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in fact, we know better than tepco, we always did.

@M.I.A. restarted

UPDATE3: Japan's nuclear accords with 4 countries due to clear parliament

TOKYO, Nov. 30, Kyodo

Japan's bilateral civil nuclear cooperation accords with Jordan, Russia, South Korea and Vietnam could take effect in December, with Diet deliberations on them beginning Wednesday despite public concerns about exporting atomic technology in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.

The accords, which will lay the legal foundations for Japanese companies to supply nuclear equipment and technology to other countries, are expected to be approved by the House of Representatives on Dec. 2, lawmakers said.

If all goes smoothly, they will come into force next year after also being approved by the House of Councillors during the current parliament session, which ends Dec. 9 unless extended.

On Wednesday the Liberal Democratic Party, which controls the House of Councillors with smaller opposition parties, basically agreed to support enactment of the pacts.

Japan signed the pacts with the respective countries before the world's worst nuclear accident in 25 years occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Diet deliberations on the nuclear cooperation agreements had stalled after the accident. But the government and the LDP later decided to take the stance that such accords before the March disaster should become effective to prevent diplomatic relations from being damaged, and as long as other countries still wanted Japan's cooperation.

Necessary domestic procedures for the accords in the four countries have already been completed and they are only awaiting approval by the Japanese Diet, according to government officials.

Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba told a House of Representatives committee that Japan will ''do whatever is possible to ensure safety,'' when referring to the country's policy of not completely abandoning its nuclear exports.

Gemba told the lower house panel on foreign affairs he is also hoping to conclude a bilateral accord on cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy with five countries -- Brazil, India, South Africa, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates -- on which Japan began negotiations prior to the Fukushima disaster.

In Jordan, a consortium of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. and French nuclear power company Areva is competing with Russian and Canadian companies for nuclear power contracts.

Jordan has urged Japan to ratify a bilateral nuclear cooperation accord by the year-end, cautioning that without it, the Japan-French consortium will lose its chance of winning a bid to build a nuclear power plant there, according to diplomatic sources.

In a related development, government representatives and engineers from six Asian countries that plan to build atomic power plants, including Vietnam and Turkey, visited Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata Prefecture to inspect its safety equipment and other features.

The Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization, which organized the visit, said the group spent about three-and-a-half hours touring the plant, inspecting areas such as the central control room of the No. 6 reactor which is currently operating and listening to explanations by a TEPCO official about countermeasures against tsunami.

A Malaysian representative said that although some people in his country are worried about having a nuclear power plant following the Fukushima nuclear crisis, he said he believes construction of such a plant in Malaysia will eventually be realized.

Other countries that took part in the tour are Indonesia, Jordan and Kazakhstan.

==Kyodo english.kyodonews.jp

Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa who recently returned from the International Space Station spoke Wednesday night of his observation from space of ongoing reconstruction efforts in the disaster-hit northeastern Japan.

''Light was gradually increasing and I felt the warmth of human activities,'' Furukawa, 47, told reporters via a televised conference from Houston, Texas. english.kyodonews.jp

finally back in. Brief errand turned into lots of errands. :-)

On the melt through claim by TEPCO. They don't seem to know and are guessing. This guess only assumes straight down burn through. If unit 1 ejected the entire core there is plenty of fuel to move laterally. They say nothing at least from what we can get from the press conference that they made any consideration for lateral movement. The elevation drawing of unit 1 shows only a small sump under the pedestal. We know that isn't a heavily detailed drawing, TEPCO's illustration may not be literal either. Knowing the pedestal area of unit 5 there is a big piece of equipment under the RPV. Could that have directed corium somewhat to either side like a wedge? It would obviously melt as things progressed but it adds to what is under the RPV and could be enough to change their assumption. Off to see if I can find the pedestal picture.

Tokyo and Osaka doing dual no nukes referendums kokumintohyo.com

I just realized what this is likely really about. Cold shutdown target is end of the year. AKA 30 days from tomorrow.

They likely have to submit a report to someone at that date. This would also explain them now ordering cameras to inspect inside with.

@MaryW www.economic-undertow.com ?

Another simulation on the structure released by the government-funded Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization, or JNES, said the erosion of the concrete could be deeper and the possibility of structural damage to the reactor's foundation needs to be studied.
www.wdtn.com

The analysis done by the Institute of Applied Energy commissioned by the national government, 85% of fuel dropped to the Containment Vessel in Reactor 1, and 70% of fuel dropped to the Containment Vessels in Reactors 2 and 3. The researchers at the Institute pointed out the possibility of the damage to the stainless-steel shroud that surrounds the fuel core, and of the corium having eaten away the concrete floor of the Containment Vessel up to 2 meters deep. Because of that, they also said it was possible that the RPV got tilted. ex-skf.blogspot.com