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Fusion: Update on the International ITER Project – Event Review

  According to Brig. General Stephen Cheney, CEO of the American Security Project, “The science is proven, the engineering is not.” That is how Wednesday, January 29, 2014’s ASP hosted event “Fusion: Update on the International ITER Project” was introduced. ITER is an international fusion research and engineering project which combines the resources and intellect of China, Japan, South Korea, Russia, United States, and the European Union. Fusion is the process that powers the Sun and allows for all life to exist. Scientists are currently seeking to harvest this incredible power according to the presentation by Dr. Ned Sauthoff. Dr. Sauthoff, US ITER Project Director, gave an overview of the process of nuclear fusion, the history of man’s quest to exploit nuclear physics, and detailed ITER’s current project and construction of a test reactor in Cadarache, France. He began the presentation with the sun, the source of inspiration for […]

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New leak found in Fukushima plant’s wrecked No. 3 building

A new water leak, possibly from the effort to cool a crippled reactor, has been detected on the first floor of a reactor building at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Jan. 18. TEPCO said workers discovered by a video feed that water was leaking on the first floor of the wrecked No. 3 reactor building earlier in the day. The utility added that the water was flowing into the basement of the reactor building and not outside the structure. It is investigating the source of the leak. TEPCO suggested the possibilities that the water was leaking from a pipe that is sending cooling water to the reactor or from the reactor containment vessel. If the leak is from water being used to cool the reactor, it would be highly contaminated and a new headache for TEPCO […]

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Japanese rivers unleash ‘perennial supply’ of radiation into Pacific Ocean

A study published in the Elsevier journal Anthropocene late last year has revealed that many of the rivers, streams and other waterways located throughout coastal Japan have inadvertently become delivery systems for transporting radioactive waste directly from the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility into the Pacific Ocean. Researchers from both France and Japan discovered this after conducting a thorough sediment and soil erosion analysis, which revealed the presence of cesium-137, cesium-134 and even radioactive silver in the runoff from coastal rivers. A total of 2,200 soil samples were collected as part of the study, which was originally designed to look at the normal biogeochemical cycles and dispersion of contaminants via rivers and waterways. Since it is already known that rivers play a functional role in cleansing the natural environment of toxins, a team of scientists from the Laboratory for Climate Sciences and […]

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Japan Approves Tepco Turnaround Plan

T, the utility at the center of Japan’s worst nuclear accident, won government approval Wednesday for a restructuring that will allow it to receive an additional ¥4 trillion ($38 billion) in state funding. But the new plan doesn’t offer a clear road map to return the company to financial health as it struggles with the high costs of cleaning up the devastated Fukushima Daiichi plant and paying compensation to those in the area affected by the high level of […]

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Gangsters and ‘slaves’: The people cleaning up Fukushima

In the depths of Japan’s nuclear crisis in March 2011, a small band of workers at the Fukushima power plant stayed behind, stomaching daily doses of deadly radiation to bring the plant under control after a massive earthquake and tsunami triggered multiple meltdowns. They became known as the Fukushima 50. “We felt we had a responsibility to put things right,” nuclear engineer Atsufumi Yoshizawa told America Tonight. “And we felt that we were probably the only ones that could deal with the situation.” The courage of employees like Yoshizawa made them heroes in Japan, and the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the operator of the stricken power plant, showcases them as symbols for what the company represents. But there is another group of workers that TEPCO rarely mentions, workers who […]

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Study: Dead sea creatures cover 98 percent of ocean floor off California coast; up from 1 percent before Fukushima

The Pacific Ocean appears to be dying, according to a new study recently published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences . Scientists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) in California recently discovered that the number of dead sea creatures blanketing the floor of the Pacific is higher than it has ever been in the 24 years that monitoring has taken place, a phenomenon that the data suggests is a direct consequence of nuclear fallout from Fukushima. Though the researchers involved with the work have been reluctant to pin Fukushima as a potential cause — National Geographic , which covered the study recently, did not even mention Fukushima — the timing of the discovery suggests that Fukushima is, perhaps, the cause. According to the data, this sudden explosion in so-called "sea snot," which is the name given to the masses […]

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Special Report: Japan’s homeless recruited for murky Fukushima clean-up

Seiji Sasa hits the train station in this northern Japanese city before dawn most mornings to prowl for homeless men. He isn’t a social worker. He’s a recruiter. The men in Sendai Station are potential laborers that Sasa can dispatch to contractors in Japan’s nuclear disaster zone for a bounty of $100 a head. "This is how labor recruiters like me come in every day," Sasa says, as he strides past men sleeping on cardboard and clutching at their coats against the early winter cold. It’s also how Japan finds people willing to accept minimum wage for one of the most undesirable jobs in the industrialized world: working on the $35 billion, taxpayer-funded effort to clean up radioactive fallout across an area of northern Japan larger than Hong Kong. Almost three years ago, a massive earthquake and tsunami leveled villages across Japan’s northeast coast and […]

