Japanese Magazine Says Hitachi May Be Pulling Out of Nuclear Business (or Maybe Not..)

The subscription-only magazine called "FACTA" has the first paragraph of the article available for everyone.

It says:

Hitachi has been enjoying the stellar quarterly results, after getting rid of loss-making HDD manufacturing. The company has completely pulled out of manufacturing TV sets in Japan. The only burden now is the nuclear business. Hitachi has the smallest nuclear business compared to Toshiba and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and we're hearing from Hitachi insiders that the company is "moving out of nuclear". The senior management vehemently denies it as "impossible", but Hitachi today is not what it used to be...

It may just mean the company is getting out of building new reactors. The company is still part of the government's working group to develop new technologies for decommissioning Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. The company could commercialize these technologies to sell to the world, I suppose.

Hitachi is also a big player in incineration plants and equipments, and alternative energy (wind turbines).

The company looks set to profit no matter which direction Japan may take. The same can be said for other two nuclear companies, Toshiba and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. They are also big in incineration plants and wind turbines.

(UPDATE)

Hitachi just secured an agreement with the Lithuanian government to build a nuclear plant in Lithuania. (Nuclear business is too good to pass up.)

From Power Engineering Magazine (3/30/2012):

Hitachi Ltd. (NYSE: HIT) said it has agreed to a concession agreement with the Lithuanian Energy Ministry regarding construction of the Visaginas nuclear power plant planned for Lithuania. The concession agreement will be officially concluded after the approval by the Lithuanian parliament which has been in session since March 2012.

Lithuania is planning to construct a new nuclear power plant in Visaginas in the northeastern part of the country, with the aim of having an operational plant in 2021. In 2008, the project company Visagino Atomine Elektrine (VAE) was established to further the development of the project and conduct negotiations relating to investment into the Visaginas Nuclear Power Plant. In 2009, the Lithuanian parliament passed a bill permitting the construction of a nuclear power plant in Visaginas.

Hitachi and Hitachi-GE Nuclear Energy Ltd. proposed to provide an Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) to the Lithuanian government. Hitachi was selected as the strategic investor in July 2011, and in December 2011 initially signed the term sheet for the concession agreement.

Following the approval of this agreement by the Lithuanian parliament, the concession for power plant construction will be granted to a project company to be established by investment from Hitachi, VAE and regional partners. The project company will conduct negotiations regarding engineering, procurement, and construction. The project company will aim to conclude contracts by around summer of 2012.

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Nuclear Experts from Germany, UK, France, Japan Visiting Taiwan to Review Nuclear Facilities

The experts from the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) are inspecting Taiwan's nuclear power plants at the request from the Taipower, state-owned power generation company.

From Focus Taiwan (2/15/2012):

Taipei, Feb. 15 (CNA) Four foreign nuclear energy experts are visiting Taiwan to review local nuclear power generation facilities but have not yet made any suggestions for improvement, state-owned Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) said Wednesday.

"The experts arrived in Taipei Feb. 6 from Germany, Britain, France and Japan, respectively, and are scheduled to stay until Feb. 18," Taipower spokesman Lee Hung-chou told CNA.

As a member of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO), Taipower is entitled to seek technical support mission from the London-based organization, Lee said.

Taipower can apply for up to four WANO support missions every year since it has four nuclear power plants, Lee said, adding that the company twice applied for such missions last year.

Taipower has conducted thorough safety checks and taken measures to reinforce safety at its nuclear plants following the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan last year, and Lee said the experts were invited to review those new measures.

Over the past few days, he said, Taipower staff have taken the four experts to the country's three nuclear power plants in operation and the fourth one under construction.

According to a bilateral confidentiality agreement, Taipower cannot disclose any opinions or suggestions expressed by WANO specialists without the organization's prior consent, Lee said.

"As the experts are still in the process of inspection, they have not yet made any definite suggestions," Lee said, adding that Taipower will unveil the content of their final report only after obtaining the WANO's agreement.

(By Huang Chiao-wen and Sofia Wu)

Here's a photo of Taipower's No. 3 Nuclear Power Station, right on the popular Nanwan beach where tourists can swim in the water with discharge from the nuke plant (as it appeared in the Age, 4/29/2008 in the article titled "Swimmers dive in to nuclear reactor cooling water", quoting Reuters):

It's really cute with windmills. Nice sand hills. Not a problem! say locals.

