2011 Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami - News and Analysis

[Sanku]

saar - I think it will then help us if you stick to facts instead of taking recourse to unreliable metaphors But..well facts are inconvenient.

The only inconvenient fact is that Japanese have been bitten by a wrong decision to build Nuclear power plant on unsuitable ground, and the NPP system is based on too many assumptions which are known to be dodgy but were pushed ahead with nevertheless.

And no it does not mean that Japanese should evacuate Japan. It also does not mean that Japanese should seek help from Martians. It also does not mean than Japan should build more NPPs since people are going to die anyway.

It simply means, Japan did a poor science/engineering job in terms of selecting alternatives for future.

[arnab]

The only inconvenient fact is that Japanese have been bitten by a wrong decision to build Nuclear power plant on unsuitable ground, and the NPP system is based on too many assumptions which are known to be dodgy but were pushed ahead with nevertheless.

Nope that is not a 'fact' That is what you believe (and I'm fine with that). You see - facts have to be logically consistent, beliefs don't Which is why you are unable to reconcile 24000 earthquake related deaths with your imagined risks of NPP with zero deaths.

[Sanku]

The only inconvenient fact is that Japanese have been bitten by a wrong decision to build Nuclear power plant on unsuitable ground, and the NPP system is based on too many assumptions which are known to be dodgy but were pushed ahead with nevertheless.

Nope that is not a 'fact' That is what you believe (and I'm fine with that). You see - facts have to be logically consistent, beliefs don't Which is why you are unable to reconcile 24000 earthquake related deaths with your imagined risks of NPP with zero deaths.

Oh it is. Just that some dont shut their eyes to the writing on the wall. In time even others will be forced to accept.

[chaanakya]

Oh it is. Just that some dont shut their eyes to the writing on the wall. In time even others will be forced to accept.

Radiation level in No. 1 reactor building up to 700 millisieverts

Radiation level in No. 1 reactor building up to 700 millisieverts
Monday 09th May, 05:32 PM JST

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant found that the radiation level of the building housing the troubled No. 1 reactor stood at up to 700 millisieverts per hour, the government’s nuclear agency said Monday, citing the need for radiation shielding to proceed with work to bring an end to the nuclear crisis.

The radiation level, which was around 10 millisieverts per hour at its lowest, was measured as Tokyo Electric Power Co workers and agency officials entered into the No. 1 reactor building early Monday as part of preparations to start full-scale work to create a system to cool the damaged nuclear fuel inside.

‘‘An area with a double-digit millisievert level, let alone three-digit figures, is quite tough as a working environment. So we have to do the work by using some shielding,’’ Hidehiko Nishiyama, a spokesman for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, told a press conference.

By opening the double-entry doors, air containing about 500 million becquerels of radioactive substances is believed to have been released into the atmosphere from the upper part of the No. 1 reactor building, which was damaged in a hydrogen explosion that occurred at the early days of the nuclear crisis.

Seven TEPCO workers and two nuclear regulatory agency officials went into the reactor building around 4:20 a.m. and measured radiation and other conditions inside for about 30 minutes. The nine were exposed to radiation between 2.7 millisieverts and 10.56 millisieverts, the agency said.

Under the current plan, TEPCO will fill the No. 1 reactor’s primary containment vessel with water to a level above the nuclear fuel inside, and start operating by June an air-cooling device aimed at reducing the temperature of the water circulating around the reactor.

Now that workers have entered the No. 1 reactor building, TEPCO plans to have them install and adjust instruments to measure the water levels in the reactor’s containment vessel, and place a heat exchanger.

Restoring the cooling systems of the plant’s reactors, which were lost in the wake of the March 11 quake and tsunami, is seen as vital to end the country’s worst nuclear crisis, as the current emergency measure of continually injecting water from outside has created vast pools of highly radioactive water within the plant.

The nuclear agency and

[chaanakya]

Chubu Electric decides to suspend operations at Hamaoka plant

Monday 09th May, 05:30 PM JST


NAGOYA —
Chubu Electric Power Co agreed Monday to suspend operation of the Hamaoka nuclear power station in Shizuoka Prefecture, as requested by Prime Minister Naoto Kan for safety reasons, its president said.

The utility serving central Japan around Nagoya made the decision at an extraordinary board meeting, the second of its kind since Saturday’s inconclusive one, after discussing ways to ensure a stable supply of power in summer in the event the company fulfills the request.

‘‘We decided at today’s extraordinary board meeting to suspend operation of the Nos. 4 and 5 reactors and postpone restarting of the No. 3 reactor,’’ Chubu Electric President Akihisa Mizuno said at a news conference.

Industry minister Banri Kaieda said he ‘‘deeply respects’’ Chubu Electric’s swift response and promised that the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry will consider offering financial support to the utility over a possible cost burden it would have to bear due to the suspension.

