Japan Earthquake

Japan Earthquake | Page 2778

Two small bits of good news out of the evac zone:

www4.pref.fukushima.jp www4.pref.fukushima.jp
by lillymunster via Www4.pref.fukushima.jp 12/15/2011 3:34:52 AM

TEPCO document on the clean up at unit 4 2.bp.blogspot.com
by lillymunster via 2.bp.blogspot 12/15/2011 3:39:55 AM

rant on nuclear lobbyists daryanenergyblog.wordpress.com
by lillymunster 12/15/2011 4:00:35 AM

Gov't to designate 'difficult-to-return zones' near crippled Fukushima nuclear plant mdn.mainichi.jp

Such nice phrasing, makes it sound mildly inconvenient
by lillymunster 12/15/2011 4:13:24 AM

If you follow Jake Adelstein, they are breaking some new info on TEPCO and the contractor/yakuza corruption on twitter. looking for specifics now
by lillymunster 12/15/2011 4:17:35 AM

TEPCO by building in a subtle 15,000 yen surcharge into "free medical care" discouraged people from using the clinic. TEPCO provides a free medical clinic for the workers but the hours are restrictive so if you go, you're forced to use a taxi to return home. At Fukushima Power Plant, every work space has a guy with a red mark on his back to measure radiation levels. twitpic.com Tweets by Jake Adelstein
by lillymunster via Twitpic 12/15/2011 4:20:47 AM

TEPCO by building in a subtle 15,000 yen surcharge into "free medical care" discouraged people from using the clinic. TEPCO provides a free medical clinic for the workers but the hours are restrictive so if you go, you're forced to use a taxi to return home. At Fukushima Power Plant, every work space has a guy with a red mark on his back to measure radiation levels. twitpic.com Tweets by Jake Adelstein
by lillymunster via Twitpic 12/15/2011 4:25:51 AM

If all we have been hearing about the corporate TEPCO (and the GOJ, for that matter) these last 9 months are true, I truly believe, 'what goes around, comes around'. Justice will eventually be done. The people who have been 'injured' by their decisions will prevail.
by MaryW 12/15/2011 4:29:33 AM

@MaryW I think you posted the link about the NHK reporter going off today? His tweets are all over the place. I think it has been re-tweeted that much. He hit a big nerve with people.
by lillymunster 12/15/2011 4:30:43 AM

@lillymunster I feel like a momentum of information is happening the closer we get to the December 16 shutdown date. Just seems like people beginning to speak out more that before.
by MaryW 12/15/2011 4:33:27 AM

"The screening of workers for radioactive contamination was a performance."--Tomohiko Suzuki Suzuki explained that after working the equipment is measured for radioactive contamination but the measurement is rushed to keep it low. Suzuki is showing his video of the contaminated water pipes being laid and the work he did; mostly sweeping. TEPCO logic: "We were told constantly to avoid getting heat stroke but there were no measures or means to do that."
by lillymunster 12/15/2011 4:35:40 AM

@MaryW it is all just so weird. It seems more and more staged. Admitting the radiation was far worse, they should have evacuated people but didn't, I do not want to know what tomorrow's bombshell will be.
by lillymunster 12/15/2011 4:36:51 AM

@lillymunster I don't believe I posted that NHK reporters story. I'll have to go look whats happening with those retweets of his
by MaryW 12/15/2011 4:37:00 AM

@MaryW this is the link. Lots going on today. :-) enenews.com
by lillymunster 12/15/2011 4:37:38 AM

@lillymunster Could it be they thought most people were going to be busy with the holiday and new year that everyone will not notice a make-believe cold shutdown
by MaryW 12/15/2011 4:39:13 AM

@lillymunster Oh yeah, enenews, that's where the trolls started too. :) That site is on top of info. And, of course, Simplyinfo got recognition too :)
by MaryW 12/15/2011 4:41:22 AM

@MaryW winter, people are busy with holiday. Sounds like what the US is doing, pass bad news right now. It wouldn't surprise me just like the Friday 5pm bad news admissions
by lillymunster 12/15/2011 4:41:24 AM

@lillymunster Its all has to do with marketing polls and techniques. A game, as you said. Plus a Friday is always a good day to make an announcement that will be hopefully swept under the weekend rug. Give the stock markets some time to think before they make decisions on sales and etc
by MaryW 12/15/2011 4:46:37 AM

Friday for us in the US will be interesting, but we also get a feel of things going on in different time zones ahead of our time zone
by MaryW 12/15/2011 4:48:26 AM

It was Fukushima-diary who broke the story on the NHK spokes man rebelled against NHK.Dec 14.2011. Enenews carried it along. fukushima-diary.com
by MaryW 12/15/2011 4:56:57 AM