(H/T Enformable)

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Child Leukemia Doubles Near French Nuclear Power Plants, French Researchers Say

From Reuters (1/11/2012):

Jan 11 (Reuters) - The incidence of leukaemia is twice as high in children living close to French nuclear power plants as in those living elsewhere in the country, a study by French health and nuclear safety experts has found.

But the study, to be published soon in the International Journal of Cancer, fell short of establishing a causal link between the higher incidence of leukaemia, a type of blood cancer, and living near nuclear power plants.

France has used nuclear power for three decades and is the most nuclear-reliant country in the world, with 75 percent of its electricity produced by 58 reactors.

The study, conducted by the French health research body INSERM, found that between 2002 and 2007, 14 children under the age of 15 living in a 5-kilometre radius of France's 19 nuclear power plants had been diagnosed with leukaemia.

This is double the rate of the rest of the country, where a total of 2,753 cases were diagnosed in the same period.

"This is a result which has been checked thoroughly and which is statistically significant," said Dominique Laurier, head of the epidemiology research laboratory at France's nuclear safety research body (IRSN).

INSERM has carried out similar research with the IRSN since 1990, but has never before found a higher incidence of leukaemia in children living near nuclear power plants.

"But we are working on numbers which are very small and results have to be analysed with a lot of care," said Laurier, one of the authors of the study.

Laurier said the findings indicated no difference in risk between sites located by the sea or by rivers, nor according to the power capacity of the plant.

The IRSN said it recommended a more thorough study of the causes of the leukaemia cases found near nuclear power stations and hoped to set up international research collaboration.

"It's a rare disease and working on a bigger scale would allow more stable results," said Laurier.

A 35-year British study published last year found no evidence that young children living near nuclear power plants had an increased risk of developing leukaemia.

The research, conducted by scientists on the Committee of the Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE), found only 20 cases of childhood leukaemia within 5 km (3.1 miles) of nuclear power stations between 1969 and 2004.

The scientists said the rate was virtually the same as in areas where there were no nuclear plants.

Studies have been conducted around the world into possible links between the risk of childhood blood cancers and living near nuclear plants.

A study on Germany, published in 2007, did find a significantly increased risk, but the COMARE team said these findings were probably influenced by an unexplained leukaemia cluster near a nuclear plant in Krummel, north Germany, that lasted from 1990 to 2005.

Excluding Krummel, evidence for an increased leukaemia risk among young children living close to German nuclear power plants was "extremely weak", it said.

(Reporting By Muriel Boselli, Editing by Alexandria Sage and Tim Pearce)

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Iran Produced Its Furst Nuclear Fuel Rod

Iran "is getting desperate and will take some drastic step", according to Bloomberg News.

From Bloomberg News (1/2/2012):

Gold and silver gained after reports that Iran produced its first nuclear fuel rod, spurring investors to buy the precious metal as a haven.

Gold for immediate delivery advanced 0.2 percent to $1,566.27 an ounce as of 2:50 p.m. in New York. Silver was 0.1 percent higher at $27.8625 an ounce. Gold rose 10 percent last year, the 11th straight annual gain, and silver dropped 9.9 percent.

A domestically made rod was inserted into the core of Tehran’s atomic research reactor after performance tests, the Iranian Students News Agency reported today, citing the country’s atomic energy agency. The Tehran reactor produces radioisotopes for cancer treatment, according to Mehr news agency. Nuclear fuel rods contain pellets of enriched uranium that provide fuel for nuclear power plants.

“Iran’s nuclear plans have raised fears that it is getting desperate and will take some drastic step,” Gnanasekar Thiagarajan, a director at Commtrendz Risk Management Services Pvt., said by telephone from Mumbai. “More sanctions are expected from the U.S. and other nations. This will have a positive impact on gold prices as ideally people would try to buy gold.”

