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

Fukui Governor welcomes Noda's statement on plant
The governor of Fukui has welcomed Prime Minister Noda's statement on the safety of his prefecture's Ohi nuclear plant and the need to restart 2 of its reactors.

In a statement made on Friday Governor Issei Nishikawa commended the prime minister's firm endorsement of nuclear power.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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Decision on Ohi plant expected on Sunday
Fukui Prefecture is waiting for a conclusive assessment by a panel of experts on the safety of the No. 3 and 4 reactors at the Ohi nuclear power plant.

The panel will meet on Sunday for a final round of discussions and compile a report.

Mayor Shinobu Tokioka of Ohi Town, which hosts the power plant, will decide whether to support the resumption of reactor operations based on the report.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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Just took a geiger reading, the elevated levels had me very curious. My local "normal" average is .09 uSv/hr, my average today is .19 uSv/hr.

Workers sent to check reactor suppression chambers
Tokyo Electric Power Company has sent workers into the basements of 2 reactor buildings at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant for a look at the reactors' suppression chambers.

Workers entered the rooms housing the suppression chambers of the Numbers 2 and 3 reactors on Wednesday for the first time since the nuclear accident in March of last year.

Tokyo Electric says contaminated water had accumulated to a level of 5.33 meters in the No.2 unit and to 5.43 meters in the No.3 unit.

The utility firm says the water was up to more than half the height of the donut-shaped suppression chambers, which each measure about 9 meters in diameter.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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Just wanted to say THANK YOU to the OP and everyone who posts info here. You help out a lot, you are more informative than any MSM crap, and you don't seem to get tire. So thanks, thanks a lot. =) We need more people like you guys. =)

Nuclear Waste Storage Rules Thrown Out by U.S. Court
[link to www.bloomberg.com]

[snip]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission failed to fully evaluate risks associated with its regulations on the storage of spent nuclear fuel and must draft new ones, an appeals court ruled.

The commission’s conclusion that permanent storage will be available in the future when it’s needed didn’t account for how its absence could affect the environment now, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington said today in deciding a lawsuit brought by New York state. The commission also failed to fully assess the dangers of storing spent fuel onsite for 60 years after a nuclear plant’s license expires, the court said.

“The commission’s evaluation of the risks of spent nuclear fuel is deficient,” Chief Judge David Sentelle wrote for the three-judge panel. Spent fuel “poses a dangerous long-term health and environmental risk.”

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Hell yeah! FIX IT.

Hopefully not a trend..

We're all in this thang together. Appreciate the kind words.

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waterbug

Tepco rejected covering reactor 4 with stone coffin for financial matter
[link to fukushima-diary.com]

[snip]

Mabuchi proposed to cover the 4 aspects of reactor 4 with concrete, which is called sarcophagus in Chernobyl just after 311. However, Tepco rejected it for the financial reason. Also, their pride as engineer stopped them from accepting the fact that they have to do the same thing as Chernobyl.

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well, well, well.....

don't worry about the population you murderous sick twisted mofos......

It was a cause for concern. I haven't been as vigilant lately with my readings, kept getting the same range. If someone hadn't posted about the spike I may not have taken the reading tonight. But yes, a spike indeed. I will watch it over the next couple of weeks and let you know what's up.

Criminal act..?

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i'm speechless
they have upped the prices, and are still in control....

Experimental offshore power generation begins
A floating wind turbine is about to undergo testing in western Japan to gauge its power-generating capacity.

The installation of the turbine began off Goto Island on Saturday. It is the first ever floating turbine to be tested in Japanese waters.

The turbine consists of a 60-meter pole with three 11-meter blades attached to it. It has an output of 100 kilowatts.

[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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18% of Fukushima evacuees might be unable to go home even after 10 yrs
Nearly 20 percent of evacuees might not be able to return to their homes in evacuation areas near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant even 10 years after the disaster, according to an estimate the government made available Saturday.

According to the estimate, 18% of the residents in 11 municipalities in the government-set evacuation zones may have difficulties returning to their homes on the assumption that effects of ongoing work to get rid of radioactive materials in the communities are not taken into consideration.

In the towns of Okuma where part of the nuclear plant stands, for example, 81 percent of the residents may have difficulties returning home and the figure came to 49 percent for the town of Futaba, which hosts the remaining part of the plant.
[link to english.kyodonews.jp]
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Court Forces a Rethinking of Nuclear Fuel Storage
[link to www.nytimes.com]

[snip]

In the 1980s, Congress directed the Department of Energy to prepare a plan for creating a national repository at Yucca Mountain, a volcanic structure in the Nevada desert about 100 miles from Las Vegas. But that plan, decades behind schedule, was shelved in 2010 by President Obama, who had promised in his 2008 campaign to kill it if elected.

