International Nuclear Watch & Discussion

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 31 Mar 2013 19:18

Kim told a rare plenary meeting of the central committee of the Korean Workers' Party that North Korea must "qualitatively and quantitatively" boost its nuclear arsenal

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 01 Apr 2013 17:33

North Korea calls nukes 'the nation's life' at big meeting

One of North Korea's top decision-making bodies is setting guidelines that call nuclear weapons "the nation's life" that won't be traded even for "billions of dollars."

It says nuclear weapons aren't "goods for getting U.S. dollars" or a "political bargaining chip."

US strategy takes Korean crisis into new territory

Soaring tensions on the Korean peninsula have seen dire North Korean threats met with an unusually assertive US response that analysts warn could take a familiar game into dangerous territory.

By publicly highlighting its recent deployment of nuclear-capable B-52 and stealth bombers over South Korea, Washington has, at times, almost appeared to be purposefully goading an already apoplectic Pyongyang.

North Korea parliament meets as tensions soar

ruling party leaders vowed to enshrine Pyongyang's right to nuclear weapons in law.

Some very Paki thinking at work here. The Chinese supplied technology must be protected at all costs. The nukes don't defend the country, the country must defend the nukes.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 01 Apr 2013 20:43

North Korea expands nuclear weapons programme

The law reads that the country's nuclear weapons are a "means of defence" and serve the purpose of "dealing deadly retaliatory blows at the strongholds of aggression until the world is denuclearised".

"The People's Army should perfect the war method and operation in the direction of raising the pivotal role of the nuclear armed forces in all aspects concerning war deterrence and war strategy."

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 01 Apr 2013 20:52

End of NK is coming.

pentaiah · Post by **pentaiah** » 01 Apr 2013 21:40

No NoKo will survive

svinayak · Post by **svinayak** » 03 Apr 2013 01:14

The only countries which are expanding their programs are the one which feel threatened by the superpowers.

NoKO is one and the other one is TSP

pentaiah · Post by **pentaiah** » 03 Apr 2013 01:40

While NoKO is dictatorship their Nuclear intentions are completely open. They declare their intent unlike Iran or TSP.

WHile NoKo is considered bluster, Iran with centrifuges is threat?

which is more rational Iran, NoKo or Israel and the world community?

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 05 Apr 2013 05:00

North Korea missile reach shows need for Trident nuclear deterrent – PM

Where's the real threat here – Kim Jong-un or Trident?

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 05 Apr 2013 21:58

Russian strategic bomber conducts practice strikes on U.S. missile defenses in Asia

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 05 Apr 2013 23:06

Historic perspective.. how many lives Nuclear power saved!

I wish Amitji, Guruprabhu and all others who took interest and debated Germany's decision to shut down Nuclear power to protect lives see this recent article by Pushker A. Kharecha, and James E Hansen (I hope this hits major Indian and other newspapers to educate the public)

Prevented mortality and greenhouse gas emissions from historical and projected nuclear power

This article is just published in a prestigious peer reviewed journal and this landmark study makes a dramatic case for nuclear power. Indian stake holders must study this report. I do wish brf becomes part of the solution by letting this forum be a source for public education.

Some interesting findings...

wrt Germany:

In Germany, which has announced plans to shut down all reactors by 2022, we calculate that nuclear power has prevented an average of over 117,000 deaths from 1971-2009"

For the whole world..

The results are projected total emissions that would have probably led to the deaths of 1.84 million people between 1971 and 2009 based on average mortality estimates from fossil combustion pollution. This is probably an underestimate, said Hansen and co-author Pushker Kharecha, noting that the life-cycle mortality estimates are the biggest source of uncertainty in the report:

(BTW, The higher estimate for lives saved by nuclear energy, the study estimates is over 7.5 million - and these figures still do not count a range of serious respiratory illnesses, cancers, etc..)

And, those who still panic from wildly expressed fear from Fukushima radiation...

