Reactor 2 RPV Bottom 91.2 Degrees Celsius (TEPCO Press Conference 11AM, 2/13/2012 11AM)

(UPDATE 2: Instrument deemed broken, as the temperature at 5PM on February 13, 2012 is 275.9 degrees Celsius. It was as high as 342 degrees before 3PM. See my new post.)

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(UPDATE: 94.9 degrees Celsius as of noon on February 13, 2012. Instrument failure most likely, the company says.)

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The temperature at the bottom of Reactor 2 RPV (69H1):

2/13 5:00 89.6
2/13 (missed the time, I think Matsumoto said 10:00) 91.2

It is not responding to the increased amount of water injected (about 18 tonnes/hour). The temperatures at the other two locations (69H2, 3) are going down. Therefore, it is the instrument failure most likely, TEPCO's Matsumoto concludes.

TEPCO will maintain the amount of water injected for the time being. No plan to change the amount for the time being.

Q: The steady rise of temperature like this doesn't seem like instrument failure.
A: We want to investigate whether such "failure" is possible where the temperature rises in small increments.

Many reporters, hardly any questions, and the press conference is over in less than 30 minutes.

Matsumoto said the temperature may change because they are conducting some test of the instrument.

The temperature data is not yet updated on TEPCO's site.

UPDATE: Hourly temperature at Reactor 2 RPV bottom, latest.

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Reactor 2 RPV Bottom Temperature: 89.6 Degrees Celsius, 5AM on Feb 13

(UPDATE: The latest number is 91.2 degrees Celsius as of 10AM, 2/13/2012.)

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For nearly 18 tonnes/hour water injection, the temperature hasn't dropped a bit. It remains high at 89.6 degrees Celsius at the Pressure Vessel bottom, but we're not supposed to worry. It's all nothing but instrument failure, as TEPCO and NISA have assured us.

From TEPCO's plant parameters, 2/13/2012:

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NISA on Reactor 2 RPV Temperature: Not a Problem

(UPDATE: Latest temperature is 89.6 degrees Celsius as of 5AM, 2/13/2012.)

since it is most likely to be the instrument failure.

Yomiuri Shinbun (2/11/2012):

東京電力福島第一原子力発電所２号機の原子炉圧力容器の底部温度が保安規定で上限と定めた８０度を上回ったことを受け、経済産業省原子力安全・保安院の森山善範原子力災害対策監は１２日夜、臨時の記者会見を開き、「原子炉全体としては冷却されている。放射性物質の放出量にも変化は無く、安全性に問題はない」と述べ、昨年末に政府と東電が宣言した「冷温停止状態」について、変更する必要はないとの認識を示した。

As the temperature at the bottom of Reactor 2 Pressure Vessel at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant exceeded 80 degrees Celsius, which is the upper limit in the safety regulations, Yoshinori Moriyama of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency held an ad hoc press conference in the evening of February 12, and said "The reactor as a whole is well cooled. There is no change in the amount of radioactive materials released, and there is no problem with the safety", sharing the agency's view that there was no need to change the status of "cold shutdown state" that the national government and TEPCO had declared at the end of last year.

　保安院によると、複数ある温度計のうち上昇傾向を示しているのは１か所だけで、温度も激しく変化していることから、故障の可能性もあるという。保安院は同日、東電に対し、圧力容器の温度の把握方法や、故障した温度計の保安規定上の取り扱いについて検討し、報告するよう口頭で指示した。

According to NISA, there is only one thermometer among several that shows uptrend and the temperature fluctuates widely, which has led to the speculation that it may be the instrument failure. NISA issued an oral instruction to TEPCO on February 12 to come up with a report to the agency regarding the ways to measure the temperatures of the RPV, and how to handle thermometers that are broken in light of the safety regulations.

Just remember that NISA is staffed with the nuclear and electric power industry people on leave.

In TEPCO's defense, though, the declaration of "cold shutdown state" to the derision of the world (even in Japan, surprise) was made by the prime minister of Japan whose interest seems to be more aligned with the "global" community than with the subjects in the increasingly Orwellian Japan. TEPCO went along with it, for sure.

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JUST IN: #Fukushima Reactor 2 RPV Bottom Temperature at 82 Degrees Celsius

TEPCO's press conference scheduled at 5PM February 12, 2012, Japan Time.

10:00 78.3
11:00 74.9
12:00 79.1

Decision was made at 2:20PM that the the condition of "the temperature at the bottom of the Reactor Pressure Vessel at 80 degrees Celsius and below" was not met; the condition is specified in the safety regulations.

From authoritative source, here's Yomiuri Shinbun.

For more info, see my notes from the 5PM press conference.

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#Fukushima Reactor 2 RPV Temperature: 79.1 Degrees Celsius as of Noon, February 12, 2012

(UPDATE: The temperature exceeded 82 degrees Celsius as of 2:20PM February 12, 2012.)

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Mainichi Shinbun (2/12/2012 1:54PM):

東京電力は１２日、福島第１原発２号機の原子炉圧力容器底部にある温度計の一つが、同日正午現在で７９．１度に達したと発表した。昨年１２月の「冷温停止状態」宣言後で最高値。温度計の誤差を考慮し、８０度を超えると「冷温停止状態」の条件を満たさなくなる。東電は温度計の故障もあり得るとする一方、原子炉への注水量を増やす。

TEPCO announced that one of the thermometers at the bottom of Reactor 2 Pressure Vessel at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant was showing 79.1 degrees Celsius as of 12 noon on February 12. It is the highest temperature since the "cold shutdown state" declaration in December 2011. Considering the margin of error, if the temperature exceeds 80 degrees, it would violate the definition of "cold shutdown state". TEPCO thinks the instrument failure is possible, but will increase the amount of water injected into the reactor.

