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Chopperboy
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Posts posted by Chopperboy
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Double post - TV server maintenance glitch.
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Amusing look at Japans nuclear regulators
Dear Prime Minister Naoto Kan,
I applaud your call to suspend operations at the Hamaoka nuclear power station (in Shizuoka Prefecture). It's good news following on the heels of the public resignation of your senior nuclear safety advisor, Toshiso Kosako. In the wake of his tearful protest against raising the radiation exposure limit for children in Fukushima, it looks like you're now taking a step in the right direction.
When you're navigating uncharted territory, like the unprecedented disaster at Fukushima, guidance from experts in the field can be a lifesaver. But if the roadmap to safety they give you is a blank piece of paper, hold on because it's going to be a bumpy ride.
A blank piece of paper is kind of what the minutes of a special March 11 Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC) meeting looked like. The meeting was held in response to the series of devastating events that occurred that fateful day.
If I've read those meeting minutes correctly, the NSC commissioners met for just five minutes. The document doesn't say who was at the meeting, but if all five commissioners attended, that would leave one minute of brainstorming time for each of them. You'd think they would have spent just a little more time putting their heads together to figure out a solution to one of the worst nuclear power plant accidents ever. I guess they thought it best just to leave the fate of the nation in the hands of Tepco (Tokyo Electric Power Co.) for a while.
In their next session a week later, the record simply notes that the country's other major nuclear regulatory body, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA), had notified the NSC about disclosing the radiation threshold values for nuclear power reactor emergencies. I guess that made everyone feel a lot safer, or not, because once again they were out the door in five minutes.
Finally on March 25, their meeting minutes document was something that needed a sturdy staple to hold together. At nearly 10 pages it had all the earmarks of a regulatory opus magnum. Surely this was the blueprint to nuclear safety that the nation cried out for.
Then again, maybe it wasn't. The minutes show that a huge chunk of time was spent nailing down the exact spelling of the computerized spread sheet program Excel. There had been some previous clerical disaster in which somebody omitted the letter "c" from the brand name and they were dead set on getting the whole mess straightened out. As radioactive plumes drifted overhead, to add a "c" or not to add a "c" appeared to be the big question of the day at the Nuclear Safety Commission.
This burning issue and other kanji character bugbears chewed up much of the 26 minutes the commissioners spent together that day. I'm no scientific genius, but if I were a commissioner of anything, I'd leave the spell checking to my assistant.
I know the work of Japan's nuclear safety commissioners goes beyond their weekly meeting, and that they are probably every bit as haunted by this nuclear nightmare as everyone else. We are all together in this raging battle against this menacing monster and, to borrow a well-worn phrase, "failure is not an option."
Against the backdrop of a sky cluttered with radioactive clouds, it's clearer than ever that nuclear power is not an option we can live with safely.
If ever there were a time to rid the planet of these ticking atomic time bombs amongst us and commit to harnessing safe renewable energy resources, this would be it. Instead of standing idly by while the country's nuclear power regulators waste precious minutes, Mr. Kan, you could make this your finest hour.
J.T. CASSIDY
Yokohama
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Prime Minister Kan takes bold decision
On Tuesday, May 11 Prime Minister Kan took another dramatic step, announcing that Japan would cancel its plans to build new nuclear reactors, and would seek a new national energy policy that puts an increased emphasis on renewable energy and conservation. "We need to start from scratch," Kan said in a press conference. "We need to make nuclear energy safer and do more to promote renewable energy."
Kan's decision means that the government will drop an energy policy released last year, which called for the construction of 14 more nuclear reactors before 2030; that plan called for nuclear to supply 50 percent of the country's energy needs.
In a major development, Chubu Electric Power Co. agreed on Monday May 10 to suspend operation of its Hamaoka nuclear power plant in Shizuoka prefecture, about 200 kilometers southwest of Tokyo, "until further measures to prevent tsunami are completed." The decision came after Prime Minister Kan's May 6 request that the power company cease all operations at the plant, citing concerns over its safety. Kan said the government had predicted that there's an 87 percent chance that a magnitude 8 earthquake will strike the region within the next 30 years.
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Prime Minister Kan takes bold decision
On Tuesday, May 11 Prime Minister Kan took another dramatic step, announcing that Japan would cancel its plans to build new nuclear reactors, and would seek a new national energy policy that puts an increased emphasis on renewable energy and conservation. "We need to start from scratch," Kan said in a press conference. "We need to make nuclear energy safer and do more to promote renewable energy."
