Published: November 10th, 2014 at 9:43 am ET
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Statesman Journal, Nov. 10, 2014 at 8:22a ET: Fukushima radiation identified off northern California — Low-level radiation from Japan’s Fukushima nuclear accident has been detected in multiple samples of ocean water off the Pacific Coast of the U.S. and Canada, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is reporting. The sample nearest to shore was taken about 100 miles off the coast of Eureka, in Northern California… 
Massive amounts of contaminated water were released from the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant… Radioactive water has continued to leak and be released from the complex… No state or federal agency is testing Pacific waters for radiation… [Ken Buesseler, a WHOI marine chemist] is looking for cesium-134, the so-called “fingerprint” of Fukushima… He’s also looking for higher-than-background levels of cesium-137, another Fukushima isotope that already is present in the world’s oceans… Buesseler partnered with a group of volunteers on the research vessel ‘Point Sur’ to take a series of about 50 samples offshore, from Dutch Harbor, Alaska to Eureka. So far, about 20 of those samples have been analyzed, and 10 have been positive for cesium-134…
Ken Buesseler, WHOI: “The models predict cesium levels to increase over the next two to three years, but do a poor job describing how much more dilution will take place and where those waters will reach the shoreline first.”
Ken Buesseler, Reddit’s ‘Ask Me Anything‘, Nov. 10, 2014 at 8:30a ET: I’m Ken Buesseler, an oceanographer who studies marine radioactivity. I’ve been doing this since I was a graduate student, looking at plutonium in the Atlantic deposited from the atmospheric nuclear weapons testing that peaked in the early 1960’s. Then came Chernobyl in 1986, the year of my PhD… The triple disaster of the 2011 “Tohoku” earthquake, tsunami, and subsequent radiation releases at Fukushima Dai-ichi were unprecedented events for the ocean and society… the cooling waters and contaminated groundwater enter the ocean directly, and still can be measured to this day. Across the Pacific, ocean currents carrying Fukushima cesium are predicted to be detectable along the west coast of North America by 2014 or 2015, and though models suggest at levels below those considered of human health concern, measurements are needed. That being said, in the US, no federal agency has taken on this task… new sampling efforts further offshore have confirmed the presence of small amounts of radioactivity from the 2011 Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant 100 miles (150 km) due west of Eureka. What does that mean for our oceans?
Published: November 10th, 2014 at 9:43 am ET
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http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/11/12/national/niigate-nuclear-disaster-drill-finds-governor-state-odds-iodine-pill-distribution/#.VGLn8EJB-S0
Niigata nuclear disaster drill finds governor, state at odds over iodine pill distribution
KYODO
NOV 12
An evacuation drill to prepare for a nuclear disaster was held in Niigata Prefecture on Tuesday, but central and prefectural government officials remained at odds over when to hand out potassium iodine pills to residents to mitigate the risk of thyroid cancer…
In Tuesday’s drill, as Tepco announced the expected time for leaks of radioactive substances from the plant, Niigata Gov. Hirohiko Izumida maintained in a televised conference with central government and municipal officials that potassium iodine tablets should be handed out to residents immediately to protect their thyroid glands.
“Residents should take potassium iodine pills before radiation is released,” Izumida said.
However, the central government officials maintained that, in accordance with basic evacuation guidelines, such tablets are to be distributed after radioactive materials leak outside the plant, and only in areas where radiation levels are found to be high.
The drill wrapped up without finishing completely, with the officials disagreeing over the timing of the iodine distribution…
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… Izumida said after the drill that he cannot protect the health of residents under the current guidelines set by the central government. Due to its disagreements with the central government, Niigata Prefecture has not been able to come up with a proper plan on how to administer iodine tablets in the event of a nuclear disaster….
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http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20141111p2a00m0na010000c.html
Nov. 12
TEPCO to refrain from taking legal action over repayment of nuclear compensation
Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) has decided it will not take legal action over its desire for the repayment of some compensation paid to evacuees of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant after the Mainichi Shimbun reported on a case of an evacuee who had been asked by the company to pay back some of the compensation she had already received…
After the Mainichi Shimbun reported on the story in October, evacuees in a similar situation consulted with the nuclear damage response office of the Natural Resources and Energy Agency that supervises nuclear disaster compensation issues. As a result, the office moved to check with TEPCO on its compensation guidelines.
According to the nuclear damage response office, TEPCO concluded that it will not proceed with cases further when evacuees have already received compensation, that it will not take legal action against evacuees who are subject to requests for compensation repayment and that it will not offset the amount of compensation without the consent of evacuees. TEPCO has notified the woman and other subjects for compensation repayment about the company's decision.