“The commission apparently has no long-term plan other than hoping for a geologic repository,” the appeals court wrote.
Failing to establish a repository is “a possibility that cannot be ignored,” the judges said.

New York State officials said they hoped the ruling meant that the commission would have to complete a sweeping analysis of waste storage at reactors before extending the licenses of the Indian Point reactors in Westchester County, which Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo wants shut down. The initial 40-year licenses at the two operating reactors there expire in 2014 and 2016.
A spokesman for Entergy, said, “There is no reason to believe this issue will affect the current schedule for license renewal proceedings.”

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Local nuclear safety commission says Oi reactors safe to operate
A local nuclear safety commission on Sunday effectively approved the restart of two idled reactors at the Oi nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture by endorsing a report prepared by prefectural officials stating that necessary safety measures have been put in place.


The meeting was temporarily disrupted by some members of the public opposed to the restart but the commission later issued its approval, a necessary step before the prefectural governor can accept Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's call to reactivate the reactors.
[link to english.kyodonews.jp]
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Following Leak of Radioactive Coolant at Davis-Besse, NRC Officials Parrot False Claims from Corporate Flaks
[link to kucinich.house.gov]

{snip]

Washington, Jun 8 -

Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) today called upon the Inspector General (IG) of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to immediately investigate misleading and inaccurate statements made to the public by NRC officials. The call comes after radioactive coolant was found to be leaking at the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant in Northern Ohio. An NRC spokesperson was then caught parroting false, industry claims about the radioactive leak. In his letter, Kucinich points out that this is not the first time that NRC officials have repeated as fact inaccurate statements made by FirstEnergy officials who operate the Davis-Besse plant.

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Looks like the free ride for the nukesters is going to get a little bumpy. Too bad it took more than 40 years of buildup and a year of fukushima daiichi to wake these fuckers up..

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wb

Markey Statement on Court Ruling Vacating NRC Waste Disposal Decision
[link to markey.house.gov]

{snip]

“It comes as no surprise that the court has no confidence in NRC’s waste confidence decision. The NRC relied on what seemed to be a faith-based methodology to conclude that highly radioactive nuclear waste can be left simply sitting in the giant swimming pools and parking lots in which it is currently stored for an additional 60 years. There was a collective failure on the part of both Congress and the Department of Energy to enable a credible, science-based search for a permanent nuclear waste repository.”

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Glad he woke up.. this shit has been going on for a long time. Political posturing.. I know, but.. not so important why they jump on the bandwagon.. only that they do.

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MARKEY, KEATING TO NRC: HOW IS PILGRIM NUCLEAR PLANT EMERGENCY RESPONSE PROTECTED DURING LABOR DISPUTE? PILGRIM LICENSEE ENTERGY USING MANAGEMENT TEAM TO FILL NECESSARY POSITIONS
[link to www.power-eng.com]

[snip]

"While Entergy management may understand the theoretical manner in which a nuclear power plant operates, theory is rarely a substitute for the sort of practical, hands-on experience the locked-out workers possess," write Reps. Markey and Keating in the letter. "Even if these managers had past experience in nuclear power plant operations, they are still less likely to be prepared to respond to an emergency in as skilled and as rapid a manner as those who, until the recent lock-out, had worked at the facility day in and day out."

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- speaks for itself. The full article has details and the questions asked of the NRC. Response expected by the 15th.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter. We request that you provide your response no later than the close of business on Friday June 15, 2012.

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ABC : Fukushima radiation clean-up flawed
[link to fukushima-diary.com]

Hotspot found in an elementary school at 254km from Fukushima
[link to fukushima-diary.com]

Elementary school to have students clean the pool gutter
[link to fukushima-diary.com]

Rotten Japanese press -Tepco conference ended within 3 minutes
[link to fukushima-diary.com]

[snip]

Tepco’s daily press conference is becoming a mere shell because of the reluctant Japanese major press.

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Fukushima town Mayor suggests residents not return home for five years or more
[link to japandailypress.com]

Tepco slammed over rate hike plan at public hearing
[link to www.japantimes.co.jp]

- great article.

