Part of Fukushima plant secured by duct tape, worker claims

..."My legs were shaking as I climbed the ladder," he told Channel 4 News. And when he reached the opening, he couldn't believe what he saw. The opening did not have a proper lid, but was instead covered with duct tape.

"In a place where safety needs to come first in terms of calming the situation, Tepco [the plant operator] has been putting band-aids just to speed things up," he said....

SIGN PETITIONS TO REMOVE TEPCO FROM THIS CLEAN-UP

1. New Fuku Petition: "Remove Tepco Before You Remove that Fuel"

• Act Now

2. Sign Green Action's Fukushima Petition Now!!!

• Act Now

3. CRISIS AT FUKUSHIMA #4 DEMANDS A GLOBAL TAKEOVER: PLEASE SIGN OUR PETITION!!

The staggering costs to clean up Fukushima

From Smartplanet.com

By Tyler Falk | November 12, 2013, 10:59 AM PST

More than two years since the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, the Fukushima power plant meltdown is still a major, global environmental problem. And the staggering price tag for cleaning it up continues to rise.

The Japanese government just announced that it’s borrowing about $30 billion more to cover costs related to Fukushima, bringing the total amount the Japanese government has borrowed to clean up the mess to around $80 billion, more than three times the amount BP spent to clean up the  massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. That money will go into cleanup, along with compensation for the people who may never go back to their homes near the contaminated area, and the decommissioning of the nuclear reactors. But it’s not money that the government is on the hook for, Reuters reports:

Tokyo Electric Power, or Tepco, the owner of the Fukushima plant, remains responsible for covering the costs of compensation and paying to clean up the surrounding areas under a framework set by the previous government.

But the government has issued bonds to pay the related costs up front. The embattled utility remains on the hook for paying back the money spent to the government over a period of decades under current arrangements.

But it should hardly come as a surprise that the cleanup is proving so costly. Independent estimates put the total economic cost of the disaster at $250-$500 billion. (continued)

More pressing news than Ford drama

More pressing news than Ford drama

ByKay MacDuffee/Country Roads

Have you had enough scandal and mayor bashing for now?   I have.

CBC news bulletins every half hour repeating the same sordid stuff forced me to hit the ‘off’ button after almost two weeks of tawdriness.  Call it news fatigue.  I’ve had it, even if the story hasn’t.

The support that Toronto’s mayor still draws from “Ford Nation”, I find both puzzling and distressing.  He and political leaders of his ilk are cheapening the values of a morally lazy electorate.  In the words of journalist, Mitchell Anderson, Ford “makes it respectable to indulge our ugliest instincts”.  Anderson calls it the dumbing down of democracy.

“Like a pair of drunks egging each other on, Ford and his die-hard supporters are enabling each other's bad behaviour that goes far beyond mere substance abuse.”

It doesn’t help that the city I love has become the laughing stock of the international news scene and juiciest of gossip for political satirists.  Thank you Mr. Ford.   And now would you please step down?

What disappoints me most is that there are so many issues that the media could and (in my estimation should) be covering other than this feeding frenzy on scandal that appeals to our lowest instincts. 

BC and Alberta premiers made an announcement about moving tar sands oil between the provinces last Tuesday (Nov.5) while the media was on its ‘all Rob Ford all the time’ kick.  Premiers Redford and Clark have apparently reached an agreement that makes Enbridge’s Northern Gateway pipeline ‘a real possibility’. 

I heard not a word about it on mainstream media, and the cynic in me believes that was intended timing. 

But perhaps the most pressing and disturbing information that goes unreported is the urgency of Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant situation.  72,000 gallons (300 tons) of contaminated water are flowing out of this facility daily into the Pacific Ocean in this unfolding disaster. 

While much of the world has continued with their lives forgetting about the Fukushima disaster, scientists from across the world who have been monitoring the radiation leaking out of Fukushima Plant, have found that the rate of flow has actually been increasing dramatically, causing a major global threat to all living flora and fauna.

