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

Japan Revives Rice Futures Trade as Radiation Threatens Harvest

[link to www.bloomberg.com]

16 disaster-related suicides recognized in June

The three hard-hit prefectures in the Tohoku region reported a total of 131 suicides in June, down 11 from the same month last year. The 13 suicides in these prefectures resulting from the disaster accounted for about 10 percent of the total.

[link to www.yomiuri.co.jp]

- as if they have a formula to determine cause of suicide.

Fabricated public opinion is the norm

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's energy agency recently contracted with an outside advertising company to monitor "inaccurate" online information regarding nuclear energy. In response, the media cried "censorship," but as pointed out in last week's issue of Aera, the agency has employed the Japan Productivity Center since 2008 to monitor the same sort of reports in newspapers. When the center finds something amiss in a news report, it doesn't call that particular publication and ask for a correction. Instead, according to a representative, it "endeavors to make a situation so that such reports don't happen again."

[link to search.japantimes.co.jp]

Japan Tries to Lure Back Scared Tourists

[link to www.newser.com]

Fears of Suicide Surge in Japan's Tsunami Zone

[link to www.turkishweekly.net]

HIROSHIMA PEACE SYMPOSIUM: Experts call for nuclear disarmament.

[link to www.asahi.com]

UNITED STATES : Southern Nuclear gets schedule from NRC

[link to www.utilityproducts.com]

Leakage causes operators to shut down Nine Mile 2 nuclear plant

The incident posed no risk to the public or plant employees, officials said.

[link to www.syracuse.com]

- of course not.

Customers pay while nuclear certainty teeters

By the end of this year, Progress Energy customers will have paid more than $200 each during the past two years for planned nuclear-power projects in Florida that may never get built.

Hold on to your wallet: To continue pursuing their nuclear ambitions, the two electric utilities want us to pony up a combined $335 million next year — an additional $67.08 for the average Progress customer and about $25 extra on average for FPL customers.

[link to articles.orlandosentinel.com]

Southern... nothing to worry about! I've lived in Korea on & off for 10 years - via the US Army - these squabbles occur all the time. The Korean War will take another generation to get over - say another 20 yrs or so. Of course thanks to Fukushima - concerns over past wars will be the least of everyone's problems.

S'up JD?

Underground electric cable damaged during survey at Fukushima plant

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said that an underground electric cable at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant was erroneously damaged while workers were conducting a boring survey as part of efforts to prevent leakage of radiation-contaminated water into the sea.

TEPCO officials said they will check underground charts beforehand in continuing the survey.

[link to mdn.mainichi.jp]

- Does Tepco ever consider thinking things out beforehand?

Temperatures brought down in Fukushima cooling pool

Last week, the temperatures in the pool holding 1,535 spent fuel rods rose to 86 degrees, causing the water to evaporate.

[link to english.ruvr.ru]

Japan Update 8/07: NPA Death Toll 20,448; Nuclear Officials Fired

[link to news.gather.com]

If nuclear disaster struck, how fast could Triangle scoot?

Ten miles has been the standard for U.S. nuclear plant evacuation plans since 1980, the year after the Three Mile Island nuclear accident in Pennsylvania exposed the lack of emergency planning at the nation's nuclear plants.

"It's a false sense of security," said David Lochbaum, director of the organization's nuclear safety project. "With population centers just outside the 10 miles, it becomes difficult to wave a magic wand and get those people out of the way unless you've planned ahead."

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is sticking to its 10-mile rule for now, saying the Japanese evacuation order does not set a new safety precedent for U.S. nuclear evacuation zones.

Last month, the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nuclear watchdog organization, urged the NRC to scrap one-size-fits-all evacuation zones and instead correlate the size of each zone to local populations and road capacity, noting that a lethal radioactive release could travel more than 100 miles downwind.



Read more: [link to www.newsobserver.com]

Science Distorted by the Bomb

More than 30 years later, Sir Joseph Rotblat, a 1995 Nobel Laureate in Peace, confirmed the uneasiness - indeed, the fear - that Lilienthal expressed concerning the bomb-made scientists. He said that nuclear bombs subverted not merely the scientists, but the creativity of science, making its application the "detriment of mankind." Rotblat accuses scientists of becoming a major force in the nuclear arms race, which is "a complete perversion of the lofty ideals of science." [link to www.truth-out.org]

Contaminated Water Treatment System Comes to a Dead Stop (Again)

The pumps failed, and TEPCO doesn't know why. Some of the pumps for Kurion's system stopped, and couldn't be restarted. One of the pumps in Areva's system that feed chemicals stopped, and the backup pump didn't work. The entire system is down.
[link to ex-skf.blogspot.com]

Yes, again

I've dealt with water pumps a lot in my life. All kinds. Never had much trouble with them. Especially after we got the self-primers.

