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

Ohi No.4 reactor working at full capacity
The second reactor to resume operation in Japan after the nuclear accident in Fukushima is now generating power at full capacity.

Officials raised the output of the No.4 reactor at the Ohi nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture, central Japan, at midnight on Tuesday after final safety checks.

The reactor reached its full capacity about one hour later on Wednesday morning. Senior vice industry minister Seishu Makino was at the plant's central control room to oversee the procedure.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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Radioactive strontium detected in 10 prefectures
TOKYO — Radioactive strontium, thought to have been released following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster last year, has been detected in 10 prefectures across Japan, the government said Wednesday.

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology confirmed that small amounts of radioactive strontium have been detected in Akita, Iwate, Yamagata, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma, Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa Prefectures, as well as in Tokyo, Fuji TV reported.
[link to www.japantoday.com]
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Cumulative radiation doses at Fukushima Daiichi increase 16-fold
Cumulative radiation doses for workers at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant over the one-year period since the start of the disaster increased roughly 16-fold from the previous year, data compiled by the plant operator showed Wednesday.

The surge is partly attributed to an increase in the number of workers at the Tokyo Electric Power Co. plant who engaged in containing the nuclear disaster, and to the elevated levels of radiation in which the workers had to work in doing so.
[link to english.kyodonews.jp]
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Michael J. Pacilio Receives NRC INVESTIGATION REPORT Dated July 23, 2012

NRC Office of Investigations (OI) conducted at the Exelon Generation Company, LLC (Exelon) Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station (PBAPS). The OI investigation, which was completed on April 11, 2012, was conducted to determine whether a PBAPS Security Lead Supervisor (SLS) and a PBAPS security officer (SO) willfully falsified security post inspection documentation. The OI investigation was initiated after Exelon identified this issue and notified the NRC resident inspectors at PBAPS upon completing an internal investigation.

Based on the evidence gathered during the OI investigation, the NRC has concluded that on January 16, 2011, and January 25, 2011, the PBAPS SLS deliberately failed to properly conduct security post inspections. The NRC further concluded that, on those dates, the SLS and SO deliberately falsified related records indicating the inspections had been properly performed.
[link to www.nucpros.com]
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Kansai Electric irks industry minister over nuclear reactor plan
The president of Kansai Electric Power Co. displeased the energy minister Wednesday by expressing an intention to reactivate more nuclear power reactors following the recent restart of two reactors without sufficient coordination with the state government.

Kansai Electric Power President Makoto Yagi said the utility serving western Japan wants to see two reactors at its Takahama nuclear power station restarted now that two reactors at its Oi complex, both on the Sea of Japan coast in Fukui Prefecture, have gone into full operation.
[link to english.kyodonews.jp]
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In case someone missed it...

Michael J. Pacilio Receives NRC INVESTIGATION REPORT Dated July 23, 2012

NRC Office of Investigations (OI) conducted at the Exelon Generation Company, LLC (Exelon) Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station (PBAPS). The OI investigation, which was completed on April 11, 2012, was conducted to determine whether a PBAPS Security Lead Supervisor (SLS) and a PBAPS security officer (SO) willfully falsified security post inspection documentation. The OI investigation was initiated after Exelon identified this issue and notified the NRC resident inspectors at PBAPS upon completing an internal investigation.

Based on the evidence gathered during the OI investigation, the NRC has concluded that on January 16, 2011, and January 25, 2011, the PBAPS SLS deliberately failed to properly conduct security post inspections. The NRC further concluded that, on those dates, the SLS and SO deliberately falsified related records indicating the inspections had been properly performed.
[link to www.nucpros.com]
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Unbelievable..
It's not like they are securing a parking garage.. maybe they should be..
Get some pros for the nuke plants.. please.

~

Thread: Extremely radioactive sample from Tokyo air filter — 150 times more uranium than expected — “This is from Fukushima”

Good post! Chris Busby is checking air filters for radio-isotopes.

French regulators Grants Life Expansion to Bugey Nuclear Reactor
(Dow Jones Newswires) French nuclear safety regulator Autorite de Surete Nucleaire said Wednesday reactor number 2 of the Bugey nuclear plant, in central France, could be operated for an additional ten years, after having already operated for 30 years.

