Update # 27 – July 7, 2011
The first story concerns the nitrogen injection scheduled for Unit 3 MOX fuel reactor.
Note that workers exposure to normally accepted limits of 100 millisieverts annually would occur in 2 hours in Unit 3. This is the problem.
So much for lifting the emergency evacuation orders.
"Nitrogen injection could be delayed at Fukushima"
The operator of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi power plant is having trouble injecting nitrogen gas into one of the reactors to prevent a hydrogen explosion.
Tokyo Electric Power Company on Wednesday examined the No.3 reactor to see if it can connect injection pipes to the containment vessel.
A camera-mounted robot was used for the operation because high radioactive levels are preventing workers from remaining in the reactor building for long periods.
But TEPCO failed to confirm the situation because the robot couldn't reach the necessary part of the reactor.
Radiation levels as high as about 50 millisieverts per hour were registered in the area.
The reading means a worker would be exposed to radiation on par with the government-set 250-millisievert safety limit in 5 hours.
TEPCO is now considering sending personnel or a robot into the reactor building to conduct another survey. The new survey would happen on Friday at the earliest.
There is a growing likelihood that the planned nitrogen injection will be delayed.
Thursday, July 07, 2011 12:58 +0900 (JST)"
Hidden behind the headlines of the next 3 NHK articles, is the fact that the decontamination system is still not working to expected ratings. The newest article is shown first. All of the reactors are above 100°C and will not be considered stable until they drop well below that temperature. The original plan called for stabilization by this September, then was changed to January 2012, then to March 2012.
Also note the final sentence of the first story where TEPCO admits for the first time that more water means more radioactive steam release. I've inserted more comments in brackets […] in the stories.
"Reactor cooling to be accelerated in August"
The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant says a new cooling system is now working well so it will accelerate the cooling [can use higher volumes of water in cooling] of the plant's reactors in August. The system, which recycles decontaminated radioactive wastewater, suffered a series of problems at its launch in late June.
But Tokyo Electric Power Company says it has been working almost as planned [see next story] since the start of this month.
The utility says that with radioactive water still leaking from 3 reactors, it had to limit the amount of wastewater used in the system. The leaks mean that the level of toxic water already accumulated is not decreasing.
The utility says if the water decontaminator keeps working properly [but it's not], the water level will drop over one meter below the risk of overflowing by next month. That in turn would allow it to ease restrictions on the amount of water used to cool the reactors.
But the company is still concerned about the extent of damage to the reactor containment vessels. Injecting more water into the damaged vessels could release more radioactive steam into the environment.
Thursday, July 07, 2011 07:57 +0900 (JST)"
I suppose NHK hopes folks just scan the headlines?
Tokyo Electric Power Company says its system for recycling highly-radioactive water at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is operating slightly below target at 80 percent capacity.
The company says it will try to stabilize operation at 80 percent, rather than raising the target to 90 percent as planned.
The process of decontaminating and re-circulating wastewater to cool the damaged reactors began on June 27th.
It was disrupted 3 times last week, partly due to human error. Filtering of wastewater was just 55 percent of capacity at the start. The power company must stabilize the cooling system to get the nuclear crisis under control.
Wednesday, July 06, 2011 12:41 +0900 (JST)"
Two contamination stories at NHK:
"Tokyo parents demand safe school lunch"
Someone should tell Harper about this story since he has lifted Canada's ban on imports of Japanese foodstuffs. (I expressed my outrage to my MP when this happened in mid-June.)
Japan's nuclear crisis affects farm exports
Japan's exports of farm, marine and forest products in May posted a year-on-year plunge of more than 16 percent, due to the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant.
Much ado in Japan regarding the introduction of "stress-testing" for nuclear plants, to the point that the Minister who made the announcement says he will resign in the future. It seems the local politicians are embarrassed by okaying re-starts in their prefectures and then being blind-sided by the government announcement. I note there are no stories of the public protesting the stress testing! I've reprinted only 3 of the stories. Note the slow pace in the EU on the evaluations. This may be another reason why politicians concerned.
Background on nuclear stress tests
Genkai mayor retracts plant restart consent
Govt defends decision to introduce stress test
The following story on media coverage of Fukushima is from FAIR: Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting. FAIR is a "national media watch group" which "has been offering well-documented criticism of media bias and censorship since 1986" in the USA.
Industry Views Prevail on Radiation Risks
Health experts unheard on health effects of Fukushima
U.S. media coverage of the nuclear disaster in Japan contains vanishingly little serious discussion of the human health risks posed by the radiation escaping from the Fukushima nuclear facility.
And, finally, a more international overview of media coverage on Fukushima:
http://billtotten.wordpress.com/2011/07/06/fukushima-cover-up-unravels/
Most, if not all, of the stories have been covered in these Updates; but the article ties them all together nicely.
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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.