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@Liz Thank you I have heard of the agreement I will go read

with that much insulation I would have thought keeping the pool cool would be a challenge

We sincerely apologize to residents residing near the power stations and
the general public for the tremendous inconvenience and anxiety that has
arisen due to the accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station and
Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Station.

Regarding the said compensation instructions designated "for Corporations
and Sole Proprietors" that is scheduled to be mailed out from September
27th, the following clause is contained in the enclosed sample agreement,
"Concerning the aforementioned received amount, I will not raise any
objections nor apply for additional compensation in response to the
individual amounts stated in both the Results Notification and in the
Agreement,."

However, in conformance to the revised agreement form for individuals,
this clause will not be inserted into the actual agreements that will be
sent out to corporations and sole proprietors.

We deeply apologize for any confusion that may arise due to this matter. www.tepco.co.jp

Gov't panel seeks better evacuation, quake plans after March crisis

TOKYO, Sept. 27, Kyodo

Japan must thoroughly revamp its earthquake and tsunami countermeasures in light of the March 11 catastrophes by adopting comprehensive policies to enable prompt evacuation, such as sending warnings via mobile phone networks, a government expert panel said in a report to be finalized Wednesday.

To more accurately assess the scale of possible earthquakes and tsunamis, the report obtained by Kyodo News urges that earthquakes that took place in ancient times be taken into consideration and that assessments include ''once in 1,000 years'' disasters.

The recommendations by the panel under the Central Disaster Prevention Council came in the wake of the March disasters, when massive tsunami waves of heights exceeding expectations wiped out towns and villages in northeastern Japan, killing over 15,800 people and leaving more than 4,000 missing. english.kyodonews.jp

Alcoholic products to be tested for radiation

Japan's tax officials have decided to check alcoholic beverages produced near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant for radiation to ensure their safety.

The National Tax Agency says testing will be conducted starting next month on all kinds of alcoholic drinks, including sake, wine, and beer, produced at breweries and factories located within 150 kilometers of the plant.

Brewing facilities outside the radius will also be randomly tested.

Taxation bureaus in 6 major cities including Tokyo and the National Research Institute of Brewing will check water samples used for alcoholic products.

If they find radioactive cesium or iodine above the government-set safety limit in any of the samples they will ask local authorities to issue a shipment ban or take other measures, as necessary.

The National Tax Agency says it will post the test results on its website.

Rice and barley, the main ingredients for alcoholic beverages, have already been tested for radiation.

The agency hopes the additional testing will put consumers at ease.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011 11:45 +0900 (JST)
www3.nhk.or.jp

@Edano all that run off into the drainage system... This is the first time I have seen them acknowledge that radiation adheres to concrete, also I thought strontium was the biggest adherer and if so they must have measurements for it that havent been made public

in my opinion, we can definitely assume that those secret measurings revealed contamination above that level.

Govt resumes review of Japan's nuclear policy

Japan's Atomic Energy Commission has resumed discussions on revising the country's nuclear policy.

Work to revise the policy started last December, but was suspended after the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in March.

Following the disaster, the commission added members who are experts on safety and take a tough stance on nuclear power.

On Tuesday, commission head Shunsuke Kondo apologized for the accident. He said it left him unsure what the panel should do, but that he decided the panel must resume work to fulfill its duty.

Some commission members called for shutting down all of Japan's nuclear plants and promoting alternate energy sources. Others said it's too early to determine long-term nuclear policy, as the Fukushima Daiichi plant remains out of control.

Members advocating nuclear power noted that resource-poor Japan must aim for a realistic energy policy.

The policy on nuclear power use, research and development was drawn up in 1956 and has been revised about every 5 years. It was last revised 6 years ago. The policy calls for promotion of nuclear power despite accidents at nuclear facilities and scandals such as cover-ups of trouble, and for at least 30 percent reliance on nuclear power after 2030.

The commission is to draw up a new policy outline over the next year.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011 19:41 +0900 (JST)
www3.nhk.or.jp

Gov't to lift evacuation advisory outside 20-km zone Fri.

