Fukushima No. 2 N-pool cooling system restored (JAPAN)

[AsahinaKimi]

The Yomiuri Shimbun

A cooling system for the water in a temporary storage pool for spent nuclear fuel rods has been fully restored at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co. has announced--the first such achievement since the March 11 disaster and months ahead of schedule.

According to TEPCO, the cooling system was restored Tuesday for the storage pool at the No. 2 reactor building of the Fukushima plant. This represents the first full, stable recovery of a cooling system at the plant since it suffered extensive damage in the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Tuesday's recovery also was far ahead of the January deadline TEPCO set in its timetable for bringing the crisis at the plant under control.

It cools a pipe that run from the temporary storage pool into a heat exchanger, using the cooling water in the exchanger. The water from the heat exchanger is cooled with air from a fan.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110601005305.htm

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. Great News!

[godai]

2. The 'sky is falling' crowd doesn't like to hear this but it is good news.

I posted this the other day and got a mocking 'big deal' response. The fact is, if they can do this for the 4 spent fuel pools, that brings the pools under control. There still remains the big problems with the reactors but, even there, the temperatures aren't shockingly high. Solving the pool cooling problem will allow further work to cool the reactors. Still, this will be no mans land for years, with cancer issues for the workers and those nearby at the time, farming and fishing issues.

[AndyTiedye]

4. Of Course We Like to Hear This

It isn't about "the sky is falling", it is about what is falling out of the sky, and what is falling into the water.
We want it to stop as soon as possible. Cancer sucks.

[godai]

6. Good, and I agree...cancer sucks.

But, Japan needs to work out a solution to the Fukushima problems and it's not 'bury the sucker' as has been irresponsibly suggested by Michio Kaku. That was never a viable option. With these new cooling systems, as well as water decontamination plants that are being built, TEPCO is slowly walking Japan back from the precipice. To be clear, I think TEPCO is a dreadful company, which made a disastrous decision to put the diesel generators too low above sea level.

[AndyTiedye]

8. The Reactors Were Toast Even Before the Tsunami

Japan needs to work out a solution to the Fukushima problems and it's not 'bury the sucker'

Of course not. If it's still producing I-131, it's still doing re-criticality. It would just burn or explode its way out of such a "tomb". :nuke:
Even if it were not the case, a "tomb" would not keep radioactive stuff from continuing to leak into the groundwater and the ocean.

To be clear, I think TEPCO is a dreadful company, which made a disastrous decision to put the diesel generators too low above sea level.

At least one of the reactors was melting down and had breached the reactor vessel even before the tsunami hit, according to the latest admissions by TEPCO.
http://enenews.com/tepco-quake-not-tsunami-may-have-caused-damage-that-led-to-meltdown-within-16-hours-no-1-reactor-core-had-melted-and-created-a-hole-in-pressure-vessel

The Boxing Day earthquake should have been a wakeup call. That was a 9.4, about 3 times stronger than the Great Japan Earthquake which was a mere 9.0. :boring:
Those nukes were only built to withstand a 7.0 at best (1% of the intensity of a 9.0).

TEPCO is a terrible company indeed. What they have allowed to happen by accident is horrendous, but some of what they have done on purpose is indefensible:

In one case, workers hand-mixed uranium in stainless steel buckets, instead of processing by machine, so the fuel could be reused, exposing hundreds of workers to radiation. Two later died.

http://publicintelligence.net/japan-and-tepcos-history-of-nuclear-accidents-and-cover-ups/

Much closer to home, we have the appropriately-named Diabolo Canyon and San Onofre nukes.
PG&E and SDG&E have been as attentive to the earthquake and tsunami risks as TEPCO. :boring: :boring:
We're all gonna glow when the Big One hits California.

[Shagbark Hickory]

3. When will it be up and running?

[godai]

5. It's in operation for #2 pool now.

Temperature is expected to drop to 40C by tomorrow for the #2 pool. Similar cooling systems for 1,3 and 4 should be in place in a month. To be clear, these are the spent rod pools, not the reactors, which have separate problems.

[robdogbucky]

7. Internal radiation, small quake, nowhere to put the rad water, Chernobyl jumper

Some people just want this all to go away. Unfortunately, it won't. We must keep tabs on things, as they are far from over and another quake could send things on a very quick downward spiral. That is something Japan and California do not need. I for one will continue to pay attention.


Dear Head in Sand Folks; This is not over.




