Sunday, May 29, 2011

Nuclear Safety is an Oxymoron | How will broken-melting-fuming-leaking Fukushima Daiichi weather Monster Typhoon?



question:
isn't "nuclear safety" an oxymoron?


things to keep in mind while pondering this question: nuclear power kills - it is not clean, it is not cheap, and it is immoral - anyone who says that it is safe is either lying, making money, misinformed and/or delusional
re delusion: The psychiatrist and philosopher Karl Jaspers was the first to define the three main criteria for a belief to be considered delusional in his 1917 book General Psychopathology. These criteria are:
• certainty (held with absolute conviction)
• incorrigibility (not changeable by compelling counterargument or proof to the contrary)
• impossibility or falsity of content (implausible, bizarre or patently untrue)

but, can't nuclear power save us from global warming?

humanity could probably survive global warming and climate change, but is helpless when facing radioactive environmental pollution and the subsequent genetic mutation and cancers it causes

- why use something which is so inherently dangerous in the first place, especially when there are viable alternatives? - why use something which even requires such ultra-extreme, costly and ultimately fallible "safety measures?" - why use something with terrible potential to poison the entire planet for all future generations?


G8 leaders want tougher nuclear safety rule

From L-R, G8 leaders, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, President Barack Obama and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso are seen during a round table meeting at the G8 summit in Deauville, northern France May 26, 2011. Credit: Reuters/Markus Schreiber/Pool

(Reuters) - Leaders of the Group of Eight want more stringent international rules on nuclear safety following the disaster at Japan's Fukushima plant, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Thursday.


Forget about Fukushima: Riding the Wave of Nuclear Renaissance, China, India, South Korea

Law in Action: "The biggest drop in prices of uranium in two years may be ending as China and India plan atomic power developments that will more than double global production even after Japan’s nuclear disaster. The radioactive metal has slumped 8.7 percent this year, the most since 2009, after tumbling as much as 27 percent as governments reviewed nuclear plants following the Japanese crisis in March, according to prices from MF Global Holdings Inc. China and India will lead a 46 percent increase in consumption by the world’s five biggest atomic-power developers by 2020, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Soaring energy demand from the world’s fastest-growing economies is buoying uranium and prospects of miners from Cameco Corp. to Paladin Energy Inc. even after radiation leaks from Japan’s 40-year-old Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant sparked the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986. China’s Nuclear Energy Association said May 12 it will boost atomic capacity as much as eight times by 2020. A day later, India’s Atomic Energy Commission said it will increase production 13-fold by 2030.

“The question is whether what happened in Japan with older-generation reactors justifies not building newer, safer reactors, and to me the answer is no,” Spencer Abraham, a former U.S. energy secretary who is now non-executive chairman of Areva SA, the largest nuclear-equipment producer, said in a May 17 telephone interview from Washington. “China recognizes they can’t satisfy the growth in electricity demand in a single dimension and they really need a diverse group of sources.”



FUKUSHIMA UPDATE


Unit 3 of Fukushima Daiichi
Cryptome Nuclear Power Plants and WMD Series


Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan 'unready for typhoon'
BBC News | 28 May 2011

Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is not fully prepared for heavy rain and winds of a typhoon heading towards the country, officials admit.

Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), which runs the plant, said some reactor buildings were uncovered, prompting fears the storm may carry radioactive material into the air and sea. - Typhoon Songda is expected to hit mainland Japan as early as Monday.

"We have made utmost efforts, but we have not completed covering the damaged reactor buildings," a Tepco official said on Saturday. - "We apologise for the lack of significant measures against wind and rain," the official added.

Tepco has been pouring anti-scattering agents - such as synthetic resins - around the damaged buildings of reactors one and four. - But some of the buildings still remain uncovered after they were damaged by hydrogen explosions soon after the quake and tsunami struck.

A special adviser to Prime Minister Naoto Kan criticised Tepco, saying that the current safety measures "cannot be said to be appropriate". - Adviser Goshi Hosono added: "We are now doing the utmost to prevent further spreading of radioactive materials".

Typhoon Songda - with winds up to 216km/h (134mph) - was moving north-east and could hit Japan on Monday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.- It was unclear whether Fukushima could be directly in the path of the storm.


Supertyphoon headed for Japan could hit Fukushima nuclear site

Beyond Nuclear | May 27, 2011: "Typhoon Songda has been upgraded to a supertyphoon after hitting the Philippines and is on track for Japan, with the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant in its pathway. The U.S. Navy Joint Typhoon Warning Center currently predicts that the typhoon could pass over the Fukushima nuclear site on Monday, Japan time. TEPCO is reportedly planning protective measures but has not announced them. Bloomberg News has reported on this situation."



TYPHOON UPDATE

May 29/30 -


Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC)

291500Z POSITION NEAR 34.5N 137.5E. TROPICAL DEPRESSION (TD) 04W (SONGDA), LOCATED APPROXIMATELY 155 NM WEST-SOUTHWEST OF YOKOSUKA, JAPAN, HAS TRACKED NORTHEASTWARD AT 26 KNOTS OVER THE PAST SIX HOURS. THE SYSTEM HAS MADE LANDFALL AND IS TRACKING OVER THE RUGGED TERRAIN OF WAKAYAMA PREFECTURE. THE OVERLAND TRACK OF THE SYSTEM HAS RESULTED IN RAPID WEAKENING. TD 04W HAS NEARLY COMPLETED EXTRA-TROPICAL TRANSITION (XTT) AND HAS DEVELOPED BOTH WARM AND COLD FRONTAL BOUNDARIES. THE CURRENT INTENSITY ESTIMATE IS BASED ON OBSERVATIONS FROM MIE PREFECTURE AND ISE WAN. CHUBU CENTRAIR INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (RJGG), UPSTREAM OF THE LLCC, REPORTED SUSTAINED WINDS RANGING FROM 20 TO 30 KNOTS AND GUSTS UP TO 40 KNOTS AS THE SYSTEM APPROACHED. TD 04W IS EXPECTED TO RESUME AN OVER-WATER TRACK WHILE COMPLETING XTT DURING THE NEXT 12 HOURS. THE RESUMPTION OF AN OVER-WATER TRACK WILL HELP MAINTAIN SYSTEM INTENSITY UNTIL IT DEVELOPS INTO A GALE FORCE LOW EAST OF THE CHIBA PENINSULA. THIS IS THE FINAL WARNING ON THIS SYSTEM BY THE JOINT TYPHOON WARNING CENTER (NAVMARFCSTCEN). THE SYSTEM WILL BE CLOSELY MONITORED FOR SIGNS OF REGENERATION.


Fukushima nuclear reactors not to be affected by Typhoon Songda

BEIJING,May 30 (Xinhuanet) -- Typhoon Songda continued to move along the east coast of Japan on Sunday, causing travel disruption and hazardous conditions for commuters.Songda is Japan's second typhoon this year.
Strong winds and heavy rain thrashed Tokyo, causing flight disruptions at Haneda Airport. Warnings of landslides and flooding were issued in Kagoshima Prefecture early on Sunday, with some road closures. The typhoon is expected to move along the east coast through to Monday where it will weaken to a tropical storm. The troubled Fukushima nuclear reactors were not expected to be affected by the storm.