The U.S. and allies are increasing pressure on Iran to halt what they say may be a covert nuclear weapons program. Sanctions signed into law by President Barack Obama on Dec. 31 aim to deter dealings with the Iranian central bank, and the European Union is considering a ban on imports of oil from Iran, the world’s third-largest oil exporter. Iran denies seeking to develop atomic weapons.
Reserves Climb

Gold reserves increased in November in Belarus, Turkey, Tajikistan, Macedonia, Mauritius and Morocco, and declined in Mexico, according to data on the International Monetary Fund’s website. Turkey’s holdings increased to 5.758 million ounces from 4.429 million in October, and Mexico’s declined to 3.413 million ounces from 3.417 million, the data showed. Morocco’s holdings were 710,000 ounces in November compared with 708,800 in October, according to the data.

I wonder what has happened to the Stuxnet infection in Iran's nuke facilities.

By the way, Iran's first commercial nuclear power plant, Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant on the Persian Gulf, uses the VVER reactor, a Russian (Soviet)-designed pressurized water reactor. Dr. Jassem al-Awadi, a geologist at the University of Kuwait, says the plant sits at the junction of three tectonic plates.

One thing from history is very clear. People never learn from history, even the most recent one.

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Reactors at San Onofre Nuke Plant in California Shut Down Due to Blackout

LA Times (9/8/2011):

The blackout affecting large swaths of San Diego County led to a shutdown of two reactors at the San Onofre nuclear power plant.

Gil Alexander, a spokesman for Southern California Edison, said the power outage did not cause any safety issues. Alexander said a fluctuation in power caused the reactors to shut down at 3:38 p.m. but that the overall plant continues to have power.

He said the system worked as it was supposed to during a loss of power.

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(UPDATED) 2 Nuclear Reactors Shut Down In Virginia Following M5.9 Earthquake

(UPDATE) According to the plant operator Dominion's press release, the external power has been restored. The release doesn't say what time it was restored. One of the diesel generator was taken offline after the generator coolant leaked, but the 5th generator at the plant took its place. There has been no leak of radioactive materials in the environment other than that during the normal operation.

------------------------------------

From NBC Washington (2:35PM EST 8/23/2011):

A nuclear power plant located in Louisa County, the epicenter of the earthquake in Virginia, has shut down.

The North Anna Power Station, operated by Dominion Power, has two reactors. The plant declared an "unusual event" in the wake of the 5.9 magnitude quake, which is the lowest stage on the plant's emergency scale.

As a result, the plant has been shut down.

Check back with NBC Washington for more updates as they become available.

(UPDATE)

The AP reports the plant is being run off of four emergency diesel generators, which are supplying power for critical safety equipment.

(And what does the stock market do on the news? Bots go overdrive of course and ramp up the market. What else do they do? Sell gold and silver! Make sense, doesn't it? Time to buy risky assets (stocks) in times of uncertainty.)

(Oh I see. Maybe when they evacuated the exchanges they instructed the bots to just keep buying stocks no matter what...)

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UK's Nuke Plant Shut Down Because of Jellyfish

Fukushima is on-going, Fort Calhoun and Cooper in Nebraska are surrounded by water, a French nuke plant had a fire, and a UK's nuke plant was shut down by jellyfish.

What is the world coming to?

From Reuters (6/29/2011):

(Reuters) - An invasion of jellyfish into a cooling water pool at a Scottish nuclear power plant kept its nuclear reactors offline on Wednesday, a phenomenon which may grow more common in future, scientists said.

Two reactors at EDF Energy's Torness nuclear power plant on the Scottish east coast remained shut a day after they were manually stopped due to masses of jellyfish obstructing cooling water filters.

Nuclear power plants draw water from nearby seas or rivers to cool down their reactors, but if the filters which keep out marine animals and seaweed are clogged, the station shuts down to maintain temperature and safety standards.

Britain's Office for Nuclear Regulation said power plants follow a pre-planned programme when these situations occur.

Latest plant availability data from network operator National Grid showed Torness reactor 1 would return to service on July 5 and reactor 2 on July 6, but operator EDF Energy was unable to give a restart date.

Operators often take the opportunity presented by an unplanned stoppage to carry out maintenance work.

"We are working to clear the jellyfish from the waters near the power station. This work, as well as monitoring the area for more jellyfish, is ongoing," a spokesman for Britain's largest nuclear power operator, EDF Energy, said.

Scientists say jellyfish obstructing nuclear plants is a rare occurrence in Britain, though it has happened more often in other countries such as Japan.

