Time for change

Fukushima Nuclear Crisis Update for May 14th to May 16th, 2013

Here’s the latest of our news bulletins from the ongoing crisis at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Nuclear Regulation Authority

A panel of seismic experts from Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) has determined that a fault running directly beneath Japan Atomic Power Company’s (JAPC) Tsuruga power plant in Fukui Prefecture is active, which means that the reactor will almost certainly never go online again. It is the first time since the March 2011 nuclear disaster that a reactor has been declared unsafe to operate (not counting the Fukushima reactors, which were damaged in triple nuclear meltdowns as well as hydrogen explosions in March 2011). The NRA will make a formal decision on the reactor’s future next week, on May 22. A second reactor at the plant, also currently offline, is 43 years old and will probably be decommissioned because of its age and pending NRA rules that will declare nuclear reactors older than 40 years inoperable except under special circumstances. JAPC also owns two reactors at the Tokai nuclear power plant, but one was decommissioned in 1998, and local opposition to restarting the second one remains strong. Ultimately, the company could be forced to declare bankruptcy. JAPC is claiming that the decision is premature and inaccurate. They claim that the fault, which sits near two other fault lines, is not active, nor are those that are located nearby.

The financial implications of the Tsuruga closure are immense and could cast ripples across the entire nuclear power industry. JAPC is owned by several regional utilities, including TEPCO (the largest shareholder, with 28.23% stock), Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO), Chubu Electric, Hokuriku Electric, Tohoku Electric, Electric Power Development Company (widely known as J-Power in Japan), and Chugoku Electric Power Company. The utilities have jointly pledged to support JAPC financially through next April. However, KEPCO, Chubu Electric, Hokuriku, and Tohoku are responsible for guaranteeing JAPC’s debts, which currently total approximately 100 billion yen. Moreover, analysts say that if the company folds, decommissioning and costs of storing or reprocessing spent nuclear fuel could grow significantly, placing the financial health of the shareholding utilities in jeopardy, during a time when they are already struggling themselves. “There is a possibility that the power companies will have to shoulder a total of 500 to 700 billion yen,” admitted one government official. Utilities are reportedly imploring the government to provide assistance, but have not been successful so far. In the meantime, the public is growing angry at having such costs past along to them in the form of electricity rate increases.

In other news, the NRA said this week that the Monju fast-breeder reactor, which is located in Fukui Prefecture and is operated by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), is being shut down for the time being, as a result of egregious safety violations. Last summer, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA, which has since been disbanded and replaced by the NRA) discovered that JAEA had failed to conduct safety checks on almost 10,000 pieces of equipment, some considered critical to nuclear safety. The shutdown will probably extend into the new year.

The incident prompted NRA Chairman Shunichi Tanaka to deride JAEA and its president, Atsuyuki Suzuki, for a lax safety culture. An NRA statement said, “The Japan Atomic Energy Agency cannot sufficiently secure the safety of Monju. We see deterioration in its safety culture.” Tanaka added that Suzuki has provided poor leadership and did not prioritize safety. Suzuki has been cavalier about the charges, saying that some of the errors were unavoidable. The NRA’s strong response is considered rare in a culture where collusion between government monitors and the nuclear industry has been the norm.

The shutdown means that the Monju reactor, which has a flawed history, will not be able to conduct operational testing, as JAEA had hoped, by the end of this fiscal year, and will once again cast doubt on the success of the Japanese nuclear fuel cycle, which depends on recycling used fuel but which has never been realized. The reactor was first brought online in 1994, but a serious sodium coolant leak and subsequent cover-up by JAEA led to a fifteen-year shutdown. In 2010, the reactor was restarted for testing, but an equipment accident ceased operations before the reactor could reach full capacity. So far, the failed project has cost the Japanese taxpayers approximately one trillion yen.

State of the Fukushima Reactors

TEPCO officials announced yesterday that a leak of highly radioactive water from a belowground storage pit which occurred in April, originally estimated at 120 tons, was actually much smaller: approximately 20 liters. TEPCO President Naomi Hirose nevertheless acknowledged that it is “a fact” that contaminated water leaks are occurring. Officials are blaming a faulty water gauge for the discrepancy. Equipment at the beleaguered plant continues to malfunction and fail, and experts have questioned how workers will effectively decommission the reactors there—a process expected to take more than 40 years—if safety equipment keeps breaking down.

TEPCO

Toshimitsu Motegi, head of Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI), said that the government will encourage Japanese fishermen to allow TEPCO to release groundwater gathered near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the ocean, after the utility’s attempts to do so failed. Earlier this week, TEPCO officials met with leaders and representatives from the Fukushima Prefectural Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations (FPFFCA) in Iwaki, to explain that groundwater is seeping into the Fukushima reactors, becoming contaminated and further exacerbating TEPCO’s ongoing war with vast amounts of highly radioactive water that needs to be stored at the Fukushima compound. Each day, approximately 400 tons of groundwater seep into the plant’s crippled reactors and become radioactive. Officials plan to dig 12 wells to pump out groundwater and release it to the sea before it can seep into the reactor buildings. They estimate that doing so will reduce the inflow by 100 tons per day, or 25%. Tests conducted on 200 tons of that pumped groundwater show lower radiation levels than those of nearby rivers and streams (which have also been contaminated), and officials insist that the water is safe.

Leaders of the FPFFCA had initially indicated that they would authorize the plan, and when TEPCO met with the group, it assumed that their approval would be pro-forma. However, a high percentage of FPFFCA members expressed concern about whether the action would further damage the reputation of Fukushima Prefecture’s seafood, an industry that has been decimated by the nuclear disaster over the past two years. Distrust in the company remains widespread and deeply rooted, and many fear that the utility will be unable to prevent more leaks of radioactive water like the ones that happened last month. One member noted, “An explanation from TEPCO alone will not be enough to win the confidence of union members.” Another noted, “If something happens at the plant, it will directly hit the image of local products.” Some fishermen expressed confusion about the difference between contaminated water and the groundwater, but one union leader said that this illustrated the problem: “Many of our members got a wrong idea that contaminated water would be dumped into the sea after being treated, but if that is the case, then it will be impossible for consumers to understand [the difference between groundwater and treated water].” Others said that they did understand the difference, but did not trust TEPCO to refrain from also releasing the ever-growing supply of radioactive water that is currently being stored in hundreds of tanks onsite. One representative said, “Even if it is groundwater, damage to the public perception of fishing will be unavoidable and could hurt our trial operations” as fishermen try to regain their place in the marketplace.

“We should start all over,” a TEPCO official admitted. The government will now conduct information sessions with small groups of the FPFFCA’s 1,499 members, a process expected to take at least a month, in an effort to sway their decisions. The move is a blow to TEPCO, which had hoped to begin releasing water into the sea this week. (Source: NHK)

Nuclear Politics in Japan

A new survey conducted by Japan’s Mainichi Daily News shows that mayors of eight out of 11 municipalities located within 30 km of Chubu Electric’s Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant in Shizuoka Prefecture oppose restarting the reactor there. Some insist that the utility needs to guarantee how it will dispose of spent nuclear fuel before they will grant their approval, and four of the mayors said that they will never give their permission for restarting the reactor, even if the NRA declares it safe to restart. The mayor of Makinohara, Shigeki Nishihara, explained, “The power station is situated in an area where the epicenter of the Tokai quake is expected to be located. [Based on historical and seismic data, experts widely predict that a massive earthquake will hit the Tokai region within the next few decades.] There is a large population, and industrial facilities are concentrated around the plant.” Shizuoka Governor Heita Kawakatsu is up for reelection in June, and has promised to put the restart issue up for public referendum if re-elected.

A group of lawmakers from the ruling pro-nuclear Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) are joining forces to promote the restart of nuclear reactors across Japan, despite widespread public opposition to nuclear power. A group of Diet members met this week to strategize; they plan to submit a proposal pushing their agenda by the end of this session of Parliament, which concludes in June.

Japan’s Council on Natural Energy, which includes representatives from a majority of the country’s prefectures as well as from major corporations, has compiled a proposal urging the government to develop renewable energy targets as part of the national basic energy plan. In addition, the group said that renewable energy rates need to be determined as soon as possible.

Belgian regulator to recommend reopening nuclear reactors -paper

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgium's nuclear safety regulator will recommend reopening two GDF Suez nuclear reactors closed last year over safety concerns, newspaper Le Soir reported on Friday, citing a person familiar with the regulator's report.
Read more [Reuters]

Political Conspiracy Theories: Angela Merkel Is No KGB 'Sleeper Agent'

Ever wondered what Angela Merkel had in mind with her decision to phase out nuclear energy? Dependency on Russian energy, if you believe some prominent conspiracy theorists. They'd like you to believe the German chancellor is some kind of KGB "sleeper agent" installed by Moscow at the end of the Cold War.
Read more [Spiegel Online]

Japan takes first step to a permanent reactor shutdown after Fukushima

TOKYO (Reuters) - Experts judged on Wednesday that a reactor on Japan's west coast is located on ground at high risk of an earthquake, setting in motion a process that will likely lead to the first permanent shutdown of a nuclear plant since the 2011 Fukushima crisis.
Read more [Reuters]

Fukushima Nuclear Crisis Update for May 10th to May 13th, 2013

Here’s the latest of our news bulletins from the ongoing crisis at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

State of the Fukushima Reactors

In a surprise move, the Fukushima Prefectural Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations has delayed making a decision on TEPCO’s recent request to divert a quarter of the 400 tons of groundwater that currently pour into reactor buildings each day at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. TEPCO hopes to pump the water before it can become radioactive, and release it into the ocean. The utility has said that radiation tests conducted on 200 tons of water pumped from the 12 wells show that contamination levels are “the same as rivers in surrounding areas,” which were contaminated by the disaster but are already flowing into the ocean. However, many members want confirmation that the government will monitor the situation. Some are concerned that there will be no way to determine whether TEPCO is dumping groundwater with very low-contamination levels, or highly radioactive water which is currently being stored onsite. Tetsu Nozaki, who leads the Federation, said that the group will not make a decision on the matter until at least June. “As for giving our consent,” he said, “that is something that must go back to the drawing board.”

