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Fast Breeder Reactor Monju's Coolant Heating System Accidentally Switched Off

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Fast Breeder Reactor Monju's Coolant Heating System Accidentally Switched Off for 30 Minutes, No Effect on the Environment, Says JAEA

JAEA again, this time on the fast breeder reactor Monju that this agency "operates" (if it can be called "operating").

Coolant for Monju, sodium, is supposed to be kept at 200 degrees Celsius.

So what's the excuse this time?

Their manual was not well written!

Do you trust these people to run a nuclear reactor, not to mention fast breeder reactor that uses liquid metal that explodes on contact with water and ignites on contact with air?

Do you trust these people to export nuclear reactors all over the world, claiming the superior technology and know-hows, including know-hows from "lessons learned from the Fukushima I Nuke Plant accident"?

Good luck, Czech Republic. Good luck, India, Vietnam, and Turkey.

From Kyodo News (6/8/2013):
もんじゅ、ヒーター停止 ナトリウム一時保温できず

Monju's heater stopped, sodium wasn't kept warm enough temporarily

 日本原子力研究開発機構は7日、高速増殖炉原型炉もんじゅ(福井県敦賀市)で2日、電源設備の点検作業中に、2次系冷却材ナトリウムの温度を保つヒーターを誤って約30分間停止させたと発表した。手順書の不備による作業ミスなどが原因とみられる。

Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) announced on June 7 that at Fast Breeder Reactor Monju (Tsuruga City, Fukui Prefecture) the heater to keep the secondary coolant, sodium, warm was switched off accidentally for about 30 minutes during the inspection of electric systems on June 2. The cause is attributed to human error due to poor instructions in the manual.

 一部の配管で、ナトリウムは本来の200度から約40度下がったが、環境や原子炉への影響はなかったとしている。ナトリウムの融点は98度程度。

In certain part of the pipe, the temperature dropped 40 degrees Celsius from the normal 200 degrees Celsius, but there was no effect on the environment or the reactor, according to JAEA. Melting point of sodium is about 98 degrees Celsius.

 原子力規制庁や福井県、敦賀市には3日に通報した。公表が遅れた理由について原子力機構は「内規で通報が不要な軽微以下の事案だったため」としている。

JAEA reported to the Nuclear Regulatory Agency, Fukui Prefecture and Tsuruga City on June 3. The reason for the delay in reporting was, according to JAEA, because "it was the very minor incident that didn't require reporting, according to our internal [i.e. unofficial] rules".


So they blame the manual for the incident, but abide by the other, unofficial manual and decide they don't need to report it.

If they didn't notice the heater was off for another hour, they would have been in a big trouble (assuming the temperature drop is linear).

The footage of 1995 sodium leak accident is still there on the net, despite TV Asahi's copyright claim.

The Nuclear Regulatory Authority has already ordered JAEA to stop all the work for preparation for the restart, as 10,000 parts and equipments weren't maintained according to the schedule.

Again, good luck Czech Republic, India, Vietnam, Turkey. And many others, no doubt, now that Japan's Prime Minister Abe and President Francois Hollande of France have formed a formidable team to sell nuclear plants all over the world...

http://ex-skf.blogspot.fr/2013/06/fast-breeder-reactor-monjus-coolant.html?m=1

UK – Shocking increase in respiratory problems due to Nuclear incidents from Fukushima and The Budapest Medical Isotope Inst.

UK – Shocking increase in respiratory problems due to Nuclear incidents from Fukushima and The Budapest Medical Isotope Inst.

