Japan Earthquake | Page 2562

  • @smoss good seeing you! Let me know what you find
    by lillymunster 10/27/2011 5:02:58 PM

  • @Edano Oh NUKEM I remember them. Continuing this MOX project as fuel in the US is just stupid. They are wanting to cut old people's social security because we are so broke but we are spending billions on this?
    by lillymunster 10/27/2011 5:03:57 PM

  • Thermal reactors
    About 30 thermal reactors in Europe (Belgium, Switzerland, Germany and France) are using MOX and a further 20 have been licensed to do so. Most reactors use it as about one third of their core, but some will accept up to 50% MOX assemblies. In France, EDF aims to have all its 900 MWe series of reactors running with at least one-third MOX. Japan aimed to have one third of its reactors using MOX by 2010, and has approved construction of a new reactor with a complete fuel loading of MOX. Of the total nuclear fuel used today, MOX provides 2%.
    en.wikipedia.org
    by Liz 10/27/2011 5:04:49 PM

  • this is about mox in germany de.wikipedia.org . they mention japan as well, strangely.
    by Edano 10/27/2011 5:05:09 PM

  • @lillymunster it can be that we exported our mox technology to usa via nukem. :P
    by Edano 10/27/2011 5:06:08 PM

  • from sellafield as well.
    by Edano 10/27/2011 5:09:31 PM

  • Hi Edano =), Commitments by the US and Russia to convert nuclear weapons into fuel for electricity production is known as the Megatons to Megawatts program.
    Surplus weapons-grade HEU resulting from the various disarmament agreements led in 1993 to an agreement between the US and Russian governments. Under this Russia is to convert 500 tonnes of HEU from warheads and military stockpiles (equivalent to around 20,000 bombs) to LEU to be bought by the USA for use in civil nuclear reactors.
    In 1994, a US$12 billion implementing contract was signed between the US Enrichment Corporation (now USEC Inc) and Russia's Technabexport (Tenex) as executive agents for the US and Russian governments. USEC is purchasing a minimum of 500 tonnes of weapons-grade HEU over 20 years to 2013, at a rate of up to 30 tonnes/year from 1999. The HEU is blended down to 15,259 t of LEU at 4.4% U-235 in Russia, using 1.5% U-235 (re-enriched depleted uranium tails), to restrict levels of U-234 in the final product. USEC can then sell the LEU to its utility customers as fuel. The LEU is equivalent to about 140,000 to 150,000 tonnes of natural uranium from mines (depending on assumptions about enrichment).
    By September 2009 a total of 375 tonnes HEU had produced nearly 10,868 tonnes of low-enriched fuel under a market-based pricing formula. By August 2011 the total had risen to 425 tonnes HEU, equivalent to 17,000 nuclear warheads according to USEC, which had paid over $7.2 billion to the Russian Federation.
    For its part, the US Government has declared just over 174 tonnes of HEU (of various enrichments) to be surplus from military stockpiles. Of this, USEC has taken delivery of 14.2 tonnes in the form of uranium hexafluoride (UF6) containing around 75% U-235, and 50 tonnes as uranium oxide or metal containing around 40% U-235. Downblending of the UF6 was completed in 1998, to produce 387 tonnes of LEU. Some 13.5 tonnes of the HEU oxide or metal had been processed by September 2001 to produce 140.3 tonnes of LEU. In 2004 the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a licence for downblending 33 tonnes HEU by Nuclear Fuel Services in Tennessee and in 2005 the first delivery was made to a TVA power plant.
    www.world-nuclear.org
    by Liz 10/27/2011 5:13:44 PM

  • @Liz greetings from hauptstadt to bavaria.
    by Edano 10/27/2011 5:14:45 PM

  • Frankonia :) @Edano
    by Liz 10/27/2011 5:15:39 PM

  • @Liz uuuh sorry :)
    by Edano 10/27/2011 5:16:19 PM

  • Next to this beauty :( www.pbase.com
    by Liz 10/27/2011 5:19:17 PM

  • @Liz Interesting. I don't know if downblending uranium is risky as nuclear fuel. MOX from plutonium really is. I sure hope the MOX fuel program isn't part of some treaty in that we have to make fuel and can't put it in ceramic or glass.
    by lillymunster 10/27/2011 5:19:25 PM

  • wow yes all this nuke weapon madness. someone should calculate how much africans could have survived if this energy wouldn't have been senselessly wasted. but this is another topic ...
    by Edano 10/27/2011 5:19:33 PM

  • Well that link didnt work Edano
    by Liz 10/27/2011 5:19:58 PM

  • @Edano I think about those kinds of issues frequently. How many people could be fed, educated or other problems addressed for money we waste elsewhere.
    by lillymunster 10/27/2011 5:20:20 PM