Kan's decision means that the government will drop an energy policy released last year, which called for the construction of 14 more nuclear reactors before 2030; that plan called for nuclear to supply 50 percent of the country's energy needs.
In a major development, Chubu Electric Power Co. agreed on Monday May 10 to suspend operation of its Hamaoka nuclear power plant in Shizuoka prefecture, about 200 kilometers southwest of Tokyo, "until further measures to prevent tsunami are completed." The decision came after Prime Minister Kan's May 6 request that the power company cease all operations at the plant, citing concerns over its safety. Kan said the government had predicted that there's an 87 percent chance that a magnitude 8 earthquake will strike the region within the next 30 years.
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Another photo showing possible melted top of the fuel assembly
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Video of the inside of Spent Fuel Pool 3
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TEPCO video of Spend Fuel Pool unit 3
What a mess - shows roof beam sections that have fallen in, rebar, concrete rubble and bubbles.
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80 Photos taken around Fukushima Nuclear Plant
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Radiation to restrict work on No. 1
Kyodo
The operator of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant found the radiation level of the building housing the No. 1 reactor stood as high as 700 millisieverts per hour, the government's nuclear agency said Monday, citing the need for radiation shielding to proceed with work to bring an end to the nuclear crisis.
The radiation level, which was around 10 millisieverts per hour at its lowest, was measured as Tokyo Electric Power Co. workers and agency officials entered the No. 1 reactor building early Monday as part of preparations to start full-scale work to create a stable system to cool the damaged fuel inside.
The latest move came after Tepco opened the doors linking the reactor building to its adjacent turbine building Sunday, and confirmed the resultant release of radioactive materials into the air had not raised radiation levels on the premises and nearby areas as of 5 a.m. Monday, according to the firm.
By opening the air-lock doors, air containing about 500 million becquerels of radioactive substances is believed to have been released into the atmosphere from the upper part of the No. 1 reactor building, which was damaged in a hydrogen explosion that occurred in the early days of the nuclear crisis.
Seven Tepco workers and two nuclear regulatory officials went into the reactor building around 4:20 a.m. and measured radiation inside for about 30 minutes. They were exposed to radiation between 2.7 millisieverts and 10.56 millisieverts, the agency said.
Tepco plans to fill the No. 1 reactor's primary containment vessel with water to a level above the nuclear fuel inside, and start operating by June an air-cooling device aimed at reducing the temperature of the water circulating around the reactor. Now that workers have entered the reactor building, Tepco plans to have them install and adjust instruments to measure the water levels in the reactor's containment vessel, and place a heat exchanger.
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Fukushima Groundwater
Contamination Worst in Nuclear History
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Reactor 3 - higher cooling rates do not tame temperature rise
The temperatures in reactor 3 is now 314,5C and shows a constant increase in temperature, depite an increase in cooling rate.
New temperature readings from Tepco
http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/fukushima-np/f1/images/032_1F3_05090600.pdf
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Workers Exploring inside Reactor Unit 1 - 6 May 2011
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NEW video Spent Fuel Pool of reactor 4 Unit 4 at Fukushima Daiichi
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Fukushima Marine Environment Monitoring Report
IAEA Slide Show on marine environment
http://www.slideshare.net/iaea/marine-briefing-11-0505-hn-rev
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IAEA reactor status summary
Unit 1:
Reactor pressure Vessel is assumed to be leaking most probably through connected recirculation system (Pump seal LOCA).
Unit 2:
Reactor Pressure Vessel is assumed to be leaking most probably through connected recirculation system (Pump seal LOCA).
Containtment is believed to be damaged.
Unit 3:
Reactor Pressure Vessel is assumed to be leaking most probably through connected recirculation system (Pump seal LOCA).
Containtment is believed to be damaged.
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Air-lock at Japan nuclear reactor reopened
Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency approved opening the double-entry doors, deciding it would not cause more environmental harm, Kyodo News reported.
TEPCO said it would send workers into the reactor building about 4 a.m. Monday to measure radioactivity levels.
On Thursday, TEPCO workers installed pipes connecting the No. 1 reactor building with a ventilator to filter out radioactive substances and allow safe entry. The ventilation was stopped and some of the pipes removed Sunday night.
