Concerns over nuclear safety have been raised over a R14 billion plan to develop a new city north of Cape Town.
According to the Cape Times the main objectors included the National Nuclear Regulator, Eskom's Koeberg nuclear power station, and the city's disaster risk management centre.
These parties said the development would be within the 5km to 16km urgent protective action planning zone, and that any emergency evacuation of a large number of residents would fail.
The area is subject to the Koeberg emergency plan, which requires that it should be evacuated within 16 hours in the event of a nuclear accident.
The site is 29km from central Cape Town and outside the urban edge, but the city has asked the provincial government to extend the urban edge to accommodate the "Wescape" development.
The development would be built in the next 10 to 15 years and supply around 200,000 homes.
The newspaper previously reported that the population of the "mini-city" was expected to reach 800,000 by 2036.
- Times Live
Showing posts with label Nuclear Disasters. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nuclear Disasters. Show all posts
Monday, 18 March 2013
Saturday, 23 February 2013
Governor: 6 tanks leaking radioactive waste at Washington nuclear site
The Hanford site in southeast Washington state once played a major part in U.S. plutonium production.
(CNN) -- Six tanks at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in southeast Washington state are leaking radioactive waste, the governor said Friday, calling the news "disturbing" even as he insisted there are "no immediate health risks."
"News of six leaking
tanks at Hanford raises serious questions about integrity of all single
tanks," Gov. Jay Inslee said Friday afternoon on Twitter.
Inslee said that he got
the latest information about the site during a meeting in Washington
with U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu.
One week earlier, Chu
called the governor to tell him that a single-shell tank in the same
location was leaking liquids at a rate of 150 to 300 gallons per year.
Believed to be the first to lose liquids since 2005, that tank was built
in the 1940s and can hold roughly 447,000 gallons of sludge, according
to the governor's office.
"(Chu) told me today that
his department did not adequately analyze data it had that would have
shown the other tanks that are leaking," Inslee said.
The sprawling, 586-square
mile Hanford site houses a total of 177 underground tanks full of
radioactive sludge, of which 149 are single-shell tanks.
On Friday, Inslee said there is "still no current health risk" tied to the leaks.
He made similar comments a
week earlier, saying "it would be quite some time before these leaks
could breach groundwater or the Columbia River." At the same time, the
governor stressed that the problem must be addressed.
"This certainly raises
serious questions about the integrity of all 149 single-shell tanks with
radioactive liquid and sludge at Hanford," he said Friday.
Hanford became a focal point of U.S. nuclear efforts beginning in 1943,
when aspects of the Manhattan Project were moved there. As local
residents moved out, thousands of workers moved into the site where
plutonium for use in atomic bombs was produced. Two bombs were dropped
on Japan during the final days of World War II.
The site -- about half
the size of Rhode Island, in an area centered roughly 75 miles east of
Yakima -- continued to buzz during the Cold War, with more plutonium
production as well as the construction of several nuclear reactors.
The last reactor shut
down in 1987, though a mammoth cleanup effort remained to address what
state and federal authorities deemed the most contaminated site in the
Western Hemisphere.
Those efforts were bolstered by about $2 billion in federal stimulus funds
authorized in several years ago. But decades of more work remain, which
is why Washington's governor said he feared that across-the-board
budget cuts called the sequester -- which could take effect March 1,
unless Congress passes and President Barack Obama signs an alternative
-- could negatively affect activity at the site.
"We need to be sure the
federal government maintains its commitment and legal obligation to the
cleanup of Hanford," Inslee said. "To see Hanford workers furloughed at
the exact moment we have additional leakers out there is completely
unacceptable."
- CNN
Tuesday, 30 October 2012
Nuclear plants shut down units as storm hits coast
WASHINGTON (AP) — Parts of two nuclear power plants were shut down late Monday and early Tuesday, while another plant — the nation's oldest — was put on alert after waters from Superstorm Sandy rose 6 feet above sea level.
One of the units at Indian Point, a plant about 45 miles north of New York City, was shut down Monday because of external electrical grid issues, said Entergy Corp., which operates the plant. The company said there was no risk to employees or the public, and the plant was not at risk due to water levels from the Hudson River, which reached 9 feet 8 inches and was subsiding. Another unit at the plant was still operating at full power.
One unit at the Salem plant in Hancocks Bridge, N.J., near the Delaware River, was shut down Tuesday because four of its six circulating water pumps were no longer available, according to PSEG Nuclear. The pumps are used to condense steam on the non-nuclear side of the plant. Another Salem unit has been offline since Oct. 14 for refueling, but the nearby Hope Creek plant remains at full power. Together, the Salem and Hope Creek plants produce enough power for about 3 million homes per day.
The oldest U.S. nuclear power plant, New Jersey's Oyster Creek, was already out of service for scheduled refueling. But high water levels at the facility, which sits along Barnegat Bay, prompted safety officials to declare an "unusual event" around 7 p.m. About two hours later, the situation was upgraded to an "alert," the second-lowest in a four-tiered warning system.
Conditions were still safe at Oyster Creek, Indian Point and all other U.S. nuclear plants, said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which oversees plant safety.
A rising tide, the direction of the wind and the storm's surge combined to raise water levels in Oyster Creek's intake structure, the NRC said. The agency said that water levels are expected to recede within hours and that the plant, which went online in 1969 and is set to close in 2019, is watertight and capable of withstanding hurricane-force winds.
The plant's owner, Exelon Corp., said power was also disrupted in the station's switchyard, but backup diesel generators were providing stable power, with more than two weeks of fuel on hand.
In other parts of the East Coast, nuclear plants were weathering the storm without incident.
Inspectors from the NRC, whose own headquarters and Northeast regional office were closed for the storm, were manning all plants around the clock. The agency dispatched extra inspectors or placed them on standby in five states, equipped with satellite phones to ensure uninterrupted contact.
Nuclear power plants are built to withstand hurricanes, airplane collisions and other major disasters, but safety procedures call for plants to be shut down when hurricane-force winds are present, or if water levels nearby exceed certain flood limits.
In Lusby, Md., the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant was operating at full power — enough to power more than 1 million homes. Additional staff, both onsite and off, were called in to prepare for the storm. Safety officials there will take the plant offline if sustained winds exceed 75 mph or water levels rise more than 10 feet above normal sea level.
At Pennsylvania's Susquehanna plant in Salem Township, officials were ready to activate their emergency plan, a precursor to taking the plant offline, if sustained winds hit 80 mph.
"Our top concern is ensuring that the plants are in a safe condition, that they are following their severe weather procedures," said Diane Screnci of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. She said that even though the agency's headquarters and regional office had been closed, its incident response center was staffed, with other regions ready to lend a hand if necessary.
At the Millstone nuclear power complex on Connecticut's shoreline, officials said earlier Monday they were powering down one of the two reactors to 75 percent of maximum output to maintain stability of the electric grid. Millstone spokesman Ken Holt said the grid's stability could be affected if the unit was operating at 100 percent and suddenly went offline, which isn't expected to happen.
Some 60 million people in 13 states plus the District of Columbia get their power from PJM, the largest regional power grid in the U.S. Contingency plans call for power to be brought in from other areas to replace power lost if a nuclear plant reduces output or goes offline.
"It's done instantaneously," said Paula DuPont-Kidd, a spokeswoman for the grid. "Even if multiple plants go offline at the same time, we'd have to see how adjustments would be made, but for the most part we plan for that scenario."
In August 2011, multiple nuclear plants shut down due to Hurricane Irene, with others reducing power.
Although nuclear plants are built for resilience, their operations get more complicated when only emergency personnel are on duty or if external electricity gets knocked out, as often happens during hurricanes.
"When external power is not available, you have to use standby generators," said Sudarshan Loyalka, who teaches nuclear engineering at University of Missouri. "You just don't want to rely on backup power."
- AP
One of the units at Indian Point, a plant about 45 miles north of New York City, was shut down Monday because of external electrical grid issues, said Entergy Corp., which operates the plant. The company said there was no risk to employees or the public, and the plant was not at risk due to water levels from the Hudson River, which reached 9 feet 8 inches and was subsiding. Another unit at the plant was still operating at full power.
One unit at the Salem plant in Hancocks Bridge, N.J., near the Delaware River, was shut down Tuesday because four of its six circulating water pumps were no longer available, according to PSEG Nuclear. The pumps are used to condense steam on the non-nuclear side of the plant. Another Salem unit has been offline since Oct. 14 for refueling, but the nearby Hope Creek plant remains at full power. Together, the Salem and Hope Creek plants produce enough power for about 3 million homes per day.
