Joined: 26 Mar 2007 Posts: 2061 Location: Melbourne Country:
Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 7:46 am Post subject:
A Japanese nuclear official who spent five days inside the Fukushima nuclear plant has described the tough working and living conditions inside the crippled nuclear facility.
Kazuma Yokota is being hailed as a modern samurai - one of the so-called Fukushima 50 who stayed at the crippled plant as its reactors threatened to melt down in the wake of Japan's devastating earthquake and huge tsunami.
The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency official says workers were given one blanket each and two meagre meals a day as they struggled to avert a nuclear disaster.
"The working conditions were harsh," he said.
"The workers inside the plant were toiling very hard. We'd have emergency biscuits for breakfast and a small bag of rice for dinner. There was the odd can of food too.
"The workers were all sleeping together in the plant's meeting room, in the hallway and in front of the toilet."
The Fukushima 50 were tasked with connecting electric cables and repairing smashed machinery and pumps in a bid to restart the plant's cooling systems.
But even a short period near the reactors meant exposing themselves to dangerous levels of radiation.
"We had lead sheets brought in and put on the floors to block the radiation," Mr Yokota said.
"But we were still exposed. I was exposed to 883 microsieverts during the five days I was there."
That is about the same as nine chest X-rays, but is low compared to what happened to 19 other workers who have been exposed to more than 100 times that amount.
Reinforcements have since been sent to Fukushima and the number of workers there has now risen to 400.
But dangerously high radiation levels mean the crews can only work one-hour shifts at a time.
The plant's operator TEPCO has admitted it did not properly warn workers about the high levels of radiation in the water in reactor No. 3.
Three workers were exposed while laying electric cables in the reactor's turbine building last week and two of them were standing up to their ankles in radioactive water for two hours.
Their protective gear was simply not up to the task but they have now been released from hospital after having their burns treated.
Joined: 26 Mar 2007 Posts: 2061 Location: Melbourne Country:
Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 6:50 am Post subject:
As dangerously high levels of radiation spread beyond the Fukushima exclusion zone in Japan, there are fears the race to contain the nuclear crisis has been lost and meltdown has already taken place.
Radiation measured at a village 40 kilometres from the Fukushima nuclear plant now exceeds a criterion for evacuation, the UN nuclear watchdog said.
And a Japanese nuclear expert has warned crews may have to keep pouring cooling water onto the stricken reactors for years.
The radiation finding increases pressure on Japan's government to extend the exclusion zone beyond 20 kilometres around the plant, which was hit by a huge earthquake and tsunami on March 11, knocking out the cooling system of the plant's six reactors and setting off explosions and fires.
Prime minister Naoto Kan says he is considering enlarging the evacuation area to force 130,000 people to move in addition to the 70,000 already displaced.
The indications are the most serious nuclear crisis in 25 years is getting worse.
Richard Lahey, head of safety research for this type of reactor at General Electric, which installed the reactors at Fukushima in the 1970s, says workers at the site appear to have lost the race to save the crippled No. 2 reactor.
The Guardian newspaper quotes him as saying he believes the reactor core has melted through the bottom of the pressure vessel and at least some of it is down on the concrete floor beneath.
This would mean in simple terms the accident is no longer a matter of melting fuel rods, but of meltdown.
That situation is reminiscent of Chernobyl where the plant needed to be covered with a concrete sarcophagus to seal it off.
However Dr Lahey says there is no danger of a Chernobyl-style catastrophe because in that case the plant exploded releasing a massive amount of radioactive steam.
The situation in Japan would still be immense environmental damage in the localised area.
Hiroto Sakashita, a nuclear reactor thermal hydraulics professor at Hokkaido University, says the other reactors and cooling ponds will take years to cool.
"They will just have to keep on pouring and pouring but contaminated water will keep leaking out," he told The New York Times.
Japan's Nuclear Safety Agency has confirmed radioactive iodine in the sea near Fukushima at 3,355 times the normal level.
