No Nuke Reactor Operating in Japan on May 6, First in 42 Years

Reactor 3 at Tomari Nuclear Power Plant in Hokkaido will be shut down for the scheduled maintenance around midnight on May 5.

Tomari's Reactor 3 is a Pressurized Water Reactor that started operation in 2009. Tomari Nuclear Power Plant is one of the newer nuclear power plants in Japan; the first reactor started operation in 1989. Reactor 3 plans to start using MOX fuel, but a third-party investigation revealed that the plant operator Hokkaido Electric (HEPCO) had used "shills" in one of the "town hall meetings" for the local residents in July last year to speak favorably of and promote the use of MOX fuel (according to the company announcement in October last year).

Hokkaido's governor Harumi Takahashi is a former career bureaucrat in the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, and she wants to restart the nuclear plant as soon as possible.

From Mainichi Shinbun (5/4/2012):

泊原発３号機:５日に停止で国内稼働ゼロに　４２年ぶり

Reactor 3 at Tomari Nuke Plant stops on May 5, no nuke plant operating in Japan for the first time in 42 years

国内の原発５０基の中で唯一、運転している北海道電力泊原発３号機（北海道泊村、出力９１．２万キロワット）が５日夜、定期検査のため停止する。国内の原発がすべて止まるのは７０年、当時２基しかなかった原発が検査のため同時停止して以来４２年ぶり。政府は、関西電力大飯原発３、４号機（福井県おおい町）を再稼働させたい考えだが、周辺自治体の理解を得られるめどは立っていない。電力需要の高まる夏を「原発ゼロ」で迎える可能性も出ている。

Reactor 3 at Tomari Nuclear Power Plant operated by Hokkaido Electric (located on Tomari-mura in Hokkaido, 912 MW), the only operating reactor among 50 reactors in Japan, will stop on May 5 night due to the scheduled maintenance. The last time all the nuclear reactors in Japan stopped was 42 years ago in 1970, when there were only two reactors and they stopped at the same time for inspection. The national government wants to re-start Reactors 3 and 4 at Ooi Nuclear Power Plant operated by Kansai Electric (located in Ooi-cho in Fukui Prefecture), but it is not certain whether the local municipalities agree to the restart. There is a possibility that Japan will enter summer with high electricity demand with "zero nuclear reactors operating".

北電によると、泊３号機は検査に向け、４月２８日から徐々に出力を落としてきた。５日午後５時ごろ、核分裂を抑えるための制御棒を原子炉に入れ始め、同１１時ごろ発電を止める。６日午前２時ごろ制御棒の挿入を終え、原子炉が停止。７日午後、炉内の水温が１００度未満に下がる冷温停止状態になる見通しだ。

According to HEPCO, Reactor 3 has been gradually lowering the output since April 28 in preparation for the inspection. At about 5PM on May 5, the control rods will be gradually inserted in the reactor to stop the nuclear fission, and power generation will stop at about 11PM. At about 2AM on May 6, the control rods will be fully inserted to stop the reactor. In the afternoon on May 7, the cold shutdown will be achieved whereby the temperature of water inside the reactor drops below 100 degrees Celsius.

The number of nuclear reactors in Japan is now 50, after four reactors (1, 2, 3 and 4) at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant have been formally declared for decommissioning.

Kansai Electric has been warning the planned blackouts if Ooi Nuclear Power Plant is not restarted by summer. Anti-nuclear net citizens are saying, "Bring it on!"

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Radioactive Debris: Tomakomai City in Hokkaido Says "Yes!" to Accepting and Burning

Goodbye Hokkaido. Goodbye Japan, on its time-tested path of self-destruction.

The Tomakomai City committee for safety unanimously voted down the petition asking the city not to accept the debris. What's next, residents?

