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Buffett targeted over nuke plant
An environmental group is taking Warren Buffett to task over a proposed nuclear power plant in Iowa.
The group, Friends of the Earth, says Buffett told CNBC last month that the future of nuclear reactor construction is “dead” because of the crisis in Japan. Yet MidAmerican Energy, a holding of Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, is proposing to build a new Iowa nuclear plant, it says.
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“Mr. Buffett, Iowa ratepayers should not be paying up front for a project you don’t think will ever be completed,” the group’s ad said.
IS THERE A 'BEST CASE' SCENARIO FOR JAPAN? From March 16th and overly optimistic, but he raises a good point:
From fault-riddled California, to hurricane-prone Turkey Point in Florida, the world and its leaders will take new hard looks at nuclear power plants. There is no such thing as "fail safe" and there is no such thing as a foolproof system of protecting Earth from radiation leaks in disasters in a future we cannot know.
But what if all six impacted Japanese plants survive the crisis with a staged closing, going offline, securing or encasing "hot" cores, avoiding the escape of acceptably low levels of isotopes - and all this actually does not cause widespread death and future cancer risk?
The worst earthquake in memory; the worst tidal wave to hit a developed nation, and the failure of one, two, three or more redundant safety systems at nuclear plants!
The odds are millions to one of this confluence of events. But it happened. And if, just if, the engineers and managers, corporate sponsors and atomic energy regulators give an "all clear"and doomsday is avoided, I pose this question, which my fellow environmentalists will cringe at: "Is it possible that we can learn from the Japanese events, make further improvements, and grudgingly admit that nuclear power might indeed be a safer alternative to polluting and depleting hydrocarbons?"
The entire experience could prove that France with 75 per cent dependency on nuclear power actually is a better template for economic sanity than the United States still dependant on the violence and vagaries of Venezuela or Saudi Riyadh for our future.
Good point. Completely wrong, as history will most certainly attest, but in the interest of open minded-ness..
Anything Can Happen at Any Time: Zen Lessons from Japan Huffington Post. Excerpts:
What's happened in Japan affects all of us. Perhaps, like me, you've noticed a sober backdrop of stunned sadness that's been pervading our collective psyche. If we are to become more conscious human beings then each moment can be taken as an opportunity to wake up. What can we learn so that this tragedy helps us deepen our understanding and become more awake?
A central tenet of existence is the truth of impermanence. Ultimately there is no stability in a constantly changing world. Everything on this physical plane is subject to this law of unreliability -- our bodies, our mind-states, our relationships, even the very earth we stand on. As one of my teachers puts it: "Anything can happen at any time." Zen philosopher Alan Watts called it "the wisdom of insecurity." An earthquake is a direct experience that there's no solid ground to stand on. The images coming out of Japan not only touch our hearts, they underscore the fragility of life. How can we relate to the unpredictability of life so that rather than living in a continual state of anxiety this truth helps us grow and informs our lives?
Buddhist teachings encourage people to reflect every day on the fact that, because of the truth of impermanence, everything near and dear to us will sooner or later be separated from us. The aim of this practice is not to depress or dwell on the morbid, but to inoculate us from the pain and confusion when the inevitable comes. Knowing that anything can happen at any time can remind us to wake up and be present for life as it's happening now. Instead of sleepwalking through it, taking it for granted as we fantasize about the future or live in the past, life's fragility awakens us to the precious gift we've been given. When we realize that the only moment there is is the one we are in, we're more motivated to be here for it and honor it with our presence. It becomes a sacred gift worthy of our attention.
Ace, "De Niro" unlikely heroes of Japan nuclear crisis Weird fucking bullshit. Excerpts:
TOKYO (Reuters Life!) - "Ace" is Japan's latest hero. Fans dissect his daily comments on message boards, where some post gushing tributes to his voice and his expressive face, and spend hours watching video clips of his performances.
Far from an actor or rock star, Ace is one of the officials at Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), the operator of Japan's crippled nuclear plant, who face the media each day for updates after the disastrous March 11 earthquake and tsunami that set off the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years.
"I spend several hours each day thinking about Ace or watching his clips," one online follower said on a message board dedicated to Ace.
Though the public from the start praised the hard work and courage of the on-site workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant who toiled to bring the situation under control, officials at the Tokyo home office came in for criticism.
But after weeks of seeing Ace and colleagues such as "De Niro" -- nicknamed for his resemblance to actor Robert De Niro -- at twice-daily news conferences streamed live over the Internet, tackling hardball questions from sometimes testy reporters, respect for them has grown.
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Fans debate the best "Ace moments" on the message board devoted to him, which has attracted nearly 300 posts.
You gotta be shittin' me, here.. 300 posts on a fan forum in... TOYKO? Tokyo has a population of 28 million people. I would assume most people understand, then, that 300 posts is evidence of a completely fringe phenomenon. Inactive forums or blogs can attract as much attention. I find the article believable, as fringe movements and behaviors are inherently unexpected, so I don't doubt the forum's veracity. But, even taking into account X number of "lurkers"(non responsive, yet active readers), forum participants are, statistically, insignificant.