Workers at the nuclear plant are planning to spray the grounds with a special resin designed to block radioactive materials from spreading into the soil, the sea and into the air.
Officials at the stricken plant are also planning to cover three badly damaged outer reactor buildings with special fabric caps and fit air filters to limit the release of radiation.
Another plan is to anchor an empty tanker off the No. 2 reactor so workers can pump huge volumes of radioactive water into its hull.
Japan, which has more than 50 reactors, has ordered an immediate check of them all to ensure there can be no repeat of the Fukushima crisis.
Industry minister Banri Kaieda has written to the CEOs of every nuclear power operator demanding they carry out drills to prepare staff for emergencies and urging them to ensure their plants have reliable back-up power for their cooling systems.
Meanwhile, IAEA head of nuclear safety and security Denis Flory says he has heard there might be "recriticality" at the Fukushima plant, in which a nuclear chain reaction would resume, even though the reactors were automatically shut down at the time of the quake.
He says this could lead to more radiation releases but it would not be "the end of the world".
"Recriticality does not mean that the reactor is going to blow up," he said.
"It may be something really local. We might not even see it if it happens."
Joined: 25 Mar 2004 Posts: 916 Location: SF Bay Area Country:
Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 7:51 am Post subject:
A set of concrete sarcophagi would NOT be an admisison of defeat. They can't keep pouring water onto them and into the ocean. I agree with Michio Kaku in the final analyis: bury it!
On a happier note, my stepson and his family are back from Japan. _________________
Joined: 13 Apr 2007 Posts: 12121 Location: It was fun while it lasted. Country:
Posted: Thu Mar 31, 2011 8:52 am Post subject:
Ryo Ishikawa will donate all his 2011 prize money to Japan
By Shane Bacon
There are people that step up during crisis situations, and people that step up, and for victims of the Japan earthquake and tsunami, they can look at young Ryo Ishikawa to be leading the latter group.
Ishikawa, just 19 years old and a Japanese professional golfer, announced on Wednesday that he will be donating all of his 2011 prize money to victims of the natural disaster that devastated Japan on March 11. That means that Ishikawa will probably be donating over $1 million, a number people estimate Ryo will win if he has a solid second full season on the PGA Tour, especially since a season ago he earned 151 million yen ($1.8 million) on the Japan Tour alone to go along with his $149,180 in the states.
Why has Ishikawa decided to do this, besides the obvious reasons that he is from Japan and wants to help out any way he can? He has told Japanese press that he feels the extra motivation to play well will help his game, and give him a reason to really grind out every round. If you think about the magnitude that each week could carry for Ishikawa, you have to think this is a huge win-win for everyone in Japan. First, they'd be getting a hefty sum of relief money headed their way, and second, they'd get to see their young star turn into a global icon if he starts to finish high or even win some elite events on the PGA Tour.
It also says a lot about who Ishikawa is. Just 19, he always seemed way ahead of his years. He wasn't intimidated the first time he was paired with Tiger Woods in a huge event, and even beat him. He has notched nine professional wins on the Japan Tour, and shot a final-round 58 last year to win The Crowns.
You have to stand back and applaud a kid with this much charity under his sleeve. If you aren't openly rooting for Ishikawa to play well next week at Augusta, I don't know what to tell you.
Joined: 26 Mar 2007 Posts: 2061 Location: Melbourne Country:
Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2011 5:42 pm Post subject:
Japanese workers struggling to contain a crisis at a crippled nuclear plant discovered a crack in a pit leaking highly radioactive water straight into the sea, the firm operating the facility said.
In a discovery regulators said might explain the radioactive water that has hobbled efforts to quell Japan's nuclear crisis, Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said the radiation in the pit at its No.2 reactor in Fukushima measured 1,000 millisieverts per hour.
"With radiation levels rising in the seawater near the plant, we have been trying to confirm the reason why, and in that context, this could be one source," said Hidehiko Nishiyama, deputy head of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.
He cautioned, however, "We can't really say for certain until we've studied the results."