  • @lillymunster this is reality cinism. :(
    by Edano 10/27/2011 5:21:43 PM

  • by Edano via Dreamguides.edreams.de 10/27/2011 5:22:57 PM

  • From 1995 through September 2010, 400 metric tons of highly-enriched uranium from Russian nuclear warheads have been recycled into low-enriched-uranium fuel for U.S. nuclear power plants. The first plant to receive fuel containing uranium under this program was the Cooper Nuclear Station in 1998.[1] This program has eliminated the equivalent of 16,000 nuclear warheads. The Megatons to Megawatts government-to-government program goal of eliminating 500 metric tons of warhead material is scheduled to be completed in 2013. Currently, one in 10 American homes, businesses, schools and hospitals receive electricity generated by Megatons to Megawatts fuel.
    en.wikipedia.org
    by Liz 10/27/2011 5:23:09 PM

  • by Edano via Kleinanzeigenberlinmitte 10/27/2011 5:24:53 PM

  • by Liz 10/27/2011 5:26:01 PM

  • @Liz uups i wasn't prepared for such a beauty :/
    by Edano 10/27/2011 5:27:02 PM

  • I see that thing every day :(
    by Liz 10/27/2011 5:28:23 PM

  • @Liz i couldn't live with one in my neighborhood.
    by Edano 10/27/2011 5:31:11 PM

  • Edano, i lived next to Indian Point before that. Must be a curse on me.
    by Liz 10/27/2011 5:34:25 PM

  • @Liz you always buy the cheapest houses. :) :)
    by Edano 10/27/2011 5:35:54 PM

  • i have some occasions for you in north japan :)
    by Edano 10/27/2011 5:36:27 PM

  • No,no! Ill pass, thank you Edano =)
    by Liz 10/27/2011 5:37:38 PM


  • U.S.-Russia HEU Agreement – “Megatons to Megawatts”
    The U.S.-Russia Highly Enriched Uranium Agreement, which was signed by Presidents Bill Clinton and Boris Yeltsin in 1993, sought to address the HEU proliferation risk engendered by the fall of the Soviet Union. Under the terms of the agreement, both the United States and Russia created government-owned corporations to act as the deal’s executors. The United States set up the United States Enrichment Corporation (USEC), while the Russian Federation created a commercial subsidiary of its Ministry of Atomic Energy (MinAtom), Tekhsnabeksport (“Tenex”). The original deal called for Tenex to downblend its HEU to LEU at MinAtom facilities. USEC would then buy the enrichment component of this LEU, accepting it in shipments over a 20-year period. The price negotiated came to approximately two-thirds of the 1993 market value of the entire quantity of LEU (the other one-third being the feed component). USEC would then be free to resell the enrichment component in compliance with relevant federal and international law. Tenex, on the other hand, would retain title to the feed component, and would be free to resell it, subject to relevant international agreements and Russian statutes.
    These circumlocutions, though contrary to the laws of physics, are forced by the peculiarities of the uranium industry: though there is only one actual product shipped to USEC – five percent low-enriched uranium hexafluoride – USEC holds title only to the value of the services employed to enrich it; i.e., the enrichment component. According to the agreement, the actual material that has been enriched – the feed component – remains in Tenex’s legal (if not physical) possession. Obviously, it is impossible to physically separate raw materials from the work that has processed them into a finished product. Therefore, when USEC resells the enrichment component, it must provide its customers with the entire LEU product it received from Tenex. This leaves it in a barter debt: it owes the physical mass of the feed component to Tenex. The situation is resolved by USEC’s customers shipping an equivalent quantity of natural uranium feed back to USEC – which is then designated as Tenex’s feed component.
    In addition, USEC would reimburse Tenex for the cost of the 1.5 percent LEU that the latter used to downblend the original HEU. The reimbursement was to be in the form of a barter payment of natural uranium, equivalent to the amount the Russians had used (even though Tenex would use 1.5 percent LEU, not natural uranium, for downblending). Tenex would then be free to resell this natural uranium as well.
    Problems With the 1993 Deal
    Several problems soon arose with the HEU deal. Perhaps the biggest short-term headache was the looming privatization of USEC. Based on market trends, it became clear that the price agreement negotiated in 1993 was overly generous to Russia. Though the U.S. Department of Energy could force USEC to pay these higher prices while the latter was a government subsidiary, it would have no such power after privatization. What proved beneficial to national security was at odds with the profit motive. USEC, therefore, lobbied to have price controls set according to market standards. When denied this request, USEC resorted to slowing the pace of deliveries, greatly annoying its Russian counterparts.
    For its part, Russia also created concerns for the agreement. Russia demanded a “price floor,” below which it would not ship LEU to USEC; this price floor proved unreasonable, however, as it was usually well above market price. In addition, Tenex could not ship the feed component back to Russia: according to U.S. law, enriched uranium could be exported only to nations with which the U.S. had signed a fissile material export agreement. No such agreement existed in 1993. Therefore, Tenex was forced to attempt to sell the feed component from USEC’s warehouses in Paducah, or if it could not find a buyer, to await payment from USEC in 2013. The 1996 act that privatized USEC transferred the title on the feed component from Tenex to the Russian government, and ordered USEC to buy the 1995 and 1996 allotments. However, this did not address the basic price issue.
    The situation grew even more precarious by 1998, when USEC completed its privatization. USEC administrators openly questioned whether USEC had any incentive to remain part of the deal (under whose terms it could withdraw). On the Russian side, negotiations to sell the feed to a consortium of commercial enrichment companies had stalled. It was under these conditions that U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson and Russian Atomic Energy Minister Yevgeny Adamov met in 1998 to attempt to resolve the remaining disputes. The agreement born of their negotiations, termed the HEU Feed Deal, was signed in March 1999 and answered many of the extent questions. It allowed for the reimportation of the feed component to Russia, and provided for both American and Russian LEU stockpiles for commercial sale or government use. It also codified a new compensation system for the enrichment component; the new terms were significantly more favorable to USEC, as they were firmly linked to market price (plus a 10-15 percent discount). Even these new terms have proven insufficient to make USEC’s portion of the deal profitable; however, the company is no longer hemorrhaging money, and deliveries have, since 1999, proceeded on schedule for 2013 completion. The day after the HEU feed deal was signed, Tenex announced that it had signed a commercial deal with Cameco, COGEMA, and NUKEM – known collectively as the Western Consortium – to purchase most of the feed component.
    www.cdi.org
    by Liz 10/27/2011 5:42:16 PM