２号機圧力容器下部の温度は２月に入り上昇傾向で、６日午前７時には７３．３度に達した。そのため７日に原子炉への注水量を毎時３立方メートル増の同１３．５立方メートルとし、一時は約６４度まで下がった。しかし再び上昇傾向を示し、１１日午後９時には７３．３度まで上昇。さらに注水量を毎時１立方メートル増やし同１４．６立方メートルにしたが、効果がないため、１２日午後にもさらに毎時約３立方メートル増やす予定。

Temperature at the bottom of the Reactor 2 RPV has been trending up since the beginning of February. It reached 73.3 degrees Celsius at 7AM on February 6. TEPCO increased the amount of water to be injected into the RPV by 3 cubic meters (tonnes)/hour to 13.5 cubic meters/hour on February 7, which lowered the temperature to about 64 degrees Celsius at one time. But the temperature resumed the up-trend, and reached 73.3 degrees Celsius at 9PM on February 11. The company increased the amount of water by 1 cubic meter/hour to 14.6 cubic meters/hour, but so far there hasn't been any effect. The amount will be increased by another 3 cubic meters [to 17.6 cubic meters/hour] in the afternoon.

Other two locations at the bottom of the RPV show the temperatures that continue to go down, in the mid 30s.

Want to bet if TEPCO will say in the evening press conference, "It's instrument failure after all"?

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Temperature at the Bottom of Reactor 2 RPV Slowly Going Down, For Now

after pumping the largest amount of water since March 11, 2011, the temperature at the RPV bottom went from 72.2 degrees Celsius at 5AM on February 7 to 66.7 degrees at 5AM on February 8.

According to TEPCO's handout for the press on February 7, 2012, TEPCO has been injecting the water at the rate of 13.5 cubic meters (or tonnes)/hour in the Reactor 2 Pressure Vessel:

• The amount of the core spray system injection water was increased from 3.7 m3/h to 6.7 m3/h at 4:24 am on February 7.

• The amount of the continuing feed water system injection is 6.8 m3/h.

On February 1, the total amount of water being injected to the Reactor 2 RPV was 9 cubic meters/hour.

By the way, Mainichi Shinbun reported (2/7/2012) that the margin of error of the thermometers on the RPV may be 20 degrees Celsius:

温度計は事故後、最大２０度の誤差が生じた。東電は冷温停止状態の定義が「圧力容器底部が１００度以下」であることから、誤差を最大に見積もって８０度を超えれば地元自治体に通報すると保安規定で定めている。東電の松本純一原子力・立地本部長代理は６日の記者会見で「炉全体としては十分冷えており、冷温停止状態の判断を見直す必要はない」と話した。

Thermometers exhibited the maximum 20 degrees Celsius error after the March 11, 2011 accident. Since the definition of a cold shutdown state is "to keep the temperature at the bottom of the Reactor Pressure Vessel at 100 degrees Celsius and below", TEPCO's safety regulation specifies that the local municipalities are to be notified when the temperature exceeds 80 degrees Celsius given the maximum margin of error. TEPCO's Matsumoto said in the press conference on February 6, "The reactor is sufficiently cooled, and there is no need to revise the judgment of the cold shutdown state."

So, the current temperature of 66.7 could be as low as 46.7, or as high as 86.7. That's comforting.

The ever-incurious TEPCO and the overseeing agency NISA simply pump more water into the RPV, instead of ever wondering what may be causing the temperature to rise.

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#Fukushima I Nuke Plant Reactor 2: Temperature Has Been Rising at the Bottom of RPV

So much for "cold shut down" and "end of the accident". Maybe the reactor didn't like the endoscopy done in January...

From FNN News (2/5/2012):

福島第1原発2号機の原子炉の温度が、2月2日以降、上昇を続けていて、東京電力は5日未明、原子炉への注水量を増やし、温度が低下するか確認することにしている。

Temperature of the Reactor Pressure Vessel of Reactor 2 at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant has been rising since February 2. TEPCO will increase the amount of water being injected into the reactor to see if that lowers the temperature.

2号機の原子炉圧力容器下部の温度は、2月2日におよそ52度だったが、その後、上がり続けていて、5日午前5時の時点で67.4度と、およそ15度上昇している。

The temperature at the bottom of the Reactor Pressure Vessel of Reactor 2 was about 52 degrees Celsius on February 2, but it kept rising. As of 5AM on February 5, it was 67.4 degrees Celsius, 15 degrees increase.

これを受けて、東京電力は5日未明、原子炉への注水量を1時間あたり8.6トンから9.6トンに増やし、温度が低下するか監視するとしている。

On February 5 TEPCO increased the amount of water injected into the reactor from 8.6 tonnes/hour to 9.6 tonnes/hour to see if it lowers the temperature.

原因について東京電力は、現時点で明確にはわからないとしているが、「冷温停止状態」の判断には影響はないとしている。

TEPCO says it doesn't know what is causing the temperature to rise, but says it doesn't affect the decision of "cold shutdown state".

According to the latest plant parameter data from TEPCO, the temperature at the bottom of the RPV of Reactor 2 at 11AM is 68.6 degrees Celsius, up over 1 degrees from 5AM.

By the way, the temperature at the CRD Housing Upper Part, which went up to 142 degrees on January 14, and dropped down to -197 degrees on January 19, is now back up at 124.7 degrees Celsius ("instrument failure", according to TEPCO):

Here's what TEPCO said in the handout for the press on February 4, 2012:

【Unit 2】19:20 on February 3: To improve reliability of water injection to the reactors, the injection line connecting to the reactor injection pump on the hill was replaced with polyethylene pipes and we have been changing the route for reactor injection from feed water system to reactor core spray system in a stepwise manner. After completion of adjusting water flow amount as planned on February 2, tendency of temperature rise at the bottom of PCV was observed. Thus, we changed the injection amount into Unit 2 reactor through feed water system from 2.9 m3/h to 4.9 m3/h and changed that though reactor core spray system from 5.8 m3/h to 3.8 m3/h . As for the temperature rise, the temperature at the upper head of the bottom of PCV has risen to approx. 67.2 ℃ at the highest (as of 4 pm on February 4: reference), but currently, it is approx. 65.1℃*1 (as of 5 pm on February 4). The trend of the temperature seems to be going flat and we will monitor it continuously.