The oldest U.S. nuclear power plant, New Jersey's Oyster Creek, was already out of service for scheduled refueling. But high water levels at the facility, which sits along Barnegat Bay, prompted safety officials to declare an "unusual event" around 7 p.m. About two hours later, the situation was upgraded to an "alert," the second-lowest in a four-tiered warning system.
Conditions were still safe at Oyster Creek, Indian Point and all other U.S. nuclear plants, said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which oversees plant safety.
A rising tide, the direction of the wind and the storm's surge combined to raise water levels in Oyster Creek's intake structure, the NRC said. The agency said that water levels are expected to recede within hours and that the plant, which went online in 1969 and is set to close in 2019, is watertight and capable of withstanding hurricane-force winds.
The plant's owner, Exelon Corp., said power was also disrupted in the station's switchyard, but backup diesel generators were providing stable power, with more than two weeks of fuel on hand.
In other parts of the East Coast, nuclear plants were weathering the storm without incident.
Inspectors from the NRC, whose own headquarters and Northeast regional office were closed for the storm, were manning all plants around the clock. The agency dispatched extra inspectors or placed them on standby in five states, equipped with satellite phones to ensure uninterrupted contact.
Nuclear power plants are built to withstand hurricanes, airplane collisions and other major disasters, but safety procedures call for plants to be shut down when hurricane-force winds are present, or if water levels nearby exceed certain flood limits.
In Lusby, Md., the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant was operating at full power — enough to power more than 1 million homes. Additional staff, both onsite and off, were called in to prepare for the storm. Safety officials there will take the plant offline if sustained winds exceed 75 mph or water levels rise more than 10 feet above normal sea level.
At Pennsylvania's Susquehanna plant in Salem Township, officials were ready to activate their emergency plan, a precursor to taking the plant offline, if sustained winds hit 80 mph.
"Our top concern is ensuring that the plants are in a safe condition, that they are following their severe weather procedures," said Diane Screnci of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. She said that even though the agency's headquarters and regional office had been closed, its incident response center was staffed, with other regions ready to lend a hand if necessary.
At the Millstone nuclear power complex on Connecticut's shoreline, officials said earlier Monday they were powering down one of the two reactors to 75 percent of maximum output to maintain stability of the electric grid. Millstone spokesman Ken Holt said the grid's stability could be affected if the unit was operating at 100 percent and suddenly went offline, which isn't expected to happen.
Some 60 million people in 13 states plus the District of Columbia get their power from PJM, the largest regional power grid in the U.S. Contingency plans call for power to be brought in from other areas to replace power lost if a nuclear plant reduces output or goes offline.
"It's done instantaneously," said Paula DuPont-Kidd, a spokeswoman for the grid. "Even if multiple plants go offline at the same time, we'd have to see how adjustments would be made, but for the most part we plan for that scenario."
In August 2011, multiple nuclear plants shut down due to Hurricane Irene, with others reducing power.
Although nuclear plants are built for resilience, their operations get more complicated when only emergency personnel are on duty or if external electricity gets knocked out, as often happens during hurricanes.
"When external power is not available, you have to use standby generators," said Sudarshan Loyalka, who teaches nuclear engineering at University of Missouri. "You just don't want to rely on backup power."
- AP
US Nation's oldest nuclear plant on alert
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation's oldest nuclear power plant, already out of service for scheduled refueling, was put on alert late Monday after waters from Superstorm Sandy rose 6 feet above sea level.
Conditions were still safe at and around Oyster Creek, a plant in Lacey Township, N.J., and at all other U.S. nuclear plants, said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which oversees plant safety. No plants that had been up and running before the storm were planning to shut down.
High water levels at Oyster Creek, which generates enough electricity to power 600,000 homes a year, prompted safety officials to declare an "unusual event" around 7 p.m. About two hours later, the situation was upgraded to an "alert," the second-lowest in a four-tiered warning system.
The plant's owner, Exelon Corp., said power was also disrupted in the station's switchyard, but backup diesel generators were providing stable power, with more than two weeks of fuel on hand.
A rising tide, the direction of the wind and the storm's surge combined to raise water levels in the plant's intake structure, the NRC said. The agency said that water levels are expected to recede within hours and that the plant, which went online in 1969 and is set to close in 2019, is watertight and capable of withstanding hurricane-force winds.
The heightened status at Oyster Creek aside, most nuclear plants in the Sandy's path were weathering the storm without incident.
Inspectors from the NRC, whose own headquarters and Northeast regional office was closed for the storm, were manning all plants around the clock. The agency dispatched extra inspectors or placed them on standby in five states, equipped with satellite phones to ensure uninterrupted contact.
Nuclear power plants are built to withstand hurricanes, airplane collisions and other major disasters, but safety procedures call for plants to be shut down when hurricane-force winds are present at the site, or if water levels nearby exceed certain flood limits.
At the Salem and Hope Creek plants in Hancocks Bridge, N.J., which together produce enough power for about 3 million homes per day, officials were watching for sustained winds of 74 mph or greater that would trigger taking the plants offline. The nearby Delaware River posed another hazard if water levels exceed 99.5 feet, compared with a normal level of 89 feet.
Joe Delmar, a spokesman for Public Service Enterprise Group Inc., said that only essential employees had been asked to report to work but that current projections were that the plants would not have to close. One of the units at Salem had already been offline due to regular refueling and maintenance.
In Lusby, Md., the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant was operating at full power — enough to power more than 1 million homes. Additional staff, both onsite and off, were called in to prepare for the storm. Safety officials there will take the plant offline if sustained winds exceed 75 mph or water levels rise more than 10 feet above normal sea level.
Seventy-five was also the number at Indian Point in Buchanan, N.Y., where officials said they were fully prepared to withstand surging water levels from the Hudson River. At Pennsylvania's Susquehanna plant in Salem Township, officials were ready to activate their emergency plan, a precursor to taking the plant offline, if sustained winds hit 80 mph.
"Our top concern is ensuring that the plants are in a safe condition, that they are following their severe weather procedures" said Diane Screnci of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. She said that even though the agency's headquarters and regional office had been closed, its incident response center was staffed, with other regions ready to lend a hand if necessary.
At the Millstone nuclear power complex on Connecticut's shoreline, officials said they were powering down one of the two reactors to 75 percent of maximum output to maintain stability of the electric grid. Millstone spokesman Ken Holt said the grid's stability could be affected if the unit was operating at 100 percent and suddenly went offline, which isn't expected to happen.
Some 60 million people in 13 states plus the District of Columbia get their power from PJM, the largest regional power grid in the U.S. Contingency plans call for power to be brought in from other areas to replace power lost if a nuclear plant reduces output or goes offline.
"It's done instantaneously," said Paula DuPont-Kidd, a spokeswoman for the grid. "Even if multiple plants go offline at the same time, we'd have to see how adjustments would be made, but for the most part we plan for that scenario."
In August 2011, multiple nuclear plants shut down due to Hurricane Irene, with others reducing power.
Although nuclear plants are built for resilience, their operations get more complicated when only emergency personnel are on duty or if external electricity gets knocked out, as often happens during hurricanes.
"When external power is not available, you have to use standby generators," said Sudarshan Loyalka, who teaches nuclear engineering at University of Missouri. "You just don't want to rely on backup power."
- AP
Conditions were still safe at and around Oyster Creek, a plant in Lacey Township, N.J., and at all other U.S. nuclear plants, said the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which oversees plant safety. No plants that had been up and running before the storm were planning to shut down.
High water levels at Oyster Creek, which generates enough electricity to power 600,000 homes a year, prompted safety officials to declare an "unusual event" around 7 p.m. About two hours later, the situation was upgraded to an "alert," the second-lowest in a four-tiered warning system.
The plant's owner, Exelon Corp., said power was also disrupted in the station's switchyard, but backup diesel generators were providing stable power, with more than two weeks of fuel on hand.
A rising tide, the direction of the wind and the storm's surge combined to raise water levels in the plant's intake structure, the NRC said. The agency said that water levels are expected to recede within hours and that the plant, which went online in 1969 and is set to close in 2019, is watertight and capable of withstanding hurricane-force winds.
The heightened status at Oyster Creek aside, most nuclear plants in the Sandy's path were weathering the storm without incident.
Inspectors from the NRC, whose own headquarters and Northeast regional office was closed for the storm, were manning all plants around the clock. The agency dispatched extra inspectors or placed them on standby in five states, equipped with satellite phones to ensure uninterrupted contact.
Nuclear power plants are built to withstand hurricanes, airplane collisions and other major disasters, but safety procedures call for plants to be shut down when hurricane-force winds are present at the site, or if water levels nearby exceed certain flood limits.
