Meltdown Likely Under Way At Japan Nuclear Reactor

[elcent]

Ok an open question to all you scaremonger out there. What is your background in Nuclear Physics and radiation?

Einstein was an accountant.

Clear now?

[Puschl]

Ok an open question to all you scaremonger out there. What is your background in Nuclear Physics and radiation?

I haven't got a degree in psychiatry, but I tell you emperor Nero was a madman. Don't ask me whether he suffered from ADD, DDH, schizophrenia or whatever.

As for the so called scaremongers, most of them probably don't know the difference between alpha, beta and gamma radiation. But they for sure have heard that it's dangerous. How dangerous is difficult to tell, and that's where the fear comes in. Tell me, what's the lethal dose of I-131. How many micro Sievert will my body incorporate in an hour when the activity concentration in the air is one Becquerel per cubic meter? At what level will my risk to acquire thyroid cancer go up by 1%? How much Cl-38 or Cs-137 is there in 50 000 tons of 'radioactive' water (geez, I know, that's a more difficult question than the previous ones)?

The answers those and similar questions are difficult to find out, and if the sages just keep on saying "You're save. Trust me, I know!", the ignorant will continue to speculate. Does Tepco have a clear picture of the nuclear inventory of the Daiichi plant? Does NISA know about how many TBq of the various radio-nuclides were released to the atmosphere, the ground water, and the sea, respectively?

I know that where I live I'm save from "Genpatsu-Kun's farting", as the very questionable educational cartoon puts it.. The remnants of "Little Chernobyl's diarrhea" is still stronger round here. Thailand is save as well. There's not so much north-south-mixing in the atmosphere. But if I'd live in a prefecture where the SPEEDI dose rate meter network online site reports 'Under Survey' for six weeks running, I'd feel uncomfortable (Yeah, I know, the dose rate varies widely within those two prefectures).

More informed reporting would definitely be good. But the don't worry side doesn't offer more profound information than the we're doomed side.

[elcent]

Ok an open question to all you scaremonger out there. What is your background in Nuclear Physics and radiation?

I haven't got a degree in psychiatry, but I tell you emperor Nero was a madman. Don't ask me whether he suffered from ADD, DDH, schizophrenia or whatever.

As for the so called scaremongers, most of them probably don't know the difference between alpha, beta and gamma radiation. But they for sure have heard that it's dangerous. How dangerous is difficult to tell, and that's where the fear comes in. Tell me, what's the lethal dose of I-131. How many micro Sievert will my body incorporate in an hour when the activity concentration in the air is one Becquerel per cubic meter? At what level will my risk to acquire thyroid cancer go up by 1%? How much Cl-38 or Cs-137 is there in 50 000 tons of 'radioactive' water (geez, I know, that's a more difficult question than the previous ones)?

The answers those and similar questions are difficult to find out, and if the sages just keep on saying "You're save. Trust me, I know!", the ignorant will continue to speculate. Does Tepco have a clear picture of the nuclear inventory of the Daiichi plant? Does NISA know about how many TBq of the various radio-nuclides were released to the atmosphere, the ground water, and the sea, respectively?

I know that where I live I'm save from "Genpatsu-Kun's farting", as the very questionable educational cartoon puts it.. The remnants of "Little Chernobyl's diarrhea" is still stronger round here. Thailand is save as well. There's not so much north-south-mixing in the atmosphere. But if I'd live in a prefecture where the SPEEDI dose rate meter network online site reports 'Under Survey' for six weeks running, I'd feel uncomfortable (Yeah, I know, the dose rate varies widely within those two prefectures).

More informed reporting would definitely be good. But the don't worry side doesn't offer more profound information than the we're doomed side.

... you forgot to mention - "when you feel like having millions of tiny-little fire-crackers exploding in your face you're done! "

Edited April 21, 2011 by elcent

[elcent]

Just one aside.

TEPCO management consists of politicians in the upper management, none of them has any expertise in nuclear science.

[elcent]

unit 4

How did the bolts in the picture displace., from an explosion inside the reactor or outside? From the earthquake?