I'm sure they aren't the same thing but a pump is a pump. there's really not that much to it.

Erroneously damaged? Didn't they call before they dug?

That's how Tepco operates. They screw something up carelessly then try to fix it efficiently.

They fear suicide??

Wouldn't a quick death be preferable to the slow dissolution, and painful decomposition of the body?



Just shoot me.

The Japanese ages-old cultural sense of honor and dignity has been sorely damaged. A farmer committed suicide after his cows had to be destroyed due to contamination.

These things are happening a lot but not being reported widely by MSM. It is very sad. Many older Japanese are giving up.

No, they don't fear suicide. That is an unfortunate use of words by the reporter.

[link to fukushimaemergencywhatcanwedo.blogspot.com]

If the cows are contaminated, the farm is contaminated, the farmer is contaminated - every damn thing is contaminated.

We really screwed up this time.

This poisonous waste will be toxic and lethal for millions if not billions of years.

Does China remember during SARS how Chinese were treated by the Japanese. Didn't Japan bar Chinese from entering Japan?




- this sounds ominous for Japan. Any recovery will be dependant on China's goodwill.

Stop claiming food is safe, ministry told

Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto has committed an about-face on policy by telling his ministry to refrain from vouching for the safety of Japanese food.

The ministry stance changed after radiation-tainted beef was found to have been sold to consumers nationwide, sources said.



[link to search.japantimes.co.jp]

Report: Japan’s Fukushima reactor possibly melted twice

According to the study, which was conducted by nuclear safety expert Fumiya Tanabe, fuel inside one of the plant's nuclear reactors might have breached the bottom of a pressure vessel after melting again.

The fuel is believed to have been kept cool at the bottom of the pressure vessel since a nuclear meltdown was confirmed, but the cooling method would need further review if most of the fuel at the No. 3 reactor has fallen into the containment vessel underneath the reactor, the study said.

[link to channel6newsonline.com]

New Report Establishes That TVA's Bellefonte Nuclear Reactor Faces Unprecedented Hurdles to Completion

The SACE report includes technical analysis by Arnold Gundersen, Chief Engineer of Fairewinds Associates, who is a nuclear engineer with more than 39 years of industry experience. The report provides seven major factors identified by Mr. Gundersen that pose significant cost and scheduling risks to the completion of the project. These seven major factors include: a nearly 40-year-old nuclear reactor design that has never operated in the U.S.; possibly the biggest threat of water damage to the reactor at Bellefonte's Unit 1 of any reactor nationwide due to the aging foundation; and substantial containment vessel damage that could raise Fukushima-like safety concerns and stand in the way of completing the Bellefonte reactor.

Currently, TVA still maintains publicly that Bellefonte reactor Unit 1 could be operational by 2018 if all construction timetables are met. This new report from SACE and Fairewinds' expert analysis shows that this schedule is highly optimistic and puts billions of ratepayer dollars at risk due to the likelihood of project failure. [link to www.prnewswire.com]

Japan Held Nuclear Data, Leaving Evacuees in Peril

From the 12th to the 15th we were in a location with one of the highest levels of radiation,” said Tamotsu Baba, the mayor of Namie, which is about five miles from the nuclear plant. He and thousands from Namie now live in temporary housing in another town, Nihonmatsu. “We are extremely worried about internal exposure to radiation.”

The withholding of information, he said, was akin to “murder.”

[link to www.nytimes.com]

Tsunami Broke Antarctic Ice Shelf

Anyone who saw any of the footage of the devastation wreaked upon Japan by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami - as most of us have done - can have no doubt about the overwhelming power they contained and unleashed. Now researchers have found that the force of the tsunami was so great that it was able to break several pieces of ice, totaling more than twice the size of Manhattan, from an Antarctic ice shelf 8,000 miles from the quake's epicenter.

[link to news.discovery.com]