[chaanakya]

Job seeker says ending up at nuclear plant not mentioned in ad

Monday 09th May, 11:30 AM JST

OSAKA —
An Osaka man was made to work at the crippled nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture for about two weeks, when he had been expecting to work in neighboring Miyagi Prefecture, said a job placement center in Osaka on Monday.

The worker in his 60s received daily wages of about 24,000 yen, double the sum he was initially promised, but complained that the pay undervalued the work he did at the Fukushima plant, the Nishinari labor welfare center said after interviewing the man and the company that hired him.

‘‘I was finally issued with a radiation dosimeter on my fourth day of work there,’’ he was quoted as saying.

On March 17, the man accepted the offer of a job—details of which had been posted at the agency—in the Miyagi Prefecture town of Onagawa. Instead, he was immediately sent to the Fukushima Daiichi plant to work for six hours a day clad in protective gear, handling water to cool the Nos. 5 and 6 reactors there, the center said.

The president of the subcontractor firm in Gifu Prefecture, which hired the man, told Kyodo News that its client, a construction company, requested workers who can drive 10-ton water trucks in Onagawa and the Gifu company recruited workers in Osaka. The Gifu company told the man to go directly to the firm for the work, it added.

nice set of modern practices Nuclear Industry follows. Does it not border on cheating and unethical? Why the fact has to be concealed from the recruit.

Remember Dharmo Rakshati Rashitah.

[chaanakya]

Shut down being considered for Fukushima No. 2

Loss of public confidence in nuclear energy may lead to decommissioning of sister plant
Kyodo
The govenrment is thinking of decommissioning the Fukushima No. 2 nuclear power plant in deference to those who have taken the brunt of the ongoing nuclear crisis, a government source said Saturday.



Fukushima No. 2, which is situated on the Pacific coast about 10 km south of its crippled sister facility, Fukushima No. 1, successfully completed a cold shutdown after being hit by the March 11 quake and tsunami, which temporarily disabled its cooling systems.

Because plant manager Tokyo Electric Power Co. faced a severe power shortage in the Kanto region after the disaster, attention is focusing on whether the utility will attempt to restart the four-reactor No. 2 power station.

While the final decision rests with the utility, the government has decided to take full account of the feelings of local Fukushima residents, who were forced to evacuate en masse as radiation began leaking from the No. 1 complex, the source said.

The decision on whether to restart the No. 2 plant will be put off until the No. 1 power plant is stabilized, according to the source. Tepco said last month it would take at least six to nine months to stabilize the damaged No. 1 complex.
This is being told on brf ever since the tsunami/quake hit Fuk-D-1/2
Discussions on the matter could eventually evolve into the possibility of decommissioning No. 2's reactors or keeping them "suspended" for an extended period of time, given the deep loss of public trust in nuclear energy since the disaster at the No. 1 plant.

The government said it is considering the matter without the premise of resumption, apparently in an attempt to portray itself as putting safety first and economic concerns last.

[chaanakya]

Hamaoka tsunami measures 'insufficient'
The Yomiuri Shimbun

Prime Minister Naoto Kan asked that the operation of all reactors at the controversial Hamaoka nuclear power station be suspended because the government deemed the plant's precautions against damage from a giant earthquake and tsunami to be insufficient.

On Friday, Kan asked plant operator Chubu Electric Power Co. to halt all the reactors, including the currently operating Nos. 4 and 5 reactors.

The safety of the Hamaoka plant has been widely questioned in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake because a so-called Tokai earthquake has been predicted near the plant in the near future. As the entire nation is earthquake prone, Kan's request is expected to have ramifications for other nuclear plants in coastal areas.

The Hamaoka plant has long been the focus of controversy because of predictions by scientists that a huge earthquake could occur at any time. But the plant has continued to operate as the debate has gone on. The predicted Tokai earthquake would be caused by plate movements somewhere off southern Shizuoka Prefecture. Historically, major earthquakes have occurred every 100 to 150 years in the area.

Did I hear some chatur ramlingam telling us that nuke experts design nuke plants taking into account the events that take place during last 100-150 years or so? This proved wrong in case of Fuk-D and now we hear the same thing about hamaoka plant as well.

Can experts be reliable or are they really sold to money power of Nuke corporate lobby?

[Sanku]

With respect to Fuk D I --> If Fuk D II is within 10 Km of Fuk I, that's slap bang in the middle of the exclusion zone, a zone which is likely to stay that way for god knows how long. Unlikely they will start it up, ever.

[chaanakya]

Radioactive strontium detected at Fukushima plant

Tokyo Electric Power Company has detected high levels of radioactive strontium in soil inside the compound of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Strontium can cause cancer and like calcium it tends to collect in bones once humans inhale it.