TEPCO plans to fill in the crack, while checking radiation levels in sea water at three locations 15 kilometres offshore in addition to four spots where they have already taken samples, he said.
Since the six-reactor Fukushima plant's cooling systems were knocked out by the March 11 quake and tsunami, the danger of radioactive leaks into the environment has been the top concern.
TEPCO said earlier that radioactive iodine-131 in groundwater below Japan's stricken nuclear plant was significantly higher than the safe level set by the government.
The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) confirmed that a crack had been found, saying TEPCO was trying to get a clearer picture of how the leak originated.
"TEPCO is checking where the water accumulating in the pit came from," said NISA official Hidehiko Nishiyama.
TEPCO said it was also investigating if other cracks remained in the facility causing leaks into the environment.
After three weeks, operators of the plant are no closer to regaining control of damaged reactors and fuel rods remain overheated.
Japan is facing a damages bill which may top $US300 billion - the world's biggest from a natural disaster.
Radiation 4,000 times the legal limit has been detected in seawater near the Daiichi plant and a floating tanker was to be towed to Fukushima to store contaminated seawater. But until the plant's internal cooling system is reconnected radiation will flow from the plant.
"We are trying to employ as many measures as possible [to put the plant under control]. We are holding high hopes [for this storage]," said a TEPCO official.
In its attempt to bring the plant under control, TEPCO is looking for "jumpers" - workers who, for payment of up to $US5,000 a shift, will rush into highly radioactive areas to do a quick task before racing out as quickly as possible.
"My company offered me 200,000 yen ($US2,500) per day," one subcontractor, unidentified but in his 30s, told Japan's Weekly Post magazine. "Ordinarily I'd consider that a dream job, but my wife was in tears and stopped me, so I declined."
TEPCO was also spraying resin onto radioactive dust in an attempt to stop it from being carried in the wind.
"We sprayed 2,000 litres over 500 square metres of land. We plan to evaluate the result of the test spraying on April 2nd and 3rd. It takes about 24 hours for this scattering-prevention solution to get dried," said the official.
It could take years, possibly decades, to make safe the area around the plant, 240km north of Tokyo.
With its president, Masataka Shimizu, in hospital, an enormous compensation bill looming and mounting criticism of both its handling of the crisis and prior safety preparations, TEPCO may need state help, according to media reports.
PM tours disaster zone
The news comes as prime minister Naoto Kan made his first visit to the country's tsunami-devastated region.
Hundreds of thousands remain homeless, sheltering in evacuation centres, as the death toll from the disaster rises.
Thousands of Japanese and US soldiers on Saturday conducted a search for bodies using dozens of ships and helicopters to sweep across land still under water along the north-east coast. The teams hope when a large spring tide recedes it will make it easier to spot bodies.
Mr Kan spoke with refugees living in a makeshift camp in the fishing village of Rikuzentakata, levelled by the tsunamis and massive earthquake, which left 28,000 dead and missing.
"It will be kind of a long battle, but the government will be working hard together with you until the end. I want everyone to do their best, too," Mr Kan told one survivor in a school that was now an evacuation shelter.
Despite its tsunami seawalls, Rikuzentaka was flattened into a wasteland of mud and debris and most of its 23,000 residents killed or injured, many swept away by the waves.
"A person that used to have a house near the coast told me 'Where am I supposed to build a house after this?', so I encouraged this person and said the government will provide support until the end," Mr Kan told reporters.
Unpopular and under pressure to quit or call a snap poll before the disaster, Mr Kan has been criticised for his management of Japan's humanitarian and nuclear crisis and his leadership remains in question.
"There are some evacuation centres that lack electricity and water. There are people who can't even go look for the dead. I want him to pay attention to them," said Kazuo Sato, a 45-year-old fisherman.
Joined: 08 May 2007 Posts: 2331 Location: in South Atami Country:
Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2011 7:30 pm Post subject:
^ Regarding TEPCO's workers, I was appalled to read the following statement from a TEPCO official (in the context on why their workers conditions are so bad) in the print edition of this week's Economist:
"We don't think they are heroes. They are doing what they should."
