Fukushima may have been in deep trouble even before the tsunami. This article pretty much says that it was a disaster waiting to happen.
...In September of 2002, TEPCO admitted to covering up data concerning cracks in critical circulation pipes in addition to previously revealed falsifications. In their analysis of the cover-up, The Citizen’s Nuclear Information Center writes: “The records that were covered up had to do with cracks in parts of the reactor known as recirculation pipes. These pipes are there to siphon off heat from the reactor. If these pipes were to fracture, it would result in a serious accident in which coolant leaks out. From the perspective of safety, these are highly important pieces of equipment. Cracks were found in the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant, reactor one, reactor two, reactor three, reactor four, reactor five.” The cracks in the pipes were not due to earthquake damage; they came from the simple wear and tear of long-term usage.
On March 2, nine days before the meltdown, the Nuclear Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) gave TEPCO a warning on its failure to inspect critical pieces of equipment at the plant, which included the recirculation pumps. TEPCO was ordered to make the inspections, perform repairs if needed and give a report to the NISA on June 2. The report is not confirmed to have been filed as of this time. ... Before the dawn on March 12, the water levels at the reactor began to plummet and the radiation began rising. Meltdown was taking place. The TEPCO Press release issued on March 12 just past 4am stated, “the pressure within the containment vessel is high but stable.” There was a note buried in the release that many people missed. “The emergency water circulation system was cooling the steam within the core; it has ceased to function.”
According to The Chunichi Shinbun and other sources, a few hours after the earthquake extremely high levels of radiation were being measured within the reactor one building. The levels were so high that if you spent a full day exposed to them it would be fatal. The water levels of the reactor were already sinking.After the Japanese government forced TEPCO to release hundreds of pages of documents relating to the accident in May, Bloomberg reported on May 19 that a radiation alarm went off 1.5 kilometers from the number one reactor on March 11 at 3:29 p.m., minutes before the tsunami reached the plant. TEPCO would not deny the possibility that there was significant radiation leakage before the power went out. They did assert that the alarm might have simply malfunctioned.
On March 11, at 9:51 p.m., under the CEO's orders, the inside of the reactor building was declared a no-entry zone. Around 11 p.m., radiation levels for the inside of the turbine building, which was next door to the reactor, reached hourly levels of 0.5 to 1.2 mSv. The meltdown was already underway.
Oddly enough, while TEPCO later insisted that the cause of the meltdown was the tsunami knocking out emergency power systems, at the 7:47 p.m. TEPCO press conference the same day, the spokesman in response to questions from the press about the cooling systems stated that the emergency water circulation equipment and reactor core isolation time cooling systems would work even without electricity.
Fukushima may have been in deep trouble even before the tsunami. This article pretty much says that it was a disaster waiting to happen.
...In September of 2002, TEPCO admitted to covering up data concerning cracks in critical circulation pipes in addition to previously revealed falsifications. In their analysis of the cover-up, The Citizen’s Nuclear Information Center writes: “The records that were covered up had to do with cracks in parts of the reactor known as recirculation pipes. These pipes are there to siphon off heat from the reactor. If these pipes were to fracture, it would result in a serious accident in which coolant leaks out. From the perspective of safety, these are highly important pieces of equipment. Cracks were found in the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant, reactor one, reactor two, reactor three, reactor four, reactor five.” The cracks in the pipes were not due to earthquake damage; they came from the simple wear and tear of long-term usage.
On March 2, nine days before the meltdown, the Nuclear Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) gave TEPCO a warning on its failure to inspect critical pieces of equipment at the plant, which included the recirculation pumps. TEPCO was ordered to make the inspections, perform repairs if needed and give a report to the NISA on June 2. The report is not confirmed to have been filed as of this time. ... Before the dawn on March 12, the water levels at the reactor began to plummet and the radiation began rising. Meltdown was taking place. The TEPCO Press release issued on March 12 just past 4am stated, “the pressure within the containment vessel is high but stable.” There was a note buried in the release that many people missed. “The emergency water circulation system was cooling the steam within the core; it has ceased to function.”
According to The Chunichi Shinbun and other sources, a few hours after the earthquake extremely high levels of radiation were being measured within the reactor one building. The levels were so high that if you spent a full day exposed to them it would be fatal. The water levels of the reactor were already sinking.After the Japanese government forced TEPCO to release hundreds of pages of documents relating to the accident in May, Bloomberg reported on May 19 that a radiation alarm went off 1.5 kilometers from the number one reactor on March 11 at 3:29 p.m., minutes before the tsunami reached the plant. TEPCO would not deny the possibility that there was significant radiation leakage before the power went out. They did assert that the alarm might have simply malfunctioned.