Fukushima Fallout/Commentary: The Alameda Sun. Excerpts:
I opened the Alameda Sun on Friday, April 7, and read with horror its front page article, "Nuclear Scientist Counts Radiation Levels Locally," The article states that UC Berkeley professor Kai Vetter installed three radiation detectors, and began collecting rainwater on the roof of Etcheverry Hall on the Cal campus on March 17, in time for the radioactive plume's arrival on March 19. The article further states that Vetter says fallout in our area from the Fukushima disaster is nothing to worry about, and that "the extremely low levels of both iodine and cesium he measured should reassure people that there is little danger in the presence of these elements.
The levels were low to begin with and are even lower now." The article goes on to say that "Vetter told KTVU that even at the highest levels measured, a person would have to breathe that air for 2,000 years to be exposed to the same amount of radiation that one would experience from a cross-country flight. "You should not be worried about your dog going out and drinking some rainwater — he will not light up," he stated about the rain that recently fell.
Interestingly, an article appeared in Business Insider on April 4, just three days before this article showed up in the Sun, with the heading, "San Francisco Rainwater: Radiation 181 Times Above U.S. Drinking Water Standard." Apparently, the sample was taken "on the roof of Etcheverry Hall on the campus of UC Berkeley on March 23, 2011"
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There's more: "Rising Risks: Fukushima radiation is blanketing most of the United States and Canada according to the data and visuals published regularly by the Norwegian Institute of Air Research. The risks of that radiation falling with rain, have been downplayed by U.S. government officials and others, who say its impacts are so fleeting and minor so as to be negligible. Nonetheless, radiation falling with rain can cover grass that is eaten by cows and other animals. It can also fall on food crops or contaminate reservoirs that are used for irrigation or drinking water. [Norwegian Institute of Air Research or NILU]"
I don't know about Alameda Sun readers, but I think it is criminally irresponsible for Vetter, a nuclear scientist, to lie to us about the safety and amount of radiation he is measuring, and that the public is being exposed to. Radiation is cumulative, is much more dangerous when it is ingested than when it is outside of you, and Vetter's own tests have shown the levels to be 181 times the MCLs on March 23.
And no, the levels will not be going down, as the Fukushima plant is now a permanent hot spot on this planet that will continue to spew every form of isotope imaginable, including the deadliest of all, plutonium.
Japan output logs record fall on quake, but seen rising Reuters. Excerpts:
TOKYO, April 28 (Reuters) - Japan's factory output fell at a record pace in March but manufacturers expect production to rise in coming months, a sign factories could bounce back earlier than expected as they repair supply chains following the earthquake and tsunami.
Still, capacity utilisation could remain low as companies try to save energy during an expected power supply crunch in the summer months, providing little comfort to firms abroad that rely on Japanese products.
"Heavily hit automakers are still only functioning at 50 percent of their capacity and curtailed production looks set to continue for a few more months, so it remains to be seen whether forecasts for April and May will actually be realised," said Mari Iwashita, chief market economist at SMBC Nikko Securities.
Japan economy reels from disaster impact From The Bangkok Post. Excerpts:
Japan's factory output posted a record tumble in March after a devastating earthquake and tsunami crippled supply chains and forced the nation's biggest companies to shutter plants, data showed Thursday.
In other data illustrating the emerging impact of the March 11 disasters on the world's third-biggest economy, household spending also fell by a record amount as cautious consumers held off on purchases of non-essential goods.
Many see Japan sliding into temporary recession after the disasters left around 26,000 dead or missing and devastated infrastructure and manufacturing facilities, plunging the nation into its worst crisis since World War II.
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A 15.3 percent dive in Japan's industrial production in March on-month was the sharpest since records began in 1953, the government said Thursday.
The fall was worse than the previous record drop of 8.6 percent in February 2009..
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Japan's biggest recorded quake and the tsunami it unleashed shattered supply chains and crippled electricity-generating facilities, including a nuclear power plant at the centre of an ongoing atomic emergency.
Many key component manufacturers are based in the worst-hit regions and suffered damage to their facilities..
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While the government said it expected production to increase in April and May, analysts warned that Japan's output would continue to be compromised. "Delays in parts deliveries remain quite severe. The pace of production recovery is expected to be very slow until summer," said Murakami.
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In separate data, Japanese household spending plunged by 8.5 percent in March from a year earlier in the biggest drop since records began in 1964.
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Spending by wage-earning households tumbled by 11.0 percent following a 0.7 percent drop in February, also a record fall, the ministry said. (If I'm understanding correctly, February held the previous negative growth record of 0.7 percent. Then March happened..)
Fukushima radiation levels 15,000% higher than first reported Op-Ed News. Excerpts:
Japan has admitted that radiation levels from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant reactors are much higher than originally reported. It seems that someone "accidentally' put the decimal point in the wrong place (0.69 instead of 6.90).