TYPHOON UPDATE 5/30/11 -

Deluge could spread Fukushima radiation
ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) | May 30, 2011 7:39am AEST

There are fears a tropical storm off the coast of Japan could wash radioactive material from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the air and sea.

Now downgraded to a tropical storm, former Typhoon Songda is still expected to bring strong winds and torrential rain to Tokyo later this morning, with the Fukushima area also forecast to experience a deluge.

The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), has apologised for not being prepared for the bad weather.

The company has been pouring synthetic resins over the facility to stop radioactive material from being swept away, but the job is far from complete. - TEPCO and the Japanese government both fear contamination could be washed out of the uncovered reactor buildings.


Live view of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant



TEPCO: High Radiation Level at No.2 Reactor of Fukushima Nuclear Plant Detected

Arirang | Korea for the World, The World for Korea - Arirang.co.kr | MAY 30, 2011: The amount of radioactive material detected around reactor No. 2 at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant increased drastically over the weekend.
TEPCO, the operator of the plant, says it detected levels of radioactive Iodine 131 that were 130 times the legal limit on Friday, BUT levels 600 times the limit were detected on Saturday.
Since Iodine has a half life of 8 days this announcement shows radioactive materials are still leaking from the reactors.

Meanwhile, as heavy rain and strong winds are expected to hit Japan this week, fears are rising that contaminated water could be carried into the air and sea.
And as the Typhoon season is coming to Asia soon, Korea is becoming increasingly concerned about the possible spread of radiation from Japan.


New leak feared at stricken Japan nuclear plant
Reuters | TOKYO | Thu May 26, 2011 2:46am EDT

Radioactive water appears to be leaking from a waste disposal building at Japan's Fukushima nuclear complex, operator Tokyo Electric Power said on Thursday, in a new setback to the battle to contain radiation from the crippled power plant."

The effort to regain control of the plant relies on pumping massive quantities of water to cool the three reactors that suffered meltdowns and storing the contaminated water in an improvised storage facility. Tepco officials said, however, that the water level in the storage facility had dropped, suggesting a leak.

Environmental groups have focused on the threat to sea and ground water from the accident. Greenpeace said earlier this month it had collected samples of fish, seaweed and shellfish along the Fukushima coast that showed radiation levels above Japanese safety limits.


Japan slammed as new leak found at stricken nuclear plant
Reuters | TOKYO | Thu May 26, 2011

The operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant on Thursday detailed a new leak of radioactive water as Greenpeace slammed the country's 'inadequate response' to a growing threat to sea water and health.

And in an embarrassing reversal, Tokyo Electric Power officials changed a key element of an account of the early response to the crisis it had given on Saturday as part of a government investigation into the accident.

Tokyo Electric said up to 57 tonnes of highly contaminated water had leaked from a storage facility into a trench. It vowed to step up monitoring of groundwater.

The disclosure raises the stakes in a race to complete by next month a system to decontaminate a massive pool of radioactive water at the site that critics see as a growing risk to both the Pacific and groundwater.

In early April, the utility dumped about 10,000 tonnes of radioactive water into the ocean, prompting criticism from neighbors China and South Korea.

Environmental group Greenpeace said seaweed had been found with radiation levels 60 times higher than official limits, raising concerns about risks from contaminated sea water more than two months after the Fukushima-Daiichi plant was hit by an earthquake and tsunami.

"Our data show that significant amounts of contamination continue to spread over great distances from the Fukushima nuclear plant," a statement quoted Greenpeace radiation expert Jan Vande Putte as saying.

One seaweed sample showed readings over 60 times above the limits set by the government.

"The concentration of radioactive iodine we found in seaweed is particularly concerning, as it tells us how far contamination is spreading along the coast, and because several species of seaweed are widely eaten in Japan," Vande Putte said.



Greenpeace: Japan nuclear plant radiation accumulating in marine life

This Just In - CNN.com Blogs | May 26th, 2011: Radiation from Japan's damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is accumulating in marine life off Japan's coast above legal limits for food contamination, Greenpeace said Thursday.

A Greenpeace crew tests waters off Japan for radiation contamination earlier this month

The environmental group said its findings run counter to Japanese government reports that radiation from the Fukushima plant, damaged in the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, is being diluted as time passes.

“Despite what the authorities are claiming, radioactive hazards are not decreasing through dilution or dispersion of materials, but the radioactivity is instead accumulating in marine life,' Greenpeace radiation expert Jan Vande Putte said in a press release."


Marine life soaking up radiation along Fukushima coast

Greenpeace International: "Two week’s ago we released preliminary results from our marine radiation monitoring work off the coast of Japan, near the melted-down and leaking Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. These results showed worrying levels of radioactive contamination in seaweed – a staple of the Japanese diet.

After having difficulties finding a lab in Japan to do detailed analysis, we sent samples of seaweed, fish, and shellfish collected by our radiation monitoring teams both onshore and on the Rainbow to professional labs in France and Belgium. The results of the details analysis are back – and we can say that the situation in the ocean along the Fukushima coast is worse than we originally thought.

The new data shows that some seaweed contamination levels are not only 50 times higher than safety limits – far higher than our initial measurements showed – but also that the contamination is spreading over a wide area, and accumulating in sea life, rather than simply dispersing like the Japanese authorities originally claimed would happen.


more includes radiation data link



Arnie Gundersen Gives Testimony to NRC ACRS



The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) held a special ACRS meeting Thursday May 26, 2011 on the current status of Fukushima. Arnie Gundersen was invited to speak for 5 minutes concerning the lessons learned from the Fukushima accident as it pertains to the 23 Mark 1 Boiling Water Reactors (BWR's) in the US and containment integrity. Mr. Gundersen was the first engineer to brief the NRC on the implication of Main Steam Isolation Valve (MSIV) Leakage in 1974, and he has been studying containment integrity since 1972. The NRC has constantly maintained in all of its calculations and reviews that there is zero probability of a containment leaking. For more than six years, in testimony and in correspondence with the NRC, Mr. Gundersen has disputed the NRC's stand that containment systems simply do not and cannot leak. The events at Fukushima have proven that Gundersen was correct. The explosions at Fukushima show that Mark 1 containments will lose their integrity and release huge amounts of radiation, as Mr. Gundersen has been telling the NRC for many years.



Japan moves to protect children as new nuclear leak revealed

(Reuters) - Japan will pay schools near the quake-ravaged Fukushima nuclear power plant to remove radioactive top soil and set a lower radiation exposure limit for schoolchildren after a growing outcry over health risks.


In Japan, Fukushima Parents Grow Angry Over Radiation
NYTimes.com | May 25, 2011

FUKUSHIMA CITY, Japan — The accusations flew on Wednesday at the local school board meeting, packed with parents worried and angry about radiation levels in this city at the heart of Japan’s nuclear crisis."

