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

Current Event Notification Report for August 29, 2012
WATTS BAR - AUTOMATIC REACTOR TRIP FOLLOWING FAILURE OF A FEEDWATER REGULATING VALVE

SURRY - DISCOVERY OF AFTER-THE-FACT EMERGENCY CONDITION - ALERT - HIGH CO2 CONCENTRATION IN A SAFE SHUTDOWN AREA

CALLAWAY - TECHNICAL SUPPORT CENTER DETERMINED TO BE NON-FUNCTIONAL DUE TO LOW RECIRC FLOW

DIABLO CANYON - MITIGATING ACTIONS IMPLEMENTED FOR INOPERABLE CONTROL ROOM ENVELOPE
[link to www.nrc.gov]
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Entergy to shut Waterford reactor in Louisiana ahead of Isaac
Entergy Corp said on Tuesday it would shut its 1,168-megawatt Waterford nuclear station in St. Charles Parish, 30 miles west of New Orleans, as U.S. weather forecasters confirmed that Isaac had strengthened into a hurricane with winds of 75 mph (120 kms per hour).
[link to www.chicagotribune.com]
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Wolf Creek Nuclear power backup water supply drying up
New Strawn, Kansas -- Could the exceptional Kansas drought cause problems at the only nuclear power plant in Kansas? Maybe.

"Rather than speculating on what might happen, what I think is important to know is that Wolf Creek has sufficient water to operate the plant safely and we have no immediate concerns related to water availability," says Jenny Hageman.
[link to www.ksn.com]
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COOPER - BOTH EMERGENCY DIESEL GENERATORS DECLARED INOPERABLE

At 12:00 CDT maintenance personnel identified a pinhole leak from the Division 1 Service Water System piping in the Service Water Pump Room. Division 1 Service Water [SW] was declared inoperable and LCO 3.7.2 Condition A was entered due to a potential loss of structural integrity. This directs entry into LCO 3.8.1 for Diesel Generator #1 made inoperable by SW. DG 2 was previously made inoperable at 05:39 CDT on 8/25/2012 due to an unrelated issue regarding rain water inleakage into the DG 2 Room.
[link to www.nucpros.com]
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Exelon ends effort to put nuclear power plant in Southeast Texas
[link to www.star-telegram.com]

Slightly schizo...headline says plants..article says plant.
Policy of NRC is schizo, as well.
Shut down one for safety..leave two others at full power..??
Ahem. I don't get it.




New Orleans shuts down nuclear plants
[link to www.fox10tv.com]

[snip]

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission says a nuclear power plant west of New Orleans is shutting down because of the threat from Hurricane Isaac, but two others in or near the hurricane's path remain at full power.

I'm sorry..but..



Company says uranium mining no risk to Va. waters
[link to www.reflector.com]

[snip]

Wales said before his company could receive a license to operate, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission would have to certify that the tailings cells are built to withstand the most severe weather events. "This is the strict, abundantly cautious standard that the NRC will hold our company accountable to," he said.

Waste decision a 'broken promise of epic proportions'
[link to www.penrithstar.com.au]

...there may be..?







Aomori told to stop shipping Pacific cod after isolated cases of high cesium readings
[link to ajw.asahi.com]

[snip]

Many experts believe flounder that have shown isolated, high radioactive readings simply migrated from contaminated marine areas.

Fish with high radioactive readings continue to be found off Fukushima Prefecture. This month, Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant, detected an all-time record of 25,800 becquerels per kilogram in two greenling caught within a 20-km radius of the stricken nuclear plant.

"There may be radiation hot spots on the seabed," a TEPCO official said.

Strong quake hits northeast Japan
A strong earthquake measuring magnitude 5.7 has struck northeastern Japan.

The quake occurred at 4:05 AM on Thursday.

In Miyagi Prefecture, it measured 5 plus of the Japanese scale of 7.

The epicenter was located in the Pacific Ocean at a depth of 60 kilometers.