Oh really? I don't see any senior manager at TEPCO doing what they should...
Joined: 15 Jun 2004 Posts: 46182 Location: Los Skandolous, California Country:
Posted: Sat Apr 02, 2011 11:43 pm Post subject:
EstherM wrote:
Oh really? I don't see any senior manager at TEPCO doing what they should...
Yes, indeed. The leadership vacuum at the top is ridiculous. Again, the whole notion of amakudari in Japan is being put in stark relief, with serious consequences in this particular instance.
I wouldn't be surprised if we see some "jisastsu" <suicides> in the near future.
^ Regarding TEPCO's workers, I was appalled to read the following statement from a TEPCO official (in the context on why their workers conditions are so bad) in the print edition of this week's Economist:
"We don't think they are heroes. They are doing what they should."
Oh really? I don't see any senior manager at TEPCO doing what they should...
Not surprised.
From a cultural standpoint, I suppose he feels it's their duty, like the grunts doing battle for their liege lords.
Joined: 25 Mar 2004 Posts: 916 Location: SF Bay Area Country:
Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 2:39 am Post subject:
In talking with Japanese natives recently, I have been catching a sense of black humor regarding the earthquake and tsunami. Almost to the level that would have gotten an American comic fired. _________________
Joined: 26 Mar 2007 Posts: 2061 Location: Melbourne Country:
Posted: Wed Apr 06, 2011 9:26 am Post subject:
Engineers have stopped highly radioactive water leaking into the sea from a crippled Japanese nuclear power plant, a breakthrough in the battle to contain the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl.
However the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), still needs to pump contaminated water into the sea because of a lack of storage space at the facility.
"The leaks were slowed yesterday after we injected a mixture of liquid glass (sodium silicate) and a hardening agent and it has now stopped," a TEPCO spokesman said.
Desperate engineers had been struggling to stop the leaks and had used sawdust, newspapers and concrete as well as liquid glass to try to stem the flow of the highly contaminated water.
Japan is facing its worst crisis since World War II after a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami hit its north-east coast, leaving nearly 28,000 people dead or missing, thousands homeless, and rocking the world's third-largest economy.
TEPCO says it has detected radioactive iodine at 7.5 million times above the legal limit in seawater near the facility, adding to fears contaminants had spread far beyond the disaster zone.
The government is considering imposing radioactivity restrictions on seafood for the first time in the crisis after toxic caesium was found in fish off Japan's east coast.
India also became the first country to ban food imports from all areas of Japan over radiation fears.
Workers are still struggling to restart cooling pumps - which recycle the water - in four reactors damaged by the earthquake and tsunami.
Until those are fixed, they must pump in water from outside to prevent overheating and meltdowns.
In the process, that creates more contaminated water that has to be pumped out and stored somewhere else or released into the sea.
TEPCO has offered "condolence money" of 20 million yen ($227,000) each to local governments in towns near the reactors to aid people evacuated from around its stricken plant or affected by the radiation crisis.
There is a total of 60,000 tonnes of highly contaminated water in the plant after workers poured in seawater when fuel rods experienced partial meltdown.
TEPCO on Monday, had to start releasing 11,500 tonnes of low-level radioactive seawater after it ran out of storage capacity for more highly contaminated water. The release will continue until Friday.
Fishermen from neighbouring Ibaraki prefecture saw prices for flounder and sea bream tumble 65 per cent as buyers shunned their catch.
Their union said they would see compensation from TEPCO and from the government.
The discovery of caesium in young lance fish prompted 10 fishing cooperatives in Ibaraki, south of Fukushima, to immediately suspend catches.
"This is the perfect time for young lance fishing," a fishing cooperative official said.
"This suspension is necessary but it will put people out of business. This radiation issue needs to be resolved soon."
Caesium has a radioactive half-life of 30 years and according to scientists can accumulate on the ocean floor where shellfish live and feed.
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