The decision takes into consideration the need to abide with new safety standards, following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March last year, ASN said.
[link to www.nucpros.com]
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Westinghouse To Prepare Detailed Construction Plans And Cost Estimates For Potential AP1000® Units At Darlington

Opens Westinghouse Electric Canada Office to Meet Growing Business Opportunities and Strengthen Ties with Customers and Suppliers

PITTSBURGH, July 23, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Westinghouse Electric Company today announced that it would prepare for Ontario Power Generation Inc. (OPG) detailed construction plans, schedules and cost estimates for two potential AP1000 nuclear reactors at OPG's Darlington site. The plans and estimates would provide significant input in helping the Province of Ontario determine the baseload generation option that is best for Ontario's ratepayers.

"Westinghouse is pleased to participate in the Province's information-gathering process," said Joe Zwetolitz, president, Westinghouse Americas. "Should the Province select our AP1000 as the preferred option, we believe that Ontario's infrastructure could become even more energy self-sufficient, creating local Canadian jobs during construction and opportunities for involving Canadian suppliers on this and future nuclear projects elsewhere in the world."
[link to www.nucpros.com]
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Nuclear Dump Dominates NRC Chief’s First Trip to Congress
The new chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission told Congress the U.S. needs a permanent site to store radioactive waste and declined to back Republican lawmakers who sought to restart the Yucca Mountain project.

While Allison Macfarlane reiterated that picking a site wasn’t an NRC task, she said cash remains available to evaluate Yucca. She estimated the U.S. has spent $8 billion on the project. House Republicans, who were asking about the slow pace of work, put the cost at $15 billion.

“No matter whether you go direct disposal of spent fuel or you recycle,” Macfarlane, in office for two weeks, said today at a hearing of two panels of the House Energy and Commerce Committee in Washington, “you will need a final repository.”
[link to www.bloomberg.com]
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IAEA to assess quake resistance at Onagawa plant
The International Atomic Energy Agency will examine a nuclear plant in northeastern Japan next week to see how it was affected by last year's March 11th earthquake.

Data at some nuclear plants in northern and eastern Japan show that the intensity of the quake exceeded the maximum level assumed by the plants' designers.

No clear impact of the quake has been established on equipment and facilities vital for the plants' safety, but the disaster has raised global awareness of nuclear reactors' vulnerability to earthquakes.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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Concert has piano that survived Hiroshima bombing
A piano that survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima 67 years ago was played at a concert in Tsukuba City, north of Tokyo, on Tuesday.

The concert was part of a nationwide peace tour featuring the piano. It was organized by a group of piano tuners and others.

The piano was only 1.8 kilometers from the ground zero when the bomb was dropped.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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From the above article:
"Yucca Mountain is neither seismically nor volcanically stable"


Ok - so they spent somewhere between $8 and $15 million on a site that will not be suitable.

Virus Hits Iran Nuclear Plants Playing AC/DC’s ‘Thunderstruck’
Iranian nuclear facilities may have been hit with malware that shut down computers and played the song “Thunderstruck” by the hard rock band AC/DC, according to a report from F-Secure Security Labs.

The cyberattack targeted the automation network at the Natanz facility and also affected a plant in Fordo, F-Secure said, citing an e-mail that was sent by an Iranian nuclear scientist.

“There was also some music playing randomly on several of the workstations during the middle of the night with the volume maxed out. I believe it was playing ‘Thunderstruck’ by AC/DC,” the letter reads.

In AC/DC’s song “Thunderstruck,” the main chorus is: “You’ve been -- thunderstruck!”
[link to www.theepochtimes.com]


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Hi SOR!

If it only were millions it wouldn't be too bad but it's between $8 and $15 billion!!!...

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Hi Sweden! Thanks for the correction, billions - you would think they would have figured it out. Not one country has a long term viable plan for spent fuel...makes you wonder why they keep building and extending the licenses at these plants.

Unit 2 At Fukushima Spewing 8 Million Bq Per Hour Almost 1.5 Years Later

--Snip-- 50% rule

TEPCO officials tried to pass off the high levels as possibly due to “stirring up cesium” that fell on the reactors. This does not explain the high levels coming out of unit 2′s blow out panel as admitted by TEPCO. The image below is from a June 2012 robot inspection of the unit 2 refueling floor. The close up from a larger photo shows clearly the steam plume coming out of the edge of the reactor well.

[link to www.simplyinfo.org]

[link to fukushimaemergencywhatcanwedo.blogspot.com.au]

couple of links without having the %50

thanks OR

Localities call for check on plant seam probe
Local government leaders have asked Japan's nuclear safety agency to strictly check a planned probe of a seam below a nuclear power plant in Ishikawa Prefecture, central Japan.

Ishikawa Vice Governor Hiroyasu Takenaka and the deputy mayor of Shika Town submitted the request to the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency in Tokyo on Thursday.

