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

Yes, the spent fuel pools are under the steel plates.

It appears that whenever there is something being done, the Live Cam is down.

[link to www.youtube.com]

LIVECAMERA CHECKER here:

[link to www.youtube.com]

Guess this clip was too much.

Ohi nuclear plant at 100% power output
An electric power generator at a nuclear reactor in central Japan has achieved 100% power output after it was reactivated on July 1st.

Kansai Electric Power Company says the output of the electric generator at No. 3 reactor at its Ohi nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture reached 1.18 million kilowatts at 11:20 PM on Saturday.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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Hiroshima mayor to urge gov't to avoid over-reliance on nuclear power
Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui will urge the central government to avoid "excessive reliance" on nuclear power generation in this year's peace declaration to be read at a ceremony on Aug. 6, the 67th anniversary of the 1945 atomic bombing of the city, he said Sunday after a drafting panel meeting.

"We cannot help mentioning" problems posed by last year's Fukushima nuclear disaster due to the analogous situation with regard to people's exposure to radiation, Matsui told reporters after the closed-door meeting.
[link to english.kyodonews.jp]
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Nuclear powers back away from S.E. Asia nuclear free zone protocol
The signing of a pledge by the United States, China, Russia, Britain and France to respect an ASEAN treaty declaring Southeast Asia as a nuclear weapon free zone, which had been set to happen Thursday in Phnom Penh, has been postponed indefinitely, ASEAN chair country Cambodia announced Sunday.

The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- also known as the P5 -- had been expected to sign on Thursday a protocol to the Southeast Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty amid a series of ASEAN-hosted ministerial meetings being held this week in the Cambodian capital.
[link to english.kyodonews.jp]
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And also, thanks to all the other contributing bananas...

You know who you are..



wb

As Japan Says Fukushima Disaster "Man-Made" & "Preventable," Fears Grow for Nuclear Plants Worldwide
[link to www.democracynow.org]

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Vid and transcript.

Welcome back water bug!

So were you absent when we were watching them take down the upper walls above SFP and reactor 4? And since they put the lid on SFP4 I hope they keep that cooling system intact.

So there is controversy, but last I heard and the official view is that SFP4 is full of used rods, and a set of new rods (possibly mox) that were supposed to about to be loaded into reactor 4.

Then with this cooling pump problem last week at reactor 4 they were saying that reactor 4 has fuel too. What, the old fuel is still in reactor 4?

Maybe you or someone who posts more often on this thread could give the rundown for us on official statements plus the theories of what material is in the #4 complex, and what is in the other complexes.


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someday... through some overriding force through the current Japanese industrial/political complex, will come about a plan to cap and contain the region...
...and then of course one might ask why they had not done that sooner.

It appears that neither Tepco or the Japanese government ever had the possibility and contingency for burial and containment of a nuclear complex, and for that reason it simply will not happen within their current fixation of the industrial/political meme.


One must be very careful to remember that the intelligence of so called "advanced" human memes, is often very low. I would rate the intelligence of the industrial/political meme in terms of an entity for example, to have an IQ level of not much more than a simple bacteria.

Besmirching the intelligence of bacteria.. ?

They are much smarter than tepco..

[link to star.tau.ac.il]
[snip]

Our best friends and worst enemies

Bacteria are the most prolific organisms on Earth. Many of them are fierce killers, but many more are indispensible to our survival. In our rush to free the human race from deadly bacterial diseases, we created a major health problem worldwide: bacteria are becoming increasingly resistant to antibiotics. Even in the West, bacteria are one of the top 3 killers in hospitals today. Unaware of bacteria's social intelligence, which allows them to learn from experience to solve new problems and then share their newly acquired skills, we use antibiotics indiscriminately. As a result, bacteria developed multiple drug resistance, and we can't invent new drugs fast enough to beat them.

~

Thanks, E.