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Special Report: Japan's homeless recruited for murky Fukushima clean-up

Seiji Sasa hits the train station in this northern Japanese city before dawn most mornings to prowl for homeless men. He isn’t a social worker. He’s a recruiter. The men in Sendai Station are potential laborers that Sasa can dispatch to contractors in Japan’s nuclear disaster zone for a bounty of $100 a head. "This is how labor recruiters like me come in every day," Sasa says, as he strides past men sleeping on cardboard and clutching at their coats against the early winter cold. It’s also how Japan finds people willing to accept minimum wage for one of the most undesirable jobs in the industrialized world: working on the $35 billion, taxpayer-funded effort to clean up radioactive fallout across an area of northern Japan larger than Hong Kong. Almost three years ago, a massive earthquake and tsunami leveled villages across Japan’s northeast coast and […]

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How Economic Arguments Against Nuclear Highlight Environmentalist Delusions

Two weeks ago, four of the world’s most respected climate scientists took the extraordinary step of sending an open letter to their long-time friends and colleagues in the environmental movement, urging them to reverse their longstanding opposition to nuclear power. The scientists told AP and CNN they felt the need to make public their displeasure after years of trying and failing to reason privately with green leaders, who believe solar, wind, and efficiency are enough to power the planet. The letter came at a time when mainstream environmental groups like Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) and Center for American Progress (CAP) were at pains to differentiate themselves from shrill antinuclear activists, like Helen Caldicott and Greenpeace. In a debate over Pandora’s Promise , moderated by the New York Times ’s Andrew Revkin, Bobby Kennedy Jr. chose not to repeat the claim he made a year earlier – that Chernobyl had killed a million […]

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Exclusive: China commits $6.5 billion for Pakistani nuclear project

China has committed $6.5 billion to finance the construction of a major nuclear power project in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi as it seeks to strengthen ties with its strategic partner, Pakistani officials said. Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif broke ground on the $9.59 billion project last month but officials have provided few details of how they plan to finance it. Financing documents seen by Reuters showed China National Nuclear Cooperation (CNNC) has promised to grant a loan of at least $6.5 billion to finance the project which will have two reactors with a capacity of 1,100 megawatts each. Two members of the government’s energy team and three sources close to the deal confirmed this. CNNC was not available for comment. "China has complete confidence in Pakistan’s capacity to run a nuclear power plant with all checks in place," said Ansar Parvez, chairman of the Pakistan […]

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Fukushima’s last two reactors to be decommissioned

Tokyo Electric Power Company, operator of Japan’s stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant, will decommission the facility’s two remaining reactors, Units 5 and 6. Reactors 1 to 4 were declared defunct in April, 2012, 13 months after the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami. That leaves Japan with just 48 operable nuclear reactors, all of which remain offline, pending safety checks after the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster. "With the decision to decommission the two units, the whole power station will now be decommissioned," Tepco said in a statement Wednesday. "We feel an overwhelming sense of shame and regret at the fact that by this accident, we have failed to repay the trust placed in us by the local residents," the utility said. The entire 6-unit facility had a total output 4,696 megawatts. Last month, Tepco started the delicate operation of removing more than 1,000 nuclear […]

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Fukushima's last two reactors to be decommissioned

Tokyo Electric Power Company, operator of Japan’s stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant, will decommission the facility’s two remaining reactors, Units 5 and 6. Reactors 1 to 4 were declared defunct in April, 2012, 13 months after the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami. That leaves Japan with just 48 operable nuclear reactors, all of which remain offline, pending safety checks after the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster. "With the decision to decommission the two units, the whole power station will now be decommissioned," Tepco said in a statement Wednesday. "We feel an overwhelming sense of shame and regret at the fact that by this accident, we have failed to repay the trust placed in us by the local residents," the utility said. The entire 6-unit facility had a total output 4,696 megawatts. Last month, Tepco started the delicate operation of removing more than 1,000 nuclear […]

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Japan Takes Nuclear Storage Hunt Into Own Hands

Japan has decided to take matters into its own hands to find appropriate domestic locations to permanently store highly radioactive nuclear waste, after waiting in vain for more than a decade for an offer from a regional government. "The government will play an active role in choosing a permanent place," Industry Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters at a regular news conference Tuesday. "We’ll abandon the current system of waiting for volunteers to raise their hands." Japan, which currently doesn’t have any final disposal sites for high level radioactive waste, has 17,000 metric tons of domestically spent nuclear fuel that dates back to the 1970s. Most of the current waste is stored in a facility in Rokkasho, a small village in Aomori prefecture in northern Japan, where it is mixed with liquid glass to let it consolidate in big cylindrical bins. The prefecture only allowed the facility to be established […]