At the Salem and Hope Creek plants in Hancocks Bridge, N.J., which together produce enough power for about 3 million homes per day, officials were watching for sustained winds of 74 mph or greater that would trigger taking the plants offline. The nearby Delaware River posed another hazard if water levels exceed 99.5 feet, compared with a normal level of 89 feet.
Joe Delmar, a spokesman for Public Service Enterprise Group Inc., said that only essential employees had been asked to report to work but that current projections were that the plants would not have to close. One of the units at Salem had already been offline due to regular refueling and maintenance.
In Lusby, Md., the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant was operating at full power — enough to power more than 1 million homes. Additional staff, both onsite and off, were called in to prepare for the storm. Safety officials there will take the plant offline if sustained winds exceed 75 mph or water levels rise more than 10 feet above normal sea level.
Seventy-five was also the number at Indian Point in Buchanan, N.Y., where officials said they were fully prepared to withstand surging water levels from the Hudson River. At Pennsylvania's Susquehanna plant in Salem Township, officials were ready to activate their emergency plan, a precursor to taking the plant offline, if sustained winds hit 80 mph.
"Our top concern is ensuring that the plants are in a safe condition, that they are following their severe weather procedures" said Diane Screnci of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. She said that even though the agency's headquarters and regional office had been closed, its incident response center was staffed, with other regions ready to lend a hand if necessary.
At the Millstone nuclear power complex on Connecticut's shoreline, officials said they were powering down one of the two reactors to 75 percent of maximum output to maintain stability of the electric grid. Millstone spokesman Ken Holt said the grid's stability could be affected if the unit was operating at 100 percent and suddenly went offline, which isn't expected to happen.
Some 60 million people in 13 states plus the District of Columbia get their power from PJM, the largest regional power grid in the U.S. Contingency plans call for power to be brought in from other areas to replace power lost if a nuclear plant reduces output or goes offline.
"It's done instantaneously," said Paula DuPont-Kidd, a spokeswoman for the grid. "Even if multiple plants go offline at the same time, we'd have to see how adjustments would be made, but for the most part we plan for that scenario."
In August 2011, multiple nuclear plants shut down due to Hurricane Irene, with others reducing power.
Although nuclear plants are built for resilience, their operations get more complicated when only emergency personnel are on duty or if external electricity gets knocked out, as often happens during hurricanes.
"When external power is not available, you have to use standby generators," said Sudarshan Loyalka, who teaches nuclear engineering at University of Missouri. "You just don't want to rely on backup power."
- AP
Saturday, 27 October 2012
Fukushima fish still contaminated from nuclear accident
The Japanese are among the world's highest per capita consumers of seafood
Levels of radioactive contamination in fish caught off the east coast of Japan remain raised, official data shows.
It is a sign that the Dai-ichi power plant continues to be a source of pollution more than a year after the nuclear accident.
About 40% of fish caught close to Fukushima itself are regarded as unfit for humans under Japanese regulations.
The respected US marine chemist Ken Buesseler has reviewed the data in this week's Science journal.
He says there are probably two sources of lingering contamination.
"There is the on-going leakage into the ocean of polluted ground water from under Fukushima, and there is the contamination that's already in the sediments just offshore," he told BBC News.
"It all points to this issue being long-term and one that will need monitoring for decades into the future."
Prof Buesseler is affiliated to the US Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI).
His evaluation covers a year's worth of data gathered by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF).
Its monthly records detail the levels of radioactive caesium found in fish and other seafood products from shortly after the March 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami - the double disaster that triggered the Fukushima crisis.
The caesium-134 and 137 isotopes can be traced directly to releases from the crippled power station.
MAFF uses the information to decide whether certain fisheries along five east-coast prefectures, including Fukushima, should be opened or closed (it is not a measure of contamination in actual market fish).
The caesium does not normally stay in the tissues of saltwater fish for very long; a few percent per day on average should flow back into the ocean water. So, the fact that these animals continue to display elevated contamination strongly suggests the pollution source has not yet been completely shut off.
He notes that although caesium levels in any fish type and on any day can be highly variable, it is the bottom-dwelling species off Fukushima that consistently show the highest caesium counts.
For the WHOI researcher, this points to the seafloor being a major reservoir for the caesium pollution.
"It looks to me like the bottom fish, the fish that are eating, you know, crabs and shellfish, the kinds of things that are particle feeders - they seem to be increasing their accumulation of the caesium isotopes because of their habitat on the seafloor," he explained.
Prof Buesseler stresses however that the vast majority of fish caught off the northeast coast of Japan are fit for human consumption.
And while the 40% figure for unsafe catch in the Fukushima prefecture may sound alarming, the bald number is slightly misleading.
Last April, the Japanese authorities tried to instil greater market confidence by lowering the maximum permitted concentration of radioactivity in fish and fish products from 500 becquerels per kilogram of wet weight to 100 Bq/kg wet.
This tightening of the threshold immediately re-classified fish previously deemed fit as unfit, even though their actual contamination count had not changed.
It is also worth comparing the Japanese limit with international standards. In the US, for example, the threshold is set at 1,200 Bq/kg wet - significantly more lenient than even the pre-April Japanese requirement.
And Prof Buesseler makes the point that some naturally occurring radionuclides, such as potassium-40, appear in fish at similar or even higher levels than the radioactive caesium.
Nonetheless, the contamination question is a pertinent one in the Asian nation simply because its people consume far more fish per head than in most other countries.
"At one level, there shouldn't be any surprises here but on another, people need to come to grips with the fact that for some species and for some areas this is going to be a long-term issue; and with these results it's hard to predict for how long some fisheries might have to be closed," said the WHOI scientist.
Prof Buesseler, with Japanese colleagues, is organising a scientific symposium in Tokyo on 12/13 November to present the latest thinking on Fukushima and its impacts on the ocean. The information will then be shared with the public in a free colloquium on 14 November.
- BBC
Saturday, 13 October 2012
Fukushima operator admits nuclear disaster avoidable
(Reuters) - Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), the operator of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant, said on Friday it could have dealt better with the plant's meltdowns if broad preparations were taken, reversing the previous management's view that the disaster was unavoidable due to an unexpected force of nature.
The comments were contained in a draft plan for the reform of nuclear power organization a Tepco task force submitted to an independent advisory body, which held the first meeting on Friday, to improve safety and safety culture at Tepco.
The five-member advisory body to the board of directors, the Nuclear Reform Monitoring Committee, plans to hold a meeting once every two to three months to review the draft plan and make proposals, without a pre-fixed time to complete its mission.
The Fukushima Daiichi plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, was hit on March 11 last year by a massive earthquake and tsunami that swamped its backup power and cooling systems, resulting in meltdowns of three of its six reactors.
About 150,000 people were forced to flee as radioactive materials spewed, some never to return.
Tepco, struggling under huge costs for compensation, cleanup and decommissioning, has since replaced top management with Chairman Kazuhiko Shimokobe, a lawyer who had crafted a compensation scheme for disaster victims, and President Naomi Hirose.
"When looking back on the accident, the problem was that preparations were not made in advance, so we need a reform plan that will allow us to be sensitive in capturing opportunities for improvement and safety enhancement and lead to actual measures," the draft nuclear reform plan said.
It was possible to take action in regard of tsunami defense based on the company's earlier tsunami evaluations and it was also possible to diversify safety systems by referencing severe accident measures taken in other countries, the draft also said.
In a news conference attended by the committee members, Dale Klein, head of the committee and former chairman of U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said nuclear power can be safe in any country - even in quake-prone Japan - if done properly.
Tepco was nationalized earlier this year with a 1 trillion yen ($12.7 billion) injection of public funds in exchange for a turnaround plan, that includes restarting the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant, northwest of Tokyo, as early as in April 2013.
- REUTERS
Wednesday, 3 October 2012
'Hundreds of problems' at EU nuclear plants
The draft report found specific failings in all 58 of France's nuclear reactors
Hundreds of problems have been found at European nuclear plants that would cost 25bn euros (£20bn) to fix, says a leaked draft report.
The report, commissioned after Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster, aimed to see how Europe's nuclear power stations would cope during extreme emergencies.
The final report is to be published on Thursday. The draft says nearly all the EU's 143 nuclear plants need improving.
Anti-nuclear groups say the report's warnings do not go far enough.
For its part, the regulatory body for European nuclear safety has urged the Commission not to use language that could undermine public confidence, says the BBC's Chris Morris in Brussels.
French failings
The report - the wording of which could change before Thursday's final version is published - points out that in the EU, 47 nuclear power plants with 111 reactors have more than 100,000 inhabitants living within a circle of 30km.
"On the basis of the stress test results practically all [nuclear plants] need to undergo safety improvements," says the leaked draft. "Hundreds of technical upgrade measures have already been identified.
