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

I don't understand a single word from the TEPCO link but obviously it's a really bad finding...

Extremely radioactive debris found 15 kilometers from Fukushima Daiichi

In Nahara, a town in Futaba District some 15 kilometers south of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, debris has been found that is significantly contaminated and releasing a high dose of radiation.  The town is host of J-Village and is home to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The high dose debris was found during operations processing contaminated earthquake debris and could potentially have been ejected after one of the hydrogen explosions that ripped apart the reactor buildings in March of 2011.   Although it looks like a small clump of concrete or dirt, the beta contamination on the surface is 3.4 mSv per hour, and the debris has been found to contain a large amount of strontium 90.
[link to enformable.com]
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Atomic Safety And Licensing Board Dismisses Most Contentions Filed To Stop Sequoyah Nuclear Plant Relicensing
[link to www.chattanoogan.com]

San Onofre still charging customers
[link to www.utsandiego.com]

Imagine that.



Records underestimate radiation exposure in Fukushima workers
[link to ajw.asahi.com]

Tepco to stop reactor3 pool coolant system for 102 hours until 7/12/2013
[link to fukushima-diary.com]

Tritium Levels Hit Postdisaster Record in Fukushima N-Plant's Port
[link to jen.jiji.com]

The perils of nuclear folly
[link to www.deccanchronicle.com]


Recently, the well known website www.foreignpolicy.com examined 12 factors to determine what constituted failed states. “Postcards from hell, 2013” lists failed or “expected to fail states”. Somalia tops the list, while Afghanistan is placed at number seven.

Pakistan and North Korea, the two nuclear-armed nations that are close allies of China, are placed at number 13 and number 23 respectively. The last two should be a cause for serious worry. North Korea presently has less than four nuclear wea­pons, and its recent sabre ra­t­tling ended in a whimper.

It is clarified that nuclear weapons are of two types, viz fission bombs with yields of 14 to 20 kilo tonnes (KT), of the type dropped on Hiroshima and Naga­saki (they use a conventional explosive to trigger uranium or plutonium cha­rge), and the more powerful thermonuclear (fusion) weapons (which use a fission bomb to trigger the plutonium charge to get yields ranging from about 60 KT to over 25 mega tonnes).

The American Fuku..?



Browns Ferry: Shrinking the safety margin at Alabama's largest nuclear plant
[link to blog.al.com]


ATHENS, Alabama – For more than two years, the largest nuclear plant in Alabama operated without a fully functioning failsafe system.

A massive cooling pump didn't work. Bearings were installed backwards. Emergency cooling lines sat blocked and unnoticed for years. The last was a safety lapse so dire Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant in Athens received the federal notice of a "red finding" – the final warning before being forced to shut down.

Now a TVA engineer tells The Huntsville Times/AL.com that both the mechanical and managerial shortcomings were worse than what has been reported by federal regulators. Joni Johnson, a 52-year-old who's been a TVA engineer for half her life, contends that a worst-case scenario – overlapping failures of a broken line and a rapid loss of coolant in Unit 1 – could have led to a meltdown.

another reassuring reality.. there should be a global inspection audit......

I will go out on a limb and say that the Fuku
geology is now saturated with nuclear contamination.
There is continuous flow to the sea.
Only took a couple of years.
When it will end is anyone's guess.

The days when Tepco can hide the true extent of the contamination are quickly fading.




WSJ: Soaring radioactivity levels on coast of Fukushima plant — Nuclear material may have leeched from melted fuel cores and into environment
[link to enenews.com]

[Blasted by explosion?] 2 more radioactive pieces found in Naraha-machi, “16cm long, 5mm thickness”
[link to fukushima-diary.com]

4 utilities apply to restart reactors

New nuclear safety regulations for Japan's power companies came into effect on Monday. Four firms have filed applications to the Nuclear Regulation Authority to restart 10 reactors.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]

What utilities have to do under new nuclear rules

Japan's new nuclear safety guidelines are the first to oblige power companies to prepare for major nuclear accidents. They also demand that utilities make their assessments for possible earthquakes and tsunami stricter than in the past.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]

34 local heads ready to OK N-restarts


Thirty-four out of 72 prefectural and other local government chiefs are ready to accept resumed operations at nuclear power plants in their areas after the safety of each facility has been confirmed, according to a recent Yomiuri Shimbun survey.

