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Fukushima Nuclear Crisis Update for January 13th – January 16th, 2012
(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
The Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (NAIIC), a bi-partisan independent panel of experts appointed to investigate the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident, met this week for the first time. The panel, which is led by Kiyoshi Kurokawa, plans to explore the impact of the 9.0 earthquake that struck before the tsunami. Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) has insisted that the earthquake caused no damage; however, panel member Mitsuhiko Tanaka, a former nuclear engineer who worked on the design of the Fukushima reactors, said that a quake of that magnitude would likely result in reactor damage leading to meltdowns, even without a tsunami. Discovering seismic damage at the plant would have a profound impact on all of Japan’s reactors, which are built across many fault lines.
Nuclear Crisis Minister Goshi Hosono said he will ask utilities to devise new plans for storing spent fuel rods at power plants. Japanese law requires that spent fuel rods be stored at the Rokkasho reprocessing plant; however, construction on the plant, which has been delayed 18 times, is still not complete. Currently, the rods are stored within reactor buildings, an arrangement that has raised concerns about safety in the wake of the Fukushima disaster. Hosono suggested building separate units to store the fuel rods, as well as placing them dry cask containers. Some government sources contend that Hosono’s plan is an effort to persuade local communities that restarting reactors is safe.
The Global Conference for a Nuclear Free World, held in Fukushima Prefecture last week, has released a declaration demanding that the world’s nuclear power plants be decommissioned, in addition to recognizing the rights of victims of the Fukushima disaster and calling for full accountability by TEPCO. The conference, sponsored by numerous environmental organizations, including Greenpeace, featured over 100 experts who discussed renewable energy, nuclear waste storage, and concerns of victims of the Fukushima crisis, among other topics. Over 11,500 people attended the meeting.
Officials from the Science and Technology Policy Bureau, part of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT), have admitted that they shared radiation data with the United States several days before releasing it to the Japanese public. Many residents unwittingly fled to even more contaminated areas in the days following the meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, because the government failed to publicize data on the spread of radiation.
The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) said it will endorse stress test results for reactors 3 and 4 at the Oi power plant in Fukui Prefecture, which is operated by Kansai Electric. Officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) will be invited to evaluate test methods later this month. The endorsement brings Kansai one step closer to restarting its reactors, although it remains unclear whether the local government will approve such a move.
Opposition to restarting Chubu Electric’s Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant is continuing to grow in surrounding cities and towns, in spite of the fact that the utility is building an 18-foot seawall near the Hamaoka facility. Several municipal governments have passed resolutions calling for the plant’s decommissioning, after residents cited safety concerns in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
TEPCO
Shareholders of TEPCO stocks have announced they will sue 60 current and former board members for 5.5 trillion yen. The amount is one trillion yen more than the 4.5 trillion TEPCO is expected to owe in compensation payments to victims of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster over the next two years. Last November, shareholders instructed TEPCO’s auditors to file suit against the Board Members. However, TEPCO sent written notification to shareholders this week, saying that it would not file suit and denying any liability on the part of the board. The document noted, “The board members appropriately considered and implemented anti-tsunami measures based on government instructions and approvals. The accident is attributable to the tsunami waves that were far higher than assumed for the measures. None of the board members has violated any law or company statute, nor did they neglect due diligence.” The document did not reference TEPCO’s own studies, conducted in 2008, that showed that a tsunami exceeding 10 meters, far beyond design standards, could strike the plant. TEPCO made no efforts to upgrade its facilities in light of the new data and failed to release that study to NISA until three days before the earthquake and tsunami struck. The shareholders say they will file suit on their own by the end of January.
TEPCO Vice President Takashi Fujimoto said this week that his company is now considering accepting an injection of taxpayer funds, which would essentially nationalize the utility. TEPCO is struggling to pay increased thermal power costs, as well as mounting expenses for decommissioning the Fukushima Daiichi reactors, decontaminating surrounding areas, and paying compensation to victims of the nuclear disaster. Some TEPCO officials reportedly “want to retain management rights even after accepting public assistance.”
TEPCO has submitted results of stress tests for reactors 1 and 7 at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in Niigata Prefecture to NISA. The utility says that the plants can withstand an earthquake 1.3 times that for which it was designed, and a tsunami of 15 meters. The tests are a government-mandated precondition for restarting the reactors, although it is questionable whether local government officials will agree to the restart. Hirohiko Izumida, Governor of Niigata, expressed concern about conducting the stress tests when the causes of the meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi plant have still not been confirmed.
Contamination (Includes Economic Impact and Human Exposure)
Officials in Fukushima Prefecture discovered high levels of radioactive cesium measuring 1.24 microsieverts per hour in a newly built Nihonmatsu City condominium. The condo was constructed using radioactive rubble from a quarry in Namie, close to the Fukushima plant. Over 5,000 tons of the quarry’s gravel was shipped to 19 companies between March and April of last year; two of those firms used the stones to make concrete which was then shipped to over 200 companies for use in building homes, roads, and other infrastructure. The Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) is working to determine where else the gravel was shipped, and is contacting other quarries in the area to find out where they shipped their own, gravel which might be contaminated. The company that shipped the gravel, Futaba Saiseki Kogyo, was unaware that it was radioactive and has apologized.
In light of the discovery, officials from METI admitted that the Ministry never established radiation standards for stones or gravel, in spite of the fact that such standards were established for cement last June. All three substances are key components of concrete.
Evacuation
A new survey shows that over a third of residents of Namie, which was completely evacuated after the nuclear disaster unfolded at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, say they do not ever expect to return to their homes, citing concerns about radiation, lack of infrastructure, and fears of living in a “ghost town.”
In spite of the government’s efforts to evacuate the area, just 11 people (six men and five women) continue to live in the evacuation zone that falls within a 20 km radius of the now crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant. The area was once home to over 78,000 people. The residents—all of whom are age 50 to 90—cite caring for friends in poor health, caring for pets, and a desire to remain in their homes as there reasons for staying. Municipal officials have repeatedly asked the residents to evacuate, but say they will not force them to leave.
Other Nuclear News
Officials at the UK’s Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) have ordered EDF’s Torness Nuclear Power Plant in Lothian, Scotland to provide further information on an incident that occurred last summer, in which jellyfish clogged cooling water inlets. Both reactors at the plant were shut down as a result of the incident. Although the ONR said that EDF handled the situation appropriately, they nevertheless noted that it “presented a challenge to station systems related to safety.”
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