"Following the accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, urgent measures to protect nuclear plants were agreed. The stress tests demonstrated that even today, decades later, their implementation is still pending in some member states."
Four reactors in two unnamed countries would have less than an hour to restore safety functions if electrical power was lost, it adds.
In France, Europe's largest nuclear power producer which relies on 58 nuclear reactors for 80% of its electricity, specific failings were found in all 58 nuclear reactors.
Earlier this month, a blast of escaping steam burned two people at the Fessenheim power station in eastern France - one of the country's oldest nuclear reactors which has long been the target of regular anti-nuclear protests.
Fessenheim, close to France's borders with Germany and Switzerland, opened in 1977 and draws water for cooling from the Rhine, but campaigners say its location makes it vulnerable to seismic activity and flooding.
Shortcomings were also reported in the UK. Most of the country's power plants lacked an alternative emergency control room to use if the main one became contaminated by high radiation, says the report.
The UK's Department of Energy said there was no evidence UK nuclear facilities were unsafe.
"However, the Government is committed to the principle of continuous improvement," a spokesman told the BBC.
"We are working closely with the Office for Nuclear Regulation to ensure that operators address any site specific issues using the existing robust UK regulatory regime, which requires operators to take all reasonably practicable steps to reduce risk and seek continuous improvements to safety."
Call for closures
While the stress tests found deficiencies in many of Europe's nuclear reactors, campaigners say they failed to address risks in crucial areas, such as ageing technology, terrorist attacks or human error.
"If this exercise was serious, the Commission should be recommending the closure of unsafe or ageing reactors," said Rebecca Harms, co-president of the Greens/European Free Alliance at the European Parliament.
"At the very least, the Commission should be pressing for the security deficiencies identified in the report to be rectified."
As of June, all 143 nuclear plants in the EU were to be re-assessed using criteria covering both natural and man-made hazards.
Some governments have reappraised their nuclear energy strategy in the aftermath of last year's Fukushima disaster, with Germany deciding to abandon nuclear energy for green technology and cleaner gas- and coal-powered plants by 2022.
Others, like France, have boosted investment in nuclear power since the meltdown.
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant's cooling systems were knocked out by the 11 March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The disaster caused a meltdown at three of the reactors.
- BBC
Wednesday, 12 September 2012
Japan to abandon nuclear power
Japan will abandon nuclear power within the next three decades under new government policy. (AP)
Tokyo - Japan will abandon nuclear power within the next three decades under new government policy on the post-Fukushima energy mix, a newspaper said on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's administration will declare its intention to permanently shut down reactors by sometime in the 2030s, the Mainichi Shimbun reported, citing unnamed government sources.
The move would bring resource-poor Japan into line with Germany, which has said it will wean itself off nuclear power by 2022, and comes as regular vocal protests against nuclear power continue.
The government "will formally decide at an energy and environment meeting this weekend" to stop the use of nuclear, the paper said.
Tokyo has worked to hammer out a new energy policy in the wake of last year's crisis, when reactors at Fukushima were swamped by the tsunami, sparking meltdowns that spread radiation over a large area.
Renewable energy
In the months that followed, Japan's entire stable of reactors were shut down for routine safety checks, with only two of them ever having been restarted, and those in spite of often vocal public protest.
Last week, Noda's ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) issued a policy recommendation saying Japan should "put every political resource to realise a situation where the number of nuclear plants operated be zero in the 2030s".
The DPJ listed three principles to achieve this: Not constructing new nuclear plants, stopping old nuclear plants after 40 years of operation, and only approving the restart of nuclear plants that had passed safety checks by a nuclear regulator.
The policy paper recommended Japan make greater use of renewable energy, and take further energy saving measures, including the use of smart metering.
It also said Japan should develop resources in nearby waters and look to cheaper procurement of liquefied natural gas and other fossil fuels, including shale gas.
Japan, with precious few resources of its own, is presently heavily dependent on oil from the Middle East and has been forced to ramp up its imports to make up the energy shortfall over the last 18 months.
Nuclear had provided around a third of the country's electricity before the disaster at Fukushima.
Noda said on Monday he will incorporate the DPJ's recommendations into his new energy policy, which is expected to be finalised later this week.
Ahead of a general election expected this autumn, nuclear energy has become a hot button issue in Japan with regular protests that sometimes attract tens of thousands of people calling for it to be ditched.
At the same time the country's powerful business lobbies have worked hard to push for a restart of shuttered reactors, fearing power shortages.
Germany in 2011 said it would shut down its 17 nuclear reactors by 2022, while in Italy, a referendum rejected any resumption of nuclear energy generation, which was halted after the 1986 disaster at Chernobyl.
Switzerland has approved plans to close its five reactors by 2034. However a number of Asian countries are pushing ahead with expanding their nuclear programmes.
- AFP/News24
Tuesday, 28 August 2012
Japan firms want nuclear power exit
Tokyo - About one in five big Japanese firms wants to see the share of nuclear power in the electricity supply reduced to zero by 2030, a Reuters poll showed, amid a growing anti-nuclear clamour after last year's Fukushima atomic disaster.
But underlining concerns about a rise in energy costs without atomic power, the rest of the respondents supported a continued role for nuclear energy, with the biggest group opting for a share of 15%.
The poll comes as Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda considers options for a medium-term energy plan while vowing to reduce reliance on atomic energy without saying by how much or when.
Energy policy has become a major headache for Noda and his Democratic Party of Japan, its ratings battered ahead of a general election likely to take place in November and give the ruling party a drubbing.
The government is considering three options for its energy portfolio: Reduce nuclear power's role to zero as soon as possible, aim at 15% by 2030, or seek a 20% - 25% share by the same date.
Energy costs
The share was about 30% before the disaster, which forced the government to scrap a 2010 plan to boost nuclear power's share to more than half of electricity needs by 2030.
In the poll, 19% of big firms sought to cut nuclear power's role to zero, but 39% called for 15% by 2030, as a majority of companies brace for slower economic growth as reliance on nuclear energy declines.
One quarter said they wanted to see a 20% - 25% share and the remainder called for even greater percentages, according to the poll of 400 big firms, taken alongside the monthly Reuters Tankan business sentiment survey. A total of 268 responded during the survey period from 6 - 21 August.
The poll reflects to some extent the stance of Japan's major business lobby, Keidanren, which advocates the need for nuclear power out of concern that high energy costs could force firms to move overseas, costing jobs and growth.
"It's unrealistic for Japan to ditch nuclear power in 15 years or so," one rubber company said in the survey. "It should inevitably become around 15% while we seek alternative energy sources for overage reactors."
The poll compared with a government survey of nearly 300 people which showed almost half - by far the largest group - favoured the zero option.
Meltdowns at the Fukushima nuclear plant after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami caused radiation to spew over large areas, forcing more than 160 0000 people to flee. In the following months, all of Japan's remaining reactors were shut for safety checks. Two reactors resumed operations in July.
Shutdown
The poll found 85% seeking more strict safety standards and measures for restarting the rest of the reactors which remain shut, mostly for safety checks.
To cope with increased electricity costs amid a prolonged shutdown of reactors, 69% said they would cut expenditure and 36% would seek cheaper power suppliers, according to the poll, which allowed respondents multiple choices.
Underlining conditions of prolonged deflation, 26% said they would pass the cost on to their customers, while 13% would shift operations out of Japan, according to the poll.
Since last year's disaster, 15% of firms have boosted in-house power generation, while 80% made no change in their power procurement, the poll showed.
- Reuters/News24
But underlining concerns about a rise in energy costs without atomic power, the rest of the respondents supported a continued role for nuclear energy, with the biggest group opting for a share of 15%.
The poll comes as Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda considers options for a medium-term energy plan while vowing to reduce reliance on atomic energy without saying by how much or when.
Energy policy has become a major headache for Noda and his Democratic Party of Japan, its ratings battered ahead of a general election likely to take place in November and give the ruling party a drubbing.
The government is considering three options for its energy portfolio: Reduce nuclear power's role to zero as soon as possible, aim at 15% by 2030, or seek a 20% - 25% share by the same date.
Energy costs
The share was about 30% before the disaster, which forced the government to scrap a 2010 plan to boost nuclear power's share to more than half of electricity needs by 2030.
In the poll, 19% of big firms sought to cut nuclear power's role to zero, but 39% called for 15% by 2030, as a majority of companies brace for slower economic growth as reliance on nuclear energy declines.
One quarter said they wanted to see a 20% - 25% share and the remainder called for even greater percentages, according to the poll of 400 big firms, taken alongside the monthly Reuters Tankan business sentiment survey. A total of 268 responded during the survey period from 6 - 21 August.