Some are even missing when you look closer. Where they lose or were they just in progress to empty the reactor for a service shutdown? So many question and no answers. Also see the dark spots that are most likley from the bolts that jumped out and scratched the yellow colour. It looks as if all bolts were diplaced at once and some fell back The pressure came clearly from underneath. If that would have been an explosion at the outside it would look different then.

Edited April 21, 2011 by elcent

[elcent]

'Germany Is on the Right Track'

A Republican Environmentalist Finds Green Nirvana

By Christian Schwägerl

<BR clear=all>Photo Gallery: 5 Photos DPARepublicans in the US have gained a reputation for being skeptical of any environmental legislation. But William K. Reilly, a former advisor to President George H. W. Bush, is an exception. In Berlin recently, he said he finds German efforts to transition to renewable energies "breathtaking."

Over the course of his long career as a Republican, a businessman and a governmental adviser, William K. Reilly has seen a lot. But during a recent trip to Berlin, the 71-year-old told SPIEGEL he finds Germany's evolving national energy policy "breathtaking."

... From the American perspective, Reilly thinks that it is "almost incredible" that the nuclear reactor accident in Fukushima would lead a conservative government to bid farewell to nuclear power while simultaneously trying to reduce the use of coal. He also thinks it will be hard to explain to his Republican friends on Capitol Hill.

But he says he will try. Reilly, after all, in contrast to those international observers who have criticized Merkel's about-face as being hurried and emotionally driven, is impressed. He is, to be sure, critical of the high subsidies on offer for renewable energies. And he believes Germany won't be able to abandon nuclear energy without increasing its natural gas imports from Russia. But, he says, Germany "is on the right track." ...

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,758580,00.html

very interesting read. Looks like the lobby is crumbling in the US of A.

Edited April 21, 2011 by elcent

[StreetCowboy]

Ok an open question to all you scaremonger out there. What is your background in Nuclear Physics and radiation?

Einstein was an accountant.

Clear now?

Possibly a misleading quote there. Albert Einstein, the well-known theoretical physicist, was a theoretical physicist, but worked as a patents clerk while working on his doctorate.

There may well also have been Einsteins in the accountancy trade... but probably less well-known than Albert.

I can't imagine anyone would trust their accounts to a patents clerk; that would be madness!

SC

[JetsetBkk]

The grim videos documenting abuse of sub-contract workers by the Japanese nuclear industry.

Thanks for posting Walkingman.

Why does Jetset mention China???

I beg your pardon. I thought those Youtube videos were about China. I have no idea why I thought that.

My apologies. I promise to concentrate from now on.

[Crushdepth]

Ok an open question to all you scaremonger out there. What is your background in Nuclear Physics and radiation?

What's your background in nuclear physics and radiation? Works both ways.

[Chopperboy]

unit 4

How did the bolts in the picture displace., from an explosion inside the reactor or outside? From the earthquake?

Some are even missing when you look closer. Where they lose or were they just in progress to empty the reactor for a service shutdown? So many question and no answers. Also see the dark spots that are most likley from the bolts that jumped out and scratched the yellow colour. It looks as if all bolts were diplaced at once and some fell back The pressure came clearly from underneath. If that would have been an explosion at the outside it would look different then.

These domes normally only get removed for refueling. They are like an egg strong on the outside, but weaker to internal forces.

Note the use of radiological suites by the workers near the head - in walkingman's videos one worker mentions going inside the dome with no mask and no protective gear!

Edited April 22, 2011 by Chopperboy

[Chopperboy]

The position of the head can be seen here in yellow normally its covered by a heavy concrete core plug which gets lifted out first.

[elcent]

Ok an open question to all you scaremonger out there. What is your background in Nuclear Physics and radiation?

What's your background in nuclear physics and radiation? Works both ways.

It's like we're back to the papal priesthood of understanding science where people got tortured and murdered when they didn't agree that the world is flat and that there's only one way and option in science.

Hell has it that 18 environment activists got recently murdered here in Thailand for the same reasons.

Sad indeed! Nothing has really changed.

Edited April 22, 2011 by elcent

[elcent]

crisis revealed like with installments, bit by bit ...

Evacuation area officially expanded

The Japanese government has announced the official expansion of the evacuation zone around the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to selected areas beyond the existing 20-kilometer radius. Residents of the new areas are being asked to evacuate by the end of May.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said on Friday that the government made the designation since residents there could be exposed to cumulative radiation levels of 20 millisieverts or more per year if they stay.