The absence of evidence of large mortality from past nuclear accidents is consistent with recent findings that the 'linear no-threshold' model used to derive the nuclear mortality factor might not be valid for the relatively low radiation doses that the public was exposed to from nuclear power plant accidents."

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 09 Apr 2013 00:23

U.S., partners secure 149 pounds of bomb-grade uranium from Czech Republic

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 09 Apr 2013 09:55

A very interesting interview with a Soviet/Russian Nuclear weapon designer , Gives a good insight on the yeald of weapon tested and material used etc also some insight into pure fusion weapon.

Just a very interesting science [use translator ]

SSakharov came to Khrushchev Hariton and said, "Let's still testing the 100-megaton bomb will hold." We took our body ready, one more thing, parachute system (it is impossible to blow up a bomb without a parachute, the plane-it will burn). Several years have passed since our development, so Arzamasians offered, of course, a better charge. And it blew up in 1961, but, as you know, reduced power to 50 megatons of fear that the consequences are unpredictable. And our charge is made out. Then there was a series of bombs superpower, but it is much less than 50 megatonnes made - also in competition with VNIIEF. something our matter, something they - there was a bona fide competition. Walked and collaborations: the creation of, for example, ultra-pure nuclear weapons - the merit of both our institutions.

As a result, we have created a charge, the explosion of which no fission fragments does not occur - only neutrons, but they quickly evaporate, so it remains only the problem of the induced activity by them. But this is the problem solved by technical means, because we can choose the materials that are poorly activated, to pick up a neutron protection in our charge all this was done, so we had a very small induced activity. In the end, after the cleanliness of the explosion was almost complete. It really was a unique design, very interesting, very original.

"Clean" explosions were quite a few, but more experimental. Final - our joint work with VNIIEF, 150-kiloton charge, in which only a percent of energy carried by the division, the rest - due to thermonuclear reactions (in 1972 conducted a successful test of a high charge level - 99.85% of the energy received by the synthesis light elements. - "Expert"). And on the Kola Peninsula was used, roughly speaking, a small piece of this charge. He was also quite clean, then there still applied and exhaust activity away from the useful ore. Therefore, when the "released" the ore, it was really almost clean, it can be used, it meets all standards.

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 10 Apr 2013 20:35

Iran’s Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant not affected by quake: IAEA

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 10 Apr 2013 22:11

South Korea should weigh departure from NPT, lawmaker says

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 13 Apr 2013 06:13

North Korea knows how to miniaturize nuclear bombs, U.S. military agency says

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 13 Apr 2013 20:42

In Iran: the former nuclear negotiator Hassan Rowhani is reportedly to run for the presidency.

No-nonsense' negotiator joins race to replace Iran's Ahmadinejad

Hassan Rowhani, a former Iranian nuclear negotiator, announced on Thursday he would run for president - becoming the most moderate contender so far to bid to succeed Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a June election dominated by conservatives.
The 64-year-old was head of the powerful Supreme National Security Council under presidents Ali Akbar Rafsanjani, considered a master of realpolitik rather than an ideologue, and Mohammad Khatami, who pushed for wide-ranging social and political reforms.
Rowhani, a Muslim cleric, presided over talks with Britain, France and Germany that saw Iran agree to suspend uranium enrichment-related activities between 2003 and 2005.
He resigned after Ahmadinejad took office in August that year. The nuclear work was resumed and Rowhani was derided for being too accommodating in negotiations.
<snip>

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 15 Apr 2013 08:02

Here we may go again...
M5.2 quake jolts Fukushima, vicinity
(The tremor comes in the wake of a powerful 6.3-magnitude quake that jolted western Japan on Saturday, injuring at least 23 people and damaging over 1,000 houses)

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 15 Apr 2013 11:16

IAEA begins fresh probe into Fukushima nuclear accident

National Apr. 15, 2013 - 02:20PM JST ( 0 )

TOKYO —

The International Atomic Energy Agency on Monday started a fresh probe into Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant, where leaks and power cuts have dented public confidence in clean-up efforts.