The poll reflects to some extent the stance of Japan's major business lobby, Keidanren, which advocates the need for nuclear power out of concern that high energy costs could force firms to move overseas, costing jobs and growth.
"It's unrealistic for Japan to ditch nuclear power in 15 years or so," one rubber company said in the survey. "It should inevitably become around 15% while we seek alternative energy sources for overage reactors."
The poll compared with a government survey of nearly 300 people which showed almost half - by far the largest group - favoured the zero option.
Meltdowns at the Fukushima nuclear plant after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami caused radiation to spew over large areas, forcing more than 160 0000 people to flee. In the following months, all of Japan's remaining reactors were shut for safety checks. Two reactors resumed operations in July.
Shutdown
The poll found 85% seeking more strict safety standards and measures for restarting the rest of the reactors which remain shut, mostly for safety checks.
To cope with increased electricity costs amid a prolonged shutdown of reactors, 69% said they would cut expenditure and 36% would seek cheaper power suppliers, according to the poll, which allowed respondents multiple choices.
Underlining conditions of prolonged deflation, 26% said they would pass the cost on to their customers, while 13% would shift operations out of Japan, according to the poll.
Since last year's disaster, 15% of firms have boosted in-house power generation, while 80% made no change in their power procurement, the poll showed.
- Reuters/News24
Wednesday, 22 August 2012
Record levels of radiation found in Fukushima fish
Volunteers of a group from Hiroshima City work to remove radioactive substances from a fishing boat in Minamisoma, Fukushima Prefecture. File photo. Image by: KYODO / REUTERS
Record levels of radioactive caesium were detected in fish caught within 20 kilometres of Japan's damaged Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, news reports say.
The operator Tokyo Electric Power Co said Tuesday it had found 25,800 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive caesium in greenling, 258 times higher than the government safety standard.
Fishing in waters off the plant has been voluntarily restricted since the nuclear disaster at the plant, which went into meltdown after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
Less than a month after the start of the disaster, Tokyo Electric dumped more than 11,000 tons of wastewater containing radioactive substances into the Pacific.
The previous record of radioactive contamination in fish was 18,700 becquerels per kilogram detected in cherry salmon caught in March, according to the Fisheries Agency.
Wakao Hanaoka, a Greenpeace Japan official, said the government now needs to carry out a full investigation of radioactive contamination in a wide range of sea areas off Fukushima, which has not been done yet.
The organization's surveys show higher levels of radioactive contamination were found in fish and seaweed sampled in areas further from the Fukushima plant.
Factors that affect the spread of contamination include ocean currents and seabed configuration, Hanaoka added.
- Times Live
Wednesday, 1 August 2012
Fukushima residents say resounding 'no' to nuclear energy
Get out of nuclear power and do it fast, angry Fukushima residents told Japanese government officials on Wednesday at a public hearing on energy policy.
The Fukushima hearing, the ninth out of 11 planned n ationwide, sought to gather views on n uclear power’s role in the nation’s energy mix as the government struggles to cover a power shortfall by that threatens economic growth.
Meltdowns at the Tokyo Power Co. owned Fukushima nuclear plant after an earthquake and tsunami on March 11 last year led the government to shut all nuclear plants until recently, forced more than 160 0000 people to flee and raised fears of radiation exposure.
“I want all the reactors in Japan shut immediately and scrapped,” a grey-haired woman, who introduced herself as a farmer living 65 km (40 miles) from the Fukushima plant, said at the public hearing in the prefecture capital.
“Many people are now aware that the government’s talking of ’no immediate risk to health’ is tantamount to ‘long-term health risk’,” she said to the applause of about 200 residents packed in a small concert hall.
Japan met about a third of its energy needs with nuclear power before the disaster and had plans to keep it as a central source of energy, in part, to combat global warming.
Three options
Now, three options that the government has put on the table are to phase out nuclear power completely as soon as possible, aim for a 15% share of the power supply by 2030, or a 20-25% share by the same date.
Residents of Fukushima, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, overwhelmingly backed the zero option, with all but one of the 30 who were picked in a draw to speak backing a swift exit.
The Asahi newspaper reported this week that elsewhere 70% of those taking part in the hearings opted for the nuclear-free scenario. It is not clear how the hearings will affect the final energy plan that could come as soon as this month.
But commentators said it would be hard for the government to ignore the findings as 17 months after the world’s worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl, many still live in fear and thousands hired to dismantle the Fukushima plant face decades of gruelling and dangerous work.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s recent decision to restart two reactors in Japan’s western manufacturing hub to avoid blackouts galvanized the anti-nuclear movement.
More than 100000 people attended an anti-nuclear rally last month and protests staged weekly outside of Noda’s residence have grown, with ordinary workers and mothers with children joining the crowds.
“I’m scared. I’m really scared,” said a middle-aged woman, addressing the hearing.
“I’d like the government to think about why people have gathered in front of the prime minister’s residence every Friday since April. That’s not fashion. That’s not a temporary fever. That’s a heartfelt scream from the public.”
- Times Live
Tuesday, 24 July 2012
40 India nuclear plant workers contaminated
More than 40 workers at a nuclear power station in northern India have been exposed to tritium radiation in two separate leaks in the past five weeks.
The first accident occurred on June 23 when 38 people were exposed during maintenance work on a coolant channel at the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station in Rawatbhata, senior plant manager Vinod Kumar told AFP.
Two of them received radiation doses equivalent to the annual permissible limit, he said, but all those involved have returned to work.
In a second incident last Thursday, another four maintenance workers at the plant were exposed to tritium radiation while they were repairing a faulty seal on a pipe.
India is on a nuclear power drive, with a host of plants based on Russian, Japanese, American and French technology under consideration or construction.
The country’s growing economy is currently heavily dependent on coal, getting less than 3% of its energy from its existing atomic plants, and the government hopes to raise the figure to 25% by 2050.
But environmental watchdogs have expressed concerns about safety in India, where small-scale industrial accidents due to negligence or poor maintenance are commonplace and regulatory bodies are often under-staffed and under-funded.
The director of the Rajasthan power station, C.P. Jamb, confirmed the second accident to AFP but said the radiation was within permissible limits and posed no health threat.
“The workers were exposed to radiation from 10 to 25 per cent of the annual limit,” Jamb said. “Such minor leakages keep on happening but they cause no harm.” C.D. Rajput, director of the unit where the leak happened, also said the radiation exposure “was well under the limits and all the workers are working normally”.
No explanation was immediately available as to why the first incident at the plant took a month to emerge.
In May 2011, four labourers were exposed to low levels of radiation at the Kakrapur Atomic Power Station in eastern Gujarat state.
In November 2009, workers at a nuclear plant in southern Karnataka state fell ill after radioactive water contaminated their drinking water.
Tritium is a mildly radioactive isotope of hydrogen.
- Times Live
The first accident occurred on June 23 when 38 people were exposed during maintenance work on a coolant channel at the Rajasthan Atomic Power Station in Rawatbhata, senior plant manager Vinod Kumar told AFP.
Two of them received radiation doses equivalent to the annual permissible limit, he said, but all those involved have returned to work.
In a second incident last Thursday, another four maintenance workers at the plant were exposed to tritium radiation while they were repairing a faulty seal on a pipe.
India is on a nuclear power drive, with a host of plants based on Russian, Japanese, American and French technology under consideration or construction.
The country’s growing economy is currently heavily dependent on coal, getting less than 3% of its energy from its existing atomic plants, and the government hopes to raise the figure to 25% by 2050.
But environmental watchdogs have expressed concerns about safety in India, where small-scale industrial accidents due to negligence or poor maintenance are commonplace and regulatory bodies are often under-staffed and under-funded.
The director of the Rajasthan power station, C.P. Jamb, confirmed the second accident to AFP but said the radiation was within permissible limits and posed no health threat.
“The workers were exposed to radiation from 10 to 25 per cent of the annual limit,” Jamb said. “Such minor leakages keep on happening but they cause no harm.” C.D. Rajput, director of the unit where the leak happened, also said the radiation exposure “was well under the limits and all the workers are working normally”.
No explanation was immediately available as to why the first incident at the plant took a month to emerge.
In May 2011, four labourers were exposed to low levels of radiation at the Kakrapur Atomic Power Station in eastern Gujarat state.
In November 2009, workers at a nuclear plant in southern Karnataka state fell ill after radioactive water contaminated their drinking water.
Tritium is a mildly radioactive isotope of hydrogen.