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We have been led to believe, by the authorities and mainstream media, that radiation levels in Japan were still within safety limits, although it was found necessary to increase the legal limits of radiation exposure to achieve this result.
Just a week ago we were informed that radiation levels detected by robots (in the damaged reactors) were between 49 and 57 millisieverts per hour. The limit of exposure for emergency workers in Japan is 250 millisieverts a year, which means they would exceed safety limits within just a few hours.
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It is difficult to place too much trust in the authorities when they increase the legal limits of radiation exposure to suit themselves, or have much faith in the EPA when they withdraw many of their radiation monitors (in places like California, Oregon and Washington ), because the readings "seemed too high". Could it be because the radiation levels WERE too high?
Radioactive Strontium Found in Hilo, Hawaii Milk Forbes(!). Excerpts:
A radioactive isotope of strontium has been detected in American milk for the first time since Japan’s nuclear disaster—in a sample from Hilo, Hawaii—the Environmental Protection Agency revealed yesterday.
“We have completed our first strontium milk sample analysis and found trace amounts of strontium-89 in a milk sample from Hilo, Hawaii. The level was approximately 27,000 times below the Derived Intervention Level set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration,” EPA said in a statement emailed to me yesterday afternoon. EPA posted the test result at epa.gov in a pdf.
EPA found 1.4 picoCuries per liter of strontium-89 in a milk sample collected in Hilo on April 4.
Although the EPA tests milk, the FDA regulates it, and the FDA’s Derived Intervention Level—the standard observed for food—is 4,400 pCi/L for strontium-90. I’m working to confirm whether FDA has a separate DIL for Sr-89.
The EPA’s Maximum Contamination Level for Sr-89 in drinking water is 20 pCi/L. (For more on the difference between EPA and FDA standards, see “Why Does FDA Tolerate More Radiation Than EPA?“)
Your answer to that question? From the article..
..FDA’s Derived Intervention Limits are not radioactive exposure limits. In the FDA’s own words:
FDA has set Derived Intervention Levels for foods prepared for consumption. These levels do not define a safe or unsafe level of exposure, but instead a level at which protective measures would be recommended to ensure that no one receives a significant dose.
via FDA Public Health Focus > Radiation Safety.
In other words, the FDA’s DIL is set at the point at which a single liter of milk is so radioactive, you should take protective action. (Do you get that? What if you drink more than one liter?)
The number itself is conservatively estimated, with children and the elderly and our most vulnerable citizens in mind—but in practice, the DIL is more a commercial level than an exposure-safety level: DILs are recognized internationally as the level above which foods are unfit for sale or trade.
The EPA’s MCL Goal, by contrast, is “the level of a contaminant in drinking water below which there is no known or expected risk to health.”
And:
EPA’s mandate is to protect public health while avoiding a “significant economic impact” to industry. If EPA finds high levels of radionuclides in a municipal drinking water system, the water can be cleaned relatively cheaply. Depending on the specific contaminant, the water can be treated with reverse osmosis, activated carbon, ion exchange, or better: all three.
If FDA finds high levels of radionuclides in milk, that milk can’t go to market. That cow can’t be implemented with a treatment system. And that dairy farmer faces a significant economic impact.
So the FDA observes a much more tolerant standard, and the impact is transferred to those theoretical two people in 10,ooo.
Fukushima Nuclear Accident Update Log From the IAEA.
Reactor Flooding Effort Proceeds at Japan Reactor Global Security Newswire, via Rense. Excerpts:
The operator of Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was set on Wednesday to more than double insertion of water into the facility's No. 1 reactor as a step toward determining whether to fully flood the ailing system, the Mainichi Daily News reported.
Tokyo Electric Power has already started pumping additional water into the reactor's outer containment vessel, Reuters reported on Tuesday. The company was expected on Monday to investigate whether water was escaping through a suspected rupture in the containment vessel, according to an earlier report. The firm said it would use cement to patch ruptures in the No. 2 reactor containment vessel and potential additional compromised containers to prevent liquid from escaping.
The plant operator intends to completely flood the containment vessels of multiple plant reactors in a process referred to as "water entombment." The firm ultimately aims to achieve the cold shutdown of all reactors at the facility, minimizing the likelihood of significant radioactive contaminant releases..
Health risks numerous near nuclear plant Found it on Rense. Excerpts:
Some experts believe the Fukushima crisis is more serious than that resulting from an explosion at Ukraine's Chernobyl power plant 25 years ago, the Mainichi Daily News reported Monday.
"It's graver than Chernobyl in that no one can predict how the situation will develop," said Atsushi Kasai, a former senior researcher with the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute.
Global Considerations/Implications
Japanese crisis prompts China's nuke law draft People's Daily Online. Excerpts:
The drafting of a nuclear energy law is high on the State Council's legislation agenda for this year as people raise questions about the safety of reactors following the nuclear crisis in Japan.
Work on the legislation is being seen as more "urgent" than it has been at any time since such a law was first proposed by the former premier Li Peng in 1984 as China started to plan its first civilian nuclear reactor, said an industry insider.