Up to 570 becquerels of strontium 90 per kilogram of dry soil were detected in samples from 3 locations. They were taken on April 18, about 500 meters from the Number 1 and 2 reactors at soil depths of up to 5 centimeters. The amount detected is about 130 times higher than a previous high, level that was measured in Fukushima Prefecture before the accident at the nuclear plant.

TEPCO also said it found 4,400 becquerels of radioactive strontium 89 per kilogram of dry soil taken from the same location.

Earlier in March, strontium was detected in soil and plants outside the 30-kilometer zone around the Fukushima plant.

A director of the Japan Chemical Analysis Center, Yoshihiro Ikeuchi, says humans could inhale strontium when wind stirs up the radioactive substance, but the amounts would be very limited. He says the current levels won't be a health hazard to plant workers wearing face masks, but monitoring of strontium levels in the air is needed.

[chaanakya]

Rape plants may help cleanse soil in Fukushima
BY TORU TAMAKAWA CORRESPONDENT

NARODYCHI, Ukraine--Japan hopes to learn from an attempt to use rape plants to clean up soil contaminated by the Chernobyl nuclear accident and adopt a similar method in Fukushima Prefecture.

In late April, Takashi Shinohara, senior vice agriculture minister, visited Ukraine where a Japanese nonprofit organization has been carrying out the project with a local university and other organizations since 2007.

Rape absorbs radioactive materials, such as cesium and strontium, from the soil and stores them in the stem and other parts of the plant.

But it is unclear whether it will be as effective in the areas affected by the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, according to the NPO, the Association to Help Chernobyl, Chubu District, Japan.

The Nagoya-based group has been growing rape on an 18-hectare farmland in the Narodychi district in northern Ukraine, about 70 kilometers from the Chernobyl plant.

The level of radioactive materials detected in wheat grown after rape were planted fell to about half that in wheat grown on untreated land, according to Mykola Dedukh, an associate professor of radioecology at the Zhytomyr National Agroecological University.

An experiment is also under way to produce biodiesel fuel from rapeseeds and biogas for fuel or power generation from oil cake and rape stems, which have been used to absorb radioactivity. Radioactive materials have not been detected from these byproducts.

[Amber G.]

Chaanakya - Curious, please answer.

You have posted *many* times posts about "1mSV limit". Do you now, assuming that you have had time to read those and other sources, understand these units?

Long ago you have brought LNT hypothesis by quoting one paper where you were giving credence to millions of deaths taken as fact (vs just a theory). Hundreds of studies have been quoted, here and some papers, you said you look at those. I am just curious, if you are still misunderstanding the hypothesis as fact.

Just curious, will appreciate an answer.

I ask because, at least to me, it seems from some (not all) of your posts, that narrative is still trumping the facts, and sometimes basic scientific knowledge and perspective is lost.

Also, what/who exactly "chatur ramlingam"?

Can experts be reliable or are they really sold to money power of Nuke corporate lobby?

One can find that answer, through knowledge/svaym_pragya, I believe. CT does not help. Conspiracy theory of all experts being sold to "Nuke corporate" lobby is as silly as saying, all doctors being sold to "vaccine" lobby. Unfortunately there are people who believe such nonsense

For example see:
Muslims urged to refuse 'un-Islamic' vaccinations

Dr Abdul Majid Katme, head of the Islamic Medical Association, says almost all vaccines contain un-Islamic "haram" derivatives of animal or human tissue, and that Muslim parents are better off letting childrens' immune systems develop on their own.

Seriously ...

Folks, make no mistake, some of the arguments given by Praful Bidwai and some posts here (about how "haram"/harmful even a low dose of radiation is) feeds on ignorance.
All patriots should make it a point to educate themselves so that they such people do not take advantage.

Jai Hind. Jai Swayam Pragya.

[chaanakya]

With respect to Fuk D I --> If Fuk D II is within 10 Km of Fuk I, that's slap bang in the middle of the exclusion zone, a zone which is likely to stay that way for god knows how long. Unlikely they will start it up, ever.

It is. But don'y know if they consider is as excluded zone. Radiation map shows North Westerly spread is more. However 10 km is certainly within hot zone.

[chaanakya]

Gov't bans shipment of bamboo shoots, 'kogomi' vegetablesMonday 09th May, 10:58 AM JST

TOKYO —
The Japanese government on Monday banned the shipment of bamboo shoots and ‘‘kogomi’’ wild vegetables from parts of Fukushima Prefecture after the detection of a radioactive material above the limit deemed safe for consumption.

The Fukushima prefectural government has already asked producers to refrain from shipping vegetables grown near the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, though Tokyo has imposed its ban under a nuclear disaster law.

Bamboo shoots subject to the restriction are those from Date, Soma, Iwaki, Miharu, Tenei and Hirata municipalities of the prefecture, while the banned kogomi vegetables are from Fukushima city and Kori town.