Suzuki asserts that at least three of the Fukushima Fifty (the workers who stayed behind during the meltdown) were yakuza. Suzuki: The yakuza bring the laborers there but do not labor there. After the accident, the local yakuza started driving Mercedes. Suzuki says the layers of subcontracting at TEPCO nuclear power plants reached up to level ten. It doesn't surprise me that yakuza were among the Fukushima 50. You have to be a little crazy or have 任侠精神 to risk your life.
by lillymunster 12/15/2011 4:57:12 AM

More from Jake Adelstein:If the yakuza are providing the workers, they set the skim rates. (to skim money off a salary in Japanese is ピンハネ/pinhane)
by lillymunster 12/15/2011 4:58:16 AM

I am probably going to go sleep, will check his tweets for the rest in the morning
by lillymunster 12/15/2011 4:58:38 AM

we'll rest now :)
by MaryW 12/15/2011 4:59:12 AM

bump
by Mid Valley 12/15/2011 6:37:56 AM

bump
by Edano 12/15/2011 8:29:32 AM

In the lack of other relevant headlines on Japan I decided to unearth an old article from Reuters to bump the scribble.

"Japan disaster: How you can help" blogs.reuters.com
by Pedro Jesus 12/15/2011 10:05:53 AM

40 years estimated to scrap Fukushima plant

Japan's government and the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant say it will take up to 40 years to decommission the plant's damaged reactors.

NHK has learned about a timetable drawn up by the industry ministry and Tokyo Electric Power Company, based on a report released earlier by the state's Atomic Energy Commission.

The new timetable includes a plan to begin removing used fuel rods from spent fuel pools at 4 reactor buildings within 2 years, starting with reactor 4. That's one year ahead of what the Commission called for in its report.

The removed spent fuel will be temporarily stored within the compound.

The timetable also says that work to remove the melted fuel inside the No. 1 through No. 3 reactors should be completed in 25 years, when dismantling the reactors and buildings will begin. The ministry and TEPCO aim to completely scrap the entire compound within 40 years.

The schedule includes repair work to fill cracks in the reactors and containment vessels where contaminated water has leaked.

The unprecedented work involves very difficult working conditions, including high levels of radiation and the use of remote-controlled robots.

The government plans to declare on Friday that the second phase of its timetable to bring the Fukushima plant under control has been achieved, with all the reactors brought to a state of cold shutdown.

It also plans to release the new timetable to dismantle the reactors later this month.

Thursday, December 15, 2011 05:42 +0900 (JST)
www3.nhk.or.jp
by Edano 12/15/2011 10:20:20 AM

Fukushima: No to nuclear power subsidies

Fukushima Prefecture will no longer apply for government subsidies for hosting nuclear power plants.

The Fukushima prefectural government concluded it will not apply for about three billion yen, or nearly 38-million dollars in subsides starting in fiscal 2012, which begins in April.

The prefectural government says it made the decision, as its reconstruction plan asks for the central government to scrap all reactors in Fukushima Prefecture.

Prefectural officials began drawing up the plan after the March 11th disaster and the subsequent nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant.

Subsidies have already been declined for a planned nuclear power station in Minamisoma City and Namie Town near the plant.

In similar developments, Kagoshima Prefecture and Satsumasendai City in southwestern Japan, where the construction of another station is planned, say they will also skip applications.

Fukushima Prefecture hosts 10 reactors at two nuclear power stations. This year, the prefecture and its local municipalities requested almost 170-million dollars in subsidies.

Thursday, December 15, 2011 16:14 +0900 (JST)
www3.nhk.or.jp
by Edano 12/15/2011 10:21:37 AM

subsidies for what ???
by Edano 12/15/2011 10:23:35 AM

World's biggest breakwater to be rebuilt off Iwate

Japan's infrastructure ministry plans to rebuild the world's largest breakwater off Iwate Prefecture with a stronger structure to minimize tsunami damage.

A government research institute says the huge breakwater at the mouth of a bay off Kamaishi City collapsed in the tsunami on March 11th. The institute says the breakwater came under strong pressure due to an 8-meter gap in water levels on either side of the levee. It also says tsunami waves that went over the top of the levee damaged its inner foundation.

The infrastructure ministry plans to build a wall about 5 meters high on the shore side of a new breakwater, using piles of stones. The wall will be covered by concrete slabs, each weighing 5 tons.

It says this is aimed at making the levee strong enough to withstand a tsunami of a similar level over a period of time, reduce the height of waves and delay their arrival at the shore.

The ministry says the construction of the project will begin next spring and is expected to be completed within 5 years, at a cost of about 513-million dollars.