On March 11, at 9:51 p.m., under the CEO's orders, the inside of the reactor building was declared a no-entry zone. Around 11 p.m., radiation levels for the inside of the turbine building, which was next door to the reactor, reached hourly levels of 0.5 to 1.2 mSv. The meltdown was already underway.
Oddly enough, while TEPCO later insisted that the cause of the meltdown was the tsunami knocking out emergency power systems, at the 7:47 p.m. TEPCO press conference the same day, the spokesman in response to questions from the press about the cooling systems stated that the emergency water circulation equipment and reactor core isolation time cooling systems would work even without electricity.
Hmmm, imagine that; they weren't telling the truth prior to the accident. And, I guess they all of a sudden decided to tell the truth after the accident????
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03:35 PM
Raydar Member
Posts: 40912 From: Carrollton GA. Out in the... country. Registered: Oct 1999
If this was true, then Fukushima was a ticking bomb. Prior to this event, I'd have pictured a bunch of Japanese leaders committing hari-kari when all this happened. Toss that stereotype right out the door.
Call me naive, but I have to believe that things aren't that corrupt, or sloppy, here.
[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 07-03-2011).]
If this was true, then Fukushima was a ticking bomb. Prior to this event, I'd have pictured a bunch of Japanese leaders committing hari-kari when all this happened. Toss that stereotype right out the door.
Call me naive, but I have to believe that things aren't that corrupt, or sloppy, here.
I dunno, we have two nuclear power plants under water or about to be under water, and our main manufacturing site for nuclear weapons containing thousands of barrels of nuclear "waste" sitting under tents on the edge of a forest fire. There's little news coverage and what I do hear is that everything is alright and there's no need for concern. If those situations are not more newsworthy than Casey Anthony, I shudder to think of our current state of complacency?
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06:59 PM
dennis_6 Member
Posts: 7196 From: between here and there Registered: Aug 2001
I dunno, we have two nuclear power plants under water or about to be under water, and our main manufacturing site for nuclear weapons containing thousands of barrels of nuclear "waste" sitting under tents on the edge of a forest fire. There's little news coverage and what I do hear is that everything is alright and there's no need for concern. If those situations are not more newsworthy than Casey Anthony, I shudder to think of our current state of complacency?
Careful, talk like that makes you a "fear monger" somehow.
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07:04 PM
Raydar Member
Posts: 40912 From: Carrollton GA. Out in the... country. Registered: Oct 1999
I dunno, we have two nuclear power plants under water or about to be under water, and our main manufacturing site for nuclear weapons containing thousands of barrels of nuclear "waste" sitting under tents on the edge of a forest fire. There's little news coverage and what I do hear is that everything is alright and there's no need for concern. If those situations are not more newsworthy than Casey Anthony, I shudder to think of our current state of complacency?
Last I've heard was that the water is predicted to start receding. I also heard that a fire break was carved around Los Alamos, and that it wasn't in danger of being caught up in the fire. I take comfort in the fact that, the media being what it is, if anything bad was even remotely likely to happen, they'd be spinning around on their eyebrows.
Having said that... I agree with you completely about our (as a nation) priorities. I'm so f'n sick of hearing about Casey Anthony, I'm ready to open a vein.
[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 07-03-2011).]
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07:42 PM
phonedawgz Member
Posts: 17091 From: Green Bay, WI USA Registered: Dec 2009
Separately, a survey of soil at four locations in the city of Fukushima on June 26 found that all samples were contaminated with radioactive cesium, measuring 16,000 to 46,000 becquerels per kilogram and exceeding the legal limit of 10,000 becquerels per kg, citizens groups involved said Tuesday.
The city, about 60 kilometers northwest of the crippled plant, does not fall within the 20-km no-entry zone or nearby evacuation areas.
One location registered as much as 931,000 becquerels per square meter, surpassing the 555,000 becquerels per sq meter limit for compulsory resettlement in the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident. Samples from the other three locations measured between 326,000 and 384,000 becquerels per sq meter.