In recent measurements, 650 becquerels of cesium per 1 kilogram were found in bamboo shoots taken in Iwaki on April 27, and 770 becquerels of cesium in kogomi taken in the prefectural capital on April 28, surpassing the safety limit of 500 becquerels.

[chaanakya]

Silly tricks . baits and obfuscation like DHMO don't cut ice anymore. People see through it.

[chaanakya]

Japan, U.S. negotiating construction of nuclear waste facility in Mongolia

Abandoned quarters built by the former Soviet Army stand in the Mongolian village of Bayantal, the most likely site for the construction of a nuclear power plant. (Mainichi)

ULAN BATOR, Mongolia -- Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the U.S. Department of Energy have secretly been advancing plans to construct the world's first international storage and disposal facility for spent nuclear fuel in Mongolia, it has been learned.

The deal would enable Japan and the U.S., which lack disposal sites of their own, to counter efforts by Russia and France to market nuclear technology internationally by selling reactors and the disposal of nuclear waste services together as a set. Parties involved in negotiations acknowledged the secret plans when interviewed by the Mainichi.

In return for the deal, Mongolia would receive nuclear power technology from Japan and the U.S. However, the nuclear crisis sparked by the earthquake and tsunami at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant has pressured the Japanese government to rethink its nuclear power policies, and the move to burden a third party with the task of disposing of nuclear waste is likely to draw criticism.

Sources familiar with the plans said negotiations started in late September last year at the initiative of U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman. Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Mongolian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade handled talks, which were facilitated by the fact that there are no immediate prospects of Japan or the U.S. being able to settle on nuclear waste disposal sites of their own and Mongolia wants technological support to construct nuclear fuel processing plants and nuclear fuel storage facilities.

Nuclear power generation, which emits little carbon dioxide, is seen as being effective in battling climate change. And the marketing of nuclear plants is big business -- a single reactor sells for hundreds of billions of yen. The Japanese government regards the overseas sale of nuclear power plants as a pillar of the nations' growth strategy. It has already tied a deal with Vietnam and is in negotiations with India and Turkey. However, Russia and other countries have gone a step ahead by marketing their reactors and the collection of spent nuclear fuel together as a set, which has put Japan and the U.S. on the back foot.

Japan entrusts the reprocessing of its nuclear fuel to Britain and France. It is working on constructing nuclear reprocessing facilities in the Aomori Prefecture village of Rokkasho, and the village has facilities to temporarily store high-level radioactive waste, but it remains very difficult for the nation to accept spent nuclear fuel from other countries. As the situation stands, the nation's plans to decide on a final disposal site within Japan by 2035 are likely to prove difficult to achieve.

The U.S. has also struggled with the issue. In 2002 the administration of former President George W. Bush decided on Nevada as a final disposal site, but in 2009 the administration of President Barack Obama suspended the plans in response to local opposition and the problem has been left up in the air.

To make up for their weakness of not being able to receive spent fuel, Japan and the U.S. agreed on the idea of building a storage and disposal facility in Mongolia, which lies on solid ground. The facility would be built several hundred meters below the ground.

The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry believes that by materializing the plan, it could support the international nuclear power business of companies such as Toshiba and Hitatchi, which build nuclear reactors.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) says that Mongolia may have more than 1.5 million tons of uranium deposits, and if these are developed, the country could rank among the world's top three suppliers of uranium. By promoting the deal with Mongolia, Japan and the U.S. hope to secure a stable supply of uranium.

Nuclear waste can be transported internationally if countries through which the fuel is transported and the countries receiving the fuel give their consent, and if methods set by the IAEA and other relevant parties are followed. Negotiations on building the facilities were kept secret as it was feared that if the plans came to light at the negotiation stage, then China and Russia -- countries through which the fuel could pass -- might interfere and protests could erupt from Mongolian residents.

In February this year, the three countries were due to sign a comprehensive diplomatic agreement in Washington, but the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which learned of the project shortly beforehand, argued that governmental debate over the project had been insufficient. As a result the signing was put off. After that Japan was struck by the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, and a date for signing the deal has not yet been determined.

Japan's nuclear power plant policies have come under scrutiny since the March 11 disaster, but even if all nuclear power plants in the country were decommissioned, a disposal facility would still be necessary. However, the idea of providing technical support to a third country in return for it accepting nuclear waste could be criticized as an approach similar to Japan's past promotion of the construction of nuclear power plants in Fukushima in return for local funding.

Par upadesh Kushal Bahutere.

[Amber G.]

Silly tricks . baits and obfuscation like DHMO don't cut ice anymore. People see through it.

Was that answer to my query?
I will assume it was, if there is no reply from you.

