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

Multiple uranium processing facilities detected in N. Korea

U.S. and South Korea authorities have confirmed through satellite photo analysis and other means that North Korea has multiple uranium processing facilities in addition to one shown to U.S. nuclear experts in 2010, a South Korean Defense Ministry source said Friday.

It has long been suspected North Korea has multiple such facilities, but this is the first time U.S. and South Korean authorities have come to a definite conclusion about this.
[link to english.kyodonews.jp]
.

Abe hints at reviewing policy of not allowing new reactors

Japan's incoming Prime Minister Shinzo Abe suggested Friday he could abandon the current government's policy of not allowing utilities to build new nuclear reactors.

"We'd like to review how to think about the issue nationwide," Abe said at a news conference in Yamaguchi Prefecture, referring to the policy aimed at steering the country toward reducing its dependence on nuclear energy following last year's Fukushima disaster.
[link to english.kyodonews.jp]
.

Nuclear heat is on in Norway

Nuclear reactors generate electricity. Everyone knows that. The general idea is simple: Start a chain reaction that creates a lot of heat and capture the heat to drive a turbine and make electricity, just as with coal- and gas-fired power plants,

But aren’t there other uses for heat? Don’t industries like steel, cement, petrochemicals, oil and many others require high temperature processes that manufacturers feed with C02-spewing fossil fuels? Wouldn’t it make sense to use small reactors instead, and thereby shrivel the leviathan carbon footprint left by those mighty mills that are stamping out goods and materials without which modern society cannot live?

Yes it would. And one country - Norway - is showing the way.
[link to www.smartplanet.com]
.

Russia builds nuclear submarine for deep-water research

Russia’s Sevmash Shipyard on Thursday officially launched construction of a nuclear-powered submarine capable of both research and rescue missions.

The new submarine, dubbed Project 09852, is designed by the construction bureau Rubin and is based on the project 949A Antey-class (NATO reporting name Oscar) attack submarine, Sevmash writes on its web site.

The submarine will be able to conduct different scientific research operations in ‘remote areas’ of the World’s oceans, take part search and rescue operations, provide installation of underwater equipment and inspection of them, tests of new equipment for scientific research and monitoring of underwater transport routes, according to the shipyard. The submarine will carry unmanned rescue submersibles.
[link to www.nucpros.com]
.

Mixed feelings on this.

On one hand, seems to be safer in terms of size.
Good idea to kill two birds with one stone, eliminate fossil fuel and carbon.

On the other..
Will it lead to a plethora of new 'small' reactors, all over the damn place..?
Should they be in populated areas..?
Will we have to subsidize them, as we did the others..?
Spent fuel..?

and so on..

Maybe this would have been great at the onset of the tech.
Segregated industrial/nuclear areas, with public safety first in mind..?

Oh well. Hindsight. Easy for me to say.

Nuclear tech could have gone down a better road.
I think it went too far, too fast.. and the wrong people, with the wrong plans..
made profit decisions, at the expense of erring on the side of caution..

And now.. we dance.

Exposure, Past and Present
[link to www.cibolabeacon.com]

Sounds like they're competing for most problematic..


[link to citizensvoice.com]

PPL plant reactor shuts down - again

[snip]

He said historically, Unit 1 has been the underperforming reactor, but now it seems Unit 2 has that distinction.

It's standard procedure for the NRC to increase oversight on a nuclear plant that has three or more automatic shutdowns within 7,000 hours of operation, Epstein said.

PPL Susquehanna was subject to additional oversight after Unit 1 was shut down July 16, 2010, when nearly 1 million gallons of water from the Susquehanna River flooded the basement of the turbine building.

Gundersen: Damage to Fukushima Unit 3 fuel racks could be from a prompt moderated criticality, not objects falling in the pool — What does Tepco know that they have not yet shown photos of?
[link to enenews.com]

Fukushima Worker: Rats now being found in many places around plant — Concern about biting cables, tripping electrical systems, spreading high level contamination
[link to enenews.com]

Tepco to start inspection of common spent fuel pool
[link to fukushima-diary.com]

Tepco vented PCV of reactor1 after nuclear fuel melted through the RPV, twice
[link to fukushima-diary.com]

More than 'significant'. Imagine that..?