- Times Live
Monday, 23 July 2012
Gov't Probe of Japan Nuke Crisis Criticizes TEPCO
A government-appointed panel investigating Japan's nuclear disaster says the operator of the crippled plant continues to drag its feet in investigations and has tried to understate the true amount of damage at the complex.
A report by the panel released Monday also says a culture of complacency about nuclear safety and poor crisis management worsened the disaster. Three reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant melted down following last year's massive earthquake and tsunami.
The report faults the government and its main nuclear regulator, the Nuclear Industrial and Safety Agency, for promoting nuclear power as an entirely safe form of energy without being open about its inherent risks.
The 450-page report by the 10-member panel of independent experts wraps up a series of investigations into the worst atomic accident since Chernobyl.
- ABC News
A report by the panel released Monday also says a culture of complacency about nuclear safety and poor crisis management worsened the disaster. Three reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant melted down following last year's massive earthquake and tsunami.
The report faults the government and its main nuclear regulator, the Nuclear Industrial and Safety Agency, for promoting nuclear power as an entirely safe form of energy without being open about its inherent risks.
The 450-page report by the 10-member panel of independent experts wraps up a series of investigations into the worst atomic accident since Chernobyl.
- ABC News
Engineers study 2011 Japanese earthquake to prepare Northwest for the Big One
Two major earthquakes last year raised red flags for seismically-active parts of North America. Some of the damage in Japan and New Zealand resulted from a phenomenon called liquefaction, which turns the ground turns into Jell-O-like quicksand.
Transmission towers topple, buildings sink and utility pipes break. Now, geologists in the Pacific Northwest have mapped the spots most likely to liquefy in an earthquake.
This summer, the sound of hydraulic jacks reverberates through upscale neighborhoods near Tokyo Bay. Look closer, and you’ll notice some of the homes here are tilted.
We’re in the suburb of Urayasu, home of Tokyo Disneyland. This area escaped tsunami damage. But the district suffered major damage from soil liquefaction.
Darren Chen of the Tokyo Institute of Technology explains what happened.
“This soil liquefaction is due to the fact that you have high water table in this region.”
Chen says much of Urayasu is built on fill. It is land reclaimed from the sea making it prone to liquefaction.
“It usually occurs in sand, in fine sand deposits,” Chen says.
When the earth shook for minutes on end, water pushed upward under pressure. The ground turned to sludge or quicksand.
Mini mud geysers erupted in the yard and street at 77-year-old Toru Kawahara’s house. Well over a year after the quake, he’s still cleaning up silt that flowed into his home’s ground floor.
Kawahara’s house is structurally sound, but the whole thing settled off kilter. The back corner is nearly two feet lower than the front. All over town, water and sewer connections broke. People had to use porta-potties for months afterwards.
“We knew that if an earthquake came, this area would be weak since it’s a landfill,” Kawahara says. “I used to work in the structural engineering industry, so I had some knowledge. If an earthquake were to come, this land probably wouldn’t make it. But we didn’t think with this earthquake was big enough.”
Kawahara’s home is more than 200 miles away from the earthquake epicenter. It was the long duration of shaking, not its severity, that started the cascade of damage.
The major population centers of the Pacific Northwest lie a similar distance from the likely origin of our Big One. That’s why a reconnaissance tour of liquefaction damage in Japan made a big impression on earthquake engineer Scott Ashford of Corvallis. Ashford is now interim dean of Oregon State University’s College of Engineering.
“For these large magnitude-9 earthquakes, we can see liquefaction over hundreds of square miles,” he says. “And for us, that would mean as far as the I-5 corridor.”
Ashford fears we could end up in far worse shape than Japan since the Japanese prepare better for earthquakes than anyone else. He says it’s not a gap that can be fixed overnight.
Ashford figures it will cost billions of dollars to strengthen all of the Northwest’s vulnerable bridges, schools, fuel depots, fire stations, etc.
Defenses against liquefaction include compacting or “densifying” the soil before construction or installing stone columns or pilings beneath a foundation.
“We can’t just stick our head in the sand… and let it liquefy,” Ashford says. “What we’ve got to do is understand where we are, accept that risk and then slowly start mitigating — and understand that it will take a few decades to get where we need to be.”
Step one is figuring out where the greatest vulnerabilities lie.
Oregon, Idaho and Washington have all received federal grants to map liquefaction susceptibility. The Idaho Geological Survey has posted such maps for the Boise area, Idaho Falls to Rexburg, and Teton County. Washington State has completed a statewide hazards map that is searchable online.
In Oregon, the Department of Geology’s chief scientist Ian Madin has finished a similar digital statewide map and says it will go online soon.
“People will be able to go to this web map. They’ll be able to type in their address. The map will fly them to their backyard. They’ll be able to see their house,” Madin says. “Then they can turn on shaking hazard layer or they can turn on the liquefaction potential.”
In Oregon, the valley areas most prone to liquefaction also happen to have the highest concentrations of people and industry. But Madin also says, “Your house is not going to collapse and kill you because of earthquake shaking in most instances simply because of the way that homes in the Pacific Northwest are constructed.”
“So what people really need to think more about is their community. Where is their water supply coming from? Where’s the fire station? Where are the critical facilities?”
What Madin is talking about is “community resilience,” the ability to bounce back quickly from natural disaster. Right now, committees of experts in both Oregon and Washington are drafting detailed recommendations for highways, utilities, fuel supply and commerce.
The planning process hasn’t gotten much attention yet, but the final price tag for better preparedness likely will.
- KTOO NEWS
Transmission towers topple, buildings sink and utility pipes break. Now, geologists in the Pacific Northwest have mapped the spots most likely to liquefy in an earthquake.
This summer, the sound of hydraulic jacks reverberates through upscale neighborhoods near Tokyo Bay. Look closer, and you’ll notice some of the homes here are tilted.
We’re in the suburb of Urayasu, home of Tokyo Disneyland. This area escaped tsunami damage. But the district suffered major damage from soil liquefaction.
Darren Chen of the Tokyo Institute of Technology explains what happened.
“This soil liquefaction is due to the fact that you have high water table in this region.”
Chen says much of Urayasu is built on fill. It is land reclaimed from the sea making it prone to liquefaction.
“It usually occurs in sand, in fine sand deposits,” Chen says.
When the earth shook for minutes on end, water pushed upward under pressure. The ground turned to sludge or quicksand.
Mini mud geysers erupted in the yard and street at 77-year-old Toru Kawahara’s house. Well over a year after the quake, he’s still cleaning up silt that flowed into his home’s ground floor.
Kawahara’s house is structurally sound, but the whole thing settled off kilter. The back corner is nearly two feet lower than the front. All over town, water and sewer connections broke. People had to use porta-potties for months afterwards.
“We knew that if an earthquake came, this area would be weak since it’s a landfill,” Kawahara says. “I used to work in the structural engineering industry, so I had some knowledge. If an earthquake were to come, this land probably wouldn’t make it. But we didn’t think with this earthquake was big enough.”
Kawahara’s home is more than 200 miles away from the earthquake epicenter. It was the long duration of shaking, not its severity, that started the cascade of damage.
The major population centers of the Pacific Northwest lie a similar distance from the likely origin of our Big One. That’s why a reconnaissance tour of liquefaction damage in Japan made a big impression on earthquake engineer Scott Ashford of Corvallis. Ashford is now interim dean of Oregon State University’s College of Engineering.
“For these large magnitude-9 earthquakes, we can see liquefaction over hundreds of square miles,” he says. “And for us, that would mean as far as the I-5 corridor.”
Ashford fears we could end up in far worse shape than Japan since the Japanese prepare better for earthquakes than anyone else. He says it’s not a gap that can be fixed overnight.
Ashford figures it will cost billions of dollars to strengthen all of the Northwest’s vulnerable bridges, schools, fuel depots, fire stations, etc.
Defenses against liquefaction include compacting or “densifying” the soil before construction or installing stone columns or pilings beneath a foundation.
“We can’t just stick our head in the sand… and let it liquefy,” Ashford says. “What we’ve got to do is understand where we are, accept that risk and then slowly start mitigating — and understand that it will take a few decades to get where we need to be.”
Step one is figuring out where the greatest vulnerabilities lie.
Oregon, Idaho and Washington have all received federal grants to map liquefaction susceptibility. The Idaho Geological Survey has posted such maps for the Boise area, Idaho Falls to Rexburg, and Teton County. Washington State has completed a statewide hazards map that is searchable online.
In Oregon, the Department of Geology’s chief scientist Ian Madin has finished a similar digital statewide map and says it will go online soon.
“People will be able to go to this web map. They’ll be able to type in their address. The map will fly them to their backyard. They’ll be able to see their house,” Madin says. “Then they can turn on shaking hazard layer or they can turn on the liquefaction potential.”
