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

TEPCO to set up office to oversee own nuclear safety efforts

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Friday it will set up an office that will independently oversee the company's nuclear safety efforts and actively communicate with the public over the risks existing at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

"We need to sincerely accept the outcome that we were not able to prevent an accident that should have been prevented by making preparations," TEPCO President Naomi Hirose said at a press conference, acknowledging that the utility will not be qualified to operate reactors without changing its mindset.
[link to english.kyodonews.jp]
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Google Adds Street Views Inside Japan Nuclear Zone

Concrete rubble litters streets lined with shuttered shops and dark windows. A collapsed roof juts from the ground. A ship sits stranded on a stretch of dirt flattened when the tsunami roared across the coastline. There isn't a person in sight.

Google Street View is giving the world a rare glimpse into one of Japan's eerie ghost towns, created when the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami sparked a nuclear disaster that has left the area uninhabitable.

Now it is taking people inside Japan's nuclear no-go zone, to the city of Namie, whose 21,000 residents have been unable to return to live since they fled the radiation spewing from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant two years ago.
[link to abcnews.go.com]

Good video at link.

Take a walk on the deserted streets of Namie...
[link to maps.google.com (secure)]
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which would seem the logical place for the deposition of irradiated 'things'.. let's be honest....it's a hundred year plus...
let's no go zone.....

Last Edited by CitizenPerth™ on 03/29/2013 07:30 AM

Happy (radio)active Easter all puzzle pieces of this thread!... lol...
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but leggo are plastic..................

Hey CP, you can build your own Fuku plant with Lego Digital Designer...:-)
[link to ldd.lego.com]
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Update on the St. Louis cancer cluster.
5 year statute of limitations.
Most cancers take much more time to manifest.
They're screwed again...





Judge throws out most Coldwater Creek cancer claims
[link to www.stltoday.com]

[snip]

A federal judge has dismissed all but one claim in lawsuits filed against the chemical company Mallinckrodt by 29 people who believe their cancers were caused by the radioactive contamination of Coldwater Creek.

The eighth claim filed under a federal law involving injuries caused by exposure to nuclear materials was not dismissed. But Fleissig said lawyers for the residents have until May 10 to show that the injuries occurred no more than five years before the suit was filed, to meet Missouri’s statute of limitation rules.

Coldwater Creek was contaminated by nuclear waste from the production of atomic bomb materials by the Mallinckrodt company in downtown St. Louis. After World War II, radioactive byproducts were dumped at an open storage site by the airport and buried near Coldwater Creek, which borders the waste site to the west. By the 1990s, soil and water samples from the creek showed unsafe radiation levels. The Army Corps of Engineers has nearly completed its cleanup of the airport waste sites and the creek.

Scientists are almost always stumped by investigations into suspected cancer clusters because of the complexity of the disease and the difficulty in measuring exposures to carcinogens. Thousands of potential clusters are reported to health departments in the U.S. each year, but most instances that do turn up high cancer rates are never linked to a specific cause.

Nice to know...




TVA had breakdown in quality control for nuclear parts: US NRC
[link to www.platts.com]

[snip]

The Tennessee Valley Authority experienced a "breakdown" in a quality assurance program designed to ensure the safety of commercial parts used in a nuclear reactor under construction, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in a report made public Thursday.

NRC said it found three apparent violations of agency rules for dedication of commercial parts for use in TVA's 1,100-MW Watts Bar-2 nuclear generating unit being built in Tennessee. The apparent violations will be reviewed to determine how serious they are, but initial estimates show it is a problem that could result in additional inspections and fines, the agency said in the inspection report.

TVA representatives said during a meeting with NRC officials Thursday in Atlanta that the commercial-grade dedication failing extended to its six-unit operating nuclear fleet and it is reviewing thousands of parts already installed in plants to ensure they will meet their safety function.

Couldn't be from the plants... It just couldn't.






Report: More study needed on nuke-cancer link
[link to www.timesonline.com]

[snip]



Cancer rates in California’s Sacramento County have decreased since the shutdown of the Rancho Seco nuclear reactor in Sacramento County in 1989, a new study claims.

But the study, the first long-term analysis to examine population health impacts from a U.S. nuclear reactor’s closure, stops short of making a direct connection between those lower rates and the plant’s closure.