Fukushima residents dump radiated soil in absence of plan Tue Jul 5, 2011 1:33am GMT
Print | Single Page [-] Text [+] <p>Temporary storage tanks for low level radioactive water from Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) Co.'s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station's No.5 and No.6 reactors are seen at the grounds of the plant in Fukushima prefecture, May 11, 2011, in this handout photo released by TEPCO on June 2, 2011. REUTERS/Tokyo Electric Power Co/Handout</p> 1 of 1Full Size
By Antoni Slodkowski
FUKUSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) - They scoop up soil from their gardens and dump it in holes dug out in parks and nearby forests, scrub their roofs with soap and refuse to let their children play outside.
More than three months after a massive earthquake and tsunami triggered a nuclear meltdown at a nearby power plant, Fukushima residents are scrambling to cope with contamination on their own in the absence of a long-term plan from the government.
"Everything and everyone here is paralysed and we feel left on our own, unsure whether it's actually safe for us to stay in the city," said Akiko Itoh, 42, with her four-year old son in her lap.
Even though this city of 300,000 lies outside of the 30-km evacuation zone around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant, a recent survey showed radiation levels in several spots exceed 13 millisieverts per year, more than six times natural levels.
As increasingly panicked residents take matters into their own hands, experts warn that their do-it-yourself efforts to reduce contamination risk making matters worse by allowing radiation to spread without monitoring and by creating hotspots of high radioactivity where soil is piled high.
"I scooped up all the radioactive soil and grass from my garden and dumped it in the forest, so no one could find it," said a mother of a four-year-old child from Fukushima city, who did not want to be identified by name.
"When I put my Geiger counter close to that mountain of soil it showed 10 microseverts per hour," she said. That is more than four times the official annual nuclear exposure limit. Others were spotted dumping their nuclear waste in public parks and by the river, residents said.
Experts say the longer it takes Japanese authorities to organise a clean-up the greater the risk of additional, long-lasting damage.
"Such clusters of radiation can also leak into the groundwater and pose more health hazards for a sustained period," said Takumi Gotoh, a Nagoya-based cancer specialist.
"That's why Japan urgently needs a comprehensive, long-term plan to deal with the issue," Gotoh said.
WHAT'S THE PLAN?
Since late May authorities have been removing topsoil from school grounds in the affected areas, by packing it in tarps and burying it in holes in the grounds as a stopgap measure intended to reduce exposure for children.
"They say this is just a temporary solution. But we are worried they may take years before removing the contaminated soil for good," says Seiichi Nakate from "Fukushima Network for Saving Children from Radiation," a non-profit citizens group.
Experts have said that they don't know and can't yet estimate how much radioactive soil might have to be removed after Fukushima, but say the amount will be massive based on historical precedent.
For example, after British nuclear testing in remote South Australia that ended in 1963, more than two cubic kilometers of soil had to be removed. After an American B-52 carrying nuclear bombs crashed in south Spain in 1966, more than 1,000 cubic meters of soil had to be removed and sent back to the United States for storage as nuclear waste.
Many see the best storage site as the Fukushima nuclear plant, but experts warn that will mean waiting until at least 2012 when efforts to stabilise the plant are scheduled to wind down.
"The soil ultimately should be taken to those who are responsible for this mess, that is Tokyo Electric," said Nakate.
The International Commission on Radiological Protectionhas issued guidelines that urge governments dealing with a nuclear emergency to set up a radiation monitoring system with a detailed read-out on hotspots and a health monitoring system for the affected population.
While checking radiation in schools is now commonplace, health check-ups have only started in the worst-affected areas. Tokyo has promised that the radiation hotspot map will be ready by October -- seven months after the disaster.
In the meantime, the continued uncertainty puts communities already increasingly distrustful of officialdom under even greater strain, residents and local officials say.
"What is the government doing? How many of them actually came to Fukushima to listen to the concerns of the people living here?" said Yoshinori Kasuya, assembly member of Fukushima city council.
(Additional reporting by Kevin Krolicki; Editing by Tomasz Janowski)
Down to name calling? Anyway, the last I saw this was a fact not a "whacko statement." Did the river go down?
It's only "whacko" when it doesn't conform to his personal ideology. As a True Believer, anything that doesn't fit is heresy, whacko, alarmist, etc.
Am I the only one that thinks that children peeing Cesium 137 is a bad thing? Is that being "alarmist" by saying that? Are we all "whacko" if we think that's a bad thing?