Four local government heads said they would agree to reactivate reactors at such plants, with 30 others expressing conditional approval for resumed operations. Seven local government leaders said they would not agree, according to the survey.

The local leaders’ regions are located within a 30-kilometer radius of a nuclear power facility.

On Monday, the Nuclear Regulation Authority is set to start accepting applications from electric power corporations for a safety review based on a set of new regulatory standards.
[link to the-japan-news.com]

Updated craziness..


Russia plans to build floating nuclear power plant

Named Akademik Lomonosov, after Russian academician Mikhail Lomonosov, the ship is to become the first in a series of floating nuclear power plants, which Moscow plans to mass-produce.

The floating power-generating unit, according to the report, is intended to provide energy to large industrial projects, port cities and offshore gas and oil-extracting platforms and was designed based on nuclear reactors that are equipped on the icebreakers ships.

“The technology has proved itself for over 50 years of successful operation in extreme Arctic conditions,” the report adds.

The floating power plant is a large ship with a displacement of 21,500 tons and a crew of 69 people. It is reportedly non-self-propelled and thus has to be towed to the desired destination.
[link to www.presstv.ir]

Geez , restart 'em all! Nothing wrong with nuclear power plants, everything is safe and sound until they go BOOM!

Seems like the wrong thing for Japan.. with the ongoing triple-meltdown and all...

they're fine.. they said so.....

Last Edited by CitizenPerth™ on 07/08/2013 10:24 AM

Protesters oppose nuclear reactor restarts

Protesters opposed to restarting Japan's nuclear reactors are gathered outside the office of the Nuclear Regulation Authority.

More than 60 members of the anti-nuclear group rallied in Tokyo after new regulations went into effect on Monday.

Utilities that meet the new requirements will be able to restart reactors that have been offline since the 2011 nuclear accident in Fukushima.

Demonstrators held up signs and chanted 'No' to restarting the reactors. They demanded a repeal of the new regulations.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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Governors seek strict nuclear plant screening

Prefectural Governors in Japan have requested strict screening procedures before restarting nuclear power plants under the new safety guidelines.

The heads of 47 prefectures began two days of meetings on Monday in Matsuyama City, western Japan. They discussed the new safety guidelines that were officially decided by the Nuclear Regulation Authority.

The guidelines require nuclear plant operators to take concrete steps when handling serious accidents. They took effect on the same day.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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Extending reactor life can be challenge

Japan's utility companies with aging nuclear reactors face an uphill battle to clear requirements under newly established rules.

The new rules, implemented on Monday, limit reactor operations to 40 years. There is a 20-year extension option if certain conditions are met.

A special inspection will be necessary if power companies want to extend reactor service.

The inspection calls for ultrasound tests on welds and other parts inside the reactors. Concrete samples taken from the container vessel must also undergo tests for strength and shielding ability.
[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]
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Japan restarts procedures to reboot idled nuclear reactors

Japan restarted procedures Monday to allow idled nuclear reactors to be brought back online, putting in place new nuclear regulations that reflect the lessons learned from the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi complex disaster.

While power utilities rushed to apply to the Nuclear Regulation Authority for safety assessments of a total of 10 reactors in the hope of cutting soaring fuel costs for boosting non-nuclear thermal power generation, none of them is likely to restart anytime soon as it could take around six months for each process to finish.

Facing what the NRA calls the world's toughest nuclear regulations, utilities may also opt to give up efforts to restart some of the country's 50 commercial reactors and scrap them rather than investing in costly safety measures.
[link to english.kyodonews.jp]
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"World's toughest" nuclear regulations still may not reassure public

Japan on Monday ushered in what regulators call the world's toughest safety standards for atomic power plants with a determination to prevent a recurrence of disasters like the one in 2011 at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima Daiichi complex.