  • Fukushima Disaster TEPCO Report Journey Around Daiichi Plant (English Subs) 27 Oct. 11
    www.youtube.com
    by Liz 10/27/2011 5:55:07 PM

  • www3.nhk.or.jp

    OT: Rare butterfly rediscovered in Bhutan

    Japanese researchers have recorded a rare swallow-tailed butterfly in the Himalayan country of Bhutan, the first sighting in 78 years.

    A team from the Butterfly Society of Japan made the find while conducting a field survey in Bhutan in August, accompanied by an NHK crew.

    The team found the Ludlow's Bhutan Swallowtail in a valley 2,200 meters above sea level in the country's eastern mountainous region. The site is near where the swallowtail was discovered in 1933.

    The NHK camera captured the butterfly, which is the size of an adult palm. The butterfly had fluttering wings with dark red markings and three tails.

    Only 5 specimens of the butterfly are known to exist. They were collected in the valley in 1933 and 1934 and are on display in the Natural History Museum in London.

    The August survey was allowed after a half-year negotiation with the Bhutan government. The Japanese researchers had heard that a local forest ranger found a butterfly that looked like the Bhutan Swallowtail 2 years ago.

    Thursday, October 27, 2011 20:07 +0900 (JST)
    www3.nhk.or.jp

    by Edano via Www3.nhk.or.jp 10/27/2011 5:57:07 PM

  • Radioactive Used Cars Are Being Illegally Sold in Japan
    No longer able to sell and ship many used cars to Russia, South America, Australia and the U.S. due to their high levels of radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi meltdown, some dealers in Japan have instead resorted to registering them under new plates and illegally selling them domestically.
    gizmodo.com
    by Liz 10/27/2011 5:58:37 PM

  • Mental health center for children in disaster zone

    Japanese mental health experts will set up a psychological care center to help children who survived the March 11th earthquake and tsunami.

    Psychiatrists and therapists decided to establish the new center in Tokyo, to make up for a shortage of mental health professionals in areas affected by the disaster.

    Many children in northeast Japan continue to show signs of psychological instability, such as crying at night or not playing outside.

    The center will start by sending experts to affected areas on a long-term basis by the end of December. It will work with 44 mental health organizations across Japan in the process.

    The center will also provide training to teachers in affected areas on how to deal with the children.

    Thursday, October 27, 2011 12:45 +0900 (JST)
    www3.nhk.or.jp
    by Edano 10/27/2011 6:00:33 PM

  • Government to send expert staff to disaster zone

    The Japanese government plans to send staff with expertise in civil engineering and construction to help rebuild areas hit by the March 11th earthquake and tsunami.

    The government is seeking early passage of the third supplementary budget for the current fiscal year, as well as related bills, to speed up repair efforts in the disaster zone.

    But some municipalities there are overwhelmed by the size of the task, and lack people with the necessary skills to handle it.