But since it is happening in the UK, the article has to have a scientist who blames "global warming":

Increasing fishing activity and global warming are giving jellyfish populations a boost, scientists said, potentially making jellyfish invasions at nuclear power plants located near the open sea more common in the future.

"There are suggestions from some science data that over the past few years there has been an increase in swarms of jellyfish. It's possible it's linked to climate change," said Steve Hay, a plankton ecologist who specializes in jellyfish research at the Marine Scotland Science laboratory in Aberdeen.

He may well be right, but the article ends with a more mundane conclusion:

Overfishing of small fish which feed off jellyfish leaves them less exposed to natural predators and gives them more room to reproduce, the Marine Biological Association said.

Read the whole article at the link.

(h/t Irene)

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The Austrialian Is All For Nuke Plants Even After #Fukushima Disaster

saying "Fukushima looked ugly but the alternative is so much worse". Why? Well, global warming and CO2 increase, of course. Graham Lloyd of The Australian also claims the Japanese government has "responded with greater speed and precision to the Fukushima emergency than did their Soviet counterparts at Chernobyl, which was a much more serious accident."

Emergency? (Oh boy. That's like NISA calling the accident an "event"). The article was written before Japan upgraded the "emergency" event to a "Level 7" accident.

From The Australian's Graham Lloyd (4/9/2011):

THE Fukushima nuclear emergency has intensified the global climate change debate.

Japan's post-tsunami crisis has prompted an immediate reappraisal of ambitious nuclear energy plans in the booming markets of China and India and hastened the withdrawal of ageing plants in Western Europe, most notably Germany.

According to some calculations, if the world's nuclear ambitions are reduced because of Fukushima global carbon emissions could increase by an additional three billion tonnes by 2030.

Some believe this would be enough to push global temperature rises beyond 2 per cent and into a potentially calamitous upward spiral.

This has caused leading environmental campaigners, such as British author George Monbiot, to reappraise their attitude towards nuclear energy with some dramatic results.

Monbiot has not only changed from nuclear avoider to pro-nuclear campaigner he has taken on the long-standing figurehead of the anti-nuclear cause, Australia's Helen Caldicott.

"I'm very worried that the global response to what's happening in Fukushima will be to shut down nuclear power stations around the world and to cancel future nuclear power stations, and that what will happen is that they will be replaced by coal," Monbiot wrote this week.

And after years of campaigning against nuclear power, Monbiot now describes the exaggerated claims of the health impacts of radioactivity as akin to what he believes are the pseudo-scientific pleadings of climate change deniers.

"The anti-nuclear movement to which I once belonged has misled the world about the impacts of radiation on human health," Monbiot wrote.

Monbiot cites a UN Scientific Committee report into the Chernobyl accident, which found that of the workers who tried to contain the emergency at Chernobyl, 134 suffered acute radiation syndrome; 28 died soon afterwards. Nineteen others died later, but generally not from diseases associated with radiation. The remaining 87 have suffered other complications, including four cases of solid cancer and two of leukaemia.

In the rest of the Chernobyl population there have been 6848 cases of thyroid cancer among young children arising "almost entirely" from the Soviet Union's failure to prevent people from drinking milk contaminated with iodine 131.

Otherwise "there has been no persuasive evidence of any other health effect in the general population that can be attributed to radiation exposure".

Japanese authorities have responded with greater speed and precision to the Fukushima emergency than did their Soviet counterparts at Chernobyl, which was a much more serious accident.

(The article continues.)

The last paragraph quoted is a downright LIE. Amazing. There you go, Kan, here's your ally. Invite the reporters from this outfit to your presser and spread the good news that Fukushima is nothing.

The second to last paragraph is extremely questionable also, in light of the extensive studies to the contrary.

I suppose Australia is very safe from the radioactive plumes and contaminated water from Fukushima, being in the southern hemisphere, and has the luxury of still promoting the nuclear energy to save the world from the "global warming".

Never mind that millions of Japanese have had to breathe radioactive air and eat radioactive vegetables and fish. Small price to pay for saving the world from "global warming".

