Fukushima

[jdodson]

@mad scientist

Awesome video. Looks like it was from the late 80's? Wonder if Galen is still alive and what has happened since then. I dont know if hes telling the truth but he seems sincere to me. Not to mention it would make perfect sense.

Clean nuclear radiation would NEVER be allowed. Even if it were real.

[Allen Burgess]

Flying Containment Dome.

Check this article out from June 26th, 2011:


An idea for a containment dome | The Japan Times Online

[blackchisel97]

Almost a crime...or premeditated murder

Workers at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant were ordered to cover their dosimeters with lead plates to keep radiation doses low enough to continue working under dangerous conditions, the Asahi Shimbun has learned.

The man in charge, a senior official of a subcontractor of Tokyo Electric Power Co., warned them that they would lose their jobs–and any chance of employment at other nuclear plants–if they failed to comply.

A number of the workers explained the process in detail. And one of them provided The Asahi Shimbun with a recording of a meeting the Build-Up foreman had with defiant workers on the night of Dec. 2

He ordered the workers to draw lines on the plate and cut out pieces using special scissors. The workers then used vises and hammers to reshape the pieces so that they would cover the front, sides and bottom of their personal dosimeters.

Another worker gave his opinion: “I think this is almost a crime.”

The foreman retorted: “Did I ever coerce you? I am just saying, ‘Please do it if you can convince yourself to do it for your own sake.’”

Once inside the Build-Up vehicle, each worker would be given a lead cover. The workers were to rip their protection suits, cover their personal dosimeters with the lead sheaths and cover the tears in their protective suits with tape.

“Make sure nobody sees what you are doing,” he told each worker. “Did you understand? You’ll do so, won’t you?”

Another interesting quote from the foreman: “You can’t live by nuclear plants around the year unless you take care of your own radiation doses.”
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An executive from a Tokyo Electric Power Co. subcontractor tried to force its workers at the crisis-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant to cover their radiation monitoring meters with plates made of lead in an apparent attempt to underreport radiation exposure, sources close to the matter said Saturday.

The executive in his 50s, who works for a company based in Fukushima Prefecture, told around 10 plant workers to attach the plates to the alarm pocket dosimeters that the utility known as TEPCO had provided them with to monitor their radiation exposure, the sources said. The ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has started investigating the matter.

The workers were hired for about four months through last March to wrap pipes at a water treatment facility with heat insulators.
Source - Kyodo News.

Fukushima workers were ordered to shield their dosimeter with lead covers to make the integral dose look lower than actual.

Some of the workers admitted they covered the dosimeters with lead cases in the interview with Asahi newspaper.

On 12/1/2011, 10 of the workers were ordered to shield the dosimeters called APD, but 3 of them rejected it. In the evening of 12/2/2011, those workers and 3 managers had a discussion at the hotel, where they used as lodging house. The workers recorded the conversation by mobile phone to publish the fact that they were to shield their dosimeter. The manager (54) who gave them order is denying the contents of recorded conversation. He’s denying that he ordered them to shield or some of the workers actually covered it with lead case.

Source - Asahi Shimbun.

NHK WORLD: In a telephone inquiry by his boss on Saturday, the executive reportedly explained that he made 9 workers use lead covers once. He said he did so after he was frightened by an alarm that warned of a sudden rise in radiation while he was inspecting the plant. He told the president that he was sorry.

Reuters: A Tokyo Electric Power spokesman told Reuters on Saturday the company was aware from a separate contractor that Build-Up made the lead shields, but that they were never used at the nuclear plant.

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[mbrownn]

This is shocking

[blackchisel97]

BBC News - 'Severe abnormalities' found in Fukushima butterflies

Potassium iodide tablets being distributed in Pa. - Businessweek

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[blackchisel97]

More than a Dozen Nuclear Plants Near Hurricane Sandy’s Path Brace for Impact

October 27, 2012
Source: Washington’s Blog
Bloomberg reports:

“Because of the size of [Hurricane Sandy], we could see an impact to coastal and inland plants,” Neil Sheehan, a spokesman based in Philadelphia for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said by phone today. “We will station inspectors at the sites if we know they could be directly impacted.”

The NRC met earlier today to discuss the necessary precautions to take for the storm, Sheehan said. Plants must begin to shut if wind speeds exceed certain limits, he said.

