Update #22 :July 1, 2011
Fukushima news at NHK: the first 3 stories concern the decontamination which is once again running. Let's hope the kinks have been removed since this system is so vital to cooling the reactors through the decontamination and recycling of some of the highly contaminated cooling water.
Circulation cooling system works again
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/01_02.html
"The newly installed reactor cooling system at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has resumed working after a 5-hour suspension due to mechanical trouble.
The operator of the crippled plant, Tokyo Electric Power Company, TEPCO, says a French-made water-decontamination device, which is part of the cooling system, stopped automatically on Thursday afternoon. An alarm system was set off within 10 minutes.
TEPCO says after repairing the device and doing test runs, it resumed operating on Thursday evening.
The system that decontaminates and re-uses the plant's radioactive water is considered key to the stable cooling of the reactors.
Although the cooling system had stopped, the utility says the decontaminated water continued to pour into the reactors.
[According to other sources it was running at 55% capacity-Nelle]
The company says the alarm device indicated the level of decontaminated water inside one tank was too low, and a gas exhaust had malfunctioned.
TEPCO is trying to find out why the alarm system was set off, and the cause of the other troubles.
Since its start on Monday, the cooling system has suffered a series of problems including leaky piping."
Friday, July 01, 2011 01:40 +0900 (JST)
Human error blamed for cooling system halt
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/01_16.html
"Tokyo Electric Power Company says human error was responsible for the latest problems with a water-decontamination device at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
The French-made device automatically stopped operating on Thursday afternoon after an alarm system was triggered. It resumed operation 5 hours later…."
Friday, July 01, 2011 13:33 +0900 (JST)
TEPCO to enhance manual on coolant system
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/01_14.html
"The operator of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says it will improve the content of operation manuals for a newly introduced reactor coolant system. The move is intended to prevent human errors from causing suspension of the cooling operation…."
Friday, July 01, 2011 11:43 +0900 (JST)
The other big story at NHK is power restrictions. Japan is experiencing high summer temperatures expected to reach 29°C to 30°C by week's end.
Govt to warn of possible rolling blackouts
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/01_12.html
"The Japanese government plans to issue a public warning that rolling blackouts may occur when peak demand for electricity is projected to reach the supply amount.
Tokyo Electric Power Company will be able to provide 53.8 million kilowatts this summer. This is lower than last summer's peak demand of 60 million kilowatts.
Tohoku Electric Power Company will be able to supply 13.7 million kilowatts this summer which is 1.1 million kilowatts short of last summer's peak demand.
The government is asking households and businesses to cut electricity use by 15 percent compared with last year in order to avoid a massive blackout…."
Friday, July 01, 2011 07:59 +0900 (JST)
15% power cut required for large users on Friday
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/01_01.html
"Starting Friday, large-scale electricity users in eastern Japan are required by law to reduce their consumption by 15 percent compared with last summer's peak….
Factories and others using 500 kilowatts or more are required to cut their power use by 15 percent. The mandatory cuts will affect about 14,800 companies using Tokyo Electric and 3,700 using Tohoku Electric. Violators may face fines of up to 12,500 dollars….
The expected power shortages are prompting factories to shift their operations from weekdays to weekends. Some local governments are introducing daylight saving time.
These changes in working hours could widely affect the lifestyles of many throughout Japan."
Friday, July 01, 2011 01:40 +0900 (JST)"
The next two stories regard more contamination evacuations and the government's considerations of compensation guidelines.
113 households in Date City advised to evacuate
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/01_20.html
"The city of Date in Fukushima Prefecture sent 113 households written notices on Friday to recommend that they evacuate.
On Thursday, the central government designated the 113 households as areas with radioactive hotspots despite being outside the government-designated evacuation zone around the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
The cumulative radiation is expected to reach the government standard of 20 millisieverts a year in areas that include the 113 households in 4 districts in the Ryozenmachi area. Date City is about 50 kilometers northwest of the plant.
The city is asking the 113 households if they plan to evacuate and to return their answers by July 8th.
The city says it will provide subsidies for rental accommodation, adding that about 40 municipal housing units are available."
Friday, July 01, 2011 15:19 +0900 (JST)
Panel mulls damages for internal exposure
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/01_34.html
"A government panel is discussing whether to compensate people suffering internal exposure to radiation from the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant…."
Energy News carries this contamination story today.
Radioactive Tellurium-129m detected in seawater for first time – Short 34 day half-life indicates new leak
However the full story is found at Asahi news service (see below).
This report also contains some interesting information on the water decontamination system as well.
This is the first report since May 31 of the total volume of highly contaminated water being stored at Fukushima.
It is now at 121,000 (metric) tons, which is equal to 32 million US gallons of water.
If the decontamination system works at 80% capacity, it will take approximately 40 weeks to decontaminate all the water now stored.
If it continues to work at 55% capacity (as it is now), it would take 58 weeks to decontaminate all the water.
Of course these are best case scenarios and do not account for system breakdowns, new leaks, rainfall and so forth.
Nor does it include the contaminated water from Units 5 and 6.
TEPCO denies new leak at Fukushima plant
http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201106300191.html
2011/07/01
Radioactive tellurium-129m was detected for the first time in seawater near the water intake of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant's No. 1 reactor, Tokyo Electric Power Co., the plant operator, said June 29.
Seven hundred and twenty becquerels of the substance was detected per liter of water [720Bq/ltr] collected on June 4. This concentration is about 2.4 times safe levels.
Tellurium-129m has a short half-life of about 34 days. Its detection near the intake indicates the possibility of a new leak of radioactive water into the sea.
TEPCO, however, said a new leak was unlikely because there wasn't a sharp increase in other radioactive substances and because tellurium-129m was detected only at this single sampling point near the water intake.
Also on June 29, TEPCO announced that as of the day before about 121,000 tons of highly radioactive water was present at the No. 1 through No. 4 reactors at the plant, up 16,000 tons from the end of May.
TEPCO said that moving forward, the new water purification system will cleanse 3,000 tons of radioactive water a week.
The calculation is based on the system operating at 80 percent capacity. Actual utilization was only about 55 percent from June 17 to June 28."
The Watershed Sentinel is proud to share Nelle Maxey's Fukushima Updates prepared for the BC environmental community.
Every day, Nelle pours over the media and other reports of the status of the reactors at Fukushima, comparing figures and trying to make sense out of the conflicting reports.