Despite confusion and criticism about its policies, TEPCO is still reluctant to release its in-house compensation guidelines for defining the end of evacuation.
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http://www.ntv.co.jp/englishnews/society/govt-tries-to-persuade-town-to-accept-nuclear-waste/
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http://nuclear-news.net/2014/11/10/fukushima-japan-has-chosen-to-incinerate-tons-of-radioactive-waste/
By Marc Cherki Published 11/09/2014
Translation by D’un Renard
In Kawauchi, a small village located on both sides of of 20 kilometers division line around the Fukushima plant, many one cubic meter bags, are filled by the decontaminators with radioactive vegetal waste. Plants, grasses, lichens, shrubs that lined the road are now piled into these big bags.
Thus, the radiation received by persons traveling on this path is reduced. The plants are also removed within 20 meters around houses.
With Date and Minamisoma, Kawauchi is one of the “model villages” exemplified by the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) and the Japanese government.
The committed efforts are huge . In less than a year, since the nuclear accident in March 2011, projects funded by the government were already valued at 10 billion euros only for the decontamination of soils, houses and a microscopic part of the forests.
At present, the kariokiba, the temporary storage sites, are overfull of waste.
About 43 million cubic meters (43 million tons), as plastic bags of blue, black or gray colors depending on the choice of the town, are piling into a thousand temporary sites.
The bags are half filled with plants.
The others contain the contaminated soil removed from the surface of rice fields and schoolyards, materials polluted by radioactive fallout cloud or dust collected in houses…
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… The Japanese government has pledged to deal with the waste from 1 January 2015. But nobody believes this possible in such a short time. “We’re late,” admits Mr Ozawa, deputy director general of the department of environmental restoration in Fukushima, under the Ministry of the Environment.
As early as our first work, which started in the summer of 2012 and mobilized 17,000 people, “local authorities told us that we were too slow,” he admits.
But it is “like playing chess without having the rules. So we had to make the pieces and invent the rules. “
At the Otsube storage site in Kawauchi, Youichi Igari, 40, who works for decontamination, admits that the government should not be able to recover the waste in the time promised.
This thorny issue of waste is closely related to the return of populations. Currently, 130,000 people are still displaced, according to the Government, out of which 50,000 out of the Fukushima Prefecture. The family of Youichi Igari family is one of those who left the town of Kawauchi. “My wife is afraid to come back,” admits the technician.
Compared to our own surveys made with a Geiger counter, the measuring of the radioactivity carried by the city is minimized by a third.
A difference that their expert justified by “the margin of error of measurement” … More serious over the bags covered with a green tarp, plants began to grow. Sign that the sealing is no longer guaranteed….
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… And if in the kariokiba visited in Date the black bags seem tight, the official measurements of radioaction that people can find on the Internet are lower than our measurements.
Divide by ten the number of bags could improve decontamination and encourage the return of the nuclear exiles.
The Japanese government is planning to burn and store its waste on two sites in Futaba and Okuma for those highly radioactive and in Tomiaka for those weakly radioactive (8,000 Bq / kg). Three towns near the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
The most active ash (100,000 Bq / kg) will be trapped in concrete and stored in an intermediate site for thirty years. Then to be moved after to a final repository to be stored there for more than two centuries and a half.
For already one year the Japanese government has informed the IAEA of its intentions.
“It’s good management, rather than letting the plants rot and release biogas. Burning waste is a method that we already use in France to reduce volumes.
For some of the waste, the operation in France is performed at the Centraco plant near Marcoule, a subsidiary of Socodei, which packages the ash into concrete, “says Bruno Cahen, the Andra industrial director.
This is particularly the case of technical waste containing cesium-137 which radioaction is halved every thirty years. “It is not possible to recover 100% of the fumes.
But technology can improve the collection of emissions to limit emissions into the atmosphere, “says…
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… Didier Dall’Ava, deputy director of sanitation and nuclear decommissioning at CEA.
Finally, in the case of the Japanese waste “the safety of the ashes with concrete must be confirmed from a chemical and mechanical point of view,” adds François Besnus, director of waste at the Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety.
Still, the scale of the Japanese project is extraordinary, outside the norm.
The Marcoule site has the capacity to incinerate 3,000 tons of solid waste per year, it is quite low compared to 22 million tons of radioactive waste that the Japanese government wants to eliminate. Even if Japan opts for the best technique (rejection of one radionuclide in 100,000 to 1 million, according to Areva) this operation will lead to significant emissions into the atmosphere. As to incinerate waste will not remove the radioaction . Reconquérir le territoire reste une tâche titanesque. To reconquer that territory from radiation will remain a gigantic task.