As of 2 p.m. New York time, Sandy had winds of 75 miles (121 kilometers) per hour, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami. It was about 430 miles south-southeast of Charleston, South Carolina, moving north at 7 mph.

The current Hurricane Center track calls for the system to come ashore just south of Delaware Bay on Oct. 30.

Reuters provides a list:

The following lists the nuclear reactors and utilities in Sandy’s potential path.

More than a Dozen Nuclear Plants Near Hurricane Sandy’s Path Brace for Impact Plant

While we don’t foresee any problems, the risk of nuclear accident in the U.S. is actually much greater than it was in Japan before Fukushima.

For example, fuel pools in the United States store an average of ten times more radioactive fuel than stored at Fukushima, and have virtually no safety features.

Let’s review the list and look at examples of problems experienced by the nuclear plants in Hurricane Sandy’s path:

Brunswick experienced a reactor coolant system leak last year

Surry has recently been plagued by problems with the coolant system, valves and damage from a tornado

North Anna leaked tritium last year after an earthquake shook the plant and shifted around a gigantic radioactive storage cask

Calvert Cliffs was knocked offline by the last hurricane

Salem has been riddled with problems with security, turbines problems and other issues.

Hope Creek has suffered security problems, has the same design as the Fukushima Daiichi Unit 1, has “some of the same issues with above-ground storage of spent fuel rods as Fukushima” and “was designed to withstand certain major weather events but we need to look at the potential impacts of more extreme events, especially … sea level rise and flooding”

Peach Bottom purportedly has a defective design and has been plagued by various problems

Limerick has suffered electrical and other issues

Three Mile Island suffered another leak in the cooling system last month

Susquehanna has been hit with one problem after another

Oyster Creek has been plagued with electrical and other problems

Indian Point is widely recognized as one of the nation’s worst nuclear plants. If Indian Point melted down, it could close New York City for years, and cost half a trillion dollars or more

Millstone’s vulnerability is shown by the fact that it was shut down due to warm seawater

Pilgrim has numerous structural problems. And see this. Pilgrim’s spent fuel pools contain more radioactive cesium than released by Fukushima, Chernobyl and all nuclear bomb tests combined

Seabrook has had problems with corrosion, computers and a host of other issues

Vermont Yankee – which has around 10 times more spent fuel rods than any of the individual Fukushima reactors – leaked tritium

It’s not surprising that there have been problems at all of these nuclear plants. After all, the U.S. has 23 reactors which are virtually identical to Fukushima. The archaic uranium reactor designs developed more than 40 years ago are only good for making bombs.

Most American nuclear reactors are old. They are aging poorly, and are in very real danger of melting down. And yet the NRC is relaxing safety standards at the old plants. And see this.

Indeed, while many of the plants are already past the service life that the engineers built them for, the NRC is considering extending licenses another 80 years, which former chairman of the Tennessee Valley Authority and now senior adviser with Friends of the Earth’s nuclear campaign David Freeman calls “committing suicide”.

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[mbrownn]

Keep us updated if anything happens.

[blackchisel97]

Alert: Emergency Declared at NJ Nuclear Plant from Hurricane Sandy — Power lost, ocean water rising — Concern about cooling of reactor and spent fuel pool.

The nation’s oldest nuclear power plant, already out of service for scheduled refueling, was put on alert late Monday after waters from Superstorm Sandy rose 6 feet above sea level. [...]

High water levels at Oyster Creek [...] prompted safety officials to declare an “unusual event” around 7 p.m. About two hours later, the situation was upgraded to an “alert,” the second-lowest in a four-tiered warning system*.

The plant’s owner, Exelon Corp., said power was also disrupted in the station’s switchyard, but backup diesel generators were providing stable power, with more than two weeks of fuel on hand. [...]

There is NO backup diesel generator for the spent fuel pool at Oyster Creek, which means there is no way to cool spent fuel pool when power is out. All nuclear fuel is in pool. Non in the reactor.

Title: U.S. Exelon declares alert at New Jersey reactor due to storm
Source: Reuters
Date: Oct 29, 2012 11:58pm EDT

[...] The NRC spokesman said if the flood waters contined to rise, it could affect the reactor’s service water pumps, which are used for shut-down cooling and to cool the spent-fuel pool.