A girl at a Tokyo rally on Monday held a petition urging protection from radiation. Yoshikazu Tsuno/Agence France-Presse -- Getty Images


Fukushima Risks Chernobyl ‘Dead Zone’

Bloomberg | May 30, 2011: Radioactive soil in pockets of areas near Japan’s crippled nuclear plant have reached the same level as Chernobyl, where a “dead zone” remains 25 years after the reactor in the former Soviet Union exploded.

Soil samples in areas outside the 20-kilometer (12 miles) exclusion zone around the Fukushima plant measured more than 1.48 million becquerels a square meter, the standard used for evacuating residents after the Chernobyl accident, Tomio Kawata, a fellow at the Nuclear Waste Management Organization of Japan, said in a research report published May 24 and given to the government...


Fukushima Daiichi Unit 5 loses cooling for 15 hours

Beyond Nuclear | May 29, 2011: The Kyodo News has reported that the Fukushima Daiichi Unit #5 atomic reactor, and presumably its high-level radioactive waste storage pool as well, lost cooling for 15 hours yesterday. The cooling water surrounding the nuclear fuel heated to close to the boiling point. Cooling was restored before boiling began. If enough cooling water had boiled away, fuel damage could have resulted. As with Units 1, 2, and 3 reactors -- as well as one or more high-level radioactive waste storage pools at the site, including at Unit 4-- irradiated nuclear fuel exposed to the air due to cooling water boiling and/or drain down, whether it be in a reactor pressure vessel core or high-level radioactive waste storage pool -- can lead to overheating, damage, explosive hydrogen gas generation, and even full-scale meltdown.


Nitrogen injection into No.1 reactor stops again
NHK WORLD English | Thursday, May 26, 2011

"Nitrogen injection to prevent a hydrogen explosion was stopped for more than 4 hours at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant on Wednesday."


TEPCO suspects new leak at Fukushima
NHK WORLD English | Thursday, May 26, 2011

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is inspecting a wastewater disposal facility for possible leaks, after finding that its water level had dropped.

Tokyo Electric Power Company has been removing highly radioactive wastewater from the plant's Number 2 and Number 3 reactors to waste disposal facilities within the compound.

The utility initially planned to transfer 14,000 tons, but it now wants to remove an additional 5,000 tons because there has been no noticeable drop in accumulated water in the reactors.

TEPCO suspended the transfer from the Number 3 reactor on Thursday to check whether the disposal facility could hold more water.

It found that the water level at the facility had dropped by 4.8 centimeters over a 20-hour period, meaning some 57 tons of water had been lost.

TEPCO says there has been no increase in radiation levels in nearby groundwater, but that the water level continues to fall.

The utility plans to begin running a water purifier on an experimental basis in early June.

If a leak is found at the waste disposal facility, it could delay the resumption of water transfer from the Number 3 reactor, raising the risk of radioactive wastewater spilling into the sea or seeping underground from the reactor.


Containment vessels also damaged

The Daily Yomiuri | May. 26, 2011: "Not only the pressure vessels, but the containment vessels of the Nos. 1 to 3 reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant were probably damaged within 24 hours of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, according to Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s analysis of the nuclear crisis."


Tepco can't stabilize reactors by year-end: report

TOKYO (MarketWatch) -- Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501.TO) is coming to the view that it will be impossible to stabilize the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant by the end of this year, possibly affecting the timing for the government to consider the return of evacuees to their homes near the plant, Kyodo News reported, citing senior company officials."



RELATED NEWS



Fukushima DAINI barely averted a catastrophe as well!

Beyond Nuclear: A U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) official, testifying at a subcommittee of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) which is overseeing the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear catastrophe review, testified that the Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant -- just seven miles to the south of Daiichi -- barely survived the tsunami that devastated its sister plant up the coast. Dr. John E. Kelly, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nuclear Reactor Technologies at DOE's Office of Nuclear Energy, presented a powerpoint entitled 'DOE Response to Fukushima Dai-Ichi Accident' at the NRC Headquarters in Rockville, Maryland on May 26th.


Westinghouse Nuclear Reactor Design Flaw Is Found

The Sanmen Nuclear Power Plant in China, being built in 2009, will hold two of the questioned Westinghouse AP1000 reactors. Feng Li/Getty Images

NYTimes.com | May 20, 2011: WASHINGTON — In a setback for the only model of nuclear reactor for which ground has been broken in the United States, government regulators have found additional problems with the design of its shield building, a crucial component, the chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said on Friday.

“They need to be doing the work correctly and completely, and we need to have confidence that that’s what they’re doing,” said one commission official, who said he was not authorized to be quoted by name. “They have additional work they need to do, and a short time to complete it if it’s not going to have a significant impact on their schedule.”


Robert Alvarez warns about catastrophic risks at U.S. high-level radioactive waste storage pools

Beyond Nuclear: "Robert Alvarez, senior scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies and former senior advisor to the Energy Secretary during the Clinton administration, has published 'Spent Nuclear Fuel Pools in the U.S.: Reducing the Deadly Risks of Storage.' The report comes in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe, in which one or more high-level radioactive waste storage pools may have already discharged catastrophic amounts of radioactivity into the environment, and several more remain at risk of doing so for lack of cooling water. Alvarez warns that densely-packed high-level radioactive waste storage pools at U.S. nuclear power plants should be off-loaded into outdoor dry casks as a vital national security measure"


Germany pledges to end all nuclear power by 2022
BBC News

Germany's ruling coalition says it has agreed a date of 2022 for the shutdown of all of its nuclear power plants.

Environment Minister Norbert Rottgen made the announcement after a meeting of the ruling coalition that lasted into the early hours of Monday.

Chancellor Angela Merkel had set up an ethics panel to look into nuclear power following the disaster at the Fukushima plant in Japan.

Germany saw mass anti-nuclear protests in the wake of the disaster.


Germany to decide on nuclear phase-out plans

BERLIN, May 29 (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling coalition is expected to formulate a timetable on Sunday for closing Germany's nuclear power plants and a plan for replacing their output.


South Korea: After Fukushima, nuclear policies must be rethought, South Korean bishops says

Spero News: "The president of the Bishops’ Conference of Korea revisits the issue of atomic energy safety and nuclear waste disposal. In case of accidents, the costs of environmental rehabilitation are greater than any benefits nuclear power can provide. He also expresses solidarity towards fellow Catholics in ..."



Some 20,000 people participated in the biggest anti-nuclear protests in Switzerland for 25 years

swissinfo | May 22, 2011 : "An estimated 20,000 people participated in the biggest anti-nuclear protest in Switzerland for 25 years on Sunday. Chanting and waving placards, anti-nuclear protesters marched in two groups to the site of Beznau, Switzerland’s oldest nuclear power plant which is located in canton Aargau."



Swiss cabinet agrees to phase out nuclear power
ZURICH, May 25 (Reuters)

The Swiss government decided on Wednesday to phase out nuclear power by 2034 after the Japan disaster shook public confidence in the industry, but said it will not shut any existing power plants prematurely.

The Swiss government suspended the approvals process for three new nuclear power stations in March pending a review into safety after the disaster at Japan's Fukushima plant.

Last weekend 20,000 people rallied against nuclear power -- the largest demonstration of its kind since the 1980s.