Source : Blog de Serge Angeles
http://blog.serge-angeles.com/2014/11/09/japon-2014-fukushima324/
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- this is worth a look just for the photograph of The Green Hills of Home…
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http://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/local/new-jersey/2014/11/11/lawsuit-settled-nuclear-plant-fish-kills/18861523/
Lawsuit settled over nuclear plant fish kills
Associated Press November 11
Three environmental groups have settled a lawsuit against New Jersey's environmental protection department, clearing the way for the agency to rule on whether a southern New Jersey nuclear plant is doing enough to prevent unnecessary fish kills.
The Delaware Riverkeeper Network, New Jersey Sierra Club and New Jersey Environmental Federation settled their lawsuit Monday against the Department of Environmental Protection, which said it would issue a draft discharge permit to PSE&G's Salem Nuclear Generating Station by June 30.
That will force the DEP to take a position on whether the facility's cooling water intake structures must be significantly upgraded to reduce fish kills. The environmental groups say the plant's systems kill more than 3 billion fish a year…
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http://www.theecologist.org/blogs_and_comments/commentators/2628583/un_resolution_warns_nuclear_wmd_states_end_is_nigh_for_du_munitions.html
UN Resolution warns nuclear WMD states: end is nigh for DU munitions
John LaForge
10th November
Only four countries opposed a UN Resolution on 'depleted uranium' munitions: the USA, UK, France and Israel, all nuclear WMD states whose use of DU leaves battle fields contaminated with toxic, radioactive residues for millennia into the future. The overwhelming support for the Resolution puts the WMD states on notice – DU munitions are no longer acceptable.
This fifth UN resolution on the subject was fiercely opposed by four depleted uranium-shooting countries – Britain, the United States, France and Israel – who cast the only votes in opposition.
On October 31, a new United Nations General Assembly First Committee resolution on depleted uranium (DU) weapons passed overwhelmingly. There were 143 states in favor, four against, and 26 abstentions.
The measure calls for UN member states to provide assistance to countries contaminated by the weapons. The resolution also notes the need for health and environmental research on depleted uranium weapons in conflict situations.
This fifth UN resolution on the subject was fiercely opposed by four depleted uranium-shooting countries – Britain, the United States, France and Israel – who cast the only votes in opposition. The 26 states that abstained reportedly sought to avoid…
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… sought to avoid souring lucrative trade relationships with the four major shooters.
A hideously long-term environmental toxin
Uranium-238 – so-called 'depleted' uranium – is waste material left in huge quantities by the nuclear weapons and nuclear power complex. It's used in large caliber armor-piercing munitions and in armor plate on tanks.
Toxic, radioactive dust and debris is dispersed when DU shells burn through targets, and its metallic fumes and dust poison water, soil and the food chain.
DU has been linked to deadly health effects like Gulf War Syndrome among US and allied troops, and birth abnormalities among populations in bombed areas. DU waste has caused radioactive contamination of large parts of Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo and perhaps Afghanistan.
The measure explains that DU weapons are made of a "chemically and radiologically toxic heavy metal" [uranium-238], that after use "penetrator fragments, and jackets or casings can be found lying on the surface or buried at varying depth, leading to the potential contamination of air, soil, water and vegetation from depleted uranium residue." …
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… The subtext: the Pentagon's refusal to disclose
The main thrust of the latest UN resolution "Encourages Member States in a position to do so to provide assistance to States affected by the use of arms and ammunition containing depleted uranium, in particular in identifying and managing contaminated sites and material."
The request is a veiled reference to the fact that investigators have been stymied in their study of uranium contamination in Iraq, because the Pentagon refuses to disclose maps of all the places it attacked with DU.
In the diplomatic confines of UN resolutions, individual countries are not named. Yet the world knows that up to 700 tons of DU munitions were blasted into Iraq and Kuwait by US forces in 1991, and that US warplanes fired another three tons into Bosnia in 1994 and 1995; ten tons into Kosovo in 1999; and approximately 170 tons into Iraq again in 2003.
The International Coalition to Ban Uranium Weapons, based in Manchester, England and representing over 160 civil society organizations worldwide, played a major part in seeing all five resolutions through the UN process and is working for a convention that would see the munitions outlawed.