There are no reports of damage or injuries.

Tokyo Electric Power Company says no new problems have been reported at the disabled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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new problems...... what could posssibly be so new?????

Decontamination underway on Fukushima pastures
Livestock farmers in Fukushima Prefecture are continuing their work to decontaminate pasture land to try to resume the use of pasture grass for cattle next year.

The farmers have voluntarily refrained from using pasture grass within the prefecture since last year's nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

Work to decontaminate pasture land began early this month in Samegawa Village, one of the prefecture's areas of livestock production. It will cover about 70 hectares or half of the pastures in the village. Farmers plan to sow seeds there next year.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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Fukushima reactors briefly did not get enough coolant water: TEPCO
The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant said Thursday that the amount of water injected into the crippled Nos. 1 to 3 reactors temporarily dropped below the level regarded as necessary to keep the fuel inside cool.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said the drop in the volume of the water did not affect the temperature of the reactor pressure vessels, while adding that the company is investigating the cause of the incident.
[link to english.kyodonews.jp]
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Fuel in Fukushima No. 4 unit's pool fit for removal, operator says
The operator of the severely damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant said Wednesday it expects the fuel assemblies stored in the pool of its No. 4 unit is fit for removal beginning late next year.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said it found no significant damage or corrosion to two unused fuel assemblies it removed from the pool in July.
[link to english.kyodonews.jp]
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of course.. this is the fuel thst was never present.........

Swiss reactor deemed safe after testing
Switzerland’s Muehleberg nuclear power plant is safe, its operator BKW said, after conducting tests on one of its pressure vessels after a similar model in Belgium was found to be faulty.

“The safety of the plant is assured,” the operator said in a statement yesterday. “Evaluation of the ultrasonic data provided proof that the pressure vessel is intact and is not affected by manufacturing faults of the type suspected at Doel 3.”
[link to www.nucpros.com]
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Reactor shutdown at Fortum's Loviisa nuclear power plant unit 2
Fortum's Loviisa nuclear power plant’s reactor unit 2 shut down due to a turbine trip today, 29 August at 3.23 p.m. local time. The turbine trip was due to annual maintenance work at Unit 1, causing both turbines of Unit 2 to trip, whereafter the reactor was shut down. Due to the incident, a general "all clear" alarm signal went off twice, unnecessarily.
[link to www.nucpros.com]
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Current Event Notification Report for August 30, 2012

BRUNSWICK - LOCAL CONTROL CAPABILITY OF EMERGENCY DIESEL GENERATOR #2 NOT AVAILABLE UNDER CERTAIN CONDITION

CALVERT CLIFFS - PRIMARY PLANT COMPUTER OUT OF SERVICE

WATERFORD - EVACUATION ROUTE UNAVAILABLE DUE TO FLOODING FROM HURRICANE ISAAC

HARRIS - LOSS OF EMERGENCY ASSESSMENT CAPABILITY DUE TO LIMITED RANGE ON INDICATOR

COMANCHE PEAK - PARTIAL LOSS OF PLANT RADIATION MONITORING SYSTEM REMOTE READOUT

DIABLO CANYON - MITIGATING ACTIONS IMPLEMENTED FOR INOPERABLE CONTROL ROOM ENVELOPE
[link to www.nrc.gov]
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What the crap..?

Nuclear Crisis in Japan
[link to www.nirs.org]


In response to Dr. Muller’s article, which contained numerous omissions and errors, NIRS sent the following letter to the Wall Street Journal. As of today, we have received no response from the Journal, so we are releasing it publicly now.

Update: The Wall Street Journal published an abridged version of this letter in its August 25, 2012, edition.

[snip]


It will be some years before we know the true toll from Fukushima. But Dr. Muller appears to be deliberately underestimating its effects now in order to promote nuclear power. And, in this case, all Fukushima proves is that nuclear power is safer when the wind is blowing away from people and the effects of radiation on women and children are discounted. Unfortunately, most nuclear reactors are not sited so fortuitously and deadly radiation does not limit itself to showing up only at stag parties.

