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

Completion of the Steel Frame Construction for the Cover to be Installed for Fuel Removal at Unit 4 at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station
[link to photo.tepco.co.jp]

There is a great Pdf!

Thanks to our Friends at Tepco

@ Cp. why do you lie in that stupid Way?

Do you have short Legs already

@ Topic:

Results of the Fifth Soundness Inspection of Unit 4 Reactor Building at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station
[link to photo.tepco.co.jp]

Everything all right, they done a great Job

Nuclear Regulation Authority bars restart of Monju fast-breeder nuclear reactor

TOKYO — The Nuclear Regulation Authority on Thursday handed the Japan Atomic Energy Agency an official notice prohibiting restart of the company’s Monju fast-breeder nuclear reactor in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture.

The written order was handed to JAEA executive vice president Yonezo Tsujikura, instructing the company to improve its safety measures. The trouble-plagued next-generation test reactor has been cited for numerous safety violations.

Monju uses plutonium fuel instead of conventional uranium and produces radioactive substances that can be reused as fuel. After nearly 50 years in the works, the reactor is still struggling to get online.
[link to www.japantoday.com]
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Interesting project... possible or impossible?... time will tell...

Gov't orders TEPCO take measure to halt radioactive water increase

The government told Tokyo Electric Power Co. on Thursday to take action to prevent radioactive water from further increasing at its Fukushima Daiichi complex by building shielding walls in the ground by freezing the soil around the crippled reactor buildings.

The frozen soil, to be created by circulating coolant underground, is intended to block massive amounts of groundwater from seeping into the reactor buildings, where it gets contaminated by radioactive substances. The government expects the system to be in use from the first half of fiscal 2015.

According to a report compiled by a government panel on Thursday, there are no previous examples of walls to intercept water, created from frozen soil, being used for longer than a few years, making the project at the Fukushima plant "an unprecedented challenge in the world."
[link to english.kyodonews.jp]
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Senator Boxer Seeks Criminal Probe of San Onofre Nuclear Plant

WASHINGTON, DC, May 29, 2013 (ENS) – U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer of California is asking the Justice Department to open a criminal investigation into Southern California Edison’s statements to nuclear regulators about replacing steam generators at the shuttered San Onofre nuclear power plant.

Located on the California coast south of San Clemente, San Onofre has been shut down since January 2012 due to premature wear found on over 3,000 tubes in replacement steam generators and a leak of radioactive material.
[link to ens-newswire.com]
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Does he know something "we" don't know?...

Head of Hanford tank farm contractor abruptly retires

After just 14 months on the job, the President of Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS),  the federal government's contractor in charge of managing the underground nuclear waste storage tanks at Hanford, has suddenly announced his retirement.

Mike Johnson sent an e-mail to WRPS employees Wednesday afternoon to say he will retire at the end of June. Johnson did not give a reason for leaving his post.

"It is with mixed emotions that I inform you that I will retire from my position as President WRPS, effective June 30," wrote Johnson.
[link to www.king5.com]
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Tape, broomsticks, and safety cones used at nuclear power plants to manage leaks

Many, if not all of our readers, saw the photo that was leaked out of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station to the press, which showed a massive pipe that had been leaking saltwater which had been directed into a floor drain using plastic, tape, and broomsticks.

“If that’s nuclear technology at work and that’s how we’re going to control leaks I think the public should know,” the inside source at San Onofre said.

This week, TEPCO released their own version of this photo, which was taken inside of the crippled Unit 4 reactor building, showing a orange safety cone which has been flipped upside down to direct leaking materials into a hose which has been attached with duct tape.
[link to enformable.com]

Photos @ link...
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Design work on Wylfa B reactors starts taking place

A MAJOR step forward in making Wylfa B a reality has been taken, as design work on the nuclear reactor starts.

Horizon, which was bought by Hitachi of Japan in November 2012, plans to build between four and six Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWRs) in the UK at its sites at Wylfa and Oldbury, Gloucestershire.

The units would be the first commercial boiling water reactors in the country.

Hitachi-GE – 80% owned by Hitachi and 20% by GE – is the technology provider and has now been contracted to perform front-end engineering and design work for the proposed Wylfa plant.
[link to www.dailypost.co.uk]
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Won't see that on CNN..

Very kind. I'll continue to contribute as much as possible.
Thank you all for keeping the thread alive and for the
efforts at full disclosure.