A 12-strong IAEA mission held a meeting with officials from the Japanese government and operator Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) in Tokyo ahead of their on-site inspection at the plant from Wednesday to Friday.

The eight-day trip by the nuclear experts and international specialists was at the request of the Japanese government and is the third of its kind since the plant was knocked out by a tsunami in March 2011.

“After this week of discussions, I hope that we will have new information to give our assessment and to give our feedback to the government of Japan,” Juan Carlos Lentijo, head of the mission, told reporters.

The IAEA team is scheduled to submit a report to the government and TEPCO on April 22, officials said.

The mission came as workers at the troubled plant battle with a series of radioactive water leaks, the latest in an increasingly long line of problems.

Two years since the worst nuclear accident in a generation, the plant remains fragile, with systems to cool spent nuclear fuel failing repeatedly in a matter of weeks in March and April.

The IAEA team is mainly focusing on the decommissioning process but will look into TEPCO’s measures to solve leakages and blackouts that caused cooling system failures, government officials said.

The plant was hit by a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and massive tsunami on March 11, 2011, prompting reactor meltdowns that forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes.

Many remain displaced and some will never be able to return.

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 15 Apr 2013 11:19

Tepco postpones transfer of radioactive water in Fukushima

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Sunday it has postponed the transfer of radioactive water from a leaking underground tank at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant because it needs more time to conduct safety checks and install a water pipe.

The operator of the crisis-hit plant in northeastern Japan had planned to start moving contaminated water from the No. 2 tank to an above-ground container located about 400 meters away.

However, the utility known as Tepco discovered Thursday that about 22 liters of contaminated water had leaked from a junction of the piping for transferring liquid from the No. 3 tank to the No. 6 tank.

Since the radioactive water from the No. 2 tank was also to go through the junction, company officials now say it will take several more days to put in place a new pipe to be used to transfer the water and inspect it.

From the No. 2 tank, up to 120 tons of contaminated water may have leaked into the soil. Smaller amounts of radioactive water have also leaked from the No. 1 and No. 3 tanks.

Tepco has decided to pump out a total of 23,600 tons of liquid to tanks above ground by the end of June. The leaking underground containers have been used to store water for cooling reactors which experienced meltdowns during the 2011 nuclear crisis at the plant.

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 15 Apr 2013 11:35

This is quite unusual for Japanese to challenge the authority and even more so when Children to take to the Court.

Japan lawsuit seeks evacuation of children out of Fukushima radiation zone after nuke disaster

TOKYO - Their demand: The right to live free of radiation. The plaintiffs who started the legal battle: 14 children.

A Japanese appeals court is expected to rule soon on this unusual lawsuit, filed on behalf of the children by their parents and anti-nuclear activists in June 2011 in a district court in Fukushima city, about 60 kilometres (40 miles) west of the crippled nuclear plant that spewed radiation when a massive earthquake and tsunami hit it more than two years ago.

The lawsuit argues that Koriyama, a city of 330,000, should evacuate its children to an area where radiation levels are no higher than natural background levels in the rest of Japan, or about 1 millisievert annual exposure.

In a culture that frowns upon challenging the authorities, the lawsuit highlights the rift in public opinion created by the baffling range in experts' views on the health impact of low dose radiation. Although some experts say there is no need for children to be evacuated, parents are worried about the long-term impact on their children, who are more vulnerable to radiation than adults. Consuming contaminated food and water are additional risks.

After the Fukushima accident, the world's worst since Chornobyl, Japan set an annual exposure limit of 20 millisieverts for determining whether people can live in an area or not. The average radiation for Koriyama is far below this cutoff point, but some "hot spots" around the city are above that level.

"This is the level at which there are no major effects on health and people can live there," said Keita Kawamori, an official with the Japanese Cabinet Office. "Academic experts decided this was the safe level."

A prominent medical doctor in charge of health safety in Fukushima has repeatedly urged calm, noting damage is measurable only at annual exposure of 100 millisieverts, or 100 times the normal level, and higher.