The door opening will let workers start building a new cooling system for the reactor, whose cooling was knocked out by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Meanwhile, the company said radioactive strontium at 100 times normal levels was found in soil inside the plant, and the temperature at the No. 3 reactor's pressure vessel was rising again.
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Dutch finds radiation in Japan container
THE HAGUE: Dutch customs officials found higher-than-allowed radioactivity levels in a container that arrived by ship from Japan eight weeks after the Fukushima nuclear accident, a spokeswoman said Friday.
"Traces of radioactivity were detected on the exterior of the container, but none in the cargo itself," customs spokeswoman Gera van Weenum told AFP, adding the levels exceeded the maximum authorised of four becquerel.
"There were spots of radioactivity of up to 33 becquerel, but the average was six becquerel," said the spokeswoman.
The contamination was detected Thursday as the container passed through standard security checks at the port of Rotterdam, and was then sent for a second, more thorough inspection before being put on a truck to its final destination, a Dutch importer.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/1127251/1/.html
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Japan nuclear crew may need lead shields - official
THE operator of Japan's stricken nuclear power plant may need to use lead sheets and metal tunnels to protect workers seeking to stabilise its reactors, the nuclear safety agency said today.
Before dawn today, Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) sent a team to measure radiation inside the building housing reactor one and detected levels between 10 and 700 millisieverts per hour in different parts of the structure.
Japanese nuclear workers are only allowed to be exposed to cumulative radiation of 250 millisieverts - meaning they could only stay in reactor one's most contaminated areas for about 20 minutes before hitting their limit.
"An area with a double-digit millisievert level, let alone three-digit figures, is quite tough as a working environment," said Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, Kyodo News reported.
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Chopperboy
Wishing you the best of luck to go with your most admirable decision and outlook.
You are the man of Japan.
You also are a nuclear fear not man.
I truly admire your contrarian outlook putting your life on line.
Hope you live many more years to come and outlive many of us, maybe.
Shouldn't this be addressed to Think-to Mut?
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Tepco starts flooding No. 1 reactor vessel
Nuclear fuel in core must be submerged by water to cool
Tepco on Friday started increasing the amount of water it is injecting into the No. 1 reactor at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant in hopes of providing stable cooling for the damaged nuclear fuel inside.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. plans to fill the reactor's primary containment vessel with enough water to submerge the fuel over the next 20 days or so, and start operating by June an air-cooling device it hopes will reduce the temperature of the water circulating around the reactor, company officials said.
Restoring the reactors' cooling systems, which were lost in the March 11 quake and tsunami, is vital to ending the nuclear crisis because its current emergency cooling measure, which requires that water be continually injected from outside, has created vast pools of highly radioactive water within the plant.
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It's far less damage than it looks. Although visualy spectacular and media attractive.
Nobody was hurt (lest died) from that.
11 people (4 TEPCO employees, 3 subcontractor employees and 4 Japanese civil defense workers) were injured due to the explosion at unit 3 on 14 March
Latest list of casualties from Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant
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Not that some danger will have passed, the danger has never been there, we have the government measures and disciplined Japanese who obey. Many are angry.
It's the Colonel Saito mentality
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Air Photograph of reactor #3
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Sorry buddy, the facts are:
zero people dead at Fukushima from nuclear causes
Next you'll be telling us no one died as a result of radiation exposure at Chernobyl, Nagasaki or Hiroshima!
Meltdown Likely Under Way At Japan Nuclear Reactor
in World News
Posted
TEPCO slipping behind schedule to contain accident
Nearly one month has passed since the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant announced a schedule to contain the accident. But Tokyo Electric Power Company is finding it difficult to stick to the plan.
TEPCO announced the schedule on April 17th, detailing 51 measures to be implemented over the next 3 months for the 1st stage.
The most important steps involve the cooling of the reactors. These include pumping water into the reactors, injecting nitrogen into the containment vessels to prevent a hydrogen blast and filling them with water, as well as a study on the possible installation of heat exchangers.
Workers have entered the No.1 reactor building to prepare to inject water into the containment vessel. On Tuesday, they started calibrating the water gauges, and a plan has been drawn up to install a heat exchanger.
However, none of these measures have been carried out at the other reactors, apart from pumping water into them.
The high levels of radiation detected inside the No.1 building could force TEPCO to change its work plan.
A clear strategy for containing the problem is yet to be seen 2 months after the nuclear accident occurred.
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/11_04.html