Thursday, December 15, 2011 17:25 +0900 (JST)
www3.nhk.or.jp
by Edano 12/15/2011 10:24:18 AM

www3.nhk.or.jp

Scrapping works to be completed in 3 phases

The new timetable says that work to decommission the damaged reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant will be completed in 3 phases.

Used fuel rods will be removed from spent pools during the first phase from April 2012 to March 2015.
Surveys will try to identify the source of contaminated water leaks from reactor containment vessels.

In the second phase from 2015 through 2021, containment vessels will be repaired and filled with water to block intense radiation from the melted fuel.

An underwater camera will be sent into the reactors to locate the melted fuel and determine its condition.

Filling reactors with water is considered the most difficult challenge in this phase as there is no precedent for the work during the dismantling of the damaged Three Mile Island nuclear plant in the United States.

In the third phase from 2022, engineers will begin retrieving the melted fuel from reactors and containment vessels, a difficult precise operation in small, confined spaces with high levels of radiation.

Thursday, December 15, 2011 05:42 +0900 (JST)
www3.nhk.or.jp
by Edano via Www3.nhk.or.jp 12/15/2011 10:25:26 AM

1st Fukushima town assembly held locally after evacuation

IWAKI, Japan, Dec. 15, Kyodo

The town assembly of Hirono, Fukushima Prefecture, on Thursday became the first of the nine municipalities whose administrative functions were relocated following the Fukushima nuclear crisis to hold a regular meeting back on home ground.

Located within a zone 20 to 30 kilometers from the crisis-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, the town with a population of about 5,300 held assembly sessions twice in the neighboring Iwaki city before the evacuation advisory was lifted in September.

The nuclear accident had forced Hirono and eight other offices of towns and villages in Fukushima to move their functions to different locations.

The Hirono government aims to decontaminate the town so that all the residents can return home by the end of next year. The assembly says it wants to take the lead in promoting the process of return.

==Kyodo english.kyodonews.jp
by Edano 12/15/2011 10:28:35 AM

Gov't admits nuclear substances found in waste, unreported to IAEA

TOKYO, Dec. 15, Kyodo

The Japanese government admitted Thursday that nuclear substances have been found in the waste of domestic facilities subject to International Atomic Energy Agency inspection, but left unreported to the U.N. nuclear watchdog.

Top government spokesman Osamu Fujimura said in a news conference that the matter will be reported to the IAEA soon, but did not say how much nuclear material was involved.

The chief Cabinet secretary said an investigation last year of records led to the discovery of nuclear substances that were unaccounted for in waste at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency's Oarai Research and Development Center in Ibaraki Prefecture.

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology then conducted a probe in August of nuclear energy facilities subject to the IAEA's safeguard program and also found nuclear substances unaccounted for in facilities other than the agency's.

''Based on investigation so far, most nuclear substances have been properly managed as waste, and from that perspective, there is no problem in safety management,'' Fujimura said.

He added that the matter is still being investigated.

Senior government officials earlier said Japan has begun discussing with the IAEA about the discovery of unaccounted-for or unreported enriched uranium and plutonium in large quantities of nuclear waste disposed of by Japanese facilities.

Under its safeguards system, the IAEA promotes the peaceful use of nuclear energy and the prevention of nuclear material being used in weapons. It verifies declarations made by nations about their nuclear materials and activities.

Japan's safeguard agreement with the IAEA came into force in 1977.

==Kyodo english.kyodonews.jp
by Edano 12/15/2011 10:29:32 AM

english.kyodonews.jp

Solar power plant in Hokkaido
Softbank Corp., which has formed a natural energy council with 35 of Japan's 47 prefectures, launches power generation at a 100-kilowatt experimental solar power plant in Obihiro, Hokkaido, on Dec. 15, 2011. (Kyodo) english.kyodonews.jp
by Edano via English.kyodonews.jp 12/15/2011 10:32:33 AM

@Edano Any idea if Areva and/or Mitsubishi will still be in charge of the decommissioning procedures or, if not, who will?
by Pedro Jesus 12/15/2011 10:50:42 AM

@Edano On another front, have you read or hear anything about German based E.On energy company having filled an offer to buy part of Portuguese EDP with the intent of developing and researching renewable energy technologies? The Portuguese media has been covering it lightly but I haven't seen any information elsewhere.
by Pedro Jesus 12/15/2011 10:56:33 AM

"MNES Response to the NRC Task Force Report on the Fukushima Events" (July 2011) (09.01.11).pdf

I couldn't find any recent information.
by Pedro Jesus 12/15/2011 11:09:25 AM