The complete truth will out, eventually..
Many will be able to say they heard many pieces of it here, first.

I do not hold Japan completely responsible.
The nuclear machine is much bigger than that.

"I think this retirement must be connected to the handling of AY-102," said WRPS instrument technician Mike Geffre who first discovered the leak in October of 2011.

Geffre is the whistleblower who came forward to report the company's actions to KING 5.

"My gut feeling is he was encouraged to go because the timing doesn't make sense. It's not typical for a president to leave after just 18 months. But I think it's the right thing. It's time for a change in leadership. They had a chance to do the right thing with AY-102 and they blew it. That was bad, shoddy work and if that's the type of work he's willing to accept, then it's time to go."

KING 5 also exposed that WRPS was caught flat footed when the tank's leak detection system sent up an alarm that nuclear waste was escaping from the primary tank. KING found the company had no plan in place to deal with a potential leak of a double-shell tank, which led to further delays in confirming the leak and formulating plans to fix the leak or develop an action plan to pump the tank's contents.

The reporters also found that the company received $23 million in bonus money from the federal government for doing a good job managing the Hanford tanks during the exact months the signs of a leak were discounted. In addition, KING revealed that after definitive evidence the primary tank was leaking was collected in August of 2012, WRPS and the US Dept. of Energy hid the evidence from Hanford policy advisers, the Washington State Department of Ecology and the public.

Soil around Fukushima to be frozen to stop groundwater leaking in
[link to www.abc.net.au]

At least they are thinking outside the box.

We have learned so much over the past 2 years. I think the main lesson I learned was it doesn't matter what country, when it comes to nuclear power things will not be handled in the "best" way - the powers that be will handle it in "cost efficient" ways.

This is good news. You have an action plan and I hope the chemo is not too hard on you. Try some of that green juice you have heard me talk about for the last 2 years. It helps boost the immune system. Yes, it looks like pond scum but it tastes like fruit.

Keep the optimism - it will help. As far as the old grouchy bastard part, I don't believe it for a minute. You are a marshmallow!

I hoped so much for a Russian Attitude after
the Tsunami and i feared the Japanese!

Sometimes Ductape is better than to wait
a Week for a new Valve, Pipe, Hose or
whatsoever!

Japan Radiation Watch reported 25 nGy/Hour
at 9.00am at the 25'th of May in Yokohama
which is a "nice" Measurement!

@ Buggychan,
are you already in a palliative Treatment?
Do you use 2 different Hospitals to be on the
safe Side?

And don't mind, we cant see each others Face!

Regards

AB - I think we were are hoping for a Russian attitude, they really threw everything they had at that monster.

Operation Super Glue is still my favorite. It worked even if it was "cost conscious".

I'm glad your readings are lower, I have extended family in Miyagi and it worries me.

As for your wishes to Bug, I have the utmost respect on that. You two have not always agreed but it's nice to know you can separate the issues.

Once again, SO... you cut to the chase.
No nonsense, only good sense.

I think we are all appalled at the wimpish acts of the Japanese since this crisis began.
As for the Russians... when they committed to it, they threw everything they had at Chernobyl.
I'd prefer more of the Russian mindset at this time.


AB.. my wife is my palliative. She is my rock and my inspiration. My family is very supportive, as well.
I am in the care of one of the finest cancer treatment centers in the country, a leading oncologist, a top surgeon and a caring group of professionals.
Couldn't ask for more.

Thanks for your concern.

And yes... I agree. Duct tape and broomsticks are better than nothing.. in some cases, haywire and duct tape make for a neat and effective short-term solution for a temporary problem..

Radioactive readings at local park has people aglow with questions
[link to q13fox.com]

[snip]

SEATTLE — Radioactive materials at a local park have some people on edge. Magnuson Park has what’s called a low-level radiological contamination on parts of the ground and in a couple of buildings. One of those buildings houses an indoor soccer camp for young children.

Back in the 1930s, the park was a Naval Air Station and it used radioactive materials to touch up aircraft navigation gauges.

But the news raises questions as to why it took the City of Seattle four years to alert the public.

Does not sound good. Too many glitches.


