Fukushima, June 22: Plant decontamination not working, etc.,etc.

[robdogbucky]

Plant decontamination not working

The Tokyo Electric Power Company is looking into why a system for decontaminating radioactive water at the Fukushima Daiichi plant is not working as expected, delaying resumption of the system's full-scale operation.

The firm on Wednesday published data showing the amount of radioactive materials that had been removed from contaminated water during a test run of the US-made system.

The data show that density of Cesium-13 and Cesium-137 dropped to only one-100th of initial levels. An earlier test run using water with a lower density of radioactivity showed a drop to about one-1000th.

The utility had said the system would begin full-scale operation in a couple of days...

Wednesday, June 22, 2011 21:13 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/22_28.html



Temperature at No.3 reactor rises

The operator of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says temperatures at the No.3 reactor have started to rise after it reduced the injection rate of cooling water. The cutback is part of efforts to prevent possible overflows of radioactive water at the facility.

On Tuesday, Tokyo Electric Power Company reduced the amount of fresh water it has been injecting into 3 of the plant's reactors. The volume was cut back by 0.5 tons per hour at the No. 1 and 2 reactors, and by 1 ton at the No.3 reactor.

TEPCO says that by 5 AM on Wednesday, temperatures at the upper and lower parts of the No.3 reactor had risen by 4 and 7 degrees Celsius, respectively, from the day before. But it says temperatures at the other 2 reactors remained relatively stable.

The company says it will carefully monitor the No.3 reactor but will keep the rate of water injection unchanged. It added that it will further reduce the rate of water injection into the other 2 reactors by 0.5 tons per hour...

Wednesday, June 22, 2011 13:04 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/22_14.html




Sacrifices forced on rural sites of nuclear power plants do not bring true wealth

How does the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant appear to those who were once embroiled in disputes over the possible construction of a nuclear power plant in their backyard?

It is predicted that a major earthquake will hit Wakayama Prefecture, where I work, in the near future. Talk of constructing nuclear power plants within the prefecture has emerged numerous times in the past, but thanks to the help of researchers from Kyoto University, such facilities do not exist. The reason for that is simple: we have no need for dangerous nuclear power plants.

Most noteworthy of the cases in Wakayama were the protests against plant construction in the town of Hidaka and of Hikigawa, which has since been merged with Shirahama. In Hidaka, the issue had been festering since 1967 when the then mayor revealed his vision for the construction of a nuclear power plant. In 1988, the Kansai Electric Power Co. (KEPCO) offered the local fisheries cooperative some 700 million yen in compensation for surveys to be conducted in preparation for plant construction.

Family members and relatives belonging to the cooperative were divided on the appropriate response, leading to opposing sides refusing to attend weddings, funerals, and boat-launching ceremonies. Kazumi Hama, 61, a fisherman who led anti-nuclear plant efforts said that family relationships suffered because of talk of a possible plant...

(By Takashi Yamashita, Wakayama Bureau)

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/perspectives/news/20110622p2a00m0na007000c.html



Municipal heads go anti-nuclear

Municipal heads and reconstruction experts are discussing ways to reduce the use of nuclear power after the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

Japan has 54 reactors, which accounted for 29 percent of the country's electricity generation in 2009. Thirty-five, or about two-thirds of them, have suspended operations because of the March 11th disaster, regular inspections or government requests.

On June 15th, a panel of experts in Fukushima Prefecture agreed on a draft of basic concepts for reconstruction that includes the idea of abandoning nuclear power and promoting renewable energy.

The head of a town in Yamaguchi Prefecture, where the Chugoku Electric Power Company aims to operate a nuclear plant in 7 years, indicated the possibility of reviewing the town's nuclear-tolerant stance. Kaminoseki Mayor Shigemi Kashiwabara told the municipal assembly on Tuesday that the town needs to consider breaking free from nuclear power...

Wednesday, June 22, 2011 06:10 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/22_02.html




Researchers simulate Fukushima radiation spread

A group of Japanese researchers have created a computer simulation of how radioactive substances from the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant spread across the globe...

...The simulation was based on the scenario in which contaminated air was vented from the crippled No.2 reactor building on March 14th, 3 days after the massive earthquake and tsunami.

The simulation shows some of the radioactive material was carried 5,000 meters into the air by ascending currents of a low-pressure system that passed near Japan the next day. Computer images show the substances were then carried by westerly winds and spread over the Pacific Ocean.

The images indicate that on the 4th day after being vented the substances reached the west coast of the United States, and on the 7th day they approached Iceland after crossing the Atlantic.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011 22:01 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/22_31.html




'You try living in Fukushima,' governor tells TEPCO president in verbal dressing-down

FUKUSHIMA -- Prefectural Gov. Yuhei Sato tore into the president of Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), the operator of the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, during a visit by the utility chief to apologize for the ongoing nuclear crisis afflicting the prefecture.

"You will understand nothing about what's really going on just by visiting for two or three hours," Sato told TEPCO President Masataka Shimizu and his projected successor Toshio Nishizawa during a meeting in the governor's office in the Fukushima Prefectural Office on June 21. "You try living in Fukushima for 100 days or so."

The pair of TEPCO executives made no reply, only hanging their heads in shame.

The meeting lasted only about 10 minutes, during which Shimizu said, "We have brought distrust upon nuclear power as a whole, and terrible trouble to everyone in society..."

(Mainichi Japan) June 22, 2011

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110622p2a00m0na004000c.html




TEPCO considers new locations for storing contaminated water as overflow threatens

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) has begun considering new locations for storing contaminated water from the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant as the water threatens to overflow, the utility announced on June 21.

Furthermore, on June 21 a system being used to treat the contaminated water was halted because of a problem with a French-made pump. The system had been in test operation, and with the new delay workers are now aiming for a resumption of full-scale operations in two to three days' time.

The system has had stability problems since it was put into full-scale operation on June 17. A previous problem that occurred with a section of American-made equipment also caused a shutdown.

There are estimated to be over 100,000 cubic meters of contaminated water collected on the plant grounds. With the area having entered the rainy season on June 21, it is feared that the contaminated water could overflow within the month if nothing is done..

(Mainichi Japan) June 22, 2011

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110622p2a00m0na014000c.html





TEPCO can't find 69 plant workers for radiation checks.

2011/06/22

The whereabouts of 69 people who had worked at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant remain unknown, including 30 who have not even been identified, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said June 20.

Government officials are criticizing TEPCO's sloppy management of paperwork on the workers, saying it is now hampering follow-up radiation checks and allowed potential terrorists to enter the plant's site.

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare instructed TEPCO to locate the workers immediately for radiation-exposure tests.

TEPCO determined that 3,639 people worked at the plant from the onset of the nuclear accident to March 31...

(This article was written by Jin Nishikawa and Yoichi Yonetani.)

http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201106210158.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

[yodermon]

1. lovely deck chair arrangement n/t

[AndyTiedye]

2. Probably Dead by Now

The whereabouts of 69 people who had worked at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant remain unknown, including 30 who have not even been identified, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said June 20.

TEPCO didn't know who they were, and didn't want to know. Some were recruited by the Yakuza. They were being sent in without dosimeters. They are probably dead by now.