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Similar attempts were dropped twice, in 1984 and 2008, mainly due to differences of opinion between administrative bodies and lawmakers.
"However, the central government noticed the urgency and necessity this time after four experts submitted a plea requiring the drafting of the law in the wake of the Japanese incident," Zheng said, referring to the leak of nuclear material from the Fukushima nuclear power plant following the earthquake off Japan on March 11.
Earthquake risk clouds Paducah's nuclear future And it goddamn well should! If we're not smart enough to NOT put a(nother!) nuclear plant in a historically catastrophic seismic zone, we really don't deserve to continue on, now do we?
Japan’s nuclear crisis far from over World Socialist Web Site. Excerpts:
The problems associated with units 1, 2 and 3 are more complex. Last week, robots sent into the reactor buildings recorded radiation levels of up to 57 millisieverts an hour in unit 1 and 49 millisieverts an hour in unit 3. Hidehiko Nishiyama, spokesman for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA), told the press that these levels were too high to allow workers to enter. Japan has set an annual exposure limit at 250 millisieverts, raised from 100 at the beginning of the crisis.
Attempts by a robot to enter the building of unit 2, where radiations levels are believed to be higher, were hampered by steam which fogged its camera. The steam is being produced by water fed by emergency lines into the reactor’s hot core.
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TEPCO’s optimistic estimate of six to nine months to stabilise the reactors is driven as much by political and commercial considerations, as technical ones. The energy giant as well as the nuclear regulator, NISA, and the Kan government all confront suspicion and hostility over their handling of the nuclear crisis. TEPCO is notorious for its long record of neglect and cover-up on safety issues.
At the press conference last week, former Fukushima Governor Eisako Sato, a supporter of nuclear power turned critic, explained that 21 problems at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant had been reported to his office between 2002 and 2006. The whistle blowers came directly to the Fukushima prefecture rather than to NISA because of the nuclear agency’s close relations with TEPCO.
Sato was forced to step down in 2006 over bribery allegations, which he claimed were politically motivated. “Those who say nuclear power is dangerous, like myself, are treated as state enemies,” he told Tokyo’s Foreign Journalists Club. “This is a truly terrifying logic, is it not? Whoever it may be, be it a Diet member or governor, no one has been able to fight such logic so far.”
Japan: TEPCO floods containment vessels of 3 reactors at Fukushima No. 1 This probably won't end well, either. Excerpt:
In Japan, Tokyo Electric Power Co. workers have begun "the unprecedented and potentially risky measure" of flooding the containment vessels of three troubled Fukushima nuclear reactors with water. The Asahi Shimbun reports that this is the first known attempt ever in the world to saturate an entire containment vessel with water in order to cool the pressure vessels inside, and in turn, cool the reactor cores within.
With 12,000 Still Missing, Japan Keeps Searching From The Irrawaddy. Excerpts:
SHICHIGAHAMAMACHI, Japan — A line of somber soldiers walked methodically through a drained swamp Monday, with each step sinking their slender poles into the muck beneath.
If one hit a body, he would know.
"Bodies feel very distinctive," said Michihiro Ose, a spokesman for the Japanese army's 22nd infantry regiment.
The men were among 25,000 troops given the morbid duty of searching the rubble, the seas and the swamps of northeastern Japan for the bodies of the nearly 12,000 people still missing in last month's earthquake and tsunami.
Japan’s Terrifying Day Saw Unprecedented Blown Roof Expose Tepco Fuel Rods Bloomberg. Excerpts:
Makoto Nagai was sitting in his third-floor office at 2:46 p.m. on March 11 when the earthquake alarm buzzed. An orange LCD screen flashed 100 and 4, telling him the number of seconds before a category 4 quake would hit the city of Sendai on Japan’s northeast coast.
The intensity warning quickly jumped to 6, said Nagai, 55, head of the emergency response team in Sendai, located 129 kilometers (80 miles) west of the epicenter of what became the strongest quake in Japan’s recorded history.
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Interviews with Tokyo Electric Power Co. engineers, technicians and contract workers who were at the company’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant on March 11 or handled the disaster response show how the facility stood up to the quake, only to fail when the tsunami that followed found a way through its engineering defenses.
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The Fukushima Dai-Ichi station had 6,415 people on site that day. More than 5,500, like Matsumoto and Imamura, were subcontractors who reported to their clusters of offices in the plant for a head count.
As Tokyo Electric compiled the numbers, officials found that 6,413 staffers were safe and accounted for. Two Tokyo Electric employees were missing.
At this point, the crisis appeared contained. While roads inside the site had buckled and windows were shattered, the six reactor buildings, reinforced concrete and steel boxes as high as 56 meters, had withstood the earthquake.
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..the quake knocked out a transformer station about 10 kilometers away, severing the utility’s connection to the electricity grid and the power needed to keep reactor cooling systems operating. It would be another hour before events conspired to make the name Fukushima synonymous with the biggest nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
And:
As Yoshida’s Tepco engineers fanned out to control rooms to check for earthquake damage and monitor procedures as the reactors shut down, 25 kilometers up the coast in Minami Soma, Mayor Katsunobu Sakurai was realizing the earthquake was only part of the unfolding disaster.