In October, ICBUW reported that the US military will again use DU weapons in Iraq in its assaults against ISIS "if it needs to". The admission came in spite of Iraq's summer 2014 recent call for a global ban on the weapons and assistance in clearing up the contamination left from…
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… contamination left from bombardments in 1991 and 2003.
Not just 238U – but plutonium, neptunium, americium
The new resolution relies heavily on the UN Environment Program (UNEP) which conducted radiation surveys of NATO bombing targets in the Balkans and Kosovo. It was a UNEP study in 2001 that forced the Pentagon to admit that its DU is spiked with plutonium:
"But now the Pentagon says shells used in the 1999 Kosovo conflict were tainted with traces of plutonium, neptunium and americium – byproducts of nuclear reactors that are much more radioactive than depleted uranium." (Associated Press, Capital Times, Feb. 3, 2001)
The resolution's significant fourth paragraph notes in part: " … major scientific uncertainties persisted regarding the long-term environmental impacts of depleted uranium, particularly with respect to long-term groundwater contamination.
"Because of these scientific uncertainties, UNEP called for a precautionary approach to the use of depleted uranium, and recommended that action be taken to clean up and decontaminate the polluted sites. It also called for awareness-raising among local populations and future monitoring."
The 'precautionary principle' holds that risky activities or substances should be shunned and discouraged unless they can be proved safe. Of course, instead of adopting precaution, the Pentagon denies that DU can be linked to health problems.
This article was originally published on CounterPunch.
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http://thelochsidepress.com/2014/11/09/new-plant-to-treat-radioactive-waste-planned-for-faslane/
The Ministry of Defence has revealed proposals for a new ‘Nuclear Support Hub’, which it says will reduce the amount of radioactivity discharged into the Gareloch….
… It adds that radioactive liquid effluent and solid waste from nuclear-powered submarines has been successfully treated and disposed of at Faslane since 1967.
The new building would treat and dispose of liquid waste, treat and condition solid waste and decontaminate tools and equipment used in maintaining nuclear-powered vessels.
Effluent would be processed to a level where it can be discharged into the Gareloch within limits agreed with SEPA.
The statement by Jacobs adds: “The annual discharge consent levels for the different radioactive species (except tritium) will be lower than for the existing arrangements, and levels of radioactivity discharged into the Gareloch over recent years have been significantly less than the consented limits…
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http://www.tbnewswatch.com/News/364712/Hyer_hosts_town_hall_meetings_to_discuss_nuclear_waste
THUNDER BAY — Bruce Hyer is concerned about how the entire region could be affected if one Northwestern Ontario community is selected to host the country’s nuclear waste.
The Thunder Bay-Superior North MP said the residual effects of storing the hazardous materials need to be more closely examined
Hyer is holding open houses throughout the week in his riding, starting on Sunday night in Thunder Bay at the Italian Cultural Centre. The meeting drew about 40 people.
He said not enough people in the region are aware of what’s happening.
“It’s a poor substitute for a proper consultation process by them but it’s better than nothing,” he said. “I really want to find out from my constituents in Thunder Bay-Superior North and beyond what they think about the possibility of high level nuclear waste being stored here and transported through here.”
Schreiber, Ignace, White River, Manitouwadge and Hornepayne are five of about 15 communities that have applied to the Nuclear Waste Management Organization as prospective storage sites for nuclear waste…
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… Hyer wants to know about things like transportation of the material and how other municipalities and residents feel about the possibility of one of those five taking part.
“It’s my feeling that all of Northwestern Ontario should be consulted,” he said.
“Even if Thunder Bay is not a likely disposal site it’s possible 53 trucks a month for 30 years could be rumbling through Thunder Bay on their way to places like Ignace. We could be seeing an awful lot of nuclear waste transported through Thunder Bay…
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http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/indias-nuclear-programme-needs-new-adrenalin-jairam-ramesh/article6584227.ece?homepage=true
… However, much of India’s nuclear energy programme remains “only on paper”, and the 2005 Indo-U.S. nuclear agreement “has not much to show for itself” besides India’s procurement of natural uranium from other countries.
However, India has become the second country in the world to have a commercial-scale fast-breeder reactor running on a mix of plutonium and uranium oxides.
“India’s logic for the fast-breeder programme is fundamental and impeccable. Without such a programme that uses spent fuel from natural uranium reactors, India will not be able to use its vast reserves of thorium,” Mr. Jairam said.
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http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/local-news/talks-nuclear-waste-storage-chapelcross-4603957
Three public meetings are to be held on proposals that could lead to radioactive waste from nuclear subs being stored at Chapelcross…
Chapelcross’ own nuclear rods were removed last year after a major defuelling project and the site is currently being decommissioned.