Michael Mariotte
Executive Director

Fukushima blasts environmentalist's remark about marriage, deformed babies
[link to ajw.asahi.com]

[snip]

Fukushima city assembly members lashed out at the leader of an environmental group who said people who live in radiation-affected areas should avoid marriage to prevent births of deformed babies.

Water levels at 3 damaged reactors fall twice
Coolant water levels at 3 damaged reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant briefly fell below the necessary level twice on Thursday.

Tokyo Electric Power Company says the incidents do not pose an immediate threat to the safety of the reactors, but it will quickly take steps to identify and deal with the problem.

Workers found that the water levels of the first 3 reactors were about 10 percent below the necessary level on Thursday afternoon. The levels recovered later, after workers opened valves to add more water.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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Government to study genetic effects of radiation
The Japanese government plans to study the possible effects of radiation on genes of people affected by the Fukushima nuclear accident. It will begin the tests in the next fiscal year.

Environment minister Goshi Hosono revealed the plan at a meeting in Fukushima City on Thursday.

Fukushima residents have been voicing concerns over possible genetic effects of radioactive substances emitted in the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in March last year.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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Ex-US nuclear regulator chief urges transparency
The former head of the US nuclear regulator has stressed the importance of information disclosure for the new nuclear safety agency that Japan will launch next month.

Gregory Jaczko met Fukushima residents during his recent trip to Japan. He served as the chairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission for about 3 years until July.

Jaczko told the residents that nuclear power plants should not be operated without a guarantee that major accidents that involve large-scale evacuations will not occur.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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IAEA: Iran accelerates uranium enrichment
The International Atomic Energy Agency has expressed new concerns about Iran's nuclear program, reporting that the country is accelerating the pace of uranium enrichment at a new facility.

The IAEA said in a report on Thursday that the Fordow nuclear site in central Iran has produced 65.3 kilograms of uranium enriched to 20 percent. The figure is nearly double the amount of 35.5 kilograms, confirmed by the UN nuclear watchdog in May.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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US warns Iran over IAEA report
The US government has issued a fresh warning to Iran in response to the latest IAEA report on the country's accelerating nuclear activities.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said on Thursday the window of opportunity to diplomatically resolve the issue of Iran's uranium enrichment remains open, but it will not remain open indefinitely.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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IAEA wants to inspect N.Korean reactor
The International Atomic Energy Agency says North Korea may have made significant progress in the construction of a light-water nuclear reactor.

The IAEA released a report on North Korea's nuclear program on Thursday.

The report says analysis of satellite images of Nyongbyon indicates that a dome has been placed on a nuclear reactor containment building. It says some components may have been installed inside the building.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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Close reactors to find source of tritium leak
[link to blog.syracuse.com]

[snip]

The Nine Mile reactors sit close to each other and either could be the source of the leak. That is why it is critical that both be shut down until the leak is pinpointed. Shutting these reactors because of a tritium leak would not be an extreme measure and would not lead to a power shortage. It would only affect Constellation’s bottom line. Constellation should not put profit over public health.

These poor people are getting hosed by debris incineration contamination.. over and over again.



Radiation level picked up 7 times in Kobe
[link to fukushima-diary.com]

Sudden decrease of injecting water for reactor1~3, cause not known
[link to fukushima-diary.com]

Doctor group urges radiation action
[link to www.japantimes.co.jp]

[snip]

A globally renowned antinuclear group has implored the government to take urgent and comprehensive steps to limit annual radiation exposure from the Fukushima nuclear crisis to less than 1 millisievert.

Ruff also accused government agencies and senior officials alike of propagating information amid the crisis that did not reflect international opinions, as well as the notion that annual exposure below 100 millisieverts poses no immediate health threat.