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Staffing Issues & Future Plans Dog TEPCO & Fukushima Daiichi
[Translate] A number of recent reports show the manpower problems at Fukushima Daiichi. There have been problems all along with trying to secure qualified workers to do work at the plant. There have been problems with the Yakuza sending in unskilled workers, workers who owed them debts and skimming off of workers pay. Multiple layers of sub contractors further complicate responsibility an communication. This week a worker attempted to cut a plastic conduit pipe with a hand saw assuming it was empty. To his surprise (and luckily not his shock) the conduit contained a live high power electric line. Miss-communication from management to workers and insufficient pre-work inspection lead to the worker being told to cut the conduit with the active line. A system with lights indicates where power lines are activated. … Read entire article »
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Chiba Food Testing Shows Ongoing Contamination
[Translate] Recent food testing results for Chiba Prefecture near Tokyo showed certain foods with detectable radiation. Foods found with contamination include: Yuzu (citrus) Mandarin (assuming they mean the oranges) Kiwi Fruit While other foods tested showed no contamination such as cabbage and spinach but those were tested with less frequency. The yuzu fruit seemed to be almost universally contaminated. One of the yuzu had 110 bq/kg of cesium. Chiba is about 200 miles (320km) from Fukushima This article would not be possible without the extensive efforts of the SimplyInfo research team Join the conversation at chat.simplyinfo.org All content is copyright SimplyInfo.org. Content may also be copyright of other specific original authors or creators and was reproduced here with limited permission. While we welcome the sharing of information or promoting our work, please do so with respect to the large amount … Read entire article »
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FBI Investigating San Onofre, Union Points Out Big Safety Issues
[Translate] The FBI is apparently being brought in to investigate what is considered to be a case of sabotage at San Onofre nuclear plant in California. Coolant was found in the oil tank for an emergency diesel generator. This eventually led staff at the plant to inform the NRC of potential sabotage. Employees at the plant confirmed that the FBI is not involved in the suspicious finding. The report by Huffington Post cites past instances of worker sabotage at nuclear plants when there were labor disputes or workforce cuts. The workers union has had a long history of problems with plant ownership. San Onofre has some of the highest levels of safety concerns raised by employees to the NRC in the US. There have also been many instances of management retaliation against workers. So Cal Edison, owners of … Read entire article »
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Fukushima Update 11.29.2012
[Translate] The Fukushima nuclear disaster is far from over. It is nearing 1 year and 9 months since the disaster. Challenges are everywhere, few have been able to return home. Residents of Okuma, the town nearest the Fukushima Daiichi site have become increasingly skeptical about going home. Older residents don’t think they are up to the task of entirely rebuilding a town. Most still want the human connections the town provided and hope to see the town rebuilt somewhere else to keep everyone together. This seems to have been one of the key coping skills for those displaced by the disaster, to keep their community connections. One 78 year old resident declared that the time currently estimated before they could return was so long she would be dead by then. Residents see the … Read entire article »
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Robot Inspection Of Unit 3 Finds Increasing Radiation Levels, New Robot Fails.
[Translate] TEPCO reports the results of a robot inspection in unit 3 at Fukushima Daiichi. The initial work was to look at the improvised duct hose to remove gas from the reactor containment. The new robot FRIGO-MA failed to work due to a bug. TEPCO sent in Packbot and Quince instead. TEPCO did not state the nature of the inspection other than to look at the gas duct hose. It appears the concern was due to increasing radiation levels in the area. TEPCO was likely inspecting the duct as the source of the possible increase. No leaks or damage were found on the duct. What they found was that the containment door and track were the source of the increased radiation levels. Workers had a .52 mSv exposure dose for their work. Packbot … Read entire article »
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TEPCO Inspects Gas Control & Introduces A New Robot
[Translate] TEPCO announced they are sending in robots to inspect an improvised gas control duct in unit 3. They do not say why they are inspecting the “duct” that looks more like a reinforced hose. This duct was quite obviously installed by humans at some earlier date yet TEPCO never reported this specifically. Now they will send in robots because the radiation levels are too high. While this is good as far as protecting workers and using robots for mundane tasks, the exposures of the workers that installed the duct were likely quite high. The worker seen in the image is wearing a yellow protective suit seen when workers have to go into extremely high radiation areas. TEPCO also introduced a new robot. FRIGO-MA built by Mitsubishi Details on the work at unit 3 and … Read entire article »
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Oops! Worker Bumps Reactor Water Valve At Fukushima Daiichi Changing Water Rate
[Translate] A worker installing pipe insulation bumped a valve controlling the feedwater cooling for unit 3 at Fukushima Daiichi. This increased the water injection rate to 7 tons per hour from 5.8 tons per hour. Once it was discovered workers adjusted the valve back down. Such events highlight the fragile nature of the plant where critical systems have no protection or safety systems. This article would not be possible without the extensive efforts of the SimplyInfo research team Join the conversation at chat.simplyinfo.org All content is copyright SimplyInfo.org. Content may also be copyright of other specific original authors or creators and was reproduced here with limited permission. While we welcome the sharing of information or promoting our work, please do so with respect to the large amount of effort and time that goes into our … Read entire article »
