(This post is by Christine McCann)
Here’s the latest news from the ongoing crisis at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
State of Nuclear Politics in Japan
In his first speech to the Diet since taking office, newly appointed Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda promised to decontaminate areas affected by the Fukushima disaster and bring the nuclear plant under control. He added that no new nuclear reactors will be built in Japan, and older reactors will slowly be decommissioned when they can no longer safely operate. In preparation for the reduction of nuclear power, Japan will seek to import liquefied natural gas from the US by 2015, in order to fuel thermal power plants.
Yukio Edano, head of the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI), said that Japan should strive to become a nuclear free society. However, before the nation can debate whether or not nuclear energy is necessary, it must learn how to live without it. He added that alternative forms of energy and conservation can lead to that goal, but in the meantime, he hopes to restart some of the nation’s idled power plants. Many local municipalities have expressed reluctance to restart plants without clarity on what caused the disaster at Fukushima.
Hiroyuki Fukano, the current head of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA), expressed regret about the nuclear disaster at Fukushima, saying, ‘Our approach on crisis management had been too lenient.’
Former Prime Minister Naoto Kan has said that Japan is 20 to 30 years behind schedule in dealing with nuclear waste, and that the nation’s energy policy must be overhauled. French Prime Minister Francois Fillon told Kan that France can process Japan’s nuclear waste and return it for disposal. Government officials have not yet responded to the offer.
Reports reveal that during his last weeks as Prime Minister, Kan refused to authorize nuclear technology imports to Vietnam, in spite of supporting the move before the Fukushima disaster. In spite of that, then-METI minister Banri Kaieda and Takeaki Matsumoto, former Foreign Minister, delivered a letter to the prime minister of Vietnam, reaffirming Japan’s intention to conduct the sale. Kaieda and Matsumoto feared the loss of the lucrative contract, valued at billions of dollars.
Trade Minister Masanori Sato announced that Japan will strive to become a world leader in floating wind turbine development. Over the next five years, the country plans to spend JY10 to 20 billion on the endeavor.
TEPCO
Researchers at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) said that the nuclear crisis could have been avoided if Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) has started injecting water into Reactor 2 just 4 hours earlier. They based their assertions on a computer simulation. TEPCO said that workers did the best they could under difficult circumstances, including high radiation levels.
TEPCO again angered members of the Diet committee investigating the nuclear disaster at Fukushima, after the committee repeatedly requested copies of TEPCO’s operating manuals. The committee said it received a 3-page severe accident manual so heavily redacted that only the words ‘firefighting’ and ‘inert gasses’ were not blacked out. TEPCO claims that intellectual property rights are at issue. The same day, officials from NISA admitted that they have legal authority to force TEPCO to submit the manuals in full. Committee members expressed frustration at NISA’s failure to provide this information earlier and requested that METI Minister Yukio Edano order TEPCO to comply. NISA falls under METI’s purview.
TEPCO is investigating why 4 workers failed to evacuate the Fukushima Daiichi plant this week after their radiation alarms sounded, and is checking an additional 17 workers for exposure. Last month, 4 other TEPCO workers were exposed to high levels of radiation.
METI Minister Yukio Edano said that resumption of the Fukushima Daini plant, as well as Reactors 5 and 6 at the Daiichi plant, will be difficult. He confirmed that gaining approval from local governments is a ‘precondition’ for restarting reactors.
TEPCO’s power output and purchasing dropped 17.7 percent in August, its largest ever year-on-year decline. The company blamed the drop on government imposed power usage limits.
Status of the Fukushima Daiichi Reactors
TEPCO has begun spraying water into Fukushima Daiichi Reactor 2, in an effort to bring the temperature below 100ºC, or cold shutdown state. The company does not know the exact location of the fuel, but hopes that spraying the water from above will be more effective than previously used methods.
Japan’s Atomic Energy Commission is cautioning that bringing the Fukushima Daiichi plant under control may take more than a decade, and is raising concerns about leaking containment vessels, fuel removal, and high radiation. They warn that if fuel is not handled properly, another nuclear reaction could occur.
Scientists from the JAEA and University of Tokyo said that the March explosion at Reactor 4, which occurred 4 days after the earthquake, was the result of hydrogen that was produced as water was dissolved by radiation.
Stress Tests and Other Reactors in Japan
Shikugu Electric will conduct tests on three of its reactors in Shimane Prefecture, as the first step in obtaining approval for restarting them.
The governor of Shizuoka Prefecture said that he will not approve restarting reactors at the Hamaoka nuclear plant until Chubu Electric, the plant’s operator, determines how to dispose of spent nuclear fuel.
