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

Yokosuka groups object to disaster debris burial
Residents in Yokosuka, near Tokyo, are objecting to a plan to bury incinerated disaster debris from eastern Japan at a site in their neighborhood.

Representatives of 10 community groups delivered a letter to the local governor on Friday, seeking a retraction of the disposal plan.

The community groups are concerned that wreckage from the disaster zone could be contaminated with radioactive fallout from the Fukushima nuclear accident.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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Missed this.

I don't know a lot. Spent some time in St. Louis and Hannibal. Hannibal is an interesting town. Sam Clemons grew up there. Started as a salt lick. Home of the mound indians. The mounds are still there. Railroad town. Was railhead for livestock.

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Yeah. I don't look at it anymore. They are using split screen with filters. Hard to say what they are doing with it.

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U.S. nuclear plants similar to Fukushima spark concerns
[link to www.cnn.com]

[snip]

Arnie Gundersen, a former nuclear engineer and a leading critic of the Vermont Yankee plant, says the Japanese accident shows the Mark I containment system can't prevent a release of radioactivity in a meltdown.

In an October hearing before the NRC's Petition Review Board, he said the vents were a "Band-Aid fix" for the design that failed "not once, not twice, but three times" at Fukushima Daiichi.
"True wisdom means knowing when to modify something and knowing when to stop," said Gundersen, who leads a state commission set up to monitor the Vermont Yankee plant.

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CNN is citing Arnie.

They don't go into it, but what he is talking about is the test done 40 years ago on the vessel that showed that the containment cap bolts would stretch at pressures over 100psi, allowing containment gases to escape. This is what allowed the hydrogen gas to escape containment and build up inside the reactor buildings at Fuku, thereby causing the explosions.

Tepco said it was a failure to vent in time that caused the hydrogen build up.

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UK & France in major nuclear reactor deal
[link to djysrv.blogspot.com]

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[snip]

Two French nuclear giants, EDF and Areva, and Rolls-Royce, the flagship nuclear firm in the UK, are signing deals worth {l}500 million ($791 million) to build new nuclear reactors in the UK. (EDF press release)

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8 sites.

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Anglo-French nuke pact blesses 4th-gen reactors
UK wants to take ASTRID home

The UK is borrowing heavily on French nuclear energy know-how in a pact signed today. France and the UK will extend co-operation to R&D and training in several areas, but the most interesting is the commitment to develop 4th Generation (Gen IV) nuclear reactors on the French ASTRID prototype.
[link to www.theregister.co.uk]

Mochizuki is saying the temp sensor is reading 200C.
Tepco is saying it is broken.

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FOIA document from March 13.

[link to enformable.com]

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BBC: Tokyo Highly Recommended for Honeymooners
[link to ex-skf.blogspot.com]

[snip]

Fresh fish, Kobe beef... Fukushima does not exist in the minds of people at BBC; the cache was cleared long time ago, apparently.


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Washington Times Is Wrong on China and Nuclear Arms Control
[link to allthingsnuclear.org]

[snip]

First, it claimed China may have the largest nuclear arsenal in the world.

Based on discredited study.[/u]


Second, the Washington Times claims China “has never agreed to be part of any strategic nuclear framework”.

China acceded to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and was a full and active participant in the negotiation of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT]


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New docs show contamination was much higher than reported, but piles of data were secretly transmitted and analyzed by United States, Russia, China, and Japan
[link to enformable.com]

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No surprise there.

Kinda justifies what we were saying on fuku 1 thread at the time. The blowback was almost over-whelming at times. I did not handle it well. I got really pissed off. I'm much calmer now. Raged out, mostly.

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I can't believe how correct we all were on the #1 thread, and how quickly we learned about radionuclides. Not bad for a bunch of amateurs. I think we all went through the pissed off stage. I still get pissed but find I handle it better now days. I believe there should be some sort of criminal charge for hiding the data. Bioaccumulation will be the biggest issue, and it will take years to see the true damage.

2 words come to mind: Spent Fuel. They can change the reactor design as much as they want but spent fuel is a huge issue that not one country has a plan for.

The mounds sound interesting. My daughter loves old architecture and archeology. Might just be a good fit for her in that area. She also likes to rockhound and has cut some of her own gemstones. I guess we will be looking into what they have in the area for that.

Last Edited by Southern OR on 02/17/2012 11:23 PM

Fukushima nuke disaster refugees may get lump-sum compensation payments
[link to mdn.mainichi.jp]

[snip]

The Dispute Reconciliation Committee for Nuclear Damage Compensation proposed the move after concluding that the current multi-installment payment system may prevent residents from restarting their lives in other parts of Japan as they wait to return home.

Furthermore, experts fear that even five years from now radiation doses within the no-go zones may not have decreased to the government-mandated maximum of 20 millisieverts per year, casting uncertainty on the futures of those hoping to return. At present, radiation doses in the zones stand at 50 millisieverts per year or more.

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Fall-out in Fukushima spiked up 39 times much
[link to fukushima-diary.com]

[snip]

from 9:00 2/15 to 9:00 2/16.
Cesium 134 : 150 (↑3614%)
Cesium 137 : 199 (↑4120%)

MEXT has not given an explanation why.

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Temperature drops to 2°C from 220°C at Reactor No. 2 — Only since decrease is gauge failure indicated on Tepco data
[link to enenews.com]
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March 15th, 2011 Deflect any questions about scary numbers with the “we’ll review for scientific validity”
[link to enformable.com]

[snip]

The gentleman has submitted a petition; the NRC will review it to determine if it has any scientific validity. The NRC believes spent fuel pools are safe, even in cases of extended
blackouts, given the very low heat levels involved and the ease with which the pools can be refilled. In some cases analysis has shown the spent fuel can be safely air-cooled.