Earlier this year, the Ministry of Defence – which needs to find somewhere to store waste from 27 nuclear subs – revealed Chapelcross was one of five UK sites being considered…
Chapelcross is the only site in Scotland, with the others being at Aldermaston and Burghfield, Sellafield and Capenhurst…
However, the Chapelcross Site Stakeholder Group has already been told the Scottish Government would challenge Chapelcross becoming a submarine dump.
A licence would be required from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency with Scottish Ministers having the power to direct refusal.
The chosen site will be used as an interim storage site for the reactor components until after 2040 when the UK’s geological disposal facility is planned to come into operation.
The MoD is understood to have 18 former Royal Naval nuclear submarines currently stored afloat in Devonport and Rosyth. They can only be completely dismantled once the reactor components, which are categorised as radioactive waste, have been removed safely.
Under the MoD’s submarine dismantling project, nine submarines that are currently…
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http://columbiariverkeeper.org/top-stories/riverkeeper-calls-on-epa-to-address-hanford-pollution/
CITIZEN GROUPS CALL ON STATE OF WASHINGTON AND U.S. EPA TO ADDRESS POLLUTION NEAR COLUMBIA RIVER AT HANFORD’S F AREA
Groups Urge Ecology and EPA to reconsider and reject a Plan that would leave dangerous waste close to the Columbia for generations
Nov. 6, 2014 (Richland, WA) — Hanford watchdog groups Columbia Riverkeeper, Heart of America Northwest, and Hanford Challenge are urging federal and state regulators to reconsider a U.S. Department of Energy (Energy) decision to leave chemical and radioactive pollution in a large area of the Hanford site alongside the Columbia River.
Today, Energy and US EPA decided to leave much of the contamination in the 100 F area in Hanford’s soils and groundwater.
Energy’s proposal allows contamination to pose a risk to human health and the environment for hundreds of years.
Rather than cleanup the contamination alongside the River, the plan adopted today relies on keeping people away and not using the groundwater for 150 to 264 years.
“The fifty-one miles of Columbia River that borders the Hanford site is some of the best fishing in the Northwest,” said Dan Serres, Conservation Director for Columbia Riverkeeper.
“And people eat salmon and other fish caught just offshore of Hanford. This is why it is imperative that Energy’s cleanup plan gets the job done and protects our r
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… and protects our region’s strong fishing heritage.”
“Cleanup needs to protect the public and the Treaty rights of Native Americans to use the shoreline areas of the Columbia River.
''Our state and federal regulators – the U.S. EPA and Washington Dept. of Ecology – must demand a better approach.
''Without a more robust cleanup, the Columbia River, Tribal members and the general public will have elevated health risks for over 260 years,” said Washington State Representative Gerry Pollet, Executive Director of the Hanford cleanup citizens’ group Heart of America Northwest.
“We are disappointed that Energy has not opted to use available technologies for a thorough cleanup of the 100 F area.” stated Emily Bays with Hanford Challenge.
“When there are technologies available to reduce the risk of strontium and other contamination, why choose to do less? Institutional controls and monitored natural attenuation are inadequate options.”
The groups are members of the Hanford Advisory Board (HAB), among other stakeholders from local governments, tribal governments, conservation groups and worker interests.
“Energy is choosing to ignore overwhelming, common-sense input from citizens throughout the Pacific Northwest who want to see a proactive approach to reducing pollution that reaches the Columbia River from the Hanford site and the F Reactor area,” said Serres.
In September, HAB urged agencies “to take remedial action as appropriate to significantly…
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… reduce the time for cleanup goals to be attained.” The HAB advised that Energy was leaving contamination in place for “far too long,” and the current proposal was “not acceptable.”
The F Area is the first major plutonium production reactor area along the Columbia River for which Energy is issuing a “final” cleanup decision.
The decision proposes to prevent public or Tribal use of groundwater and soil in areas which will otherwise be open to public access for 150 years , and 264 years, respectively.
The River flows through Hanford for over fifty miles. There are 9 plutonium production reactors, with thousands of waste sites around them, along the “Hanford Reach” of the Columbia River. The Hanford Reach of the Columbia has been designated as a National Monument.
About Columbia Riverkeeper
Columbia Riverkeeper’s mission is to protect and restore the water quality of the Columbia River and all life connected to it, from the headwaters to the Pacific Ocean. Representing a diverse coalition of members and interests, Columbia Riverkeeper works to restore a Columbia River where people can safely eat the fish they catch, and where children can swim without fear of toxic exposure.