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UN Special Investigator In Japan Releases Initial Statement On Fukushima Human Rights
[Translate] The UN special investigator Anand Grover has issued some initial comments on his visit to Japan. The statement is more of a preliminary review of his findings, a full report will be issued at a later date. A draft report has been submitted to the Japanese government but is not currently available on the UN Human Rights Council website. The issues and criticisms mentioned in the statement include these: Local residents were not aware of nuclear disaster management plans. He makes this specific mention “local residents of Futaba city in Fukushima were led to believe by the Safety Agreement signed in 1991 that the TEPCO plant was safe and there would be no occasion for a nuclear accident.” The NRA, Japan’s new nuclear regulatory agency should adopt a policy to disclose any … Read entire article »
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WHO Again Downplays Fukushima Health Risks
[Translate] The WHO is preparing to release a new report that declares cancer from the Fukushima nuclear disaster will not “significantly” increase. This broad declaration is riddled with omissions and a troubling opinion of what is considered significant. The WHO position paper is based on information they obtained from Fukushima Medical University and RERF. Both are institutions well known for bias and actions intended to downplay the true situation in Fukushima. Dr. Yamashita was installed as a vice president of the medical university soon after the disaster. WHO admits there is a lack of complete and good data so they turn to Chernobyl data and RERF A Bomb data. The A Bomb exposures have been cited as being quite different exposures than those exposed during a nuclear reactor disaster and not an “apples … Read entire article »
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Human Rights And The Marshall Islands
[Translate] SimplyInfo member Dr. Robert Jacobs and co-author Mick Broderick look at the UN Human Rights Council investigation of the aftermath of years of nuclear testing by the United States in the Marshall Islands. The UN released a very critical report calling for a number of changes while Broderick and Jacobs point out many ways the UN report didn’t go far enough. If you are not familiar with the historical and current issues surrounding the Marshall Islands and the people of this country, this new article is a good place to start. This article would not be possible without the extensive efforts of the SimplyInfo research team Join the conversation at chat.simplyinfo.org All content is copyright SimplyInfo.org. Content may also be copyright of other specific original authors or creators and was reproduced here with limited … Read entire article »
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Japan Looks To Renewables As A Way Forward
[Translate] A recent interview with Tetsunari Iida gives a more enlightened look at Japan’s energy challenges. Much doom and gloom is thrown at Japan’s situation, mostly by people and entities that stand to lose something if Japan’s changes their energy policy. Iida points out that Japan is using no more coal than before and that much of the “need” for nuclear has been resolved by energy efficiency measures as all but 2 reactors remain offline. These have been mostly just smarter use of power rather than deprivation tactics. Japan’s nuclear power percentage was about 20% before the 3-11 disaster, efficiency measures have gained 10-20% in power savings. The solar feed in tariff PM Kan negotiated on his way out of office has also played a big role in changing Japan’s energy mix. Private industry … Read entire article »
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76% Of Children In Nihonmatsu Radiation Monitoring Over 1mSv/year
[Translate] Some data has been released about the external radiation monitoring program going on in Fukushima. These programs involved issuing glass badges to school children then periodically handing them in for testing. This does not record the children’s internal radiation doses from what they breathe in, eat or drink. Those levels are in addition to what is recorded by the badges. What the new round of testing found is that 76% of school children in Nihonmatsu are above the government goal of 1 mSv/year with just their external radiation exposure. The government goal is based on the ICRP guidelines but many consider the ICRP levels to be too high. Some actually saw their levels go up compared to their 2011 levels. One researcher assumed this is due to children being allowed outside … Read entire article »
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Toshiba Invents New Robot To Investigate Fukushima Daiichi
[Translate] Toshiba’s new four legged robot was developed to be able to navigate over debris and up stairs. The robot has a mini robot within that can be deployed to search small spaces. TEPCO has not decided if they will use the new robot or not. It comes equipped with cameras and a radiation meter. Read more at the Japan Real Time blog at WSJ This article would not be possible without the extensive efforts of the SimplyInfo research team Join the conversation at chat.simplyinfo.org All content is copyright SimplyInfo.org. Content may also be copyright of other specific original authors or creators and was reproduced here with limited permission. While we welcome the sharing of information or promoting our work, please do so with respect to the large amount of effort and time that goes … Read entire article »
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Kawauchi Village Farmers Switch To Hydroponic Growing