Environmental consequence analysis by JAEA shows the worse contamination situation than monitoring data by MEXT
[link to fukushima-diary.com]

[snip]

...environmental consequence analysis by JAEA shows significant difference from the monitoring data by MEXT.

From the Bulletin archives: Selected readings on Three Mile Island
[link to www.thebulletin.org]

[snip]


The nuclear crisis in Japan following the 9.0 earthquake and tsunami on March 11, has brought the past tragedies at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl into the spotlight again. To offer a more thorough understanding of Three Mile Island, the Bulletin has compiled this reading list from its archives. Dating from 1945 to 1998 and 1998 to present, the Bulletin's archives are a valuable resource for those interested in additional materials.

Empty rhetoric...


[snip]



Overall Conclusion

After a six-month investigation of all
factors surrounding the accident and
contributing to it, the Commission con-
cluded that:
‘To prevent nuclear accidents as serious
as Three Mile Island, fundamental
changes will be necessary in the organi-
zation, procedures, and practices-and
above all-in the attitudes of the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission and, to the ex-
tent that the institutions we investigated
are typical, of the nuclear industry.’
This conclusion speaks of necessary
fundamental changes. We do not claim
that our proposed recommendations are
sufficient to assure the safety of nuclear
power.
Our findings do not, standing alone,
require the conclusion that nuclear
power is inherently too dangerous to
permit it to continue and expand as a
form of power generation. Neither do
they suggest that the nation should move
forward aggressively to deve1o.p addi-
tional commercial nuclear power. They
simply state that if the country wishes,
for larger reasons, to confront the risks
that are inherently associated with nu-
clear power, fundamental changes are
necessary if those risks are to be kept
within tolerable limits.

After many years of operation of nu-
clear power plants, with no evidence that
any member of the general public has
been hurt, the belief that nuclear power
plants are sufficiently safe grew into a
conviction. One must recognize this to
understand why many key steps that
could have prevented the accident at
Three Mile Island were not taken. The
Commission is convinced that this at-
titude must be changed to one that says
nuclear power is by its very nature po-
tentially dangerous, and, therefore, one
must continually question whether the
safeguards already in place are sufficient
to prevent major accidents. A com-
prehensive system is required in which
equipment and human beings are treated
with equal importance.

Abe may allow new reactor construction

The president of Japan's Liberal Democratic Party, Shinzo Abe, has hinted that he may allow the construction of new nuclear reactors.

Abe is expected to become prime minister and form his Cabinet on Wednesday following his party's landslide election victory.

Abe spoke to reporters in Tabuse Town in Yamaguchi Prefecture on Saturday.

He said he respects the decision by Yamaguchi Prefecture to freeze the construction of a new nuclear plant in the town of Kaminoseki.

But he said his government will look at the bigger picture in reviewing the policies set by the Democratic Party covering new nuclear plants.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
.

Panel contradicts Tohoku Electric on whether faultine is active

TOKYO — A team of Japanese scientists said Thursday that faults underneath a nuclear plant in northern Japan are most likely active, a discovery that could further delay the restart of idled reactors.

The four-member panel commissioned by the Nuclear Regulation Authority said that at least two major faults underneath the Higashidori nuclear plant in Aomori Prefecture are believed to be active — a contradiction of operator Tohoku Electric Power Co’s assertion that they are inactive.

The panel said the faults could cause magnitude 7-class earthquakes near the reactor, which was opened in 2005 and is among the newest of Japan’s aging reactors.
[link to www.japantoday.com]
.

google earth it.. rather large complex....

Tsunami debris team reaches dock on Washington coast

FORKS, Wash —
A team hiked over primitive coastal trails to reach a dock that apparently floated from Japan after last year’s tsunami and just washed ashore on a Washington state beach, and an official said the group found Japanese writing inside the structure.

The team of tsunami debris experts is trying to confirm that the dock is from Japan and drifted for more than a year before winding up on one of the most remote beaches on the U.S. West Coast.
[link to www.japantoday.com]
.

San Onofre hearing request denied
[link to www.ocregister.com]

Yeah.. we need more radiated toys..