The organization is a member of Waterkeeper Alliance, the world’s fastest growing environmental movement, uniting more than 200 Waterkeeper organizations worldwide and focusing citizen action on issues that affect our waterways, from pollution to climate change. For more information…
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http://www.employmentlawdaily.com/index.php/news/acting-on-customers-retaliatory-animus-could-create-employer-liability-for-whistleblower-retaliatio
Acting on customer’s retaliatory animus could create employer liability for whistleblower retaliation
By Cynthia L. Hackerott, J.D.
- this is an excellent legal piece from Wolters Kluwer
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http://www.no2wipp.org/2014/11/10/
No to Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
ENOUGH ¡BASTA! Say No to High Level Nuclear Waste Dumping in New Mexico
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I think we have a right to be upset over this one.
If the WIPP experts know that turning on a fan is going to cause a release, then it seems irresponsible and neglectful, (downright criminal IMO), NOT to issue an ALERT or WARNING to the public prior to a known upcoming event.
Admittedly, they didn't know what the amount of release would be until after the release. It was a supposedly of 'no concern' to the public, but they had 'no clue' that would be the case.
What they should do, what should be required! is for an ALERT to be issued to shelter in place until an all clear is given. It only makes sense. However, that will probably never happen as it would be negative PR for the Nuclear Industry.
I really can't believe this crap sometimes.
Any thoughts on this one folks?
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That would be like the same as them saying radiation is bad. They can't do that. People might question their authority on the subject. Maybe think twice about getting chemo or pretending a nuclear hegemony is a good thing. Can't have that now can we. Might disturb the economy or the Empire.
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the link…
http://www.no2wipp.org/wipp-still-leaking-radiation-double-speak-boasts-mine-60-accessible-no-mention-decontamination-fixing-not-started/
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http://www.wral.com/japan-s-nuclear-cleanup-stymied-by-water-woes/14172400/
Japan's nuclear cleanup stymied by water woes
By MARI YAMAGUCHI, Associated Press
TOKYO –
… Every day, some 6,000 workers pass through the guarded gate of the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant… But only about 100 of them are dismantling a makeshift roof over one of the reactor buildings, while about a dozen others are removing fuel rods from a cooling pool.
Most of the rest are dealing with contaminated water … The work threatens to exhaust the supply of workers for other tasks, since they must stop working when they reach annual radiation exposure limits….
Workers have jury-rigged a pipe-and-hose system to continuously pump water into the reactors to cool the clumps of melted fuel inside.
The water becomes contaminated upon exposure to the radioactive fuel, and much of it pours into the reactor basements and maintenance trenches that extend to the Pacific Ocean.
The plant recycles some of the contaminated water as cooling water after partially treating it, but groundwater is also flowing into the damaged reactor buildings and mixing with contaminated water, creating a huge excess that needs to be pumped out.
So far, more than 500,000 tons of radioactive water has been stored in nearly 1,000 large tanks that workers have built, which now cover most of the sprawling plant site. After a series of leaks from the storage tanks last year, they are now being replaced with costlier…
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… welded tanks. That dwarfs the 9,000 tons of contaminated water produced during the 1979 partial meltdown of Three Mile Island …
An estimated 2 trillion yen ($18 billion) will be needed just for decontamination and other mitigation of the water problem. Altogether, the entire decommissioning process, including compensation for area residents, reportedly will cost about 10 trillion yen, or about $90 billion.
All this for a plant that will never produce a kilowatt of energy again…
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http://fukushima-diary.com/2014/11/earthquakes-suddenly-increased-around-japan-11122014/
Unusual number of the earthquakes occurred all around in Japan, according to Japan Meteorological Agency.
The epicenters were from Fukushima to Kunashiri-to island.
From 0:00 to 20:08, 9 earthquakes happened on 11/12/2014. It was 5 quakes on 11/11/2014, 3 quakes on 11/10/2014 as long as Japan Meteorological Agency reported.
The largest one was M4.9 South offshore of Tokyo that occurred at 20:05 of 11/12/2014 (JST).
At this moment, there is no announcement from Japan Meteorological Agency.
http://www.jma.go.jp/en/quake/quake_local_index.html
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http://jen.jiji.com/jc/i?g=eco&k=2014111200702
Fukushima, Nov. 12 (Jiji Press)–Fukushima Governor Masao Uchibori voiced opposition Wednesday to a proposal for concentrating in his prefecture the disposal of waste contaminated with radioactive substances from the March 2011 nuclear accident.