[brihaspati]

The economic fate of the "Japanese" whose forefathers foolishly chose to stay on in a "earthquake prone" zone is actually an interesting issue. What is the latest estimate of impact on the Japanese economy of the earthquake?

What would be the curious thing to know is, that given several nuclear power plants are being shut down [some "mothballed", and some shutdown as per NHK], and significant areas have to be decontaminated [which means those areas/their people/the economy of the area all have to be temporarily written out of any contributory role] - to get back the productive capacities, what will the Japanese use to replace their lost generating capacities? New nuclear power stations? Even that would take some time to come up.

Since some researchers "find" positive elasticity relating "nuclear power generation" and "GDP", does loss of the nuclear generation capacity translate into significant GDP loss for Japan?

[arnab]

The economic fate of the "Japanese" whose forefathers foolishly chose to stay on in a "earthquake prone" zone is actually an interesting issue. What is the latest estimate of impact on the Japanese economy of the earthquake?


Since some researchers "find" positive elasticity relating "nuclear power generation" and "GDP", does loss of the nuclear generation capacity translate into significant GDP loss for Japan?

The International Monetary Fund has cut its forecast of Japan's economic growth due to the country's devastating earthquake and tsunami. Japan's economy should grow by 1.4 percent this year, down 0.2 percentage points from its pre-quake outlook, the IMF said in a report on the global economic outlook. It cited damage to factories, power outages and other disruptions from the March 11 quake and tsunami, which are believed to have killed more than 25,000 people.

http://articles.economictimes.indiatime ... -shortages

Because of the nuclear and fossil fuel power plants knocked out by the earthquake and tsunami, businesses and households in some parts of the country will be asked to cut their peak energy use this summer by about 15 percent.

Do you want to calculate the impact if the entire nuclear power generation capacity of Japan is lost (30 % of Japan's power production)? Or just the impact of Fukushima?

[arnab]

Oh it is. Just that some dont shut their eyes to the writing on the wall. In time even others will be forced to accept.

Sigh. facts have to be proved. They are not 'written on the wall' like the word of a messiah. To understand the concept of logical consistency, let me use the example of 2 statements used by a poster on other threads

Statement 1: PS3 offers a far better gaming experience than PC based games.

Statement 2: Khelein Hum Ji Jaan Se was a fantastic cinematic experience.

Proof of Statement 1 as provided by the poster: Sales of PS3 games outnumber sales of PC based games. Sales is a good proxy for gaming experience.

Then logically - Proof of Statement 2 should also be given by the number of ticket sales for KHJJS Now we know that even a movie like F.A.L.T.U had better ticket sales than the former (not to mention 'My Name is Khan').

So both statements cannot be logically correct. Either - 'sales' is not a good proxy for 'experience' or KHJJS was a bad cinematic experience.

Similarly, the reaction of Japanese government to temporarily shut down nuke plants is not an acceptance of the fact that nuke power is riskier. It is a democratic government's acceptance of peoples irrational fear. So that cannot be touted as proof.

[chaanakya]

TEPCO to formally seek gov't support for damages payment
Tuesday 10th May, 10:17 AM JST

TOKYO —
The Tokyo Electric Power Co chief will meet with government leaders Tuesday to formally seek help in making damages payments in the wake of the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, company officials said.

In the meeting with Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano and industry minister Banri Kaieda, TEPCO President Masataka Shimizu will express the company’s readiness to promote further restructuring, the officials said.

TEPCO has already announced salary cuts of 50% for board members, 25% for employees in management posts and 20% for rank-and-filers but will make those cuts bigger, they said.

The utility has apparently decided to accept the government’s requirement for further restructuring in the face of concerns that criticism will arise if the company raises electricity charges to cover the prospective massive compensation costs.

The government, for its part, is considering the establishment of a new institution to deal with the damages payments in the event that they exceed TEPCO’s capacity to pay.

The envisioned new body will also function as an insurance entity to prepare for possible future nuclear accidents, and the government plans to seek financial contributions from each utility

[Sanku]

....

Thank you very much for the deep intrest in my posts. However your posts have been making less sense with each post and the last one was particularly confused.

And dont take things personally that you dont catch on trends in time, it is only about keeping a open mind and not having a prior set of preconceived notions.

[Sanku]

Japan scraps all the new 14 plants in pipeline.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/world ... .html?_r=1

Japan Scraps Plan for New Nuclear Plants

TOKYO — Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Tuesday that Japan would abandon plans to build new nuclear reactors, saying his country needed to “start from scratch” in creating a new energy policy.

Mr. Kan said Japan would retain nuclear and fossil fuels as energy sources, but vowed to add two new pillars to Japan’s energy policy: renewable energy and conservation. While Japan has been a global leader in energy conservation, it lags behind the United States and Europe in adopting solar and wind power, and other new energy sources.