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06:30 PM
phonedawgz Member
Posts: 17091 From: Green Bay, WI USA Registered: Dec 2009
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The government sent a plane equipped with radiation monitors over the Los Alamos nuclear laboratory Wednesday as a 110-square-mile wildfire burned at its doorstep, putting thousands of scientific experiments on hold for days, the Associated Press reports. No radiation was found in the air.
CBS News correspondent Cynthia Bowers reports that officials there say there was nothing to worry about anyways.
With fire burning just a few miles away, Los Alamos National Laboratory spokesman Terry Wallace pointed out Area G. It's there that 10,000 fifty-five gallon drums filled with low level radioactive material are stored.
"The bulk of the drums there truly are things like notes that are contaminated, contaminated gloves," Wallace says.
Those drums are in outdoor domes made of reinforced steel covered with a plasticized fire retardant. But lab officials insist this site and two others containing additional radioactive materials are safe. More radioactive waste is stored in concrete tubes buried deep in the ground; plutonium and uranium are stored in vaults inside hardened concrete buildings.
Los Alamos fire stokes fear of radioactive smoke
Air quality tests over the sprawling facility show no traces of radiation, but critics say no one really knows what would happen if Area G caught fire. Los Alamos officials refuse to consider a worst case scenario involving radiation release.
"I don't believe there is any specific danger to the public from our activities at Los Alamos. The danger is from that fire on the mountain" says Carl Beard, Los Alamos operations director.
Folks who live in the nearby town of Los Alamos like Denise Lane stand by the lab.
"Those people who work there are my neighbors. They live next door to me. I know who they are," Lane says.
The wind picked up a bit today, but fortunately it is now taking the fire away from Los Alamos.
[This message has been edited by carnut122 (edited 07-06-2011).]
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11:48 PM
dennis_6 Member
Posts: 7196 From: between here and there Registered: Aug 2001
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09:23 06 LUG 2011
(AGI) Tokyo - Almost four months after the Fukushima disaster, a fire started in the nuclear waste disposal plant near reactor No. 2 in Tokai, in the East of Japan. Official sources reported that the blaze is now under control and that no radiocative material leak occurred. The power plant is run by the Japan Atomic Power and is situated in the Ibaraki province, North of Tokyo. . . http://www.agi.it/english-v...plant_in_tokai_japan
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11:51 PM
dennis_6 Member
Posts: 7196 From: between here and there Registered: Aug 2001
I'll let you decide for yourself. ... "The bulk of the drums there truly are things like notes that are contaminated, contaminated gloves," Wallace says.
Those drums are in outdoor domes made of reinforced steel covered with a plasticized fire retardant. But lab officials insist this site and two others containing additional radioactive materials are safe. More radioactive waste is stored in concrete tubes buried deep in the ground; plutonium and uranium are stored in vaults inside hardened concrete buildings.
So that would be, No, spent nuclear fuel is NOT "sitting under tents."
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12:09 AM
Formula88 Member
Posts: 53788 From: Raleigh NC Registered: Jan 2001
The fire's leading edge burned to within a few miles of a dump site where some 20,000 barrels of plutonium-contaminated waste, including clothing and equipment, is stored at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, fire officials said.
To hear some people talk about it, it's barrels of spent fuel rods.
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12:13 AM
phonedawgz Member
Posts: 17091 From: Green Bay, WI USA Registered: Dec 2009
When you consider the potential issues of releasing radioactive wastes into the environment you have to consider the actual isotopes involved, when and where and how they would be released, the concentration, and the amount of wastes. The chart talks about radiation exposure.
Is the isotope one with a long or short half life? How likely is it to be absorbed by the body? Will it be released into the ground water? Running water? Into the air as an aerosol? Will there be exposure to people to the wastes?
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03:57 PM
dennis_6 Member
Posts: 7196 From: between here and there Registered: Aug 2001
President of Japan Nuclear Operator May Resign Over E-Mails By MARTIN FACKLER Published: July 7, 2011
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TOKYO — The president of a nuclear plant operator said on Thursday that he may resign as a result of a scandal over faked e-mails that has added a bizarre new twist to a decision whether to allow Japan’s idled reactors to restart in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.
The president of Kyushu Electric Power, Toshio Manabe, told reporters that he must take responsibility for the e-mails, which were sent by employees of subsidiaries who posed as regular citizens supporting the restart of two local reactors. The e-mails were sent on June 26 during a live televised public hearing on whether to restart the reactors at the Genkai Nuclear Power Station, and some may have been read on the air.