A lower court rejected the lawsuit's demands in a December 2011 decision, saying radiation had not reached the 100-millisievert cutoff. The International Commission on Radiological Protection, the academic organization on health and radiation, says risks decline with a drop exposure, but does not believe there is a cutoff below which there is no risk.

An appeal filed is still before Sendai High Court in nearby Miyagi Prefecture more than a year later.

After the 1986 Chornobyl disaster, which emitted more radiation than the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, the Soviet government made it a priority to evacuate women and children from within a 30-kilometre (20-mile) radius of the plant, bigger than the 20-kilometre (12-mile) no-go zone around the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant.

The number of children behind the original lawsuit dwindled to 10 for the appeal, and is now down to one as families left the prefecture voluntarily or the children grew older. Legally in Japan, a city has responsibility for children only through junior high, since high school is not compulsory.

But the case serves as a precedent for other Fukushima children.

Toshio Yanagihara, one of the lawyers, criticized the government as appearing more worried about a population exodus than in saving the children.

"I don't understand why an economic power like Japan won't evacuate the children — something even the fascist government did during World War II," he said, referring to the mass evacuation of children during the 1940s to avoid air bombings. "This is child abuse."

After Chornobyl, thousands of children got thyroid cancer. Some medical experts say leukemia, heart failure and other diseases that followed may be linked to radiation.

In Fukushima, at least three cases of thyroid cancer have been diagnosed among children, although there's no evidence of a link with the nuclear disaster. There are no comparative figures on thyroid cancer in other areas of Japan.

The children in the lawsuit and their families are all anonymous, and details about them are not disclosed, to protect them from possible backlash of ostracism and bullying.

"Why is Japan, our Fukushima, about to repeat the mistakes of Chornobyl?" wrote a mother of one of the children in a statement submitted to the court. "Isn't it up to us adults to protect our children?"

The trial has attracted scant attention in the mainstream Japanese media but it has drawn support from anti-nuclear protesters, who have periodically held massive rallies.

Among the high-profile supporters are musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, manga artist Tetsuya Chiba and American linguist and political activist Noam Chomsky.

"There is no better measure of the moral health of a society than how it treats the most vulnerable people within it, and none or more vulnerable, or more precious, than children who are the victims of unconscionable actions," Chomsky wrote in a message.

A 12-year-old, among those who filed the lawsuit but have since left the area, said she was worried.

"Even if I am careful, I may get cancer, and the baby I have may be hurt," she said in a hand-written statement.

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 15 Apr 2013 11:38

X-Posted

Amber G. wrote:^^^ Thanks for the comments.

I think it is very important, in a democracy, for aam janata to educate itself, and scientists to give as much information as possible.

For example, we should learn from Fukushima. A recent report has made many of the mainstream newspapers.. for example,
Study: No radioactive cesium in 99% of Fukushima, Ibaraki residents

or
Fukushima internal exposures low, study finds
(Many newspapers also carry the news of this study.. with varying headlines and spins)

The original report is at:
https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/pj ... 1/_article
Proceedings of the Japan Academy, Series B
Vol. 89 (2013) No. 4 p. 157-163
Internal radiocesium contamination of adults and children in Fukushima 7 to 20 months after the Fukushima NPP accident as measured by extensive whole-body-counter surveys

Here are some interesting findings which people should note to see the actual effects of radiation (Mainly due to eating food) , after such an event...

Please read the article in detail, if interested, here are few points:

- Data is from 30,000+ residents in affected areas - A detailed study by scientists.
- 99% of residents of Fukushima prefecture and neighbouring Ibaraki have barely detectable levels of internal exposure ... (~300 Bq / Kg) (For perspective, A banana is about 15 Bq)
- Rest 1% were still, pretty low (much lower than average back-ground radiation) ( Equivalent dose of ~ .04 mSv)
Only 4 (out of 30,000), who ate un-screened food such as wild mushrooms, wild boar and freshwater fish) got about 1mSV (for perspective, you get about 3mSV/year just from background radiation) (There level went down, once they changed the food habits)..