The worker who tweets from Fukushima I Nuke Plant is more worried about Reactor 2 than Reactor 4.

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Fukushima I Nuke Plant Reactor 2: Temp Near the Bottom of Reactor Pressure Vessel Went -197.1 Degrees Celsius

Just for the record, the thermometer at the CRD Housing Upper Part of the Reactor Pressure Vessel of Reactor 2 is completely kaput (or DS, down scale), and the last measurement on January 19 was -197.1 degrees Celsius, or -322.78 degrees Fahrenheit.

An extreme cold shutdown at that particular location, for sure.

If you haven't seen the video of inside the Reactor 2 Containment Vessel that houses this extremely cold RPV, the digest version is here, and the full version is here.

From TEPCO's latest plant parameters (1/21/2012):

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Temperature Remains High at Reactor 2 Pressure Vessel at #Fukushima I Nuke Plant

It went as high as 142 degrees Celsius on January 14 before it came down to 138 degrees Celsius on January 15 at "CRD Housing Upper Part" of the Reactor Pressure Vessel of Reactor 2 at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant.

Looking at the numbers, erratic movement started on January 12 when the temperature at the location jumped from 48.4 degrees Celsius at 5PM to 102.3 degrees Celsius at 11PM. TEPCO says it's just malfunctioning, but the temperature had been stable up to that point.

From TEPCO's latest (1/16/2012) plant parameters, "temperature of Reactor 2":

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#Fukushima I Nuke Plant Reactor 2: 116 Degrees Celsius at the RPV Bottom

Some "cold shutdown". But you see, the thermometer that "determines" the state of cold shutdown is not this particular one that exceeded 100 degrees Celsius. So everything is fine and dandy at Fuku I. (Forget the leaks here and there, and trenches full of contaminated water.)

From Kyodo News (1/13/2011):

東京電力は１３日、福島第１原発２号機の原子炉圧力容器底部近くにある温度計の一つで、数値が上昇し１００度を超えたと発表した。付近の温度計は４０～５０度で安定しているため、計器不良とみている。

TEPCO announced on January 13 that one of the thermometers near the bottom of the Reactor Pressure Vessel of Reactor 2 at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant registered the temperature exceeding 100 degrees Celsius. The nearby thermometers show a steady temperature between 40 to 50 degrees Celsius, so TEPCO considers it as malfunctioning.

　東電によると、数値が上がったのは、制御棒を動かすための装置が入った管に取り付けられた温度計。１２日午後５時に４８・４度だった温度が、同日午後１１時に１０２・３度と急上昇、１３日午前５時には１１６・４度を示した。

According to TEPCO, the thermometer that showed the high temperature is the one attached to the pipe that contains the equipment to operate control rods. It was 48.4 degrees Celsius at 5PM on January 12. It rose sharply at 11PM to 102.3 degrees Celsius, and at 5AM on January 13 it registered 116.4 degrees Celsius.

　冷温停止状態の基準となる圧力容器底部を計測する温度計は４８度台で安定。東電は、溶けた燃料が動いたり、再臨界が起きたりした可能性は低いとしている。

The thermometer that measures the temperature at the bottom of the RPV shows stable 48 degrees Celsius. That measurement is used as determining the cold shutdown state. TEPCO thinks it is unlikely that the melted fuel has shifted or the recriticality is happening.

So far I cannot find TEPCO's press release on this.

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The Economist: "A dangerous lack of urgency in drawing lessons from Japan’s nuclear disaster"

Here's The Economist's take on the Japanese declaration of "the cold shutdown state" and the end of the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident. The title of the article pretty much says it all.

The paper well summarizes the elementary incompetency of both TEPCO and the Japanese government, and says the government's interim report hasn't got much attention that it deserves, except among techies at Physics Forum. It also correctly points out these reports are nothing but confidence-building exercises in Japan.

The paper's conclusion:

"Until somebody in power seizes on the report as a call to action, its findings, especially those that reveal sheer ineptitude, suggest that the public has every reason to remain as scared as hell."

Indeed.

The Economist (1/7/2012):

THERE is a breathtaking serenity to the valley that winds from the town of Namie, on the coast of Fukushima prefecture, into the hills above. A narrow road runs by a river that passes through steep ravines, studded with maples. Lovely it may be, but it is the last place where you would want to see an exodus of 8,000 people fleeing meltdowns at a nearby nuclear-power plant.

Along that switchback road the day after the earthquake and tsunami on March 11th 2011, it took Namie’s residents more than three hours to drive 30km (19 miles) to what they thought was the relative safety of Tsushima, a secluded hamlet. What they did not know was that they were heading into an invisible fog of radioactive matter that has made this one of the worst radiation hotspots in Japan—far worse than the town they abandoned, just ten minutes’ drive from the gates of the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant. It was not until a New York Times report in August that many of the evacuees realised they had been exposed to such a danger, thanks to government neglect.

Negligence forms the backdrop for the first government-commissioned report into the Fukushima nuclear disaster, released in late December. Although only an interim assessment (the complete report is due in the summer), it is already 500 pages long and the product of hundreds of interviews. A casual reader might be put off by the technical detail and the dearth of personal narrative. Yet by Japanese standards it is gripping. It spares neither the government nor Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), the operator of the nuclear plant. It reveals at times an almost cartoon-like level of incompetence. Whether it is enough to reassure an insecure public that lessons will be learnt is another matter.

