Fukushima Updates June 14

[robdogbucky]

Tick tock, Tick tock:


Tuesday, June 14, 2011
TOKAI EARTHQUAKE
Tokai Big One still tops in speculation
By MINORU MATSUTANI
Staff writer

Seismologists have warned of the likelihood of a Tokai region earthquake for years.

The chances of the quake, whose epicenter, they speculate, could be in or off the coast of Shizuoka Prefecture, are so high that
Prime Minister Naoto Kan last month ordered the shutdown of the Hamaoka nuclear plant, which sits in one of the projected epicenter zones.

However, the penchant for Japanese seismologists to focus so much on a potential temblor when there effectively is nowhere in the country free of earthquake risk seems hard to fathom.

Following are questions and answers about the Tokai quake scenario…

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110614i1.html




Additional 23 workers exposed to high radiation

The health ministry says that another 23 workers at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant may have been exposed internally to over 100 millisieverts of radiation.

The ministry on Tuesday told plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company to immediately release the workers from duty.

The ministry said keeping the employees at the plant may push their exposure over the temporary-set limit of 250 millisieverts. The government relaxed the limit for plant workers from 100 millisieverts after the nuclear accident in March as an emergency measure...

...TEPCO previously announced that 2 employees were exposed to over 600 millisieverts. On Monday, the firm said that 6 more workers were thought to have been exposed to up to about 500 millisieverts...

Tuesday, June 14, 2011 13:37 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/14_22.html





City plans fall distribution to address parents' fears
34,000 children in Fukushima to get dosimeters
Kyodo

FUKUSHIMA — Amid growing concerns over exposure to radiation, the Fukushima Municipal Government said Tuesday it will give dosimeters to all children attending preschools as well as elementary and junior high schools in the city.

The city said it will hand out the gauges for three months from September to about 34,000 children as part of its efforts to ensure their health.

City officials will collect data once a month and examine the results in cooperation with medical institutions. It will also distribute the gauges to parents with children less than 3 years old at the request of the parents.

The move comes after a similar decision by the city of Date, Fukushima Prefecture, which has radiation hot spots where exposure could exceed the 20-millisievert limit during the course of a year.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110614x2.html



Local officials saying no to restarting nuclear reactors
2011/06/14

By the time summer temperatures peak in August across Japan, only 14 of the nation's 54 nuclear reactors will be churning out electricity to cope with the demand, due to the effects of the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

Since the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 plant in Fukushima Prefecture started on March 11, nuclear power plants across the country have faced difficulty in resuming operations of some of their reactors that have been closed for regular inspections.

Moreover, the governments of prefectures or municipalities where those plants are located are strengthening their positions that they cannot allow the operations to resume unless the central government provides new safety standards that can prevent crises like the current one at the Fukushima plant.

As of June 11, operations at 35 nuclear reactors had been suspended due to the effects of the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake or regular inspections, which have to be conducted once every 13 months in principle. The 35 include the No. 1 to No. 4 reactors at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant…

http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201106130040.html




TEPCO eyes 16 % rate hike in fiscal 2012 to cover compensation claims

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) is projecting payments of as much as 10 trillion yen in compensation to people and other parties affected by the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant and is eyeing a rate hike of about 16 percent from fiscal 2012 to cover the cost, according to internal documents obtained by the Mainichi on June 13.

The documents include TEPCO's financial projections which have become the basis for the government to help the utility pay compensation to victims of the nuclear disaster and pass on a certain amount of projected redress costs to consumers.

Specifically, TEPCO is projecting an increase in fuel costs due to a shift from nuclear energy to thermal power prompted by the ongoing Fukushima crisis.

The Cabinet of Prime Minister Naoto Kan is set to decide on June 14 on compensation scheme legislation that will aid TEPCO with contributions from other nuclear power plant operators and government bonds...

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110614p2a00m0na003000c.html




Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Cabinet OKs Tepco redress bill
Other utilities must ante up to back huge outlays
Kyodo

The Cabinet approved a bill Tuesday to help Tokyo Electric Power Co. meet its massive compensation payments through the creation of an entity that would provide financial assistance to the utility strugging with the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.

Now that it has the administration's endorsement, the bill is expected to be submitted to the current Diet session. The administration is hoping to ensure swift payment of compensation that may total trillions of yen while maintaining a stable supply of electricity.

But the bill's fate is uncertain amid the political tug of war that pressured Prime Minister Naoto Kan into announcing he will resign in the near future. Some, including lawmakers of the Democratic Party of Japan, are also concerned that the compensation scheme may lead to a rise in electricity fees.

Under the bill, the new institution would be allocated a type of bond from the government that can be cashed when necessary and could receive loans from financial institutions so it can provide financial assistance to Tepco…

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110614x1.html



Plutonium detected in Fukushima plant soil

The operator of the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant says tiny amounts of plutonium have been detected in samples of soil in the plant's compound.

Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, announced on Tuesday that an independent research institution has analyzed soil samples taken on May 30th at 3 locations.

The utility said plutonium was detected in samples collected near a recreational ground 500 meters from the Number One reactor. Plutonium was also detected in samples from near a waste disposal facility, also 500 meters from the reactor.

The utility said all the amounts of the detected plutonium are too small to pose risk to human health.
This is the third time that plutonium has been detected in soil samples at the plant since the nuclear accident began on March 11th. TEPCO said the levels of plutonium detected within the compound following the accident were about the same as those detected in Japan after atmospheric nuclear tests carried out by foreign countries during the Cold War era...

Tuesday, June 14, 2011 22:35 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/14_39.html




"...Me, I'm waiting so patiently
Lying on the floor
I'm just trying to do my jig-saw puzzle
Before it rains anymore..."

Jagger/Richard

[aquart]

1. Thanks.

[NNN0LHI]

2. If someone gave me a dosimeter for my kid to carry to school I would strangle them

Right on the spot.

No doubt about it.

Someone would have to peel my fingers off their neck with a crowbar.

Don

[Electric Monk]

3. Wouldn't you rather know than not know?

I think I would.

[NNN0LHI]

4. If there was a need for my children to wear one I would expect the people who caused this debacle ..

... to be responsible enough to evacuate my family away from the threat on their dime. Not just measure it.

Wouldn't be any dosimeters for my kids.

Don

[divvy]

5. The kids really should not be there .....

I guess they did pass out dosimeters to kids in Japan. If they can see dose on these things (they are usually zeroed so that normal background radiation isn't recorded), the kids shouldn't be there. The biggest danger in the environment may be hot particles, and they aren't detected well by dosimeters. They are too small and don't give off energetic gammas. I guess it is nice that they are showing their concern for the kids' welfare, but this isn't making them much safer. Hot particles will attach themselves to shoes and clothing. They can be detected in portal monitors. At a nuke plant, you check your clothing and body every time you exit the radiologically controlled part of the plant. These hot particles (we usually only had them if there was an Offgas system malfunction or during outages when equipment opened up to the air) could often be removed by cleaning your shoes, but sometimes you had to launder your clothes. Periodically, we also put our body through "whole body counters" that could detect the trace amounts of radioactive material that buildup inside our bodies (from working at the plant). It is possible to determine how much exposure these kids are really getting, but I don't think passing out dosimeters is the best way. Like I said, if they are seeing any significant dose rate, they shouldn't be there... but that isn't the only risk. I feel sorry for those people... I know it is their home... but they really should move away until the danger is over. If not for themselves, then for the kids...