"The government has already adopted the basic policy by a cabinet decision," Uchibori, who was elected governor of the northeastern Japan prefecture in late October, said at his inaugural news conference. He was referring to a cabinet decision that contaminated waste should be disposed of in the prefectures where it was generated.
The town government of Shioya, Tochigi Prefecture, south of Fukushima, has opposed construction of a final disposal facility for such waste in state-owned land in the town, selected by the national government as a candidate site for the facility. As an alternative, the town proposed that disposal should be concentrated in areas around Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s <9501> stricken Fukushima No. 1 power plant.
The proposal by Shioya drew criticism from nuclear accident victims in Fukushima.
Uchibori said it is important for the national government to deal with the issue by holding thorough discussions with related municipal governments.
(2014/11/12-18:09)
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http://unu.edu/events/archive/seminar/monitoring-impacts-and-communicating-health-risks-after-fukushima.html#overview
United Nations University
Monitoring Impacts and Communicating Health Risks after Fukushima
LOCATION :
Tokyo
On 11 November 2014 the UNU Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) and the UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) will co-organize the public seminar Monitoring Impacts and Communicating Health Risks after Fukushima.
The event will explore challenges and lessons learned in the process of monitoring health impacts and communicating health risks after the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
The nuclear accident of March 2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has had wide-reaching environmental, social and economic impacts.
The health risks posed by the accident have been among the key concerns both in Japan and other countries, and are expected to remain the focus of public attention for many years to come.
By their very nature, issues related to radiation are both relatively “unusual” and highly technical for the general public. Thus, how to effectively monitor health impacts and communicate associated health risks represent key questions that scientists, experts and …
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… key questions that scientists, experts and practitioners are facing in the process of dealing with the legacy of the disaster.
The event will take the form of a panel discussion followed by an interactive session with the audience aiming to promote open discussion that incorporates perspectives from science, practitioners, civil society and the affected population.
Advanced registration (by 10 November) is required. Please click on the REGISTER above to access the registration page.
- the announcement of the event appears to have been issued too late for anyone to register … maybe they are feeling a bit embarrassed about the UNSCEAR report, who knows?
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http://majiasblog.blogspot.com.au
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2014
Birth Defects in Fukushima
- great piece
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http://theenergycollective.com/swaldmansympaticoca/2155181/examining-nuclear-power-climate-option-part-ii
Authored by:
Suzanne Waldman
Suzanne researches public dialogues on energy and risk, with a particular focus on how citizens can become informed enough to motivate good policy decisions in the current era of energy dynamism and climate urgency.
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http://mainichi.jp/english/
Nov. 12
Asahi Shimbun
PM leaning toward dissolving lower house for snap general election (18:11 JST)
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is leaning toward dissolving the House of Representatives as early as next week to call a general electi… Full article
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PnjubVubBY
- dana
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http://enformable.com/fukushima-radiation-data/foia-documents-related-to-fukushima-daiichi-reactor-3/
@Enformable
FOIA Documents Related to Fukushima Daiichi Reactor 3
NRC Transcripts – Fukushima Reactor 3 Spent Fuel Pool crack and possible loss of inventory
March 13th, 2011 – FOIA UPDATE from 15:30 telecon – Reactor 3 core believed 50% uncovered in first 2 days
NRC Transcript – TEPCO relayed information Unit 4 SFP Dry – Walls collapsed and incapable of holding inventory – Unit 3 “everything else gone” –
Reactor 3 core nearly completely uncovered by March 12th – GE confirmed reference level TAF
March 13th, 2011 – JNES Communications – Reactor 2 fuel uncovered – Reactor 3 explosion
March 14th, 2011 – NRC ONLY Update – All 3 Reactor cores likely damaged
March 14th – Unit 3 Containment broken – radiation released – Tokyo levels increased twentyfold
March 14, 2011, 11:30pm Japan Nuclear Facility Updates – Unit 2 Ex Vessel Fuel Damage – Substantial Debris in Unit 3 SFP
March 15th, 2011 – The Whole Spent Fuel Pool At Reactor 3 Could Boil Dry In 20 Days
March 15th, 2011 – All 3 Reactors have known fuel damage – 50 Staff on site – 5 may have received fatal radiation doses
March 16th, 2011 – Fukushima Units 1,2,3 have fuel damage – Lost secondary containment integrity
March 17th, 2011 – JSDF helicopter crews report dose rates of 375 R/hr 300 ft above Reactor 3
March 18th, 2011 – Corroborating reports that either Unit 3 Reactor or SFP may…
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… be dry?