Westinghouse 1000 MWHIWWRRRRR x 20000 per sq inch parks anyone?

[chaanakya]

Radiation high at No.3 reactor pool

The operator of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has detected high levels of radioactive materials in the spent fuel pool of the No.3 reactor at the plant.

Tokyo Electric Power Company examined a water sample from the pool on Sunday. The sample contained 140,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium-134 per cubic centimeter, 150,000 becquerels of cesium-137, and 11,000 becquerels of iodine-131.

None of these substances were detected during an inspection on March 2nd, before the accident triggered by the March 11th disaster.

TEPCO says these substances may have come from damaged fuel rods in the reactor rather than the damaged spent fuel rods in the pool, because it has detected radioactive iodine, which has a short half-life. Radioactive substances such as iodine are generated during nuclear fission inside a reactor.

The company says the radioactive substances may have become attached to debris and entered the pool together.

Footage from the pool at the No.3 reactor on Sunday showed debris, believed to have been caused by a hydrogen explosion, scattered all over the interior of the reactor building.

The levels of radiation detected are almost the same as those detected in April in water samples in the fuel pool of the No.2 reactor.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011 20:22 +0900 (JST)

[chaanakya]

TEPCO to begin pipe work for No.3 reactor

The operator of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is to begin construction work on pipes for the No.3 reactor to make sure that all cooling water being pumped in is actually reaching the reactor.

Tokyo Electric Power Company has been pumping 9 tons of water per hour into the reactor since last Wednesday after its temperature began rising earlier this month.

That was an increase from 7 tons per hour. But the temperature at the bottom of the reactor stood at 150.6 degrees Celsius as of 5 AM Tuesday, marking a rise of 34.1 degrees over the past 10 days.


The power company suspects that not all the water was reaching the reactor because some of it may have been entering a pipe that branched off.

So it decided to pump water through another pipe that had been used to inject water into the reactor before.

The construction work to change pipes for water injection is to begin on Tuesday afternoon. If all goes smoothly, the water will be pumped through the pipe starting on Thursday.

The water level inside a tunnel connected to the reactor was 76 centimeters from the tunnel opening on the ground surface as of 7 AM Tuesday--a 16 centimeter rise over the past 10 days.

The level continues to exceed the 1 meter mark, which the utility firm has set as the benchmark to begin transferring contaminated water.

The firm plans to quickly prepare to transfer contaminated water from the No.3 reactor turbine building and the tunnel.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011 12:44 +0900 (JST)

[chaanakya]

Kan to focus on natural energy, energy saving

Prime Minister Naoto Kan says that from now on the government will focus on use of natural energy and measures to save energy, rather than on nuclear power.

At a news conference on Tuesday, Kan thanked Chubu Electric Power Company for its quick decision to accept his request that operations be suspended at the Hamaoka nuclear plant in central Japan.

Kan said that although the decision has raised fears of a power shortage, the problem could be avoided with help from other utilities and through power-saving efforts in the private sector and among the public.

The prime minister said Japan's energy policy has relied on nuclear power and fossil fuels, but that he would shift focus to natural energy, such as solar and wind power and biomass fuels. He also pledged efforts to create a more energy-efficient society.

Kan admitted that the government shares responsibility for the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, along with its operator Tokyo Electric Power Company, as the government had promoted nuclear power generation as a national policy.

He added he would give up his salary as prime minister until the crisis has ended.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011 19:13 +0900 (JST)

[chaanakya]

High radiation may slow down TEPCO's repairs

The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says it may need to slow down some repairs at the Number one reactor due to elevated radiation levels.

Tokyo Electric Power Company measured the levels at several spots in the reactor building on Monday as part of its preparation to fill the containment vessel with water and restore a circulating cooling system.

The company is concerned that the reactor's pipes are leaking radioactive water, contaminating the area.

The tests yielded a maximum of 700 millisieverts per hour, thus workers can only stay in the vicinity for around 20 minutes.

However, employees spent half an hour doing the tests and were exposed to as much as 10.56 millisieverts of radiation.

TEPCO says the figures are higher than acceptable for worker safety.

On Tuesday the firm will attempt measures to reduce radiation levels, including laying down sheets containing lead to insulate the radioactive substances.

It will continue checking the levels but is worried that it may need to change plans depending on the results.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011 07:43 +0900 (JST)

[chaanakya]

Governors cautious on resuming reactors

The governors of 2 Japanese prefectures say they need more information from the government before they can agree to resume operations of reactors at nuclear power plants in their prefectures.

The governors made such remarks on Tuesday, one day after the utility operating the Hamaoka nuclear power plant in Shizuoka Prefecture agreed to suspend operation of the plant's reactors. The remarks also followed a statement by Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Banri Kaieda that all other nuclear plants have no problems in terms of continuing or resuming operations.