The company was apparently trying to sway public opinion in hopes of persuading the governor of southern Saga Prefecture, where Genkai is located, to support the restart. The governor, Yasushi Furukawa, has become the center of national attention as he deliberates over the reactors, which were shut down for routine maintenance before the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.
As the first governor to face such a decision since the March disaster, Mr. Furukawa is widely seen as a bellwether of sorts for how other governors may decide. Currently, 35 of Japan’s 54 reactors are shut down, some because of earthquake or tsunami damage, but most for routine checks.
There are widespread warnings of looming power shortages if some of the reactors remain idle. However, with the radiation-spewing Fukushima plant still far from under control, public opinion polls show a majority of Japanese now support eliminating or phasing out nuclear power.
Mr. Furukawa had said he would closely watch the televised hearing, during which e-mails and faxes from viewers were read on the air. Of the 11 e-mails and faxes read on the broadcast, 4 supported a restart, though it was unclear if any came from the Kyushu Electric-affiliated employees.
The revelations on Thursday of the faked e-mails appeared to deal an embarrassing setback to not only Kyushu Electric, but also the powerful Ministry of Trade and Industry, which convened the hearing to win public support for the reactors’ restart.
“This behavior was unspeakable and went completely against the rationale of the program,” the minister of trade and industry, Banri Kaieda, told reporters.
On Thursday, Mr. Furukawa gave no indication of how the e-mail revelations would affect his thinking. However, the mayor of Genkai, the plant’s host community, told Kyushu Electric that he was withdrawing his previous support of the restart.
The mayor, Hideo Kishimoto, told reporters he felt like he was “being mocked” by the company.
Mr. Manabe, the Kyushu Electric president, said that he had no direct hand in the e-mails, but that he was responsible as head of the company. He said he would make a final decision on stepping down next week, after the company’s chairman returned from an overseas trip.
The e-mail debacle comes a day after Prime Minister Naoto Kan suddenly announced that all nuclear plants in Japan would undergo new earthquake safety tests — just weeks after Mr. Kaieda had proclaimed the plants safe.
Apparently angered by Mr. Kan’s sudden about-face, Mr. Kaieda said Thursday that he, too, would resign. But it was a largely symbolic gesture, as he said he would do so after the passage of a series of earthquake-relief bills — the same ones that Mr. Kan has already said he wants to pass before stepping down himself. Mr. Kan made the pledge to resign last month, after being faced with mounting criticism of his handling of the triple disaster of earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident.
The stress tests promised by Mr. Kan involve computer simulations that do not require the reactors to shut down. However, they could take months to complete. The governor of Saga, Mr. Furukawa, has said he may hold off on a decision until after the tests are finished, raising the prospect that Japan could be faced with the prospect of more and more of its remaining reactors going off line. That is because Japanese law requires reactors to shut down every 13 months for routine maintenance.
The last operating reactor would be due for a shutdown in April. The loss of the reactors would deprive Japan of a third of its generating capacity, according to the Ministry of Trade and Industry. http://www.nytimes.com/2011...ia/08japan.html?_r=2
In light of this I would say TEPCO is not a credible source.
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04:42 PM
dennis_6 Member
Posts: 7196 From: between here and there Registered: Aug 2001
Tepco halts cooling system at nuclear plant after sparks-Kyodo
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TOKYO, July 7 | Thu Jul 7, 2011 6:19am EDT
TOKYO, July 7 (Reuters) - The operator of Japan's Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant, located near the tsunami-crippled Daiichi plant, on Thursday halted the cooling system at one of its reactors after electrical sparks were detected, Kyodo news agency reported.
Tokyo Electric Power , the plant's operator, expects to be able to restore the cooling system at the Daini plant's No.1 reactor before the end of Thursday, Kyodo said.
The Daini plant, about 240 km (150 miles) from Tokyo, is located several miles along the Pacific coast from the Daiichi plant, damaged severely by the powerful earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11.
The Daini plant suffered less damage from the disasters and is currently in cold shutdown. (Reporting by Shinichi Saoshiro; Editing by Chris Gallagher) http://www.reuters.com/arti...dUST9E7HS03J20110707
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05:08 PM
dennis_6 Member
Posts: 7196 From: between here and there Registered: Aug 2001
Tepco Says 3 More Workers Exposed to Radiation Exceeding Limit By Tsuyoshi Inajima and Shunichi Ozasa - Jul 7, 2011 4:30 AM CT
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said three more workers at its crippled Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant were exposed to radiation exceeding the government’s annual limit.