This winter, TEPCO plans to remove the cover over reactor #1 at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, in order to remove highly radioactive debris left over from the 2011 hydrogen explosion and to install a crane that will be used to remove spent fuel. Workers will then install a new cover.  The current shield was put in place in October 2011, in order to reduce the amount of radiation that leaks into the atmosphere. Officials said that they expect atmospheric radiation levels to rise during the process, but insist that they will not have a major impact on people’s overall exposure to contaminants. The entire process is expected to take four years.

Nuclear Politics in Japan

Despite numerous public opinion polls showing that the nation is seeking an end to collusion between the government and the nuclear industry, Japan’s pro-nuclear administration is once again expressing support for nuclear power providers. This week, Toshimitsu Motegi, head of the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI), announced that the government will take the lead in trying to convince local officials and residents of the safety of nuclear power, in order to facilitate the restart of reactors nationwide. “Nuclear plant operators have been forced to bear a heavy burden. The government will now come to the front for explanations to municipalities.” He did not discuss the burdens borne by those who were forced to evacuate their homes and livelihoods in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared that he plans to lead the charge in promoting Japan’s nuclear technology to the international community, despite widespread public opposition to such exports. Earlier this month, Abe traveled overseas to sign agreements with both the United Arab Emirates and Turkey.

Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare has issued a formal warning to three companies caught up in a decontamination scandal affecting worker safety, and for the first time, has publicly named them: Yamoto Engineering Service, Sowa Kogyo, and Aguresu. Four additional companies reportedly escaped disciplinary action because of a paperwork loophole. The firms are accused of illegally assigning workers to install pipes at the crippled plant, and dispatching workers from more than one firm. A majority of decontamination workers assigned to deal with radioactive waste leftover from the Fukushima nuclear disaster do not work directly for TEPCO, but rather, for multiple layers of contractors and subcontractors, making it tough to regulate whether or not firms are following labor laws and protecting workers’ safety, including regulating their radiation exposure. Late last year, the Ministry criticized eight firms accused of misrepresenting the amount of radiation to which workers had been exposed, but refused to identify the companies.

Approximately 150 members of the National Police Agency (NPA) and the Coast Guard staged a joint anti-terrorism drill this week at the Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant, located approximately 10 km from the Fukushima Daiichi plant, where three nuclear meltdowns occurred in March 2011. Participants were forced to wear protective gear, as radiation levels in the area remain dangerously high. The event was observed by officials from the Defense Ministry and Self-Defense Forces (SDF). After the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington, security experts warned that terrorists could gain access to both central control rooms and reactors themselves, leading to a nuclear crisis. However, the Fukushima Daiichi crisis showed that disabling a plant’s cooling functions and power sources could also produce catastrophic results, prompting this most recent drill. One NPA official noted, “The disaster revealed how vulnerable nuclear power plants are. It’s become much easier for nuclear power plants to be targeted by terrorists, as the disaster has exposed facilities’ weak points.” Nevertheless, at the current time, utilities, rather than the central government, are responsible for establishing security against terrorist attacks at nuclear power plants. Recent recommendations by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) advised that the government should oversee that task, but a proposal to do so will not even be presented until next year.

The Environment Ministry plans to create guidelines that would allow residents forced to evacuate their homes in the case of disasters—including those involving nuclear meltdowns—to bring their pets with them to evacuation centers. In the months following the Fukushima crisis, many people chose to live in their cars rather than abandon their companion animals; in the no-entry zones, scores of cats and dogs were found dead after starving to death. The new regulations will aim to prevent those scenarios in the future.

Nuclear Regulation Authority

Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) will reportedly prevent the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) from restarting the Monju fast-breeder reactor in Fukui Prefecture for the time being, charging the entity with poor safety management. In addition, JAEA will be ordered to revamp its safety and inspection practices, a move that could lead to serious delays in restarting the reactor. Late last year, the JAEA was charged with failing to perform safety checks on nearly 10,000 pieces of equipment at Monju (out of 39,000), some of which were “Class-1” elements, considered crucial to the reactor’s safety. Moreover, seismic experts suspect that fault lines below the reactor may be active, which would legally prevent the reactor from being restarted. JAEA officials, including President Atsuyaki Suzuki, have dismissed the claims, saying that the almost 10,000 ignored safety checks were minor and should have no consequence. In addition, Suzuki insists that the earthquake experts who warn of active fault lines are wrong. In December, NRA Chairman Shunichi Tanaka said the operator “lacks the basic safety culture” needed to manage the facility. The Monju reactor, which was supposed to play a critical role in Japan’s nuclear fuel cycle, first went online in 1994, but almost immediately shut down in 1995 after a serious sodium coolant leak and fire. JAEA officials tried to cover up the accident, resulting in public outcry. The reactor remained offline until 2010, but another accident involving heavy equipment that fell into the reactor vessel shut it down again. So far, the project has cost nearly 1 trillion yen in taxpayer funds.

The NRA has asked Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO), operator of the only two online reactors in Japan, reactors #3 and #4 at the Oi power plant in Fukui Prefecture, to examine three fault lines beneath the facility, which it believes could move in tandem if a massive earthquake strikes. However, KEPCO officials said that the study is unnecessary, and there is no need to consider how the faults might move simultaneously.

Rosatom offers emerging nations nuclear package: paper

Reuters: Russia's state-owned nuclear company Rosatom is offering a special package deal to build and operate nuclear power stations abroad in a bid to win business from developing countries, a company official was quoted on Monday as saying. The offer to "Build, Own, Operate" (BOO), also includes financing to countries seeking to build nuclear plants. Rosatom, a major competitor for groups like Areva, Toshiba-owned Westinghouse and Japan's Mitsubishi Corp. has built nuclear reactors abroad in the past,...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

Rosatom offers emerging nations nuclear package: paper

PARIS (Reuters) - Russia's state-owned nuclear company Rosatom is offering a special package deal to build and operate nuclear power stations abroad in a bid to win business from developing countries, a company official was quoted on Monday as saying.
Read more [Reuters]

Fukushima Nuclear Crisis Update for May 7th to May 9th, 2013

Here’s the latest of our news bulletins from the ongoing crisis at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

State of the Fukushima Reactors

In its ongoing efforts to control massive amounts of radioactive water building up at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, including approximately 400 tons of groundwater that flow into the reactor buildings each day and subsequently become contaminated, TEPCO officials said this week that they plan to divert a portion of the groundwater before it can become radioactive, and release it into the ocean. Workers have already dug 12 wells near the reactor buildings, which collect the groundwater. Toshihiko Fukuda, head of the Nuclear Quality and Safety Management Department at TEPCO, said, “We would like to release that water into the ocean if we can gain the understanding of the relevant officials.” Members of local fisheries cooperatives, whose livelihoods have suffered significantly since the Fukushima disaster first began to unfold, said that they want to see that radioactivity in the water is closely monitored.

TEPCO has said that radiation tests conducted on 200 tons of water pumped from the 12 wells show that contamination levels are “the same as rivers in surrounding areas,” which were contaminated by the disaster but are already flowing into the ocean. Currently, the utility is storing 280,000 tons of water in hundreds of tanks at the facility, and more builds up each day. An estimated 100,000 additional tons are contained within the reactor buildings themselves. A recent massive leak of radioactive water from belowground storage pits left officials scrambling to find a place to hold 120,000 tons of water. The leaking pits were lined with two sheets of polyethylene and one layer of bentonite clay. Criticism of TEPCO over that incident has been widespread; although the Environment Ministry requires bentonite layers to be at least 50 millimeters thick, the bentonite lining the TEPCO storage pits is just 6.4 millimeters thick. So far, only 8,000 tons have been transferred, but the company hopes to move the remaining water to aboveground tanks by the beginning of June.  The new plan would divert approximately 100 tons of groundwater each day to the ocean. Three hundred tons of water will continue to flow into the buildings and become contaminated, eventually requiring storage space.

TEPCO officials are warning that recent attempts to transfer highly radioactive water from leaking belowground storage pits to sturdier aboveground tanks may result in increased radiation levels around the boundary of the Fukushima Daiichi. The company previously said that it would attempt to keep annual radiation levels there lower than one millisievert, but now says that dosage levels could rise as high as 7.8 millisieverts per year.

Starting in the fall, TEPCO said that it will remove the cover of reactor #1 at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, in order to remove fuel rods from the reactor’s spent fuel pool. However, officials are already warning that the work could result in a “slight rise” in radiation levels near the plant.

Radiation Contamination and Other Effects of the Disaster

Highly radioactive hotspots have been discovered by the non-profit Citizen’s Radioactivity Measuring Station in two parking lots in Fukushima City, after local residents expressed concern about both the central government’s and municipal officials’ ability to provide adequate monitoring of the situation. Cesium levels greater than 430,000 Bq/kg were measured in soil there; airborne environmental radiation measured 3.8 microsieverts per hour, which exceeds government standards for evacuation. The lowest levels were 100,000 Bq/kg, meaning that they cannot legally be incinerated, and will need to be removed by the government and stored in a temporary storage facility for radioactive waste. A local official noted, “It’s the first time that soil with cesium levels exceeding 100,000 Becquerels was found on the grounds of an urban area, [as opposed to] sludge accumulated in ditches.” The parking lots are connected to a library/public hall in Matsuki, and a library/museum in Moriai. Residents, including children, frequent both locations.

For the first time in more than two years, fishermen in Ibaraki Prefecture have resumed sardine fishing, after conducting weekly radiation checks over the course of four months, between August and December of last year. Members of the fisheries cooperative there had voluntarily halted fishing shortly after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, because of contamination concerns. Now, the cooperatives have declared, “test fishing found no safety problems.” One fisherman, Heishiro Suzuki, said, “I’ve got misgivings about whether consumers will buy our fish, but we must move forward, one step at a time.”  The fish will be sold in Tokyo, after undergoing radiation screening before and after being processed.