Yes. Absent is appropriate.
Will check into the info but, to the best of my knowledge, reactor 4 was reported to be undergoing a reactor upgrade with zero fuel onboard. If the story is changing, I'm not surprised.
Tepco method has historically been to release information as needed to obfuscate and mis-direct attention with subsequent corrections and excuses for the previous incorrect data..

The recent avalanche of information and sources has made the task of separating fact from fiction extremely difficult given the time period in question. The disinfo agents have not made this any easier.

Oh, so that deal about the cooling system being down on reactor 4 last week concerned a supposedly empty reactor that still needs coolant in any case. (but who knows) (The reactor forms an adjacent wall with the spent fuel pool and the hydrostatic pressure of the reactor pool support the SFP some too.)

As far as intelligence in bacteria, they only get that through the benefit of large numbers, or the bacteria meme, which I agree can be stupendous intelligence as seen on a whole. And yet the intelligence of the individual bacteria may seem limited by comparison.

So by extension of the analogy, the industrial/political complex as a meme lacks the intelligence that would be gained through survival in a soup of other power structures, because the space at the top of the pyramid is rather constricted.

In that case the only way to bypass the low intelligence block of the industrial/political complex, is for a single individual step forward as a dictator and bring the intelligence of an individual which may (or may not) have more intelligence than a group of greedy mob bosses would.

...and the other way would be to break the control of the industrial/political complex down to the level of the individuals... but that seems unlikely short of something returning all of the human race back to an equal low technology playing field. But the catsup does not flow back into the bottle that way.

Last Edited by ehecatl on 07/08/2012 05:18 PM

Good point.

As I see it... the problem with nuclear technology lays in its inherent autonomy. The knowledge required, merely to understand the chemical/radiological processes, effects and consequences, is prohibitive to most.

Humanity trusts its scientists and politicos to ensure the tech is used safely and responsibly. This trust seems to be misplaced when considering the numerous incidents and the attempts to minimize__ and in some cases, hide__ the consequences of failure.

Each nuclear nation in the world has their own idea of how it should be done..

If it were administered with honesty and integrity we would be able to use this tech to our common advantage.
However.. this is not the case.

Consider Brown's Ferry in Alabama...
[link to www.power-eng.com]

A 1975 fire there prompted new NRC regulation... finalized last year.

[snip]
It was a 1975 fire at Browns Ferry that prompted NRC's new regulations, which were finalized on Sept. 13, 2011.
The regulations had been NRC and industry suggestions before that, and most of the nation's 104 commercial reactors already had adopted them, industry officials have said.

"Not good," Lochbaum said of NRC's findings, noticed earlier this year during an inspection of a fire simulation exercise at the plant.
"Thirty-seven years after the Browns Ferry fire, workers at Browns Ferry are not properly trained to respond to a fire," he said.
In May, NRC extended TVA's deadline to comply with the new fire regulations for another year.

Lochbaum, a former TVA nuclear engineer at Browns Ferry and a former Nuclear Regulatory Commission instructor, also shook his head at the new white safety finding.
"TVA appears to be going for the rainbow -- seeking all colors while most plant owners want only the green ones," he said.

~

Unfathomable.. this is business as usual for the industry.

In my mind, ending nuclear tech is our only option.
This will never happen in my lifetime unless civilization completely collapses.

We may not have a choice...

Concerning reactor 4 and whether or not it has fuel..

The containment dome[cap] has been visible in its storage position since the first photos of the destruction were posted.
No containment readings for 4 were ever posted in reports by tepco.
The reports I have seen since 3.11 consistently say the reactor was in defueled outage for shroud replacement and vent duct work. Core was temporarily placed in the SFP.

There was an unsubstantiated report on Fuku diary from an anonymous source, supposedly a worker, who said that the fuel had been loaded in reactor 4 but it was still shut down on 3.11. No confirmation.

Some of the confusion arises from the use of the shortened term, reactor 4, when reporting on the SFP at reactor 4. They don't always specify that they are talking about the SFP...

There doesn't seem to be enough evidence to believe that there is fuel in reactor 4. If someone knows any different, please post the information.