Since the Three Mile Island disaster in 1979, it has become axiomatic to assume that complex systems fail in complex ways. That was broadly true of Fukushima, though often the failures appear absurdly elementary. In the most quake-prone archipelago on earth, TEPCO and its regulators had no accident-management plan in the event of earthquakes and tsunamis—assuming, apparently, that the plant was proofed against them and that any hypothetical accidents would be generated only from within. TEPCO had, in the event of nuclear disaster, an off-site emergency headquarters just 5km from the plant that was not radiation-proof, and so was effectively useless. On site, the workers in its number one reactor appear not to have been familiar with an emergency-cooling system called an isolation condenser, which they wrongly thought was still working after the tsunami. Their supervisors made the same mistake, so a vital six hours were lost before other methods for cooling the overheating atomic fuel rods were deployed. Partly as a result, this was the first reactor to explode on March 12th.

The government was almost as clueless. Naoto Kan, then prime minister, had a crisis headquarters on the fifth floor of the Kantei, his office building. But emergency staff from various ministries were relegated to the basement, and there was often miscommunication, not least because mobile phones did not work underground. Crucial data estimating the dispersion of radioactive matter were not given to the prime minister’s office, so that evacuees like those from Namie were not given any advice on where to go. That is why they drove straight into the radioactive cloud. The report faults the government for providing information that was often bogus, ambiguous or slow. Perhaps the biggest failure was that nobody in a position of responsibility—neither TEPCO nor its regulators—had sought to look beyond the end of their noses in disaster planning. No one seems ever to have tried to “think the unthinkable”.

In America official reports such as those on the September 11th attacks or the Deepwater Horizon oil spill have become acclaimed books. This one is hardly a page-turner. A privately funded foundation, headed by Yoichi Funabashi, a former editor of the Asahi Shimbun newspaper, is doing a separate investigation, based partly on the testimony of TEPCO whistle-blowers. (One, according to Mr Funabashi, says the earthquake damaged the reactors before the tsunami, a claim that officials have always rejected.) It at least promises to have literary merit. Mr Funabashi, a prominent author, draws parallels between the roots of the disaster and Japan’s failures in the second world war. They include the use of heroic front-line troops with out-of-touch superiors; rotating decision-makers too often; narrow “stovepipe” thinking; and the failure to imagine that everything could go wrong at once.

Complex systems, jerry-rigged

For now, the risk is that the interim report does not get the attention it deserves. So far it seems to have aroused more interest on a techie website called Physics Forums, beloved of nuclear engineers, than in the Japanese press. The government, led by Yoshihiko Noda, has not yet used it as a rallying call for reform. One of its recommendations, an independent new regulatory body, will soon be set up. Others, such as new safety standards and broader evacuation plans, would take months to implement.

Such reports are, after all, confidence-building exercises. They are meant to reassure the public that, by exposing failures, they will help to prevent them from being repeated. In the case of Fukushima Dai-ichi there is still plenty to be nervous about. Although the government declared on December 16th that the plant had reached a state of “cold shutdown”, much of the cooling system is jerry-rigged and probably still not earthquake-proof. On January 1st a quake temporarily caused water levels to plunge in a pool containing highly radioactive spent-fuel rods.

Meanwhile, across Japan, 48 out of 54 nuclear reactors remain out of service, almost all because of safety fears. Until somebody in power seizes on the report as a call to action, its findings, especially those that reveal sheer ineptitude, suggest that the public has every reason to remain as scared as hell.

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#Radioactive Japan: "Dr. Demento Show"

I was describing to an American friend about what's been happening at an accelerating pace in Japan after the now-infamous "cold shutdown state and end of Fukushima accident" declaration by the hapless Prime Minister Noda, who now wants to bring pandas to Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture to cheer children.

He said, "Dr. Demento Show!"

Things are indeed getting more hilarious by the hour.

This is one of the most hilarious from yesterday's news: Fuku-I accident "docu-drama"

Nippon Television, the close affiliate of Yomiuri Shinbun which has been pro-nuke ever since Matsutaro Shoriki bought the paper in xxxx, will air a "docu-drama" of the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident on December 23 Friday from 6:45PM to 8:55PM Japan Time, titled "87 Hours when Japan was on the verge of destruction", using popular actors to play the part of PM Kan, Chief Cabinet Secretary Edano, TEPCO's Fuku-I plant manager Yoshida, etc.

Comments on the news from Japanese twitterers:

• See how they take us for fools

• The title of the drama cannot get more demented.

• So the nuke accident is just one form of entertainment. Great.

Controversial dam construction (Yanba Dam) in Gunma Prefecture given green light, benefiting TEPCO, again:

Yanba Dam has been in the works ever since 1950s, but the project was suspended two years ago when the Democratic Party of Japan took power. It was in the DPJ's party "manifest" to stop the project. Now, under the same DPJ but led by PM Noda, it has been formally declared that it is good to go. The local politicians and interest parties in the small town of Naganohara are ecstatic. They greeted the Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport with three cheers (banzai) yesterday (Yomiuri Shinbun 12/23/2011).

Well, it turns out that TEPCO has been diverting water from upstream to run its hydroelectric power stations along the Agatsuma River. If the dam is built, TEPCO cannot draw as much water as it likes for these power stations and therefore has to be compensated. To the tune of 1.7 billion yen per year.

From what I've read, it doesn't make any sense geologically and economically, other than to benefit certain parties connected to construction work with taxpayers' money. I once drove through the area. It was deep in the mountains, rapid river. An excellent and ancient (first discovered in 1193) hot spring town along the river, which will be lost under water if the dam is built.

Money speaks, it always has been, and always will in the "dango" Japan. The government always wins by wearing the small citizens out.