Victims of the Fukushima nuclear disaster continue to experience discrimination against actual or perceived radiation exposure, according to Sachiko Banba, an activist from Minamisoma who is trying to change public perception on the issue, especially among children, the next generation. So far, she has hosted public radiation learning sessions for more than 1,500 attendees in an effort to counteract misinformation and intolerance. Many people, she says, question whether it is safe to marry those who have been exposed, or have children with them. “It’s due to people’s ignorance,” Banba explained. “There are still people who think that radiation is something contagious. By gaining correct knowledge, I hope children in Fukushima will be able to talk about radiation exposure when they are asked about it.”

Evacuation

Japan plans to redefine evacuation zones in the town of Futaba, starting May 28. Currently, the entire town is uninhabitable, but officials say that a small part of the town, where radiation levels are 20 millisieverts per year or less, will be established as an area eligible for preparations to lift evacuation orders. However, the majority of the town, where annual radiation levels still exceed 50 millisieverts per year, will be declared unlivable for at least the next four years, and possibly longer.

Decontamination and Nuclear Waste Disposal

Japan’s Minister of the Environment, Nobuteru Ishihara, announced this week that Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures will meet the government’s self-imposed deadline of March 2014 for disposal of debris from the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disaster. However, he said that the nuclear crisis has impeded waste disposal efforts in Fukushima, where officials are struggling to find temporary storage locations, and the Ministry will miss that deadline.  Ishihara admitted, “Completion of the [debris removal in Fukushima] will be difficult.” Overall, almost 26 million tons of waste need to be removed from the area, but so far, the government has dealt with only 40% of earthquake waste, and just 2% of debris generated by the tsunami. Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures were able to send a combined 670,000 tons of their waste to 17 other prefectures to be processed, but residents in those areas were often afraid to accept waste from Fukushima because of fears of radioactivity. Environment Ministry officials have promised to announce a new schedule for Fukushima sometime this summer.

Nuclear Headache: Task of Decommissioning Plants Is Herculean

The dismantling of Germany's nuclear power plants will be one of the greatest tasks of the century as the country moves to phase out atomic energy. It will take at least until 2080 to complete the job. But what happens if energy utility companies who own the facilities go bust before the work is done?
Read more [Spiegel Online]

Sentencing set for activists who broke into Tennessee nuclear site

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - An elderly nun and two other peace activists will be sentenced in September on their convictions for damaging a Tennessee defense facility where enriched uranium for nuclear bombs is stored, a federal judge said on Thursday.
Read more [Reuters]

War Angst and Karaoke: Daily Life as Bizarre As it Gets in South Korea

North Korea threatens to start a nuclear war, while South Korea dances Gangnam style. Those are the clichés. War has never been this close, but Koreans in Seoul confront their fears by going about a bizarre version of everyday life, complete with truffle pasta and super-smart phones.
Read more [Spiegel Online]

Activists convicted over entering Tennessee nuclear facility

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - A federal jury convicted an elderly nun and two other peace activists on Wednesday for damage they caused in breaking into a defense facility where enriched uranium for nuclear bombs is stored.
Read more [Reuters]

As Price of Nuclear Energy Drops, a Wisconsin Plant Is Shut

New York Times: The Kewaunee nuclear power plant in Wisconsin shut down for the last time on Tuesday, but it is preparing to break new ground for the American nuclear industry. Dominion closed its Kewaunee plant on Tuesday because it was no longer profitable. It may go to sleep, Snow White-style, for 50 years, to be awakened when its radioactivity has subsided. Or it may be dismantled in the next decade or so. In either case, the responsibility and the expense, probably near $1 billion, will be borne for the...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

Nuclear plant spills radiation into Lake Michigan

Grist: Last summer, a leaky tank led to the shutdown of the Palisades nuclear power plant in Michigan. So plant owner Entergy patched up the leak, fired back up the reactor, and hoped for the best. Unfortunately, the best did not materialize. The tank began leaking again. But no worries, thought the Einsteins at Entergy, it was only leaking a gallon a day. That was OK, they figured, because the NRC had allowed it to leak up to 38 gallons a day. As of Friday, they were still doing that whole "hoping...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

Breach of nuclear facility endangered U.S. security: witness

Reuters: Three peace activists, including a now 83-year-old nun, endangered U.S. national security last year when they breached a secure facility where enriched uranium for nuclear bombs is stored, a federal official testified on Tuesday at their trial. Steven Erhart, site manager for the heavily guarded Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, said the July 2012 break-in disrupted operations at the primary U.S. site for processing and storage of enriched uranium. "The 15-day shutdown...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

Kewaunee Nuclear Power Plant Shuts Down

New York Times: The Kewaunee nuclear power plant in Wisconsin shut down for the last time on Tuesday, but it is preparing to break new ground for the American nuclear industry. It may go to sleep, Snow White-style, for 50 years, to be awakened when its radioactivity has subsided. Or it may be dismantled in the next decade or so. In either case, the responsibility and the expense, probably near $1 billion, will be borne for the first time by a for-profit company, not a regulated utility. The Kewaunee plant, which...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

Activists' breach of nuclear facility endangered U.S. security: official

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) - Three peace activists endangered U.S. national security last year when they breached a secure facility where enriched uranium for nuclear bombs is stored, a federal official testified on Tuesday at their trial on charges of sabotage and destruction of federal property.


Read more [Reuters]

UK government failing to protect population from potentially radioactive food

Ecologist: 2013 has seen a major surge in the potential for expansion of UK nuclear power. In February, the Environment Agency (EA) found no objection to the discharge and disposal of radioactive wastes from a proposed nuclear power station with two CPWRs (contained pressurised water reactors) at Hinkley Point on the Somerset coast. It stated that the discharge of gaseous and liquid wastes to the marine environment and atmosphere of the Bristol Channel could proceed. One month later the UK Government granted...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

Fukushima Nuclear Crisis Update for May 3rd to May 6th, 2013

Here’s the latest of our news bulletins from the ongoing crisis at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

This edition of The Fukushima Nuclear Crisis Update is abbreviated as a result of reduced news coverage during Japan’s annual Golden Week holidays. Extended coverage will return next week.

State of the Fukushima Reactors

TEPCO officials are admitting that radioactive tritium—which can cause health issues if ingested, and which has a half-life of more than 12 years—has been found in wells which were recently drilled near the Fukushima Daiichi plant in order to determine whether ground water is being contaminated. Out of eight wells, tritium was discovered in two. Water samples measured 3.8 Bq/cm3 , which, although lower than government-set limits, nevertheless raise concern that water is leaking. TEPCO said it believes that the contamination is not a result of recent leaks in belowground storage pits used to hold highly radioactive water, but rather, from leaks that occurred last year. Officials have promised to continue to investigate the issue.

Also this week, workers discovered highly radioactive debris, emitting 540 millisieverts of radiation per hour, near reactor #3. The debris was removed using a remote-controlled crane, but TEPCO was not able to confirm whether or not workers had been exposed to radiation.

TEPCO

Jiji Press is reporting that TEPCO workers who were at the site of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in the days immediately following the disaster may have been encouraged not to complain about high levels of radiation to which they were being exposed, because of a perception that such concern would negatively affect efforts to control meltdowns at the plant. By March 14, 2011, radiation levels at the main gate had already reached 3.2 millisieverts per hour.

Other Nuclear Politics in Japan

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan last week, in order to sign a nuclear cooperation treaty, exploring the importation of Japanese nuclear technology to the Middle Eastern country. Earlier that week, Abe signed an agreement with Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum to to transfer nuclear technology to United Arab Emirates. Ultimately, the goal is for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Inc. and French company Areva to build a 5,000-megawatt plant in Turkey by 2023, at a cost of $22 billion.  Turkey is a highly seismic country and is prone to major earthquakes, but Abe insisted, “We have raised standards, lifting us to the highest ranks in terms of nuclear safety.” Meanwhile, the Fukushima plant, site of three meltdowns, have suffered numerous accidents over the past month, including several power outages, numerous leaks of highly radioactive water, massive waste storage issues that the utility itself admits has reached “crisis” stage, and other equipment failures.

Etsuko Akiba, a member of Japan’s Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC), is once again in the spotlight for ongoing inappropriate relationships with the nuclear power industry, despite promises from the government that it would work to promote transparency and end collusion in the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Akiba founded a non-profit organization, the Asca Energy Forum, devoted to promote nuclear power in 2001. Since then, members of the nuclear industry, including TEPCO, have given millions of yen to support its activities, even after the Fukushima disaster. Until she was appointed to the JAEC in 2010, Akiba served as its president, and since then, has continued a warm relationship, occasionally even missing JAEC meetings, for which she is paid through taxpayer funds, to attend the organization’s events. Ironically, Akiba was at an Asca event on March 11, 2011, the day the Fukushima nuclear disaster first began to unfold.

Members of the International Nuclear Regulators Association, including representatives from Japan, the US, and South Korea, gathered in Tokyo this week to discuss responses to the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. The three-day meeting, led by Shunichi Tanaka, Chairman of Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA), is being held behind closed doors in order to encourage open communication among the participants, according to Association officials.

Japan’s Reconstruction Minister, Takumi Nemoto, traveled to the Ukraine this week in order to tour the Chernobyl power plant, site of the 1986 nuclear disaster. Nemoto hopes to learn lessons about nuclear waste storage and cleanup, as well as how to best support victims of the Fukushima disaster, including those who were forced to evacuate and who may never be able to return to their homes. Volodymyr Kholosha, who heads the Ukraine’s State Agency on Exclusion Zone Management, emphasized the importance of both countries working together and learning from one another’s experiences.

Decontamination and Nuclear Waste Disposal

New information is emerging regarding widespread and pernicious influence of so-called yakuza organized crime gangs in Japan’s decontamination industry, a trillion yen business that has flourished in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear crisis. A recent court case in Yamagata revealed that a gang member hired several workers to perform decontamination work, taking a large portion of their wages and giving some of that to his yakuza gang. He admitted that lax background checks of workers, which many subcontractors insist they don’t have time to conduct because of worker shortages and short time frames to complete jobs, made it easier to slip below the radar. A police official connected to the case noted, “The Yamagata case is just the tip of the iceberg.” Several decontamination workers, who were employed by other subcontractors, spoke to reporters from the Asahi Shimbun anonymously, out of fear of retribution from the crime gangs. They complained of being threatened by supervisors who barely hid their gang affiliations.