Gives some real life data, for those who were predicting dire results and warnings against "contaminated food".

One should also note down WHO detail study, for overall radiation effects ( looked at a number of populations in Fukushima prefecture etc).. which concluded ..

It expects no observable health effect in the wider population...
(For perspective please see about my post (on March 2011) about scare from food imports from Japan..
http://forums.bharat-rakshak.com/viewto ... n#p1047245

Rahul Shukla · Post by **Rahul Shukla** » 15 Apr 2013 18:35

This also has bearing on past/future Indian missile tests:

How North Korea Tipped Its Hand (Daily Beast)

The U.S. recovered the front section of the rocket used in North Korea’s satellite launch in December, which gave away the status of the regime's nuclear arms program.

Gerard · Post by **Gerard** » 21 Apr 2013 18:25

Obama accused of nuclear U-turn as guided weapons plan emerges

Under the plan, nearly 200 B61 gravity bombs stockpiled in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy and Turkey would be given new tail fins that would turn them into guided weapons that could be delivered by stealth F35 fighter-bombers.

Agnimitra · Post by **Agnimitra** » 24 Apr 2013 03:53

Not sure if posted before, don't know where else to post this.

Jadugoda (Uranium rich district in Jharkhand): India's nuclear graveyard

http://www.ch1nkyshukla.com/jadugoda--t ... eyard.html
Replace 1 with "i" in above URL.

Amber G. · Post by **Amber G.** » 24 Apr 2013 21:09

^^^ This or similar topic has been discussed before.. just do a search on "Jadugoda" in brf forms.
(Around Feb 2010).

vipins · Post by **vipins** » 24 Apr 2013 23:46

‘China might have provided Pakistan with nuclear weapons designs’

Washington, April 24:

China might have provided its close ally Pakistan a fairly comprehensive package of proven nuclear weapons design in late 1970s and the CIA (Central Intelligence Agency) knew about it, according to a recently declassified document.

“The CIA had evidence suggesting close Pakistan-China nuclear cooperation, to the point of facilitating a nuclear weapons capability, although the intelligence community saw this as possibly a special case based on an alliance that had existed since 1963,” according to recently declassified CIA data, obtained by the National Security Archive (NSA) under the Freedom of Information Act.

According to the document, this allegation has come up before, for example in a State Department document and in major news stories, but this is the first time the CIA has released some of its own information.

“The estimate highlights some of the main developments, including ‘verbal consent (in 1974) to help Pakistan develop a nuclear blast capability’, ‘hedged and conditional commitment’ in 1976 to provide nuclear weapons technology, and unspecified excised information that raised the possibility that China has provided a fairly comprehensive package of proven nuclear weapon design information,” it said.

“Even without Chinese help, the Pakistanis could develop a nuclear weapon, but access to Chinese weapons design and test data might be crucial in establishing Islamabad’s confidence in an untested weapons capability,” said a 1983 national intelligence estimate of the CIA, which is heavily excised.

The exchanges may not have been one-way and the reference to Chinese “involvement” in Pakistan’s uranium enrichment programme probably refers to gas centrifuge technology, which Pakistan shared with China, it noted.

Significant portions of the document covering technology sharing are excised, but more may be learned if additional details are released under appeal, the NSA added.

vishvak · Post by **vishvak** » 25 Apr 2013 00:26

This puts a big ??? on nuclear apartheid circus ran over decades along with sanction regimes and propaganda that also ran alongside. Amoral low ground has a new nuclear facet to ignore nuke proliferation. How can the 'international' apartheid circus ever explain India specific nuke strategy of pukies?

Vayutuvan · Post by **Vayutuvan** » 08 May 2013 08:38

Quite a few interesting tid-bits in this article from SciAm regarding the costs of maintaining/upgrading < 5K nuclear weapons in US arsenal. Any comments from cognoscenti?

