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

yeah , had to shoot down atom-twit and some others about that one....

Wrongful death suit filed in wake of fatal accident at Arkansas Nuclear One
[link to enformable.com]

This week, the family of Wade Walters filed a wrongful death lawsuit which states; “This is an action for wrongful death, ordinary negligence, negligent hiring, negligent training, negligent supervision, negligent retention, negligent hiring of an independent contractor, for declaratory judgment, and for punitive damages, stemming from multiple incidents of recklessness and negligence that lead to the collapse of an industrial crane on Easter Sunday, 2013, killing Wade Walters.”

The suit is filed against Bigge Group Inc, Biggie Power Constructors, Biggie Crane and Rigging Co., Siemens Energy Inc, DP Engineering Inc, Entergy Arkansas Inc, Entergy Operations Inc, and three unidentified individuals.

Former Fukushima worker, “If the extremely radioactive substance is from the explosion, there must be other ones.”
[link to fukushima-diary.com]

Former Fukushima mayor died of acute heart failure
[link to fukushima-diary.com]

Fukushima voters tell politicians to get real
[link to www.japantimes.co.jp]

Chernobyl's Subclinical Legacy: Prenatal Exposure to Radioactive Fallout and School Outcomes in Sweden
[link to www.nber.org]

In a comprehensive data set of 562,637 Swedes born 1983-1988, we find that the cohort in utero during the Chernobyl accident had worse school outcomes than adjacent birth cohorts, and this deterioration was largest for those exposed approximately 8-25 weeks post conception. Moreover, we find larger damage among students born in regions that received more fallout: students from the eight most affected municipalities were 3.6 percentage points less likely to qualify to high school as a result of the fallout.

Our findings suggest that fetal exposure to ionizing radiation damages cognitive ability at radiation levels previously considered safe.

Cancer-Stricken Russian-Americans Offer Lessons from Chernobyl
[link to en.ria.ru]

It was a frightening and shocking diagnosis even though she had been sick off and on since shortly after the catastrophic 1986 accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant about 80 miles (128 km) from her childhood home in Kiev.

Shytaj, now 30, was just five-years-old when a series of explosions and a fire at the plant released highly radioactive material into the atmosphere, and the dark, ashy fallout spread across Ukraine, Belarus and parts of Russia. Widely considered the worst nuclear accident in history, hundreds of thousands of people were permanently displaced, and scores of others were sickened.

that one scared me ...14 kilometers from the plant was a very highly radioactive metal 'unknown' in a cow field......

Thanks for all the hard work and dedication to the truth CP. You earned it.

Problems With a West Texas Radioactive Waste Dump Get Buried
[link to www.texasobserver.org]

Several state geologists and engineers quit the TCEQ a few years ago when their warnings that the dump would likely leak radioactive waste into the groundwater went unheeded. The company had also made changes to the facility, including building ponds and a wastewater treatment plant, that hadn’t been considered and “made the amount of financial assurance out of date,” the draft noted.

It also recommended that potential problems be addressed in an annual re-evaluation. The version sent to lawmakers, however, stated flatly that “these scenarios were all evaluated and proper financial assurance posted to address the issues.”

Little seems to have changed since the report’s issuance. TCEQ has made only modest adjustments to the required financial assurance, from $136.5 million to $143 million. Smith said his group has estimated clean-up costs at Waste Control’s Andrews site at $750 million on the low end and as high as $5 billion.

Dumb and dumber...






Stop the Great Lakes Nuclear Waste Dump
July 3, 2013
[link to ecowatch.com]


Surely the question that comes to many is why on Earth would anyone in their right mind consider the shores of Lake Huron for the first permanent nuclear dump in North America? Lake Huron sits to the north of Lakes St. Clair, Erie and Ontario and the water of this lake flows southward and eastward, eventually connecting to the Atlantic Ocean through the St. Lawrence Seaway.

The Great Lakes account for 21 percent of the world’s fresh water resources, or a little over one fifth, and to many native American cultures and First Nation peoples, the Great Lakes are considered the sacred heart of Turtle Island. So, why would anyone consider dumping radioactive poisons that will remain deathly dangerous for hundreds of thousands of years next to such an integral part of the our Great Lakes ecosystem?

The answer begins with the human folly of siting what is now the world’s largest nuclear energy producer in this very same location.

