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

Japanese beef exports to US postponed
Japan has been forced to put off resuming beef exports to the United States at the last minute, due to US concerns about effects of last year's nuclear accident.

Shipments were due to resume on Saturday starting with cattle processed that day.

Japanese beef exports to the United States had been suspended for over two years after an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in the southwestern prefecture of Miyazaki.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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Govt. begins survey of Fukushima evacuees
Japan's government has launched a survey of nuclear disaster evacuees to find out if they wish to return to their former communities.

Reconstruction minister Tatsuo Hirano told reporters that the survey began on Friday, targeting evacuees from Katsurao Village. The area is 20 to 30 kilometers from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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Study shows low levels of radioactivity in people living near Fukushima plant
TOKYO — A study released this week found very low levels of radioactivity in people who were living near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant when it suffered the meltdowns.

The paper, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, measured cesium levels in 8,066 adults and 1,432 children and found average doses of less than 1 millisievert, which are considered safe. It was the first such study measuring internal exposures to cesium in a large number of people from the disaster.

So far, the actual radiation doses inflicted just after the accident are not exactly known, though exposure is thought to be very small, said David J Brenner, a radiation physicist at Columbia University, who was not part of the research.

“We do need improved estimates of the radiation dose that people in and near Fukushima prefecture actually received,” he told the AP. “Right now our estimates are based on very, very rough calculations.”
[link to www.japantoday.com]
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Hosono vows to support robot development to scrap Fukushima reactors
Nuclear disaster minister Goshi Hosono said Friday the government will step up cooperation with members of the academic community and provide adequate support to them to develop robotic and remote-control technologies to facilitate the decommissioning of the crippled reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
[link to english.kyodonews.jp]
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Wastewater leaked at Oi nuclear plant, safety agency says no danger
Around two tons of alkaline wastewater leaked Thursday evening from the seawater desalination system at Kansai Electric Power Co.'s Oi nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency and the utility said Friday.
[link to english.kyodonews.jp]

"no danger"... how many times have we heard that one before?...
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No level is 'safe'. 'Considered safe' means nothing..

lol.. every time..

SEQUOYAH: REACTOR TRIP FROM A REACTOR COOLANT PUMP TRIP
At 1926 EDT on 8/16/2012, Unit 2 reactor automatically tripped on single loop loss of flow, following #4 RCP trip. Cause of RCP trip is under investigation.

Following the reactor trip, all safety related equipment operated as designed. Auxiliary feedwater actuated as expected on loss of the operating main feedwater pumps.

Unit 2 is currently being maintained in Mode 3 at NOP/NOT [normal operating pressure/normal operating temperature], with auxiliary feedwater supplying the steam generator.
[link to www.nucpros.com]
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FERMI: INTEGRATED PLANT COMPUTER FAILURE
At approximately 1458 EDT on 8/16/12, a portion of the Fermi 2 Integrated Plant Computer System (IPCS) failed. This resulted in a loss of approximately 60 percent of data on the Safety Parameters Display System (SPDS).

While IPCS and SPDS are not fully functional, the Emergency Plan can still be implemented if a plant emergency does occur, as assessment capabilities are available under alternate means.
[link to www.nucpros.com]
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Belgium shuts two nuclear reactors amid safety concerns
Belgium’s nuclear regulator has questioned the safety of the Electrabel-operated Doel 3 reactor due to cracks in the pressure vessels that have already forced the shutdown of a similar unit at the Tihange nuclear plant.

The vessel in question was built by now-defunct Dutch company Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij, which also constructed the pressure vessel for another Belgian unit, Tihange 2, as well as parts for nuclear plants throughout Europe and in the Americas.
[link to www.euractiv.com]
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Belgium consults other countries on reactor flaw
BRUSSELS (AP) The Belgian nuclear regulatory agency has updated other countries on possible hairline cracks found in the steel vessel housing the reactor at a nuclear plant near Antwerp.

The technical experts invited to the meeting came from the U.S., France, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Sweden and the U.K.