Radioactive ash disposal in Chiba Prefecture in the middle of rice paddies:

Meanwhile in Chiba, where northwestern corner of the prefecture is highly contaminated with radioactive materials, the prefectural government wants to move those highly radioactive ashes from incinerators in Kashiwa City whose radioactive material density far exceeds the national provisional safety limit for ashes (8000 becquerels/kg) to a final waste disposal facility in Teganuma, west of Kashiwa City. (Mainichi Shinbun 12/22/2011)

Looking at the satellite photo of Google, the facility is right on the Tega River, which feeds water to the rice paddies surrounding the final waste disposal facility. The Tega River flows to the Tone River, which flows into the Pacific Ocean.

Smart move, Chiba.

And about the Panda loan from China to Sendai City:

Sendai City in Miyagi Prefecture wants to "borrow" pandas from China to cheer children in the city. So the vice mayor of Sendai visited PM Noda on December 22 with two TV celebrities to press Noda to ask for panda loan when he visits China on December 25. Sure, says Noda.

The celebrities, Masahiko Kondo and Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, vow they will support the city by providing money for panda housing and protection, which is estimated to be 1 billion yen over 5 years. Kondo says the money comes from donations that his office has collected from citizens for the people in disaster-affected areas. (Yomiuri Shinbun Miyagi local version 12/23/2011)

Kuroyanagi is one of the actors who scolded Japanese people who don't want to buy produce from Fukushima for fear of internal radiation exposure as selfish and unpatriotic.

1 billion yen would buy many, many dosimeters or stoves for people in temporary housing that lacks insulation for the cold winter. But building a brand-new, state-of-the-art panda house in the city's zoo will bring more business to building contractors favored by the city.

In the meantime, ex-PM Kan is blasting TEPCO's management as basically a "fool on the hill" (Yomiuri Shinbun 12/22/2011). The gall of him to say that.

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Deutsche Welle: "Fukushima power plant is far from 'cold' "

Germany's Deutsche Welle's take on PM Noda's declaration of the "cold shutdown state" at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant is more severe than New York Times.

Alexander Freund at Deutsche Welle Asia Desk says it is not the power plant that has been stabilized and controlled:

"The nuclear power lobbyists are the ones who can claim credit for stabilizing their own situation and getting the government under control. "

Enough said.

From Deutsche Welle (12/16/2011):

The Japanese government has claimed to have reached a cold shutdown in Fukushima. But experts are skeptical and believe it could take another 40 years to get the situation under control.

Headlines from Japan surely sound good: Fukushima is under control, the dilapidated nuclear power plant is stable. But these headlines are nothing more than a euphemism. The situation at Fukushima is nowhere near under control.

The Daiichi power plant operator Tepco and the Japanese government had announced at the end of summer to have the situation under control – or a cold shutdown – by the end of this year. For a “cold shutdown,” temperatures inside the reactor buildings need to be below 100 degrees Celsius. But it is just the beginning – the start of a point from which the plant can be disassembled.

Or so it goes in theory. But experts are saying it could take another 30 years before the plant can be levelled. Experts believe parts of the fuel rods burned through the floor of the reactor pressure vessel and are now lying on the ground and that they are far from "cold," but that they are still around at a temperature of 3,000 degrees Celcius.

Referring to the current situation at Fukushima as a cold shutdown is thus irresponsible. But what else are the government and Tepco to do? They are hoping to pacify the population by talking about a cold shutdown, but it won’t work. The Japanese people are infuriated – nine months after the earthquake and tsunami which led to the meltdown in the Daiichi plant – Tepco was speaking of nuclear fission in reactor 2 just a couple of weeks ago. Nuclear radiation is still extremely high in the Fukushima prefecture and contaminated water continues to flow into the sea. High levels of radiation continue to be found in rice, meat, vegetables, seafood, milk and tea in the region. And thousands of people have been displaced by the nuclear disaster and continue to live in evacuation shelters. They will receive a small amount in compensation – but it will be payed out of the pockets of Japanese tax payers and not out of Tepco’s.

Nothing is under control – an unavoidable fact known to many Japanese people. Their skepticism and distrust have got to a point reached that many take their own measurements using Geiger counters and dosimeters. A number of people have started posting their findings on the Internet. There, on a map of Japan, anyone can see the radiation measurements taken throughout the country. This is important because it is not only those from the Fukushima prefecture who are affected, as measurements have shown. This has shaken a population that traditionally places great importance on respecting authrtiy. And no positive headlines at the year’s end are going to make it better.

Beacause there is no real progress to report. The new Japanese government under Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, who has been in office since September, 2011, has not passed the “stress test,“ either. The last PM Naoto Kan had to resign, as his government, which failed in the hour of need, broke under the pressure of crossing swords with the country’s powerful lobbyists for nuclear power and instead made a move towards renewable energy. The nuclear power lobbyists are the ones who can claim credit for stabilizing their own situation and getting the government under control.

I've noticed that people in Germany seem to think better of ex-PM Kan than most Japanese, because Kan made overture to anti-nuke policy and alternative energy.

There are many in Japan who hold Kan personally responsible to have caused the explosion of Reactor 1 by insisting on going to Fukushima I Nuke Plant on the crucial day, March 12. He went in, shouting and scolding everyone, and left. The frantic work at the plant to contain the situation had to be stopped until after Kan left. Reactor 1 blew up that afternoon. (Mainichi Shinbun had an excellent series detailing the early days of the accident. I don't know if they still have it online. If I find it I will post the link here.)

No amount of promise for alternative energy or anti-nuclear policy would ever reconcile him to the Japanese public.