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NO NUKES | RE-TOOL NOW

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

What's going on at Japan's damaged nuclear power plant?


go to TOP OF BLOG for updates


Unit 3 of Fukushima Daiichi
CRYPTOME: Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Photos (first page) | Cryptome Nuclear Power Plants and WMD Series

the problems at Fukushima are complex and the situation is not yet under control - with three reactors at various stages of meltdown and another in jeopardy, there are also serious issues with the spent fuel pools which are full of "hot waste" - - volumes of radioactive pollutants are being discharged daily into the biosphere - the potential for additional explosions and the prolonged and significant uncontrolled dispersal of persistent deadly toxins will remain for some time to come


UPDATE:

Tepco confirms extra partial fuel rod meltdown at plant
BBC News - 23 May 2011: Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) has confirmed the meltdown of extra fuel rods in reactors at its damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant.

The company said that the rods were in its Number 2 and Number 3 reactors.

Earlier this month, Tepco had revealed that rods at its Number 1 reactor melted down. It was thought that a similar problem had occurred in the other reactors but it was difficult to confirm.

"Based on our analysis, we have reached the conclusion that a certain amount of nuclear fuel has melted down," Ken Matsuda, a Tepco spokesman told the BBC.

He said the analysis came from a report that Tepco was required to submit to Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (Nisa).

The spokesman added that most of the fuel from the Number 2 reactor had melted approximately 100 hours after the earthquake, which measured 9 on the Richter scale, struck Japan.

The meltdown in the Number 3 reactor took place about 60 hours after the quake.



Q & A: What's going on at Japan's damaged nuclear power plant?
Reuters | By Shinichi Saoshiro and Mayumi Negishi
TOKYO | Tue May 17, 2011 2:54am EDT

Japanese engineers are trying to gain control of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, which was crippled by the huge March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Radiation continues to seep into the sea and the air, although at far lower levels than at the peak of the crisis in mid-March.

Four of the six reactors at the plant, operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), are considered volatile.


Following are some questions and answers about efforts to end the world's worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl:

WHAT IS HAPPENING?

Nuclear fuel rods at the plant's No. 1, No. 2, No.3 reactors melted in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami and Tepco is trying to bring the reactors to a cold shutdown, where the water cooling them is below 100 degrees Celsius.

Efforts to cool the reactors by pouring water into them have brought down temperatures and the rods are no longer melting but the No. 1 reactor continues to leak radiated water and the No.2 and No.3 reactors are also believed to be leaking.

To achieve a cold shutdown, Tepco initially planned to use "water entombment," in which the containment vessels -- an outer shell of steel and concrete that houses the reactor vessel -- would be filled with water.

But this option is likely to be ruled out for the No. 1 reactor and possibly for the other two, after new data and inspections showed that the No. 1 reactor vessel had been punctured when the rods melted, allowing water being pumped as a coolant to pool in the basement of the reactor.

Tepco is readying a fallback plan that will involve decontaminating the water already accumulated and then pumping it back to cool the reactors.

Officials are also concerned about the slow pace of cooling at the No. 3 reactor and the No. 4 reactor was so badly damaged by a hydrogen explosion that workers will have to try to shore it up with steel beams and concrete to prevent a collapse.

In an effort to limit the spread of radioactive dust, the No. 1, No. 3 and No. 4 reactors will be covered with giant tent-like polyester covers supported by steel beams.

WHAT IS HAMPERING TEPCO?

Water is a huge headache for the operator. It has pumped in tens of thousands of tonnes of it to cool the reactors and much of it has ended up as contaminated runoff, accumulating as huge pools at the reactor buildings.

Preventing the massive pools of runoff from seeping out into the environment remains a challenge and Tepco is running out of space to store the radioactive water.

It is building tanks and towing in a massive barge to secure extra storage and is looking to build plants to treat some of the water. The operator caused in international outcry in April when it was forced to dump thousands of tonnes of contaminated water into the Pacific.

Weather conditions, such as the approaching rainy season and typhoons and lightning during the summer, could also pose problems.

Residents of Iitate village listen to Mayor Norio Sugano,right back to camera, explain a government plan to evacuate residents from the village that's about 40 kilometers (24 miles) from the radiation-spewing Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in northeastern Japan, on Wednesday April 13, 2011. (Kyodo News) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE - CRYPTOME: Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Photos 15

HOW LONG WILL THE CRISIS LAST?

In April, Tepco announced a timetable for its operations. Within the first three months it plans to cool the reactors and the spent fuel stored in some of them to a stable level and reduce the leakage of radiation.

The company then hopes to bring the reactors to a cold shutdown in another three to six months. That would take the initial phase of work to stabilize the plant to January.

But with the damage to the reactors being worse than initially thought some experts said the process could take longer. Tepco said constant aftershocks, power outages, high levels of radiation and the threat of hydrogen explosions were factors that could hamper its work.

Even after the plant is under control, recovery work at the site is expected to continue for years.

For reference, officials have cited the work to clean up Three Mile Island after that U.S. reactor suffered a partial meltdown in 1979.

The Three Mile Island cleanup involved over 1,000 workers and took 13 years. It took nearly six years before the fuel from the reactor could be safely removed.



TEPCO Says Core of Unit 1 Melted
All Things Nuclear
MAY 17, 2011

Last week, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) officials announced that they now believe essentially all the fuel in reactor 1 at Fukushima melted early in the crisis, and is now lying in a mass at the bottom of the reactor vessel. But they believe that it did not melt through the bottom of the vessel—which would have been a full “meltdown”—and that it is mostly covered with water and has achieved “stable cooling.”

Figure 1: Results of a TEPCO analysis, adapted from, “Reactor Core Status of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit 1,” 15 May 2001.

TEPCO’s announcement about the extent of the fuel damage in Unit 1 came about last week when workers calibrated water-level sensors and found that the water level in the reactor vessel appears to be below the level where the bottom of the fuel rods should be in normal operation, and appears to have been that low since shortly after the earthquake and tsunami. This means that the fuel could no longer be in its usual location since without cooling it would have melted.

On May 15, TEPCO released details of its current guess about what happened in the core. This analysis says that most or all of the core had melted and relocated to the bottom of the reactor vessel within 16 hours of the time the reactor shut down. This analysis assumes the cooling system “lost its function after the tsunami arrived at around 15:30,” so relocation of the fuel happened within 15 hours of the end of cooling.



IAEA Update on Fukushima Nuclear Disaster
12 - 18 May 2011

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Status

TEPCO has reported that information obtained after calibration of the reactor water level gauges of Unit 1 shows that the actual water level in the Unit 1 reactor pressure vessel was lower than was indicated, showing that the fuel was completely uncovered. The results of provisional analysis show that fuel pellets melted and fell to the bottom of reactor pressure vessel at a relatively early stage in the accident.
Nitrogen gas is still being injected into the containment vessel in Unit 1 to reduce the possibility of hydrogen combustion inside the containment vessel.

In Units 1, 2 and 3 fresh water is being continuously injected into the reactor pressure vessel; temperatures and pressures remain stable.

To protect against potential damage as a result of future earthquakes, TEPCO started work on 9 May to install a supporting structure for the floor of the spent fuel pool of Unit 4.