De Roovere said there was no danger to the public.
[link to www.nucpros.com]

lol... "no danger" again... so why did they invite 8 other countries that have vessels manufactured by the same Dutch company?...
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rough estimates......
enough said......

Really rough.. since they didn't get around to measuring until the short-lived isotopes had already dissipated..

and let us not foget all the isotopes they NEVER measured.. particulates and such that carry heavy metals such as, may I say, Pu..............

this still angers me as to the populous ignorance....

Last Edited by CitizenPerth™ on 08/17/2012 07:22 PM

Yeah.. it's almost like they didn't want anybody to know

Radiation history on Treasure Island more widespread than reported
[link to www.baycitizen.org]

Kucinich Demands Investigation of Nuclear Safety Agency
[link to kucinich.house.gov]

Workers at Tennessee Nuclear Facility Say Safety Takes Backseat to Deadlines
[link to pogoblog.typepad.com]

Hearings focus on Limerick nuke plant’s impact on Schuylkill River
[link to www.pottsmerc.com]

Industry News - Millstone looking to adjust operation to warmer water
[link to www.wef.org]

State regulator: Vermont Yankee needs more NRC review
[link to www.burlingtonfreepress.com]

Activists Taking NRC to Court Over Seabrook Station
[link to hampton-northhampton.patch.com]

Extreme Heat, Drought Show Vulnerability of Nuclear Power Plants
[link to insideclimatenews.org]

I've seen a lot of sick stuff in my career, but this was sick on a new level.
[link to www.nationofchange.org]

[snip]


I was ready to vomit. Because I knew who had designed the plant, who had built it and whom Tokyo Electric Power was having rebuild it: Shaw Construction. The latest alias of Stone & Webster, the designated builder for every one of the four new nuclear plants that the Obama Administration has approved for billions in federal studies.

Fixing the seismic problem would have cost the plant’s owner half a billion dollars easy. A guy from corporate told Dick, “Bob is a good man. He’ll do what’s right. Don’t worry about Bob.”

That is, they thought Bob would save his job and career rather than rat out the company to the feds.

But I think we should all worry about Bob. The company he worked for, Stone & Webster Engineering, built or designed about a third of the nuclear plants in the United States.

Nuclear Meltdown
[link to online.wsj.com]

No wonder they didn't want to release the videos..



NISA told Tepco to delay reporting looming explosion
[link to www.japantimes.co.jp]

[snip]

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency ordered Tepco in March 2011 to delay announcing that the pressure level in one of the Fukushima No. 1 plant's wrecked reactors was spiking to critical levels, teleconference footage released by the utility shows.

"NISA officials are blocking any release of information on the matter," a person who appears to be a head office employee says in the video images. "The agency's officials are saying that (Tepco) should not be the entity to announce this either."

Another voice on the recordings can be heard stating that NISA had refused to give Tepco permission to announce the pressure surge, saying, "We've been strongly requested, instructed not to announce this."

How long do we let these people suffer..?


Forest near Fukushima nuclear plant turning into high-radiation jungle
[link to mainichi.jp]

[snip]

Radiation readings near the saplings struggling to get sunlight were a little over 40 microsieverts per hour. After just one day in the area, a person would be exposed to more than the government's designated yearly limit of 1 millisievert.

Facing the mountain, Akimoto lowered his head as he spoke to the saplings.

"I'm sorry that the readings are so high. I'm sorry that I can't do anything."

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Tourist numbers recover to 2nd high in July
The number of foreign travelers to Japan in July has hit the second highest monthly figure after July 2010.

The Japan National Tourism Organization says an estimated 845,300 tourists and business travelers visited the country last month.

Chinese visitors hit a record 203,800, due partly to a series of arrivals of big passenger boats from China. This is the first time over 200,000 Chinese have visited in a month.

Travelers from Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam rose to all-time highs for July.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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Hosono vows to support robot development to scrap Fukushima reactors
Nuclear disaster minister Goshi Hosono said Friday the government will step up cooperation with members of the academic community and provide adequate support to them to develop robotic and remote-control technologies to facilitate the decommissioning of the crippled reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
[link to english.kyodonews.jp]
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