Posted by arclight2011

http://nuclear-news.net/2013/04/23/uk-shocking-increase-in-respirtory-problems-due-to-nuclear-incidents-from-fukushima-and-the-budapest-medical-isotope-inst/

英國 — — 呼吸問題從福島和布達佩斯醫用同位素研究所核事故觸目驚心增加
發表于 arclight2011

http://www.microsofttranslator.com/bv.aspx?from=&to=en&a=http://nuclear-news.net/2013/04/23/uk-shocking-increase-in-respirtory-problems-due-to-nuclear-incidents-from-fukushima-and-the-budapest-medical-isotope-inst/

281 Anti Nuke Gallery

Official 281 Anti Nuke Documentary teaser - Now on the festival circuit.
Controversial Japanese street artist, 281 Anti Nuke (Kenta Masuyama) is being called the Japanese Banksy. He splits his time between, Tokyo, London and NYC. His works have been featured in; The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, Financial Times and Giant Robot. While he has been interviewed by Japan Rolling Stones magazine and the french news network Channel 24 (All between August & September 2012).
His works bring a message. When you see his works, like Banksy, it usually takes you a few moments to realise the true message of his works. However they are always based around politics and real issues of the time. 
Ai WeiWei, Banksy and 281 Anti Nuke are all trying to do the same thing. Creating awareness of an issue, through art.
Interview which aired on Channel 24 in France

281 Anti Nucke GALLAERY


 http://www.281antinuke.com/gallery/

Lessons From Fukushima For San Onofre | KPBS.org

Lessons From Fukushima For San Onofre | KPBS.org

TEPCO finds groundwater contaminated with radioactive cesium

Title: TEPCO finds groundwater contaminated with radioactive cesium
Source: Kyodo
Date: June 3, 2013
TEPCO finds groundwater contaminated with radioactive cesium
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Monday that it has detected radioactive cesium in groundwater samples taken from the premises of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex, reversing an earlier announcement that any contamination was negligible.
The announcement came as TEPCO is trying to secure the understanding of local fishermen over the dumping in the Pacific Ocean of groundwater that has been pumped out from wells at the site [...]
http://enenews.com/kyodo-tepco-reverses-position-admits-fukushima-plants-groundwater-is-contaminated-with-radioactive-cesium-wanted-to-dump-it-into-pacific-ocean

Fukushima Radiation Contamination Map Pacific Ocean 10YR Model

Fukushima Pacific Sea Radiation Contaminated Map 10YR Model

福島太平洋海輻射污染的地圖 10年 圖像



http://thegic.org/video/10-fukushima-pacificsea-radiation-contaminatedmap-in10ys#ixzz2KLqOS5jW


 By the nuclear catastrophe at Fukushima, large quantities of radioactive material were released. A major part of it came through the atmosphere, but partly also by direct discharge into the Pacific Ocean, including long-lived isotopes, such as the highly soluble in seawater cesium-137. Using detailed computer simulations, researchers at the GEOMAR | Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel investigates the long-term expansion. "In our models, we have placed great emphasis on a realistic representation of finer details of the flows," said team leader, Prof. Claus Böning, "because the material spread not only through the main current, the Kuroshio, but mainly by intense and highly variable eddy dominated. "
"May have been through this strong turbulence, the radioactive water spreads already has nearly half the North Pacific According to our model calculations," said graduate oceanographer Erik Behrens, lead author of the international scientific journal "Environmental Research Letters" published study. "In addition, winter storms have mixed the water to depths of 500 meters." The attendant dilution in the model bill provides for a rapid decrease of cesium concentration.
The effect of the wide ocean mixing is particularly evident when comparing the model simulated the time course of radiation levels in the Pacific with the situation in the Baltic Sea. "That was in March and April 2011 in the Pacific flowed amount of radioactivity at least three times as large as the one registered in 1986 as a result of the Chernobyl disaster in the Baltic Sea," said Boening. "Nevertheless, we simulated the radiation levels in the Pacific are already lower than the values ​​that we have today, 26 years after Chernobyl, in the Baltic Sea will."
After the simulation model should spur of the first strip about contaminated water in the fall of 2013, the Hawaiian Islands, reaching two to three years later the North American coast. Unlike at the sea surface floating debris, which are also distributed by the wind, the radioactive water is transported solely by the currents beneath the ocean surface. The other concomitant dilution is slow now, but clearly, as the oceanic eddy in the eastern Pacific is much weaker than in the Kuroshio region. Therefore, even for years, the radiation levels in the North Pacific, significantly higher than those before the disaster.
Would be very interested Claus Böning us his team on a direct comparison measurements. "Then we could immediately see whether we are right even if the absolute values ​​of the concentrations," says Prof. Böning. Such data are currently available for the Kiel scientists but not available.