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Japan sets aside $1 billion for nuclear fallout storage

The total cost of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant meltdown may never be known, but the country has at least put a number on how much it anticipates storing the radioactive debris will cost it.  Asahi Shimbun reports that the 2014 Japanese budget includes a 100 billion yen provision (roughly $970 million) for the purchase and development of land for “intermediate storage facilities.” Once construction and operation costs are also included, the total anticipated expense is calculated to be 1 trillion yen, or just under $10 billion. Though Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the disaster-stricken plant, was expected to handle all decontamination work, its financial struggles have delayed the cleanup and the government is now stepping in with public funds to speed things up. Construction and operation costs raise the total to 1 trillion yen There are multiple candidate sites in […]

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Why Nuclear Rules Scare Foreign Companies

India wants to boost its nuclear power-generation by more than ten times over the next two decades to cut dependence on imported fossil fuels, but there’s one problem: global companies don’t want to sell India the equipment it needs to run nuclear power-plants under existing rules. Foreign equipment-makers are worried about an Indian law, passed in 2010, which would make them liable to pay compensation in the event of an accident, says Dipankar Bandyopadhyay, a Mumbai-based partner at Indian law firm Verus, and one of the few lawyers in the country who specialize in India’s nuclear liability law. Mr. Bandyopadhyay says that in most other countries, if there is a nuclear accident, the damages are borne only by the company which runs the nuclear plant, not companies which supplied equipment to the plant. Still, given the large size of India’s market for nuclear power, some equipment-makers are negotiating with […]

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Japan to Call Nuclear Power ‘Important’

In an attempt to overturn the previous administration’s pledge to phase out nuclear power, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government will call it an “important source of energy for the country” in its new energy plan. The first draft of the plan disclosed at an expert panel meeting Friday described nuclear power as a way to “stabilize Japan’s energy supply-demand structure” and said that the country will continue to use it. Given the traumas of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident and widespread public opposition to nuclear power, the government’s declaration of the importance of nuclear energy is a significant step toward trying to restart some of Japan’s 50 currently idled reactors. The panel, appointed by Mr. Abe’s government, has been discussing the plan since the premier took office after his party won a landslide victory in the Lower House elections in December 2012. While Mr. Abe has made bringing […]

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Japan to Call Nuclear Power 'Important'

In an attempt to overturn the previous administration’s pledge to phase out nuclear power, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government will call it an “important source of energy for the country” in its new energy plan. The first draft of the plan disclosed at an expert panel meeting Friday described nuclear power as a way to “stabilize Japan’s energy supply-demand structure” and said that the country will continue to use it. Given the traumas of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear accident and widespread public opposition to nuclear power, the government’s declaration of the importance of nuclear energy is a significant step toward trying to restart some of Japan’s 50 currently idled reactors. The panel, appointed by Mr. Abe’s government, has been discussing the plan since the premier took office after his party won a landslide victory in the Lower House elections in December 2012. While Mr. Abe has made bringing […]

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Fukushima Nuclear Situation Still ‘Very Complex’ Despite Progress

IAEA Water Storage Tanks The UN’s nuclear watchdog on Wednesday delivered a preliminary report on their review of Japan’s efforts to plan and implement the decommissioning of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station that suffered a meltdown during the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami of 2011. Following a 10-day visit, a 19-member team of experts praised Japan for making progress on shutting down the crippled plant, but warned that the situation there remained “very complex”. The International Atomic Energy Agency ( IAEA ) team also acknowledged that processed water now kept on site would probably have to be dumped in the ocean. “We are still at the beginning of a lengthy process but Japan is gaining a better understanding of the situation, an understanding that is critical to address the challenges,” said team leader Juan Carlos Lentijo, Director of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology at the IAEA […]

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Releasing radioactive water an option for Fukushima?

TOKYO, Dec. 5 (UPI) — The International Atomic Energy Agency has suggested that Tokyo Electric Power Co., operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, consider discharging less harmful radioactive water from the site into the sea. The recommendation was included in a preliminary report released Wednesday, following a 10-day review by IAEA’s 19-member team — headed by Juan Carlos Lentijo, the agency’s Director of Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Waste Technology — to observe the decommissioning process at the plant, stricken by an earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. Tepco last month started the delicate operation of removing more than 1,000 nuclear fuel-rod assemblies from the spent fuel pool inside the damaged No. 4 reactor building. Tepco expects to complete that process by the end of 2014. The overall decommissioning work at the stricken nuclear plant, however, is expected to take as long as 40 years. In addition to […]

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IAEA: Tepco Should Consider Controlled Discharge