The Bruce Nuclear Generating Station, with its eight currently operating reactors, is now the largest operating nuclear power plant in the world and fifth largest operating power producer of any kind. When all reactors are operating, it produces 7,276 megawatts a year. It sits directly on the shores of the lake on a sprawling 2300 acre complex that is also home to the Western Waste Management Facility (WWMF), an above ground interim waste storage area for the low level and intermediate level radioactive waste for all 20 of the nuclear reactors operated by Ontario Power Generation.

Mobile radiation analysis lab revealed

Japan's nuclear research agency has developed a mobile laboratory that can accurately analyze radioactive substances on site.

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency on Friday unveiled 2 vehicles with equipment capable of analyzing types and quantities of radioactive substances, as well as other machines at its research center.

The equipment is installed in a way that prevents engine vibrations from affecting the analysis.

The vehicles' ventilation system has special filters that remove radioactive substances to prevent interior contamination that could affect the analysis.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
.

Utilities prepare nuclear restart applications

Japanese power companies are preparing to apply to restart 5 nuclear plants.

Four companies say their plants conform to new safety guidelines introduced by the country's nuclear regulator.

The companies on Friday notified the Nuclear Regulatory Authority of their plans to apply on Monday, as soon as the new guidelines go into effect.

The rules will oblige plant operators to deal with serious accidents. Such measures are voluntary at present.

The 5 plants are Tomari in Hokkaido, Ohi and Takahama in Fukui Prefecture, Ikata in Ehime Prefecture and Sendai in Kagoshima Prefecture. The operators hope to bring 10 reactors back online.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
.

TEPCO faces opposition over Niigata restart plan

Tokyo Electric Power Company is facing opposition from local leaders over its application plan for restarting its main Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture.

On Friday, TEPCO President Naomi Hirose visited Governor Hirohiko Izumida and the mayors of municipalities where the plant is located.

Hirose said his company wants to ask nuclear regulators to conduct safety inspections for the plant, soon after the government introduces new safety guidelines on Monday. Passing the inspections is necessary for restarting the nuclear facility.

Hirose apologized for deciding to apply for the safety inspections before consulting with host communities.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
.

Fukushima cooling pipe shortened to reduce leaks

Tokyo Electric Power Company has shortened a cooling water pipeline at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The operator is aiming to reduce the risk of leakage as contaminated water is circulated to cool the melted nuclear fuel.

The pipeline stretches some 4 kilometers outside reactor buildings to guide water around the compound via processing facilities that can filter out radioactive substances.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
.

6 more high-level radiation exposure cases found

The health ministry has found that the estimated level of accumulated internal radiation exposure has exceeded the legal limit for 6 more employees who worked shortly after the meltdown accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in March 2011.

The ministry reexamined estimates on some 20-thousand workers based on a formula used by Tokyo Electric Power Company, which is stricter than some of its contractors.

Changes were observed in the readings of 450 workers, 431 of whom saw increased levels of radiation.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
.

TEPCO hires nuclear safety advocate

TOKYO — The utility battling a nuclear catastrophe in northeastern Japan has hired a British-American woman to oversee its safety campaign.

Lady Barbara Judge has worked as a lawyer, banker, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commissioner and with the U.K. Atomic Energy Authority.
[link to www.japantoday.com]
.

Ex-head of S. Korea state-run nuclear power company arrested for bribery

The former head of a South Korean state-run nuclear power plants operator has been arrested on suspicion of accepting bribes from contractors, amid a probe by prosecutors into a corruption scandal involving substandard parts used in the country's nuclear reactors, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Kim Jong Shin, 68, who headed Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. from April 2007 until May 2012, was arrested late Thursday after prosecutors in the southeastern port city of Busan secured evidence that he had accepted bribes from one of the company's contractors, Yonhap said.
[link to english.kyodonews.jp]
.

Here we go again...

Highly radioactive water found in another well at Fukushima plant

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Friday it has detected highly radioactive water in a well newly built to check the spread of underground contamination at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The well is only several meters from a pit from which highly radioactive water was found seeping into the adjacent sea in April 2011, shortly after the nuclear crisis commenced at the plant.

According to TEPCO, a water sample collected Monday from the well, around 25 meters from the sea, contained about 900,000 becquerels per liter of radioactive substances such as strontium that emit beta rays.
[link to english.kyodonews.jp]
.

Metropolis to restart after 16-month outage

Following an outage lasting 16 months, the Metropolis, Illinois uranium conversion plant has been given clearance to restart operations.

