Fire breaks out at waste facility of Tsuruga nuclear plantTSURUGA, Japan, Dec. 12, Kyodo
A fire broke out Monday evening at a waste disposal facility of a nuclear power plant in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, but no one was injured and there was no environmental impact, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said.
The fire started at 7:50 p.m. on power-supply equipment of the waste disposal facility for the No. 1 reactor of Japan Atomic Power Co.'s plant, the agency said. The reactor is currently offline due to regular checkups.
The incident followed similar fire accidents that occurred at the plant on the Sea of Japan coast since May.
==Kyodo
english.kyodonews.jp by Edano 12/12/2011 6:15:14 PM
Gov't considering asking utilities to pay 50 bil. yen for fund bodyTOKYO, Dec. 13, Kyodo
The government is considering ordering nuclear power plant operators to contribute around 50 billion yen for fiscal 2011 to an entity providing funds to help Tokyo Electric Power Co. pay massive amounts of compensation related to the nuclear crisis at its Fukushima Daiichi power plant, government sources said Monday.
The utility known as TEPCO is expected to be the largest contributor among the companies that are required to chip in, with its contribution to the state-backed Nuclear Damage Liability Facilitation Fund likely to total about 17 billion yen.
The annual contributions are intended to make companies operating nuclear power plants in Japan share some of the burden of the world's worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. The amounts of the contributions will vary depending on the output of the nuclear power plants operated by each company.
Some in the government have called for the need to increase the amount of contributions, but there are also people who are cautious about the idea because such funds may be collected by raising electricity bills.
A conclusion on the issue is expected in March next year. The contributions for the current fiscal year will be paid in the following fiscal year starting April.
A total of 12 companies are required to pay contributions, including nine of Japan's 10 power utilities as well as companies that are selling electricity to the utilities. Okinawa Electric Power Co. is not among them because it does not possess nuclear power plants.
Under the plan, the share for Kansai Electric Power Co. would likely be about 8.8 billion yen, for Kyushu Electric Power Co. about 4.7 billion yen, and for Chubu Electric Power Co. about 4.4 billion yen.
Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd. does not have a nuclear power plant, but its contribution is expected to total about 0.8 billion yen because it has such facilities as a plant for reprocessing spent nuclear fuel in Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture, which is on a trial run.
The 12 companies have already invested a total of 7 billion yen for the funding body when it was established in September, but they would also pay annual contributions, the total amount of which would be decided by the fund and would require government approval.
As TEPCO is receiving financial assistance from the funding body, the utility is also required to repay the money to the body in the form of what is called ''special contributions.'' The government is considering the amount of the special contributions, according to the sources.
==Kyodo
english.kyodonews.jp by Edano 12/12/2011 6:16:17 PM
Moody's mulling downgrading all of EU's 27 members by MarchLONDON, Dec. 12, Kyodo
Moody's Investors Service Inc. said Monday it may downgrade sovereign debt ratings on all of the 27 members of the European Union by March, citing lack of effective measures to stem the ongoing financial crisis in the region.
''Unless credit market conditions stabilize in the near future, our ratings of all EU sovereigns will need to be revisited,'' the U.S. rating agency said in a weekly bulleting for investors.
On the EU summit held last Thursday and Friday, it said, its communique ''offers few new measures, and does not change our view that risks to the cohesion of the euro area continue to rise.''
Should the downgrading happen, the bond prices are likely to fall further, pushing up their yields and deepening the financial crisis. But the actual impact of such a step remains uncertain as bond prices have gone up in Japan and the United States after their debts were downgraded.
''The longer the incremental approach to policy persists, the greater the likelihood of more severe scenarios, including those involving multiple defaults by euro area countries and those additionally involving exits from the euro area,'' it said.
In a similar move, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services has also said it will review credit ratings on nearly all countries in the eurozone in a few days.
==Kyodo
english.kyodonews.jp by Edano 12/12/2011 6:22:24 PM
Income images of unit 4
by lillymunster 12/12/2011 6:28:22 PM
by lillymunster 12/12/2011 6:28:50 PM
by lillymunster 12/12/2011 6:28:52 PM
by lillymunster 12/12/2011 6:28:55 PM
by lillymunster 12/12/2011 6:29:00 PM
by lillymunster 12/12/2011 6:29:04 PM
Red lines show where it was cut off
by lillymunster 12/12/2011 6:30:15 PM
The TEPCO document telling they were putting the floating cover on the SFP at 4 before the removed debris
www.tepco.co.jpby lillymunster 12/12/2011 6:36:25 PM
@MaryW those small pieces of debris and that ladder have been in unit 4's pool since the early video. There are smallish pieces of concrete in the pool. It isn't like the entire roof is in there.
by lillymunster 12/12/2011 6:42:59 PM
@MaryW we have no record of that debris and ladder being removed from the pool and no worker comments about it. It really is not a big deal. Some pieces of concrete that don't look very big and the access ladder.
by lillymunster 12/12/2011 6:43:46 PM
@MaryW how. There is not that much in the pool.
by lillymunster 12/12/2011 6:47:40 PM
Do people think this fell off on unit 4?