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NRC's Jaczko Gives Blessings to "Cold Shutdown State" and "Completion of Step 2" at #Fukushima I Nuke Plant, Says "Tremendous Milestone"

As reported in NHK Japanese (12/20/2011):

日本を訪れているアメリカ原子力規制委員会のヤツコ委員長は、福島第一原子力発電所を事故後初めて視察したあと、都内で記者会見し、日本政府が「冷温停止状態」になったと発表したことについて、適切な判断だと評価したうえで、再発防止に向けて今回の事故を巡る国際的な情報の共有が重要だとの考えを示しました。

Chairman Jaczko of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission visited Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant for the first time since the accident started, and gave a press conference afterwards in Tokyo. He said the announcement of "a cold shutdown state" by the Japanese government was a proper decision and that it would be important to share the information regarding the accident with the international communities to prevent similar accidents from happening again.

アメリカの原子力発電所の規制・監督を担う原子力規制委員会のトップを務めるヤツコ委員長は、１９日、事故後初めて福島第一原発を視察し、２０日午後、都内のアメリカ大使館で記者会見しました。

Chairman Jaczko of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission visited Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant on December 19 for the fist time since the accident started, and held a press conference in the afternoon of December 20 at the US Embassy in Tokyo.

この中でヤツコ委員長は、福島第一原発では、事故後、不測の事態に備えた様々な対策が取られたと指摘したうえで、「原子炉内の温度は十分に下がった」と述べ、日本政府が「冷温停止状態」になり、事故の収束に向けた工程表の「ステップ２」の完了を宣言したことを適切な判断だと評価しました。

In the press conference, Chairman Jaczko pointed out to the various countermeasures against contingencies have been installed at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant after the accident, and said "The temperatures inside the reactors have gone down enough", indicating the declaration by the Japanese government of "a cold shutdown state" and the completion of the "Step 2" of the roadmap toward the restoration from the accident was a proper decision.

また、ヤツコ委員長は、原発の安全対策を巡る日米の協力関係について、「今回の事故によって、両国の協力関係はさらに強固なものになった」と指摘したうえで、「事故の情報共有をどのように進めていくか、国際社会が大きな関心を寄せている」と述べ、今回の事故を巡る国際的な情報の共有が重要だとの考えを示しました。

He then referred to the Japan-US cooperation regarding the safety countermeasures for nuclear power plants, and said "Because of the [Fukushima] accident, our relationship has gotten stronger". He also said "The international communities are very interested in how the accident information will be shared", indicating the importance of international information sharing of the accident.

And here's one from Bloomberg (12/20/2011):

U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko said he’s satisfied with Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501)’s efforts to end the crisis at the wrecked Fukushima atomic plant.

The melted fuel in the reactors at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant has cooled enough to prevent any further releases of radiation beyond the station, Jaczko told reporters today in Tokyo after a visit to the station.

He spoke four days after Japanese officials declared that the reactors, which were damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, have been brought to a state known as cold shutdown. Some nuclear scientists disputed that the term accurately described conditions at the plant. Jaczko called the declaration a “tremendous milestone.”

“I feel very comfortable that they have completed really the requirements that are necessary to move on to the next stage,” he said. “There’s really no energy left in the reactor to have an off-site release of radiation.”

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#Fukushima I Nuke Plant "Cold Shutdown" Effect (2): No More Joint Press Conference on the Fukushima Accident

where the reporters get to ask questions to TEPCO and the relevant government ministries and agencies that deal with the accident, all in one room. The joint press conference, which has at least helped keep some politicians and bureaucrats honest or hold them accountable, is not only over for the month of December but over for good.

Why? Because the accident is declared by the prime minister of Japan to have been over, and the members of the Press Club has had enough, according to Ryusaku Tanaka, an independent journalist who's been covering the Fukushima accident from the beginning.

From the blog of Ryusaku Tanaka (12/16/2011):

「冷温停止宣言」以上に頭が凍りつきそうになる発表が細野大臣の口からあった。「政府と東電の合同記者会見は今回（16日）で最後にする」というのだ。

There was a remark from Minister Hosono which was more chilling than the declaration of cold shutdown. He said, "Today (December 16) is the last day of the government/TEPCO joint press conference."

　政府・東電は根拠なき「冷温停止宣言」で事故収束とし、合同記者会見廃止で幕引きを図るつもりである。

The government and TEPCO were going to use the baseless "cold shutdown declaration" to mark the end of the accident, and discontinue the joint press conference to signal the end.

　「合同記者会見の打ち切りは国民の知る権利を損なうものだ。東電はどんなにウソをつこうが、責任を取らなくてもよい。事実、責任を取っていない。ところが政治家は記者の質問に対して無責任な回答をすると、評判を落とし次の選挙に響く。合同記者会見を続けてもらうわけには行かないだろうか」―筆者はこのような趣旨の質問をした。

"To stop the joint press conference is to harm the right of the citizens to know. TEPCO is allowed to lie, is not held responsible. But the politicians, if they answer the questions from the reporters in an irresponsible way, they will damage their reputation and the success in the next election may be jeopedized. Is it possible for you to continue the joint press conference?" I asked.

　細野大臣は「東京電力はこの間、相当に変わった（情報公開するようになった）」という趣旨のことを述べた。多くの政治家に共通するのは東電をひたすら擁護することだ。

Minister Hosono said something to the effect that "TEPCO has changed significantly (disclosing more information)". One common trait of many politicians is to defend TEPCO at all cost.

　細野大臣は「合同本部の記者会見打ち切り」の理由として「マスコミの皆さんから『そろそろ止めてもいいんじゃないか』という意見が出た」と答えた。「マスコミとは誰か？新聞かテレビか、それとも記者クラブか？」と追及されると「メディアの人たちとの信頼関係があるから言えない」。語るに落ちた、とはこのことだ。合同本部記者会見の打ち切りは、記者クラブが提案したのである。フリーランスが「記者会見を止めてもいいんじゃないか」などと提案するはずがないからだ。第一フリーをマスコミとは言うま
い。

Minister Hosono cited the reason to discontinue the joint press conference as "people in the mass media have suggested to us that it may be time to discontinue". "Who are the people in the media? Newspapers? TV? Or are you talking about the Press Club?" Hosono replied, "I cannot say, because of the trust between the media and us." Talk about letting the cat out of the bag. The discontinuation of the joint press conference was proposed by the Press Club. There is no way that freelance journalists would suggest such a thing. Besides, you wouldn't call freelance journalists the mass media.