[chaanakya]

Chaanakya - Curious, please answer.

You have posted *many* times posts about "1mSV limit". Do you now, assuming that you have had time to read those and other sources, understand these units?
..........
...........
..........
Seriously ...

Folks, make no mistake, some of the arguments given by Praful Bidwai and some posts here (about how "haram"/harmful even a low dose of radiation is) feeds on ignorance.
All patriots should make it a point to educate themselves so that they such people do not take advantage.

Jai Hind. Jai Swayam Pragya.

This was posted in an earlier post. and that should have been enough. /Smile/

§ 20.1301 Dose limits for individual members of the public.

Now is it not a personal attack or something like ad hominem ?

To know about effects of radiation is now equated with patriotism. I would only point to Samuel Johnson on 7.4.1775 that sound so apt in this case. Thank you.

Anyway I am enjoying the exchange with B'j. Same trickery is visible there as well.

[chaanakya]

Silly tricks . baits and obfuscation like DHMO don't cut ice anymore. People see through it.

Was that answer to my query?
I will assume it was, if there is no reply from you.

Dil pe mat lo Dear. DHMO was a silly trick indeed. Least expected from informative person like you on brf. You really thought someone would fall for it?

And also please do not ass-ume . I don't do that.

[chaanakya]

Japan Scraps Plan for New Nuclear Plants

Tuesday’s decision will abandon a plan that the Kan government released last year to build 14 more nuclear reactors by 2030 and increase the share of nuclear power in Japan’s electricity supply to 50 percent. Japan currently has 54 reactors that before the earthquake produced 30 percent of its electricity.

The cancellation of the planned nuclear plants is the second time that Mr. Kan has suddenly announced big changes in Japanese nuclear policy without the usual endless committee meetings and media leaks that characterize the country’s consensus-driven decision making. Mr. Kan appears to be seeking a stronger leadership role after criticism of his government’s sometimes slow and indecisive handling of the Fukushima accident.

With existing reactors ( some of them) not allowed to resume operation this 30% is further going to be reduced. As and when more capacity addition takes place from other sources ( read coal, gas, renewables) this percentage is going to fall further. This simple fact is not understood by some anal-yst of e-CON-no-mist version in another thread..

[chaanakya]

Onagawa N-plant restart has local mayor's support
The Yomiuri Shimbun

SENDAI--The mayor of Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, one of two municipalities that host Tohoku Electric Power Co.'s Onagawa nuclear power plant, on Monday indicated his support for the firm being given permission to resume operations at the facility.

"We need to consider restarting [the nuclear facility] after the necessary precautions have been taken," Hiroshi Kameyama said at a press conference.

His remarks came about two months after the facility was brought to an emergency halt due to the March 11 earthquake.

Kameyama became the first head of a local government to call for resumption of operations at a nuclear power plant that was shut down or brought to an emergency halt due to the disaster.

[chaanakya]

Fukushima residents having hardest time recovering from disaster: Mainichi survey

Among evacuees in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima, the three prefectures hardest hit by the March 11 disaster, those in Fukushima are most likely to say they are facing problems with their living or money situations or feeling negative about the recovery of their region, according to a survey by the Mainichi Shimbun.

Evacuees who chose the answer, "It is completely unclear how I will support myself or my family from now on" reached 44 percent for Fukushima Prefecture evacuees who stayed within the prefecture, far more than the 26 percent in Iwate Prefecture or the 22 percent in Miyagi Prefecture.

Hatsuo Suzuki, a 48-year-old fisherman from the Fukushima city of Minamisoma, responded, "It's very tough not having work. As long as I'm in the evacuation shelter I have food and a place to sleep, but I don't have money to respond to any urgent expenditures."


Yoshio Okada, a 62-year-old resident of Minamisoma who depended on his farm for part of his income, responded, "This year's fall harvest will be zero, and my income will be around 30 percent lower. Just how much longer will the soil pollution and radiation fears go on?"

Around 44 percent of Fukushima evacuees who stayed in the prefecture said they thought recovery of their areas would be "difficult." Evacuees in Miyagi Prefecture were also pessimistic, with 41 percent choosing the same answer. Of Iwate Prefecture evacuees, 23 percent responded the same, while 30 percent of Fukushima evacuees who evacuated out of that prefecture thought recovery would be tough.

Even so, 62 percent of Fukushima evacuees, both those who stayed in and left the prefecture, answered that they "definitely want to return" to the areas where they lived before the disaster. That was higher than the 49 percent of Iwate evacuees or 48 percent of Miyagi evacuees who chose the equivalent answer.

Hisako Ono, a 39-year-old woman who lived in the seaside Toyoma district of the city of Iwaki but now lives at an evacuation shelter in the center of the city responded, "If the town and local industry revive, I want to return." However, she also showed uncertainty by responding, "I would like to return if the damage from the tsunami and nuclear power plant are dealt with, but I think I would still be afraid to do so."