The report found that the most notable decreases in cancer rates were in women, Hispanics and children — with 4,319 fewer cancers over the 20 years since the plant’s closure, and decreases in cancer cases in 28 of 31 categories, 14 of which are significant, the study says.

The article, “Long-Term Local Cancer Reductions Following Nuclear Plant Shutdown,” also was authored by toxicologist Janette Sherman, a former adjunct professor at Western Michigan University.

The study also says that the potential risks of living near a nuclear facility are something that millions of Americans deal with on a daily basis.

“The aging 104 U.S. reactors at 65 plants affect many Americans,” it says. “According to the 2010 U.S. Census, over 18 million Americans live within 20 miles of a nuclear power plant, and over 116 million live within 50 miles.”

[link to www.japantoday.com]

<snip>
TEPCO takes blame for Fukushima nuclear crisis


By Mari Yamaguchi

National Mar. 30, 2013 - 06:44AM JST ( 16 )


The No. 1 and No. 2 reactors of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant are seen in this December 2012 photo. AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye

TOKYO —

The utility that operates Japan’s crippled atomic plant said Friday that it deserves most of the blame for the country’s nuclear crisis, in its strongest remarks about its own shortcomings.

Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) acknowledged in a report that it was not adequately prepared to deal with the massive earthquake and tsunami that ravaged northeastern Japan in March 2011. The twin disasters cut power at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, causing meltdowns at three reactors. Massive radiation leaks contaminated air, water and soil around the plant, forcing about 160,000 residents to evacuate.

“Our safety culture, skills and ability were all insufficient,” TEPCO President Naomi Hirose told a news conference. “We must humbly accept our failure to prevent the accident, which we should have avoided by using our wisdom and human resources to be better prepared.”
<end snip>

TEPCO to start 'hot tests' of the mythical irradiation machine.....

[link to fukushima-diary.com]
[link to fukushimaemergencywhatcanwedo.blogspot.com.au]

glass of 'clean' water anyone?

Last Edited by CitizenPerth™ on 03/29/2013 10:44 PM

TEPCO to test new water decontamination device

The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant will begin testing a new device to decontaminate radioactive wastewater massing at the facility.

Tokyo Electric Power Company will test-run the device from Saturday. The device can filter 62 radioactive substances that older models could not remove.

Company officials say they will initially use just one of 3 such devices as they need to take a cautious approach to handling the high-level radioactive water.

TEPCO plans to test the device for about 4 months. The company has yet to indicate when it will test the remaining 2 devices and put them into full-scale operation.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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Govt. panel to urge coal power plant deregulation

A Japanese government panel on regulatory reform is set to make proposals to facilitate construction of coal-fired power plants.

The panel is calling for deregulation in building new or additional thermal plants in an effort to ensure the cheap and stable supply of electricity following the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

Panel members have decided to seek a review of the government's environmental assessment procedure for coal power plant construction.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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TEPCO takes blame for Fukushima nuclear crisis

TOKYO — The utility that operates Japan’s crippled atomic plant said Friday that it deserves most of the blame for the country’s nuclear crisis, in its strongest remarks about its own shortcomings.

Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) acknowledged in a report that it was not adequately prepared to deal with the massive earthquake and tsunami that ravaged northeastern Japan in March 2011. The twin disasters cut power at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, causing meltdowns at three reactors. Massive radiation leaks contaminated air, water and soil around the plant, forcing about 160,000 residents to evacuate.

“Our safety culture, skills and ability were all insufficient,” TEPCO President Naomi Hirose told a news conference. “We must humbly accept our failure to prevent the accident, which we should have avoided by using our wisdom and human resources to be better prepared.”
[link to www.japantoday.com]
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Let's hope it finally will work...

TEPCO starts test of new water purification system at Fukushima plant

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant said Saturday it began a trial run of a new facility to remove about 60 types of radioactive substances from cooling water for the plant's damaged reactors.

Full-fledged operation of the multinuclide removal facility called the advanced liquid processing system or ALPS will start in about four months after its performance is verified, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said.

ALPS has been installed to clean the contaminated water flowing through a 4-kilometer loop for cooling the crippled reactors.
[link to english.kyodonews.jp]
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Radiation found in room next to popular Magnuson Park gym
[link to www.king5.com]

[snip]

Radiation levels exceeding Washington state and Federal EPA cleanup standards were found in a room attached to one of Seattle’s most popular indoor sports arenas.