The male workers, in their 20s, were exposed to levels beyond the limit of 250 millisieverts, Junichi Matsumoto, a general manager at the utility known as Tepco, told reporters in Tokyo today. Medical examinations showed the exposure had no immediate impact on their health, he said.
Under Tepco rules, a worker exposed to more than 170 millisieverts will be deployed to the plant’s radiation- and quake-proof operation center, Hajime Motojuku, a spokesman for the utility, said by phone. A worker exposed to more than 200 millisieverts will be sent to other Tepco plants or offices, according to Motojuku.
To contact the reporter on this story: Tsuyoshi Inajima in Tokyo at tinajima@bloomberg.net; Shunichi Ozasa in Tokyo at sozasa@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Amit Prakash at aprakash1@bloomberg.net.
The operator of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi power plant is having trouble injecting nitrogen gas into one of the reactors to prevent a hydrogen explosion.
Tokyo Electric Power Company on Wednesday examined the No.3 reactor to see if it can connect injection pipes to the containment vessel.
A camera-mounted robot was used for the operation because high radioactive levels are preventing workers from remaining in the reactor building for long periods.
But TEPCO failed to confirm the situation because the robot couldn't reach the necessary part of the reactor.
Radiation levels as high as about 50 millisieverts per hour were registered in the area.
The reading means a worker would be exposed to radiation on par with the government-set 250-millisievert safety limit in 5 hours.
TEPCO is now considering sending personnel or a robot into the reactor building to conduct another survey. The new survey would happen on Friday at the earliest.
There is a growing likelihood that the planned nitrogen injection will be delayed.
45% of kids in Fukushima survey had thyroid exposure to radiation TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Around 45 percent of children in Fukushima Prefecture surveyed by the local and central governments in late March experienced thyroid exposure to radiation, although in all cases in trace amounts that did not warrant further examination, officials of the Nuclear Safety Commission said Tuesday.
The survey was conducted on 1,080 children aged 0 to 15 in Iwaki, Kawamata and Iitate on March 26-30 in light of radiation leakages from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant crippled after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disaster.
Separately, a survey of soil at four locations in the city of Fukushima on June 26 found that all samples were contaminated with radioactive cesium, measuring 16,000 to 46,000 becquerels per kilogram and exceeding the legal limit of 10,000 becquerels per kg, citizens groups involved said Tuesday.
The city, about 60 kilometers northwest of the crippled plant, does not fall within the 20-km no-entry zone or nearby evacuation areas.
One location registered as much as 931,000 becquerels per square meter, surpassing the 555,000 becquerels per sq meter limit for compulsory resettlement in the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident. Samples from the other three locations measured between 326,000 and 384,000 becquerels per sq meter.
Among children who tested positive for thyroid exposure, the amounts measured 0.04 microsieverts per hour or less in most cases. The largest exposure was 0.1 microsieverts per hour, equivalent to a yearly dose of 50 millisieverts for a 1-year-old. A woman feeds her baby at a shelter for those evacuated away from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant Wednesday, March 16, 2011, in Koriyama, Japan. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull) A woman feeds her baby at a shelter for those evacuated away from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant Wednesday, March 16, 2011, in Koriyama, Japan. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
None of those surveyed was exposed to over 0.2 microsieverts per hour, the government's benchmark for conducting more detailed examinations, according to the officials.
Babies and young children are at highest risk of developing thyroid cancer after exposure to radioactive iodine released into the atmosphere in nuclear accidents. In the case of Chernobyl, most victims who developed the cancer in following years had been babies or young children living in the affected regions at the time of the accident.
Man freed after arrest for collecting radiation-contaminated rubble in Fukushima Police officers in protective suits search for missing people in Minami Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, Wednesday, April 13, 2011. The city is inside the evacuation zone within 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) radius from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae) Police officers in protective suits search for missing people in Minami Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, northeastern Japan, Wednesday, April 13, 2011. The city is inside the evacuation zone within 20 kilometers (12.5 miles) radius from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae)
A man has been freed after being held on suspicion of collecting rubble allegedly contaminated with radiation from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant without permission, the Mainichi has learned.