「合同記者会見の打ち切り発表」には頭がチルドしそうになったが、その後、怒りで体中の血が沸騰する出来事があった。会見開始から1時間15分後のことだった。細野大臣が途中退席すると、西澤俊夫社長までスタスタと会見場を出て行ったのである。

After I almost had a brain freeze on the announcement of the discontinuation of the joint press conference, an incident took place that got my blood boiling with anger. It was 1 hour 15 minutes into the press conference. Minister Hosono left the room in the middle of the conference. Then President Toshio Nishizawa [of TEPCO] immediately left the room.

　『ふざけるな』という怒りが筆者の胸にこみ上げた。「どうして西澤社長まで退席するんですか？」と声を挙げた。場内は騒然となった。フリーランスが中心になって西澤社長の無責任さを追及したのである。「最高責任者が先に帰るとは何ごとか」と。西澤社長の行動は原発事故に対する東電の姿勢を象徴していた。

"You [fill in the expletive of your choice, readers]". Anger swelled inside me. "Why is President Nishizawa is leaving?" I asked. The room was immediately filled with commotion, as freelance journalists started to press hard on the irresponsible Nishizawa. "Why is the highest ranking executive [of TEPCO] leaving before everyone?" President Nishizawa's action was the epitome of the attitude of TEPCO toward the nuclear accident.

　細野大臣は「NHKニュース９」に出演するために記者会見を途中退席したことがわかった。フリージャーナリストの上杉隆氏によれば、テレビ出演のために記者会見を途中退席するのは「公務軽視」で問責の対象となる。

It turned out Minister Hosono left the press conference in progress in order to appear on "NHK News 9". According to Takashi Uesugi, freelance journalist, to leave the press conference in order to appear on TV is "neglect of official duty" and is subject of censure.

　いい加減な政府が無責任な東電をかばい、新聞・テレビは東電を追及しない。17日の朝刊各紙には「冷温停止」の見出しがデカデカと踊るだろう。住民を「強制帰還」させる大義名分は整った。

An irresponsible government protects an irresponsible TEPCO, and newspapers and TV do not question TEPCO. The headline in the morning papers on December 17 will be "Cold Shutdown" in large fonts. Now, a good cause [cold shutdown] to "forcibly return" the residents has been given.

Indeed.

By the way, TEPCO wants to reduce the number of daily press conference to "one" (currently they are still holding two press conferences per day), and the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency wants to stop giving a daily press conference and only have it twice a week, now that the accident is "over".

Cold shutdown of information flow on the way, as the government embarks on an ever grander "Extend and Pretend" that everything is OK - decontaminating, returning the residents, making them grow crops again next year to feed the rest of Japan (some Fukushima farmers have already turned the soil in preparation for the next year's rice crop) while the NISA looks the other way even if TEPCO lets the treated water with full of strontium and tritium into the ocean.

You see, the radiation is a "kuro-ko" (person in black) in a Kabuki Theater. A "kuro-ko", dressed in black (thus the name), is present on the stage, assisting the actors or manipulating some tools for theatrical effects. He is there for all the audience to see. But it is an unspoken rule that the audience is not supposed to see, and ignore whatever he does on stage.

The whole country will continue to play Kabuki, until it can't, if that ever comes to pass.

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#Fukushima I Nuke Plant "Cold Shutdown" Effect: "Let's All Visit Fukushima" Campaign by the National Government

It looks as if a total, complete cold shutdown has been achieved in the heads of some ministers and agency heads and career bureaucrats in the Japanese national government.

The Japan Tourism Agency under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism launched a new campaign on the day of the declaration of the "cold shutdown/accident over" by Prime Minister Yoshikiko "Saved by Kim" Noda.

What's the campaign, you ask?

"Let's go visit Fukushima Prefecture, now that the Step 2 of the TEPCO/government Roadmap has been completed!" Rejoice, it's safe!

From the Japan Tourism Agency press release (12/16/2011):

本日、野田佳彦内閣総理大臣から、「東京電力福島第一原子力発電所・事故の収束に向けた道筋」（いわゆる「工程表」）におけるステップ２（原子炉の「冷温停止状態」の達成）を完了した旨の発表がありました。

Today [December 16], Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda announced the completion of the so-called Step 2 (achievement of a "cold shutdown state" of the reactors) of "the roadmap to winding down the TEPCO Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident".

　観光庁としても、福島第一原子力発電所が「冷温停止状態」になった事実を国内・海外に発信してまいります。
また、平成２３年度第３次補正予算により、東北地方全体を博覧会場と見立て、地域や民間の様々な取組みを連携させ、統一的な情報発信等を行う「東北観光博」等国内観光振興の取組みを実施するとともに、訪日外客を着実に回復させるための取組みも実施してまいります。

The Japan Tourism Agency intends to inform people both inside and outside Japan of the fact that Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant has achieved a "cold shutdown state". Thanks to the 3rd supplementary budget for the fiscal 2011 year, the Agency will consider the entire Tohoku region as one big exhibition hall, and by coordinating the various regional and private efforts promote the domestic tourism with events like "Tohoku Tourism Exhibition". The Agency will also strive for a steady recovery of foreign tourists visiting Japan.

　福島県からは、今後、ありがとうキャンペーンや若者を対象としたスキー場のリフト券無料化など様々な取組みを実施し、全国の皆さんをお迎えしていきたいと伺っています。

The Agency has heard from Fukushima Prefecture that the prefecture is looking forward to receiving visitors from all over Japan with "thank-you" campaign and free lift passes for the ski slopes targeted for young people.