Sakurai had raced to the fifth-floor rooftop of the government office, one of the highest in the city of 70,000 people. He looked toward the sea and saw what looked like a wall of sand pummeling and splintering through rows of houses and bellowing clouds of smoke and dust.
“In those first moments we couldn’t comprehend what we were seeing,” Sakurai, 55, said. The tsunami he was witnessing surged 2.4 kilometers inland, swallowing everyone in its path. Almost 1,500 town residents were killed or are listed as missing, out of a national toll exceeding 26,000.
That's the set-up. The whole cascading failures are detailed at the link.
Thousands protest nuclear plants at Tokyo rally Via Rense.
About 4,500 people have rallied in Tokyo to call for the suspension of nuclear power plants.
The demonstrators gathered at Shiba Koen in central Tokyo and adopted a resolution calling for all nuclear plants in the country to be suspended and a nuclear-free society realized.
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The citizens' group that organized the demonstration says only about 100 people took part last year, but about 4,500 joined this year's protest, the largest in the event's history.
Something strange in the Japan Tsunami (Video) Via Rense.
Cat, monkey, super soldier.. Something seems to be hauling ass against the torrent..
Study finds wide variation in radiation levels within no-entry zone Via Rense.
A study of radiation levels within a 20-kilometer radius of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant revealed contamination levels in many locations would not currently pose a major threat to human health.
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Of 128 locations within the 20-km zone, researchers projected that annual radiation exposure would exceed 100 millisieverts in only 17 places.
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The worst-contaminated location had a radiation level that might expose individuals to more than 500 millisieverts in a year. But nearly half of the sample locations had radiation levels below the 20 millisieverts standard used by the central government as a guideline for issuing evacuation orders.
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Wind direction and local topography has had a major influence on the dispersal of radioactive materials.
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But Yoshiya Shimada, a project leader on medical radiation research at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences, said: "There is almost no risk of cancer if the radiation exposure level is about 20 millisieverts. For the elderly, the stress from living as an evacuee will have a much greater impact on their health than the risks from radiation exposure. Rather than look just at radiation levels, a more flexible response should be adopted in the future taking into account social, economic and psychological factors."
Two points: Again, ANY exposure to radioactivity is bad and cumulative. And second, wind currents can change. If I were a gambler, I'd bet, due to increasing pressure, the Japanese government will eventually allow evacuees to return to their homes based on data that is subject to fluctuation. Since I am not faced with this situation, I will not pass judgement on either the government for bowing to what will be increasing pressure to return, or for evacuees wanting to return home. There is no good way forward, and how those involved proceed will be up to them. I don't envy their choices..
Radiation Expert: "Sr-90 and Uranium and Particulates Will Be Building Up in the USA and Europe ... For Now I Think It Prudent To Stop Drinking Milk" From Washington's Blog. If you haven't already, bookmark that site. Every visit is worthwhile..
No obvious change detected in radiation levels in China
No obvious change had been found in the levels of radioactive material in the environment and food samples on the Chinese mainland, said China's National Nuclear Emergency Coordination Committee Sunday in a daily notice.
A sample survey indicated no abnormality in drinking water, and monitoring results showed that radiation levels in the ocean and air also remained normal, it said.
Hollow re-assurance, or small comfort?
Japan's TEPCO to use gas to offset nuke power loss
Tokyo Electric Power Co., the world's largest private electricity company, said Friday it plans to install gas turbines at two thermal power plants to partially offset power shortages caused by the loss of generating capacity at disaster-stricken power plants.
TEPCO, the main power supplier to the Tokyo region, said the new turbines would boost its capacity to between 50 million and 52 million kilowatts, still well below the nearly 60 million kilowatts of power consumed during peak hot weather days last summer.
The company, which is struggling to stabilize conditions in tsunami-flooded reactors at one of its nuclear plants, earlier said it would only be able to provide 46 million kilowatts of capacity.
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In March, TEPCO imposed limited power rationing to help meet initial shortfalls but suspended the power cuts after finding it was able to meet relatively slack demand due to mild weather and emergency conservation measures such as reduced train schedules.
Dealing with Japan's disaster: The information equation
Like America's 9/11, Japan's 3/11 saw the wireless voice network fail under congestion, while emails and text messages passed through easily. Mobiles sometimes worked when blackouts kept everyone in the dark. Communications and information were as much a lifeline as electricity and water. On 9/11 CNN reduced its homepage to basic HTML text so that it would fit into a single Internet Protocol packet, making it easier for the server and the network to deliver. Likewise, after 3/11 Google distributed its information about blackouts to caches across the network so it would be retrievable even if the actual servers went dark.
Fukushima 50 criticise Japanese government over inconsistent documentation of their radiation exposure
Tokyo, Apr 23 : The Fukushima 50 emergency nuclear plant workers trying to control the situation in the earthquake-cum-tsunami hit plant in Japan, have reportedly accused the government of inconsistent handling of data in relation to radiation exposure.