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#Japan #Earthquake April 7 Aftershock: Diesel Generators at Nuke Plants Didn't Work, Still Don't Work, But Don't Worry It Is So Safe

Luckily the external power has been restored to these "safe" nuclear power plants in Tohoku after the strong aftershock on April 7. However, Asahi Shinbun reports that the emergency backup power hardly worked in two of the nuclear power plants, and there is no plan to do anything about it anytime soon.

As one nuclear medicine specialist in Japan (of all places, from Nagasaki) had said to the worried audience in Fukushima last month, "Radiation is good for you, and only the pessimistic people will be affected negatively by radiation. So be cheerful. Trust me." (More on this government researcher later.)

Points from Asahi Shinbun (11:29PM JST 4/8/2011):

Tohoku Electric Power's Higashi-Doori Nuclear Power Plant (1 reactor):

• 2 external power lines (that's all they have) shut down after the April 7 aftershock, and switched to emergency diesel power

• There are 3 emergency diesel power generators at the plant, but 2 of them are in maintenance and cannot be used, and weren't used during the power outage.

• The remaining 1 diesel generator was used to cool the Spent Fuel Pool even after the external power was restored at about 3:30AM on April 8. However, the fuel was found leaking from the generator so it had to be shut down at 2:00PM on April 8.

• There is no plan to replace or add diesel generators.

Tohoku Electric Power's Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant:

• 2 of the 3 external power line shut down after the April 7 aftershock

• In the Reactor 1, 1 of the 2 emergency diesel power generators had been broken since April 1.

• During the power outage, the plant operated on 1 external power, and 1 diesel power generator.

• Water from the Spent Fuel Pool spilled because of the shaking from the aftershock, which they wiped off with a special cloth. [Brilliant design to have an open pool near the top of the Reactor building.]

For both plants, Tohoku Electric Power Company has no plan to do anything about the emergency diesel power generators. If the external power goes down again for any reason, Tohoku Electric says the power generating vehicles at the plant, which were sent to the plant after the Fukushima I Nuke Plant accident, would be sufficient to do the minimum cooling.

So Tohoku Electric may be just as "good" as TEPCO when it comes to a disaster planning.

And the citizens of Japan are required to feel "safe".

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M7.1 (or 7.4) Aftershock and the Status of Nuke Plants in Tohoku

A little bit more from Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.

From Emergency bulletin as of 1:00AM JST April 8, 2011 (Japanese only, no English bulletin):

Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant [in Aomori] is out of external power, is currently operating on a emergency diesel power generator.

Tomari Nuclear Power Plant [in Hokkaido] is currently operating at 90% capacity on the reactors 1 and 2. [There are 3 reactors at the plant.]

Higashi-Doori Nuclear Power Plant [in Aomori] is out of external power, and currently operating on emergency diesel generator(s?) to cool the Spent Fuel Pool. The entire fuel rods from the Reactor Pressure Vessel were in the Spent Fuel Pool. [There is only one reactor at the plant.]

In Onagawa Power Plant [in Miyagi], two of the three reactors are out of power, and currently operating on emergency diesel generators. [The reactor No.1 has only one diesel generator working, by the way. (link Japanese)] The cooling systems for the Spent Fuel Pools temporarily stopped, but now are operating.

Fukushima I, II Nuclear Power Plants, and Tokai II Power Plant have not suffered any power outages, no abnormal radiation has been detected.

　原子力安全・保安院から、昨日23時32分頃、宮城県沖で発生した地震による原子力施設への影響についてお知らせします。

日本原燃(株)六ヶ所再処理事業所については、使用前検査中です。また、東北電力(株)東通原子力発電所、女川原子力発電所並びに東京電力(株)福島第一原子力発電所及び福島第二原子力発電所の各施設は、東北地方太平洋沖地震後運転を停止しています。
六ヶ所再処理事業所については、現在のところ、外部電源が遮断し、非常用ディーゼル発電機による給電が行われています。
泊発電所については、北海道電力(株)によれば、現在のところ、１号機及び２号機について、出力を９０％に抑制して運転中とのことです。
東通原子力発電所については、東北電力(株)によれば、現在のところ、外部電源が遮断し、非常用ディーゼル発電機による給電が行われ、使用済燃料プールは、冷却を継続中（全炉心燃料が使用済燃料プール中に貯蔵中）。
女川原子力発電所については、現地の原子力保安検査官及び東北電力(株)によれば、現在のところ、外部電源３回線のうち２回線が遮断。モニタリングポストの値には異常は認められていません。使用済燃料プールの冷却系統は、一度停止しましたが、全て復旧したとのことです。
福島第一原子力発電所については、東京電力(株)からの連絡によれば、モニタリングポストの値には異常は認められていません。また、炉心への注入作業は継続中とのことです。
福島第二原子力発電所については、東京電力(株)によれば、パラメータの値に異常は認められていません。
東海第二発電所については、日本原子力発電(株)によれば、異常は認められていません。