Fresh water is being injected as necessary into the spent fuel pools of Units 1 - 4.

Stagnant water with high levels of radioactivity in the basement of the turbine buildings of Units 1, 2 and 3 is being transferred to the condensers, the radioactive waste treatment facility, the high-temperature incinerator building and temporary storage tanks. Stagnant water in the basement of the turbine building of Unit 6 is being transferred to a temporary tank. Countermeasures against the outflow of water to the sea and to prevent and minimize the dispersion of radionuclides in water have been put in place.

Full-scale spraying of anti-scattering agent is continuing at the site with the use of both conventional and remote controlled equipment.


Radiation Monitoring

Deposition in 47 Prefectures

The daily monitoring of the deposition of caesium and iodine radionuclides for 47 prefectures is continuing. Since 12 May negligible deposition has occurred. I-131 was reported in only one prefecture and Cs-137 was reported in three prefectures, with a value of 4.8 Bq/m2 for I-131 and a range of from 4.7 to 10 Bq/m2 for Cs-137.

Seawater Monitoring

The activity concentrations of I-131, Cs-134 and Cs-137 in seawater close to the Fukushima Daiichi plant at the screen of Unit 2 have been measured every day since 2 April. Concentrations of Cs-134 and Cs-137 decreased from initial values of more than 100 MBq/L to less than 5 kBq/L on 7 May, but increased to levels of around 20 kBq/L on 16 May, and to about 10 kBq/L on 17 May. There was a significant increase in levels of I-131 from about 8 to 80 kBq/L from 10 to 11 May, in parallel with the increase for both radiocaesium isotopes. This indicates that there is still some production of fission products. The I-131 levels decreased to about 20 kBq/L on 17 May.



Fukushima - One Step Forward and Four Steps Back as Each Unit Challenged by New Problems
- Fairewinds Associates



May 13: Arnie Gundersen says Fukushima's gaseous and liquid releases continue unabated. With a meltdown at Unit 1, Unit 4 leaning and facing possible collapse, several units contaminating ground water, and area school children outside the exclusion zone receiving adult occupational radiation doses, the situation continues to worsen. TEPCO needs a cohesive plan and international support to protect against world-wide contamination.




In Japan Reactor Failings, Danger Signs for the U.S.

HIDDEN DANGERS
In Japan Reactor Failings, Danger Signs for the U.S.
By HIROKO TABUCHI, KEITH BRADSHER and MATTHEW L. WALD
- NYTimes.com - Published: May 17, 2011

TOKYO — Emergency vents that American officials have said would prevent devastating hydrogen explosions at nuclear plants in the United States were put to the test in Japan — and failed to work, according to experts and officials with the company that operates the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant.

“You have the N.R.C. containment isolation guys who want containment closed, always, under every conceivable accident scenario, and then you’ve got the reactor safety guys who need containment to be vented under severe accident scenarios. It is a very controversial system.”

The failure of the vents calls into question the safety of similar nuclear power plants in the United States and Japan. After the venting failed at the Fukushima plant, the hydrogen gas fueled explosions that spewed radioactive materials into the atmosphere, reaching levels about 10 percent of estimated emissions at Chernobyl, according to Japan’s nuclear regulatory agency.

Venting was critical to relieving pressure that was building up inside several reactors after the March 11 tsunami knocked out the plant’s crucial cooling systems. Without flowing water to cool the reactors’ cores, they had begun to dangerously overheat.

American officials had said early on that reactors in the United States would be safe from such disasters because they were equipped with new, stronger venting systems. But Tokyo Electric Power Company, which runs the plant, now says that Fukushima Daiichi had installed the same vents years ago...





"Now that this experimental containment vent is demonstrated to have failed at Fukushima, we need to know who installed it at US plants, who didn’t and the justification for the continued operation of these deeply flawed and dangerous reactors"

Beyond Nuclear and co-petitioners demand NRC come clean on flawed "fixes" at Mark I reactors

In a press statement released on May 18, 2011, Beyond Nuclear demands that the NRC make public how many U.S. Mark I reactors have, or have not installed the venting system that demonstrably failed at Fukushima. Following on an exposé in the New York Times (see previous entry above) and the April 13, 2011 filing of its own emergency enforcement petition to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Beyond Nuclear is renewing its call on the NRC to suspend the operating licenses of 21 Mark I units in the United States. The US Mark I reactors are nearly identical to the Fukushima reactors that exploded into shambles and that are leaking radioactivity into the air and sea."

Beyond Nuclear charges that while some U.S. Mark I reactors possess the same now demonstrated failed venting systems, the NRC is aware that other Mark I reactor operators may not even have installed – and some may even have uninstalled – the now controversial venting systems. If the venting systems had worked as designed they would have prevented extensive damage to containment from the devastating hydrogen explosions witnessed at the Fukushima nuclear plant.

“The NRC left the retrofit of this experimental venting system to the voluntarily discretion of the US reactor operators,” said Paul Gunter, Director of Reactor Oversight at Beyond Nuclear. “Now that this experimental containment vent is demonstrated to have failed at Fukushima, we need to know who installed it at US plants, who didn’t and the justification for the continued operation of these deeply flawed and dangerous reactors,” he said.

Read the full Beyond Nuclear petition



The Implications of the Fukushima Accident on the World's Operating Reactors
Fairewinds Associates


May 22: Arnie Gundersen explains how containment vents were added to the GE Mark 1 BWR as a "band aid" 20 years after the plants built in order to prevent an explosion of the notoriously weak Mark 1 containment system. Obviously the containment vent band aid fix did not work since all three units have lost containment integrity and are leaking radioactivity. Gundersen also discusses seismic design flaws, inadequate evacuation planning, and the taxpayer supported nuclear industry liability fund.




See also
LINKS PAGE
VIDEOS PAGE
TOP OF BLOG for more recent posts
• recent Fukushima & related updates for nuclear news, background info, links and actions -
Truth About Nuclear Power | Lethal Levels of Radiation
Diablo Canyon | Need To Know | It Can Happen Here
You can't see it, and you can't smell it either | Nuclear Nightmare Unfolding
Three Nuclear Meltdowns, Radiation Leaked into Sea; U.S. Waste Poses Deadly Risks
Fukushima Nuclear Catastrophe Update | Related News
Nuclear Safety is an Oxymoron | How will broken-melting-fuming-leaking Fukushima Daiichi weather Monster Typhoon?
>What's going on at Japan's damaged nuclear power plant?
End the nuclear loan program now | Quaint Vermont fixer-upper
End the nuclear loan program now | Quaint Vermont fixer-upper
Fukushima Nuclear Meltdown Confirmed
abolish atomic - new art | news from Beyond Nuclear | TAKE ACTION
Learning from the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster? | Unsafe at Any Dose
We do not want atom!
Fallout? | Delay Licensing! | Evacutation? | Taxes?
NO NUKES | RE-TOOL NOW - Flyer
Every Nuclear Explosion Since 1945 | Downwinders | Nuclear Law
25th Anniversary of Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster | NUCLEAR "SAFTEY" = NUCLEAR THREAT
Anti-nuclear movement | California Nukes
Arnie Gundersen on Current Fukushima Daiichi Situation
Deepak Chopra homebase: Fukushima ~ Indian Point, NY
Hot: Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth
Fukushima a "Ticking Time Bomb"
Nuclear Catastrophe in Japan “Not Equal to Chernobyl, But Way Worse”
Nuclear Power = Crime Against Humanity
Obama: No Money for Nukes!
Pacifica Nuclear Teach-in | The Code Killers by Ace Hoffman
Nuclear Obama, Radioactive Boars & Frogs of Fukushima
fukushima plutonium
Fukushima still fuming - nuclear catastrophe update
MARCH ARCHIVE

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Monday, May 16, 2011

End the nuclear loan program now | Quaint Vermont fixer-upper


So now we are engaged in what may be the final, definitive battle over the future of atomic power in the United States.