　全国の皆さん、是非、福島に旅行に出掛けて下さい。福島が元気にならなければ、東北地方、さらには日本全体の元気はありません。福島県の被災された地域の方々の心情に配慮しつつ、観光で日本を元気にするという気持ちで、一緒に取り組んでまいりましょう。

Citizens of Japan, by all means please go visit Fukushima Prefecture. Unless Fukushima recovers, Tohoku, or for that matter the entire Japan will not recover. Be considerate how the people living in the affected areas of Fukushima feel, and let's do it together with the spirit that tourism will make Japan recover.

　※ご要望があれば、長官が直接取材又は電話取材に対応させていただきます。以下の連絡先にご連絡下さい。

Upon request, the Director General would be happy to talk with the press, either in direct meetings or via telephone. Please contact us at the following numbers.

Here's Director General Hiroshi Mizohata, from the Agency's webpage.

And the numbers to call are:

03-5253-8111 （extension 27-115）
Direct: 03-5253-8322 (Ask for Fujita or Ohno)

"Cold shutdown state" is a fact, everyone got that? But "thank-you" campaign by Fukushima Prefecture? For what?

The last paragraph reads just as demented as Minister of the Environment Goshi Hosono's remark that he will make Fukushima Prefecture having the lowest cancer rate in the whole country.

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Japan's PM Noda Takes to the Street

He is set to make a speech on the busy square in central Tokyo (SL Hiroba in front of JR Shinbashi Station).

Many angry net citizens in Japan are tweeting and urging people in Tokyo to go there with eggs and rotten tomatoes.

Rather unusual for a sitting prime minister to give a speech on the street, but he supposedly built his political career by making street speeches day in and day out in his younger days.

Right now, a shrill-sounding female minister of his administration is talking. Yasumi Iwakami's USTREAM channel is doing the live netcast right now.

I guess the entire administration is on the offensive to sell to the general public its wonderful idea of raising taxes and cutting benefits so that the government can spend more at will to help Fukushima, now that the nuclear accident is over.

"Without rebirth of Fukushima, there will be no rebirth of Japan", says the PM's Office. I see.

Someone in Japan tweeted that one of the effect of low-dose radiation is lower intelligence.

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Cold Shutdown State at #Fukushima: IAEA's Amano Congratulates

If the rulers decide it's a cold shutdown, it is a cold shutdown. If enough august entities say it enough times, it must be true.

IAEA's Director General is a former Japanese bureaucrat (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) Yukiya Amano, who duly congratulates the Japanese administration for the exemplary job it has done and "significant progress" it has made, as follows:

16 December 2011 | IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano issued the following statement today:

The IAEA welcomes the announcement by the Government of Japan that the reactors at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station have achieved a "cold shutdown condition" and are in a stable state, and that the release of radioactive materials is under control.

Overall TEPCO and the Japanese government have made significant progress and have completed the second step of the TEPCO's roadmap by the end of the year as they had planned.

The IAEA is continuing to monitor the status of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station and the radiological situation in Japan following the earthquake and tsunami of March 11. The IAEA receives information updates from a variety of official Japanese sources, through the national competent authorities. The Agency continues to stand ready to provide necessary assistance to Japan as requested.

".. national competent authorities", that's too rich.

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State of Cold Shutdown in #Fukushima: US Deputy Secretary of Energy Was Also At Hand

As I posted yesterday, NHK quoted the US Deputy Secretary of State expressing a strong interest from the US companies to participate in Japan's decontamination (bubble), after he congratulated the administration on this important milestone.

Well, he was not alone. It looks like a whole delegation of the US government has been quietly in Japan, negotiating with the extremely pro-US Noda administration for a big piece of "post"-accident bubble in decommission and decontamination, to be paid for by the hapless Japanese taxpayers.

Businessweek/Bloomberg news on the "state" of cold shutdown at Fukushima (12/16/2011) quotes the US Deputy Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman:

Cold War weapons production in the U.S. left the country with “a significant nuclear cleanup legacy, including high- level waste, contaminated soil and groundwater,” Daniel Poneman, the U.S. Deputy Secretary at the Department of Energy, said in Tokyo yesterday.

The Hanford Site in Washington State and the Savannah River Site in South Carolina have more than 90 million gallons of liquid waste in tanks the government is working to convert into more stable forms that do not threaten the environment, he said.

Japan's government has requested support from the U.S. to decommission the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant as well as managing the site from an environmental perspective, he said.

Sovereign capture is so complete. Or it always has been.

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State of Cold Shutdown: Hosono Says "No One Knows Where the Fuel Is, But I'm Confident It is Cooled"

In a typical display of utter disregard for the general public, the Noda administration announced last night that there would be no more joint press conference where reporters could meet with TEPCO people and the government officials from the Cabinet Office and other relevant ministries and agencies, receive updates and ask questions.

The last night's joint press conference is to be the last one, now that Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant is officially in a "state of a cold shutdown" and the accident has been decreed by the government to be "over".

Here's what Minister in charge of the accident and Minister of the Environment Goshi Hosono had to say last night in the last joint press conference, as reported by Nifty News (12/16/2011):

...細野環境相は「どこに燃料があるのか、原子炉をあけてみなければ誰もわからない」と不安な部分ものぞかせたものの　野田首相に続いて、冷温停止という認識を再確認。「燃料の場所がどこにあるにしても、冷却されているという状態」と述べた。

Minister of the Environment Hosono expressed some concern that "No one knows where the fuel is until we open the reactors", but he reaffirmed the cold shutdown, following the lead of his prime minister. He said, "No matter where the fuel is, it is being cooled".

Trust us, take our word for it, he says.

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