But the nuclear regulatory authority, power utilities and the government still have much to do to reassure the public that the country is now ready for a shift into high gear in bringing idled reactors back online.

Under the new safety standards, reactors will be equipped with dozens of additional functions that had not been requirements in the past to deal with various situations including reactor core meltdowns, tsunami hazards and acts of terrorism.
[link to english.kyodonews.jp]
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Ur-Energy signs uranium supply deal with US operator

North American uranium mining company Ur-Energy Inc. has signed a uranium supply agreement with an unnamed US nuclear operating company.
The agreement calls for deliveries of between 200,000 to 300,000 pounds of uranium concentrate (77-115 tU) a year from 2017.

Lost Creek comprises six projects covering a total of approximately 42,000 acres. Production is expected to start at the Wyoming site "in the second half of 2013." The processing facility will have a capacity of two million pounds per year.
[link to www.neimagazine.com]
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It might be true, as long as you just "forget" about the nuclear waste...

New study concludes nuclear generation is the best investment for Ontario's energy future

The nuclear generation investments in the Long Term Energy Plan lead to $60 Billion in economic benefits and 100,000 more jobs

TORONTO, July 8, 2013 /CNW/ - A new detailed analysis concludes that investment in Ontario's nuclear generation capacity will deliver the greatest benefit to Ontario ratepayers and the economy while dramatically reducing future potential greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
[link to www.nuclearpowerdaily.com]
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The lethal legacy of nuclear waste at San Onofre
[link to www.foe.org]


The legacy of 44 years of operating the San Onofre reactors is a nuclear waste dump containing one of the largest concentrations of radioactivity in the United States, says a new study from Friends of the Earth, which warns that the spent fuel on site poses a major radiological hazard in the event of an accident. The report urges Southern California Edison to as soon as possible move hundreds of thousands of spent fuel rods from cooling pools to much safer dry-cask storage.

Nearly 1,100 tons of the highly radioactive spent fuel rods, discharged from the reactor cores, remain in vulnerable water filled cooling pools. The amount of radioactivity in the spent fuel rods now stored in the cooling pools is nearly three times more than is stored in the high-level radioactive waste tanks at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Hanford site in Washington, considered the most contaminated site in the nation.

A new wrinkle...



Nuclear Waste
[link to sanonofresafety.org]



The waste at San Onofre is particularly problematic. In recent years, the NRC has allowed reactor operators to move to high burnup fuel, because it can burn longer in the reactor, thereby increasing nuclear industry profits. However, high burnup fuel has unresolved serious waste storage issues.

The enriched fuel is hotter and more radioactive coming out of a reactor than conventional fuel and must remain in the spent fuel pool for 7 years (rather than the normal 5 years) to cool sufficiently before it can be moved to dry cask storage. High burnup fuel is more difficult to store and transport. In fact, there is no transport cask design available to store high burnup fuel. See GAO-12-797 August 2012 SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL: Accumulating Quantities at Commercial Reactors Present Storage and Other Challenges

Congrats! Major accomplishment.

i added the a-b bit for fun, i thought he would bite ;)

[snip]
On 7/6/2013, Fukushima Diary reported “309,000 Bq/m3 of Cs-134/137 detected from the groundwater, “Cs-134/137 may travel underground too” [URL]”

On 7/8/2013, Tepco measured 27,000,000 Bq/m3 of Cs-134/137 from the groundwater in the same boring.

It jumped up to be 87 times much as 3 days before. This is the highest reading ever.
[end snip]

This is not atmospheric, after the initial melt downs, this is the no-go zone as promised by TEPCO would never be breached... this is ground water, drinking water, required by 99% of life... we are truly fuku-d

This is the stuff that was never meant to see the light of day.



Yet it is now exploded all over Japan, and now the Planet.

[link to fukushima-diary.com]

The film above shows what we SHOULD do with it all.... not exactly happening is it?......

Last Edited by CitizenPerth™ on 07/09/2013 02:38 AM