America's New Nuke Showdown Starts NOW!! | NukeFree.org

From Bonnie, Jackson & Graham:

"We May Be on the Brink...."

Dear NukeFree.org supporter...

We may be on the brink of stopping the US nuclear industry from building new reactors.

We ask you to help make this happen.

The atomic industry desperately needs $36 billion in federal loan guarantees.

If we stop them, new reactor construction in this country will be severely restricted, if not ended altogether.


As the editor's blog currently posted at NukeFree.org explains:
( http://nukefree.org/editorsblog/americas-new-nuke-showdown-starts-now )
Japan and Germany have turned away from atomic power.

The first Congressional vote on these guarantees, as embedded in the 2012 federal budget, could happen in an Appropriations subcommittee as early as June 2.

We ask that you contact the White House and your Senators and US Representatives as often and forcefully as you can. You can do that on your own, or through the NIRS Action Alert linked through NukeFree.org:
( http://nukefree.org/loan-guarantee-battle-heating-take-action ).

Tell them it's time we scrap the failed atomic power experiment, and embrace the green-powered future we need to survive.

This is a battle that we can win. Defeating these handouts will have a HUGE impact.

Please join us. This definitive turn away from atomic power CAN happen.

No Nukes!

Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt and Graham Nash


End the nuclear loan program now
- Nuclear Information Resource Center

May 12, 2011

President Obama has asked Congress for an additional $36 Billion--on top of $18.5 Billion already approved by Congress--in taxpayer money for loans to wealthy nuclear utilities to build new nuclear reactors in the U.S. The Appropriations Committees in both the House and Senate will be considering this request over the next few weeks, with the first vote scheduled to occur before June 2.

This program must be ended--not expanded! Please tell your Congressmembers to end this program entirely now. The world's third and fourth largest economies--Japan and Germany--are turning their backs on nuclear power and moving ahead with a new energy future based on safe, clean renewable energy and energy efficiency. The U.S. can and should do the same...

And everyone, please send a letter to your Congressmembers below. And take down the phone numbers of your Members and call them on National Call-In Day for a Nuclear-Free Future, Wednesday, May 18. Thousands of people will be calling Congress demanding an end to the nuclear loan program and for a new push for clean energy. Please join them.

Please help spread the word on Facebook, Twitter and other networking sites...



America's New Nuke Showdown Starts NOW!! | NukeFree.org

MAY 16, 2011

As Fukushima continues to leak and smolder, what may be the definitive battle over new nukes in America has begun.

The critical first US House vote on a proposed $36 billion loan guarantee package for reactor construction may come in an Appropriations subcommittee as early as June 2. Green power advocates are already calling and writing the White House and Congress early and often, gearing up for a long, definitive showdown...

So now we are engaged in what may be the final, definitive battle over the future of atomic power in the United States.

Over the next few months, millions of dollars will pour from the industry's lobby into the coffers of Congresspeople willing to vote them billions. The White House shows no signs of turning away from that particular tsunami.

But against all odds, a grassroots green-powered citizens movement has been holding its own. If it does so again this year, a sustainable future may finally be within reach.


TAKE ACTION

NUCLEAR LOAN BATTLE ABOUT TO HEAT UP


TAKE ACTION NOW TO END THIS PROGRAM AND STOP $50+ BILLION IN TAXPAYER LOANS FOR NEW NUCLEAR REACTORS!

May 11, 2011

Dear Friends,

The House and Senate Energy Appropriations Committees are beginning to work on the FY 2012 federal budget. And that means they are beginning to decide the fate of the loan guarantee program for new nuclear reactor construction. We are expecting the first vote in the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy before June 2--within the next three weeks.

As you probably know, President Obama has asked that this program be increased by $36 Billion. That's on top of the $10.2 Billion already in the program and the $8.3 already promised to Southern Company for construction of the Vogtle reactors in Georgia. Plus there is money for uranium enrichment plants in Idaho and Ohio.

Meanwhile, the world's third and fourth largest economies--Japan and Germany--are marching ahead with new energy policies that will focus on clean and safe renewable energy and energy efficiency. It's time the U.S. march ahead in that direction too. And it's time the U.S. end the nuclear loan program. This is the time to act and here are the actions to take now:

Organizations: Here is the text of an organizational sign-on letter that will be hand-delivered to the members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees. If you can sign this letter on behalf of your organization, please send your name, title (if one), organization name, city and state to nirsnet@nirs.org. Deadline is 5 pm Eastern Time, Thursday, May 19.

Individuals: Please send a letter to your members of Congress here. We know many of you have sent letters about this program in the past--do it again! We can end this misuse of taxpayer money! And please help spread the word to your friends and colleagues. (Note: if you have a problem sending your letter, wait a few minutes and try again; occasionally the servers become overloaded....let us know if you have a continuing problem).

Everyone: National Nuclear-Free Call-In Day, Wednesday, May 18. Please call your members of Congress and demand an end to the nuclear loan program. The members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees are listed below. It is especially important that these members receive your calls. You can reach every member of Congress at 202-224-3121 (and individual office numbers should show up when you send your e-mail to your members, make a note of the numbers and use them May 18!). We want every phone on Capitol Hill ringing off the hook all day May 18!

And know that the American people are with us: According to a March 2011 poll conducted for the Civil Society Institute, 73% of the American people oppose federal loan guarantees for new nuclear reactors. An April 2011 ABC News/Washington Post poll found that 64% oppose new reactor construction entirely.

With your help, we can end the nuclear loan program and begin to build a nuclear-free, carbon-free energy future.





Retox / Vermont Yankee


For Sale: Quaint Vermont fixer-upper from the last millennium. Nestled on the bank of the Connecticut River, this antique nuclear reactor features cozy relations with federal regulators and the new governor is from just down the road!

Enjoy regular visits from local senior citizen ladies’ group, plenty of attention from everyone around, and in just a year or so, you're sure to become a part of Vermont history!

This vintage reactor comes complete with:
- array of 22 cooling towers (more or less)
- on-site transformer/fire pit
- easy access to underground pipes
- tasty pre-tritiated drinking water on site
- limited amounts of dry cask storage
- anemic decommissioning fund (nowhere to go but up!)"