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#Japan #Earthquake April 7 Aftershock: Nuclear Power Plants in the Affected Area

(The original image is from Asahi.)

In addition, 5 of the 6 thermal power plants in Tohoku have shut down due to this strong aftershock.

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Obama Embraces Nuclear Power, Despite #Fukushima Disaster

In case you missed my 2:00AM post on TEPCO chairman press conference, some interesting snippets:

Q: US nuclear plant construction by TEPCO what will happen?

A: South Texas project. Probably the US may reconsider how to proceed, it will be difficult for TEPCO to continue, partly due to cost (that will be incurred by this accident).

Earlier today, President Obama spoke about his bold initiatives on energy, vowing to reduce oil imports by one-third by 2025. And how is he proposing to make up for that reduction?

Nuclear, of course. AP reports:

And he embraced nuclear power as part of America's energy future, despite increased safety concerns following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan that severely damaged a nuclear power plant there.

Obama said he is determined to ensure that nuclear plants in the U.S. are safe, and has ordered a safety review of all facilities that will incorporate lessons learned from the crisis in Japan.

Sure. Safety review. (Is this his joke or something?) That will fix everything. All the Japanese nuclear power plants undergo regular safety reviews after another all the time. The government officials there are very determined to ensure the safety of their nuke plants.

So that you know, President Obama, one of the nuke plants that was shut down after the quake is set to reopen in Shizuoka Prefecture after a safety review. The plant sits right in the predicted center of the Tokai Earthquake that the researchers there have predicted to occur sometime in the future, right on the beach. And what are their safety reviews? To conduct a week-long disaster emergency drill. Then it is good to go online.

Oh, if the nuclear energy is so important, why don't you give a huge subsidy to TEPCO so that it can continue to invest in the nuke plant in Texas, Mr. Obama?

There you go, Japan. You have a staunch ally in defending the nuclear power generation despite the huge, radioactive mess that one of your nuke plant has caused.

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#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: NHK Analysis with Miniature Model, Complete with Tiny Fire Engine

Live right now. Go see the model.

NHK Live Feed (English)

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#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: METI's Kaieda May Be Open to the Idea of Shutting Down the Plant

So the Japanese government was thinking (probably still is thinking?) all along that those Reactors at Fukushima I Nuclear Plant could be somehow resuscitated?

Extend and Pretend, supremo, borderline delusional.

Mainichi Shinbun (in Japanese; 12:50AM JST 3/20/2011) reports:

Banri Kaieda, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, disclosed during the March 19 press conference that his Ministry was urged by the mayor of Koriyama City in Fukushima Prefecture that the government and TEPCO plan for eventual abandonment of the plant. When asked about his opinion on abandoning the plant, he answered "Do you think the plant is in a condition to resume operation? There's no one right now who thinks that way," indicating the possibility of abandonment.

Hmmm. Was that even a question?

When asked about the call for emergency halt of Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant (operated by Chubu Electric Power Company) in Shizuoka Prefecture, which would be hit hard if a strong earthquake occurs as has been anticipated, Kaieda answered "We are trying to bring gas/petroleum power generation plants back online, but there is not enough supply and we have to avoid large-scale blackout."

Another fine bureaucratic speech. Get it? He was asked about Hamaoka Nuke Plant, and he answered by talking about how inadequate the power generation by burning gas and oil is. In essence, he's saying no way to the call for halting Hamaoka Nuke Plant, but never say never, or he may regret later.

Mr. Kaieda was famous for his books on how to get rich by investing in risky assets during Japan's bubble era in 1980s.

