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How To Take Apart Fukushima’s 3 Melted-Down Reactors

A radiation-proof superhero could make sense of Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in an afternoon. Our champion would pick through the rubble to reactor 1, slosh through the pooled water inside the building, lift the massive steel dome of the protective containment vessel, and peek into the pressure vessel that holds the nuclear fuel. A dive to the bottom would reveal the debris of the meltdown: a hardened blob of metals with fat strands of radioactive goop dripping through holes in the pressure vessel to the floor of the containment vessel below. Then, with a clear understanding of the situation, the superhero could figure out how to clean up this mess. Unfortunately, mere mortals can’t get anywhere near that pressure vessel, and Japan’s top nuclear experts thus have only the vaguest idea of where […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Nuclear important in Japan's latest draft energy policy

Japan’s government on Tuesday released an energy policy document in which nuclear power is considered an important electricity source. The plan is a toned-down revision of a draft document released in December, which said nuclear power also serves as a "foundation" for the stability of the country’s energy supply, Kyodo News Service reports. The government is required to review its energy plan at least every three years. The last plan, in 2010, called for Japan to boost its reliance on nuclear power to about 50 percent of its total electricity in 2030. Prior to the Fukushima nuclear power plant crisis, triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, nuclear power provided nearly 30 percent of Japan’s electricity. The plan released Tuesday does not include any numerical targets for Japan’s medium- to long-term energy mix. "It was impossible to plan any energy mix, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Nuclear important in Japan’s latest draft energy policy

Japan’s government on Tuesday released an energy policy document in which nuclear power is considered an important electricity source. The plan is a toned-down revision of a draft document released in December, which said nuclear power also serves as a "foundation" for the stability of the country’s energy supply, Kyodo News Service reports. The government is required to review its energy plan at least every three years. The last plan, in 2010, called for Japan to boost its reliance on nuclear power to about 50 percent of its total electricity in 2030. Prior to the Fukushima nuclear power plant crisis, triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, nuclear power provided nearly 30 percent of Japan’s electricity. The plan released Tuesday does not include any numerical targets for Japan’s medium- to long-term energy mix. "It was impossible to plan any energy mix, […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Nuclear should be Japan's key baseload power source, govt report says

Nuclear power should serve as Japan’s "key base-load power source" along with coal, hydro and renewables as part of the country’s energy plan for the next 20 years, the government said in a final energy policy plan released Tuesday. In the final report which came out after a series of reviews, the government also said nuclear reactors that meet the safety standards set by the nuclear regulatory body should make progress on restarting. Before this final report, an energy policy committee at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry released a draft plan in December saying nuclear power would continue to be Japan’s "key base power source" from the perspective of stable supplies and cost, drawing comments from the public as well as policy makers. The plan released Tuesday will now be examined by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party before the Cabinet approval. The […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Nuclear should be Japan’s key baseload power source, govt report says

Nuclear power should serve as Japan’s "key base-load power source" along with coal, hydro and renewables as part of the country’s energy plan for the next 20 years, the government said in a final energy policy plan released Tuesday. In the final report which came out after a series of reviews, the government also said nuclear reactors that meet the safety standards set by the nuclear regulatory body should make progress on restarting. Before this final report, an energy policy committee at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry released a draft plan in December saying nuclear power would continue to be Japan’s "key base power source" from the perspective of stable supplies and cost, drawing comments from the public as well as policy makers. The plan released Tuesday will now be examined by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party before the Cabinet approval. The […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Tepco Finds New Leak of Radioactive Water at Fukushima Site

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501) , operator of the crisis-ridden Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant, said it found a new leak near the tanks holding contaminated water at the disaster site. The utility, which serves 29 million customers in the Tokyo metropolitan area, is collecting soil where the leak occurred and doesn’t believe any water reached the ocean, company executives said at a briefing in Tokyo. About 100 metric tons (26,400 gallons) of water may have escaped a concrete barrier, the company said. “Such a water leak was found despite a variety of measures taken by the company,” Masayuki Ono, an official at the utility’s nuclear power and plant division, said. “We are sorry to have caused concern,” he said. The finding is a reminder of the task still facing Tokyo Electric as the utility, known as Tepco, battles to manage the plant almost three years since the earthquake […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Japan seen posting record trade deficit in January as import bill soars

Japan is expected to post a record trade deficit in January as a weak yen pushes up the cost of imports and as export demand slows in a cautionary note about the economic outlook, a Reuters poll showed. The trade deficit, which is forecast to swell to 2.5 trillion yen ($24.5 billion), would provide further evidence that a weak yen alone cannot boost exports as many Japanese manufacturers have shifted factories overseas. A record trade deficit would also suggest that overseas demand may not be strong enough to offset the negative impact of a scheduled sales tax increase in April, meaning policy makers may have to consider other ways to stimulate the economy. "The trade deficit may not expand further, but Japan’s terms of trade are likely to continue to deteriorate, so you can’t say things will start to get better," economists at Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Nuclear Issue in Limbo as Indecision Grips Japan

Several industrialized countries have turned their backs on nuclear power as a result of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, including one that has already begun permanently shutting functioning plants. That country is not Japan. “Germany chose to get rid of nuclear power because of Fukushima, while the United States is still in favor, but what about Japan, where the accident took place?” said Jun Tateno, who has written several books on nuclear power. “We still have not had a proper public debate about the most fundamental question: Do we want nuclear power’s low-cost electricity for growth, or do we want a safer, nuclear-free society?” Many analysts had hoped that last Sunday’s vote to choose the next governor of Tokyo would provide just such a forum to that question, which lies at the heart of Japan’s struggle to find its economic footing after two decades of malaise. But the […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Tokyo election win a victory for nuclear power?

The victory of Yoichi Masuzoe in Tokyo’s gubernatorial election Sunday could be a boost for Japan’s return to nuclear power, though the anti-nuclear camp still urges against it. Masuzoe wants less dependence on nuclear power in the long run, while his main rivals, former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa and Kenji Utsunomiya, a former head of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, favored an immediate end to nuclear power. Utsunomiya won about 983,200 votes and Hosokawa about 956,000 votes against Masuzoe’s approximately 2,112,000 votes, the Japan Times reported Monday. All of Japan’s 48 operable nuclear reactors remain offline, pending safety checks after the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami. Prior to the Fukushima crisis, nuclear power provided nearly 30 percent of Japan’s electricity Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe , who has called for restarting Japan’s idled nuclear […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple
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Eleven dead in Japan after worst snowfall in decades hits capital

Eleven people died, more than a thousand were injured and tens of thousands lost power when the worst snowstorm in decades hit Tokyo and areas around the Japanese capital before heading north to blanket the tsunami-hit Pacific coast. Flights were still backed up at Tokyo’s Haneda international airport on Monday and the lobby was packed with anxious travelers, with some flights overbooked. As much as 27 cm (10.6 inches) of snow fell on Tokyo by late Saturday, the most in 45 years, Japan’s Meteorological Agency said. Back streets in outlying neighborhoods remained choked with snow and frozen slush on Monday morning, forcing commuters in heavy boots to pick their way carefully to work. Financial markets opened normally on Monday despite the heavy snowfall. Traffic accidents and falls claimed 11 lives across the nation, including one 78-year-old man in Ichikawa, just east of Tokyo. More than 1,000 […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple