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Press Release (Dec 11,2002)
Final report concerning the problem of leak tests on the primary containment vessel at Fukushima Daiichi Station Unit-1 submitted to the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry


December 11, 2002


Tokyo --- Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) today submitted the final report
concerning the problem of leak tests on the primary containment vessel at
Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station Unit-1 to the Minister of Economy,
Trade and Industry.

As soon as the suspicion had arisen that air was being injected into the
primary containment vessel, TEPCO asked an outside team consisting of five
independent expert lawyers to investigate the situation. The investigation
lasted about two months and after its completion the team reported to TEPCO
on its findings. TEPCO´s report demonstrates its recognition of the
findings of the investigation team, and describes the measures it will take
in the future.

The conclusions of the investigation team are the same as those in the
interim report issued on October 25:
1.It was confirmed that dishonest acts had taken place, including injecting
air into the primary containment vessel in order to lower the leak rate
while TEPCO´s workers were involved in the 15th and 16th periodic
inspections at Fukushima Daiichi Station´s Unit-1.
2.Apart from the above-mentioned acts at Fukushima Daiichi Station´s Unit-1
no dishonest practice was found in any other leak tests conducted in the
past at any nuclear power plants.

TEPCO would like to express its sincere apologies, both to those in the
vicinity of its nuclear power stations and to all members of society, for
conducting dishonest practices during the government´s regular nuclear
safety inspections.

We, TEPCO, will make strenuous efforts to prevent reoccurrence of such
errors and to regain public confidence in our company and in nuclear power.
We will do this by creating "a system that will never allow workers to
engage in dishonest practice" and "a climate in which workers will never
engage in dishonest practice"

New cooling systems may be installed outside Fukushima reactor buildings...

It would be necessary to secure five or six heat exchangers to cool one reactor, but the cooling efficiency of the gasketed plate heat exchangers is twice that of conventional heat exchangers for nuclear plants, according to the sources. mdn.mainichi.jp

@VeenOui : and what do they do until summer ?

@dean sounds like they had some old water line issues before. I have to think those kinds of issues just added to all the leakage problems when things in the reactors broke.

NEWS ADVISORY: TEPCO to present time schedule for nuke trouble conclusion

@dean, was not #1 already up for retirement? Tepco was not going to invest a penny in a new paint job.

Silver mine in Idaho collapses Friday afternoon, NOTE: Quake just NE of there with a 3 mag about the same time, don't know why they haven't put things together on this item. www.foxnews.com

@Meretisa, It's not that they are unsafe, it is that an EQ tends to move stuff around that can cause unsafe situations. As they had lots of loose material piled up they were working on. Also that area probably isn't known for quakes and the mine is not setup correctly to take them when they hit. Plus NO warning system of one coming such as what is in Japan or California. Unfortunate situation. Like what I posted this morning, the experts are really concerned, as they are seeing quakes in new areas, and getting many more than normal in the usual fault areas right now.

A quick survey of the EPA Radnet site at cdxnode64.epa.gov

63 monitors were fully functional
8 failed to show beta radiation readings
46 were "under survey"

39% of the monitors were out of commission
54% of the monitors registered beta radiation

TEPCO to use robots to examine reactor building conditions

TOKYO, April 17, Kyodo

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Sunday it would later in the day use robots to examine the temperature, radiation level, and oxygen concentration inside a reactor building at its troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The inspection by remotely operated robots at the No. 3 reactor will be carried out to gauge whether it is safe to allow workers to enter the building and determine what work will be required to bring the crippled reactor under control.

The utility, known as TEPCO, will consider examining the Nos. 1 and 2 reactors in the same manner, using two U.S.-made robots equipped with moveable arms.

An operating test at the power plant's No. 5 reactor showed the robots, measuring 70 centimeters long and 53 cm wide, can open the doors to the reactor buildings by themselves.

==Kyodo english.kyodonews.jp

@Meretisa some more results, by state:
California 42% registered beta radiation
Texas 36%
Florida 0%
Great Plains (ND,SD,NE,OK,TX) 43%
Midwest (MN,WI,MI,IL,IN,OH,MO) 50%

@Bobby1 This is for real yes ? ....and Beta in what range ?

It says "Beta gross count rate"

Florida is showing 0% beta because not one of the monitors is being reported. Most stopped showing daily beta counts around March 20th. One s

I saw one of those iodine plumes going over Florida. Big orange and grapefruit growing area.