The radiation in the surrounding area is 18 times greater than was reported.  To put this into practical terms, you or I would last four hours before collapse.

The West coast of North America is already experiencing Fukushima radiation, according to CBS news.   The Wall Street Journal is projecting that the disaster could take 40 years to clean up.

According to physician, Helen Caldicott who has been researching nuclear radiation for decades, we are in a nuclear crisis and have been since March 11, 2011. 

TEPCO, the phenomenally corrupt and inept Tokyo Electric Power Co. that owns and manages the Fukushima plant ‘has no plan’ and ‘does not know what they are doing’, says American, Dale Klein, head of Nuclear Reform Monitoring Committee. 

He, in fact, said this to Naomi Hirosi, head of TEPCO, face to face.  And now Japan, always reluctant to request foreign help, has in desperation brought in some of the world’s nuclear experts to try to put out the fires – literally.

In the next few weeks, TEPCO is planning to remove some of the more than 1400 unfathomably dangerous and damaged fuel rods, and according to nuclear researcher Christina Consolo, “If one of those MOX fuel rods is exposed to the air, it will kill 2.89 billion people on the planet in a matter of weeks.”

I am always reluctant to spread bad news, but the truth must be told.  I have read and researched the facts on this story from many sources and it keeps coming up the same. This, despite the fact that after each CBS news story reporting radioactivity signs on the US West Coast, the reporter adds with a cheery smile, “But you can still play and swim on the beaches here”.   Or “But you may still eat (the contaminated) bluefin tuna.” 

We wouldn’t want to interfere with ‘the market’.

I suggest that, at the very least, Japanese seafood products should be avoided.  I plan to avoid any food stuffs imported from Japan. 

As the world turns, we find more and more reasons to ‘eat local’ and stay informed. 

And more and more often, mainstream media is not the best source of information.

I also suggest being proactive.  Today we must take responsibility for our own lives – how we think, act, be, in the world has a ripple effect.  Blaming doesn’t work.  That is the victim mentality. 

Being the peace, sending love and compassion out into the ether to every living thing on this planet is an act of grace  . . . a gift for sender and receiver.

And it’s easy. Close your eyes.  Breathe.  See your heart getting bigger.  Focus on love.  Whoosh!

Robot pinpoints leaks on Fukushima reactor

Robot pinpoints leaks on Fukushima reactor

A robot at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has for the first time identified exactly where highly radioactive water is leaking from a reactor.

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, on Wednesday succeeded in sending a remote-controlled robot close to the lower part of the No.1 reactor's containment vessel.

The lower section is filled with contaminated water injected to cool molten nuclear fuel. Extremely high radiation levels have hampered efforts to probe that section.

A camera on the robot captured images of water leaking from 2 holes in the containment vessel into the building housing the reactor.

TEPCO engineers say they're not sure how much water is leaking. But they say one of the leaks looks as if tap water is gushing out.

Radiation levels in the area were extremely high at 0.9 to 1.8 sieverts an hour.

Engineers suspect that damage to containment vessels at the No. 2 and 3 reactors is also causing similar leaks of highly radioactive water.

They say Wednesday's finding is important not only in solving water contamination problems but also in carrying out decommissioning. TEPCO will continue to use robots to look for other leaks.

Nov. 13, 2013 - Updated 16:09 UTC

Record radioactivity level found at Fukushima plant well

A record high level of 710,000 becquerels of beta-ray sources, such as radioactive strontium, was detected per liter of water in an observation well at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Nov. 12 the water was taken Nov. 10 at the well 10 meters north of a tank that leaked 300 tons of highly contaminated water before the problem was discovered in August.

The previous high reading of 550,000 becquerels per liter was found in water sampled Nov. 9 at the same well.

TEPCO said a new leak from the tank has not been confirmed. It said leaked radioactive water that has remained in the soil likely spread to the well.