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The Marshall Islands: Tropical idylls scarred like Tohoku
[link to www.japantimes.co.jp]

[snip]

"They didn't even tell us on Kwajalein to be ready. I was there when they brought that thing on the plane, with hundreds of military police to guard it. Nobody knew what it was."

Reportedly more than 60 km east of the blast site on Bikini Atoll, Japanese tuna fishermen on the Daigo Fukuryu Maru (Lucky Dragon No. 5) saw a "sunrise in the West" and, eight minutes lates, a blasting sound. The crew said that fine white dust fell on them for three hours. As they scooped it into bags, the powder stuck to their hands and hair; they would later call it shi no hai (death ash).

News photo

Just as now in Japan with the ongoing nuclear crises at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, reports back then about the Castle Bravo test (and others) were suffused with distortion, concealment and spin. When the 23 crewman returned two weeks later to port in Yaizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, they were reportedly suffering from headaches, nausea, burns, pains in the eyes and bleeding gums. Doctors diagnosed them with acute radiation syndrome and sent them to two Tokyo hospitals. The boat's radioman, Aikichi Kuboyama, died seven months later at age 40 from acute radiation syndrome. In the media, his last words were reported to have been: "I pray that I am the last victim of an atomic or hydrogen bomb."

Japanese scientists who studied fallout data disagreed with the official U.S. line at the time, which downplayed the impact of radiation, citing "national security."

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Ironic.

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A Radioactive Nightmare
[link to www.vcreporter.com]

[snip]

A windy Alaskan storm front sweeping down the coast the morning of March 31 slammed Southern California with huge breakers, a choppy sea with 30-foot waves and winds gusting to 50 mph. A low-hanging marine layer infused with sea spray made aloft from the chop and carried on the winds blew inland over the Los Angeles Basin for several miles bringing with it the highest radiation this reporter has detected in hot rain since the meltdowns began, over five times normal.

Scientific studies from the United Kingdom and Europe show that sea water infused with radiation of the sort spewing out of Fukushima can travel inland from the coast up to 300 kilometers. These mobile poisons include cesium-137 and plutonium-239, the latter with a half-life of 24,400 years.

Even with government, University of California and this reporter’s tests showing high radiation in the air, water, food and dairy products in this state, the state and federal governments cut off special testing for Fukushima radionuclides more than half a year ago.

Southern California is still getting hit by Fukushima radiation at alarmingly high levels that will inevitably increase as the main bulk of polluted Pacific Ocean water reaches North America over the next two years.

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KAWAUCHI, Fukushima -- A Tokyo-based manufacturer will open a factory in this village that was up until this April completely evacuated due to the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant disaster, it has been learned.
[link to mainichi.jp]

Mori Trust to build giant solar plant
[link to www.japantimes.co.jp]

How hard is it to dismantle 150 nuclear reactors? Europe’s about to find out.
[link to www.washingtonpost.com]

[snip]

Yet the mere act of shutting down those reactors is going to pose a huge challenge in the years ahead. According to a new report from GlobalData, Europe is on track to decommission nearly 150 nuclear power plants in the next two decades. Some, like those in Germany, are being mothballed for political reasons. Others, in France and Britain, are simply getting old. Yet dismantling a nuclear reactor is an arduous, time-consuming task — typically costing between $400 million and $1 billion per plant. And it’s not clear that Europe is fully prepared for the onslaught of retirements.

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Kill One Kill Twelve Kill Millions Kill Billions
Evacuate Tokyo and All US Forces From Japan
[link to www.salem-news.com]

[snip]

Without Emergency Generators, loss of regular electricity feeds means the white hot reactor cores start evaporating all the water immediately and then melting down in hours. The big generators were the wrong voltage for the 600 Volt pump motors.

“The icing on the cake, the General Electric engines require a voltage of 600 volts that the emergency generators were unable to deliver”.

Original French text: “Cerise sur le gâteau, les réacteurs General Electric nécessitent une tension de 600 Volts que les générateurs de secours étaient incapables de délivrer”

The cause of the proximate murder of most, if not all, humans on Earth is a complicated tale of corruption and sabotage by more than one person surrounding the brutal meltdowns and explosions of three devastated and highly radioactive reactors at Fukushima Daiichi.

Forget the over-hyped M8.3 Earthquake and the subsequent deadly tsunami; they are distractions for the simple minded.

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It is an open joke and a term of extreme contempt that, in Japan, politicians and other professional liars for hire say “Smiling people do not get radiation poisoning.”

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When that high voltage tower fell, meltdown became a forgone conclusion.

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