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant workers have said that they have been risking their health, while attempting to regain control over the facility that was severely damaged by the March 11 tsunami.
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The paper quoted another nuclear industry source as saying that: "If the radiation data is handled vaguely, workers may not be able to have proof of their exposure to radiation if they need to fight court battles."
Fukushima operator allowed excessive pressure: report
WASHINGTON, USA - The operator of Japan's nuclear plant let pressure in one reactor climb far beyond the level the facility was designed to withstand, which may have worsened the nuclear accident, The Wall Street Journal reported late Friday.
Citing results of its own inquiry, the newspaper said that Japanese rules call for waiting much longer venting the potentially dangerous steam that builds up as reactors overheat.
Following the quake, the pressure inside the vessel that forms a protective bulb around the reactor's core reached twice the level it was designed to withstand, the Journal said.
Then it took 12 hours later to vent the steam, and then, one hour later, the reactor blew up.
Sea leaks would be rated Level 5 or 6
If estimates of leaks of radioactive material into the sea from Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant were judged according to the International Nuclear Event Scale, the severity of marine contamination would be rated Level 5 or 6.
The Three Mile Island nuclear accident in the United States was rated Level 5 on the scale introduced by the International Atomic Energy Agency that runs from zero to seven and is based on radiation leaks into the atmosphere.
The radiation leaks into the sea have caused serious contamination of the marine environment, TEPCO's estimates show. Water that leaked into the Pacific Ocean from the No. 2 reactor's water intake contained an estimated 4,700 terabecquerels of radioactive substances, TEPCO announced Thursday.
Reactor 1 water level concerns Via Rense. Excerpts:
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.
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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.
After 5 Halflives, I-131 Higher than Cs-134/137 Suggests Ongoing Criticalities
Summary
During full-power operation, numerous "fission products" are in approximate steady-state equilibrium, meaning roughly equal becquerel of I-131 and Cs-134, with a slow buildup of Cs-137. But they all cease to be created when the reactors are scrammed. Japanese regulators NISA and MEXT seem oblivious of the mysterious fact that I-131 Bq "reactor density" is still often reported double the Cs-134/137 Bq. The TEPCO data suggest that fission is ongoing despite the reactor shutdowns. This is bad news.
And:
The fact that nobody in Japan seems to know basics of reactor accident progression that I learned at Sandia Labs in early 1980s is truly scary, because it suggests they are playing with these broken/leaking reactors and SNF pools inside at least three buildings totally destroyed by steam explosions ... as if the reactors and their SNF pools are broken toys that they're using trial and error to try fixing.
Residents Scramble as Japan Seals Area Near Plant Excerpts:
Japan sealed off a wide area around a radiation-spewing nuclear power plant on Friday to prevent tens of thousands of residents from sneaking back to the homes they quickly evacuated, some with little more than a credit card and the clothes on their backs.
Fearing they might not see their homes again for months, evacuees raced into the deserted towns Thursday before the ban took effect to grab whatever belongings they could cram into their cars.
Nearly 80,000 people were hurriedly evacuated from a 12-mile zone around the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant on March 12, after an earthquake and a tsunami destroyed its power and cooling systems. The order had no teeth, however, and people began increasingly returning to check on the remains of their lives. Some had stayed all along.
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Under a special nuclear emergency law, people who enter the zone will now be subject to fines of up to $1,200 or possible detention for up to 30 days. Until now, defiance of the evacuation order was not punishable and the police manning the roadblocks had no authority to stop people from entering.
Japan earmarks first $50 bn for post-quake rebuild
TOKYO: Japan's cabinet approved on Friday almost $50 billion of spending for post-earthquake rebuilding, a down payment on the country's biggest public works effort in six decades.
The emergency budget of 4 trillion yen ($48.5 billion), which is likely be followed by more reconstruction spending packages, is still dwarfed by the overall cost of damages caused by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, estimated at $300 billion.
"With this budget, we are taking one step forward towards reconstruction ... and towards restarting the economy," Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda told reporters after a cabinet meeting.
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Though Japan's debt is around twice the size of its $5 trillion economy, it does not face a Greece-style debt crisis since most of that debt is owed to domestic creditors rather than foreign banks.
Radioactive water likely to hamper cooling effort. Via Rense.
The operator of the Fukushima nuclear power facility plans to cool the reactors by filling their vessels with water. However, that process may be hampered by waste water contaminated with highly radioactive materials.
According Tokyo Electric Power Company's blueprint for bringing the troubled facility under control, the Number 1 and 3 reactor vessels will be filled with water up to the height of the nuclear fuel rods by the middle of July. This is aimed at cooling the reactors in a stable manner.
And:
The utility needs to check the reactor turbine building for any water leakage from the building housing the reactor, but workers cannot enter the reactor building at present. However (No, not "However." The word they were looking for is "Also"), the effort to identify the source of a leak is difficult because of radioactive water inside the basement of the turbine building.