The 5 new municipalities are located to the northwest of the plant and are more than 20 kilometers from it.

Edano said that due to the possible impact on residents' heath, the government is now urging them to evacuate within about a month.

Friday's announcement followed the establishment at midnight Thursday of a no-entry zone within a 20-kilometer radius of the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

Edano also designated parts of areas within 20 to 30 kilometers of the plant as areas in which residents should remain indoors or be prepared to evacuate at any time in case of an emergency.

With this designation, the government lifted an earlier instruction to stay indoors for people in the 20- to 30-kilometer zone.

Friday, April 22, 2011 12:29 +0900 (JST)

Lawmakers to explore alternative energy

Japanese lawmakers from both the ruling and opposition camps will soon launch a study group to promote the use of alternative energy.

The move comes amid the continuing emergency at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The group includes former agriculture minister Masahiko Yamada of the main ruling Democratic Party. From the opposition camp, former secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party Koichi Kato and the Social Democratic Party's policy chief Tomoko Abe will take part, among others.

The group is aiming to review Japan's energy policy that has been focused on the promotion of nuclear power, and shift it toward tapping natural resources such as solar and hydro energy.

The lawmakers also plan to assess nuclear power plants across Japan to find out what damage could be done to them from earthquakes and tsunami.

The group is scheduled to hold its first meeting next week.

Friday, April 22, 2011 09:32 +0900 (JST) http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/22_15.html

took a long long time to start looking into alternatives ....

[elcent]

TEPCO plans wage cuts to fund damage payments

The operator of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is to cut annual salaries of its workers by around 20 percent as part of efforts to fund compensation payments over the nuclear accident.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company has reportedly informed its labor union of the plan.

The company says it will make temporary damage payments worth more than 600 million dollars to 50,000 households subject to evacuation orders or indoor evacuation advisories.

Total compensation payments, however, are expected to balloon to tens of billions of dollars, as damage is spreading to agricultural and fishing industries.

Sources say 32,000 employees will see their monthly wages slashed by 5 percent, and their bonuses cut around by half. Bigger cuts are expected for corporate executives and mid-level managers.

The firm also plans to reduce the number of its new recruits, which stood at about 1,000 this spring, by more than 100 each year for the next 5 years.

Thursday, April 21, 2011 20:14 +0900 (JST) http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/22_15.html

So it is the workers and not the management. This is a scandal by itself. Take away the only one blanklet they have for sleep and reduce the food to one tiny cracker for those who help to reduce the damage there ...

[elcent]

TEPCO president apologizes to Fukushima governor

The president of the operator of the troubled nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture has offered apologies to the local governor.

Tokyo Electric Power Company's President Masataka Shimizu met Governor Yuhei Sato at the prefectural government office on Friday. It was their first meeting since the accident occurred at the plant in the wake of the March 11th quake and tsunami.

Shimizu said he deeply regrets that his utility firm caused a serious accident that has inflicted additional mental and physical burdens on those already afflicted by the natural disaster.

He vowed to bring the situation under control as soon as possible so that local people will be able to return to normal life.

The president also promised that his company will compensate those affected in a sincere manner.

Governor Sato asked the utility to implement without fail what it has pledged in the roadmap drawn up to contain the ongoing emergency.

He pointed out that nearly 6,000 children from Fukushima have had to leave the prefecture, and urged the firm to do all it can to bring them back home.

Sato also said restarting the power plant is inconceivable.

Friday, April 22, 2011 12:56 +0900 (JST) http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/22_15.html

seems as if TEPCO admits that it was/is their failure Edited April 22, 2011 by elcent

[elcent]

More than 600,000 domesticated animals have been left behind within the 20-kilometer evacuation zone around the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant since local livestock farmers evacuated more than a month ago. As of Tuesday, about 30,000 pigs, about 600,000 chickens and about 3,000 cattle were still in the evacuation zone, the Fukushima prefectural government said. Many of them are believed to have starved to death. As for the livestock that are still alive, farmers want them put down instead of letting them die from starvation. But administrative offices have said they cannot deal with the matter until radioactivity leaking from the plant is brought under control. (Yomiuri )

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVAorP4J5L4

I'm speechless!