TEPCO detected 400,000 becquerels per liter at the same well on Oct. 17. The level once fell but has been rising in recent days.

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

UNIT 4: THREE FUEL ASSEMBLIES DEFORMED OR DAMAGED, SAYS TEPCO

via EX-SKF / It must be from the explosion! Or from something TEPCO has done since the accident, whatever it is!

No.

If TEPCO is to be believed, TEPCO has been hiding the damages for at least 10 years; the oldest damage was from 25 years ago.

According to the Yomiuri Shinbun, that’s not clear, and you would be excused if you thought the damages were recent (after March 11, 2011).

From Yomiuri Shinbun (11/12/2013):

On November 12, TEPCO disclosed that there were three fuel assemblies out of 1533 fuel assemblies in the Spent Fuel Pool of Reactor 4 at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant that were deformed and would be difficult to remove. The removal of fuel assemblies from the Reactor 4 SFP will start this month.

The three fuel assemblies has slight deformation or damage caused by the past work [in the SFP]. No leak of radioactive materials has been observed. TEPCO will transport other fuel assemblies first, while they figure out how to remove and transport these three fuel assemblies. Nuclear Regulation Authority has already approved the fuel removal, and the work will start within this month as scheduled.

So, are these fuel assemblies new? used? How long ago was the “past work”?

I found the answer in Fukushima Minyu, one of the local newspapers in Fukushima Prefecture. It was long before the start of the March 11, 2011 nuclear accident, with the oldest “past work” 25 years ago…

From Fukushima Minyu (11/13/2013; part):

According to TEPCO, one of the damaged fuel assemblies is bent at a 90-degree angle [literal meaning: bent in the shape of a Japanese character "く"; actual angle could be less]. It was bent 25 years ago when a mistake occurred in handling the fuel. The other two were found to be damaged 10 years ago; there are small holes on the outside from foreign objects.

TEPCO is investigating whether the damages to the fuel assemblies were made public when they were discovered.

According to Fukushima Minyu, the occasion was a visit by the delegation of the Fukushima Prefectural Council for Decommission Safety Monitoring. The council members include officials from the Fukushima prefectural government, municipalities around Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, and experts.

How do you bend a fuel assembly at a 90-degree angle, handling it in the spent fuel pool?

And how could Yomiuri call a fuel assembly bent at a 90-degree angle “slight deformation”?

Fukushima: now for the tough part

(Reuters) - The operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant will as early as this week begin removing 400 tonnes of highly irradiated spent fuel in a hugely delicate and unprecedented operation fraught with risk.

Carefully plucking more than 1,500 brittle and potentially damaged fuel assemblies from the plant's unstable Reactor No. 4 is expected to take about a year, and will be seen as a test of Tokyo Electric Power Co's ability to move ahead with decommissioning the whole facility - a task likely to take decades and cost tens of billions of dollars.

If the rods - there are 50-70 in each of the assemblies, which weigh around 300 kg (660 pounds) and are 4.5 meters (15 feet) long - are exposed to air or if they break, huge amounts of radioactive gases could be released into the atmosphere.

The hazardous removal operation has been likened by Arnie Gundersen, a veteran U.S. nuclear engineer and director of Fairewinds Energy Education, to trying to pull cigarettes from a crushed pack.

When the time comes, extracting spent fuel from the plant's other reactors, where radiation levels are much higher because of core meltdowns, will be even more challenging. Reactors No. 1 and No. 3 sustained heavier damage than No. 4 as a result of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami that knocked out power and cooling at the Fukushima station, triggering three meltdowns that sent a plume of radiation into the air and nearby Pacific Ocean.

The urgency to clear Reactor No. 4 of the fuel assemblies is because of the risk in having spent fuel stored at such a height - some 18 meters above ground level - in a building that has buckled and tilted and could collapse if another quake strikes. ...