TAKE ACTION: Shut Down Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant



See also
LINKS PAGE
VIDEOS PAGE
TOP OF BLOG for more recent posts
• Fukushima & related updates for nuclear news, background info, links and actions -
Fukushima Nuclear Meltdown Confirmed
abolish atomic - new art | news from Beyond Nuclear | TAKE ACTION
Learning from the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster? | Unsafe at Any Dose
We do not want atom!
Fallout? | Delay Licensing! | Evacutation? | Taxes?
NO NUKES | RE-TOOL NOW - Flyer
Every Nuclear Explosion Since 1945 | Downwinders | Nuclear Law
25th Anniversary of Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster | NUCLEAR "SAFTEY" = NUCLEAR THREAT
Anti-nuclear movement | California Nukes
Arnie Gundersen on Current Fukushima Daiichi Situation
Deepak Chopra homebase: Fukushima ~ Indian Point, NY
Hot: Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth
Fukushima a "Ticking Time Bomb"
Nuclear Catastrophe in Japan “Not Equal to Chernobyl, But Way Worse”
Nuclear Power = Crime Against Humanity
Obama: No Money for Nukes!
Pacifica Nuclear Teach-in | The Code Killers by Ace Hoffman
Nuclear Obama, Radioactive Boars & Frogs of Fukushima
fukushima plutonium
Fukushima still fuming - nuclear catastrophe update
MARCH ARCHIVE

CHECK FOR NEWS
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more news feeds below

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Saturday, May 14, 2011

Fukushima Nuclear Meltdown Confirmed



Fukushima Nuclear Meltdown Confirmed

Indybay : International | Environment & Forest Defense
Fukushima Nuclear Meltdown Confirmed
by Stephen Lendman
Saturday May 14th, 2011 1:11 AM

Visual evidence now confirms what earlier was known: namely, that Tokyo Electric's (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station experienced at least one core nuclear meltdown, perhaps much worse than now admitted.

An earlier article explained -
SteveLendmanBlog: Fukushima Meltdown Confirmed
FRIDAY, APRIL 08, 2011
On April 6, Reuters reported that 'the core at Japan's Fukushima nuclear reactor has melted through the reactor pressure vessel,' Rep. Edward Markey told a House hearing on the disaster, saying:

'I have been informed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that the core has gotten so hot that part of it has probably melted through the reactor pressure vessel.'

Recklessly promoting nuclear proliferation, America's NRC is notorious for coverup and denial of its harmful effects. As a result, their rare admission virtually confirms a full core meltdown in one or more reactors, meaning vast amounts of radiation are being uncontrollably released into the atmosphere, water and soil, spreading over a vast area. It's the ultimate nightmare scenario now unfolding, but don't expect major media reports or government officials to explain...

Nuclear expert Karl Grossman calls it the ultimate nuclear nightmare, a real time China Syndrome, portrayed fictionally in the 1979 film by the same name.

On May 12, Hiroshima Peace Institute Professor Robert Jacobs told Russia Today TV that plant conditions "are much more serious than we were told earlier."

In fact, confirming a coverup, he explained:

"We were not told that for a long time....I have a rule of thumb, which is that anything that is publicly stated is probably around 10 to 20% of what's true. It will take us years to know the extent of the contamination and the extent of the fuel melting. The best case scenario in this situation is that it will take months to begin to stop leaking radiation from the reactors."

As a result, plant conditions are extremely serious, perhaps out of control, but don't expect government or media reports to admit it. Short of that, on May 12, TEPCO said low water levels fully exposed Fukushima's Unit No. 1, grudgingly confirming a meltdown of nuclear fuel rods.

According to Junichi Matsumoto, TEPCO's general manager:

"The water level is one meter below the base of the fuel assembly....Melted fuel has dropped to the bottom of the pressure vessel and is still being cooled...(Entombment) plans need to be revised. We can't deny the possibility that a hole in the pressure vessel caused water to leak."

Moreover, other fuel rods are also affected, AP saying:

"other fuel (melted) to the bottom of the pressure vessel and is thought (but not confirmed) to be covered in water....The findings also indicate a greater-than-expected leak in that vessel."

At issue is one or more core nuclear meltdowns, a worse case scenario. On May 12, London Telegraph writer Julian Ryall headlined, "Nuclear meltdown at Fukushima plant," saying:

Visual evidence confirms that "(one Fukushima reactor) did suffer a nuclear meltdown. (TEPCO admitted that) the top five feet or so of (Unit No. 1's) core 13ft-long fuel rods had been exposed to the air and melted down. Now (it appears likely) that the molten pool of radioactive fuel may have burned a hole through the bottom of the containment, causing" large amounts of contaminated water to leak, posing an extremely serious health hazard to many countries besides Japan.

Moreover, conditions appear to be worsening, not improving. According to Friends of the Earth spokesman Tom Clements:

"TEPCO seems to be going backwards in getting the situation under control and things may well be slowly eroding with all (six) units having problems. At this point, TEPCO still finds itself in unchartered waters and is not able to carry out any plan to get the situation under control..."





Latest NEI Updates
- Nuclear Energy Institute | UPDATE AS OF 1:30 P.M. EDT, FRIDAY, MAY 13:
Below is a round-up of noteworthy news that happened this week with regard to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant and the U.S. nuclear industry's response.

from "Plant Status" -

Japan's nuclear safety agency has suggested that significant damage to fuel at Fukushima Daiichi 1 means that filling the reactor containment vessel with water may be meaningless. The agency’s Hidehiko Nishiyama said on Friday that melted fuel rods at the bottom of reactor 1 are being cooled by a small amount of water. He said he doubts that it is necessary to flood the containment vessel entirely, as workers have been trying to do. Tokyo Electric Power Co. said on Thursday that most of the fuel rods in the reactor are believed to be damaged and are at the bottom of the reactor's pressure vessel. Based on the temperature of the reactor vessel surface temperature, the company says the fuel apparently has cooled.

TEPCO announced this week delays in its schedule to contain the reactors. The company noted that while its work to restore reactor 1 is in progress, it had not begun these measures at the other reactors at the sites. It said that high levels of radiation in the reactor 1 building could force a change in plans.


Close-up underwater footage of Fukushima reactor spent fuel pool in debris

TEPCO released a video this week of the reactor 3 spent fuel pool that shows debris and other material atop fuel racks in the pool. To see the video, [above] for TEPCO’s Japanese-language website. A video of the reactor 4 spent fuel pool showed no debris.

The Japanese government plans to advise schools near the Fukushima facility that burying soil contaminated by radiation reduces its radiation level. The government said that burying topsoil 20 inches underground reduced its radiation level by 90 percent.

Chubu Electric Power Co. has agreed to the Japanese government’s request to shut down reactors at its Hamaoka nuclear power plant, about 200 miles southwest of Tokyo. The government had asked Chubu to implement safeguards against possible earthquakes and tsunamis. The company began shutdown of Hamaoka 4 on Friday...