From Tomakomai Minpo (12/8/2011):

苫小牧市議会の安全・安心のまちづくりに関する特別委員会（西野茂樹委員長）は８日開かれ、東日本大震災に伴う災害廃棄物（がれき）の受け入れの拒否を求める陳情を、全会一致で不採択とした。これで市に続き、市議会としてもがれき受け入れに協力する姿勢を鮮明にした形になった。

The special committee for safety and security of the Tomakomai City Assembly was held on December 8, and the committee voted down unanimously the petition not to accept the disaster debris from the March 11 earthquake/tsunami. The City Assembly thus made it clear that it supports the city government's willingness to accept the disaster debris.

　質疑では、陳情の趣旨が基準に関係なく受け入れ拒否を求めていることに、菊地一己副市長は「基本的に考え方は違うとの印象だ」と述べ、あくまでも市は安全安心を条件に受け入れる基本姿勢を強調した。

In the question and answer session, Vice Mayor Kazumi Kikuchi said about the petition that called for refusal of the debris regardless of the radiation standard, "Basically, my impression is that we have different ideas." He emphasized the city's position that it will accept the debris as long as it is safe and secure.

　理事者側は、環境省が広域処理のガイドライン（指針）で示した放射性セシウム濃度１キログラム当り１００ベクレル以下であれば、放射性物質として扱わないとする基準について「（放射能濃度が）全くゼロはあり得ない。最終的には１００ベクレルが廃棄物処理法の中でもあり、一つの基準になるのでは」と答弁した。

Board of directors [a panel of experts??] commented on the standard in the wide-area disposal guideline set by the Ministry of the Environment that if the density is 100 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium and below, it is not considered as radioactive material. "It is not possible to have zero radiation [in the debris]. Ultimately, 100 becquerels/kg [of radioactive cesium] could be used as one standard, since it is already specified in the waste disposal law."

　委員からは、１００ベクレル以下のがれきの焼却灰を埋め立てした時の影響に関する質問があった。理事者側は、苫小牧市内２カ所の焼却炉は飛灰と主灰が混ざって出てくる構造であることを説明。その上で「（ガイドラインの数値より）苫小牧では実際にはもう少し小さくなると考えている。埋め立て後の大気への影響はないと考える」と答え、基準内であれば大気への影響はないとの見解を示した。

The committee members asked about the effect on the environment when the ashes from the debris with 100 becquerels/kg or less of radioactive cesium are buried. Board of directors explained that the structure of the incinerators at two locations in Tomakomai City is such that the fly ash and the bottom ash are not separated. They added, "The level of radiation [of the ashes??] would be lower in Tomakomai. We don't think there will be any effect on the atmosphere after the ashes are buried" if the radiation standard is observed.

　焼却灰に係る懸念の検証について菊地副市長は「（がれきを）沼ノ端で燃やして実験することはできない。道が東京都に調査に行っている。結果を注視したい」と答え、東京都のデータを参考に判断する考えを示した。

As to the concern over [the radiation on] the ashes, Vice Mayor Kikuchi said, "We cannot experiment by burning (the debris) in Numanohata District [where they plan to burn the debris]. The Hokkaido government is sending officials to Tokyo to investigate. We will wait for the result", indicating the city will decide based on the data from Tokyo.

So, they really don't know how radioactive the debris is, their incinerators don't even separate fly ashes and bottom ashes, they think 100 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium in the debris is safe.

100 becquerels/kg of cesium in the debris will result in 3300 becquerels/kg of cesium in the ashes. Hokkaido's contamination from the Fukushima accident is low to ND so far, and yet the officials who run the show think nothing of burying the ashes that have 3300 becquerels/kg of cesium. To help Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima. Right.

The adjacent city north of Tomakomai, Chitose City, is opposed to accepting disaster/radioactive debris. It doesn't matter much, does it, if the city right next to it is burning the debris?