Work to move contaminated water from the Number 2 reactor is already underway. However, it's not clear when they can begin moving contaminated water from the Number 1 reactor.
Four More Quakes Hit East Coast Of Japan, Vicinity Of Fukushima
Radioactive iodine found in breast milk of Japanese mothers. Via Rense. Excerpts:
The breast milk of four Japanese mothers has been found to contain small quantities of radioactive iodine.
The government faced calls for a full investigation into the impact of the nuclear disaster on mothers and babies following the discovery.
The radiation contamination came to light after tests were conducted on breast milk samples taken from nine women living northeast or east of Tokyo.
Four of these women were found to be contaminated, with the highest reading of 36.3 becquerels of radioactive iodine per kg detected in the milk of the mother of an eight-month-old baby in Kashiwa, Chiba prefecture.
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However, the breast milk readings were below the safety limit of 100 becquerels per kg of tap water consumption by infants under one year of age and no radioactive cesium was found. (Would there be different standards for tap water and breast milk? I would assume the fat contained in breast milk would warrant a lower threshold of exposure, but that's just me guessing..)
Leading Epidemiologist: Instead of Trying to Avoid Japanese Radiation, Put Your Energy Into Demanding a Saner Energy Policy Great read from Washington's Blog.
Core of Stricken Reactor Probably Leaked, U.S. Says This is Reactor 2 Excerpts:.
WASHINGTON — The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday that some of the core of a stricken Japanese reactor had probably leaked from its steel pressure vessel into the bottom of the containment structure, implying that the damage was even worse than previously thought.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s statement regarded unit No. 2, and the agency underscored that its interpretation was speculative and based on high radiation readings that Tokyo Electric had found in the lower part of unit No. 2’s primary containment structure, called the drywell. The statement said that the commission “does not believe that the reactor vessel has given way, and we do believe practically all of the core remains in the vessel.”
The agency’s statement was issued after Representative Edward J. Markey, Democrat of Massachusetts, told a House hearing on Wednesday morning that the commission had told him that the core had melted through the vessel.
TEPCO official describes possible meltdown at No. 1 reactor: The “molten fuel accumulates like lava” From Energy News.
Kyodo reported that on Wednesday a TEPCO official admitted the fuel in reactor No. 1 “could be melting.”
TEPCO official Junichi Matsumoto described the “possible meltdown”, comparing it to “a state in which molten fuel accumulates like lava.”
World Exclusive Photos: Inside Fukushima (Dead Zone) Via Rense.
Takashi Morizumi is a veteran Japanese photojournalist who has documented the hibakusha, or radiation victims, at nearly every nuclear disaster site around the world, including Hiroshima, Nagasaki, the former Soviet test site at Semipalatinsk, Ground Zero in Nevada, Bikini Island and Chernobyl in Ukraine.
The radiation levels around the partially melted-down Fukushima 1 nuclear plant are the worst he's ever experienced.
TEPCO Checking Seabed For Plutonium, Says There's Little Doubt It Has Leaked Since March 11 (Video) Via Rense.
Quake relief tax hike Excerpts:
Japanese consumers may have to help foot the reconstruction bill after last month's earthquake and tsunami caused $300 billion of damage, further burdening the hugely indebted economy, a newspaper said on Tuesday. It would be the first increase since 1997, though a sales tax hike had been the subject of fierce political debate before the earthquake struck as one way for Japan to dig itself out of its massive debt.
The government is considering raising the tax by 3 percentage points to 8 percent when the new fiscal year starts next April, the Yomiuri newspaper reported.
Japan To Set Up Committee To Oversee Tokyo Electric Power
The Japanese government will set up a committee to oversee Tokyo Electric Power Co., to strengthen its involvement in the reconstruction of the company and work to determine procedures for compensation payments to those affected by the crisis.
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"The compensation from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant crisis is likely to reach trillions of yen. Depending on the amount of compensation, the company may face serious financial problems," the sources said.
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The government and the company will decide how to share the costs and responsibilities before starting a full investigation into Tokyo Electric Power's financial conditions.
It's nice of them to pretend, but TEPCO's pretty much dead already.
Toyota making drastic production cuts after Japan quake, tsunami
Toyota has announced drastic production cuts in North America and China due to difficulty in supplying parts following the massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
Previously, Toyota Motor Engineering and Manufacturing North America, Inc. (TEMA), had said it would suspend production on Mondays and Fridays between April 15 and April 25. That will continue through June 3, the company said in a statement.
"During the same period, production will run at 50% on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday," the statement said.
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Toyota employs 25,000 workers in North America. It operates nine plants in the United States in Kentucky, Indiana, Texas, Tennessee, Alabama, West Virginia, California and Mississippi. It also operates three plants in Canada and one in Mexico.
Japan´s March trade surplus plunges after tsunami
TOKYO: Japan's trade surplus plunged 78.9 percent in March from a year earlier as exports fell after a March 11 earthquake and tsunami which triggered a nuclear crisis, the finance ministry said Wednesday.