The survey was conducted on 88 people from May 4 to May 8. It followed up a previous survey conducted on 100 people from April 5 to April 9.

Sample size is too small to form a conclusion. But this shows the drift.

[chaanakya]

Cold shutdown work starts at Fukushima No. 1 reactor building

Nine workers entered the No. 1 reactor building of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant on May 9 to prepare for a cold shutdown, which requires bringing reactor core temperatures to under 100 degrees.

The workers measured radiation levels in the building and were also scheduled to check for damage to the building and piping.

Seven of the workers were from plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. and two from the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).

The damaged area would have to be sealed with concrete before the new cooling system is installed.

Are those modified concrete pumps still there??

[chaanakya]

Reactor in Fukui Prefecture shut down after radiation levels spike

TSURUGA, Fukui Prefecture--A reactor at the Tsuruga nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture has been shut down May 7 for an emergency check following a jump in radioactive readings.

Japan Atomic Power Co., the plant operator, said May 6 the irregular readings at the No. 2 reactor could indicate damage to fuel assemblies in its core.

During scheduled maintenance May 2, radioactive noble gas was measured at 3,900 becquerels per cubic centimeter, 750 times normal, while iodine was two to four times normal.

However, the readings were still within safe levels, Japan Atomic Power said.

This is the first reactor unaffected by the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami to be shut down since the accident, according to regulator Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.

The shutdown will bring the number of reactors offline in Fukui Prefecture, including reactors undergoing repair and regular inspections, to five. There are 13 commercial reactors in the prefecture.

Japan Atomic Power said it will check the emergency core cooling systems (ECCS) and examine fuel assemblies in the core while the No. 2 reactor is down.

The check of the ECCS is a reaction to Fukui Governor Issei Nishikawa's call for the plant operator to develop extra safety measures against quakes and tsunami while reactors are offline.

[brihaspati]

The economic fate of the "Japanese" whose forefathers foolishly chose to stay on in a "earthquake prone" zone is actually an interesting issue. What is the latest estimate of impact on the Japanese economy of the earthquake?


Since some researchers "find" positive elasticity relating "nuclear power generation" and "GDP", does loss of the nuclear generation capacity translate into significant GDP loss for Japan?

The International Monetary Fund has cut its forecast of Japan's economic growth due to the country's devastating earthquake and tsunami. Japan's economy should grow by 1.4 percent this year, down 0.2 percentage points from its pre-quake outlook, the IMF said in a report on the global economic outlook. It cited damage to factories, power outages and other disruptions from the March 11 quake and tsunami, which are believed to have killed more than 25,000 people.

http://articles.economictimes.indiatime ... -shortages

Because of the nuclear and fossil fuel power plants knocked out by the earthquake and tsunami, businesses and households in some parts of the country will be asked to cut their peak energy use this summer by about 15 percent.

Do you want to calculate the impact if the entire nuclear power generation capacity of Japan is lost (30 % of Japan's power production)? Or just the impact of Fukushima?

No, only the currently off-gridded part's impact should do. There will also be a time lag before they can replace generation capacity. Hopefully, IMF 's estimate covers all that. But they don't separate out loss of Fukushima's effect, do they? Household consumption decrease by 15% may not mean that much [don't know though, about any smaller effects on consumer electric items], but on businesses may mean something.

Seriously, it seems they could be in trouble now at least regionally, if more plants have to be shut down.

[arnab]

And dont take things personally that you dont catch on trends in time, it is only about keeping a open mind and not having a prior set of preconceived notions.

Tch tch - thank you for admitting you look for trends rather than facts (which explains your penchant for Daily Stars) But facts do not change like fashion

[arnab]

Seriously, it seems they could be in trouble now at least regionally, if more plants have to be shut down.

Well I imagine Japan is already operating at the peak of its electricity requirements. With a negative population growth(-0.2 % in 2010, while India +1.7 %) I do not expect net demand for electricity in Japan to increase sharply in the future. So IMO Japan will not stop its existing nuke reactors. They will tinker with the 'cottage industry' options for a while

Of course India with 40 % population still denied access to electricity and growing at 1.7 % p.a is a different kettle of fish.

[Yayavar]

- delete -

[arnab]

Will remove after response...I've to be in Yokohama later this month (about 200+ kms from Fukishima) . My colleagues are buying KI; it has been that we wear full sleeves at all times (not sure how it helps if there is radiation but might help with particles I suppose), stay indoors as much as possible etc.. It seems to me that is unnecessary on my reading but would appreciate advice from gurus here.

Check NISA faqs

http://www.nisa.meti.go.jp/english/file ... 23-2-5.pdf