See also
LINKS PAGE
VIDEOS PAGE
TOP OF BLOG for more recent posts
• recent Fukushima & related updates for nuclear news, background info, links and actions -
What's going on at Japan's damaged nuclear power plant?
>Fukushima Nuclear Meltdown Confirmed
abolish atomic - new art | news from Beyond Nuclear | TAKE ACTION
Learning from the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster? | Unsafe at Any Dose
We do not want atom!
Fallout? | Delay Licensing! | Evacutation? | Taxes?
NO NUKES | RE-TOOL NOW - Flyer
Every Nuclear Explosion Since 1945 | Downwinders | Nuclear Law
25th Anniversary of Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster | NUCLEAR "SAFTEY" = NUCLEAR THREAT
Anti-nuclear movement | California Nukes
Arnie Gundersen on Current Fukushima Daiichi Situation
Deepak Chopra homebase: Fukushima ~ Indian Point, NY
Hot: Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth
Fukushima a "Ticking Time Bomb"
Nuclear Catastrophe in Japan “Not Equal to Chernobyl, But Way Worse”
Nuclear Power = Crime Against Humanity
Obama: No Money for Nukes!
Pacifica Nuclear Teach-in | The Code Killers by Ace Hoffman
Nuclear Obama, Radioactive Boars & Frogs of Fukushima
fukushima plutonium
Fukushima still fuming - nuclear catastrophe update
MARCH ARCHIVE

CHECK FOR NEWS
news feeds on right
more news feeds below

-!- fukushima nuclear plant japan nuclear crisis nuclear disaster radiation radioactive fallout nuclear energy safety environment ecology pollution -!-


NO NUKES | RE-TOOL NOW

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

abolish atomic - new art | news from Beyond Nuclear | TAKE ACTION




new art at whats more: abolish atomic



News from Beyond Nuclear


Japan abandons future nuclear power plans

May 10, 2011:
Japanese Prime Minister, Naoto Kan, today announced that Japan will not pursue any new nuclear power plant construction. Japan had originally planned to construct 14 new reactors by 2030 but Kan's announcement officially scuttles that plan. The end of nuclear opens the door to renewables far wider in Japan where wind turbines continued to function and produce electricity during the earthquake and tsunami while the nuclear reactors themselves became resource-consuming liabilities adding greatly to the scale of the disaster. Just last week, Kan ordered that the Hamaoka nuclear plant be shut down until it could build stronger defenses against earthquakes and tsunamis.


US/Japan release radiological readings around Fukushima: Hot zones higher than those prompting 1986 Chernobyl evacuations
May 10, 2011:
With the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident now approaching the ninth week and still out of control, the situation remains grave as the Japanese government and industry desparately struggle to bring the severely damaged multi-unit reactor complex into cold shutdown in order to prevent more hydrogen gas explosions and even greater radioactive releases."




TAKE ACTION


Greenpeace USA | Push for No New Nukes
TAKE ACTION (Send a letter to NRC Chairman Dr. Gregory Jaczko)
Any day now, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is deciding the fate of over a dozen aging nuclear reactors in this country. Some of which are of the very same design as those that exploded and melted down in Japan. The NRC has NEVER denied a nuclear industry application for renewal. That's not a legitimate licensing process; that's a radioactive rubber stamp!

It should not take a Chernobyl or a Fukushima on U.S. soil for government bureaucrats to regulate this dangerous technology. Please send a message right now to NRC Chairman Jaczko urging him to STOP re-licensing dangerous old nuclear reactors.


Friends of Earth | The nuclear crisis in Japan
Call for an immediate halt to reactor construction and ultimately, an end to nuclear power in the U.S.

Tell the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to suspend its fast-tracked approval of an untested nuclear reactor design intended for South Carolina.


NUKEFREE.ORG
ACT NOW | Sign me up to receive a text message alert to call Congress when a vote is imminent on nuclear energy subsidies


Nuclear Information and Resource Service - NIRS

Spring Actions
This page will list actions for a nuclear-free world throughout the Spring. Let us know what your group is doing! E-mail info about your actions to us at nirsnet@nirs.org.

It's time: demand permanent shutdown of GE Mark I reactors!
There are 23 nuclear reactors currently operating in the United States using the same General Electric Mark I design as those that have failed so catastrophically at Fukushima.

The flaws in this design are fundamental, cannot be fixed, and have been documented for 40 years now. They have led to containment building explosions at three of the Fukushima reactors, the exposure of irradiated fuel pools to the environment and enormous radiation releases.

It is time to close them, permanently. Please take a moment to tell that to President Obama, your Congressmembers, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). You can do that with one letter below.

A Simple Statement On Nuclear Power and Climate Change
We're getting a little tired hearing nuclear industry lobbyists and pro-nuclear politicians allege that environmentalists are now supporting nuclear power as a means of addressing the climate crisis. We know that's not true, and we're sure you do too. In fact, using nuclear power would be counterproductive at reducing carbon emissions. As Amory Lovins of Rocky Mountain Institute points out, "every dollar invested in nuclear expansion will worsen climate change by buying less solution per dollar..."

The simple statement below will be sent to the media and politicians whenever they misstate the facts. We hope you and your organization will join us and sign on in support here.

"We do not support construction of new nuclear reactors as a means of addressing the climate crisis. Available renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies are faster, cheaper, safer and cleaner strategies for reducing greenhouse emissions than nuclear power."


San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace Petition to President Obama




See also
LINKS PAGE
VIDEOS PAGE
TOP OF BLOG for more recent posts
• recent Fukushima & related updates for nuclear news, background info, links and actions -
Three Nuclear Meltdowns, Radiation Leaked into Sea; U.S. Waste Poses Deadly Risks
Fukushima Nuclear Catastrophe Update | Related News
Nuclear Safety is an Oxymoron | How will broken-melting-fuming-leaking Fukushima Daiichi weather Monster Typhoon?
What's going on at Japan's damaged nuclear power plant?
Fukushima Nuclear Meltdown Confirmed
>abolish atomic - new art | news from Beyond Nuclear | TAKE ACTION
Learning from the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster? | Unsafe at Any Dose
We do not want atom!
Fallout? | Delay Licensing! | Evacutation? | Taxes?
NO NUKES | RE-TOOL NOW - Flyer
Every Nuclear Explosion Since 1945 | Downwinders | Nuclear Law
25th Anniversary of Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster | NUCLEAR "SAFTEY" = NUCLEAR THREAT
Anti-nuclear movement | California Nukes
Arnie Gundersen on Current Fukushima Daiichi Situation
Deepak Chopra homebase: Fukushima ~ Indian Point, NY
Hot: Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth
Fukushima a "Ticking Time Bomb"
Nuclear Catastrophe in Japan “Not Equal to Chernobyl, But Way Worse”
Nuclear Power = Crime Against Humanity
Obama: No Money for Nukes!
Pacifica Nuclear Teach-in | The Code Killers by Ace Hoffman
Nuclear Obama, Radioactive Boars & Frogs of Fukushima
fukushima plutonium
Fukushima still fuming - nuclear catastrophe update
MARCH ARCHIVE

CHECK FOR NEWS
news feeds on right
more news feeds below

-!- fukushima nuclear plant japan nuclear crisis nuclear disaster radiation radioactive fallout nuclear energy safety environment ecology pollution -!-


NO NUKES | RE-TOOL NOW