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

Japan earthquake 5.1 reported by global incident map.

Robot suit to be used in Fukushima cleanup, controlled by brain waves
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Bringing Japan to Asia and to the World

By Adam Westlake / October 18, 2012 / 3 Comments
Robot suit to be used in Fukushima cleanup, controlled by brain wavesJapanese researchers on Thursday showed off a full-body robotic suit that is intended to be used by those working at the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant. The brain wave-controlled suit is meant to allow those wearing heavy radiation protecting gear to move freely without feeling the weight. In what is said to be a coincidence, the suit is called HAL, for Hybrid Assistive Limb, the same name as the evil supercomputer in the famous sci-fi movie 2001: A Space Odyssey. “I’m sorry Dave, but I can’t let you go near that radioactive debris.”
HAL has a network of sensors that are used to monitor the user’s brain signals, then it moves the suit’s limbs at the same time as the wearer, meaning there is little to no weight or force on their muscles. While Fukushima workers have to wear a 60 kilogram (132 pound) tungsten vest while working in radiation zones, it would be almost weightless, says University of Tsukuba engineering professor Yoshiyuki Sankai. The suit has other important features, like blocking radiation, interior fans to help circulate air, and monitoring breathing and heart-rates for signs of fatigue.

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[link to japandailypress.com]

San Onofre Finds Nonradioactive Hydrogen Leak
[link to lagunaniguel.patch.com]

i see the atom's have started a new thred.. nothing knew.....

Siemens to withdraw from solar energy business
The German industrial and engineering giant Siemens says it will withdraw from the solar power generation business.

The firm says it does not predict a good return on investment, due to low demand and falling prices.

Siemens announced on Monday that it is negotiating to sell its solar thermal and solar panel power generation units because they are losing money.

The firm said it will specialize in other renewable forms of energy such as wind and hydro power generation.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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Nuclear energy is "necessary evil": JAL honorary chairman
Kazuo Inamori, an influential businessman and honorary chairman of Japan Airlines Co., said Tuesday he considers nuclear energy a "necessary evil" to maintain the current level of lifestyle in Japan.

"It's necessary to have nuclear energy if we want to maintain the sophistication that Japanese society has," Inamori told a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan, adding the government's plan to end nuclear power generation in the 2030s in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear crisis does not seem realistic.
[link to english.kyodonews.jp]
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Member of nuclear regulatory body hints at expanding definition of active faults
A member of the Nuclear Regulation Authority on Tuesday suggested broadening the definition of active faults that could undermine the safety of nuclear power plants in Japan, which are currently regarded as those that have moved in the last 120,000 to 130,000 years.

Expanding the definition could mean that utilities would have to take heed of faults that they have not paid attention to in the past, possibly leading them to reevaluate the quake resistance of each plant.
[link to english.kyodonews.jp]
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DOE officials confirm tank leaking radioactive waste
[link to www.tri-cityherald.com]

Another one down...


Dominion says Kewaunee nuclear plant will shut down for good
[link to www.jsonline.com]

Small fire hits electrical panel at Nine Mile Point Unit 1
[link to www.syracuse.com]

[snip]

"Unit 1 remains in a safe condition and the event did not pose a risk to the public or plant operations," Lyon said. "Constellation Energy Nuclear Group will conduct a detailed review of this event to ensure we take the necessary actions to prevent it from happening again and to apply what we learn from the event to all areas of operation."

Safe levels...


Radioactive element found at safe levels in NH fish in first round of tests
[link to www.nashuatelegraph.com]

[snip]

Fish tested in New Hampshire have safe levels of the radioactive element strontium-90, whose presence in the food chain became a concern after the release of tritium from the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant in January 2010.

In-Focus: Japan – Safety zones around nuclear plants may not be large enough – New active fault found 14 km from future nuclear power station
[link to enformable.com]

Severe Accident Analyses of
Fukushima-Daiich Units 1 to 3

2.7MB PDF

[link to www.nsr.go.jp]

False hope: radiation monitoring in the Fukushima area
[link to www.greenpeace.org]

[snip]

Between October 16 and 19, Greenpeace checked 40 monitoring posts throughout Fukushima city. For 75% of them, the radiation readings close to the posts were lower than readings for their immediate surroundings. Contamination levels within 25 metres of the posts were up to six times higher than at the posts themselves.