2,500 nuclear waste shipments through town each year

 

Posted on31 May 2013.  

(Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly reported that 25,000 nuclear waste shipments go through Pahrump each year. That figure was for a 10-year period.)

By Selwyn Harris

Pahrump Town Manager Bill Kohbarger said he had two different impressions before and after a special presentation on the transportation of radioactive nuclear waste through the heart of Pahrump.
On Tuesday evening, Nye County Nuclear Waste Repository Office consultant Dr. Michael Voegele provided an in-depth look at the logistics involved in transporting waste to the Nevada National Security Site NNSS .
Much to Kohbarger’s surprise, he said the presentation gave him a renewed reason to believe that such transports are relatively safe.
http://pvtimes.com/news/25000-nuclear-waste-shipments-through-town-each-year/

 Selwyn Harris / Pahrump Valley Times - This unidentified truck was recently spotted driving through town. Signs indicate it is carrying radioactive material. Similar shipments, about 10 each, travel through Pahrump on their way to the test site for storage.

Effects of Nuclear Radiation on the Human Body

http://www.millennium-ark.net/News_Files/NBC/radiation.human.body.htmlHere’s a look at the effect of different doses of radiation on the human body after acute, whole-body exposure. Rad - radiation absorbed dose - is the amount of radiation that bombards a body
(original http://standeyo.com/News_Files/NBC/radiation.human.body.html)

More than 2,000 rad:
Death is a certainty. At doses above 5,000 rad, the central nervous system (brain and muscles) can no longer control the body functions, including breathing and blood circulation. Everything happens very quickly. Death occurs within days or hours. Nothing can be done, and medical care is for comfort only.

1,000 to 2,000 rad:
The probability of death increases to 100% within one to two 2000 rad weeks. The initial symptoms appear immediately. A few days later, things get very bad, very quickly since the gastrointestinal system is destroyed. Once the GI system ceases to function, nothing can be done, and medical care is for comfort only.


150 to 1,100 rad:
Severe blood changes will be noted and symptoms appear immediately. Approximately two weeks later, some of those exposed may die. At 300-500 rad, up to one half of the people exposed will die within 30 days without intensive medical attention. Death is due to the destruction of the blood forming organs. Without white blood cells, infection is likely. At the lower end of the dose range, isolation, antibiotics, and transfusions may provide the bone marrow with time to generate new blood cells, and full recovery is possible. At the upper end of the dose range, a bone marrow transplant may be required to produce new blood cells.

50 to 150 rad:
Slight blood changes including temporary drop in production of new blood cells will be noted and likely symptoms of nausea, fatigue and vomiting for one or two days.

5 to 50 rad:
Slight blood changes may be detected by medical evaluation

Less than 5 rad:
No immediate observable effects

(original )http://standeyo.com/News_Files/NBC/radiation.human.body.html

Pic#2 http://zombie.wikia.com/wiki/ZOMBIES_AND_RADIATION
source: http://www.millennium-ark.net/News_Files/NBC/radiation.human.body.html



SRNL, PNNL respond to Fukushima cleanup challenge

The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.
For Dr. Jeff Griffin of DOE's Savannah River National Laboratory, the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station represents “almost every remediation challenge we’ve seen in the Environmental Management complex, all within three and a half square kilometers.”

Griffin, SRNL’s Associate Laboratory Director for Environmental Management, along with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Wayne Johnson, are leading a joint SRNL/PNNL effort to provide the Tokyo Electric Power Company – owner of the tsunami-damaged plant – with recommendations related to many of the highest priority technical issues associated with the initial cleanup process in the aftermath of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

SRNL and PNNL have a contract with TEPCO that grew out of a series of discussions and visits in 2011-12. Most recently, Griffin and Johnson and a joint technical team visited Japan in late October to get an additional look at conditions at the facility, and to begin to develop recommendations in seven overall areas. The SRNL/PNNL collaboration offers a portal for TEPCO to access broad science and technology talent made available throughout the entire DOE national laboratory system.