Should the West Coast be concerned about Fukushima?

LOS ANGELES -- On March 11, 2011, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake hit, the strongest ever recorded in Japan. And then from our televisions, we watched a monstrous tsunami annihilate the most prepared country in the world.

KABC reporter David Ono saw, firsthand, the enormous devastation: Entire towns wiped out, and piles of rubble 30 feet high.

But the third part of this disaster has the potential to be the worst of all, yet the damage is almost invisible. The Fukushima nuclear power plant continues to spew radiation. It's 5,300 miles from Los Angeles -- and still not far enough. 

----------------

The government has requested that Tokyo Electric and Power or TEPCO, be in charge of the cleanup. It is a private, for profit, company.

Japanese Nuclear Engineer Yastel Yamada came to America to shine a light on what he feels is a flawed approach. He says TEPCO is over their heads.

"The cleanup job is too large for their capability," Yamada said.

Yamada is one of many experts who say this is a bad solution, and that a meltdown is still possible. Dr. Jimmy Hara, from Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and professor of clinical family medicine at UCLA, agrees.

"It's like the fox overseeing the chicken coop, and it's a huge problem," Hara said.

...

THE FUKUSHIMA CRISIS COMES TO THE STATES

THE FUKUSHIMA CRISIS COMES TO THE STATES

The catastrophe at the Fukushima nuclear power plant -- aka Yesterday's Tragedy -- appears to be ongoing, and Alaska now has become part of the story.

Some radiation has arrived in northern Alaska and along the west coast. That's raised concern over contamination of fish and wildlife. More may be heading toward coastal communities like Haines and Skagway. Douglas Dasher, a researcher at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, says radiation levels in Alaskan waters could reach Cold War levels. "The levels they are projecting in some of the models are in the ballpark of what they saw in the North Pacific in the 1960s," he said. ...

Fukushima: now for the tough part

Fukushima: now for the tough part

(Reuters) - The operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant will as early as this week begin removing 400 tonnes of highly irradiated spent fuel in a hugely delicate and unprecedented operation fraught with risk.  ...

Nuclear Exodus: Pandora's Promise Was A Lie

Nuclear Exodus: Pandora's Promise Was A Lie Video must be watched on You Tube

CLICK HERE TO WATCH VIDEO

Russia Unveils Plans for First Floating Nuclear Power Plant

Russia Unveils Plans for First Floating Nuclear Power Plant

Have we learned nothing?

With just days between the current state of affairs at Fukushima and a possible compounding of an already disastrous collection of events, when Tepco will try to remove fuel rods from the damaged Daiichi plant, Russia has unveiled plans for the world’s first ever, floating nuclear power plant.  ...

TEPCO Seeks to Reassure Public Over Nuclear Fuel Removal at Fukushima VS Special Report: Help wanted in Fukushima: Low pay, high risks and gangsters

Special Report: Help wanted in Fukushima: Low pay, high risks and gangsters

In reviewing Fukushima working conditions, Reuters interviewed more than 80 workers, employers and officials involved in the unprecedented nuclear clean-up. A common complaint: the project's dependence on a sprawling and little scrutinized network of subcontractors - many of them inexperienced with nuclear work and some of them, police say, have ties to organized crime.

Tepco sits atop a pyramid of subcontractors that can run to seven or more layers and includes construction giants such as Kajima Corp and Obayashi Corp in the first tier. The embattled utility remains in charge of the work to dismantle the damaged Fukushima reactors, a government-subsidized job expected to take 30 years or more.

TEPCO Seeks to Reassure Public Over Nuclear Fuel Removal at Fukushima

The company struggling to clean up Japan's crippled nuclear power plant has invited foreign experts and journalists to the site in a bid to reassure the world it has the situation under control. However, as Tokyo Electric Power Company prepares for the delicate task of removing spent fuel rods, it continues to face questions about its competence. 