March 18th, 2011 – NRC and GE Inspecting Photos to Determine Whether Drywell Head Intact in Reactor 3 – 50 Mile Evacuation Was Good Call – Aleutian Islands I-131
March 23rd, 2011 – Suspect 3 ft of salt in bottom of reactor vessel – SFP lasted 3 days
March 23rd, 2011 – Smoke from Reactor 3 May Be Nuclear Heat From Undesired Criticality
March 29th, 2011 – Status of 3 Units and 4 pools – Realistic Scenarios
March 30th, 2011 – Events at Fukushima Units 1-4
April 25th, 2011 -Unit 3 100% Leak rate – Updating Source Term – MELCOR analysis
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http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11223714/Paranoid-US-millionaires-can-buy-Survival-Condos-to-survive-nuclear-war-in-s
Paranoid US millionaires can buy Survival Condos to survive nuclear war in style
Former weapons silo in Kansas converted into luxury underground apartments complete with pool, bar, dog park and cinema
Apartments in one of the former silo’s two buildings have already sold out, and the second is currently under construction Photo: http://www.survivalcondo.com
By Rosa Prince, New York 11 Nov 11 17 Comments
Paranoid millionaires in the United States are being offered the opportunity to buy a flat in a luxury underground apartment building in which to see out a nuclear apocalypse in style.
Called “Survival Condos,” the apartments in a former weapons silo at a secret location near Concordia in rural Kansas are on the market for between $1.5 million (£950,000) and $4.5 million (£2.8 million), and come complete with access to a swimming pool, bar, movie theatre and “hydroponic” vegetable garden.
Dog lovers have a place to walk their pets, while a “holding cell” can be used as a prison to house any residents who turn unruly during the long days and nights underground. There is a shooting range and rock climbing wall.
In the event of nuclear war or other disaster, the complex is designed to keep up to 70 people alive for five years, providing food, water and even entertainment…
The complex’s online marketing…
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… The complex’s online marketing brochure describes itself as “Survival Bunker Security / Full Luxury Resort Living.”
Over an image which appears to show a partially destroyed US Capitol Building, it says: “When anything is possible, preparation is peace of mind.”
Apartments in one of the former silo’s two buildings have already sold out, and the second is currently under construction. …
Built in the 1960s at the peak of the Cold War, the Atlas silos were designed by the US military to survive a direct nuclear strike, and stretch 174 feet underground. They can be sealed with two armoured doors, each weighing 16,000 pounds…
There is a first aid centre, communication room, presumably for getting in touch with other millionaire survivors, and weather station.
Smaller apartments house up to five people while larger ones will be home to up to 10 residents…
The top of the silo is built of 9-foot concrete walls, which will be covered with a dome designed to survive winds in excess of 500 miles per hour.
Should Armageddon strike, owners will have to get to the local airport or anywhere else within 400 miles of the silo, where they will be picked up by armoured vehicle.
The website promises prospective buyers: "We believe that given the present worldwide economic conditions, historical disaster evidence, and the obvious signs of global climate changes; that it is prudent to have a ‘disaster plan and shelter’ in place should a need for it occur…
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Re: Doomsday Bunker
SP: What a marketing fantasy! Shooting range? Who would waste a single bullet with hungry cannibals trying to get inside? Far better to fill that room with more food. Five years is not a lifetime for supplies.
Far better to flee on a yacht with supplies to deserted islands in the southern hemisphere. That is where human life might survive when the holocaust or nuclear-induced plague takes out 99 percent of humans in the "civilized" areas.
It is probably true that super rich naked apes have the best chance of rebuilding a new human society after Doomsday times. Survival of the fittest (richest). Darwin smiles…
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One way this radiation contamination gets pushed around the globe..
Haboob!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2828721/Wet-frigid-weather-hits-Upper-Midwest.html
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Does anyone remember all the radioactive food donated to Africa right after Fukushima? No wonder Ebola is killing off everyone there. Their immune systems were compromised by the unwanted radioactive food donated by the wprldwide nuclear cabal in Japan and elsewhere.
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http://www.iaea.org/file/2014/introductory-statement-board-governors-–-fukushima-nuclear-accident-2
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http://www.iaea.org/file/2014/introductory-statement-board-governors-–-fukushima-nuclear-accident-2
The Asahi Shimbun
First bags of contaminated debris prepared for transfer to Fukushima interim facility
November 12
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
KAWAUCHI, Fukushima Prefecture–Preparation work has started for the transfer of radiation-contaminated debris from a temporary storage site here to a planned interim facility that has been opposed by landowners and may not open as scheduled…
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