Japan’s Fukushima Faces Long Road to Repair

Climate News Network: The cleanup after the catastrophic nuclear accident two years ago at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan is not going well. Radioactive cooling water is leaking into the ground from at least three vast storage tanks, and the vulnerability of the plant to further accidents was revealed when a rat chewed through an electric cable, cutting off vital cooling. Those setbacks came as a 12-man team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna toured the stricken plants to assess the...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

Population and Ecology

World  governments, the public, and the UN now recognize that the human population number matters in achieving ecological sustainability for human communities.

For forty years, since the first United Nations environment meeting in Stockholm in 1972, environmentalists have debated whether we should include human population growth among the urgent challenges of  human consumption, industrial toxins, species loss, global warming, and so forth.

This debate appears to be resolved. Clearly, human population figures have an impact on the health of natural ecosystems. Virtually every nation in the world seeks more commodities for its citizens, and a growing population multiplies the effect of this growing per-capita resource consumption. We could make all the right moves regarding energy systems, transportation, and recycling, and still overshoot Earth’s capacity with unsustainable numbers of humans. It is a good sign that the United Nations now recognizes this.

UN special session on population

Next year, in September 2014, the United Nations will convene a special session on human population. The U.N. General Assembly finally intends to implement a population stabilization plan devised  twenty years ago at the U.N. population conference in Cairo. The original strategy, adopted by 180 nations, cited women’s rights, birth control, and economic development as keys to stabilizing population growth. This strategy remains valid, but is useless if not implemented with meaningful targets and actions. It may also prove useless if we do not re-define “economic development” to focus on better lives for the world’s poor, less wasteful consumption among the rich, and less concentration of wealth among the super-rich.

Since the Cairo conference, the world's population has grown from 5.7 billion to 7 billion people. We add about 75 million people each year – the equivalent of five cities the size of Beijing each year – but we fail to match this growth with new infrastructure, shelter, food, water, or health care. Adding more people simply puts more strain on Earth’s limited and dwindling resources. As we add more people, we lose some 16 million hectares of forest each year, gain 6 million hectares of desert, lose 26-billion tons of topsoil, deplete aquifers, and drain rivers. These trends are not sustainable.

The additional humans are crowded into existing cities and depleted countryside. About ten million people starve to death each year, over a billion people go hungry, and some 2 billion have no access to clean fresh water.

Lip service or real action?

The danger with UN meetings – as we witnessed with climate conferences –  is that no substantive action will follow. Kenya lead the movement for a UN population meeting, but Kenya's deputy U.N. ambassador Koki Muli warned that there will be no final document from the 2014 population session. The assembly may dodge the real changes that need to occur, choosing to avoid controversial issues such as universal women’s rights, girl’s education, abortion rights, and access to contraception.

Historical evidence shows that wherever women have rights over their own reproduction and where families have access to birth control, the fertility rate declines. Growth advocates claim that industrial development leads to lower population growth, but that is not always the case. Prior to 1964, population and GDP grow together. Since then, in Europe, fertility rates have dropped, but not in the US or Saudi Arabia where cultural resistance undermines family planning. However, in the 1970s, fertility rates fell in Spain and Italy, not because of increased wealth, but rather following the advent of women’s rights and available contraception. In Columbia, fertility rates dropped from 6 to 3.5 children per family in 15 years after contraception was made widely available.

The U.N. is correct to focus on these measures, but to be successful, the U.N. must be willing to confront cultural resistance with education. The Cairo conference recognized the need for comprehensive population policies that include family planning, gender equality, and sex education for both young women and men. However, they also noted that such policies will conflict with cultural habits. The Cairo conference recognized that practices such as abortion should be treated as a public health issue to ensure safe motherhood.

The U.N. Population Fund's executive director, Babatunde Osotimehin, believes the UN has to work with individual communities to reverse out-dated cultural practices such as contraception bans and female genital mutilation.  That organization has been working with UNICEF, the UN’s children fund, to encourage communities to stop the practice. In 2012 they met directly with 1,800 communities to overcome “major obstacles related to culture,” according to Osotimehin. They have worked to educate communities in family planning and contraception, which Osotimehin calls “the most important intervention you can give to liberate a women’s energy and life.” Finally, according to Osotimehin, “the world is listening.” 

Change in attitudes

With present practices, the UN estimates we are on pace for 10 billion people by 2050, and possibly 12 to 14 billion by 2100. That would mean twice as many humans in a world even more depleted of resources. Since we have not been able to feed or supply basic living standards for 7 billion, these figures appear frightening. However, attitudes are beginning to change.

In the US, the Center for Biological Diversity conducted a Public Poll a found that 60 percent of Americans now equate human population growth to wildlife extinctions; 57 percent understand the link to climate change. These represent marked changes from even a decade ago.

Real world environmental crises are driving these changes in attitude. In the US, for example, the nation is on track to lose 15 million hectares (36 million acres) of forest to urban sprawl by 2050. In Florida, due to over-pumping of water, salt water is now intruding into the primary aquifer, which supplies water for 19 million people. 

Water shortages now appear in most parts of the world, rich and poor – US plains, Beijing, Madras, Mexico – simply because of over-consumption, too many people demanding too much of a limited resources. Since 1960, for example, the Aral Sea has shrunk to about 10 percent of its original area.

Population, consumption & technology

During the 1970s, American ecologists Paul Ehrlich and John Holdren published a now-famous formula to account for human ecological impact on the Earth’s systems: I = PAT, indicating that ecological Impact (I)  is equal to  Population (P) times Affluence (A), or average consumption, times a factor for Technology (T).

Stated simply, the human impact on the planet is proportional to a certain population consuming a certain amount of resources per person, using particular technologies, such as coal, hydrocarbons, automobiles, nuclear power, and so forth. The point is: population is a factor, not to be ignored.

This formula has been useful, but one obvious flaw in this formula, we now know, is that the “Technology” factor is non-linear, meaning that a simple change in technology can create a large, exponential leap in ecological impact. Consider for example the exponential impact of deep sea drilling after the British Petroleum oil-well blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, or the exponential impact of a disaster such as the Fukushima nuclear meltdown. A nuclear war would be the ultimate exponential impact.

Another reason we must consider the exponential impact of technology is that the living ecological system may also respond with its own multiplying effects. Every time we disturb nature, we set in motion a sequence of system responses, which then have their own impact, usually beyond our control or influence. We witness this with global heating. Carbon in the atmosphere heats Earth’s air, land, and water, but the heating itself creates feedbacks that include: Melting permafrost that releases methane, which increases heating; melting ice that reduces Earth’s reflective qualities (albedo), retaining more heat; dying forests that absorb less carbon; increased wildfires; and so forth.

The formula should more accurately be I = PATS; the ecological impact of humanity is related to population and per-capita consumption, as well as to technology and systems feedbacks, which can be non-linear, or exponential, factors.

The wealthy nations and wealthy consumers have, of course, the greatest impact, but sheer numbers do count. There are ways that we can stabilize human population without unpleasantly imposed restrictions, namely with universal women’s rights, education, and available contraception. We can hope that in 2014, the United Nations adopts these policies and takes serious action.

Rex Weyler

======================   

United Kingdom: Radioactive materials lost in more than 30 incidents over past decade

Guardian: Radioactive materials have gone missing from businesses, hospitals and even schools more than 30 times over the last decade, a freedom of information request to the UK's health and safety authorities has revealed. Nuclear experts have warned that some of the lost material could be used by terrorists and said there should be a crackdown by the regulators to ensure such "carelessness" is brought to a speedy halt. Among the big names that have lost potentially dangerous materials are Rolls-Royce...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

Fracking ourselves to death in Pennsylvania

Grist: More than 70 years ago, a chemical attack was launched against Washington state and Nevada. It poisoned people, animals, everything that grew, breathed air, and drank water. The Marshall Islands were also struck. This formerly pristine Pacific atoll was branded “the most contaminated place in the world.” As their cancers developed, the victims of atomic testing and nuclear weapons development got a name: downwinders. What marked their tragedy was the darkness in which they were kept about what was...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

Japanese and French companies to build Turkey’s nuclear reactors: What could go wrong?

Look at what we have here:

A $22 billion dollar deal for a Japanese-French consortium to build Turkey’s second nuclear power plant.

What could possibly go wrong? Let’s see, shall we?

The French company contracted to help build the Turkish reactors is AREVA, which has a long, embarrassing history trying to build nuclear facilities. The prototype untried and untested next-generation European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) the company is building at Olkiluoto in Finland is currently seven years late, at least 3.6 billion euros over budget, and inundated with safety and construction problems. The EPR being built by EDF at Flamanville in France is five years late, its cost has rocketed 3 billion euros to 8.6 billion (leading to major partner in the project Enel pulling out), and it too has suffered the same safety and construction problems as its sibling in Finland.

Despite of all that, what has AREVA decided to do? To join a consortium with Mitsubishi to build another prototype untried and untested nuclear reactor, the ATMEA-1, in Turkey with all the trial and error, cost-and-schedule overruns that will follow. Remember that the $22 billion quoted is not a final figure and can be expected to balloon dramatically.

In Japan, the Fukushima nuclear disaster continues to worsen. Only two nuclear reactors are online. The rest are closed and many may not reopen if surveys find they are built on or near earthquake faults. Meanwhile, despite having its nuclear fleet out of action, Japan suffered no blackouts during last year’s hot summer and is expecting no need for power rationing this year. In short, the Japanese nuclear industry is in total disarray.

So what has the Japanese government decided to do? To export nuclear technology to Turkey (as well as to the Saudia Arabia and United Arab Emirates). Shouldn’t the Japanese nuclear industry clean up its own mess before thinking about making another one somewhere else?

