Today's news from Japan

[robdogbucky]

Nitrogen injection at Fukushima plant faces setback.

BY EISUKE SASAKI STAFF WRITER

2011/07/09

TEPCO is facing difficulty as it prepares to inject nitrogen gas into the containment vessel of the No. 3 reactor at its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant to prevent another hydrogen explosion.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. used a robot to inspect the connection port for the injection pipes, but could not photograph the location. Also, the radiation level remains high in the reactor building. TEPCO said in a July 7 news conference that work on the piping, originally scheduled to start on July 8, was likely to be delayed.

The injection of nitrogen is intended to drive out hydrogen gas accumulated in the containment vessel. TEPCO's road map toward bringing the hobbled plant under control has defined nitrogen injection as one of the pillars of "Step 1" that should be completed by around July 17, and accordingly, as a precondition for the return of evacuated residents.

Nitrogen injection has started at the No. 1 and No. 2 reactors, but has yet to be done at the No. 3 reactor, where pipes that could be used for injection were lost. On July 6, TEPCO sent a robot inside mounted on top of a vehicle for tasks at high places and tried to inspect a pipe connection port at an altitude of 5 meters above the ground, but failed to photograph the location because of the placement of other equipment nearby. The radiation level was found to be as high as 50 millisieverts per hour near the pipes. This indicated that work on connecting the pipes, expected to last up to an hour, would require shielding the radiation with lead mats, and employees working in shifts...

http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201107080281.html



Elderly Fukushima woman kills self 'to evacuate to grave'

MINAMISOMA, Fukushima -- A 93-year-old woman, dejected over the ongoing nuclear crisis, was found hanged at her home in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture, in late June, leaving behind suicide notes that said in part, "I will evacuate to the grave. I am sorry."

After hydrogen explosions at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant in March, the woman was forced to evacuate to the house of her second daughter in Soma and was later hospitalized for two weeks before returning May 3 to her house in Minamisoma, subject to a possible emergency evacuation order due to the nuclear disaster.

"If we have to evacuate again, elderly people (like me) will become a drag," her suicide note said.

The elderly woman, whose identity was kept confidential to protect her privacy, lived with her 72-year-old son and his 71-year-old wife and two grandchildren in a quiet rice paddy district. Her son said she kept herself busy with daily chores despite her weak feet and also kept diaries...

(Mainichi Japan) July 9, 2011

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110709p2a00m0na013000c.html



Fukushima fuel rods removal can begin in 10 years

An expert on decommissioning nuclear power plants says work to remove fuel rods at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant can begin in 10 years.

Koji Okamoto made the comments in an interview with NHK on Saturday.

Okamoto said the reactors and the containment vessels at the Fukushima plant were thought to be destroyed in a meltdown.

He said the situation in Fukushima is 10 to 20 times worse than what happened at Three Mile Island, where only a small portion of the fuel rods melted down, all of which remained inside the reactor...

Sunday, July 10, 2011 02:12 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/09_29.html



4 months on, disaster debris still a huge, smelly problem.

2011/07/09

ISHINOMAKI, Miyagi Prefecture--Four months after the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami, sections of northern Japan remain a dystopian nightmare, defaced by mountains of debris.

Only about 35 percent of an estimated 21.83 million tons of rubble in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures has been cleared and transported to makeshift dump sites to make space for rebuilding.

The debris removal and storage operations have also created new problems for already beleaguered survivors, forcing them to live side by side with towering heaps of often foul-smelling junk.

Ishinomaki Commercial High School in Ishinomkai, Miyagi Prefecture, is plagued by more than 100,000 tons of wreckage. Ranging from concrete fragments, lumber and tatami mats to home appliances and polluted mud, the debris has been dumped around the school since April...

http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201107080283.html




More Fukushima beef found contaminated with cesium

The Tokyo metropolitan government has ordered that beef from 11 cows from a farm in Fukushima Prefecture be removed from distribution because of radioactive contamination.

The meat has been found contaminated with cesium. The animals came from a farm in Minami Soma, about 20 kilometers from the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

In a test, officials found Friday the beef from one of the cows contained 2,300 becquerels of cesium per kilogram. The amount exceeded the legal limit by 500 becquerels per kilogram. The meat from 10 other cows had between 1,530 and 3,200 becquerels of cesium per kilogram.

The same producer shipped 6 cows to Tokyo in May and June which were processed in a slaughter house without being tested for radioactive substances. The meat is believed to have already been distributed on the market.

Sunday, July 10, 2011 02:12 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/09_24.html




More Kyushu Electric execs tried to manipulate public opinion to restart nuke plant

A vice president and another board member at Kyushu Electric Power Co. instructed a subordinate to proactively support a government-sponsored TV program on the reactivation of its nuclear power plant, sources familiar with the case have revealed.

Kyushu Electric has been under fire since it emerged that a division chief-level employee had asked a number of employees and those at subsidiaries to pose as members of the general public and send e-mail comments to the program about its Genkai Nuclear Power Plant, expressing support for its reactivation.

Kyushu Electric President Toshio Manabe has announced that he will decide whether to resign to take responsibility for the scandal after the company concludes an in-house investigation into the case. Since the latest revelations suggest that the company was involved in the case as an entity, Manabe will likely come under mounting pressure to assume responsibility for the scandal.

The program sponsored by the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry on the planned reactivation of No. 2 and 3 reactors at the power station in Genkai, Saga Prefecture, was aired by a local cable TV station on June 26...

(Mainichi Japan) July 9, 2011

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110709p2a00m0na009000c.html





And this bit of news from the USA:



Radiation levels and locations to be mapped in Puget Sound by helicopter

OLYMPIA ¾ Lessons from the nuclear incidents in Fukushima, Japan show the value of a project to measure background radiation levels in several parts of the state. A low-flying helicopter will gather radiological readings this summer, starting next week around Puget Sound.

Radiation detection equipment mounted in a helicopter will measure “gamma emitters” like cesium and radioactive iodine — materials that would likely increase in a radiation emergency. This kind of material releases X-rays, or gamma radiation, a type that can be easily measured from the helicopter. State radiation experts expect to find natural radioactivity and material produced by licensed radioactive material users such as hospitals.

The helicopter will fly a grid pattern at an altitude of about 300 feet to collect data. Mapping the normal amounts and location of radioactive material will provide a baseline for comparison to assess contamination if there were a nuclear incident like the events in Fukushima. Sampling in that area of Japan after the nuclear reactors were damaged produced radiation readings, but there was no baseline for comparison so it was unclear how much higher the levels had grown.

The Washington State Department of Health is overseeing the project as the U.S. Department of Energy’s Remote Sensing Laboratory Aerial Measurement System conducts the flyover. The project has been in planning since 2009 and is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security...

http://www.doh.wa.gov/Publicat/2011_news/11-105.htm


Information about the project is available on the agency Aerial Radiological Survey website (www.doh.wa.gov/ehp/rp/rep/aerial.htm).

Public questions can be sent to [e-mail]. The Department of Health website (www.doh.wa.gov) is your source for a healthy dose of information. Also, find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. The report will be available to the public, though some information may be withheld for national security reasons.




Tick tock

[Octafish]

1. ''I will evacuate to the grave.''

That poor woman.

[Aerows]

3. That one made my heart clench with sorrow

This entire situation is so tragic.

[PearliePoo2]

2. I would not be surprised if some products, meat and produce were re-labeled and re-distributed

The same producer shipped 6 cows to Tokyo in May and June which were processed in a slaughter house without being tested for radioactive substances. The meat is believed to have already been distributed on the market.