Since the plant was already shut for refueling, the NRC spokesman said the company could use water from the fire hose to cool the spent-fuel pool if necessary. [...] - Does this sounds familiar?

UPDATE: Reuters: Just 6 more inches of water could submerge NJ nuclear plant's pump to cool spent fuel pool -- 25 hours to boiling without more coolant.

UPDATE: NBC: Water continues to rise in area near New Jersey nuclear plant under flood emergency.

More Nuclear Plants Affected: NY’s Indian Point reactor shut down — Storm causes condenser problem at Pennsylvania plant

Reuters, 2:53a ET:

[Exelon spokesman David Tillman] said another Exelon reactor at the Limerick facility in Pennsylvania was reduced to 91 percent power after Sandy caused a problem with the condenser.

AP, 4:26a ET:

New York’s Indian Point nuclear power plant partly shut down as superstorm Sandy hit [...] One of the units at Indian Point, a plant about 45 miles north of New York City, was shut down around 10:45 p.m. because of external electrical grid issues said Entergy Corp., which operates the plant. The company said there was no risk to employees or the public [...]

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[mbrownn]

Not good, lets hope they get it under control

[blackchisel97]

Not good, lets hope they get it under control

Flood waters rise above threshold at NJ nuclear plant — May be forced to use fire system to cool fuel rods — FEMA: “No imminent threat of releases” — High tide happening now.

Oyster Creek may use fire system to cool spent fuel rods

[...] a further rise to 7 feet could submerge the service water pump motor that is used to cool the water in the spent fuel pool, potentially forcing it to use emergency water supplies from the in-house fire suppression system to keep the rods from overheating.

On Tuesday, an NRC spokesman said the levels reached a peak of 7.4 feet — apparently above the threshold. As of 6:10 a.m. EDT waters were at 6.5 feet, with the next high tide at 11:45 a.m. He said the company had moved a portable pump to the water intake structure as a precaution, but has not needed to use it. [...]

“Right now there’s no imminent threat of releases. There’s no protective actions around the plant,” Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate said on the Today Show. [...]

Exelon spokesman David Tillman [...] said he did not know whether the service water system was operational last night. [...]

Reuters: Just 6 more inches of water could submerge NJ nuclear plant’s pump to cool spent fuel pool — 25 hours to boiling without more coolant — New footage of flooding nearby.

[...] water levels at the plant rose by more than 6.5 feet, potentially affecting the pumps that circulate water through the plant, an NRC spokesman said.

[...] a further rise to 7 feet could submerge the service water pump motor that is used to cool the water in the spent fuel pool.

The spokesman said the company could use water from a fire hose to cool the pool if necessary. The used uranium rods in the pool could cause the water to boil within 25 hours without additional coolant; in an extreme scenario the rods could overheat, risking the eventual release of radiation.

Now 5 Nuke Plants with Problems from Sandy: New Jersey’s Salem reactor shuts down as water pumps “not available” — Trouble with both units at New York’s 9 Mile Point — Also Oyster Creek, Indian Point, Limerick.

Salem Nuclear Power Plant on Delaware Bay in southern New Jersey, was manually shut down just after 1 a.m. Tuesday morning “when four of the station’s six circulating water pumps were no longer available due to weather impacts from Hurricane Sandy,” according to plant co-owner PSEG Nuclear.
At the Nine Mile Point plant near Oswego, New York, in what operators say “is likely a storm-related event,” unit 1 shut down automatically around 9 p.m. Monday because of an electrical fault, while unit 2 experienced a power loss from an incoming power line because of the same fault. An emergency diesel generator started automatically to supply power to unit 2.

More Nuclear Plants Affected: NY’s Indian Point reactor shut down — Storm causes condenser problem at Pennsylvania plant.
New York’s Indian Point nuclear power plant partly shut down as superstorm Sandy hit [...] One of the units at Indian Point, a plant about 45 miles north of New York City, was shut down around 10:45 p.m. because of external electrical grid issues said Entergy Corp., which operates the plant. The company said there was no risk to employees or the public [...]

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[blackchisel97]

one more thing...