by lillymunster 12/12/2011 6:52:38 PM
Going through the NRC link Mary posted and found this:
by lillymunster 12/12/2011 7:20:50 PM
"At 1755 on 12/8/11, it was determined that an unanalyzed condition existed for the common Control Room for both Units. A high energy line break (HELB) barrier issue was discovered while performing a fire barrier surveillance and the condition is believed to have existed from initial plant construction. A HELB barrier was found to have a significant breach in it that could allow steam from a HELB in the Unit 2 Steam Generator Blowdown system to potentially impact equipment in the Control Room. The Control Room is not analyzed for a steam environment. The degree of the impact could not be readily determined, but could likely affect the safety related equipment in the Control Room. At 1803 on 12/8/11, Unit 2 Steam Generator Blowdown was secured to eliminate the potential for a HELB in the affected area which eliminated the potential unanalyzed condition. Therefore, an 8 hour report to the NRC is required under 10 CFR 50.72(b)(3)(ii)(B) 'Any event or condition that results in the nuclear power plant being in an unanalyzed condition that significantly degrades plant safety' since there was not a reasonable expectation that the Control Room environment could support operation of safety related equipment with Unit 2 Steam Generator Blowdown in service. Further analysis is underway."
by lillymunster 12/12/2011 7:20:51 PM
OMG! The person leading the uproar at the NRC against Jaczko was a TEPCO CONSULTANT
www.huffingtonpost.comby lillymunster 12/12/2011 9:36:04 PM
@MaryW there is. It should show next to the save post button
by lillymunster 12/12/2011 9:59:05 PM
The person leading the uproar at the NRC against Jaczko was a TEPCO CONSULTANT www.huffingtonpost.com
by lillymunster 12/12/2011 9:59:48 PM
What I just posted below should also show up on twitter under user FreyaFoust.
by lillymunster 12/12/2011 10:00:13 PM
I wonder what kind of trouble you have to get in to be assigned this duty with the SDF? scraping radioactive dirt out of the paving stone gaps with a screwdriver.
ex-skf.blogspot.comby lillymunster 12/12/2011 10:40:31 PM
@Ian @Ian still googling:
This says in late august they lowered what children are exposed to at school
www.google.comThis from May talks about when they raised it
www.abc.net.auby lillymunster 12/12/2011 11:17:17 PM
This is from the May article and is a good reminder of the mindset of the government at the time. No talk of evacuating people just closing schools.
But the government says it had no choice but to raise the legal exposure limit, saying about three-quarters of the schools in Fukushima have radiation levels above the old safety level of one millisievert. Meaning if they didn't increase the maximum allowable dose of radiation, the vast majority of schools would have to close, putting the education of hundreds of thousands of children on hold.
by lillymunster 12/12/2011 11:19:28 PM
Fire under control at Tsuruga nuclear plantA fire at the Tsuruga nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture, western Japan, has been brought under control. There are no reports of radioactive materials having leaked to nearby areas.
Japan Atomic Power Company, the plant operator, says the blaze broke out at 7:45 PM on Monday. A worker had turned on a switch for a spare electrical device located at a water processing facility in the No. 1 reactor.
Workers at the plant managed to put out the fire. No one was injured.
JAPC says there is no radiation leak because the reactor had been closed for inspection.The plant operator says there was a short circuit, and the fire may have been caused by sparks.
The cables were brought in to replace the regular power supply system, which is scheduled for inspection, with an auxiliary power source.
Three other fires have broken out at the plant between March 2010 and October 2011, when workers were welding or using gas burners for maintenance.
JAPC had submitted reports on fire prevention and safety measures to avoid this kind of accident on November 30th.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011 03:16 +0900 (JST)
www3.nhk.or.jp by Edano 12/12/2011 11:24:52 PM
JAPC says there is no radiation leak because the reactor had been closed for inspection.
by Edano 12/12/2011 11:24:56 PM
@Edano But water with elevated readings was found leaking out of the intakes yesterday.
by lillymunster 12/12/2011 11:34:43 PM
@Ian thus the efforts to decontaminate the schools..
by lillymunster 12/12/2011 11:39:14 PM
Power companies to pay 50 ¥ disaster fee
www.japantimes.co.jpFukushima rice in limbo
www.japantimes.co.jppower industry buying influence
www.japantimes.co.jpby lillymunster 12/13/2011 12:19:39 AM
@MaryW whomever tweets it, it shows up on twitter under their username. The one I mentioned showed up under my twitter name: freyafoust
by lillymunster 12/13/2011 12:20:20 AM
Martyn Williams has a superb! collection of pictures and videos from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant on his web page. martynwilliams.posterous.comby MaryW 12/12/2011 6:25:28 PM
by lillymunster 12/12/2011 6:28:50 PM
by lillymunster 12/12/2011 6:28:52 PM
by lillymunster 12/12/2011 6:28:55 PM
by lillymunster 12/12/2011 6:29:00 PM
by lillymunster 12/12/2011 6:29:04 PM
Is anyone aware of a point in time where the Japanese Govt officially lowered the maximum exposure limit in Fukushima from 20 to 1 mSv/y for any age group?by Ian 12/12/2011 11:05:22 PM
hudebnik
alblee
UKVal
Oliver (ScribbleLive)
Jonathan Keebler
Matt (ScribbleLive)
kaykodh
PKelley
Markfm
dean
Angie
Deb
Mid Valley
George Gibb
elainekirk
bo
IanGoddard