAE to be built at Baraka in the emirate of Abu Dhabi, US Ambassador to the UAE told Gulf News in an interview.

“Westinghouse’s technology will be used in the UAE nuclear project as the Korean company has a collaboration with Westinghouse,” Michael H. Corbin said on the sidelines of the ongoing Abu Dhabi Petroleum Exhibition & Conference (Adipec-2012) in the capital. Corbin did not elaborate.
[link to www.zawya.com]
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Hmm. Inordinate amount..?

Some of the oldest plants..

TEPCO sees no quick restart for biggest nuclear plant in Niigata

KARIWA — Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) sees no imminent resumption of operations at the world’s biggest nuclear plant, shut down after last year’s Fukushima disaster, further raising its costs as it spends more on fossil fuels to generate electricity.

A wall to protect the 8,212-megawatt Kashiwazaki-Kariwa station’s seven reactors against tsunamis will not be finished until June next year, said Shiro Arai, deputy site manager.

“It is too premature to talk about when reactor restarts will happen,” Arai told Reuters in an interview at the plant in Niigata Prefecture.
[link to www.japantoday.com]
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Those renewals have all gone through. 23 Mark I reactors[same as Fuku] with a 40 year design lifespan here in the US. One of them might have been shut down.. So 22.

There are also issues with embrittlement of the metal caused by neutron bombardment.

But, it's all good... just don't tell the sheeples.

I stated that all of the US Mark I reactors had been renewed..
Actually, 20 of the 23 have been renewed.



[link to org2.democracyinaction.org]

[snip]

Reactor . Location . Size . Year operation began
Browns Ferry 1* Decatur, AL 1065 MW 1974
Browns Ferry 2* Decatur, AL 1118 MW 1974
Browns Ferry 3* Decatur, AL 1114 MW 1976
Brunswick 1* Southport, NC 938 MW 1976
Brunswick 2* Southport, NC 900 MW 1974
Cooper* Nebraska City, NE 760 MW 1974
Dresden 2* Morris, IL 867 MW 1971
Dresden 3* Morris, IL 867 MW 1971
Duane Arnold* Cedar Rapids, IA 581 MW 1974
Hatch 1* Baxley, GA 876 MW 1974
Hatch 2* Baxley, GA 883 MW 1978
Fermi 2 Monroe, MI 1122 MW 1985
Hope Creek** Hancocks Bridge, NJ 1061 MW 1986
Fitzpatrick* Oswego, NY 852 MW 1974
Monticello* Monticello, MN 572 MW 1971
Nine Mile Point 1* Oswego, NY 621 MW 1974
Oyster Creek* Toms River, NJ 619 MW 1971
Peach Bottom 2* Lancaster, PA 1112 MW 1973
Peach Bottom 3* Lancaster, PA 1112 MW 1974
Pilgrim** Plymouth, MA 685 MW 1972
Quad Cities 1* Cordova, IL 867 MW 1972
Quad Cities 2* Cordova, IL 867 MW 1972
Vermont Yankee* Vernon, VT 620 MW 1973


*has received 20-year license extension from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

**20-year license renewal extension is under review by Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Nuclear power, TPP will be focus of election: Maehara

TOKYO — Economy Minister Seiji Maehara said Wednesday the Dec 16 election will focus on a number of key issues, in particular, nuclear power and the Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade talks (TPP).

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda will dissolve the Diet’s lower house on Friday for a snap election next month, which is likely to cost him his job and return to power a party that has governed Japan for most of the past 50 years.
[link to www.japantoday.com]
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Fukushima evacuees being forced out of shelters by economic burden

FUKUSHIMA — The number of people in evacuation shelters situated outside Fukushima Prefecture has fallen, government figures showed on Wednesday.

Prefectural officials said the number of people living in shelters built to house those displaced by the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has fallen to below 60,000 people for three months in a row, Sankei Shimbun reported.

Many of the people leaving the shelters are believed to be returning to Fukushima Prefecture. Local authorities have speculated that the tendency may be due to the economic burden of living in shelters outside the prefecture and to the emotional stress caused by being separated from family members. The news sheds light on the continuing economic struggle of the people displaced by the disaster, say analysts.
[link to www.japantoday.com]
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Another complaint filed over disaster against TEPCO, nuclear body

A group of 13,000 people across Japan on Thursday filed a criminal complaint against 33 senior officials of Tokyo Electric Power Co. and the government's now-defunct Nuclear Safety Commission over the nuclear disaster at the company's Fukushima Daiichi power plant following the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
[link to english.kyodonews.jp]
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two words... fuck off