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#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: A Candid Assessment by Japanese Bureaucrat That Got Little Coverage Anywhere

Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) spokesman Hidehiko Nishiyama held a press conference on March 17 and again on March 18, in which he shared a rather candid assessment of the situation in Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, albeit with high bureaucratic sophistication.

In Japan, only Bloomberg Japan reported on his press conference in detail. Major Japanese newspapers only took what they liked to hear - the part he said this had been a humbling experience for Japan and they would strive to solve the problem with international help. In the US, some of his dire remarks were quoted, but not in detail.

The gap between what's being reported in Japan and elsewhere is growing alarmingly wider, as I've noticed since I started covering the news of the earthquake/tsunami out of Japan a week ago. It's getting to a point where both cannot be right. Somehow, a Schroedinger's cat has to be found by opening the container.

But in this particular case of Mr. Nishiyama's press conference, both the Japanese and the US media reported what they wanted, and stayed clear of what, I think, really mattered in his remarks. Only Bloomberg reported it in length, but it was Bloomberg Japan. Doubly ironic.

Important points from Bloomberg Japan articles about Mr. Nishiyama's press conference on March 17 and March 18 (here and here, in Japanese, 3/17-18/2011) [emphasis added, my comment in square brackets]:

(From his press conference on March 17, 2011):

About the Reactor No.4 Spent Fuel Pool's water level:

"We do not know for sure. There is no white smoke."

About the possibility of no water in the pool:

"It is possible that there's no water. But it is also possible that there is water. It is hard to judge."

"There is a possibility of hydrogen explosion when water is poured in the pool if there is no water [i.e. if the fuel rods are exposed]. But we have to continue to pour water. The risk of spreading radiation [by hydrogen explosion] has been well considered."

About the Reactors No.2 and 3:

"We haven't been informed by TEPCO that it is white smoke (rising from the Reactors)."

About restoring the external power:

"The external power line will go to the Reactors No.1 and 2."

(From his press conference on March 18 - this is the scarier one.)

About whether the "Chernobyl" solution (=burying the plant in concrete) is being considered:

"At this point, it is not realistic."

About the effectiveness of the dousing of the Reactor No.3 from ground and air:

"Just because the radiation level hasn't dropped materially after the dousing, that doesn't necessarily mean the operation has failed."

[So he's saying, in bureaucrat's speech, it has failed.]

About white smoke coming out of the Reactor No.2:

"It is hard to figure out what it is. We will have to see as we proceed with the operation."

As to whether the white smoke out of the Reactor No.2 is from the Spent Fuel Pool:

"It hasn't been determined whether the smoke is from the Suppression Chamber or not."

[Now this gives me chills. He is asked about the Spent Fuel Pool on the Reactor No.2, and he purposefully answers what he isn't asked, and talk about the Suppression Chamber which is on the ground floor. My take: the smoke is probably from the Spent Fuel Pool.]

As to why there was a hydrogen explosion in the Reactor No.4 even if there was water in the Spent Fuel Pool:

"There is no explanation that makes sense."

[It makes sense if there is NO water in the Pool.]

About the risk of an explosion once the external power is restored:

"There is such a risk."

About the on-going efforts in Fukushima I Nuclear Plant:

"We are doing them so that there will be no further expansion of the evacuation zone. 20 to 30 kilometer zone is with ample safety margin. Even if we fail here, the expansion of the evacuation zone may not necessarily happen."

[Fail in what? Oh boy.]

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#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: More Details of the SDF Operation "Irrigation"

And your heart will sink after you read them. Mine did. It seems almost delusional to me to think their effort made any difference at all, but this is what is fed to the Japanese public as a piece of reassuring news, who remain hopeful that their government's effort will work. I do hope they are right, and I'm the one who's delusional.

Main points from Yomiuri Shinbun (in Japanese, emphasis added; 10:07PM JST 3/17/2011):

The Self Defense Force dropped water from their large transport helicopters earlier today (3/17) on the Reactor No.3 at Fukushima I Nuclear Plant, followed by the high-power fire engines spraying water from the ground.

Ministry of Defense announced that 5 high-power fire engines that SDS owns sprayed water aiming at the Spent Fuel Pool on the 5th floor of the Reactor No.3. Initially, the SDS had planned to use 11 fire engines connected with the hose that would extend to the sea, but the radiation level was too high to deploy all 11 engines.