The authorities claim they do not intend these monitoring posts to be misleading, stating that they publish information about which areas around the posts have been decontaminated. However, for the people living in the areas and anyone passing by, they certainly give the impression that contamination levels are lower than what they may be just a few metres from the posts.

Not only that, the decontamination work remains patchy. The authorities have taken care of the low hanging fruit such as some public parks and school yards, but our teams found that many hotspots remain throughout the communities, and little is being done to clean them up.

Demand up as Fukushima rice pass radiation checks
[link to ajw.asahi.com]

AFP: School facilities in Fukushima city exceed radiation limit by 1,000% — Many hot spots around playground equipment are especially disturbing -Greenpeace
[link to enenews.com]

Japan Newspaper: Radiation levels rising every month since decontamination in Fukushima district — Gov’t won’t help or even respond — “Are they forcing us to tolerate high radiation?”
[link to enenews.com]

Radiation level is going up in Fukushima despite decontamination, “From 2 to 10.36 &#956;Sv/h in street gutter”
[link to fukushima-diary.com]

30-km nuke safety zone may not be enough
[link to www.japantimes.co.jp]

NINE MILE POINT: NOTIFICATION OF UNUSUAL EVENT DUE TO A FIRE GREATER THAN 15 MINUTES
At 1846 EDT on 10/22/12, the Main Control Room received a report of an arc flash and smoke in the screen house. The fire brigade leader was dispatched and confirmed that smoke was coming from heater board H-111. The board was de-energized at 1854 EDT and smoke was observed to be reduced. The licensee declared an Unusual Event at 1901 EDT per EAL 8.2.1. The fire was out at 1908 EDT. The Unusual Event was terminated at 1932 EDT. Unit 1 continues running at full power operation and all parameters are stable. There was no impact on Unit 2.
[link to www.nucpros.com]
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Fukushima I Nuke Plant Reactor 1 Operating Floor Survey: TEPCO Will Use Small Drones As Backup This Time
TEPCO may be finally getting smarter. Or this could be the continuation of bath salts and diaper polymers - unique use of commonly available off-the-shelf products.

Anyway, TEPCO is redoing the survey of the operating floor of the Reactor 1 building at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. When they tried it the first time in early August, the giant balloon they used got caught by an obstacle and couldn't go up to the operating floor.

This time, they will still use a modified version of the balloon, but they will also have a backup plan which looks better to me than the balloon. TEPCO will have remote-controlled flying objects as backups, and one of them is the one that can be operated with android phone, iPhone or iPad.

Welcome to the 21st century, TEPCO.
[link to ex-skf.blogspot.ca]
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Japan regulator projects nuclear radiation spread
Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority has unveiled projections for the spread of radiation from nuclear power plants across the country in the event of an accident like the one last year at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

The regulatory body says severe accidents at 4 of the 16 nuclear power stations examined could result in widespread contamination beyond a 30-kilometer radius of the plants, and exceeding an international benchmark for evacuation.

The authority proposed increasing the current size of the evacuation zone around Japan's nuclear plants from a 10-kilometer radius to 30 kilometers.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]

Video at link.
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Radioactive cesium level of Fukushima rice exceeds allowable limit
Rice produced by a farmer in Sukagawa, Fukushima Prefecture, returned a radioactive cesium reading of 110 becquerels per kilogram, exceeding the regulatory maximum of 100, the prefectural government said Wednesday.

While it is the first time that the radiation level of Fukushima-produced rice surpassed the current limits introduced in April, the rice produced by the farmer has not been put on distribution channels, the local government said.

Of 320 bags of rice produced by the Sukagawa farmer, only a bag of the Koshihikari brand of unpolished rice showed the excessive level of radioactive cesium.
[link to english.kyodonews.jp]
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Yay..?