The Governor of Fukui Prefecture, which is home to the most nuclear reactors in the country, told METI minister Yukio Edano that he will not approve of restarting the 14 reactors in Fukui until adequate safety steps are taken.
Contamination (Including Human Exposure)
Japan’s National Cancer Center is urging the government to provide all residents of Fukushima Prefecture with so-called ‘glass badge’ radiation monitors, after a study showed that the amount of radiation received by health workers had no correlation to the amount of time they spent outdoors. Originally, prefectural officials asked residents to record the amount of time they spent outdoors, assuming that there was a relationship between that and the amount of radiation received.
Fukushima Prefecture’s Minamisoma City will begin to test infants and children under the age of 6 for radiation via urine analysis. Previously infants and small children were ineligible for radiation testing because they were too small to fit into the machines. The test will be free.
A study has shown that growing sunflowers on contaminated land is far less effective at removing radiation than scraping the soil away. Sunflowers removed only 1/2000th of the cesium in the soil, while scraping removed between 70 to 90 percent. However, Japan will need to dispose of the soil. Experts estimate that within Fukushima Prefecture alone, 3.5 million tons of radioactive soil will be collected and require disposal.
A study by researchers at Tsukuba University shows that removing fallen leaves and branches could reduce cesium contamination in forests by 50-90 percent. The scientists hypothesize that because the disaster happened in March, when foliage was sparse, most radiation fell to the leaf-covered ground. They recommend removing the fallen leaves and branches, and possibly cutting down trees in the forests of Fukushima.
Excessive cesium was discovered in incinerator ash in 6 locations across Fukushima, Chiba, and Iwate Prefectures this week. Some of the ash in Fukushima measured over 144,000 Bq/kg. By law, ash measuring higher than 8,000 Bq/kg cannot be buried and must be disposed of in a waste treatment facility.
Researchers from the Japan Meteorological Institute and the Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry say that radioactive cesium-137 that was released into the ocean after the March disaster may move clockwise in the Pacific Ocean and return to Japan’s coast within 20 to 30 years. Cesium-137 has a half-life of 30 years. The scientists estimate that over 3,000 terabecquerels of cesium-137 were released into the sea. They say more research needs to be conducted to get more specific measurements.
Evacuation
In response to a requirement that decontamination and recovery plans be submitted before emergency evacuation orders can be lifted, the mayor of Kawauchi in Fukushima Prefecture said the village will be ready to welcome residents home in March. Ninety percent of the villagers have evacuated. Four other towns in Fukushima are under similar emergency orders, but Kawauchi is the first to present its recovery plan.
Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) conducted emergency drills with Fukushima Prefecture residents who live within 20 to 30 kilometers from the Daiichi plant. This is the first time that local residents have participated in an evacuation drill, which supposed another reactor meltdown.
Other Nuclear News
Ban Ki-moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, said that the Fukushima nuclear crisis occurred because of poor plant design and failure to address concerns about natural disasters. Ki-moon released a report on the disaster this week. The UN will conduct a nuclear safety meeting later this month in New York City.
French Ecology Minister Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet travelled to Marcoule, where a fire occurred at a nuclear waste-reprocessing site earlier in the week. Kosciusko-Morizet said she will investigate the cause of the fire, which is still unknown. Although the operator of the facility, EDF, said that no radiation was released, local residents remain concerned and unconvinced.
The International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Board of Governors agreed upon a nuclear safety plan while meeting in Vienna. The plan includes safety checks of all nuclear plants at least once every 3 years (at the request of member nations) and establishment of a nuclear crisis team. Creation of the plan was controversial among member nations, some of whom wanted the safety checks to be mandatory, while others insisted on voluntary inclusion. Goshi Hosono, Environment Minister, will attend the IAEA general meeting next week and speak about Japan’s handling of the nuclear disaster.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) Nuclear Energy Agency says that the costs of retrofitting European reactors older than 40 years as a result of the EU stress tests may be cost-prohibitive. Europe’s stress tests contain a provision that plants must be resistant to plane crashes; the US does not have such a mandate. Additional concerns have been raised about backup power supplies. The OECD says that this may raise construction costs for new plants by 5 to 10%.
The Prime Minister of Mongolia said that negotiating with foreign countries over storage of nuclear waste is banned. The move came after Japan, the US, and Toshiba Corporation revealed they were interested in Mongolia as a waste storage site.
Britain and Spain announced that all of their reactors passed nuclear stress tests ordered by the EU. Additional changes may be required, such as providing flood protection and ensuring adequate backup power.