Jellyfish problem at nuclear plants
Operators of Japanese nuclear power plants have experienced power reductions at times, caused by a swarm of jellyfish being sucked into water intakes.

Electricity at the plants is generated by steam-driven turbines. The steam is then sent to condensers to be cooled down with pipes in which seawater flows.

An influx of jellyfish to the intakes sometimes disrupts the supply of cooling water, forcing operators to reduce power output to curb heat generation.

Thermal plants have been affected too. Kansai Electric Power Company says jellyfish problems have forced it to reduce power output in 17 of its generators from April to June, the largest number of affected plants for the utility in the past 5 years.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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No. 3 nuclear reactor at Oi plant back to full capacity
Kansai Electric Power Co (KEPCO), operator of the Oi power plant in Fukui Prefecture, said its 1.18-million-kilowatt No. 3 reactor had come back to full capacity just after 1 a.m. Monday after the reactor was switched on earlier this month.

“The reactor has already shifted to a stable output mode without any trouble,” a KEPCO spokesman said, adding that the utility plans to resume operations at No. 4 reactor in the same plant later this month.
[link to www.japantoday.com]
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Chinese boffins build nuclear-powered deep-sea station
Not content with ambitious plans to dominate space exploration over the coming decades, China is also looking to master the ocean with the development of a deep-sea station which could be its first step towards large-scale underwater mining.

Plans for the nuclear powered mobile deep-sea station were unveiled earlier this year by China Ship Scientific Research Centre – the state-owned venture whose Jiaolong manned submersible recently reached depths of 7,000 metres – according to South China Morning Post.

The craft would have dimensions of 60.2m x 15.8m x 9.7m, weigh about 2,600 tonnes, and have enough room for 33 crew members.
[link to www.theregister.co.uk]
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Decaying concrete raising concerns at Canada’s aging nuclear plants
[link to news.nationalpost.com]

[snip]

ASR occurs when certain forms of silica in the bulk material in concrete, such as crushed rock and sand, react in the presence of water with such chemicals as sodium or potassium, which are commonly found in the cement paste. The reaction produces a gel that forms in the pores of the concrete and then expands, causing stress and cracking. Over time, those cracks can join together to form larger fissures and compromise the concrete’s structural integrity.

Hydro-Quebec has told the CNSC the reaction is present in all of its concrete structures, including power dams, and that it has developed the expertise to the combat the problem. ASR also is common in bridges, roads and airport runways.

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It's a common problem.. so.. don't worry about it...?

Mmkay.. thanks.

Nuke truck fleet faces shortage
[link to amarillo.com]

[snip]

The armored truck fleet that hauls U.S. nuclear warheads across the country faces a replacement shortage just as projected shipments from Pantex Plant and other sites are expected to rise significantly in the next few years, a government audit shows.

The Energy Department’s Office of Inspector General report, released last month, also raised concerns about rising overtime hours and fatigue in the federal guard force that escorts classified nuclear shipments.

Fukushima worker “Human-wave tactics will be needed, problem is if they can collect human workers”
[link to fukushima-diary.com]

[Anon leaks] NRC “SFP4 crisis may happen at US nuclear plants too”
[link to fukushima-diary.com]

[Reactor3] Possible second meltdown happened 3/21 ~ 3/22/2011
[link to fukushima-diary.com]

[Reactor4] Explosion was caused by hydrogen gas from heated SFP4 and reactor3
[link to fukushima-diary.com]

Fukui Pref. wants central gov't to keep nuclear plants
[link to mainichi.jp]

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Some real brainiacs there...

[Reactor4] UPS had a fire inside
[link to fukushima-diary.com]

Radiation reading on weather forecast of Fukushima
[link to fukushima-diary.com]

Experts plan to track radiation doses from medical checks
[link to ajw.asahi.com]

Atomic Energy Commission held undocumented, closed-door meetings for more than a decade
[link to www.japantimes.co.jp]

[snip]

The Japan Atomic Energy Commission has held closed preparatory sessions for more than 10 years prior to its open meetings every week, sometimes deliberating important matters of nuclear energy policy without keeping minutes, former commissioners and government sources said Saturday.