Wastewater rises, fears mount

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is struggling to remove pools of highly radioactive wastewater as fears of an overflow get more intense.

Tokyo Electric Power Company says wastewater levels rose around 6 centimeters inside the No.2 reactor turbine building, and in its utility tunnel, during the 24-hour period through Thursday morning. Increases were also seen inside the No.3 and 4 reactor turbine buildings...

...Tokyo Electric plans to start using a water purifier by the middle of this month. But as an emergency measure it's preparing to remove wastewater pooled inside the No.3 reactor turbine building to its turbine condenser...

...The level of wastewater inside the No.1 reactor building dropped 8 centimeters on Thursday morning from Wednesday, unlike the other facilities...

Thursday, June 02, 2011 13:03 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/02_35.html



Key words here; "Internal radiation," as it is the real and rather quick compared to other forms of radiation, killer.



Fukushima to check internal radiation exposure

Fukushima Prefecture has decided to check the internal radiation exposure of residents near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and adjacent areas with high radiation levels.

In Fukushima, there are mounting concerns among locals over the health effects of radiation after the nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi plant.

The prefecture had already decided to conduct health checks on all citizens, but will now assess residents' internal exposure to radiation from breathing and eating...

...A device called a "whole-body counter" will be used to precisely measure radiation.

But the prefecture currently has only one device and can screen just 10 people per day. It is urging research institutes and others with the device outside the prefecture to help them...

Thursday, June 02, 2011 16:28 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/02_27.html




Nagasaki staffers exposed to Fukushima radiation

Nagasaki University Hospital says that at least 40 percent of local people sent to Fukushima Prefecture, host to the crippled nuclear plant, suffered internal radiation exposure.

The hospital checked staffers and medical experts sent to Fukushima by Nagasaki's prefectural government. They spent around a week helping local government offices and medical institutions in Fukushima after the nuclear plant accident in March...

...Officials at the hospital insist, however, that the level of radioactive contamination is very low and poses no health concerns.

Nagasaki University Professor Naoki Matsuda, who joined the survey, says Fukushima residents should also be checked for levels of internal exposure...

Thursday, June 02, 2011 21:20 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/02_35.html




Quakes still happen, don't they?



Earthquake hits Niigata, no tsunami alert

A medium-strength earthquake hit Niigata Prefecture north of Tokyo on Thursday morning. But no major damage has been reported and a nuclear power plant in the prefecture is unharmed.

The earthquake hit at 11:33 AM local time. Japan's Meteorological Agency estimates the quake's magnitude at 4.7, with its focus in the prefecture...

...About 3 minutes after the quake, an aftershock with an estimated magnitude of 2.9 struck the region.

A series of aftershocks have occurred in wide areas including in Niigata following the March 11th quake in northeastern Japan.

Thursday, June 02, 2011 13:37 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/02_23.html




He must be just one of those chicken littles, eh?



Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Chernobyl 'jumper' airs Fukushima fears

By SITI RAHIL
Kyodo

Singapore — Sergei Belyakov, a scientist who helped clean up debris after the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, is worried about Japanese workers now risking their lives to contain the aftermath of core meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.

"I really feel sorry for the situation in Fukushima, honestly," the 55-year-old "jumper" in Chernobyl said.

Jumpers were the workers who risked their lives by "jumping" into highly contaminated zones at the damaged nuclear station in Chernobyl, rarely spending more than seconds in the danger zone before jumping back out to safety.

Now a U.S. citizen and scientist working for Albany Molecular Research Inc. in Singapore, Belyakov recalled his 40 days in Chernobyl in 1986…

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110601f2.html





IAEA cites ambiguous responsibility, inadequate response to Fukushima crisis
2011/06/02

“…The report states that the direct cause of the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 plant was the quake and tsunami, which led to the loss of electric power sources and many functions necessary to cool the reactor cores at the plant.

While TEPCO reviewed the height of tsunami expected to hit the Fukushima plant after 2002, the IAEA report states that the tsunami hazard was "underestimated" in several parts.

Although measures were in place to deal with a serious accident, the report said those measures were inadequate to handle simultaneous accidents at a number of reactors.

Among the lessons to be learned, according to the IAEA report, is the need for measures to prevent flooding at nuclear reactors as well as the installation of an early-warning system for tsunami…”

http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201106010213.html



Factual reports

I know, just more biased claptrap from this Extreme Enviroweenie.


rdb