[elcent]

Japan protests over IHT Snow White cartoon about nuclear crisis

Friday 22nd April, 03:17 PM JST

NEW YORK

Japan's Consulate General in New York lodged a protest with New York Times Co on Thursday for publishing a cartoon in which Snow White, carrying a newspaper with the headline ''Japan nuclear radiation,'' asks an old woman offering an apple if she comes from Japan.

The consulate said that since the cartoon refers to a story in Grimm's Fairy Tales in which Snow White falls into a stupor after biting a poisoned apple, it may stir up what the consulate called unfounded anxieties over the safety of foods from Japan.

The cartoon was carried on the editorial page of the International Herald Tribune, which is owned by the New York Times, in its Thursday edition.

In the cartoon Snow White looks skeptically at the apple through a magnifying glass and says to the old woman, who is dressed like a witch, ''Wait a minute! Do you come from Japan?''

The cartoon was credited to Luojie of the English-language China Daily. It was not immediately known whether it appeared first in the Chinese paper before being reprinted in the International Herald Tribune.

Deputy Consul General Yasuhisa Kawamura said consumers do not have to worry about the safety of foods from Japan because they have cleared adequate radiation checks both in Japan and the United States.

The newspaper publisher responded that it took the protest seriously, according to the Consulate General.

Nothing else to do for the Jap govt?

http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/japan-protests-over-iht-cartoon-with-snow-white-about-nuclear-crisis

Edited April 22, 2011 by elcent

[elcent]

Aomori business groups ask TEPCO, others to resume building nuclear plants

Friday 22nd April, 07:00 AM JST

AOMORI —

A group of six chambers of commerce and industry in Aomori Prefecture asked Tokyo Electric Power Co and other entities on Thursday to restart construction of nuclear facilities being clustered on the Shimokita Peninsula of the northern Japan prefecture.

The local bodies in five municipalities on the peninsula said in the written requests that the regional economy has taken serious blows from halts to the construction of TEPCO’s Higashidori nuclear plant and other facilities in the wake of the nuclear crisis in Fukushima Prefecture.

Apart from TEPCO, which suspended the construction in the village of Higashidori following radiation leaks at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Electric Power Development Co, known as J-Power, has built another nuclear power plant in the town of Oma and Recyclable-Fuel Storage Co, a TEPCO arm, a storage facility for spent nuclear fuel rods in Mutsu city.

‘‘We are anxious to see construction work commence speedily,’’ the bodies said, while urging the entities to make sure that the facilities are safe.

They also urged the builders to take additional measures to spur the regional economy, saying that the local industry has taken blows from unfounded rumors induced by the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

TEPCO began building the Higashidori plant with a 1.39 million-kilowatt output capacity in the village on the prefecture’s northeastern coast only in January before it suspended the construction in light of the March 11 temblor and the Fukushima nuclear crisis.

http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/aomori-business-groups-ask-tepco-others-to-resume-building-nuclear-plants

Still not enough from desasters?

[Chopperboy]

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Fukushima Daini nuclear plant, the companion of the crippled Daiichi plant 10 kilometers away that is still leaking radiation, has cleared a key milestone toward stabilizing, regulators said on Thursday, although the outlook for a restart remains uncertain.

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said on Thursday it reduced the evacuation zone around the four-reactor, 4,400 megawatt Daini plant after engineers had repaired the cooling systems and maintained the plant in a "cold shutdown" for several weeks.

The magnitude-9.0 earthquake and 15-meter tsunami that struck northeast Japan on March 11 automatically shut the plant, along with the Daiichi facility, and the reactors' cooling systems briefly lost power, leading the government to impose a 10 km evacuation zone the following day.

Thursday's reduction of that zone to 8 km from 10 km was purely symbolic, however, as it remains entirely within the 20 km evacuation zone still in force around the crisis-hit Daiichi plant, where engineers continue struggling to restore cooling systems and staunch radiation leaks.

The government said on Thursday that the 20-km ring around the 4,696 megawatt Daiichi plant would become a no-go zone as of midnight, although engineers would still be able to operate within the area.