NHK: “Many people have reported medical problems since the Fukushima nuclear disaster began” (VIDEO)
[link to enenews.com]

[Concealment] J gov excluded Fukushima and Miyagi for tapwater test of Sr-90 in 2011
[link to fukushima-diary.com]

Yamashita stated on NCRP “Obesity, hyperlipidemia, and liver dysfunction increasing, but it’s due to evacuation”
[link to fukushima-diary.com]

I'm with you on hoping it works. Water is a huge issue.

Article: Drop In Cancer After Closure Of California Reactor Shows Need For Full Review Of Low-level Radiation Risks

In-Depth Look at Aftermath of Idled Sacramento Reactor Finds Cancer Declines for Women, Hispanics and Children; Implications Seen for Shutdown Reactors in CA, CT, IL, NY, OR, PA, and RI.

WASHINGTON, March 28, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The first long-term study of the full-population health impacts of the closure of a U.S. nuclear reactor found 4,319 fewer cancers over 20 years, with declines in cancer incidence in 28 of 31 categories (14 of them statistically significant), including notable drops in cancer for women, Hispanics and children.

At the heart of the article is the Rancho Seco nuclear reactor project in Sacramento County,  an area with a relatively large 2010 population of more than 1.4 million.  Rancho Seco has been closed for over 23 years, providing a long period to examine post-shutdown local health patterns.
[link to www.nuclearpowerdaily.com]
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Idled reactor upkeep bleeding utilities by ¥1.2 trillion

The nine utilities that own nuclear power plants need a total of ¥1.2 trillion a year just to maintain their idled reactors, according to the latest government estimate.

Antinuclear lawmakers disclosed the estimate, which was developed by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, at a meeting Thursday in Tokyo.
[link to www.japantimes.co.jp]
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Areva CEO says would be interested in Urenco stake

French nuclear group Areva (AREVA.PA) would be interested in taking a stake in uranium enrichment firm Urenco, Areva's CEO was quoted as saying on Saturday.

Urenco, owned by the British and Dutch states and Germany's two top utilities, is up for sale and Areva - which already has a partnership with Urenco - is believed to be a leading contender to buy a stake in the firm. Areva so far had played down its possible interest in Urenco.

Following Germany's decision to phase out nuclear energy, German utilities RWE (RWEG.DE) and E.ON (EONGn.DE) have decided to sell their combined 33 percent stake. The UK and the Netherlands also want to sell their 33 percent stakes.

Urenco is the world's second-largest uranium enrichment firm after Russia's Tenex and claims a global market share of 31 percent. Areva and U.S. USEC are also major nuclear fuel producers.
[link to www.nucpros.com]
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Hundreds march against Yankee nuclear plant
[link to www.rutlandherald.com]

TEPCO paid membership fee to nuclear lobby group after Fukushima disaster
[link to ajw.asahi.com]

[snip]

Following the nation’s worst nuclear accident in 2011 and while requesting governmental assistance to help it stay afloat, Tokyo Electric Power Co. paid 1.8 billion yen ($189 million) to maintain its membership in a nuclear power lobbying group, The Asahi Shimbun has learned.

The payment to the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan came at a time the utility was seeking financial support from the government, while announcing a streamlining plan to come up with the funds to contain the nuclear crisis and compensate victims and evacuees.

PROMETHEUS TRAP/ 'Shadow units' (12): Should SDF really take over fire department’s task?
[link to ajw.asahi.com]

[snip]

Editor's note: This is the 12th part of a new series that has run in the past under the title of The Prometheus Trap. This series deals with the secret missions assigned to the “shadow units” of the Ground Self-Defense Force when the Fukushima nuclear disaster was unfolding following the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011. The series will appear on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Japan PM discusses restarting Fukushima Daiichi reactors — Safety to be confirmed?
[link to enenews.com]

[snip]

[... TEPCO] has not unveiled its plans for the Nos. 5 and 6 reactors and the four reactors at its Fukushima No. 2 plant.

A sort of spiral shell thais clavigera entirely extinct in 30km coastal area of Fukushima
[link to fukushima-diary.com]

Second core damage and major radiation discharge occurred in reactor1&3 from 3/20 to 3/23/2011
[link to fukushima-diary.com]

[snip]

In the afternoon of 3/20/2011, the temperature around RPV reactor1 was nearly 400&#8451;. In the morning of 3/22/2011, they reported reactor1 was boiling with no water again, the core damage was on-going.