Jellyfish cause problem at Ohi plant
The operator of the Ohi nuclear complex in central Japan says it will strengthen the plant's defenses against jellyfish plagues.

Kansai Electric Power Company was forced to reduce the power output of a generator on Sunday after a mass of jellyfish was sucked into a water intake of reactor 3.

The utility said that conveyer-like equipment used to remove objects that had slipped through a mesh filter at the intake was overwhelmed by the volume of jellyfish.

The invasion disrupted the supply of seawater that cools the reactor, forcing the utility to power down a generator.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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I suspect jellyfish are not as bothered by nuke plants so much as nuke plants are bothered by jellyfish.

[snip]
Jellyfish are the simplest swimming animals on Earth.
They are composed of about 95 percent water.
So simple, each jellyfish is but a few evolutionary steps beyond being just a stinging bladder of sea water.
The simplicity of jellyfish and their resulting simpatico with the sea helps explain the adaptability of jellyfish, which have survived on Earth for over 500 million years. Moreover, the ability of these most simple creatures to dominate and essentially rule many diverse ecosystems testifies to the potential power of the lowest common denominator.

[link to s.tt]

~


Isn't it ironic that some of our most complex and technologically advanced creations can be compromised by some of the simplest and seemingly most insignificant creatures?

You could include inhaled birds' effect on jet engines...

DR. ALLISON M. MACFARLANE BECOMES 15TH NRC CHAIRMAN
Dr. Allison M. Macfarlane, designated by President Obama as chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, was sworn in today as the 15th person chosen to lead the agency charged with regulating the civilian use of nuclear materials.

She will serve a term ending June 30, 2013.

"This is a singular honor. I am grateful to the President for nominating me and to the Senate for confirming my selection," said Macfarlane after a small private ceremony attended by the agency’s other commissioners and several senior NRC staff.

"The agency faces multiple challenges. I look forward to working collegially with my fellow commissioners and the excellent, dedicated staff at the NRC to address these issues," added Macfarlane, an expert in nuclear waste issues.
[link to www.nucpros.com]
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Candu reactor employees on strike
TORONTO — About 800 nuclear scientists, engineers and technologists at Candu Energy Inc. went on strike Monday morning after negotiators failed to reach a contract before the strike deadline.

Candu is owned by Montreal-based engineering giant SNC-Lavalin, and its reactors supply nearly half of Ontario’s electricity and 16 per cent of Canada’s overall electricity requirements.

With operations in Ontario, Quebec and New Brunswick, Candu also supplies more than 22,000 megawatts of power at sites around the world. The company hasn’t said yet how the job action might affect operations.
[link to www.nucpros.com]
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SUMMER - UNUSUAL EVENT DECLARED FOR A FIRE ALARM IN THE REACTOR BUILDING

VC Summer operators declared an Unusual Event due to one fire detector being in alarm inside the reactor building 'B' steam generator cubicle. There are no other fire detectors in alarm nor are there any elevated containment temperatures. The licensee is making preparations to enter the reactor building to investigate. The reactor continues to operate at 100% power.
[link to www.nucpros.com]
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Duke, Progress merger creates nation's third largest nuclear fleet
Duke Energy Corp. completed its merger with Progress Energy Inc. on July 2. The merger, valued at about $32 billion, has created what will be known simply as Duke Energy. Duke Energy, also, is now the country's largest electric utility as measured by enterprise value, market capitalization, generation assets, customers and other criteria. With 7.1 million electric customers in the Carolinas, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio, the utility generates over 58,000 MW in total capacity.

Duke is now responsible for the third largest nuclear power generation fleet in the U.S.

Prior to the merger, Duke operated seven reactors at three sites; Progress Energy ran five reactors at four sites. Now, Duke operates 12 reactors at seven sites that generate about 17 percent, or 9,500 MW, of the utility’s capacity.
[link to www.nucpros.com]
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