Why is Turkey looking to squander - at the very least - $22 billion on costly nuclear, delays, risks and uncertainty when the country is rich in renewable energy? Just last month Turkey’s energy minister announced plans to supply 30 per cent of the country’s total energy production by 2023 from renewables. Someone should tell the minister he cannot face in both directions when it comes to nuclear and renewable energy.

Just think of the renewable-energy and energy-efficiency projects $22 billion could buy for Turkey. By giving that massive sum to the nuclear industry, the Turkish government is erecting a roadblock to a clean, safe and sustainable future. We are asking them, please, to tear down the nuclear barrier and open the road.

Fukushima Nuclear Crisis Update for April 30th to May 2nd, 2013

Here’s the latest of our news bulletins from the ongoing crisis at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

State of the Fukushima Reactors

TEPCO continues to struggle with a worsening situation at its Fukushima Daiichi power plant, as ground water enters reactor buildings at 75 gallons per minute, and then becomes highly contaminated. Coupled with between 200 and 400 tons of water intentionally poured over the reactors each day to keep them cool, officials are scrambling to figure out where to put all of the radioactive water—and will need to do so for years. Recent leaks in belowground storage pits have heightened concerns about storage options and contamination of the ground and nearby ocean. Indeed, greenling fish captured within TEPCO’s port in February contained a record 740,000 Bq/kg of radioactive cesium, showing that nearby ocean waters there are highly contaminated. Insiders say that TEPCO assumed it would be able to release the water into the ocean, but public opposition to such a plan has been strong, and the international community expressed outrage when the utility did so immediately following the disaster in 2011. Experts warn that radioactive ocean water that washes ashore could evaporate, sending radioactive particles back into the environment to be rained down upon inhabited areas.

Currently, storage tanks cover 42 acres of the facility, and TEPCO is planning to mow down a nearby forest to build more. Right now, the company is storing more than 280,000 tons of water—enough to fill 112 Olympic-sized swimming pools—but that figure increases daily, and will for several more years, until workers are able to repair the reactor buildings. TEPCO spokesman Masayuki Ono recently admitted that the problem is overwhelming: “The water keeps increasing every minute, no matter whether we eat, sleep, or work. It feels as if we are constantly being chased, but we are doing our best to stay a step in front.” Tastsujiro Suzuki, who helped TEPCO draft its cleanup plan, said, “We were so focused on the fuel rods and melted reactor cores that we underestimated the water problem. Someone from outside the industry might have foreseen the water issue.”

The ongoing water crisis, along with numerous other recent incidents, including power and equipment outages, have many experts questioning whether or not the plant will be able to withstand the next large earthquake, as well as how makeshift equipment setups will survive the decommissioning process, which is expected to take more than 40 years. In addition, they say, TEPCO is ill-equipped to see the process safely through its completion, and the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) has appointed only nine inspectors to oversee an army of 3,000 workers. Tadashi Inoue, a nuclear expert who helped draw up the decommissioning roadmap, said, “TEPCO is clearly just hanging on day by day, with no time to think about tomorrow, much less next year.”

Meanwhile, a team of 19 inspectors from the NRA met for the first time to study the root causes behind the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, including whether or not the massive magnitude 9.0 earthquake caused damage to the reactors there. Such a discovery would have an immense impact on the nuclear industry across Japan, a country that is riddled with seismic faults. A previous panel appointed by the Diet, the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission, said that the earthquake did cause damage before the subsequent tsunami struck, although a similar government-appointed panel disputed that claim. Early in 2012, TEPCO willfully misled Diet investigators who wanted to enter the plant to conduct an onsite assessment of possible earthquake damage, telling them that the area was shrouded in “pitch-black darkness” and unsafe to enter. In fact, that was not true. In addition, the NRA group will examine how the reactors’ fuel rods melted; how a massive plume of radiation escaped the plant; what caused an explosion in reactor #4; and what caused a still-unexplained leak in reactor #1 immediately after the earthquake, including whether or not isolation condensers were damaged there. The team will conduct onsite surveys, and plans to submit a report to the IAEA by the end of this year, in advance of a report that will be released by that agency by the end of 2014. (Source: NHK)

TEPCO

Eight utilities across Japan have posted record losses this fiscal year, totaling 1.59 trillion yen ($16 billion), in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear crisis. TEPCO experienced the biggest deficit, 685.2 billion yen, marking the third consecutive year that the company has lost money. Officials attribute the losses to ongoing maintenance costs for idled reactors, significant safety upgrades required by the NRA in the wake of the Fukushima catastrophe, and a rise in natural gas prices. In the case of TEPCO, those cost burdens also include massive compensation payments to victims of the nuclear disaster. Although TEPCO President Naomi Hirose has said that the company will once again earn profits by the end of fiscal 2014, analysts say that the prospect of actually doing so is dim: the company’s business plan required restarting all seven reactors at the company’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata Prefecture beginning this April, but new NRA safety regulations will not even be unveiled until July, and safety assessments are expected to take at least several months, assuming that no additional upgrades are ordered by inspectors. TEPCO’s own surveys recently showed that fault lines beneath almost all of the reactors there are probably active, in which case most or all would have to be decommissioned. Hirose acknowledged the difficulties during a recent press conference, saying, “Unless we make efforts with considerable determination, it will be difficult to move into the black.”

Other Nuclear Politics in Japan

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud this week, in order to discuss exporting Japanese nuclear technology. Two days later, Abe signed an agreement with United Arab Emirates President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, finalizing a similar technology exchange agreement. This is the first nuclear export technology deal signed by Japan since the Fukushima nuclear disaster first began to unfold in March 2011. Many people in Japan oppose the export of nuclear power, questioning both its safety and its morality.

The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA), which operates the Monju fast breeder reactor in Fukui Prefecture, submitted a report to the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) this week, insisting that eight faults located beneath the reactor are not active. The report was a response to a request from the now-defunct Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA), after new information emerged about an active fault line 500 meters away from the reactor. The NRA has promised to conduct its own safety assessment on Monju, as well as at other reactors where faults are suspected of being active, including those at the Oi power plant, where the only two operating reactors in the country reside. (Source: NHK)

Japan’s National Police Agency has unveiled two new radiation-proof vehicles, which come equipped with air-pressurized interiors and radiation monitors. The two lead-laden cars are designed to be used during a nuclear emergency, and will be stationed at the Fukushima Daiichi plant and in Tokyo, respectively. Officials said that the Tokyo-based car will be on standby in case a nuclear crisis unfolds in other parts of Japan, but did not clarify what would happen if access to roads were impeded by earthquake or tsunami damage, as well as traffic from those evacuating. The cars, each of which weighs 21 tons, cost a combined $3 million.

Nuclear Waste Management and Disposal

Japan’s Environment Ministry will begin test drilling in nine locations in Naraha, Okuma, and Futaba next week, in an effort to determine the best location for temporary storage sites for over 28 million cubic centimeters of radioactive waste. However, local opposition to the plan has been significant, threatening the schedule for waste disposal, which is scheduled to begin in January 2015. A Ministry official acknowledged the challenges, admitting, “We are at the 11th hour [of our deadline].” (Source: Jiji Press)

NRC raising oversight of Pennsylvania Three Mile Island reactor

(Reuters) - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said on Tuesday it will increase oversight of Exelon Corp's 805-megawatt Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania, to ensure that safety equipment is protected from flooding.


Read more [Reuters]

Fukushima Nuclear Crisis Update for April 26th to April 29th, 2013

Here’s the latest of our news bulletins from the ongoing crisis at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

This edition of The Fukushima Nuclear Crisis Update is abbreviated as a result of reduced news coverage during Japan’s annual Golden Week holidays. Extended coverage will return next week.

State of the Fukushima Reactors

TEPCO admitted this week that 13 of 22 samples of groundwater collected near belowground water storage pits adjacent to the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors are contaminated, with radioactivity measuring between .03 to 0.48 Bq/ml. The samples collected include traces of strontium-90, which can cause both bone cancer and leukemia. Strontium-90 has a half-life of 28.9 years. Three of the seven storage pits there have recently leaked highly radioactive water, and the utility is struggling with how to handle and where to store an ongoing influx of groundwater, which enters reactors at a rate of 400 tons per day. That water also becomes contaminated and then needs to be stored. TEPCO officials are insisting that the water, which was gathered in monitoring holes ranging between five and 15 meters deep, falls within a normal range of radioactivity, and the contamination was not definitively caused by the recent radiation leaks.

Now, a panel of government-appointed experts is exploring new ways of preventing additional groundwater contamination, including a plan to build subterranean walls around the crippled reactors. Two firms, Taisei Corporation and Kajima Corporation, have submitted proposals to build walls of absorbent, clay-like material.

TEPCO

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is once again pushing to promote nuclear power at the expense of the Japanese people. Speaking to a group of TEPCO executives last week, Abe promised that he will provide additional governmental financial support to the company to cover burgeoning costs of compensation to victims of the disaster, decommissioning of the crippled reactors, and decontamination of areas destroyed by radioactivity—in essence, passing those costs to the Japanese people. In addition, Abe formally requested that Kazuhiko Shimokobe, Chairman of TEPCO, stay on in his post. Shimokobe’s term is set to expire at the end of June. “We must accelerate efforts to deal with the accident and to rebuild Fukushima. To do so, it is extremely important to properly revitalize TEPCO as a private company. I want you to be committed to the work,” Abe said to Shimokobe.

Meanwhile, TEPCO is working to improve its public image by employing more women in high-visibility positions, including the chairperson of its press conferences, a daily news briefer, and recently, one of its executive positions. Nuclear power in Japan has traditionally been a male-dominated profession.

Other Nuclear Politics in Japan

Japan has formally decided not to order mandatory power saving targets this summer, although it will ask residents and businesses to observe “voluntary” power conservation on weekdays between 9 am and 8 pm, starting on July 1 and ending September 30. Despite fear mongering over the last year by power companies, which threatened widespread blackouts while just two of the country’s 50 nuclear reactors are operating, Japan suffered no power outages last summer even through record-breaking heat. Now, utilities have admitted that they expect a 6.3% power surplus this summer.