Dominon makes 3rd attempt to start North Anna nuclear unit
[link to www.newsadvance.com]

[snip]

Unit 2 was originally idled April 7 for a scheduled refueling and maintenance outage, and the first attempt to restart it was aborted May 10 when, with the reactor operating at 60 percent of capacity, operators detected excessive vibrations in the exciter, which is used during start-up to initiate the flow of electricity from the generator to the grid.

FOIA



March 17th, 2011 – US nuclear power plants lack sufficient measures to prevent runaway meltdown after LOCA
[link to enformable.com]

14 electricity, gas companies to hike rates in July

TOKYO — Fourteen major electricity and gas companies in Japan will raise their rates in July, the fourth consecutive month for rate hikes since April.

The utilities say they have to raise rates due to the higher cost of importing fuel caused by the weakening yen. Other factors cited are that since all their nuclear reactors but two are offline, costs have surged due to the utilities’ switch to geothermal power, and they face a shortage in operating revenue.

The 10 major electricity companies said the rates will be at their highest since May 2009. For example, compared to June, the monthly household rates will be 116 yen higher for Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) customers and 87 yen higher for Chubu Electric Power Co customers.
[link to www.japantoday.com]
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?????...

U.N. experts see no increased cancer risk among Fukushima residents

U.N. scientists assessing the health impact of the disaster-crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station said Friday their estimates based on data obtained so far show the radiation dose on residents in the region is so low they do not expect to see any increase in cancer in the future but urged that follow-up studies be conducted on residents' health.

The U.N. Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation also noted that the prompt evacuation of many residents from areas around Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s plant resulted in a reduction of dose they would have received from radioactive substances released after the 2011 accident.

The panel said its dose estimate of radioactive iodine, which is associated with the thyroid cancer, in most cases was below the critical 50 millisieverts, a threshold above which preventive "iodine tablets" are given to young children, but also mentioned single cases of children with a dose level up to 66 millisieverts.

The doses of cesium 134 and 137 on adults for the whole body are estimated up to 15 millisieverts, much lower than 100 millisieverts of dose considered to increase risks for solid cancers.
[link to english.kyodonews.jp]
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Fracked off

Thanks to cheap natural gas, America’s nuclear renaissance is on hold

IT IS the sort of thing you would expect to see in China, not in the pine forests of rural Georgia. On the banks of the sluggish Savannah river towers one of the world’s biggest cranes. It is helping build two nuclear reactors, to add to the two already up and running at the Vogtle power plant. It testifies to the mammoth efforts that have been made in recent years to revive America’s nuclear industry—and to the disappointing results.

The half-built reactors at Vogtle are the first new ones to be approved in America since 1979, when a radioactive leak from Three Mile Island, a nuclear plant in Pennsylvania, ruined the industry’s already troubled reputation. A consortium of local utilities is paying for the plant; Westinghouse, a subsidiary of Toshiba, a Japanese conglomerate, designed the reactors and is helping build them. It is one of the biggest infrastructure projects in the country, according to Southern Company, a utility which owns 46% of the new plant.

Deep foundations have been dug. The massive steel-and-concrete bowl in which the nuclear parts will sit is almost finished. Prefabricated bits of the “containment vessel”—more steel—are ready to be lowered into place by the gargantuan crane. To one side, shrink-wrapped in blue plastic, sits the reactor itself, an innocuous-looking package the size of a small lorry, which could power 250,000 homes. Car parks worthy of an airport will cater to 5,000 or so construction workers. All this is impressive, but Vogtle and two more reactors being built across the river in South Carolina are the last vestiges of what was heralded, four or five years ago, as America’s “nuclear renaissance”.
[link to www.economist.com]
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TEPCO requests more money to pay compensation

Officials at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have asked for more help from the public to cover their rising costs.

The officials, from Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, requested an extra 6.6 billion dollars from a state-backed public fund to meet payout demands.

The plant operator is already entitled to receive about 31 billion dollars from the fund.

But it estimates its costs will rise substantially as it pays damages to people who have been forced to leave their homes.

If the latest request is approved, total aid to TEPCO would be around 38 billion dollars.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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Gov't eyes suing TEPCO over unpaid decontamination costs

The Environment Ministry is considering filing a lawsuit against Tokyo Electric Power Co., seeking payment of about 16.5 billion yen in decontamination expenses since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, sources close to the matter said Saturday.