U.S. to study cancer risks near 6 nuclear plants
[link to www.latimes.com]

[snip]

The commission is acting out of growing concern that using uranium to produce electricity may be dangerous even without accidents at nuclear plants.

In addition, recent epidemiological studies in Germany and France suggest that the children living near nuclear reactors are twice as likely to develop leukemia.

"I'm very pleased about this pilot study," said Roger Johnson, a retired neuroscience professor and member of the nonprofit environmental group San Clemente Green, which has raised safety and health concerns about San Onofre.

"Most people are focused on accidents at nuclear power plants," Johnson said. "They don't realize that they store tons of radioactive material and emit low levels of radioactive waste into the atmosphere."

Low-dose radiation ...?



More than 800 claims for ill Hanford workers to get new look
[link to www.tri-cityherald.com]

[snip]

The cancers covered by the eased rules include bone cancer, renal cancer, some leukemias, lung cancer, multiple myeloma, some lymphomas and primary cancer of the thyroid, breast, esophagus, stomach, pharynx, small intestine, pancreas, bile ducts, gall bladder, salivary gland, urinary bladder, brain, colon, ovary or liver.

There are some restrictions for some of the cancers. For example, liver cancer may not be covered if hepatitis B was a factor.

The eased rules for workers also should help those who develop cancer in the future qualify for compensation.

The Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health, which recommended that rules be eased for Hanford workers through 1983, will review whether easing rules for more recent workers also should be considered.

Juicy....

Now maybe they'll do something about it..





Union of Concerned Scientists sees Fukushima-like risk at Duke's Oconee nuke
[link to www2.snl.com]

[snip]

Newly revealed information about the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's calculations of the risks for nuclear plants shows a dangerously high chance that a dam failure could cause a Fukushima-like event at Duke Energy Corp.'s Oconee nuclear plant in South Carolina.

An NRC staff member has already claimed that the report on flooding was unnecessarily redacted to hide potentially embarrassing information for the commission rather than for the security reasons the NRC has cited to defend the redactions. But the full unredacted version of the report was posted on the Huffington Post website Oct. 22 after being provided by Greenpeace.

Lochbaum, who reviewed the report, said the full version supports the NRC whistleblower's case. Any information of interest to terrorist groups was contained in the publicly available version of the report, while the formerly blacked-out material is related to when the NRC knew about certain risks, he said.

Among the redacted material is the fact that NRC staff reported in a 2009 letter that "Duke has not demonstrated that the Oconee Nuclear Station units will be adequately protected" in the case of a failure of the Jocassee Dam.

Nuclear plants do not belong in seismic zones, period.
Seismic testing with intent to predict and prevent damage to a nuke reactor is a joke and a side-show.. ineffective.


Shut them all down.




Tremors of concern over Seabrook plant
[link to www.seacoastonline.com]

[snip]

Tuesday's earthquake may have seemed exciting to some, but in truth we are very lucky that it was no stronger than the 4.0 it measured on the Richter scale. We are lucky the quake was relatively weak because our Seacoast community lives with the reality that at any moment, we could be facing our very own Fukushima nightmare.

The power plant is attempting to extend its operating license into the year 2050 by applying for a 20-year extension to its current license. This is indicative of a systemic problem on a national level that puts us in the Seacoast in unnecessary danger.

According to an Associated Press investigation released in June, 2011, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has been repeatedly weakening safety standards, or failing to enforce them, in order to keep nuclear plants open and running without disruption.

Plutonium releases aren't mentioned..



World’s Worst Pollution Problems: 2012
[link to ens-newswire.com]

Small modular reactors provide path forward for nuclear power
Earlier this month, I took a tour of the Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant, located on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland. A two-unit, 1700-megawatt power plant, Calvert Cliffs generates about one-fifth of the power needs for the entire state of Maryland, or equivalent to the electricity demand for the city of Baltimore. We saw the generators, peaked into the control room, viewed video of the spent fuel pools, and discussed some of the safety features needed to keep the plant safe.
[link to thehill.com]
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