High radioactivity measured at Tokyo school

[robdogbucky]

High radioactivity measured at Tokyo school

A radioactivity level higher than that of areas near the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant has been detected at a Tokyo elementary school.

A level of 3-point-99 microsieverts per hour was observed 5 centimeters above ground just beneath a rainwater pipe on Monday at the school in Tokyo's Adachi Ward. Radiation levels in Fukushima City about 60 kilometers from the plant were around 1 microsievert per hour on Monday. The ward is about 210 kilometers from the plant.

Ward authorities plan to remove soil and trees from the school area and measure radiation in ditches at about 800 locations including schools, parks and other public facilities.

The school's principal says he was stunned to hear about the radiation and cancelled physical education classes and other activities in the schoolyard for the day.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011 17:11 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/18_24.html



Stunned




TEPCO identifies risks that could cause meltdown

The operator of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant says the water-injection system, which has external pipes, is the area that's most likely to cause possible problems in future.

The external system was built as an emergency response to the meltdown that occurred after the March 11 disaster.

Tokyo Electric Power Company has calculated the risks to the water-injection system which could lead to the cooling water supply being stopped, resulting in another meltdown.

TEPCO analyzed 7 scenarios where the state of a reactor in cold shutdown is undermined due the water supply stopping for more than 18 hours...

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/18_10.html



7 scenarios



Criteria for 'cold shutdown' of Fukushima nuclear plant remain vague and ambiguous

The government and Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) unveiled a revised roadmap to contain the crippled nuclear reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant on Oct. 17, clearly stipulating that they would aim for a stable condition called a "cold shutdown" of the reactors by the end of this year, but the criteria used to thrash out the work schedule are vague and ambiguous.

It is still not clear whether they can judge that they have achieved a cold shutdown only by checking the temperatures of the bottoms of reactor pressure vessels. On the assessment of the amounts of radioactive substances being released from the nuclear reactors, the government and TEPCO, the operator of the troubled Fukushima nuclear complex, must come up with more detailed data than "provisional figures" in order to say definitely that they have "achieved" a cold shutdown. Furthermore, the government and TEPCO failed to show any direction on the timing of lifting of evacuation advisories -- the final goal of the nuclear disaster response roadmap, let alone prospects for measures that should be taken after a cold shutdown is achieved.

According to the government's statements to the Diet, the definition of a cold shutdown of the Fukushima nuclear plant consists of 1) the temperatures of the bottoms of the reactor pressure vessels being held down below 100 degrees Celsius, 2) radioactive substances from the reactors being managed and controlled, and 3) stable maintenance of "circular cooling systems" designed to recycle radioactive water from the reactors as coolant.

The temperatures of the bottoms of the No. 1, 2 and 3 reactors, which suffered core meltdowns, have stayed below 100 degrees Celsius since Oct. 1, and these conditions served as the reason to decide to bring forward the target deadline to achieve a cold shutdown. But melted fuels are believed to have dropped to the floors of containment vessels from the pressure vessels, and therefore it is difficult to assess the conditions inside reactor cores by measuring the temperatures of the bottoms of the pressure vessels alone...

(Mainichi Japan) October 18, 2011

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20111018p2a00m0na006000c.html




difficult to assess conditions inside reactor cores




Decontamination work underway in Fukushima, but many choosing not to return

FUKUSHIMA -- District-wide radiation decontamination work got underway on Oct. 18 in the Onami district of Fukushima city, but regardless, many families are choosing to have their children live elsewhere to avoid exposure to radiation.

One such family is that of Yoshiharu Suda, 61, whose house in the Onami district was the first to have decontamination work carried out on it. After the disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, his only son, Takahiro, who is 18 and soon to leave the house for university, said he will not live in Fukushima Prefecture.

The Onami district has high radiation levels, thought to have come from the heavily damaged nuclear plant. Located in the eastern part of Fukushima city, Onami is a hilly area around 60 kilometers removed from the nuclear plant, a farming landscape where the people have lived self-sufficiently.

Suda also holds farmland, and he grew vegetables throughout all four seasons, sending a portion of his crops to market. After the nuclear plant disaster, however, his crops started fetching only about a tenth of their former prices, no longer even covering the cost of growing and harvesting them. He threw out his onions and gave up on planting rice, cucumbers and eggplant.

"There's no point in growing contaminated crops," he said. "A supplemental income of around 400,000 yen a year gone, just like that..."

(Mainichi Japan) October 18, 2011

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20111018p2a00m0na020000c.html



60 kilometers removed





TEPCO refusing to pay out for burglaries in no-entry zone.

BY TOSHIHIRO OKUYAMA STAFF WRITER

2011/10/18

Reports on burglaries in homes in the no-entry zone from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant shot up nearly 30 times in the first nine months of this year from a year earlier, police say.

Yasokazu Shirado, who suffered losses at his rental video shop and karaoke parlor as well as his home in Tomioka, a town eight kilometers from the plant, said that Tokyo Electric Power Co., the plant operator, should compensate victims for their losses.

"(The burglaries) occurred primarily because of the accident at the nuclear plant," said Shirado, 54.

Shirado estimated his losses for all the stolen goods and radioactive contamination of his shops after the windows were broken at more than 80 million yen ($1,040,000).

But TEPCO is refusing to meet victims' demands, saying that it is the thieves who are responsible...

http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201110170328.html





Investigation of faults under nuclear plant to resume.

BY EISUKE SASAKI STAFF WRITER

2011/10/18

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) will reopen its investigation into whether Tohoku Electric Power Co.'s Higashidori plant in Aomori Prefecture is sitting on active seismological faults.

Studies of faults underneath Higashidori, as well as faults at Hokkaido Electric Power Co.'s Tomari plant in Hokkaido and the Japan Atomic Power Co.-operated Tsuruga plant in Fukui Prefecture, were suspended following the nuclear accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

Tohoku Electric has insisted that the faults "would not trigger seismic activity in the future" and pose no safety risks to the single reactor plant, which is currently suspended for routine maintenance, but some experts at NISA are unconvinced.

In response to a study that showed displacement of geological layers, possible evidence of an active fault, the utility said it resulted from localized and rapid swelling of clay. The firm launched a fresh excavation last year to back its claim...

http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201110170399.html

[Safetykitten]

1. It's one of those glow watches. That explains it. must of been that.

[valerief]

2. It just gets worse and worse. nt

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. Thank you for keeping up with this, very much appreciated.

Bookmarking for when my mood allows me to read it..sigh.

[lbrtbell]

4. I was recently flamed on Facebook....

An American living in Japan told me not to spread false information, panic, etc.

Sadly, I know I'm going to be proven right. There is nothing safe in Japan now. :(