[[deflect any questions about scary numbers with the "we'll review for scientific validity"]]
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Your tax dollars at work....

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Spent fuel is one of the problems. These guys are idiots and owned. They should be working on THORIUM LFTR.

Frater

Last Edited by Frater Deplorable on 02/18/2012 10:29 AM

Former nuclear worker sues Japan gov’t over heart attack — Had been suffering nose bleeds and fatigue
[link to enenews.com]

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They should be, but...
Profit motive as well as 'other' applications.

They have ignored the spent fuel disposal/storage problem since the beginning. The original 'wisdom' was that new tech somewhere down the line would be invented to take care of the problem.

Hasn't happened...

Spent 5 bil. on 'the tunnel to nowhere'[yucca mt] before doing a complete assessment of viability. Later study revealed eq faults. Protested vigorously by Nev. Discarded by prez O.

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NOAA: No radiation levels that would “directly” cause seal deaths, Fukushima not a “primary factor” — AP misreports this as “scientists find no radiation” — Cesium levels not released
[link to enenews.com]

[snip]

It appears the muscles tissue has yet to be checked for cesium.

Yet the AP headline reads: Scientists find no radiation in Alaska’s sick ringed seals

At least Reuters interpreted NOAA’s information correctly in its headline: Radiation ruled out, for now, as cause of Alaska seal deaths

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An Act of Murder?

[snip] less than 50%



Now, fast-forward to January 2012, ten months after the quake. Namie Town’s Mayor Baba has learned that vital information that could have changed the fate of thousands of his town residents (the data contained in the SPEEDI map) had been purposely witheld. Apologizing for the “delay”, Reconstruction Minister Goshi Hosono explains that the central government had ”feared it might trigger panic. ” Ummmm…maybe a bit of panic had actually been in order, and certainly a measure of haste would have limited residents’ exposure to the high radiation levels in Namie following the quake and nuclear explosions. Certainly, if the mayors of both Iitate and Namie had realized the scope of the radioactive fallout, they would have acted differently, evacuating residents to areas well beyond the danger zone and preventing later multiple moves.

Mayor Baba of Namie recently spoke out in an Australian news broadcast, regretting that, “Because we had no information we were unwittingly evacuating to an area where the radiation level was high, so I’m very worried about the people’s health. I feel pain in my heart but also rage over the poor actions of the government.” Yes, his word choice was “rage”. And it’s understandable rage at that. One never hears such extreme language in Japan (at least I personally do not), and his concluding statement is even more startling from the Japanese point of view. The Mayor himself realizes he’s breaking a social taboo by beginning it with an apology: “It’s not nice language, but I still think it was an act of murder. What were they thinking when it came to the people’s dignity and lives?” The answer is, tragically, that the central government was not thinking at all about either dignity or life, and Fukushima residents have every right to feel betrayed.

In fact, so do residents of Tokyo, and my own Kanagawa Prefecture. While we assumed ourselves well out of harm’s way, data generated by the government that we never saw clearly showed otherwise. Specifically, it showed that radiation levels on March 15th were alarmingly high, not just in Tohoku, but in Tokyo and Kanagawa as well.
[link to notesfromhadano.wordpress.com]

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8 of 15 quakes in the last 7 days on fault east of Tokyo, close to Mito, halfway between Fuku and Tokyo.

1806 total since March 11th. 78 eqs on March 11, 2011.
[link to www.japanquakemap.com]

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interactive video timeline map
[link to www.channel4.com]

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US welcomes Iran's offer to resume nuclear talks
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has welcomed Iran's willingness to resume negotiations on the nation's nuclear program, calling it an important step.

Clinton spoke to reporters in Washington on Friday after a meeting with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

The 2 discussed a letter sent by Iran on Wednesday to Ashton expressing its willingness to resume nuclear talks with 6 other countries. The talks have been stalled since January of last year.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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The circumstances and topography of Japan are unique.
Averaging 1500 quakes annually, junction of 4 tectonic plates, volcanic island, exposed on one coast to open ocean.

That being said, many plants in the US
have potential catastrophe scenarios.
116 million[2010] within 50 mile radius in
the US. 104 reactors.

Interactive map at link.

Indian Point 17 million
Limerick 8
San Onofre 8
Dresden 7



[snip]

That's 116 million nuclear neighbors, up from 109 million a decade earlier, according to the analysis conducted for msnbc.com by Longcreative, a data analysis and design company.

The population within 10 miles of Pennsylvania's Three Mile Island reactor grew 11 percent. At Pilgrim, outside of Boston, the increase was 41 percent. Near San Onofre on the California fault lines, 50 percent.

Among the 100 most populous U.S. cities on the new census map, 26 have a nuclear plant within 50 miles: New York, Chicago, Philadelphia (3 different plants nearby), Phoenix, San Diego, Fort Worth, Charlotte (2 plants), Detroit, Baltimore, Boston (2 plants), Washington, Virginia Beach and Norfolk, Omaha, Raleigh and Durham, Miami, Cleveland, Minneapolis and St. Paul (2 plants), New Orleans, Pittsburgh, Toledo (2 plants), Newark, Baton Rouge, and Rochester, N.Y.
[link to www.msnbc.msn.com]

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Mitsubishi Corp. to invest in Canada gas field
Japanese trading firm Mitsubishi Corporation has obtained the rights to develop one of the world's largest shale gas fields in Canada.

Mitsubishi acquired a 40 percent stake of the gas field in the western province of British Colombia from Canadian energy firm Encana.

Mitsubishi is hoping to develop the field and sell the gas to Japanese users. The total investment is expected to reach 6 billion dollars.

Demand for natural gas is increasing in Japan following the nuclear accident in Fukushima prefecture last year.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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