A reopening of the Daini plant would require the operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co, to get approval from regional governments and residents.

[Chopperboy]

Specialists skeptical

Specialists are skeptical of TEPCO's timetable for bring the reactors at the Fukushima plant to cold shutdown within nine months.

"Cooling the nuclear reactors should be the top priority, but TEPCO's timetable shows they will instead be doing many things at once," said Michio Ishikawa, a top advisor to the Japan Nuclear Technology Institute. "I'm worried that realizing the timetable might be pie in the sky."

Ishikawa emphasized that setting up new heat exchangers to cool the reactors was the most important step. Referring to TEPCO's plan to externally cool the reactors by filling the containment vessels with water, he said, "Cooling the reactors with impounded water is not such an effective strategy."

"Judging from difficulties experienced thus far [in efforts to bring the situation at the plant under control], I doubt that TEPCO can stabilize the reactors within nine months," said Ishikawa. "I think TEPCO also needs to review its organization, for example, by having someone who can exert strong leadership [to spearhead the timetable's implementation]."

Shojiro Matsuura, former chairman of the Cabinet Office's Nuclear Safety Commission, pointed out some difficulties involved in blanketing the reactor buildings with special covers.

"Temperatures and humidity will rise toward summer. It's already difficult to work wearing protective gear and the situation will be even worse in covered buildings," Matsuura said. "TEPCO needs to take measures against possible heat stroke [among workers]."

TEPCO also has said its goal is for evacuees to return home once the situation is stabilized.

However, Atsushi Kasai, former chief researcher at the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, expressed concern over soil contaminated with radioactive substances.

"I'm concerned about soil contamination by radioactive cesium--it has a long half-life of about 30 years," Kasai said. "These are highly contaminated areas. Careful consideration must be given as to whether residents be allowed to return home so early."

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110418004891.htm

[Chopperboy]

TEPCO should incorporate measures to support workers in nuke plant roadmap

In this April 18, 2011 photo released Wednesday, April 20, 2011 by Ehime University Medical Department Prof. Takeshi Tanigawa, workers, mostly employees of Tokyo Electric Power Co., engaged in operations at the tsunami-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant, take rest inside a gymnasium that serves as their temporary dormitory at Fukushima Dai-ni Nuclear Power Plant in Naraha, 14 kilometers (9 miles) south of the former plant in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. (AP Photo/Ehime University Medical Department Prof. Takeshi Tanigawa)

More than 40 days have passed since the plant was hit by the disaster, and workers' fatigue and stress have certainly reached an alarming level.

It is expected to take six to nine months before the plant can be placed under control, according to a roadmap released earlier this week by its operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO). However, it is feared that the work will actually take far longer. Photos taken by remote-controlled robots illustrate severe conditions in the buildings housing the crippled reactors.

Many of the workers are crying out for help. It is extremely important for TEPCO and the government to step up support for employees who are working hard under such severe conditions.

A doctor who inspected TEPCO employees working at the plant has revealed that they are forced to sleep at a gymnasium attached to the Fukushima No. 2 Nuclear Power Plant after working at the No. 1 plant. They cannot take a bath everyday and eat mostly canned and instant food. Furthermore, many of them have been evacuated from their home situated in disaster-hit areas or had their residences damaged, and are mentally distressed.

It is the job of TEPCO management as well as its task force to implement measures to improve the working environment for the workers. They must promptly take action before the workers start making demands. The lack of management's understanding of the working environment at the plant could lead to a blunder or a delay in the work.

Even after TEPCO manages to place the plant under control, it does not mean an end to the work. It will take many years to decontaminate the facility and remove radioactive substances and fuel from the plant.

Similar work lasted for 14 years following the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant crisis that occurred in the United States in 1979. It is anticipated the work at the Fukushima plant will take longer.

Considering the need to secure help from skilled workers, it is necessary to monitor the level of radiation exposure. It must be ensured that all workers carry dosimeters.

If the work is prolonged, the power supplier will be forced to suspend workers at the plant one after another to prevent them from being exposed to radiation in excess of the legal limit, causing a serious shortage of personnel. To avoid such a situation, TEPCO must work out a plan on personnel management from a long-term perspective. It may also have to train new workers.