U.S. Nuclear Warheads Set to Get a Facelift

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 07 Jun 2013 19:32

Edison will close San Onofre nuclear plant

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-m ... 0425.story

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 07 Jun 2013 22:16

Its an old plant and is first gen spherical containment design andis right near the Interstate freeway. should have been closed long ago..

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 08 Jun 2013 02:04

Ramana,

How did it get a 20 year extension recently? CA rate payers are now on hook for the next 40 years

per the full decommission schedule, maybe longer without yucca.

--------------------------------
U.S. orders new safety upgrades at nuclear plants

http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/06/us/nuclea ... -upgrades/

JwalaMukhi · Post by **JwalaMukhi** » 12 Jul 2013 05:52

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-0 ... ancer.html
Tepco’s ‘Fukushima Fifty’ Leader Yoshida Dies of Cancer

Masao Yoshida, the plant manager who led the fight to bring Japan’s Fukushima atomic station under control during the 2011 nuclear disaster, has died. He was 58.

He died on July 9 at a hospital in Tokyo, according to a statement from Tokyo Electric Power Co (9501)., the operator of the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant. The cause was esophageal cancer, the statement said. The illness was unrelated to the radiation exposure after the nuclear accident, according to Tepco, as Tokyo Electric is known.{Must be true, if Tepco says so }

“He was such a born leader that his subordinates were ready to die alongside him,” said Ryusho Kadota, who interviewed Yoshida and other members of the Fifty for his book “The Man Who Stared Down Death.” “If Yoshida hadn’t been plant manager, Tokyo would be a no-man’s land right now. {don't know what the author is making a case for, is he exaggerating the danger or is he conflating and creating a hero because apparently it is nothing- since no one has died due to fukushima per claims}”

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 12 Jul 2013 21:58

Status report on world Nuclear power.

http://www.worldnuclearreport.org/-2013-.html

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 25 Jul 2013 20:11

Current situation on Fukushima

Fukushima cleanup to cost $58 billion

NEW DELHI: The clean-up after the Fukushima nuclear disaster could cost up to 5.81 trillion yen ($58 billion), five times more than earlier estimated, Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology said in a report released on Tuesday. The costs include removal, transport and safe storage of radiation-contaminated soil over a large area. The government has allocated about 1 trillion yen so far.

"We hope the study will be helpful in drafting plans for decontamination of forests and farmland, as well as plans for residents to return to their homes," the institute said, according to an AFP report.

The study calculated costs for several decontamination models, including one under which surface soil on farmland is removed and stored elsewhere, and another that would only see that soil turned over.

"It's important to examine the effects of several decontamination scenarios" as the ratio of evacuees who plan to return depends on the level of radiation after decontamination work, it said.

Meanwhile bad news continued to emerge from the stricken nuclear plant which suffered a triple meltdown after the March 2011 tsunami and earthquake. Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) said on Wednesday that steam had been seen again in a reactor building, making it the third time in a week. This indicates abnormal heat from reactor no. 3, which can happen if the molten and highly radioactive fuel is reacting.

The firm has said there has been no increase in the amount of radioactive material being released, although it does not know where the steam is coming from, an AFP report said.

TEPCO also admitted on Tuesday that it had known that radiation-polluted groundwater was flowing into the sea but delayed admitting it. This confession drew public criticism from the Japanese government, which is now a part owner of the utility.

Trade minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters Tuesday the slow release of data by TEPCO was "extremely deplorable", while Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said: "This kind of data should be disclosed quickly", AFP said.

Earlier this month, Tepco had reported spiking levels of possibly cancer-causing materials in soil from underneath the plant, but maintained that toxic groundwater was likely contained. On Monday it admitted its own study, completed days earlier, revealed the groundwater was leaking into the ocean.