Tell the Dept. of Energy AGAIN, Please no Radiated Silverware or Formerly Radiated Baby Toys
[link to www.huntingtonnews.net]

[snip]

The Nuclear Information & Resource Service stated in full:

"We’ve fought this battle before. In the late 1980s, NRC adopted a policy it called 'Below Regulatory Concern (BRC),' that would allowed about 30% of the nation’s 'low-level' radioactive waste to be treated as normal garbage and dumped in landfills, be burned in incinerators, and yes, be recycled into consumer products. According to the NRC’s own calculations, its BRC policy posed a 1 in 286 risk of fatal cancer over a person’s lifetime.

NIRS and our allies responded with one of our largest organizing campaigns ever. Grassroots activists succeeded in getting hundreds of towns, cities and counties to adopt anti-BRC resolutions. The texts of those resolutions were sent up the chain to Governors, state legislators and Congressmembers. They responded: 15 states passed laws banning BRC within their borders. Hearings were held in the House and in 1992, Congress officially overturned the BRC policy.

But both NRC and DOE have been trying to implement the concept piecemeal ever since. In the late 1990s, DOE proposed a similar program to deregulate radioactively contaminated metal. Instead, DOE was forced to suspend the idea indefinitely—a suspension that stands today and that DOE is now trying to lift. Even DOE admits this program was defeated due to “public concern.”

Can't blame them for getting the hell away..


People flee Japan nuke disaster to faraway Okinawa
[link to www.google.com]

Upgraded hazard maps show increased seismic risk in eastern Japan
[link to ajw.asahi.com]

[snip]

The probability of strong earthquakes striking eastern Japan within the next 30 years has markedly increased, according to experts.

The government's Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion released a series of upgraded "National Seismic Hazard Maps" on Dec. 21 that chart the probabilities of ground motion reaching lower 6 or higher on the Japanese seismic intensity scale of 7 over the period.

The probabilities rose remarkably from the previous release in 2010.

7.1 thousand trillion Bq of Cs-134/137 and 1.1 ten quadrillion Bq of Iodine-131 released to the sea from 3/26 to 9/30
[link to fukushima-diary.com]

Pu-239, 240 and Strontium measured from soil and wooden chips of Ohtsuchi cho Iwate
[link to fukushima-diary.com]

Abe calls for reviewing nuclear crisis at Fukushima plant

Japan's incoming Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Sunday his government, set to be formed Wednesday, will thoroughly review the cause behind the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant.

"The root cause of the (nuclear) accident was not fully uncovered so there is a need to make clear whether this was a man-made disaster or not," Abe said during a television program appearance.
[link to english.kyodonews.jp]
.

Abe repeats need to review policy of not allowing new nuclear reactors

Japan's next prime minister, Shinzo Abe, reiterated Saturday that he will review the current government's policy of not allowing utilities to build new nuclear reactors.

Abe, the Liberal Democratic Party leader who is set to become the new premier on Wednesday, made the remarks to reporters in Tabuse, Yamaguchi Prefecture, hinting that he could jettison the policy aimed at reducing dependence on nuclear energy following last year's Fukushima disaster.
[link to english.kyodonews.jp]
.

Is there any doubt that a similar or worse situation exists at Fukushima-Daiichi..?




TEPCO investigation finds multiple spent fuel pools at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant house damaged spent fuel assemblies
[link to enformable.com]

[snip]

After a Level 1 incident was announced upon the disclosure of two deformed fuel rods which were stick together at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, TEPCO investigated 65 spent fuel assemblies at the Unit 5 spent fuel pool and discovered that 18 of the 65 assemblies were found to be bent.

...the reason tepco is against the collecting of baby teeth..



Potch uranium exposure to be studied through teeth
[link to www.timeslive.co.za]

[snip]

The collection of teeth from willing donors is part of a survey for the Cancer Association of South Africa that seeks to understand the extent of exposure of uranium in the area.

Study leader Dr. Carl Albrecht said that exposure to uranium may cause cancer.

Alarm at plans for huge increase in radioactive discharges from Dounreay
[link to www.heraldscotland.com]

From the Bulletin archives: Selected readings on Chernobyl
[link to www.thebulletin.org]

[snip]

The crisis at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant following the 9.0 earthquake and tsunami on March 11, has brought the past tragedies at Chernobyl and Three Mile Island into the spotlight again. To offer a more thorough understanding of Chernobyl, the Bulletin has compiled this reading list from its archives. Dating from 1945 to 1998 and 1998 to present, the Bulletin's archives are a valuable resource for those interested in additional materials.