The man was arrested on March 26 after allegedly collecting about 1.8 metric tons of broken brick walls and other rubble from a house in Koriyama for a 42,000 yen fee without a license in violation of the Waste Disposal and Public Cleansing Law.
The Koriyama branch of the Fukushima District Public Prosecutors Office, however, decided to set him free without charge after concluding that the law does not apply to waste contaminated with radioactive materials, and the rubble gathered by the man may be contaminated with radiation. The prosecutors office declined comment on the case.
Police and other authorities concerned are asking the central government to quickly write a law to regulate contaminated waste to prevent the spread of radioactive materials through dumping.
The Environment Ministry's Office of Waste Recycling Program Planning said, "The current exclusionary regulations do not define the density and dose of radioactive materials and may abet crime, so we are looking into the possibility of revising the law." http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnn...2a00m0na006000c.html
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06:21 PM
dennis_6 Member
Posts: 7196 From: between here and there Registered: Aug 2001
TOKYO, July 9 (AP) - (Kyodo)—An excessive level of radioactive cesium has been found in the meat of one of 11 cows taken to a meat packing plant in Tokyo from Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, the Tokyo metropolitan government said Friday.
It is the first time an excessive level of radioactive cesium has been found in meat, according to the health ministry. The meat in question contained radioactive cesium, measuring 2,300 becquerels per kilogram, against the provisional ceiling of 500 becquerels, according to the local government.
The meat of the 10 other cows is being inspected, the metropolitan government said, adding that no meat from the batch has entered the market.
The city of Minamisoma lies on the outskirts of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in the same prefecture, which has emitted radioactive materials in the aftermath of the disaster caused by the March earthquake and tsunami.
The Atomic Energy Society of Japan, an academic society made up of experts on nuclear power engineering, nuclear reactor physics and radiology, on Monday issued a statement criticizing the government, Tokyo Electric Power Co. and other related institutions for delays and insufficiency in their disclosure of information concerning the accidents at Tepco's Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, which began March 11.
People will give an approving nod to each of the points raised by the society because these points accurately show what they have been feeling about the behavior of the government and Tepco in connection with the Fukushima nuclear crisis.
The society says that the delay in the data disclosure is extremely regrettable and that the information has been insufficient.
Since the Atomic Energy Society of Japan is regarded as close to Japan's nuclear power establishment, the criticism bears importance all the more.
The government, Tepco and other related institutions should closely examine their past behavior as to information disclosure and quickly change their attitude.
The society says that people's worries about the nuclear accidents and the spread of radioactive substances have increased because the process of information disclosure is cloudy and the information that has been provided is conflicting.
The following point is especially important. The society notes that there is the possibility that the damage to people's health from radiation exposure has increased because the government, Tepco and other related institutions did not properly disclose information on the status of the nuclear accidents and the environmental contamination by radioactive substances.
It says that although they had information that must be disclosed, they have not done so.
An example that surfaced recently is the education and science ministry's failure to immediately disclose the name of a radiation hot spot in Namie, Fukushima Prefecture.
Tokyo Shimbun's Wednesday report says that although the ministry started monitoring the radiation level in the Akougi mountainous area in Namie on March 17 on the basis of a prediction by SPEEDI (System for Prediction of Environmental Emergency Dose Information) and detected a high radiation level of 150 microsieverts per hour or more at an early date, its website did not disclose the area's name until April 11. It only mentioned "(32) about 30 km northwest."
The radiation data were not used to evacuate local residents until the government decided on evacuation on April 22.
The society also takes the parties concerned to task over cases in which announcements have been made in Japan only after the data had been disclosed in reports intended for consumption abroad, and cases in which no announcements have been made in Japan although the information is provided abroad.
One example mentioned by the society concerns the reports on the meltdowns in the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 reactors at Fukushima No. 1. On June 6, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency announced that a simulation pointed to the possibility that meltdowns had occurred in each of the three reactors and that molten nuclear fuel had pooled at the bottom of the pressure vessel of each reactor. The next day, the government admitted that a more serious situation may have developed in the three reactors.
In its report for a conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the government pointed to the possibility that molten nuclear fuel had drained out of the pressure vessels and dropped to the bottom of the containment vessels.
Understandably the society strongly criticizes the government for disclosing this serious development as late as almost three months after the crisis started and for disclosing the information only through a report intended for an international meeting.