TOKYO—The International Atomic Energy Agency has advised the operator of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear-power plant to consider discharging lightly contaminated water into the ocean, as storing radioactive water at the plant has become increasingly unsustainable. The IAEA’s advice reflects the dilemma facing the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., which must weigh risks from the storage of increasing amounts of contaminated water against those of releasing some partially cleaned water into the ocean, a move vehemently opposed by local fishing communities and residents. Groundwater flowing into the site and its reactors is continuously adding to about 400,000 tons of highly contaminated water stored in roughly 1,000 tanks at the site. Tepco said earlier this year that it had found contaminated water leaking from underground storage tanks. In addition to the leaks, concerns have also grown that the tanks will obstruct other work necessary to decommission the plant, which […]

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Japan’s Tepco to start up 1.6 GW of coal-fired power generation capacity mid-Dec

Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Company is eyeing the commercial startup of 1.6 GW of coal-fired power generation capacity around mid-December, a company official said Thursday. Tepco expects to start up the 1-GW No. 2 coal-fired unit at the Hitachinaka power plant in eastern Japan mid-December. It began commercial operation of the 600-MW No. 6 coal-fired unit at the Hirono thermal power plant on Tuesday, the official said. The utility’s oil demand for power generation fell this year following successful test runs in April at the two coal-fired plants at Hitachinaka and Hirono. Another 1 GW of output was added following the complete restart of Tohoku Electric’s earthquake-hit 2 GW Haramachi coal-fired power plant in the northeast, where Tepco has rights to half of the total production in fiscal 2013-2014 (April-March). In December, Tepco plans to buy around 600,000 kiloliters (122,000 b/d) of crude […]

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Japan's Tepco to start up 1.6 GW of coal-fired power generation capacity mid-Dec

Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Company is eyeing the commercial startup of 1.6 GW of coal-fired power generation capacity around mid-December, a company official said Thursday. Tepco expects to start up the 1-GW No. 2 coal-fired unit at the Hitachinaka power plant in eastern Japan mid-December. It began commercial operation of the 600-MW No. 6 coal-fired unit at the Hirono thermal power plant on Tuesday, the official said. The utility’s oil demand for power generation fell this year following successful test runs in April at the two coal-fired plants at Hitachinaka and Hirono. Another 1 GW of output was added following the complete restart of Tohoku Electric’s earthquake-hit 2 GW Haramachi coal-fired power plant in the northeast, where Tepco has rights to half of the total production in fiscal 2013-2014 (April-March). In December, Tepco plans to buy around 600,000 kiloliters (122,000 b/d) of crude […]

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Why Uranium & Coal Rank High For Energy Return On Energy Invested

Not all energy options are equally good, says Thomas Drolet, principal of Drolet & Associates Energy Services Inc. Using an “Energy Return on Energy Invested (EROEI)” calculation to decide which energy sources yield the most for the least energy investment, Drolet sees hydroelectricity, natural gas, uranium and coal at the top of the list. Drolet adds that the need for reliable power will keep baseload power fueled by uranium and coal at the center of the world’s electricity systems for many years, but he tips  The Mining Report  to some technologies looking for investment that can help make coal a more environment-friendly fuel. The Mining Report:  Tom, thanks for joining us today. I’d like to start out with the concept of an “Energy Return on Energy Invested cliff,” which is being debated widely these days.” What is it and what does it mean […]

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Why Uranium & Coal Rank High For Energy Return On Energy Invested

Not all energy options are equally good, says Thomas Drolet, principal of Drolet & Associates Energy Services Inc. Using an “Energy Return on Energy Invested (EROEI)” calculation to decide which energy sources yield the most for the least energy investment, Drolet sees hydroelectricity, natural gas, uranium and coal at the top of the list. Drolet adds that the need for reliable power will keep baseload power fueled by uranium and coal at the center of the world’s electricity systems for many years, but he tips  The Mining Report  to some technologies looking for investment that can help make coal a more environment-friendly fuel. The Mining Report:  Tom, thanks for joining us today. I’d like to start out with the concept of an “Energy Return on Energy Invested cliff,” which is being debated widely these days.” What is it and what does it mean […]

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Iranians mull new nuclear power stations

Iran’s top atomic energy official, Ali Akbar Salehi , said he asked the federal government to make room in next year’s budget for new nuclear power plants. Salehi said he issued a request for funding to President Hassan Rouhani after lawmakers called on the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran to lay the groundwork for more nuclear power. “Our new nuclear plants will be built at the site of the Bushehr nuclear [power] plant,” he was quoted as saying Sunday by Iranian broadcaster Press TV. Russia supplies fuel for the Bushehr plant, which went into service last year. Salehi said additions to the nuclear power sector could add another 20,000 megawatts of electricity to the Iranian grid. Salehi gave no indication of the funding needed to build the new facilities. Under the terms of the nuclear deal reached with Western powers last month, Iran can […]

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Pakistan Breaks Ground on Nuclear Power Plant Project With China