Fukushima Nuclear Disaster: Water Tanks Flawed, Workers Say

Fukushima Nuclear Disaster: Water Tanks Flawed, Workers Say

""TOKYO -- When tons of radioactive water leaked from a storage tank at Fukushima's crippled nuclear power plant and other containers hurriedly put up by the operator encountered problems, Yoshitatsu Uechi was not surprised. He wonders if one of the tanks he built will be next.

He's an auto mechanic. He was a tour-bus driver for a while. He had no experience building tanks or working at a nuclear plant, but for six months last year, he was part of the team frantically trying to create new places for contaminated water to go.

Uechi and co-workers were under such pressure to build tanks quickly that they did not wait for dry conditions to apply anti-rust coating over bolts and around seams as they were supposed to; they did the work even in rain or snow. Sometimes the concrete foundation they laid for the tanks came out bumpy. Sometimes the workers saw tanks being used to store water before they were even finished.

"I must say our tank assembly was slipshod work. I'm sure that's why tanks are leaking already," Uechi, 48, told The Associated Press from his hometown on Japan's southern island of Okinawa. "I feel nervous every time an earthquake shakes the area."...

Fukushima, Eastern Japan Shaken Anew by 5.5 Magnitude Earthquake, No Immediate Damages on Crippled Plant

"Tepco in August 2013 had received full government backing to clean up the crippled plant.

But experts and environmentalists continue to be wary.

"If an incompetent doctor killed numerous patients doing routine surgery - and then lied and tried to cover it up - would you let him perform brain surgery on a VIP such as the president?" an article published by Global Research said."

Primer: Types and Measuring Radiation-from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Ionizing Radiation

Radiation can be either ionizing or non-ionizing, depending on how it affects matter. Non-ionizing radiation includes visible light, heat, radar, microwaves, and radio waves. This type of radiation deposits energy in the materials through which it passes, but it does not have sufficient energy to break molecular bonds or remove electrons from atoms.

By contrast, ionizing radiation (such as x-rays and cosmic rays) is more energetic than non-ionizing radiation. Consequently, when ionizing radiation passes through material, it deposits enough energy to break molecular bonds and displace (or remove) electrons from atoms. This electron displacement creates two electrically charged particles (ions), which may cause changes in living cells of plants, animals, and people.

Ionizing radiation has a number of beneficial uses. For example, we use ionizing radiation in smoke detectors and to treat cancer or sterilize medical equipment. Nonetheless, ionizing radiation is potentially harmful if not used correctly. Consequently, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) strictly regulates commercial and institutional uses of nuclear materials, including the following five major types of ionizing radiation:

• Alpha Particles
• Beta Particles
• Gamma Rays and X-Rays
• Neutrons

Alpha Particles

Alpha particles are charged particles, which are emitted from naturally occurring materials (such as uranium, thorium, and radium) and man-made elements (such as plutonium and americium). These alpha emitters are primarily used (in very small amounts) in items such as smoke detectors.

In general, alpha particles have a very limited ability to penetrate other materials. In other words, these particles of ionizing radiation can be blocked by a sheet of paper, skin, or even a few inches of air. Nonetheless, materials that emit alpha particles are potentially dangerous if they are inhaled or swallowed, but external exposure generally does not pose a danger.

Beta Particles

Beta particles, which are similiar to electrons, are emitted from naturally occurring materials (such as strontium-90). Such beta emitters are used in medical applications, such as treating eye disease.

In general, beta particles are lighter than alpha particles, and they generally have a greater ability to penetrate other materials. As a result, these particles can travel a few feet in the air, and can penetrate skin. Nonetheless, a thin sheet of metal or plastic or a block of wood can stop beta particles.

Gamma Rays and X-Rays

Gamma rays and x-rays consist of high-energy waves that can travel great distances at the speed of light and generally have a great ability to penetrate other materials. For that reason, gamma rays (such as from cobalt-60) are often used in medical applications to treat cancer and sterilize medical instruments. Similarly, x-rays are typically used to provide static images of body parts (such as teeth and bones), and are also used in industry to find defects in welds.