[Translate] Kawauchi village in Fukushima has decided to switch to hydroponic growing to replace some of the lost farming industry in the town. A nearby Yamaguchi University and SDK Technology have agreed to work with the community to develop the facilities needed. The facility uses deep well water and LED lighting to create a system closed off from the environment to enable growing of clean crops. The facility will grow lettuce and herbs. This article would not be possible without the extensive efforts of the SimplyInfo research team Join the conversation at chat.simplyinfo.org All content is copyright SimplyInfo.org. Content may also be copyright of other specific original authors or creators and was reproduced here with limited permission. While we welcome the sharing of information or promoting our work, please do so with respect to the … Read entire article »
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Groups File Complaints With NRC About Oyster Creek Failures
[Translate] A number of environmental and public safety groups have filed an emergency legal complaint with the NRC over failures at the Oyster Creek nuclear plant. Some of these issues were related to incidents during hurricane Sandy. Others related to more degraded reactor equipment found as part of the refueling inspections. This collection of groups also demanded the plant’s emergency plans be updated to take into consideration the current situation in the area after the hurricane. Many roads are not passable, people are concentrated in different areas, local emergency services are degraded and other upheaval changes the conditions of what was already a very unworkable evacuation plan. The groups also point out that Sandy would have been much worse had the reactor been operating at the time of the storm. Flooding took out … Read entire article »
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Worker Breaks Leg At Daiichi
[Translate] Workers are reporting that at least one worker was injured in the turbine building of unit 4 at Fukushima Daiichi. Details about what led to the injury were not available and TEPCO has not reported the incident yet. Machine translation: Happy113114:45 am via Keitai Web I was cold in the morning today (^ O ^), the scene was surprisingly warm and easy to work っ now. Location of water leakage Sally yesterday, I was not doing anything today. Maybe in the building is to investigate various … and cause. People were injured in the turbine No. 4 came out today was like after. But it seems like … a broken leg. This article would not be possible without the extensive efforts of the SimplyInfo research team Join the conversation at chat.simplyinfo.org All content is copyright SimplyInfo.org. Content may also be … Read entire article »
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Highly Contaminated Mushrooms Found Outside Fukushima
[Translate] Asahi Shimbun is reporting that wild mushrooms are being found to be highly contaminated outside Fukushima prefecture. The mushrooms have been found in Aomori, Nagano and Shizuoka prefectures at locations of 200-350km from the nuclear disaster site. This is leading to more worries and lost sales as stores and restaurants pull the popular fall delicacy off the menu. Mushrooms in Tochigi were found with 3000 bq/kg and 2100 bq/kg in Nagano. The levels have actually increased rather than decreased with experts citing rain and falling leaves as a possible cause. This problem will likely not go away any time soon. In Germany, over 25 years after Chernobyl and 1500km away wild mushrooms are still highly contaminated as are the wild boar that eat them. Cesium tends to accumulate in the soil and mushrooms … Read entire article »
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Fukushima Disaster Update
[Translate] Major news in Japan has been relatively quiet but many bits of smaller news do piece together a picture of what is going on now. The disaster continues to evolve and is far from going away. Lake Kasumigaura in the northern are of Tokyo’s metro area has been concentrating cesium (and probably other isotopes) from the Fukushima Daiichi disaster. Various rivers run into the lake, those rivers are fed by other rivers and streams. This has turned the lake into a hot spot for contamination in the mud and sediment. Levels in the lake were as high as 5,800 Bq/kg in February. The Onagawa river that runs into the lake was found to have 13,200 Bq/kg of cesium in May. Levels gradually went up and some of the levels went back down slightly … Read entire article »
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German Media Shows Backlash At Fukushima Health Survey
[Translate] German media ZDF ran a short piece on the Fukushima Health Survey Sunday. They interviewed parents in Minamisoma after a meeting with members of the Health Survey including Dr. Suzuki who has been acting as a stand in for Dr. Yamashita. There were demands for Dr. Yamashita to be fired from the survey, he has since had his title changed but is still very involved in running the survey. We have seen this frustration from parents at other public meetings with the Health Survey. Parents do not believe the excuses they are being told and most of the excuses are easily disproved. English transcript of the news piece: “After the nuclear disaster in Fukushima people feared the worst, but a UN study in May gave an all-clear. A new study now proves that … Read entire article »
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Picture Of The Day; Inaccurate Radiation Meter In The Wild
[Translate] Naotoshi Kitada posted this photo today via Facebook. They did not include the location but it is a good example of how off the government radiation meters are. A .461 uSv/h difference. That may seem small but that difference is the entire radiation reading in some locations. This article would not be possible without the extensive efforts of the SimplyInfo research team Join the conversation at chat.simplyinfo.org All content is copyright SimplyInfo.org. Content may also be copyright of other specific original authors or creators and was reproduced here with limited permission. While we welcome the sharing of information or promoting our work, please do so with respect to the large amount of effort and time that goes into our research and analysis. Referring to something or a quote is great, copying it all … Read entire article »
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