TOKYO, Sept. 27, Kyodo english.kyodonews.jp

translate of worker tweets
ikrockhopper Itsumi Kakefuda
"But, we can't say no. Almost all tasks on site are planned and done by contractors. TEPCO only comments on the plans & put pressure on us."
1 minute ago Favorite Retweet Reply

ikrockhopper Itsumi Kakefuda
"The worst thing is to be told from TEPCO, 'We'd like your company to do this work.' Almost all tasks of them are in high-rad area, (cont)
2 minutes ago

ikrockhopper Itsumi Kakefuda
"On the other hand, every time troubles happen, news says 'contract workers did...' 'contract company did...,' like that (cont)
3 minutes ago

ikrockhopper Itsumi Kakefuda
"I've noticed. On the news, it says, 'TEPCO did' 'TEPCO was' always, but these are by contractors & other companies, not by TEPCO (cont)
3 minutes ago

ikrockhopper Itsumi Kakefuda
"Today, float was brought into the fuel pool of R4 to cover the pool, before cleaning-up at the highest floor starts. (cont)
3 minutes ago

ikrockhopper Itsumi Kakefuda
The Fukushima worker's tweets: "Work in R1 hasn't started yet. They will measure hydrogen (only) tomorrow. (cont)

Morning! (afternoon-evening)

Reading through the news posted, what ones are the really bad ones or did I miss? I probably need more coffee too. :-)

greetings and good morning, afternoon-evening

@dean morning dean! I have a big pile of images from those fukushima videos, need to get them all posted to a page for people to use.

@ all, radioactive contamination "leaching" is a big problem in the nuclear industry, also, we haven't even begun to touch the topic of how different metals act and adhere to surfaces then can leach out later.

@dean ah thats is way out of my comfort zone I will watch and learn

both @ lilly

I'll check into it @ lilly.. did you try youtube

@dean youtube for a list of thorium reactors?

that document I posted is an interesting read to learn of criticality accidents, how they happened and photo's showing damage caused etc.

Thorium R&D history

The use of thorium-based fuel cycles has been studied for about 40 years, but on a much smaller scale than uranium or uranium/plutonium cycles. Basic research and development has been conducted in Germany, India, Japan, Russia, the UK and the USA. Test reactor irradiation of thorium fuel to high burn-ups has also been conducted and several test reactors have either been partially or completely loaded with thorium-based fuel.

Noteworthy experiments involving thorium fuel include the following, the first three being high-temperature gas-cooled reactors:

Between 1967 and 1988, the AVR (Atom Versuchs Reaktor, Nuclear Test Reactor) experimental pebble bed reactor at Jülich, Germany, operated for over 750 weeks at 15 MWe, about 95% of the time with thorium-based fuel. The fuel used consisted of about 100,000 billiard ball-sized fuel elements. Overall a total of 1360 kg of thorium was used, mixed with high-enriched uranium (HEU). Burn-ups of 150,000 MWd/t were achieved.
Thorium fuel elements with a 10:1 Th/U (HEU) ratio were irradiated in the 20 MWth Dragon reactor at Winfrith, UK, for 741 full power days. Dragon was run as an OECD/Euratom cooperation project, involving Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Switzerland in addition to the UK, from 1964 to 1973. The Th/U fuel was used to 'breed and feed', so that the U-233 formed replaced the U-235 at about the same rate, and fuel could be left in the reactor for about six years.
General Atomics' Peach Bottom high-temperature, graphite-moderated, helium-cooled reactor in the USA operated between 1967 and 1974 at 110 MWth, using high-enriched uranium with thorium.
In Canada, AECL has more than 50 years experience with thorium-based fuels, including burn-up to 47 GWd/t. Some 25 tests were performed to 1987 in three research reactors and one pre-commercial reactor (NPD), with fuels ranging from ThO2 to that with 30% UO2, though most were with 1-3% UO2, the U being high-enriched.
In India, the Kamini 30 kWth experimental neutron-source research reactor using U-233, recovered from ThO2 fuel irradiated in another reactor, started up in 1996 near Kalpakkam. The reactor was built adjacent to the 40 MWt Fast Breeder Test Reactor, in which the ThO2 is irradiated.
In the Netherlands, an aqueous homogenous suspension reactor operated at 1MWth for three years in the mid-1970s. The HEU/Th fuel was circulated in solution and reprocessing occurred continuously to remove fission products, resulting in a high conversion rate to U-233.

There have also been several experiments with fast neutron reactors.