Despite their ability to penetrate other materials, in general, neither gamma rays nor x-rays have the ability to make anything radioactive. Several feet of concrete or a few inches of dense material (such as lead) are able to block these types of radiation.

Measuring Radiation

There are four different but interrelated units for measuring radioactivity, exposure, absorbed dose, and dose equivalent. These can be remembered by the mnemonic R-E-A-D, as follows, with both common (British, e.g., Ci) and international (metric, e.g., Bq) units in use:

• Radioactivity refers to the amount of ionizing radiation released by a material. Whether it emits alpha or beta particles, gamma rays, x-rays, or neutrons, a quantity of radioactive material is expressed in terms of its radioactivity (or simply its activity), which represents how many atoms in the material decay in a given time period. The units of measure for radioactivity are the curie (Ci) and becquerel (Bq).
  
• Exposure describes the amount of radiation traveling through the air. Many radiation monitors measure exposure. The units for exposure are the roentgen (R) and coulomb/kilogram (C/kg).
  
• Absorbed dose describes the amount of radiation absorbed by an object or person (that is, the amount of energy that radioactive sources deposit in materials through which they pass). The units for absorbed dose are the radiation absorbed dose (rad) and gray (Gy).
  
• Dose equivalent (or effective dose) combines the amount of radiation absorbed and the medical effects of that type of radiation. For beta and gamma radiation, the dose equivalent is the same as the absorbed dose. By contrast, the dose equivalent is larger than the absorbed dose for alpha and neutron radiation, because these types of radiation are more damaging to the human body. Units for dose equivalent are the roentgen equivalent man (rem) and sievert (Sv), and biological dose equivalents are commonly measured in 1/1000th of a rem (known as a millirem ormrem).

For practical purposes, 1 R (exposure) = 1 rad (absorbed dose) = 1 rem or 1000 mrem (dose equivalent).

Decommissioning Fukushima: how Japan will remove nuclear fuel rods from damaged reactor--Experts say no one has ever attempted such a procedure before and that a mistake could be disastrous

Decommissioning Fukushima: how Japan will remove nuclear fuel rods from damaged reactor

Dr. Helen Caldicott--Expert Says Millions Will Die From FUKUSHIMA!

Some New Links

As I mentioned in my first post I was mostly oblivious to what was going on at Fukushima. Now I am playing catch up. If you find yourself in the same boat here are a few links that will begin to get you caught up. 

Slipshod work raises concern about more leaks Officials, experts, two workers say foundations of nuclear plant tanks suffered because of haste

Fukushima clean-up enters critical phase--FUKUSHIMA: Gazing down at the glassy surface of the spent fuel pool inside the No 4 reactor building at Fukushima Daiichi, it is easy to underestimate the danger posed by the highly toxic contents of its murky depths.

Japan nuke-plant water tanks flawed, workers say

Fukushima clean-up reaches critical point--Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), the operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant, has entered a critical stage of the clean-up operation as it prepares to remove 1,500 fuel rods from one of its reactors.

New radioactive water leakage at Fukushima--Another leakage of water with excessive concentration of radioactive substances has taken place at the Fukushima-1 nuclear power plant in Japan, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, which operates the power plant, says.

TEPCO to start water-freezing work at Fukushima plant in Dec.

Radioactive Water Leaks Out from a Storage Tank at Fukushima

Scientists Warn of Extreme Risk: Greatest Short-term Threat to Humanity is From Fukushima Fuel Pools

Fukushima Nuclear Disaster: Water Tanks Flawed, Workers Say

When The Dragonflies Come Out-- Fukushima grapples with the radiation fallout, Japan with idea of N-power itself

Fukushima's fishing industry hit by radiation fears