Last week, Tepco was forced to reveal that nearly 2000 workers were affected by potential cancer causing radiation, an estimate nearly eleven times its earlier claim

Theo_Fidel · Post by **Theo_Fidel** » 27 Jul 2013 09:15

Crowd sourced very high resolution map of radiation around Fukushima.

http://gamma.tar.bz/maps/static/
----------------------------

Bill gates is attracted to Thorium tech.

http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/bill-g ... rium-dream

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 28 Jul 2013 04:29

Improved nuclear fuel-rod cladding might prevent future Fukushimas

http://scienceblog.com/64976/improved-n ... kPjQvOz.99

In the aftermath of Japan’s earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was initially driven into shutdown by the magnitude 9.0 quake; its emergency generators then failed because they were inundated by the tsunami. But the greatest damage to the complex, and the greatest release of radiation, may have been caused by explosions of hydrogen gas that built up inside some of the reactors.That hydrogen buildup was the result of hot steam coming into contact with overheated nuclear fuel rods covered by a cladding of zirconium alloy, or “zircaloy” — the material used as fuel-rod cladding in all water-cooled nuclear reactors, which constitute more than 90 percent of the world’s power reactors. When it gets hot enough, zircaloy reacts with steam to produce hydrogen, a hazard in any loss-of-coolant nuclear accident.

A team of researchers at MIT is developing an alternative that could provide similar protection for nuclear fuel, while reducing the risk of hydrogen production by roughly a thousandfold. Tests of the new cladding material, a ceramic compound called silicon carbide (SiC), are described in a series of papers [1|2] appearing in the journal Nuclear Technology.“We are looking at all sides of the issue, regarding replacing the metallic cladding with ceramic,” says Mujid Kazimi, the TEPCO Professor of Nuclear Engineering at MIT, who is senior author of the papers. Because of the harsh environment fuel rods are exposed to — heat, steam, and neutrons that emanate from nuclear reactions — extensive further testing will be needed on any new cladding for use in commercial reactors, Kazimi says.SiC is “very promising, but not at the moment ready for adoption” by the nuclear industry, he adds.
Other groups have suggested the use of SiC for cladding, but the material had never been subjected to the detailed tests and simulations that the MIT team carried out. Kazimi and his colleagues not only tested the material’s response under normal operating conditions, with temperatures of 300 degrees Celsius (572 degrees Fahrenheit), but also under the more extreme conditions of an accident, with temperatures up to 1500 C (2732 F).To test SiC cladding under normal operating conditions, the MIT team used a three-layer cladding design that features a middle layer made of a composite of SiC fibers reinforced with more SiC. The tubes were tested inside MIT’s research reactor in special loops that replicate the coolant temperature and chemistry conditions in large power reactors.
Graduate student Youho Lee and research scientist Tom McKrell conducted high-temperature oxidation studies on SiC. Under the extreme conditions of an accident, the corrosion rate was 100 to 1,000 times less than that of zircaloy. While zircaloy loses strength as temperature increases — becoming 2 percent weaker for every 10 C increase in temperature and losing all strength at about 1300 C, Stempien says — the strength of the SiC ceramic remains essentially constant to temperatures well above 1500 C.The potential advantages of SiC cladding extend beyond reducing the risks in an accident, Kazimi explains. Because SiC reacts slowly with water, even under normal conditions it degrades less and can remain in a reactor core longer. That could allow reactor operators to squeeze extra energy out of fuel rods before refueling: The rods are typically replaced after four or five years in a reactor, and degradation of the cladding is a major limitation on their longevity.In addition, the ability to leave fuel rods in place longer would reduce the spent fuel produced by each reactor, resulting in less volume for disposal, Kazimi says.There are still further tests to be done: In particular, while zircaloy tubes can have their ends capped by welding a metal disk onto each end, ceramic can’t be welded, so a suitable bonding agent will need to be found. “We need to join the ceramic to ceramic in a way that can withstand the conditions in the nuclear core,” Kazimi says. “That’s not as perfected a science as it is for metals.” Other details, such as the optimal thickness of the tubes for durability and for heat transfer, also need to be determined.
In addition, the material needs to be tested further to determine its response to various stresses. “The fracture behavior is different,” co-author Lee says. In particular, while metal deforms predictably under pressure, a ceramic tends to fracture in a way that is “more statistical,” he says: It can only be predicted as a statistical likelihood of certain failure modes.Regis Matzie, a former vice president and chief technology officer at Westinghouse, says that while SiC cladding has been investigated previously, such research “has only increased in importance after the core-melting and hydrogen explosions at the Fukushima site.” The three-layer design developed by the MIT team “appears to be the most promising of the new reactor fuel materials being proposed and investigated,” he says, adding that this is “very important research to the eventual implementation of the new cladding material.”R