In Oregon, the valley areas most prone to liquefaction also happen to have the highest concentrations of people and industry. But Madin also says, “Your house is not going to collapse and kill you because of earthquake shaking in most instances simply because of the way that homes in the Pacific Northwest are constructed.”
“So what people really need to think more about is their community. Where is their water supply coming from? Where’s the fire station? Where are the critical facilities?”
What Madin is talking about is “community resilience,” the ability to bounce back quickly from natural disaster. Right now, committees of experts in both Oregon and Washington are drafting detailed recommendations for highways, utilities, fuel supply and commerce.
The planning process hasn’t gotten much attention yet, but the final price tag for better preparedness likely will.
- KTOO NEWS
Sunday, 22 July 2012
Japan's nuclear fight intensifies
(CNN) -- The 1960s were a time of social revolution. Student, civil rights activists and anti-war protesters rose up against governments around the world, and Japan was no exception.
Hundreds of thousands took to the streets to denounce the security treaty Japan signed with the U.S. in 1960. The rallies, which turned violent at times, were the country's last significant protests -- until now.
The recent anti-nuclear protests are gathering momentum, and a society once willing to accept the government line is starting to ask questions of its leaders.
Tens of thousands of people now protest outside the prime minister's residence every Friday with one simple message -- abandon atomic power.
Japan's grassroots anti-nuclear movement has been growing since last year's devastating tsunami caused a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
Yukiko Kamaya lives in the town of Futaba, within the 20 kilometer (12 mile) evacuation zone around the nuclear plant. She remembers the panic of running away from her home when disaster struck, not knowing where was safe and not realizing then that she would not be able to return home.
"It is my home town," she told CNN. "I want go back home no matter what. I want to return as soon as possible although I know it's impossible. I hope my dream comes true one day."
Kamaya, who now lives in temporary housing, says she felt compelled to join anti-nuclear power protests as she doesn't want anyone else to go through what she has gone through.
This is the seventh protest Nagisa Saito has attended and she's impressed the numbers are growing.
"What impresses me most is ... people never gave up and the crowd is getting bigger and bigger. Even on a bad rainy day like today, we see this many people gathered, it's amazing."
Tens of thousands are calling for no nuclear, but what is the alternative?
One man who only gave his name as Ozaki tells CNN, "If there is a power shortage, there are alternatives. What about coal-fired power stations, hydro-electric power stations, or we can just survive with what we have. We have to be patient, but even with blackouts, we can survive without nuclear power."
While the government can't help but hear these voices, it has managed to resist them so far. Two nuclear reactors were brought back online this month. All 50 reactors had previously been taken offline for maintenance and tests. The government's argument is simple: Japan needs power.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda told the public last month: "In order to lead prosperous and decent lives, cheap and stable electricity is indispensable. Japanese society will not be able to function if there is a decision to permanently halt nuclear power generation."
Masami Hasegawa is a senior manager at Japan Business Federation and agrees that Japan faces an energy crisis heading into the hot summer months. Last month rolling blackouts adversely affected business, he says.
"We hear our members saying that they cannot stay in Japan if this situation continues," says Hasegawa. "If the current situation continues, energy consuming industries cannot survive in Japan and they will leave. The immediate effect will be on employment which might be lost."
But protesters say safety is more important, pointing to a recent parliament report which stated the Fukushima disaster was man-made -- a result of collusion between the plant operator, regulators and the government.
With tens of thousands of evacuees still waiting to hear when or if they can return to their homes near the plant, protesters say a no-nuclear Japan is the only acceptable result.
- CNN
Hundreds of thousands took to the streets to denounce the security treaty Japan signed with the U.S. in 1960. The rallies, which turned violent at times, were the country's last significant protests -- until now.
The recent anti-nuclear protests are gathering momentum, and a society once willing to accept the government line is starting to ask questions of its leaders.
Tens of thousands of people now protest outside the prime minister's residence every Friday with one simple message -- abandon atomic power.
Japan's grassroots anti-nuclear movement has been growing since last year's devastating tsunami caused a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
Yukiko Kamaya lives in the town of Futaba, within the 20 kilometer (12 mile) evacuation zone around the nuclear plant. She remembers the panic of running away from her home when disaster struck, not knowing where was safe and not realizing then that she would not be able to return home.
"It is my home town," she told CNN. "I want go back home no matter what. I want to return as soon as possible although I know it's impossible. I hope my dream comes true one day."
Kamaya, who now lives in temporary housing, says she felt compelled to join anti-nuclear power protests as she doesn't want anyone else to go through what she has gone through.
This is the seventh protest Nagisa Saito has attended and she's impressed the numbers are growing.
"What impresses me most is ... people never gave up and the crowd is getting bigger and bigger. Even on a bad rainy day like today, we see this many people gathered, it's amazing."
Tens of thousands are calling for no nuclear, but what is the alternative?
One man who only gave his name as Ozaki tells CNN, "If there is a power shortage, there are alternatives. What about coal-fired power stations, hydro-electric power stations, or we can just survive with what we have. We have to be patient, but even with blackouts, we can survive without nuclear power."
While the government can't help but hear these voices, it has managed to resist them so far. Two nuclear reactors were brought back online this month. All 50 reactors had previously been taken offline for maintenance and tests. The government's argument is simple: Japan needs power.
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda told the public last month: "In order to lead prosperous and decent lives, cheap and stable electricity is indispensable. Japanese society will not be able to function if there is a decision to permanently halt nuclear power generation."
Masami Hasegawa is a senior manager at Japan Business Federation and agrees that Japan faces an energy crisis heading into the hot summer months. Last month rolling blackouts adversely affected business, he says.
"We hear our members saying that they cannot stay in Japan if this situation continues," says Hasegawa. "If the current situation continues, energy consuming industries cannot survive in Japan and they will leave. The immediate effect will be on employment which might be lost."
But protesters say safety is more important, pointing to a recent parliament report which stated the Fukushima disaster was man-made -- a result of collusion between the plant operator, regulators and the government.
With tens of thousands of evacuees still waiting to hear when or if they can return to their homes near the plant, protesters say a no-nuclear Japan is the only acceptable result.
- CNN
Wednesday, 18 July 2012
Operator of Japan's crippled Fukushima plant disaster removes 2 fuel rods; prelude to cleanup
TOKYO (AP) — A giant crane removed two rods packed with nuclear fuel from the Fukushima nuclear plant on Wednesday, the beginning of a delicate and long process to deal with a remaining risk of more radiation escaping from the disaster-struck plant.
All of the 1,535 rods next to reactor No. 4 at the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi plant in northeastern Japan must eventually be removed from a spent-fuel pool to safer storage — an effort expected to take through the end of next year, according to the government.
The pool's building was destroyed by explosions from the multiple meltdowns that followed a massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.
Fears run deep about the massive radioactive material stored in the damaged building. The pool is not protected by thick containment vessels unlike the core fuel in the plant's three other reactors. The plant's operator intends to remove the rods one-by-one to deal with the risk of the pool stewing radiation into the surrounding area.
Separately, a reactor at Ohi plant in central Japan went online Monday, the second reactor to restart after the disasters. Another Ohi reactor got restarted earlier this month.
At the same time, tens of thousands of people took to the streets demanding an end to nuclear power, outraged by the restarts in a rare massive protest for this usually reserved culture, and the biggest rally turnout since the Fukushima crisis early last year.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. started the work Wednesday of removing two rods and inspecting their condition, according to Gyo Sato, spokesman for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, the government regulators.
"Everything is going safely so far," he said.
Japanese TV reports showed cranes removing the 4-meter (13-foot) rods. The utility declined to comment, citing secrecy needs for handling nuclear material. But it said in May that fuel rods would be removed from the pool for the first time since the earthquake and tsunami.
In the days following the disasters, Fukushima Dai-ichi plunged into meltdowns and was rocked by at least two hydrogen explosions after backup generators were knocked out. About 150,000 people were evacuated owing to the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. A 20-kilometer (12-mile) zone around the plant remains a no-go zone.
The pool at No. 4 was behind the secret worst-scenario mapped out by the government, which warned millions of people might have to flee from spewing radiation, including parts of the Tokyo area, which has a population of 35 million people. U.S. authorities have also repeatedly expressed worries about the spent-fuel pool at reactor No. 4.
A year and a half after the disaster, the cooling system has been fixed, and reinforcement built to prop up the pool. But fears remain. TEPCO recently said the wall at the spent fuel pool building was bulging, although the pool was not tilting.
Hiroshi Tasaka, a nuclear engineer and professor at Tama University, who served as adviser to the prime minister after the disaster, said the spent-fuel pool in reactor No. 4 posed a danger because the building was not sufficiently secure to stop radiation escaping in the case of strong aftershocks.