The society also cited the handling of information on the arrangement of spent nuclear fuel rods in a cooling pool for the No. 4 reactor at Fukushima No. 1. It says that the U.S. Energy Department disclosed on May 26 a detailed diagram showing the arrangement of the spent nuclear rods as well as the results of its analysis on the situation.
The society points out that the data on the arrangement of the spent nuclear rods came from Tepco and that the information has not yet been disclosed in Japan even though it would be useful in determining the cause of the destruction of the reactor's outer building.
The cases clearly show that the information disclosure process is flawed. (The society also gave other examples.) The society notes that such vital information as the temperature of the lower section of the pressure vessels, the volume and temperature of the coolant water in the lower part of the pressure vessels, and the temperature of the molten nuclear fuel have yet to be released.
The government, Tepco and other related institutions should take a serious view of society's criticism that the problems in information disclosure have hampered experts' efforts to analyze the Fukushima nuclear accidents and offer advice on how to regain control of the situation. http://search.japantimes.co...in/ed20110708a1.html
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06:27 PM
carnut122 Member
Posts: 9122 From: Waleska, GA, USA Registered: Jan 2004
The plants are still not under water or soon to be under water. Is your point of this post to say the statement still alarmist and still wacko?
If you watched the video, you can clearly see the water has passed by the failed barrier. Did you have a bad childhood?
Ah, you are correct, the water has not gone over the roofs. On the other hand, parts of the plant is under water, so actually it is under water-just not all of it.
[This message has been edited by carnut122 (edited 07-08-2011).]
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11:00 PM
Jul 9th, 2011
phonedawgz Member
Posts: 17091 From: Green Bay, WI USA Registered: Dec 2009
If you watch the video you will her the woman say that water is SURROUNDING the plant. She also said specifically "They (the waters) have not flooded the plant". That means it is NOT under water.
This is the text of the written story
quote
Nebraska Nuclear Power Plant Safe Despite Major Flooding. Water leaking into the turbine building of the Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant in Nebraska today was expected and did not pose a safety risk, according to NBC News. A spokesman for Omaha Public Power District told NBC that pumps were handling the leak properly and the facility was safe.
If the pumps are handing the leak, then the building is NOT under water.
I had a childhood where I actually learned the meaning of English words. I also learned not to lie even if it is try to convince people of my wacko fear mongering.
NOT UNDER WATER.
[This message has been edited by phonedawgz (edited 07-09-2011).]
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02:45 AM
dennis_6 Member
Posts: 7196 From: between here and there Registered: Aug 2001
A roadmap toward decommissioning of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant indicates that the removal of melted nuclear fuel rods at the plant may begin in 10 years.
NHK has obtained the mid- and long-term roadmap which was presented when officials from the operator of the Fukushima plant, government officials in charge of nuclear safety, and manufacturers of nuclear reactors met last week.
The draft roadmap drawn up by the government's Nuclear Safety Commission and Tokyo Electric Power Company says they tentatively set a target date to begin removing fuel rods that melted and fell to the bottom of the reactor.
The work is considered to be the most important phase in the decommissioning process. The roadmap indicates that removal will start in 2021 if technology essential for the work has been developed before that.
The timeline is believed to have been set based on measures taken following the 1979 Three Mile Island accident in the United States.
But unlike the US case, as reactor containment vessels were damaged at the Fukushima complex, they need to be fixed and filled with water.
The roadmap shows that reactor buildings could be finally demolished and cleared away after the removal of melted fuel rods is completed, and that it will possibly take dozens of years.
I will be dead long before they even start removing the melted fuel from the reactors. It's a multi-billion dollar project that will come due after my demise. I guess it's not really my problem, LOL. suckers!
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04:26 PM
dennis_6 Member
Posts: 7196 From: between here and there Registered: Aug 2001
Radioactive cesium exceeding the government limit was detected in processed tea made in Tochigi City, about 160 kilometers from the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
The Tochigi Prefectural Government says 1,810 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive cesium was detected in tea processed from leaves harvested in the city in early July.
The level is more than 3 times the provisional government limit.
On Thursday, the prefecture requested that tea farmers in the city voluntarily stop shipments of their products.
Radioactive cesium has also been detected in other areas in the prefecture.
After the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, tea leaves and processed teas contaminated by radioactive substances have been found over wide areas near Tokyo. These include the prefectures of Chiba, Kanagawa and the country's largest tea production center, Shizuoka.