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 28 Jul 2013 13:43

Carborundum is a well known material , used for abrasive products in Industries.

Added later, it has been investigated for nuclear fuel cladding to replace zircaloy.

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 28 Jul 2013 14:04

Foreign nuclear experts blast TEPCO over lack of transparency

TOKYO —

Foreign nuclear experts on Friday blasted the operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, with one saying its lack of transparency over radioactive water leaks showed “you don’t know what you’re doing”.

The blunt criticism comes after a litany of problems at the reactor site, which was swamped by a tsunami two years ago. The disaster sent reactors into meltdown and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of residents in the worst atomic accident in a generation.

Earlier this week, Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) admitted for the first time that radioactive groundwater had leaked outside the shattered plant, confirming long-held suspicions of ocean contamination.

“This action regarding the water contamination demonstrates a lack of conservative decision-making process,” Dale Klein, former head of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), told a panel in Tokyo.

“It also appears that you are not keeping the people of Japan informed. These actions indicate that you don’t know what you are doing… you do not have a plan and that you are not doing all you can to protect the environment and the people.”

Klein is part of a TEPCO-sponsored nuclear reform monitoring panel composed of two foreign experts and four Japanese including the company’s chairman.

The utility previously reported rising levels of potentially cancer-causing materials in groundwater samples from underneath the plant, but maintained it had contained toxic water from leaking beyond its borders.

The embattled company—which faces massive clean-up and compensation costs—has now admitted it delayed the release of test results that confirmed the leaks, as Japan’s nuclear watchdog heaped doubt on its claims.

“We would like to express our frustrations in your recent activities regarding the water contamination,” Klein said. “These events detract from the progress that you have made on your clean-up and reform for the Fukushima plant.”

Responding to reporters’ questions, Klein dismissed suggestions of a company cover-up, and said that TEPCO had a “good plan” to clean up the site, but they were “waiting way too long before communicating with the public”.

“As soon as the issue is identified they need say what they know (and) what they don’t know,” he added.

Earlier, Barbara Judge, chairman emeritus of Britain’s Atomic Energy Authority, said she was “disappointed and distressed” over the company’s lack of disclosure.

“I hope that there will be lessons learned from the mishandling of this issue and the next time an issue arises—which inevitably it will because decommissioning is a complicated and difficult process—that the public will be immediately informed about the situation and what TEPCO is planning to do in order to remedy it,” she said.

Judge told the press briefing that corporate culture was largely to blame.

“Like in many other companies, there was a culture of efficiency and closeness… privately working out problems until they thought they were ready to discuss them,” she said, adding that the panel was trying to usher in a “culture of safety before efficiency”.

Decommissioning the site is expected to take decades and many area residents will likely never be able to return home, experts say.

member_27444 · Post by **member_27444** » 29 Jul 2013 19:50

SiC is near asiabatic
There attempts to make engine blocks for automotive purposes out
SiC which is nothing ceramics

On e baked its almost impossible to machine it and difficult to eliminate warping
Of purse it's a specialized skill and US has facilities to do it

There is a company in India called carborundum universal which makes grind wheels
For surface and cylindrical grinders

It's logo is a Native American Apache

chaanakya · Post by **chaanakya** » 29 Jul 2013 19:54

^^You mean Adiabatic.