The unpaid amount includes expenses for decontamination work by the government near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant undertaken based on a special measures law to deal with radioactive contamination, as well as government subsidies allocated to local governments which conducted decontamination work, the sources said.
[link to english.kyodonews.jp]
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Indian Point Owner Spends Big in Push to Relicense: Report
Company using 'front groups' to win support for aging nuclear plant

The owner of Indian Point nuclear plant has thrown millions into lobbying and political donations as it tries to get its facility relicensed for another 20 years, according to a report released today.

The company also used two nonprofit coalitions as so-called "front groups" in its efforts to win support for Indian Point, advocacy group Common Cause found.

Entergy, the owner of Indian Point, has been working since 2007 to get its two aging reactors relicensed. Environmental groups and some officials, including Governor Andrew Cuomo, said they're concerned it's unsafe for the 40-year-old plant to keep operating just 25 miles from New York City.
[link to www.wnyc.org]
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Owner Makes All-Out Push for Indian Point

Indian Point, on the Hudson River about 30 miles north of Midtown Manhattan, supplies about 25 percent of the electricity used in New York City and the near suburbs. The plant’s operating licenses are about to expire. The governor and the state attorney general argue that the plant should be shut down, saying that it is old and that the area around it would be virtually impossible to evacuate in an emergency.

They are using all the tools of government to close it.

In response, Entergy, the company that owns Indian Point, has spent millions of dollars on lobbying and campaign contributions to make its case in every nook and cranny of the state.
[link to www.nytimes.com]
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Old news related to Indian Point NPP...

"Buchanan, New York (CNN) -- Stepping into the containment dome of Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant No. 3 is almost surreal. It's like entering a movie set, but instead of walking by wooden props, we're passing through an 11-foot-thick concrete-and-steel wall.

This is the nuclear facility that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants to shut down, the long-time target of both anti-nuclear and environmental activists, the nuclear power plant that sits only some 25 miles from New York City.

"We haven't found the exact location of the leak to be able to do the repair and stop it," said Pollock. "We're working with a couple of firms. Right now there's a technique being used in Germany that we're trying to see if it would work here and we're going through that evaluation right now.""
[link to edition.cnn.com]


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This is a must read... all over the place, but I think the Author is German... (Translation issues)


Heaps about the Nuclear nation inside the UN

[link to tekknorg.wordpress.com]

Last Edited by CitizenPerth™ on 06/02/2013 01:11 AM

[snip]

The main way in which the “radiation protection industry” has succeeded in hugely underrating the ill-health caused by nuclear power is by insisting on a group of extremely restrictive definitions as to what qualifies as a radiation-caused illness statistic. For example, under IAEA’s criteria:

> If a radiation-caused cancer is not fatal, it is not counted in the IAEA’s figures

> If a cancer is initiated by another carcenogen, but accelerated or promoted by exposure to radiation, it is not counted.

> If an auto-immune disease or any non-cancer is caused by radiation, it is not counted.

> Radiation-damaged embryos or foetuses which result in miscarriage or stillbirth do not count

> A congenitally blind, deaf or malformed child whose illnesses are are radiation-related are not included in the figures because this is not genetic damage, but rather is teratogenic, and will not be passed on later to the child’s offspring.

> Causing the genetic predisposition to breast cancer or heart disease does not count since it is not a “serious genetic disease” in the Mendelian sense.

> Even if radiation causes a fatal cancer or serious genetic disease in a live born infant, it is discounted if the estimated radiation dose is below 100 mSv [mSv= millisievert, a measurement of radiation exposure. One hundred millsievert is the equivalent in radiation of about 100 X-Rays].

> Even if radiation causes a lung cancer, it does not count if the person smokes — in fact whenever there is a possibility of another cause, radiation cannot be blamed.

> If all else fails, it is possible to claim that radiation below some designated dose does not cause cancer, and then average over the whole body the radiation dose which has actually been received by one part of the body or even organ, as for instance when radio-iodine concentrates in the thyroid. This arbitrary dilution of the dose will ensure that the 100 mSv cut-off point is nowhere near reached. It is a technique used to dismiss the sickness of Gulf War veterans who inhaled small particles of ceramic uranium which stayed in their lungs for more than two years, and in their bodies for more than eight years, irradiating and damaging cells in a particular part of the body.

quote by Dr. Rosalia Bertell, November 1999 issue of The Ecologist, pp. 408-411:
[link to ratical.org]