TEPCO's roadmap only mentions equipment at the plant. However, it is human resources that will place the plant under control. Therefore, measures to extend support for workers should be incorporated in the roadmap.

[elcent]

Switching to Renewables

Germany Explores Using Train Lines as a Power Grid

dpa

Could Deutsche Bahn power lines provide an alternative to constructing an all-new power grid?

Germany's increased emphasis on renewable energies requires an all-new power grid. Now, many in Berlin are wondering if the grid powering the country's train system could be used to transport wind power from the north to the south. Some say it could save of to 75 percent of expected costs. http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,758698,00.html

Where there is a will there is a way ...

[Chopperboy]

Evacuees from zone around nuclear plant express dissatisfaction over home visits

The government will only allow the evacuees to be at their homes for up to two hours in order to minimize their exposure to radiation. "We wanted to make sure that residents will not be exposed to more than 1 millisievert of radiation even if they spend five hours, including travel time, in the 20-kilometer zone," said an official with the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110422p2a00m0na009000c.html

[elcent]

Reactor 1 water level concerns

The Japanese government has expressed concern about the structural strength of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant's Number 1 reactor. It says the ongoing water injections may be making the vessel less earthquake resistant.

Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, is planning to fill part of the containment vessel with water to cool the reactor.

TEPCO wants the water level to reach the top of the fuel rods in reactors one and three by mid July, so it can cool them under more stable conditions.

At the Number 1 reactor, where fuel rods are believed to be the most seriously damaged, six tons of water are being injected every hour.

TEPCO believes the water is vaporizing, then condensing in the containment vessel.

The water level is now estimated to be about half way up the bulb of the dry well.

TEPCO says the water accumulation will not compromise the structure. But the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says large amounts of water can make the building less earthquake-proof.

The agency says it needs to check whether the suppression pool pipes can withstand higher levels of pressure from the extra water.

Saturday, April 23, 2011 07:20 +0900 (JST) http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/23_05.html

[Chopperboy]

Warnings of nuclear disaster not heeded, claims former governor

By David McNeill in Tokyo

The former governor of Fukushima province has spoken of his frustration at the failure of the Japanese authorities to heed his warnings over the safety of the power plant that was stricken by the country's recent earthquake.

The story of Japan's epic disaster comes with a generous cast of Cassandra figures, the seismologists, conservationists and whistle-blowers ignored by the national nuclear planners. But 71-year-old Eisako Sato may be pre-eminent among them.

As governor of Fukushima Prefecture from 1988-2006 – "roughly half the life of the plant", he told journalists at Tokyo's Foreign Correspondents' Club earlier this week – he was initially an enthusiastic supporter of nuclear power, swayed like his predecessors after the government and utility giant Tokyo Electric Power Co. (Tepco) brought his prefecture jobs, subsidies and a chance to contribute to the national good.

In 1998 he conditionally agreed the controversial use of mixed oxide plutonium uranium (MOX) fuel at the plant. But he withdrew it after discovering a cover-up of reactor malfunctions and cracks. Later his doubts would grow.

"Between 2002 and 2006, 21 problems at the Fukushima plant were reported to my office," he said. The whistleblowers, including some employees at the plant, bypassed both Tepco and Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) because they feared, rightly, that their information would go straight to Tepco. Sato became an increasingly bitter critic of the plant and Japan's entire energy policy, directed by NISA's powerful government overseer, the Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry.

In 2006, he was forced to step down and was prosecuted and convicted in 2008 on bribery charges that he claims were politically motivated. Embittered, he wrote a biography called Annihilating a Governor explaining his concerns about nuclear power and how he was set up and wrongfully convicted by the prosecution. Largely ignored until March 11, the book is now at the top of the sales list. "Unfortunately, it took this tragedy to make it a bestseller," he laments.

Despite his new audience, he says Japan's big newspapers and TV companies continue to ignore him. "Those who say that nuclear power is dangerous, like myself, are treated as state enemies. This is a truly terrifying logic, is it not? Whoever it may be, be it a Diet [council] member or governor, no one has been able to fight such logic so far." He calls the national policy "nuclear absolutism." Sato says there was a dry run for the March 11 disaster last year after power stopped two pumps sending water to reactor 2 on June 17, 2010.

