(This post is by Christine McCann)
Here’s the latest of our news bulletins from the ongoing crisis at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
State of Nuclear Politics in Japan
Records show that Japan concealed Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) data that predicted there would be no energy shortage for this coming summer, and instead reported that there would be a 10% shortage. In addition, the report stated that no renewable energy would be available, when in actuality, the METI data showed that 7.59 million kilowatts of renewable energy could be produced. The revised estimate predicts a 6% surplus, not a shortfall. An official from the Energy and Environment Council has denied that the information was withheld in order to promote nuclear power and restart reactors.
The government’s nuclear task force, which met in the days following the Fukushima disaster begun and included then-Prime Minister Naoto Kan, members of his cabinet, and officials from the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA), has revealed that it kept no minutes or records for any of its 21 meetings. Failure to do so is a violation of Japan’s Public Records Management Act. The group was responsible for determining evacuation policies, restrictions on food shipments, and decontamination guidelines. A NISA official was supposed to keep records, but said he was “too busy.” Additional queries show that the joint taskforce between Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) and the government also kept no records or minutes of their meetings. Osamu Fujimura, Chief Cabinet Secretary, said the government will attempt to reconstruct what happened at the meetings, in spite of the fact that they happened almost a year ago.
Officials from Chubu Electric have admitted that reactors at the Hamaoka Power Plant will experience complete meltdown within three days if power is lost. In addition, fuel rods at the spent fuel pools at its Omaezaki Plant, located in Shizuoka Prefecture, will melt if power is lost for 25 days. Chubu was responding to a request from local officials who were planning emergency drills. The reactors at Omaezaki were shut down after the March earthquake, when then-Prime Minster Naoto Kan raised concerns about the fact that they sit on a major fault line. Critics have long blasted the plant as an accident waiting to happen.
Scientists at the University of Tokyo’s Earthquake Research Institute say that increased seismic activity in the Tohoku region of Japan since the March earthquake shows that the chance of a magnitude 7.0 earthquake striking Tokyo within the next four years is 70% - and the chance of it hitting within the next 30 years is 98%. Earthquakes in that region measuring magnitude 3.0 or greater have increased five-fold since March. The announcement is certain to increase concerns about nuclear safety among the Japanese public.
A ten-person team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has begun a nine-day review of stress tests conducted on reactor 3 and 4 at Kansai Electric’s Oi plant. The tests are designed to evaluate the reactors’ ability to withstand natural disasters, including earthquakes and tsunamis. The IAEA team will examine how officials from NISA crosschecked results provided by the utility. However, the IAEA team has no authority to advise whether or not the reactors should be restarted. They are expected to present their report by the end of this month, at which point NISA will make a final decision. Local government officials, however, are opposed to the restart.
Documents obtained through the Act on Access to Information Held by Administrative Organs show that between 2006 and 2010, 11 colleges and universities in Japan received 10.4 billion yen from the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT), other government agencies, and power companies, in order to conduct research that promotes nuclear energy. Researchers whose work raised concerns about the use of nuclear power received no funding. The revelations highlight the interdependence of universities and the nuclear industry, and cast doubt on the independence of the institutions involved.
Goshi Hosono, Japan’s Nuclear Minister, met with 100 municipal officials to discuss emergency plans in the case of nuclear disaster. Hosono said that the central government will increase inspections at plants and has increased the emergency preparedness area around plants from 10 to 30 km. Local officials have been asked to upgrade their emergency plans to reflect the increased area by October. That request has frustrated some, who say that the turnaround time is too short.
Makoto Yagi, the head of Federation of Electric Power Suppliers, a nuclear industry group, has asked the government to clarify the criteria it will use to determine which nuclear reactors are granted 20 year extensions to the 40-year limit on operations. He is also the President of Kansai Electric and is lobbying for the restart of Kansai’s 3 and 4 reactors at the Oi plant in Fukui Prefecture. Yagi said that the decision should be based on science. Meanwhile, the governor of Fukui Prefecture has said that he will oppose restarting the reactors until the cause of the Fukushima disaster is determined and the central government enacts new safety measures based on those findings.
Koichiro Gemba, Japan’s Foreign Minister, said that Fukushima Prefecture will jointly host an international conference on nuclear safety later this year with the IAEA. At least 50 foreign ministers will be invited. In addition, the prefecture will host a meeting on renewable energy in March.
TEPCO
Drafts of TEPCO’s special business plan reportedly show that the utility will probably remain under state control for 10 years, through 2022, although it hopes to become solvent again by 2013. The plan is being considered by the government entity established to pay compensation to victims of the Fukushima crisis.
State of the Reactors
TEPCO discovered another leak of highly radioactive water this week, in a pit near reactor 2 at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. The water measured 500 tons and contained 16.2 million Bq/liter of radioactive cesium. In addition, the utility found 600 tons of water in a pit near reactor 3, containing 860,000 Bq/liter of cesium. TEPCO is trying to determine the cause of the leak, although it says that based on oceanic readings, it does not believe that the radioactive water has contaminated the sea.
TEPCO said that radioactive emissions from the Fukushima Daiichi Plant increased this month from 60 million Becquerels per hour to 70 million Becquerels per hour. The utility blamed the rise on increased work near reactors 2 and 3, which has displaced radioactive dust and debris.
Contamination (Includes Economic Impact and Human Exposure)
The Health, Labor, and Welfare Ministry is only tracking radiation accumulated by TEPCO workers during the hours they are officially on duty—not while they are off-duty or engaged in other activities, even if they are in high-radiation areas. In addition, the Ministry said it will not track radiation absorbed by workers doing decontamination work. Critics say that all exposure should be tracked.
Compensation
Approximately 10,000 victims of the Fukushima nuclear disaster are joining together to file a class action suit against TEPCO, claiming that compensation levels offered by the utility are too low. The claimants are from the Odaka District in Minamisoma, Fukushima.
Yukio Edano, head of the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI), has ordered TEPCO to reimburse those living in structures built with radioactive gravel, including covering moving costs where applicable. Edano made the announcement after meeting with Nihonmatsu mayor Keiichi Miho, who also requested that the government establish radiation limits for gravel. Last week, officials realized that contaminated stone and gravel had been used to construct condominiums, a private home, four schools, and several roads. The total number of construction projects using the gravel currently stands at 108, although that number is expected to rise. Sixty of those projects are residences and dwellings. Nihonmatsu officials have vowed to examine 224 city construction projects begun since the Fukushima nuclear disaster occurred. In addition, Fukushima Prefecture will test gravel from 27 other quarries that may be at risk.
Other Nuclear News
A United States federal judge has ruled that the state of Vermont cannot force the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Plant to close, in spite of the fact that the utility’s license to operate is expiring in March. Vermont Yankee, which is operated by Entergy, has been plagued with safety problems, including a cooling tower that collapsed because of rotting wood and leaks of radioactive tritium. Public opinion strongly opposes the plant, and Vermont’s State Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of not renewing the license. However, the judge ruled that nuclear safety is the jurisdiction of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and not that of local or state authorities. The NRC has already voted to renew Vermont Yankee’s license for an additional 20 years.
A nuclear utility in the Netherlands has postponed a plan to build a second nuclear reactor for at least two to three years, citing “tough market conditions.” The disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi plant has had a chilling effect on nuclear power in many parts of Europe, because of increased concerns about safety.