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday ceremonially broke ground on a $9.59 billion nuclear power complex to be built in Karachi with China’s help, seeking to ease Pakistan’s long-running energy crisis and signaling a new step by China in becoming a top nuclear supplier. The deal, which officials said was still being finalized, is a major new advance in energy cooperation between the two countries, dwarfing previous reactor projects built along with China at Chashma, in Pakistan’s interior. And it establishes a growing counterpoint to a nuclear axis between the United States and India in recent years that Pakistani officials have seen as an irritant and Chinese officials have seen as a geopolitical challenge. “The beginning of the 2,200-megawatt power project is indeed a proud moment in the energy history of Pakistan,” Mr. Sharif said at the ceremony, adding that the construction was to be completed […]

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Bolivia says it's on track to develop nuclear power

LA PAZ, Bolivia, Nov. 19 (UPI) — Bolivia is on track to develop a national nuclear power program for peaceful civilian purposes that include building electricity export capacity in the country, official media reported. Ever since Bolivian President Evo Morales outlined plans in October for a long-delayed nuclear power generation program, officials in La Paz have been pursuing follow-up discussions with Argentina, a future partner and experienced nuclear power producer, Bolivian news reports said. Bolivia’s nuclear energy approach is evolving into a two-pronged policy that’s set to lead to a more vigorous government pursuit of a domestic nuclear power generation program and exploration, development and export of the country’s numerous deposits, reports in Los Tiempos and other local media said. The U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna notes on its website that not all data about Bolivia’s uranium deposits are readily available. Morales told an energy conference in […]

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Bolivia says it’s on track to develop nuclear power

LA PAZ, Bolivia, Nov. 19 (UPI) — Bolivia is on track to develop a national nuclear power program for peaceful civilian purposes that include building electricity export capacity in the country, official media reported. Ever since Bolivian President Evo Morales outlined plans in October for a long-delayed nuclear power generation program, officials in La Paz have been pursuing follow-up discussions with Argentina, a future partner and experienced nuclear power producer, Bolivian news reports said. Bolivia’s nuclear energy approach is evolving into a two-pronged policy that’s set to lead to a more vigorous government pursuit of a domestic nuclear power generation program and exploration, development and export of the country’s numerous deposits, reports in Los Tiempos and other local media said. The U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna notes on its website that not all data about Bolivia’s uranium deposits are readily available. Morales told an energy conference in […]

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Japan Starts Removing Fukushima Nuclear Fuel

TOKYO—More than 2½ years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Tokyo Electric Power Co. 9501.TO -1.62% Tokyo Electric Power Co. Inc. Japan: Tokyo ¥ 548 -9 -1.62% Nov. 19, 2013 3:00 pm Volume : 23.23M P/E Ratio 3.81 Market Cap ¥893.50 Billion Dividend Yield N/A Rev. per Employee ¥129,550,000 11/18/13 Fukushima Watch: Tepco Starts … 11/15/13 Fukushima Watch: Remote Contro… 11/13/13 Watchdog to Proceed with Tepco… More quote details and news » 9501.TO in Your Value Your Change Short position began Monday the painstaking and potentially dangerous process of removing fuel rods from one of the plant’s damaged reactor units. The operation, expected to take more than a year to complete, is Tepco’s first step toward dismantling the devastated plant in what is expected to be a 30- to 40-year cleanup process after one of the worst nuclear accidents in history. The removal of the fuel also provides the operator […]

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Fukushima engineers begin removing fuel rods from damaged reactor

Workers started removing radioactive fuel rods from a reactor building at the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant  on Monday, plant owner Tokyo Electric Power Co. said. The painstaking and risky task is a crucial first step toward a full cleanup of the earthquake- and tsunami-damaged plant in northeastern Japan. The removal of the rods is the most difficult and dangerous process undertaken since runaway reactors were brought under control two years ago, after being hit by an earthquake and tsunami that claimed nearly 16,000 lives. The rod removal follows months of setbacks and glitches that have stoked widespread criticism of the utility’s handling of the crisis, the worst nuclear accident in decades. The Unit 4 reactor was offline at the time of the March 2011 disaster, and its core did not melt as Units 1 through 3 did. But hydrogen explosions blew out the roof and walls of the Unit […]

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US NRC to resume Yucca Mountain waste repository licensing review

Washington (Platts)–18Nov2013/410 pm EST/2110 GMT The commissioners of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission ordered agency staff Monday to complete and publish a safety evaluation report on the proposed Yucca Mountain, Nevada, nuclear spent fuel and waste repository. “The Commission has also requested [Department of Energy] to prepare a supplemental environmental impact statement requested by the staff in order to complete [NRC’s] environmental review of the application,” NRC said in a statement Monday. The multi-volume safety evaluation report, or SER, reflects NRC staff’s assessment of the repository proposed for the site roughly 95 miles (about 153 km) outside Las Vegas and is considered in NRC’s determination of whether the facility would meet regulatory requirements. Volume 3 on the post-closure safety of a repository at Yucca Mountain is central to making that determination. The Nuclear Energy Institute, which represents the US nuclear power industry, was among those who have recommended that […]