The two rods removed Wednesday are among the 204 rods that have not been used to generate power and are not as prone to spewing radiation as the 1,331 spent-fuel rods, also sitting in the pool.
Tasaka said the government target of removing all the rods by the end of next year may prove too optimistic, and the effort may take longer because of the many unknowns, the need to develop new technology and the risk of aftershocks.
"If we are asked whether things are completely safe, we cannot say that," he said. "If there is another major earthquake, we don't know what may happen, although we hope for the best."
- AP
Tuesday, 17 July 2012
More than 100,000 protest nuclear power in Tokyo
TOKYO (Reuters) - More than 100,000 anti-nuclear protesters marched through central Tokyo on Monday to voice their opposition to atomic power, racheting up the pressure on under fire Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda.
On the hottest day of the year, protesters forsook their air-conditioned homes to say the country does not need nuclear energy after last year's Fukushima disaster raised concerns about the safety of atomic power.
It was the biggest demonstration since Noda said last month Japan needed to restart reactors shut down for safety checks to avoid electricity shortages that might hit the economy.
"Today temperatures reached record high levels," Noda told Japanese television, as the city sweltered in 36.6-degree Celsius. "We must ask ourselves whether we can really make do without nuclear power."
Noda has come under increasing pressure amid growing public distrust of nuclear power, and his Democratic Party of Japan party was hit last month by mass defections after he pushed through an unpopular sales tax increase.
Noda's Democrats still control a majority in the lower house of parliament, but are outnumbered by the opposition in the upper house. Many analysts say mid-term elections could be called.
Protest organizers said 170,000 people turned out, closing one of Tokyo's main streets. Police estimated their number at up to 75,000, local media reported.
Most demonstrators were middle aged -- the constituency that has been the bedrock of support for the governments that ruled Japan during the growth years of the post-war era, powered by nuclear energy that many thought was cheap and safe.
"Japan is going to destroy itself by building nuclear plants in such an earthquake-prone country," said one protester, who gave only his surname, Saegusa.
All of the country's 50 nuclear reactors were taken off line after last year's earthquake and tsunami triggered the world's worst atomic accident since Chernobyl in 1986.
Nuclear power had previously supplied nearly 30 percent of Japan's electricity.
The first of two reactors operated by Kansai Electric Power Co that passed widely criticized safety checks started earlier this month and another one is due to be fired up later this month.
The decision to restart the reactors as summer power-cuts loom was seen as a victory for Japan's still-powerful nuclear industry.
But Japanese people have grown wary of nuclear power since Fukushima, with surveys showing that about 70 percent want to abandon atomic energy even if not immediately.
- Reuters
On the hottest day of the year, protesters forsook their air-conditioned homes to say the country does not need nuclear energy after last year's Fukushima disaster raised concerns about the safety of atomic power.
It was the biggest demonstration since Noda said last month Japan needed to restart reactors shut down for safety checks to avoid electricity shortages that might hit the economy.
"Today temperatures reached record high levels," Noda told Japanese television, as the city sweltered in 36.6-degree Celsius. "We must ask ourselves whether we can really make do without nuclear power."
Noda has come under increasing pressure amid growing public distrust of nuclear power, and his Democratic Party of Japan party was hit last month by mass defections after he pushed through an unpopular sales tax increase.
Noda's Democrats still control a majority in the lower house of parliament, but are outnumbered by the opposition in the upper house. Many analysts say mid-term elections could be called.
Protest organizers said 170,000 people turned out, closing one of Tokyo's main streets. Police estimated their number at up to 75,000, local media reported.
Most demonstrators were middle aged -- the constituency that has been the bedrock of support for the governments that ruled Japan during the growth years of the post-war era, powered by nuclear energy that many thought was cheap and safe.
"Japan is going to destroy itself by building nuclear plants in such an earthquake-prone country," said one protester, who gave only his surname, Saegusa.
All of the country's 50 nuclear reactors were taken off line after last year's earthquake and tsunami triggered the world's worst atomic accident since Chernobyl in 1986.
Nuclear power had previously supplied nearly 30 percent of Japan's electricity.
The first of two reactors operated by Kansai Electric Power Co that passed widely criticized safety checks started earlier this month and another one is due to be fired up later this month.
The decision to restart the reactors as summer power-cuts loom was seen as a victory for Japan's still-powerful nuclear industry.
But Japanese people have grown wary of nuclear power since Fukushima, with surveys showing that about 70 percent want to abandon atomic energy even if not immediately.
- Reuters
Friday, 13 July 2012
Break-in at nuke facility 'covered up'
Cape Town - A break-in at the Pelindaba nuclear
facility has again raised questions about safety at the country’s
biggest nuclear research centre.
Die Burger reported that the incident happened on 28 April when an attempt was made to break into the facility - which stores about 600kg (enough to build about 20 nuclear bombs) of weapons-grade uranium.
National Nuclear Regulator spokesperson Gino Moonsamy described the incident as “very small” and said no one had come even close to the uranium.
He said security measures at Pelindaba consisted of several layers that were regularly upgraded.
“There is no reason for the public to be worried.”
But DA MP Lance Greyling said it was the third time in seven years that someone had tried to break into Pelindaba.
“What is more worrying is that the latest incident was kept quiet for so long.”
Greyling said he would ask for an investigation to be held.
Die Burger reported that the incident happened on 28 April when an attempt was made to break into the facility - which stores about 600kg (enough to build about 20 nuclear bombs) of weapons-grade uranium.
National Nuclear Regulator spokesperson Gino Moonsamy described the incident as “very small” and said no one had come even close to the uranium.
He said security measures at Pelindaba consisted of several layers that were regularly upgraded.
“There is no reason for the public to be worried.”
But DA MP Lance Greyling said it was the third time in seven years that someone had tried to break into Pelindaba.
“What is more worrying is that the latest incident was kept quiet for so long.”
Greyling said he would ask for an investigation to be held.
Thursday, 12 July 2012
SA lags in nuclear security
Koeberg nuclear power station. File picture.
Image by: RUVAN BOSHOFF
A new report co-authored by a senior Harvard academic has shed light on some of the security vulnerabilities of South Africa's nuclear facilities.
Co-written by Harvard University associate professor and nuclear security specialist Matthew Bunn, Progress on Securing Nuclear Weapons and Materials: The Four-Year Effort and Beyond, examines nuclear-material security globally.
It reveals that, though South Africa has completed substantial security upgrades at its Pelindaba nuclear facility, and implemented regulations requiring the protection of nuclear sites against threats, these have yet to be formally enforced.
The report states that South Africa has not committed itself to eliminating hundreds of kilograms of weapons-grade highly enriched uranium.
It has yet to ratify an amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material.
The amendment is aimed at improving the physical protection of nuclear material and facilities, and reducing the vulnerability of states to the theft of nuclear material and to nuclear terrorism.
- Times Live
Honeywell to upgrade nuclear plant to improve safety
(Reuters) - Honeywell International Inc said it is evaluating upgrades to its Metropolis Works nuclear conversion plant, following a regulatory inspection that looked at preparedness for natural disasters such as strong earthquakes and tornadoes.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) inspected Honeywell's Metropolis Works in Illinois as part of a comprehensive assessment of all U.S. nuclear-related facilities in the wake of last year's Fukushima disaster in Japan.
The company said it will not restart production at the facility, which has been under maintenance since May, until an agreement is reached with the NRC.
Honeywell said the production halt will not have an impact on the company's earnings forecast for 2012.
The time line for the halt and the nature of the upgrades have not been determined, Honeywell said in a statement.
The company said it could take 12 to 15 months to complete the upgrades and that it could halve its full-time workforce during this period.
The chemical plant, which normally employs 332 employees when in full production, converts uranium ore into a compound that can be used to produce enriched uranium.
Honeywell's shares closed at $53.70 on Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange.
- Reuters
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) inspected Honeywell's Metropolis Works in Illinois as part of a comprehensive assessment of all U.S. nuclear-related facilities in the wake of last year's Fukushima disaster in Japan.
The company said it will not restart production at the facility, which has been under maintenance since May, until an agreement is reached with the NRC.
Honeywell said the production halt will not have an impact on the company's earnings forecast for 2012.
The time line for the halt and the nature of the upgrades have not been determined, Honeywell said in a statement.
The company said it could take 12 to 15 months to complete the upgrades and that it could halve its full-time workforce during this period.
The chemical plant, which normally employs 332 employees when in full production, converts uranium ore into a compound that can be used to produce enriched uranium.
Honeywell's shares closed at $53.70 on Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange.
- Reuters
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