Japanese nuclear utility Kansai Electric Power Company (KEPCO) is actively planning to restart two more nuclear reactors at its Takahama power plant in Fukui Prefecture, once the Nuclear Regulation Authority’s (NRA) revised nuclear safety standards are released on July 18. KEPCO currently operates the only two online reactors in the country, at the Oi nuclear power plant, also in Fukui Prefecture. Company officials said that they believe upgrades they are making to the reactors there will allow them to pass NRA inspections, but obtaining consent from municipal leaders may prove far more difficult. Protests against the restart of the Oi reactors sparked nationwide anti-nuclear demonstrations, and recent polls show that 70% of Japanese people oppose nuclear power. In addition, inspection requests from other nuclear power companies could slow down the NRA’s response time, delaying any possible restarts.

In a sign of the vastly different world that has emerged in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, a cooperative formed between the municipal government and a Tokyo food distribution firm has opened a new hydroponic vegetable factory in Kawauchi. The group aims to grow vegetables in a sealed factory, away from fresh air and sunlight, in an effort to protect them from ongoing threats of radiation contamination there, as well as to renew consumer faith in Fukushima-raised produce, which has suffered considerably since the nuclear crisis first began. The new facility will eventually employ 25 workers and will produce over 100 varieties of vegetables beneath LED and florescent lights when it reaches full capacity over the next three years. The cost of the project is 580 million yen; of that amount, 200 million yen came from government reconstruction subsidies.

Takumi Nemoto, Japan’s Minister of Reconstruction, will travel to Ukraine next week in order to tour Chernobyl, site of the 1986 nuclear catastrophe. Nemoto said he hopes to find “common points and differences” and learn more about waste disposal and reconstruction from local officials there.

Japan’s nuclear industry is at risk of eventually becoming irrelevant, as the vast majority of its domestic nuclear reactors remain offline, and efforts to export nuclear technology to foreign countries are threatened by Russian state-operated nuclear energy corporation Rosatom. The Russian firm, which produces pressurized water reactors (PWRs), successfully elbowed out Japanese firm Toshiba for a contract in Finland. Rosatom has also competed with Japanese nuclear companies for contracts in Vietnam, Lithuania, South Africa, and Turkey. 

Not So Fast: LA City Council Demands Complete Transparency Before San Onofre Nuke Restart

EcoWatch: A unanimous Los Angeles City Council has demanded the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) conduct extended investigations before any restart at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. The move reflects a deep-rooted public opposition to resumed operations at reactors perched in a tsunami zone near earthquake faults that threaten all of Southern California. Meanwhile, yet another top-level atomic insider has told ABC News that San Onofre Units 2 and 3 are not safe to operate. On April...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

£13 billion quest for fusion sees breakthrough

Independent: An idyllic hilltop setting in the Cadarache forest of Provence in the south of France has become the site of an ambitious attempt to harness the nuclear power of the sun and stars. It is the place where 34 nations representing more than half the world’s population have joined forces in the biggest scientific collaboration on the planet – only the International Space Station is bigger. The international nuclear fusion project – known as Iter, meaning “the way” in Latin – is designed to demonstrate...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

27 years since Chernobyl and what have we learned?

April 26th marks the 27th anniversary of the devastating accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine.

The radiation released into the atmosphere by the exploding nuclear reactor found its way across Ukraine, Belarus, Russia and large parts of Europe.

The contamination still lingers in many places - the disaster has a legacy that continues even now.

So today, we remember those who died in the Chernobyl accident and those who must still live with the terrible after effects of the radioactive contamination that still blights their lives.

Chernobyl should have been the world’s last nuclear accident. Enough of us shouted “NO MORE CHERNOBYLS!” But those with the money and the power and that strange ability to put profits before the protection of people carried on regardless.

And sure enough, in March 2011, a quarter of a century after the horror of the Chernobyl disaster, we watched on as Japan suffered earthquake, tsunami, and then nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The warnings of Chernobyl had not been heeded. The warnings that the Fukushima nuclear reactors were vulnerable were not heeded. Once again it was the people, not the nuclear industry that paid the price.

The comparisons between Chernobyl and Fukushima are stark. Thousands upon thousands of people displaced from their homes to face uncertain futures. Melted reactors too dangerous for humans to approach for decades. Homes, schools, soil, food and water contaminated. Uncertainty about the long-term effects of the radiation that has spewed into the environment. Fear and anxiety that will creep across generations.

So today we remember both Chernobyl and Fukushima. There should never have been another Chernobyl. There should never be another Fukushima. Let us shout “NO MORE CHERNOBYLS AND FUKUSHIMAS” until we are heard.

It’s time we all stopped paying the price for nuclear power’s mistakes.

You can help by signing our petition to make the big, rich companies that supply nuclear reactors part of the responsibly for nuclear disasters that now rests with nuclear operators.

Companies like GE, Hitachi and Toshiba that supplied the flawed reactors at Fukushima should pay some of the costs. Right now they don’t have to. Making them more responsible for the costs of a nuclear disaster would at least help reduce some of the mistakes that lead to accidents.

It’s time to make the entire nuclear industry face its moral and financial responsibilities. It’s time to think of people not profits.

(Image: October 2005, Chernobyl. Remains of a fairground in the town of Pripyat, left abandoned after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. 10/24/2005 ©Greenpeace/Steve Morgan)

Coal ship activists return to shore determined to #EndCoal

In an act of civil disobedience they boarded a fully-loaded coal ship as it left the Great Barrier Reef – a daring but necessary act to help stop Australia’s coal exports driving catastrophic global warming.The activists boarded the South Korea-bound MV Meister on ladders as it ploughed through the open ocean. Once on board, they handed a letter to the captain about their peaceful protest and hung a banner off the front of the ship  carrying the words “End the age of coal”.

Within hours of boarding the MV Meister, journalists from around the world were covering the story taking our message to the coal industry and world leaders with  an international audience. Check out these great stories in The Guardian Herald Sun ABC News Mackay Daily Mercury Xinhua Net (China) The Indian Express New Zealand Week Jakarta Globe andDow Jones Newswires.

Meet the activists 

The six activists came  from Australia, New Zealand, USA, China and India – countries where the actions of coal companies are having a drastic effect on our lives. Watch the video and read their quotes below about why they chose to take this stand.

Yang, China

“In China people are getting very worried about the health impacts of air pollution. There is so much discussion on social media about the use of coal, some of which comes from Australia. It is our obligation to do something to change this.”

James, New Zealand

“We need to consider the threat of climate change with the same urgency we gave to atmospheric nuclear testing in the Pacific. Every day people are affected by climate change, but our leaders are turning a blind eye and supporting the industry which drives the reckless growth of fossil fuel industries. Together we can end the age of coal.

Freya, Australia

“I am deeply concerned about the effects it will have on the Great Barrier Reef, both from the effects of increased shipping through the Reef and rising sea temperatures. I feel this has reached a point where we must do everything in our power to stop it.”

Harmony, USA

“I took action because people deserve a better future than that’s being offered by the coal industry. We cannot allow coal companies to expand unchecked, to continue to sicken communities across the world, and now export their direct energy to other countries. By boarding this ship, I’m working to take the step away from coal toward a clean and renewable energy future.”

Emma, Australia

“Climate change is the biggest threat humanity faces today. Millions are already suffering; we are seeing the effects more and more every day. Our leaders are failing us on this issue, please stand with us and take action in any way you can. Together we can put an end to the reckless expansion of this industry.”

Guarav, India

"I have come all the way from India to take part in this action and spread the message that the world and India needs to look beyond coal. We need energy which is abundant, safe for environment and humans, and we need to act on climate change now!"

Click here to stand in solidarity with these activists and sign on to our statement of support we’re publishing in an Australian newspapers next week.

Fukushima Nuclear Crisis Update for April 23rd to April 25th, 2013

Here’s the latest of our news bulletins from the ongoing crisis at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

State of the Fukushima Reactors

TEPCO workers reconnected power to the spent fuel pool at Fukushima Daiichi’s reactor #2 on April 22, after it was out for almost six hours. The utility was forced to intentionally disconnect power to vial cooling functions at the pool after two dead rats were discovered near a transformer; one had been electrocuted, fueling fears that they had damaged or shorted out the system. In addition to testing cooling equipment, workers repaired yet another hole through which the rodents had chewed in order to enter the transformer casing. Earlier this month, cooling functions failed for more than 29 hours when another rat ran across wires of an outdoor control box, electrocuting itself and disabling the entire cooling system. Then, as workers were later trying to install rodent-proof netting around the control box, they accidentally touched the wires, once again shorting the cooling system. TEPCO is now trying to rat-proof electrical equipment at the plant, but had not yet gotten to the transformer at pool #2 when the most recent damage occurred.

In response to orders from Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) to install multiplex power distribution systems in an effort to prevent further power outages, TEPCO intentionally disconnected power to the spent fuel pool at reactor #3 yesterday. Officials estimate that it will take 33 hours before the work is completed and power can be reconnected. They also plan to install a multiplex power distribution system in the spent fuel pool at reactor #4; power will be disconnected from that pool for approximately nine hours. In both instances, TEPCO said that temperatures in the pools are not expected to rise past safe levels.

A monitoring group established by Fukushima Prefecture to oversee decommissioning at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant, where three meltdowns occurred in 2011, said this week that efforts to store massive amounts of radioactive water at the plant are being poorly managed. “It requires sophisticated supervision to store contaminated water. The work is sloppy,” the report said. The panel conducted on-site investigations of belowground storage pits and aboveground tanks. Over the past month, three of seven storage pits experienced leaks; efforts to move the contaminated water to aboveground tanks were further complicated when pipes leaked on two separate occasions. One council member noted, “The leakages could have been prevented if [the lining of the storage pits] had been 50 cm to one meter thick.” In actuality, the innermost layer was only 6.4 mm thick.