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Fuel removal at Fukushima plant: What's at stake

TOKYO (AP) — Workers started the difficult task Monday of removing nuclear fuel rods from a heavily-damaged reactor building at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant in Japan. It’s the first major step toward decommissioning the plant, a decades-long process fraught with uncertainty and challenges. Q: How many fuel rods are there, and how long will it take? A: There are 3,106 fuel rod assemblies, each holding about 60-80 rods, in four reactors, Units 1-4. The goal is to remove them over the next five years. What started Monday was the removal of the 1,533 assemblies in Unit 4, which is the only one of the four reactors being decommissioned that didn’t melt down. Unit 4, as well as Units 5 and 6, were offline for regular safety checks and maintenance at the time of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Unit 4 had no fuel rods inside it. […]

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Fuel removal at Fukushima plant: What’s at stake

TOKYO (AP) — Workers started the difficult task Monday of removing nuclear fuel rods from a heavily-damaged reactor building at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant in Japan. It’s the first major step toward decommissioning the plant, a decades-long process fraught with uncertainty and challenges. Q: How many fuel rods are there, and how long will it take? A: There are 3,106 fuel rod assemblies, each holding about 60-80 rods, in four reactors, Units 1-4. The goal is to remove them over the next five years. What started Monday was the removal of the 1,533 assemblies in Unit 4, which is the only one of the four reactors being decommissioned that didn’t melt down. Unit 4, as well as Units 5 and 6, were offline for regular safety checks and maintenance at the time of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Unit 4 had no fuel rods inside it. […]

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Japan Starts Removing Fukushima Nuclear Fuel

TOKYO—More than 2½ years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Tokyo Electric Power Co. 9501.TO +0.18% Tokyo Electric Power Co. Inc. Japan: Tokyo ¥ 557 +1 +0.18% Nov. 18, 2013 3:00 pm Volume : 34.96M P/E Ratio 3.87 Market Cap ¥893.50 Billion Dividend Yield N/A Rev. per Employee ¥129,550,000 More quote details and news » 9501.TO in Your Value Your Change Short position began Monday the painstaking and potentially dangerous process of removing fuel rods from one of the plant’s damaged reactor units. The operation, expected to take more than a year to complete, is Tepco’s first step toward dismantling the devastated plant and is an important milestone in what is expected to be a 30- to 40-year cleanup process after one of the worst nuclear accidents in history. The removal of the fuel also provides the operator of the plant with an opportunity to regain a measure of public […]

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Iran puts brakes on nuclear expansion under Rouhani, IAEA report shows

VIENNA (Reuters) – Iran has virtually halted a previously rapid expansion of its uranium-enrichment capacity since Hassan Rouhani became president, a U.N. inspection report showed on Thursday, in a potential boost for diplomacy to end the Iran nuclear dispute. In another finding that may be seen as positive by the West, the quarterly report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said no further major components had been added to a potential plutonium-producing reactor since August. The marked slowdown in the growth of Iranian activity of possible use in developing nuclear bombs may be intended to back up Rouhani’s dramatic shift in tone towards the West after years of worsening confrontation, and strengthen Tehran’s hand in negotiations with world powers due to resume on November 20. The Arak reactor, which Iran previously said it would start up in the first quarter of 2014 but later postponed, is of great […]

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Iran’s nuclear expansion slows, says IAEA

Hassan Rouhani addresses the 68th United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York ©Reuters Hassan Rouhani addresses the UN General Assembly in New York Iran has sharply slowed down the expansion of its nuclear programme over the past three months, the international nuclear watchdog said on Thursday, providing a potential boost to ongoing nuclear talks with Tehran . The International Atomic Energy Agency said that Iran was continuing to enrich uranium which could potentially be used to build a nuclear bomb , in contravention of a series of UN resolutions. However the Vienna-based watchdog said the rapid expansion in the Iranian programme had come to a near-halt since August, coinciding with the start of the new government of Iran’s more pragmatic president Hassan Rouhani . The report comes ahead of a new round of international talks next week to try and strike a deal that would place […]

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Israeli PM dismisses IAEA report on Iran

  • Netanyahu said he was “not impressed” by the report which charged Iran slowed nuclear activities.   • Netanyahu reiterated his stance that the world powers must keep sanctions against Iran intact.   • Netanyahu campaigns against lifting sanctions and “hurrying into a deal”.   JERUSALEM, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) – Israel i Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday dismissed a report released by the International Atomic Energy Agency ( IAEA ), which indicated that Iran had significantly slowed down its efforts to reach nuclear capabilities. Speaking at a convention for American Jewish youth in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said he was “not impressed” by the report which charged that the rate of uranium enrichment at the nuclear facility in Natenz had dropped significantly in the past three months, under the regime of the recently-elected Hassan Rouhani. The report specifically stated that the stockpile of high-level enriched uranium had risen by five percent since […]