Will Sandy Go Nuclear? « Just Wondering – Alternative News and Opinions

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[blackchisel97]

Current Event Notification Report October 30, 2012

Notification Time: 10/30/2012 at 4:10 [ET]
Event Time: 10/30/2012 at 1:09 [EDT]

“Salem Unit 1 was operating at 100% reactor power when a loss of 4 condenser circulators required a manual reactor trip in accordance with station procedures. The cause of the 4 circulators being removed from service was due to a combination of high river level and detritus from Hurricane Sandy’s transit.

“All control rods inserted. A subsequent loss of the 2 remaining circulators required transition of decay heat removal from condenser steam dumps to the 11-14 MS10s (atmospheric steam dump). Decay heat removal is from the 11/12 Aux Feed Pumps to all 4 steam generators via the 11-14 MS10s. [...]

No wonder radiationnetwork showed highest cpm readings in the country this AM on geiger near NY NJ CT! (The storm is spinning that steam dump to the NW and over the Great Lakes to be wafted eastwards by the jetstream.)
Normal reading about 30, now it is showing over 70.

Aside from widespread power outages and flooding that is reaching doorsteps, residents stranded in Seaside Heights, N.J., are worried about another danger: ruptured gas lines.

Locals told “Nightline” anchor Terry Moran that they had been told there is a concern that the slightest spark could set the town ablaze.

Moran, who canoed to the beach because the storm surge from Sandy was so high, said he could smell gas and oil coming from the standing flood waters .

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[blackchisel97]

Flood waters receeding at NJ’s Oyster Creek nuclear plant

Waters have receded at Exelon Corp.’s (EXC) Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in New Jersey, the company said Wednesday.

[...] The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission requires the company to issue an alert when flood waters rise to a certain level, but the NRC has said the plant remained in a safe condition during the worst of the storm.

[...] Exelon said the plant lost off-site power during the storm and switched on two locomotive-sized backup diesel generators. The company said power was restored Wednesday and it is investigating the cause of the power loss.

Gas main explosion in NJ town suspected — Flames shooting up from sand, huge fire — 15 miles from nuclear plant — Crews unable to access area

A huge fire was burning Wednesday morning in a New Jersey shore town that was hit hard by Hurricane Sandy.

Flames were burning all over the cut-off barrier island of Mantoloking. There was a large cluster of flames and smaller fires spread out from it, with some flames shooting directly out of the sand.

Authorities believed a gas main may have exploded and quickly spread across the island. The small town, which sits between the Atlantic Ocean and Barnegat Bay, suffered severe damage during the storm.

Several homes were destroyed and continued to burn. It was unclear if the homes were destroyed by the fire or explosion or before it.

Firefighters could not reach the blaze due to storm damage on the roads leading to Mantoloking from the mainland.

There are also ruptured gas lines several miles to the south of Oyster Creek: Ruptured gas lines in areas near New Jersey's Oyster Creek nuclear plant -- ABC: Concern town could be set ablaze, reporter smells oil.

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[mbrownn]

[...] The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission requires the company to issue an alert when flood waters rise to a certain level, but the NRC has said the plant remained in a safe condition during the worst of the storm.

Bovine excrement. Obviously the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has degrees in agricultural mammary. How can the plant be in a "safe" condition when the main cooling system has lost its primary power supply? Its a coverup.

[blackchisel97]

Tepco has been injecting nitrogen gas into suppression chamber of reactor1 since 10/23/2012.

To avoid the risk of explosion, Tepco is to inject nitrogen gas to suppression chamber of reactor1 for a month)
However, the hydrogen gas concentration in PCV1 had been increasing from 10/23 to 10/30/2012.
The highest reading was 1.47 vol% (System A) and 1.48 vol% (System B) of 10/30/2012, which are 7 times much as 10/23/2012.

They are sill measuring Krypton in reactor1 to suggest fissioning is still on-going, and melted fuel must be still somewhere in reactor1, 2, and 3.
All they can do is just to keep giving water. No solution. Nobody can grab the fuel out. The coolant system is so provisional, it will have more and more problems and it may take many years to decommission the plant.
At this moment, billions of Bq of radiation is still leaking to the environment every single day. Even without explosion, leaked radiation will be accumulated in human body.

Nuclear industry publishes coffee table book featuring images of butterflies at nuke plants

The Hindu : Arts / Books : Beautiful and harmless in nuclear plants

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