The surplus reached 196.5 billion yen (2.37 billion dollars), still managing to stay in the black for the second straight month, the ministry said.
Exports fell 2.2 percent to 5.87 trillion yen (70.9 billion dollars), falling for the first time in 16 months due to reduced shipments of automobiles and vessels, it said.
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The fall was led by vehicle exports, which fell 27.8 percent. Exports of ships dropped 10.0 percent, and electronics parts fell 6.9 percent, the ministry said.
Japan mulls limited access to zone near nuke plant
Authorities were considering restricting access to the evacuation zone around Japan's crippled nuclear plant Wednesday to limit radiation exposure to residents who may want to return to their homes.
"We are considering setting up 'caution areas' as an option for effectively limiting entry" to the zone, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said.
It was unclear when the ban might be imposed.
About 70,000-80,000 people were living in the 10 towns and villages within 12 miles (20 kilometers) of the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, which has been leaking radiation after a March 11 earthquake and tsunami wrecked its power and cooling systems.
Alarming New Fukushima Reports Excerpts:
Five weeks after Japan's disaster, reports suggest worse, not improved conditions. It portends serious regional and global trouble ahead, besides what's already happened.
..a 5.9 level aftershock.. (hit).. the country early Saturday. So far, no additional damage reports were issued. However, seawater radioactive Iodine-131 spiked to 6,500 times above normal, up from 1,100 times Friday, and Cesium-134 and 137 rose nearly fourfold.
Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) raised the possibility of worrisome new leaks, admitting that tracking them is difficult. Nonetheless, they still claim no threat to humans or sea life despite numerous independent experts raising dire warnings of spreading global radiation, including plutonium, the most deadly substance known, a microscopic speck enough to cause cancer.
And:
On April 11, environmental expert Dr. Ilya Perlingieri's article headlined, "Fukushima's Nuclear Disaster: One Month and Counting," saying:
So far, "(n)othing is even remotely improved. In fact, things are dramatically worse." Hazardous reactors like GE's Mark 1 place entire populations at risk where they operate. "The radioactive consequences of" four Fukushima reactors "far exceed(s) Chernobyl."
As a result, the consequences for all Japanese residents will be enormous. But they also affect others as "various radioactive elements travel (by wind and water) around the globe." Potentially, everyone may be affected to a greater or lesser extent, including future generations.
In addition, dumping thousands of tons of radioactive water into the ocean is an environmental crime. Contaminated water "will now travel across the (Pacific) to North America's West Coast," contaminating the entire food chain in the process.
Then, as "water goes through its cycles, it will evaporate, and radioactive air will be carried around the globe. We are all in grave danger."
Nuclear Overseers Are "Fake" Agencies Funded and Controlled by the Nuclear Power Industry
New video from Arnie Gundersen: Gundersen Discusses Current Condition of Reactors, TEPCO Claim of "No Fission" in Fuel Pool, and Lack of Radiation Monitoring in fish.
Nuke plant workers pump out toxic water Excerpts:
Workers at the quake-hit Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan are removing highly radioactive water from a reactor turbine building, a key step towards restoring cooling systems, the government said.
About 10,000 tonnes of highly radioactive water will be transferred from the turbine building of reactor No. 2 to a treatment facility inside the plant for processing, Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) said. (This is the troubled reactor Gundersen just told you about, providing you watched the video..)
Robots find radiation too high for humans Excerpts:
Robots deployed inside two reactors at the Japanese nuclear plant overrun by last month's tsunami have detected radiation levels too high for workers to enter, posing challenges for a new plan to bring the ravaged complex under control by year's end.
Workers have not been able to enter four of the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant since the days immediately after the earthquake and tsunami March 11. Vital plant cooling systems were knocked out, setting off hydrogen explosions at four of the plant's six reactors that blew off their roofs and littered the site with radioactive debris.
At Unit 1, robots detected radiation of as much as 49 millisieverts per hour, while at Unit 3, the reading was 57 millisieverts per hour. But in recent weeks, far higher readings have come from areas where contaminated water has accumulated, such as the turbine building at Unit 2, where experts say the reactor pressure vessel may be cracked and leaking nuclear material.
Japan automakers' supply chain crisis may 'last months': analysts Read: Many months.. Excerpts:
TOKYO--A component supply crisis that has strangled auto production in Japan and enforced a slowdown overseas in the wake of the March 11 disasters will last several months, analysts say.
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Power shortages have hit production across all industries and threaten to throw an export-driven economy into a tailspin, analysts say, amid fears the crisis could speed up a shift of production out of Japan already encouraged by the strong yen.
For automakers the world over, the impact has been acute with companies from Toyota to Ford shuttering plants as far away as Britain, the United States, Turkey, France, Australia, Poland and the Philippines amid a supply shock.
“The problem will last for several months and could even last for a year,” said Tatsuya Mizuno, an auto industry analyst with Mizuno Credit Advisory in Tokyo.
“The supply chain for automakers was seriously damaged. (Japanese firms) have around one month of inventories, but some suppliers have suffered so much it is very unlikely that they will be able to restart full production soon.”
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