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Ex-Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi urges zero nuclear power

TOKYO, Nov. 13 (UPI) — A former Japanese prime minister has urged the government to abandon plans to restart the nation’s nuclear power generating plants. Speaking at the Japan Press Club in Tokyo Tuesday, Junichiro Koizumi , who served as prime minister from 2001 to 2006 and led the Liberal Democratic Party of Japan, said, “I think we should go to zero nuclear power now.” All 50 of Japan’s working reactors remain offline, pending safety checks after the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami. Shinzo Abe , the current prime minister and LDP leader, wants to have Japan’s reactors brought back online after the country’s nuclear regulatory agency declares them safe. He’s also in favor of selling Japan’s nuclear technology to other countries. “Restarting the reactors will only result in the buildup of more nuclear waste materials,” Koizumi said. Koizumi had, […]

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Fukushima Watch: Some Power Companies in Black without Nuclear Restarts

The latest earnings show that many of Japan’s major utilities generated a profit in the first half of this fiscal year, even without the help of their nuclear power plants. Amid uncertainty about whether nuclear restarts can win regulatory approval, that is good news for shareholders. But it puts the utilities themselves in a difficult position, since they have been loudly complaining that without their nuclear plants, they will remain in the red. Five of the nine regional utilities that have nuclear power plants posted a net profit for the six months ending Sept. 30. They include Tokyo Electric Power Co., whose Fukushima Daiichi plant in northern Japan was at the center of the nuclear crisis that led to the shutdown of nuclear plants amid safety concerns. Also making profits were Tohoku Electric Power Co., Hokuriku Electric Power Co., Kansai Electric Power Co. and Chugoku Electric Power Co. The […]

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For many Fukushima evacuees, the truth is they won't be going home

IWAKI, Japan (Reuters) – For many of Japan’s oldest nuclear refugees, all they want is to be allowed back to the homes they were forced to abandon. Others are ready to move away, severing ties to the ghost towns that remain in the shadow of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant. But among the thousands of evacuees stuck in temporary housing more than two and a half years after the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl, there is a shared understanding on one point – Japan’s government is unable to deliver on its ambitious initial goals for cleaning up the areas that had to be evacuated after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster. "You can’t have a temporary life forever," said Ichiro Kazawa, 61, whose home was destroyed by the tsunami that also knocked out power to the Fukushima plant. Kazawa escaped four minutes before the first wave. Next year, […]

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For many Fukushima evacuees, the truth is they won’t be going home

IWAKI, Japan (Reuters) – For many of Japan’s oldest nuclear refugees, all they want is to be allowed back to the homes they were forced to abandon. Others are ready to move away, severing ties to the ghost towns that remain in the shadow of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant. But among the thousands of evacuees stuck in temporary housing more than two and a half years after the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl, there is a shared understanding on one point – Japan’s government is unable to deliver on its ambitious initial goals for cleaning up the areas that had to be evacuated after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster. "You can’t have a temporary life forever," said Ichiro Kazawa, 61, whose home was destroyed by the tsunami that also knocked out power to the Fukushima plant. Kazawa escaped four minutes before the first wave. Next year, […]

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Removing Fuel Rods Poses New Risks at Crippled Nuclear Plant in Japan

TOKYO — It was the part of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant that spooked American officials the most, as the complex spiraled out of control two and a half years ago: the spent fuel pool at Reactor No. 4, with more than 1,500 radioactive fuel assemblies left exposed when a hydrogen explosion blew the roof off the building. In the next 10 days, the plant’s operator, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, is set to start the delicate and risky task of using a crane to remove the fuel assemblies from the pool, a critical step in a long decommissioning process that has already had serious setbacks. Just 36 men will carry out the tense operation to move the fuel to safer storage; they will work in groups of six in two-hour shifts throughout the day for months. A separate team will work overnight to clear any debris inside […]

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UN nuclear agency looking at Fukushima contamination

Inspectors from the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) arrived in Japan this week to monitor the ongoing cleanup and look into the continued leaking of contaminated water at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. This as the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) , the company nominally in control of the crippled facility, has again postponed the start of procedures to remove highly radioactive fuel rods from a severely damaged storage pool inside what used to be the Fukushima plant’s reactor No. 4.   Three reactors at Fukushima suffered core meltdowns after a massive earthquake and tsunami compromised containment and damaged cooling systems in March 2011. The three molten cores have now likely melted through the floors of their containment buildings and are somewhere underground, though plant and government officials have no clear picture as to exactly how deep. At the time of the Tohoku quake, the reactor at […]

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Natural gas could spell doom for nuke power