In May 2012 metropolis shut down for planned maintenance; four months later, following a general post-Fukushima inspection by the US regulator, operator Honeywell announced that the plant, which converts natural uranium into uranium hexafluoride for enrichment, would remain shut until upgrades had been carried out. The uranium hexafluoride is sold exclusively by ConverDyn, a joint venture of Honeywell and General Atomics.
[link to www.neimagazine.com]
.

S. Korean nuclear reactor shuts down

A South Korean nuclear reactor shut down Friday after a technical malfunction, operators said, at a time when the government is already warning of serious power shortages because multiple reactors are offline.

The state-run Korea Hydro and Nuclear Power (KHNP) said an investigation was underway to confirm the precise cause but added there was no immediate safety threat.

The incident occurred at the Hanwool Nuclear Power Plant in Uljin County on South Korea's eastern coast.
[link to www.nuclearpowerdaily.com]
.

DEVELOPING: Maxey Flats Radionuclides Still Migrating, Remediation Method Didn’t Completely Work
[link to www.huntingtonnews.net]


From 1963 to 1977, Maxey Flats near Hillsboro in Fleming County, Ky. accepted 4.7 million cubic feet of radioactive waste. Some of the waste came from Department of Energy sources. The site underwent an emergency superfund cleanup.

Radionuclides were removed from trenches. The plan was to let remaining materials deteriorate naturally.

However, following a 2012 EPA report that requested additional testing by the Kentucky EPA, plutonium contaminated water still migrates to off site locations.

[Nightmare] 900,000,000 Bq/m3 of all β detected from groundwater on the east side of reactor2
[link to fukushima-diary.com]

9 billion beqs... hmmm. atom-boy are you not doing your media spin job?

C.T. CARLEY: Nuclear waste issues continue as costly item
[link to djournal.com]



Meanwhile, the amount of used fuel stored at nuclear electric generating plants is increasing. Nationally, it has reached 69,720 metric tons, that is kept in engineered water pools and concrete-and-steel dry casks at plant sites. In Mississippi alone 870 metric tons of used fuel is stored at Grand Gulf. As the production of nuclear-generated electricity continues, the amount of used fuel will grow.

The quantity of used fuel stored around the country already exceeds the maximum amount Congress authorized for disposal at Yucca Mountain. So, it is likely that multiple waste repositories at more than one site will be needed.

No ‘Immediate’ Safety Threat: Nuclear reactor shuts down for unknown ‘technical malfunction’ at South Korean plant
[link to enenews.com]



An investigation was underway to confirm the precise cause but added there was no immediate safety threat. [...] South Korea’s nuclear sector has been dogged by a series of malfunctions, forced shutdowns and corruption scandals that have undermined public confidence [...] Despite increasing public concern, the government has vowed to push ahead with its nuclear power programme and plans to build an additional 16 reactors [...]

No way for them to stop this... it will increase over time...

Radioactive tritium level continues to rise in sea just off Fukushima plant

The level of radioactive tritium continues to rise in seawater just off the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Saturday.

A sample collected Wednesday contained around 2,300 becquerels of tritium per liter, the highest level detected in seawater since the nuclear crisis at the plant began in March 2011.

According to TEPCO, the sample with the highest tritium concentration was collected near a water intake on the northeast side of the No. 1 reactor turbine building. The level was up from 1,100 in samples taken on June 21, and 2,200 in samples taken on July 1, in the same area.
[link to english.kyodonews.jp]
.

Killer Rats... the Resurrection... lol...

TEPCO reports another rat problem, this time at Fukushima No. 2 plant

A rat caused a battery charger to break down in an emergency gas turbine generator vehicle at the Fukushima No. 2 nuclear plant, the latest rodent-related problem to hit Tokyo Electric Power Co.

The rat is believed to have entered the vehicle through a 3- to 4-centimeter opening for cables and then shorted a switchboard, a TEPCO official said July 3.
[link to ajw.asahi.com]
.

BS propaganda...

Woman overseeing TEPCO’s safety campaign says restart needs to happen soon

Lady Barbara Judge, the British-American hired to oversee the safety campaign of Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said that the company has changed enough from the previous leadership and so deserve to have their nuclear reactors restarted as soon as possible. TEPCO is the operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi power plant that was the site of a near catastrophic nuclear accident last 2011, the worst since Chernobyl.
[link to japandailypress.com]
.

She looks like someone from the 18th century...

"Lady Barbara Judge was recently named deputy chairman of TEPCO’s Nuclear Reform Monitoring Committee."
[link to japandailypress.com]
.