TEPCO

In an effort to meet new safety regulations that are scheduled to be enacted by the NRA in July, TEPCO will reportedly develop its own version of filtered vents for its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa power plant in Niigata Prefecture. Generally, utilities contract such design work to specialists, but TEPCO hopes to save considerable time and money—the design and manufacture of such equipment can take several years—by cutting corners and doing the work itself. Filtered vents help reduce the amount of radiation that escapes from reactors during nuclear emergencies. They were previously not required for boiling water reactors (BRWs) in Japan, and when the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant began to melt down, massive amounts of radioactivity were released into the atmosphere.

In a rare move, Tohoku Electric Power Company said this week that it will seek over 20 million yen ($203 million) in damages from TEPCO for lost business in the wake of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. Since the crisis began, Tohoku has experienced a 10% drop in electricity sales, as many of its customers were forced to evacuate, and businesses that purchased its power went out of business. In addition, Tohoku announced last month that it was shelving long-standing plans to build the Namie-Odaka new nuclear plant, located just 10 km from the site of the Fukushima Daiichi plant, after realizing that nearby residents would never grant permission for reactors there to go online. TEPCO continues to be hit with lawsuits resulting from the disaster, and has so far doled out more than 2 trillion yen in damages to residents forced to evacuate. That number is expected to rise.

Other Nuclear Politics in Japan

Toshimitsu Motegi, head of the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI), said recently that he believes that at least one nuclear reactor could be restarted by autumn. New, stricter NRA safety regulations will be unveiled on July 18, and NRA Chair Shunichi Tanaka has said that safety assessments of each reactor will take at least several months. However, even if the NRA declares reactors safe to operate, Japanese nuclear operators have traditionally been required to obtain consent from nearby municipalities. That task promises to be difficult; anti-nuclear sentiment in Japan has been growing since the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Recent polls show that 70% of the country supported abolishment of nuclear power.

For the first time since the Fukushima disaster, Japan is on the verge of signing deals with both Turkey and the United Arab Emirates to export nuclear technology. In the case of Turkey, Japanese company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. will partner with French firm Areva to build four nuclear reactors. Work there is expected to begin in 2020 and is worth 2 trillion yen. The move is controversial in Japan, where anti-nuclear sentiment has grown significantly since the Fukushima disaster first began, and many people disapprove of exporting nuclear technology.

The city of Osaka, which is the largest shareholder of Kansai Electric Power Company, plans to once again submit a proposal during a June shareholders’ meeting to eradicate nuclear power generation by the company. This is the second time that the city will be presenting such a plan; last year, the proposal was rejected.

Residents of Shimane Prefecture have filed suit against Chugoku Prefecture, in an effort to prevent the utility from starting a new nuclear reactor there, which is currently under construction but almost completed. The 428 plaintiffs charge that 469,000 residents living within 30 km of the reactor will be in danger if a nuclear accident occurs.

A panel of seismic experts appointed by the NRA to determine whether or not fault lines beneath reactor #2 at Japan Electric’s Tsuruga power plant in Fukui Prefecture are active will reportedly release their findings in May. In Japan, it is illegal to operate nuclear reactors that sit atop active fault lines. The NRA recently changed the definition of an active fault from that which has moved within the last 120,000 to 130,000 years to any movement within the last 400,000 years. An earlier report by the panel said that the fault lines were probably active, but the NRA agreed to review additional data submitted by the plant’s operator and others.

Radiation Contamination

The Sendai High Court has rejected an appeal filed on behalf of children in the city of Koriyama, which argued that the city was required to evacuate school children because of their risk of radiation exposure. Japan’s annual radiation exposure limit is 20 millisieverts, and although most areas of the town measure lower than that, there are hot spots where contamination is more severe. However, plaintiffs charge that children should not be exposed to higher levels than international standards allow: 1 millisievert per year. The International Commission on Radiological Protection says that there is no safe threshold for radiation, but a lower court threw out the case, saying that there will be no danger to children unless exposure levels reach 100 millisieverts per year. Attorney Toshio Yanagihara, who argued the case, criticized the ruling, saying, “[the children are] victims with absolutely no responsibility for the nuclear accident.” The original lawsuit was filed in June 2011, but was rejected in December 2011, and subsequently appealed. This decision is also eligible for appeal.

For the first time in more than two years since the Fukushima nuclear disaster first began to unfold, Russia said this week that it will partially lift bans on food processed in Fukushima and other eastern prefectures of Japan. However, the ban remains on seafood originating from or processed in Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Yamaguta, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Chiba, and Niigata Prefectures. Seafood from other areas of Japan will be subject to spot radiation testing. The nuclear disaster has had a profound impact on the livelihoods of fishermen, farmers, and other food manufacturers in the eastern part of Japan, after radiation fears led to drastically reduced production and sales of their products. Many have still not recovered.

Nuclear Waste Disposal and Management

Fukushima Prefectural officials are trying to figure out how to dispose of 17,000 tons of rice, much of it contaminated, which was produced in 2011. During radiation safety testing, some of the rice measured higher than government standards for radioactive cesium; those samples, along with other rice harvested from that district, were forbidden for sale or distribution. In all, rice from 71 districts in 13 municipalities was affected. Now, many waste disposal sites cannot effectively process rice without the small grains getting caught in their systems, and those that can are hesitant to accept it because of residents’ fears of radioactivity. So far, only 10% of the rice has been incinerated, despite a goal to dispose of it by the end of this year.

Cisco, Google tie for first in latest Greenpeace ranking of IT sector climate leadership

Can the same people who brought us search engines, Internet-powered smart phones, and the cloud also help us save the planet from climate change?

At Greenpeace, we think so, which is why we’ve been pushing the technology sector to provide the energy solutions that can help address climate change as a part of our Cool IT campaign since 2009.

The good news is, technology companies agree with us – having said repeatedly that they can drive transformative change in the consumption and production of energy.

Today, we released our sixth Cool IT Leaderboard, which ranked 21 technology leaders to see if they’re fulfilling that promise or not.

Our report couldn’t be timelier: Tech giants Google and Facebook have both announced great steps in the past week that will lead to a cleaner energy grid in the United States, with Facebook building its next data center in wind energy rich Iowa, and Google announcing that it had gotten U.S. utility giant Duke Energy to agree to offer a new renewable class of electricity service to large customers in North Carolina.

We haven’t evaluated Facebook in our Cool IT Leaderboards, since it’s not yet offering services that can directly help us use our energy smarter and cleaner. But we do evaluate Google, and the company’s recent leadership with Duke Energy clearly fit into a larger trend, as it tied for the report’s lead.

The ranking found that Google and Cisco are leading the way, followed by Ericsson in third place, Fujitsu in fourth, and Sprint, Wipro and HP tied for fifth.

Many companies have continued to make progress in offering products and services to enable a renewably powered economy, and more companies increased their own commitment to renewable energy. However, despite the IT sector’s green ambitions, we won’t achieve transformational change – a real Energy Revolution – until technology companies use their political power to demand a shift to energy policies that will unlock investment in clean energy solutions.

Monopoly electric utilities, such as Duke Energy in the US or TEPCO in Japan, have shunned the innovative potential of the IT sector in favor of polluting, centralised electricity generation like coal and nuclear power. Those companies have dominated the power grids and markets for over 100 years in many parts of the world, and have entrenched their political power during that reign. But technology companies have political leverage too: they have amassed money and cultural power in recent decades, and can create a counterweight against the polluting lobby, but only if they use their political leverage to push for smarter, cleaner, more efficient energy grids and buildings.

We did find some positive signs of technology companies advocating for smarter energy policies in countries like the U.S., Japan and in India: Sprint, Google, Wipro, and SoftBank all prioritised policy changes to encourage investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy. 

And while it wasn’t released in time to be included in this report, Google’s announcement that it would push utilities to deliver more renewable energy to large customers, a practice that will start with Duke Energy in North Carolina could be a potential breakthrough; Duke’s current energy mix is powered by only 0.2 % renewable energy in the Carolinas, a stark contrast to Google’s goal of being 100% renewably powered. Other companies ranked in the Leaderboard, like AT&T, Cisco, Google, IBM and Wipro all operate in North Carolina too, and could work together to follow Google’s lead and demand more renewable energy from Duke Energy, or step in to defend state renewable energy policies currently under attack by fossil fuel funded groups like the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

Energy decisions this year are getting more and more crucial as we approach climate tipping points. If the technology giants of the world are going to use their voices to promote the smart energy solutions to climate change, they need to do so now.

Check out the report here and see how the brands that you use stack up in the tech sector’s efforts to embrace clean energy and help stop climate change. 

Nuclear accidents: the guilty should pay, not the innocent

One of the many outrageous scandals surrounding the Fukushima nuclear crisis is the way the people of Japan have had to bail out TEPCO, the utility whose negligence allowed the accident to happen.

Just this week we’ve seen how TEPCO are refusing to repay the 10.5 billion yen ($106 million) it cost the Japanese government to conduct decontamination work around the damaged Fukushima reactors.

Who will pay if TEPCO continue to refuse to honour their obligations? The Japanese people, of course. When it comes to nuclear power, it’s always the people who pay and the companies that profit.

The Japanese people have already paid out 1 trillion yen to keep TEPCO afloat thanks to its incompetence at Fukushima. Further taxpayer trillions are budgeted to support the 160,000 victims who cannot go home. Yet the disaster was so huge those trillions are nowhere near enough to help people recover what they have lost.

However, this fight against  the unwillingness to face responsibility is not over. Greenpeace continues to press for nuclear companies to be made fully liable for any accidents they cause.

Last week, together with other NGOs, Greenpeace Japan campaigners presented a proposal to amend the Act on Compensation for Nuclear Damage to the Chair of a government committee examining potential changes to the law in Japan.

They demanded changes that would give priority to protection of victims, which is currently stated as one of its double objectives with promotion of nuclear business. They also emphasised minimizing the burden on taxpayers while at the same time adequately compensating victims. The stockholders and creditors related to the Fukushima nuclear power plant must be liable for damages before the people are made to pay via increased tax or electricity charges.  

Not only that but, nuclear reactors must be made subject to the Product Liability Law. This means the manufacturer of a nuclear reactor, along with all other companies supplying materials for it, must be held liable for damages above everyone else.  Are you listening, General Electric, Hitachi and Toshiba? Where has your ‘Corporate Social Responsibility’ gone?