Page added on November 11, 2013 If today’s global fracking frenzy had kicked into high gear a decade ago, thousands of jobs at FirstEnergy Corp.’s Davis-Besse, Perry and Beaver Valley 1 and 2 nuclear plants in northern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania could have been imperiled by now. “That’s fair to say,” Jennifer Young, FirstEnergy spokeswoman, said. But while job security at those massive power-generation stations is never strong enough to put workers at ease — especially with economic pressures brought on by the natural gas boom jolting the nuclear industry — Ms. Young said the situation appears more stable for FirstEnergy’s holdings than it does for nuclear plants in other parts of the country. The era of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” of shale bedrock has caused a drop in natural gas prices, which has caused energy markets to react. Much of the hype is based on the anticipated fracking […]

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Tepco Prepares to Remove Fuel Assemblies at Fukushima

TOKYO—Operators of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear-power plant this month will begin a potentially hazardous operation to remove fuel rods from one of the reactor units, a critical step in what is expected to be a decadeslong cleanup of the site of one of the worst nuclear-energy accidents in history. Tokyo Electric Power Co. 9501.TO -1.14% Tokyo Electric Power Co. Inc. Japan: Tokyo ¥ 520 -6 -1.14% Nov. 8, 2013 3:00 pm Volume : 26.08M P/E Ratio 3.62 Market Cap ¥856.54 Billion Dividend Yield N/A Rev. per Employee ¥129,550,000 11/07/13 Tepco Prepares to Remove Fuel … 11/07/13 Fukushima Watch: Daiichi Plant… 10/30/13 Fukushima Watch: Watchdog Appr… More quote details and news » 9501.TO in Your Value Your Change Short position , known as Tepco, plans to transfer 1,533 metal casings holding nuclear-fuel pellets from their precarious storage pool—130 feet above the ground in one of the plant’s reactors—to a common […]

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Fukushima nuclear plant set for risky operation

Fukushima Unit 4 More than 1,000 fuel rod assemblies need to be removed from a building that was badly damaged following the tsunami A task of extraordinary delicacy and danger is about to begin at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power station. Engineers are preparing to extract the first of more than 1,000 nuclear fuel rods from one of the wrecked reactor buildings. This is seen as an essential but risky step on the long road towards stabilising the site. The fuel rods are currently in a precarious state in a storage pool in Unit 4. This building was badly damaged by an explosion in March 2011 following the Great Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. Moving the rods to safety is a high priority but has only become possible after months of repair work and planning. One senior official told me: “It’s going to be very difficult but it has to happen.” […]

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Fukushima Is Here  

Fukushima is Here.300dpi.jpg Page added on October 29, 2013   500 people assembled on October 19th on Ocean Beach in San Francisco and formed the letters with their bodies to demonstrate their growing concern about eventual fallout on the west coast. Credit and More Information: FukushimaResponse.org An ocean current called the North Pacific Gyre is bringing Japanese radiation to the West Coast of North America: The leg of the Gyre closest to Japan – the Kuroshio current – begins right next to Fukushima : While many people assume that the ocean will dilute the Fukushima radiation, a previously-secret 1955 U.S. government report concluded that the ocean may not adequately dilute radiation from nuclear accidents, and there could be “pockets” and “streams” of highly-concentrated radiation . Physicians for Social Responsibility notes : An interesting fact for people living on the US west coast is also included in the UNSCEAR [United […]

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Tepco shouldn't be in charge of Fukushima shutdown: Japan panel

TOKYO (Reuters) – Tokyo Electric Power Co should be stripped of the responsibility for shutting down its crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, according to a draft proposal by a panel of Japan’s ruling party. Tokyo Electric, or Tepco, has been widely criticized for repeated missteps, poor planning and a lack of disclosure in its efforts to clear up the site of the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986. A task force formed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) suggests that responsibility for the massive work of decommissioning the Fukushima plant be stripped from the giant utility in its current form – either by creating a separate unit within Tepco, breaking the unit off as a separate company or hiving it off as a government-affiliated, but independent, administrative agency. A person familiar with the LDP panel’s deliberations said it favors the option of creating a separate […]

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Tepco shouldn’t be in charge of Fukushima shutdown: Japan panel

TOKYO (Reuters) – Tokyo Electric Power Co should be stripped of the responsibility for shutting down its crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, according to a draft proposal by a panel of Japan’s ruling party. Tokyo Electric, or Tepco, has been widely criticized for repeated missteps, poor planning and a lack of disclosure in its efforts to clear up the site of the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986. A task force formed by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) suggests that responsibility for the massive work of decommissioning the Fukushima plant be stripped from the giant utility in its current form – either by creating a separate unit within Tepco, breaking the unit off as a separate company or hiving it off as a government-affiliated, but independent, administrative agency. A person familiar with the LDP panel’s deliberations said it favors the option of creating a separate […]

Posted On : Published By : Tom Whipple