Fukushima Nuclear Crisis
Update for December
Nuclear Power Radiation
EMF Computer Protection
Magnetic Field Detector
by Justin McKeating - December 30, 2011
Here’s the latest of our news bulletins from the ongoing
crisis at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
State of Nuclear Politics in Japan
Yasutaka Moriguchi, who championed the Monju fast-breeder
reactor as head of the nuclear energy division at the
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and
Technology (MEXT), has been named to the top bureaucratic
post at MEXT. The move is significant, as Moriguchi could
influence decisions regarding decommissioning of the Monju
reactor. Once hailed as a pillar of the Japanese nuclear
cycle, Monju has been plagued with problems since
construction began. The government recently announced that
it would cut research and development spending by 25%and
overall spending by 70% in 2012, which would effectively
freeze its long-term use. The decision was a blow to nuclear
power production in Japan.
An interim report released by a government panel studying
earthquakes and tsunamis says that a magnitude 9.0 or higher
mega-earthquake, affecting an area spanning 110,000 km, is
possible along the Pacific Ocean’s Nankai Trough. A tsunami
would also be possible in that scenario. The new estimate is
three times more powerful than the previously predicted
earthquakes in that area (8.7) and is likely to affect
anti-quake measures of local governments.
Residents forced to evacuate the area near the Fukushima
Daiichi nuclear plant are expressing anger in the wake of a
government interim report released earlier this week, which
revealed that Japan failed to release radiation data in a
timely manner. As a result, many people fled their homes,
only to end up in areas even more contaminated than those
they’d left. Municipal officials who encouraged residents to
leave without being advised of the radiation data are also
furious and are criticizing the poor response by the central
government.
In spite of municipal plans to rebuild towns near the
Fukushima Daiichi plant, many residents are now expressing
reservations about moving back to areas where radiation
levels are highand grocery stores, hospitals, and other
essential services may never reopen.
Residents from Saga and Fukuoka Prefectures have filed suit
against Kyushu Electric Power Company in an effort to shut
down the Genkai nuclear power plant, in the wake of the
nuclear disaster at Fukushima. The 290 plaintiffs contend
that the risk of a nuclear disaster is too great to
residents who live nearby.
TEPCO
Yukio Edano, head of the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and
Industry, met with Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) president
Toshio Nishizawa this week to encourage him to consider
temporary state control of the ailing utility in order to
prevent it from failing financially. TEPCO recently
requested $8.8 billion from the government to cover
compensation payments due to victims of the Fukushima
Daiichi nuclear disaster. If the company is forced to
decommission all of its reactors in Fukushima Prefecture,
costs will continue to explode.
Shares of TEPCO plunged this week by 12%, to their lowest
level in 37 years, on fears that the company will be
nationalized. Since March, stock in the utility has fallen
by 90%.
In the meantime, Yasuhiro Sato, the head of Mizuho Financial
Group, said that his company will not waive loans made to
TEPCO and expects the utility to pay its outstanding debts.
Japan has asked banks to extend additional loans to TEPCO;
however, Sato said that Mizuho cannot even assess such a
request until it determines whether TEPCO will be
nationalized.
The Governor of Fukushima, Yuhei Sato, met with TEPCO
president Toshio Nishizawa this week to demand that the
utility decommission all 10 TEPCO nuclear plants in the
prefecture. Nishizawa avoided responding directly to the
request, saying, “We’ll sincerely take measures to ensure
safety, pay compensation to those affected by the disaster,
and decontaminate tainted areas.”
State of the Reactors
Some nuclear engineering experts believe that the design of
venting pipes at the Fukushima Daiichi plant led to the
hydrogen explosions that occurred in Reactors 1, 3, and 4, a
hypothesis that Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency
(NISA) has not denied. TEPCO maintains that the explosions
that occurred in March were the result of hydrogen
travelling between reactors via openings in the lid of the
containment vessels, and analysis shows that some hydrogen
did escape this way. However, new evidence reveals traces of
hydrogen in venting pipes that connect some of the reactors.
Some had no backflow prevention apparatus; others did, but
valves automatically opened when power was lost in the wake
of the tsunami. As a result, hydrogen could have leaked from
reactor to reactor. The discovery is significant; all of
TEPCO’s nuclear reactors have similar venting pipes, as do
boiling water reactors operated by Tohoku Electric Power
Company, Chubu Electric Power, Hokuriku Electric Power
Company, Chugoku Electric Power Company, and Japan Atomic
Power Company.
Former TEPCO employees have revealed that a leaking pipe
caused failure in two backup generators in the basement of
Reactor #1 at the Fukushima Daiichi plant pipe 20 years ago.
An engineer pointed out that the generators were at risk
from damage by a tsunami since they were near the sea.
Although TEPCO installed doors to prevent leaks, they failed
to move the generators above ground. The Nuclear Safety
Commission (NSC) is revising safety guidelines regarding
power sources at nuclear plants.
Contamination (Includes Human Exposure)
Environment Minister Goshi Hosono—who is also Japan’s
Nuclear Crisis Minister—met with Fukushima Governor Yuhei
Sato this week to request sites for nuclear waste disposal
in eight districts in Futaba County, near the Fukushima
Daiichi plant. Because the areas in question have been
contaminated and residents will mostly likely not be able to
move back for decades, if ever, the government will buy the
land or sign long-term leases. In addition, they are close
to the site of the disaster, which means that waste would
not have to travel far before being disposed of. However,
many residents are expressing anger and disbelief, along
with concerns that the “temporary” site will end up being
permanent.
A study by the Forestry Ministry has detected high levels of
radioactive cesium in cedar pollen taken from trees near the
Fukushima Daiichi plant. The study measured samples from 180
locations in Eastern Japan; 87 of those were located in
Fukushima Prefecture. The highest level, measured in a
sample from Namie, 11km from the plant, measured 253,000 Bq/kg.
Wind can carry pollen several hundred kilometers from its
source. However, Ministry officials said that even if people
were to inhale the radioactive pollen when it is at its
highest concentration, they would be exposed to
.000192microsieverts of radiation per hour. This amount,
they say, is approximately 10times what one would be exposed
to in some parts of Tokyo, but the risk to humans is
“small.” Scientists are predicting lower than normal pollen
counts this year.
Rice Crisis
The Agriculture Ministry announced it will purchase all rice
in eight Fukushima districts where rice shipments have been
banned after being contaminated by fallout from the
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. They will also purchase
any rice that measures more than 100 Bq/kg of cesium.
Estimates place the total amount of rice to be purchased at
4,000 tons. Ministry officials said they will ask TEPCO to
cover the cost.
Meanwhile, Japan warned of a possible ban on planting rice
in contaminated areas for the next harvest year. Farmers
have expressed grave concern that their livelihoods may be
forever damaged. Many are frustrated that they have no sense
when the crisis will end. Some are banding together to take
legal action against TEPCO.
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