The seven primary areas of emphasis are:

Control of groundwater—Fukushima Daiichi needs effective strategies for protection of the area’s groundwater resources and the ocean, and treatment of contaminated water that has accumulated at the site. Both PNNL and SRNL possess tools and techniques for groundwater contamination control, monitoring, and safety assessment and evaluation. For example, the Subsurface Transport Over Multiple Phases (STOMP) computer model provides multidimensional analysis capabilities for modeling subsurface flow and transport phenomena.

Grouting—Grout is a promising option to stop water leakage that’s occurring between reactor and turbine buildings at Fukushima Daiichi’s reactor units, and could be a key step toward facilitating decommissioning of units 1-4. SRNL has extensive experience in grout development and also has operating experience with grouting components reactors and other facilities.

Sample analysis and laboratory capability—A sample analysis laboratory—or perhaps multiple laboratories—sited adjacent to Fukushima-Daiichi, is needed for sampling tasks associated with radiological waste processing and fuel debris characterization. Because of various challenges at the site, an innovative approach for establishing laboratory capabilities is required. SRNL and PNNL are known for their analytical chemistry capabilities and can provide the Fukushima site with both methods development and specification of equipment and facilities spaces.

Waste treatment and disposition—Solutions are needed for the handling, treatment and disposition of multiple radioactive waste types with varying contamination levels. PNNL’s support to cleanup at the Hanford Site’s K Basins has led to methods for the effective retrieval, processing, containerization and storage of damaged spent fuel and sludge—knowledge that’s transferable to Fukushima Daiichi. Also, PNNL’s GIS-based “Phoenix” tool, developed over the past year, offers significant advances in the identification and inventorying of waste and waste sites, and may have applications for this activity. Similarly, SRNL has developed rapid waste composition analysis techniques that should facilitate waste characterization efforts at Fukushima. SRNL has also developed performance assessment methodologies that identify key radioactive species as they relate to environmental risk to support cost efficient waste disposition.

Water treatment—Contaminated water treatment at the site is a significant challenge, as large volumes of process water have accumulated over the past 18 months. Cesium removal efforts have been successful, but because of the presence of other radionuclides, the process water must be stored until additional treatment steps are brought online. Another concern is the presence of sodium chloride in the water. SRNL possesses a rotary micro-filter technology that, combined with a salt crystallization plant, allows for the selective extraction of salt from contaminated water. PNNL also offers capabilities that can simulate contaminated water characteristics, facilitating the testing and creation of water treatment processes and technologies.

Fuel debris—Fukushima Daiichi is in particular need of fuel debris treatment technologies. The debris will present significant challenges for decommissioning of reactors at the site. Both SRNL and PNNL possess insights into fuel canister/container technologies for broken fuels and storage, and also can apply at Fukushima Daiichi the knowledge gained through Three Mile Island’s fuel debris treatment and storage activities. Additionally, both labs draw upon expertise gained in cleanup and management of fuel basins.

Community revitalization—The accident at the site resulted in the evacuation of residents within 20 kilometers. The remediation of the Fukushima Daiichi area will be important to enable residents to return and to enable the revitalization of the local communities. Both SRNL and PNNL possess extensive economic revitalization and stakeholder engagement expertise and practical experience that can help to reinvigorate the region around the plant site.

A formal report to TEPCO on recommendations in these areas is expected after the first of the year.

“It’s been particularly gratifying to see the tremendous progress being made despite the very difficult operating environment the workers face on a daily basis,” said Johnson, Division Director, Earth Systems Science, for PNNL. “Being able to bring to bear our collective waste management and environmental remediation capabilities and experiences on such an important global challenge is both satisfying and rewarding.”

“This is a unique arrangement for national labs to provide this level of international assistance,” added Griffin. “From our experience at our respective sites, we and PNNL have a wealth of relevant knowledge about possible options, and an important part of our mission as national laboratories is the sharing of that knowledge within the global community in what is clearly an unprecedented situation.”
Submitted by DOE’s Savannah River National Laboratory