    The central government believes it's necessary to make those cities and towns ready to act by the time they receive funding.
    It is therefore considering sending civil engineering and construction experts as well as clerical staff from government agencies and local governments to support the reconstruction process.

    Thursday, October 27, 2011 09:40 +0900 (JST)
    www3.nhk.or.jp
    by Edano 10/27/2011 6:01:32 PM

  • Panel advises limiting lifetime radiation exposure to 100 millisieverts

    TOKYO, Oct. 27, Kyodo

    A government food safety panel finalized its report Thursday calling for limiting cumulative internal radiation exposure during a person's lifetime to below 100 millisieverts, a benchmark beyond which the risk of cancer increases.

    Following the Food Safety Commission's conclusion, which updates an evaluation by its working group in July, the health ministry will convene an advisory panel meeting Monday to revise its provisional limits for radioactive substances in food set after the Fukushima nuclear crisis triggered by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

    The current provisional limits such as 500 becquerels of radioactive cesium for rice, vegetables, meat and fish per kilogram, and 200 becquerels for drinking water and milk are expected to be lowered with the commission's advice. english.kyodonews.jp
    by Edano 10/27/2011 6:02:47 PM

  • TEPCO eyes 30% cut in pensions to raise funds for nuclear compensation

    TOKYO, Oct. 27, Kyodo

    The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is considering implementing a 30 percent cut in corporate pensions for retirees aged 80 or older to secure funds for compensation payments in connection with the disaster, a newly compiled emergency business plan showed Thursday.

    Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. would be required to reduce costs by more than 2.5 trillion yen over 10 years under the plan, which it devised with the state-backed Nuclear Damage Compensation Facilitation Corp.

    The plan is expected to be submitted to Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yukio Edano by the end of this month, sources close to the matter said. english.kyodonews.jp
    by Edano 10/27/2011 6:04:20 PM

  • @Edano I hope they are lowered
    by elainekirk 10/27/2011 6:06:04 PM

  • seems logical: those who still live, have obviously not worked properly.
    by Edano 10/27/2011 6:06:22 PM

  • english.kyodonews.jp

    Film director Wenders visits Fukushima

    FUKUSHIMA, JAPAN, Oct. 27, Kyodo

    German film director Wim Wenders said nuclear power generation is the only invention that may destroy the future of human beings as he visited the village of Iitate, Fukushima Prefecture, on Thursday.

    The 66-year-old director met with Iitate residents still living in the village even though it has been designated as an area from which people should evacuate due to the relatively high levels of radiation caused by the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.

    When a local woman told Wenders she has nagging concerns about radiation, he said he wonders how he can help her other than to tell her she is not alone.

    Later in the day, Wenders moved on to the city of Fukushima and screened his new 3-D film ''Pina'' for free at a theater.

    Wenders, known as an admirer of the late Japanese director Yasujiro Ozu, sponsored the screening event to encourage survivors of the March earthquake and tsunami, which caused the nuclear disaster.

    ''Pina'' is the director's latest documentary, about the late German dancer and choreographer Pina Bausch.

    Wenders is known for directing such well-known films as ''Wings of Desire,'' ''Hammett'' and ''Paris, Texas.''

    ==Kyodo english.kyodonews.jp

    by Edano via English.kyodonews.jp 10/27/2011 6:08:06 PM

  • @Edano he is quite right
    by elainekirk 10/27/2011 6:17:30 PM

  • @Edano maybe he will make a movie about it...
    by lillymunster 10/27/2011 6:38:40 PM

  • What is the point of this?????? tepco only tell jp gov what they want them to know and jp gov will only tell iaea what they want them to know so WTF do they think they are kidding??

    The IAEA has been providing regular status updates to the competent authorities within its member states since the Fukushima accident occurred on 11 March 2011.
    www.iaea.org
    IAEA Fukushima Dai-ichi Status Report
    Update of 27 October 2011
    The IAEA now issues regular status reports to the public on the current status of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant, including information on environmental radiation monitoring, the status of workers, and current conditions on-site at the plant.
    by elainekirk 10/27/2011 6:49:59 PM

  • Fukushima largest sea radiation contamination ever www.vancouversun.com
    by lillymunster 10/27/2011 6:50:23 PM

  • @elainekirk THere is nothing to see here people! Everything is fine, nobody has died. Nuclear power is totally safe, um yea that. Totally safe.

    www.stanforddaily.com

    by lillymunster via Stanforddaily 10/27/2011 6:53:00 PM

  • @lillymunster and they will all happily toddle around fuku and swim in the waters before partaking of the local sushi and sake
    by elainekirk 10/27/2011 6:56:02 PM

  • @elainekirk they should be required to hold all meetings in the latest nuclear wreck they created.
    by lillymunster 10/27/2011 7:06:38 PM

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