Last week, experts of a government panel said the crack below the Shika nuclear power plant's No.1 reactor is very likely an active fault.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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Edano raps KEPCO chief for remarks on Takahama reactor restart
TOKYO — Yukio Edano, the minister of economy, trade and industry, on Thursday criticized the president of Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO) for comments he made Wednesday in relation to restarting two more of the utility’s idle nuclear reactors.

Speaking to reporters at Oi after Wednesday’s restart of the Oi No. 4 nuclear reactor, KEPCO president Makoto Yagi said “the next likely candidate for a restart are reactors No. 3 and 4 at the plant at Takahama in Fukui,” Fuji TV reported. Edano described Yagi’s comments as “extremely unfortunate.”
[link to www.japantoday.com]
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Radiation doses 4 times larger for 'outside workers' at nuclear plants
[link to ajw.asahi.com]

[snip]

As the dose levels increased, the ratio of utility employees decreased.

Utility employees accounted for 13 percent of all workers with doses up to 5 millisieverts, but that proportion plunged to 0.48 percent in the 5-10 millisievert bracket and 0.24 percent in the 10-15 millisievert range.

None of the 281 workers who were exposed to more than 15 millisieverts was a utility employee. The highest exposure level recorded was 19.6 millisieverts.

Similar tendencies can be traced back to earlier years.

Tunnel eyed to probe fault at nuke plant
[link to www.japantimes.co.jp]

TVA considering fuel made from nuclear weapons
CHATTANOOGA (AP) - The Department of Energy is preparing an environmental impact statement on the use of fuel made from surplus nuclear weapons to power Tennessee Valley Authority nuclear plants.
[link to www.wate.com]
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THREE MILE ISLAND - PRESS RELEASE DUE TO AN ELEVATED LEVEL OF TRITIUM DETECTED ON SITE

TMI is issuing a press release and performing courtesy stakeholder communications as a result of an elevated level of tritium detected in one of 55 on-site ground water monitoring wells near the plant structure. The tritium concentration in the well is contained to the site and well [within] EPA drinking water standards.
[link to www.nucpros.com]
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Experts: NRC Licensing Board Expected Friday To Strike Down Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Reactor Project

WASHINGTON, July 26, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- End to Former "Flagships" of Sputtering U.S. "Nuclear Renaissance": Foreign Ownership Rules to Block Licensing of Calvert Cliffs 3 in MD, Nine Mile Point 3 in NY, and South Texas Project.

Experts said today that they expect the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Atomic Safety and Licensing Board to announce Friday that it will deny a license to the Calvert Cliffs 3 nuclear reactor project in Maryland.

The same foreign ownership issues blocking the Calvert Cliffs 3 license also would effectively kill the pending nuclear reactor projects at Nine Mile Point 3 in New York State and the South Texas Nuclear Project, according to the Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS).
[link to www.marketwatch.com]
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India to use "plutonium" reactor in two years: AEC Chairman
Indore, Jul 26 (PTI) Describing India as self-reliant in nuclear energy, Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Chairman Dr R K Sinha today said that due to shortage of uranium, India would start using plutonium based nuclear reactor in the second phase of its programme at Kalpakkam in two years. It would be a prototype fast breeder (PFB) that has been indigenously designed and technologically sound, Dr Sinha, who is also Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) told reporters after a convocation ceremony at Raja Ramanna Centre for Advanced Technology here today.
[link to ibnlive.in.com]
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Saw that yesterday. I'm torn about it. It's a dangerous fuel if the reactor is not designed for the hotter temp. and pressure.

On the other hand.. gets rid of some excess spent fuel and Pu.
I've read opinions that the switch to MOX is a bad idea. Better to dispose of the spent fuel and not reprocess it..

IDK.

Thread: Scary documentary on Nuke waste: 1 hour long :continuing timed recount included

i await the rest of team-analysis to check this out.. eye popper... but sadly lengthy.. I have annotated the good bits, and certainly an eye-popper for those that think it's a 'clean-green-recycling-machine'... evidence points to 90% of reactive waste... gone....

Last Edited by CitizenPerth™ on 07/26/2012 11:15 PM

Slow progress in decontamination
Japan's government is under pressure to quickly decontaminate evacuated communities so that residents can return home.

The government hopes to finish cleaning up 11 municipalities by the end of March 2014, except for areas where radiation levels are extremely high.

But the Environment Ministry has yet to draw up decontamination plans for 6 of the municipalities.

Private contractors have been chosen to do the work only in Tamura City and another town.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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