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#Radiation in Japan: A Hokkaido Town Measures Radiation As "Temporary" Disaster Debris Depot May Be Coming Near Them

A neighborhood association in a district in Tomakomai City in Hokkaido has started to measure the radiation levels throughout the district to obtain the baseline data. Why? Because a "temporary" depot to store the disaster debris from Tohoku may be coming near them.

Now that it's a law of their land that the national government will be doing the debris collection and disposal, many cities and towns who have mostly escaped the radioactive plume from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant may receive their "share" of radiation via radioactive debris - either as is, or in the form of radioactive ashes after the debris gets burned.

From Hokkaido Shinbun (8/18/2011):

苫小牧市の沼ノ端中央町内会（竹田秀泰会長、８１５世帯）が、放射線量の測定を独自に始めた。近くの苫小牧東部地域（苫東）が東日本大震災のがれき置き場の候補地となっており、同町内会は「仮にがれきを受け入れた場合、受け入れ前と比べ放射線量がどう変化するかの基礎資料にしたい」と話している。

The Numanohata Central Neighborhood Association in Tomakomai City [in Hokkaido] with 815 households has started the radiation survey on its own. Nearby Komato [Tomakomai East - an ill-fated national industrial development project from 1960s] is one of the candidate sites in Hokkaido for storage of the disaster debris. The Association says, "If the debris come here, we would like to have the baseline data on radiation so that we could compare before and after".

　道によると、町内会単位での定期的な放射線量測定は「聞いたことがない」（原子力安全対策課）という。

According to the Hokkaido prefectural government (nuclear safety measures section), they've never heard of a systematic radiation measurement on the neighborhood association level.

　沼ノ端中央町内会はＪＲ沼ノ端駅南側に位置し、苫東から１０キロ圏内にある。

The Numanohata Central Neighborhood Association covers the area south of Numanohata train station, and the area is within 10 kilometers of Tomato.

I don't think these townspeople want the debris, neither do the residents in cities and towns throughout Japan (from Hokkaido to Kagoshima in Kyushu) where the disaster debris may go for "temporary" storage or final disposal. But there seems to be some sort of campaign is starting, whereby notable "celebrities" appear in the MSM to either praise Fukushima (prefecture) for perseverance in the face of adversity or denounce those Japanese who do not want radiation in their neighborhood or in their food as "selfish".

Perverse.

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Hokkaido Governor Allows the Re-Start of Tomari Nuke Plant Reactor 3

The Fukushima I Nuke Plant accident may be becoming a distant and inconvenient memory for many, including the governor of Hokkaido Harumi Takahashi, a former elite bureaucrat in what is now the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

She has just approved the formal re-start of Tomari Nuclear Power Plant Reactor 3, despite the protest literally from all over the country. It will be the first re-start of any reactor that has been in maintenance or shut-down after the Fukushima I Nuke Plant accident, and Tomari Reactor 3 will simply switch from the long (since March) post-maintenance test-run to full commercial run without undergoing the so-called "stress test" after the Nuclear Safety Commission rubber-stamped and the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency immediately approved.

Governor Takahashi has been receiving campaign donations from executives at Hokkaido Electric Power Company (link in Japanese), and she says she will continue to do so as she sees nothing technically wrong with it.

Reactor 3 of Tomari Nuclear Power Plant was designed by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and will use MOX-fuel, i.e. in Japanese English, "pluthermal". MOX-fuel will come from France, according to HEPCO (that's Hokkaido Electric Power Company)'s "Pluthermal" webpage (in Japanese).

The Hokkaido prefectural government held a special committee meeting on August 16 to decide whether to allow the re-start of Tomari Reactor 3; the meeting lasted well into the late night, where even the committee members shouted at her that she had already made up her mind and was just trying to fit everything with that conclusion, according to FNN News (in Japanese).

It's all about money, as Haruki "Detarame" Madarame of the Nuclear Safety Commission said in 2006. It applies to those "genpatsu (nuclear power plant)" towns as well as the "genpatsu" governors like her.

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