Tepco was repeatedly asked what would happen if the back-up diesel generators also failed but the company waived this concern away, he says. Last month's crisis was triggered when the magnitude 9 quake knocked out the plant's electricity and a 15-meter tsunami poured over the building housing the back-up generators which were only built to withstand a 5.7 meter wave.

Sato snorts at Tepco's famous statement immediately afterwards that the quake/tsunami was a "disaster beyond our expectations", pointing to the string of huge tsunamis that have battered Japan's eastern coastline for millennia and the steady stream of academic warnings about the probability of a seismic event beyond the capacity of the plant to withstand. "This was a disaster waiting to happen," he concludes.

And the lesson? Replacing Tepco's management won't solve anything, he says, because the logic of Japan's energy policies is that nuclear power generation is absolutely necessary. "So nuclear power must be seen as absolutely safe." Ordinary people must "take democracy into their own hands", he added. "If they do not, in 10 years time we will see another disaster. It's almost as though we are in a fascist country where information is hidden from the public. This is time for Japan to wake up and see what the situation is."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/warnings-of-nuclear-disaster-not-heeded-claims-former-governor-2273764.html

[Chopperboy]

Evacuation zone to be widened

Cumulative radiation levels feared to pose threat to residents: Edano

By KANAKO TAKAHARA

Prime Minister Naoto Kan's government on Friday instructed parts of Fukushima Prefecture outside the 20-km no-go zone around the crippled No. 1 nuclear plant to evacuate by the end of May, saying that cumulative radiation levels may pose a health risk to residents.

The announcement came a day after the government declared the area a legally binding no-go zone, where unauthorized entry is subject to fines of up to ¥100,000 or possible detention for up to 30 days under a special nuclear emergency law.

Other areas in the 20- to 30-km radius not subject to evacuation were designated "emergency evacuation preparation zones," where residents will be asked to prepare to flee in case the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima plant suddenly worsens.

"In case of emergency, people in this zone will be asked to stay indoors or evacuate by themselves," Edano said.

"For those who may find it difficult to do so, it would be better to evacuate beforehand."

Edano said children, expectant mothers, those who require nursing care and those who are hospitalized should leave the area.

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said it is difficult to predict how long the residents would be asked to keep out.

"It is expected to continue until radioactive substances spreading from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant are under control," said Hidehiko Nishiyama, a NISA spokesman. "At present, it is difficult to say how long it will continue."

[midas]

picture of a deserted hospital near Fukushima

and more..........

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/fukushima-chernobyl-2011-4#ixzz1KKWKUhW6

[Chopperboy]

Last Friday, TEPCO workers, with assistance from Honeywell employees trained to pilot the T-Hawk drone, used the vehicle to survey the reactor buildings of Units 1, 3, and 4. TEPCO released the images the next day.

"What these images show is that the magnitude of the hydrogen explosions was incredible," said Stewart B. Minahan, executive director of operations for the Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry group.

Minahan, who has 35 years of experience with boiling water reactors, say the images are "very clear," and although they don't provide any new insight into the disaster, they show details that he hadn't seen before.

One of the elements most clearly visible is a round yellow structure sitting on the operating floor of Unit 4. The structure, Minahan says, is the drywell dome, the top part of the reactor's containment structure. When a boiling water reactor is in refueling mode -- as it was the case with Unit 4 -- workers use a crane to remove the dome and place it over concrete blocks on the floor. It's also possible to see fuel-handling machines, used to move fuel from the reactor into spent fuel pools.

But he says no parts of the reactors themselves are visible. "In my opinion, it will be hard to see them," he says. "These buildings had multiple floors, which collapsed because of the explosions."

http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/industrial-robots/robotic-aerial-vehicle-at-fukushima-reactors

[Chopperboy]

Videos of PackBot Robots Inside Fukushima Reactors Released

http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/industrial-robots/videos-of-packbots-inside-fukushima-reactors

[Throatwobbler]

Ok an open question to all you scaremonger out there. What is your background in Nuclear Physics and radiation?

Einstein was an accountant.

Clear now?

No Einstein wasn't an accountant. He worked for 2 years as a clerk at a Patent's office after he had graduated University.