The dousing started at 7:35PM. The operation ended at 8:00PM, total 30 tons of water sprayed from 5 engines. Ministry of Defense claimed all of the water reached the top floor where the Spent Fuel Pool was located, and it would conduct another round of dousing if requested.

In a separate operation, the Police used their high-powered water sprayer [used by the Riot Police to disperse crowds] on the Reactor No.3 around 7:00PM, spraying 5 tons of water in 4 minutes. The water hit the building, but it was not known whether it reached the Pool. The operation was halted as the radiation level was too high. The Police had no further plans to spray water.

The Spent Fuel Pool at the Reactor No.3 is designed to hold 1,500 tons of water. If they can fill 40% of the Pool with water (or 5 meters from the bottom of the pool), the spent fuel rods (length 4.5 meters) will be covered.

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#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: NHK's Detailed Analysis Today

NHK's detailed coverage of Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, with two experts and good graphics and the miniature model of the plant, which looks to be exact replica all the way down to a debris. (The Japanese haven't lost a touch since Godzilla days.)

I saw this on live stream earlier today. Someone posted on Youtube. With English simultaneous translation (which is absolutely irritating for a native Japanese speaker, but oh well).

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#Japan #Earthquake: Exodus Starts Out of Fukushima

Niigata Nippo reports that over 3,000 people have left Fukushima Prefecture and arrived in Niigata Prefecture, and are being housed in emergency shelters in cities and towns in Niigata.

As of March 16, there are 3,000 people from Fukushima in 26 shelters set up by Niigata Prefecture government and cities and towns in Niigata. Other cities, towns, villages in Niigata have come forward with their plans to provide shelters for more people. Nagaoka-City has announced it is preparing to house 15,000 people.

Niigata Prefecture is also providing the radiation screening for the people arriving from Fukushima at several location.

Kashiwazaki Nuclear Power Plant has started to offer informal radiation screening, as the word spread among the Fukushima evacuees that the Plant could do the screening.

And the sad, human nature in the time of crisis - there are burglaries reported in Ibaragi Prefecture (just south of Fukushima Prefecture), targeting the houses of the evacuees, as well as swindling money from frightened residents in by making up stories posing as TEPCO employees or fire fighters.

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#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: US Sets 80-Kilometer No-Go Zone for US Citizens in the Area

over the renewed fear on the Reactor No.4.

The Japanese government has set 20-kilometer no-go (evacuation) zone for its own citizens ...

From AFP (12:00PM PST, US, 3/16/2011):

WASHINGTON — US officials Wednesday warned citizens living within 50 miles (80 kilometers) of a crippled Japanese nuclear plant to evacuate or seek shelter, amid mounting concern of a catastrophic meltdown.

The evacuation order came as the chair of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) warned there was no water left in the spent fuel pool of reactor 4 at the Fukushima nuclear plant, resulting in "extremely high" radiation levels.

The US set up a much wider no-go zone than the 20-kilometer radius perimeter set up by the Japanese, after US authorities reviewed scientific and technical data about the nuclear emergency.

"We are recommending, as a precaution, that American citizens who live within 50 miles (80 kilometers) of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant evacuate the area or to take shelter indoors if safe evacuation is not practical," the US embassy in Tokyo said in its statement.

NRC chairman Gregory Jaczko told lawmakers that a fourth reactor at the nuclear complex was giving cause for concern following a hydrogen explosion there a few days ago.

"We believe that secondary containment has been destroyed and there is no water in the spent fuel pool and we believe that radiation levels are extremely high which could possibly impact the ability to take corrective measures."

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#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: TEPCO Bans Public Access to Webcam

(UPDATE) It is apparently back on, as of this morning (US time). I still call on Anonymous to hack all the computers at the government and government agencies and free the information that they jealously guard so that they can appear to be in control.

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Calling for Hackers Anonymous! Please hack TEPCO's system. Information wants to be free, it needs to be free!

Reuters Live on Japan Earthquake:

TEPCO has removed public access to a webcam showing the Fukoshima reactors. Now a password is needed in order to observe the complex.

It is a comment by Tim Childers at 9:51 PM. I'm looking for his source info, will update.

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