Basically, it’s the “if you break it, you bought it” principle. It’s about holding those who have been closely involved accountable and not punishing the innocent. Who could argue against that? The people of Japan have suffered enough since the events of March 11 2011 without having their pockets picked as well.

Slow is scary if France quits nuclear : state institute

TOURNEMIRE, France (Reuters) - A long slow retreat from nuclear power in France or indecision over policy could be very risky as skilled staff retire and young people reject careers with an uncertain future, the state-funded atomic safety research institute said.
Read more [Reuters]

United Kingdom: EDF to cut jobs to control cost of nuclear project

Guardian: EDF energy is cutting scores of jobs to control costs at the site of its proposed new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset. The company is in the middle of difficult negotiations with ministers over the level of public subsidy the new reactors will receive over the next 40 years but insisted the project is not being mothballed and that it is not "holding a gun to the government's head". The company has already spent £800m on developing the £14bn project and lost its junior partner...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

Fukushima Nuclear Crisis Update for April 19th to April 22nd, 2013

Here’s the latest of our news bulletins from the ongoing crisis at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

State of the Fukushima Reactors

For the third time in five weeks, vital cooling functions at the Fukushima Daiichi reactors’ spent fuel pools were halted as a result of an ongoing rodent infestation, highlighting ongoing hazardous, fragile conditions at the plant. Workers intentionally disabled cooling at reactor #2’s spent fuel pool, after two dead rats were found near a transformer controlling the cooling system. One of the rats had been electrocuted. Earlier this month, cooling functions failed for more than 29 hours when another rat ran across wires of an outdoor control box, electrocuting itself and disabling the entire cooling system. Then, as workers were later trying to install rodent-proof netting around the control box, they accidentally touched the wires, once again shorting the cooling system. Checking the system was expected to take three to four hours, at which point workers planned to reconnect power. If fuel in the spent fuel pools overheats, it could eventually begin to melt down and release massive amounts of radiation into the atmosphere. TEPCO is now trying to rat-proof electrical equipment at the plant, but had not yet gotten to the transformer at pool #2.

Juan Carlos Lentijo, head of an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) assessment team inspecting the Fukushima Daiichi plant for the first time since the 2011 nuclear crisis began, announced that decommissioning of the Fukushima reactors may exceed 40 years, far longer than TEPCO’s projected timeline. “In my view, it will be near impossible to ensure the time for the decommissioning of such a complex facility in less than 30, 40 years, as is currently established in the roadmap,” Lentijo said. He noted the makeshift equipment being used there and the recent spate of accidents and and glitches that have plagued the plant, including multiple power losses, numerous leaks of highly radioactive water, and worker errors. Dealing with radioactive water storage, he said, needs to be TEPCO’s highest priority, calling it “the most challenging issue.” But, he pointed out that equipment malfunctions are likely to continue, and emphasized the importance of responding to accidents in a timely manner. The IAEA team will release a report on the decommissioning process, as well as the current state of affairs at the plant, sometime within the next month.

TEPCO has resumed efforts to remove highly radioactive water from several leaking belowground storage pits at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. Over the last month, three of the seven storage pits began to leak, and efforts to transfer the water to aboveground tanks were further hampered when additional water began to leak from pipes connecting the tanks. Approximately 23,000 tons of water needs to be transferred, but the utility is struggling with where to put it. Each day, between 300 and 400 tons of water is poured into crippled reactors there, in an effort to keep them cool; the process results in highly contaminated water. Experts estimate that an additional 400 tons of groundwater seep into the reactor basements each day through cracks and holes in the damaged reactor buildings; that water must also be stored. The recent leaks have resulted in at least 32,000 tons of water spilling into the ground. TEPCO said that it will not be able to transfer all of the water until at least June; since the utility has been unable to find the source of the leaks, ground contamination will continue until then. Officials insist that none of the water has reached the ocean, which is only 800 meters away. However, in other news, Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) officials released a new report this week showing that radioactive strontium-90, which can cause bone cancer and leukemia, could reach legal limits in groundwater at the plant within 10 years. Strontium-90 has a half-life of 28.9 years.

The water storage issue continues to become more dire, prompting Toshimitsu Motegi, head of the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI), to announce that the ministry will partner with TEPCO to find better ways to address the crisis. TEPCO continues to try to build more storage tanks.

In the meantime, TEPCO is now admitting that 14 workers who were tasked with dealing with the highly radioactive water were working without dosimeters, meaning that it will be difficult to assess how much radiation exposure they received during the dangerous work. The infraction occurred on April 6, the day after the leaks were first discovered, and TEPCO became aware of the situation on April 8.

TEPCO

Despite the fact that Japan injected one trillion yen in government funding into TEPCO to keep it afloat, in effect nationalizing the utility, TEPCO officials are now refusing to reimburse the government’s Environment Ministry for 10.5 billion yen in costs required to decontaminate areas around the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, which were befouled in the wake of the nuclear disaster there. Under a Special Measures Act concerning decontamination, the government says that TEPCO is required to pay the costs, but officials are balking. “We don’t know if these costs are covered by the special measures law,” one said. The Ministry has already requested payment twice, but so far, TEPCO has refused to comply. Because the government did not specify any timelines in the legislation, no interest or fines can be levied against TEPCO for not paying, and if the utility refuses, those costs would be passed along to taxpayers.

TEPCO admitted this week that even more faultlines below its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture may be active, calling into question the future of the reactors there. Officials said that new data suggests that reactors #3, #5, #6, and #7 were built on top of active faultlines. Previous studies showed that reactors #1 and #2 also on top of active faults. In Japan, it is illegal to operate nuclear reactors that sit atop active fault lines. The NRA recently changed the definition of an active fault from that which has moved within the last 120,000 to 130,000 years to any movement within the last 400,000 years.

Other Nuclear Politics in Japan

Analysis by The Daily Yomiuri (which recently rebranded itself as The Japan News in its online English versions) reveals that over 40% of 389 radiation monitoring stations across Japan have no backup power sources. Experts say that if a tsunami, earthquake, or other disaster were to disable the monitoring stations, officials would be hard-pressed to make accurate decisions regarding evacuation routes in the case of a nuclear disaster. To compound the problem, local municipalities are in charge of the stations, rather than the central government, resulting in inconsistencies in the way they measure radioactivity. For example, in Shimane Prefecture, two new monitoring stations were recently installed, but they only measure up to 10 microsieverts per hour. The national standard for evacuation is 500 microsieverts per hour, but these stations have no capacity to measure that amount. In addition, local officials complain that inadequate government subsidies make upgrades difficult. “The subsidies provided by the government were not enough to cover the costs of a [backup] power generator,” complained Hisnobu Ishiyama, an official with Niigata Prefecture.

Local elections in Kakegawa and Fukuroi have resulted in two incumbent anti-nuclear mayors being re-elected, calling into question the future of the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station. Both towns are located in Shizuoka Prefecture. In addition, the mayors of nearby Kikugawa and Yaizu said that they “will not recognize” requests to restart the Hamaoka reactors. In Japan, local consent has long been considered vital to restarting nuclear reactors, although that requirement is not codified into law. Fukuroi Mayor Hideyuki Harada declared, “Even when the new safety measures at the plant are completed, I still will not approve reactor restarts.” Kagegawa Mayor Saburo Matsui agreed: “It’s very hard to say that this is really the place for a nuclear plant.” Hamaoka operator Chubu Electric had no comment.

Radiation Exposure

Tests performed by the Asahi Shimbun show that mud at the bottom of two school swimming pools, which have not been drained since the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March 2011, contain as much as 100,000 Bq/kg of radioactive cesium. A third pool contains at least 8,000 Bq/kg; Japanese law requires any waste containing more than 8,000 Bq/kg to be processed by the central government. Although water in the pool has prevented large amounts of radiation from escaping into the atmosphere, the Fukushima Prefecture Board of Education reports that 63 other swimming pools, possibly also containing highly radioactive mud, were emptied into rivers and irrigation canals. Two years after the disaster first began to unfold, many lessons remain unlearned. One Fukushima official in charge of decontamination noted, “We have concentrated on decontamination of the pools and not thought about the mud.”

Oi Nuclear Reactors

Kansai Electric Power Company, which operates the only two online reactors in Japan, submitted a report to the NRA this week, insisting that the Oi reactors are safe and will meet upcoming operating regulations that the agency will formally unveil in July. Last week, NRA officials agreed to make a special exception for the Oi reactors, allowing inspectors to examine the plant for safety violations now rather than waiting until July. Kansai Electric insists that the plant does not require an anti-tsunami wall, and said that there are no active faults beneath the facility. Seismic experts have disputed that statement. The NRA is in the process of conducting its own assessment of the reactors, including field tests, and plans to release its findings by the end of June. “It is difficult to say what we will finally decide about the Oi plant,” said Shunichi Tanaka, Chair of the NRA.

Report: UK will need gas in the future – but must avoid 'carbon lock-in'

BusinessGreen: The UK must continue its policy of closing coal-fired power stations to meet its climate targets and should switch plants to run on biomass or gas to reduce emissions over the coming decades. Significant investments will also be needed in energy efficiency, nuclear and new renewable generation as well as carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology, according to a major new report published today by Carbon Connect, an independent cross-party forum chaired by former Energy Minister Charles Hendry...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]

Fuel-rod cooling halted by rats at crippled Japan nuclear plant

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant halted cooling of a spent fuel pool at the site on Monday to remove two dead rats, the third time cooling equipment has gone offline in five weeks because of rodents.
Read more [Reuters]

Japan: Fukushima nuclear cooling system offline for third time in five weeks

Reuters: Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant halted cooling of a spent fuel pool at the site on Monday to remove two dead rats, the third time cooling equipment has gone offline in five weeks because of rodents. Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) said it halted cooling of the No. 2 unit pool, which stores spent uranium fuel rods at the Fukushima Daiichi site, for a few hours to remove the rats and install a net to stop further such intrusions. Last month, Tepco lost power to cool fuel...
Read more [EcoEarth.info]