New fission suspected at Fukushima nuclear plant National

Wed, 2011-11-02 04:15 — JRees

Nov. 02, 2011 - 03:00PM JST ( 38 ) TOKYO — The operator of Japan’s tsunami-crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant said Wednesday it feared nuclear fission had resumed inside one of the reactors. Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO) said it had begun injecting water and boric acid into No. 2 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, which began leaking radiation after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. “We cannot rule out the possibility of a small nuclear fission reaction,” TEPCO spokesman Hiroki Kawamata said, adding that the injection was a precautionary measure. He said there was no fresh danger at the plant, as the reactor’s temperature and pressure, as well as radiation levels at monitoring posts, showed no substantial changes. Fission is the process by which an operating nuclear reactor produces power. The reactor automatically shut down in the wake of the disaster but nuclear fuel is believed to have melted through its container onto the bottom of the outer vessel when the tsunami knocked out the plant’s cooling systems. The injection was ordered after preliminary analysis of gas samples from the reactor building showed the possible presence of xenon 133 and xenon 135, byproducts of a nuclear reaction. The two substances have short half-lives—five days for xenon 133 and just nine hours for xenon 135—indicating that any nuclear fission was a recent phenomenon.

New Trouble Reported at Japan Nuclear Plant

Wed, 2011-11-02 00:28 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by Eric Talmadge - Associated Press (AP) - msnbc.com - November 1, 2011      

      

An aerial photo taken by a small unmanned drone and released by AIR PHOTO SERVICE, damaged Unit 3, left, and Unit 4 of the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant are seen in Okuma, Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan on March 24, 2011. (AP / AIR PHOTO SERVICE)

TOKYO — Officials detected a radioactive gas associated with nuclear fission at Japan's tsunami-damaged atomic power plant Wednesday, indicating there could be a new problem at one of its reactors. They injected a substance that neutralizes nuclear reactions as a precaution.

Gas from inside the reactor indicated the presence of radioactive xenon, which could be the byproduct of unexpected nuclear fission. Boric acid was being injected through a cooling pipe as a countermeasure because it can counteract nuclear reactions.

Does Adaptive Management of Natural Resources Enhance Resilience to Climate Change?

Tue, 2011-10-25 02:12 — admin

Emerging insights from adaptive and community-based resource management suggest that building resilience into both human and ecological systems is an effective way to cope with environmental change characterized by future surprises or unknowable risks. In this paper, originally published in Ecology and Society, authors Emma Tompkins argue that these emerging insights have implications for policies and strategies for responding to climate change. The authors review perspectives on collective action for natural resource management to inform understanding of climate response capacity. They demonstrate the importance of social learning, specifically in relation to the acceptance of strategies that build social and ecological resilience. Societies and communities dependent on natural resources need to enhance their capacity to adapt to the impacts of future climate change, particularly when such impacts could lie outside their experienced coping range. This argument is illustrated by an example of present-day collective action for community-based coastal management in Trinidad and Tobago.

Global
Adaptation
Citizens
Community
Environment
Resilience
Solutions

Citizens’ Testing Finds 20 Hot Spots Around Tokyo

Wed, 2011-10-19 23:54 — Kathy Gilbeaux

By Hiroko Tabuchi - The New York Times - October 14, 2011

      

Toshiyuki Hattori, who runs a sewage plant in Tokyo, surrounded by sacks of radioactive sludge.  Kazuhiro Yokozeki for The New York Times

TOKYO — Takeo Hayashida signed on with a citizens’ group to test for radiation near his son’s baseball field in Tokyo after government officials told him they had no plans to check for fallout from the devastated Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Like Japan’s central government, local officials said there was nothing to fear in the capital, 160 miles from the disaster zone.

Then came the test result: the level of radioactive cesium in a patch of dirt just yards from where his 11-year-old son, Koshiro, played baseball was equal to those in some contaminated areas around Chernobyl.

The patch of ground was one of more than 20 spots in and around the nation’s capital that the citizens’ group, and the respected nuclear research center they worked with, found were contaminated with potentially harmful levels of radioactive cesium.

The Economist: human costs of Japan's nuclear disaster

Thu, 2011-10-13 21:50 — admin

Radiation in Japan

 "Recently the government said it needed to clear about 2,419 square kilometres of contaminated soil—an area larger than greater Tokyo—that received an annual radiation dose of at least five millisieverts, or over 0.5 microsieverts an hour. That covered an area far beyond the official 30km restriction zone."

Hot spots and blind spots: The mounting human costs of Japan’s nuclear disaster

The Economist | Asia | Oct 8th 2011 | IITATE |

CREST the hill into the village of Iitate, and the reading on a radiation dosimeter surges eightfold—even with the car windows shut. “Don’t worry, I’ve been coming here for months and I’m still alive,” chuckles Chohei Sato, chief of the village council, as he rolls down the window and inhales cheerfully. He pulls off the road, gets out of the car and buries the dosimeter in the grass. The reading doubles again.

Residents Near Fukushima Mountains Face Nuclear Recontamination Every Rainfall

Tue, 2011-10-11 23:51 — Kathy Gilbeaux

The Mainichi Daily News - October 12, 2011        

      

Workers decontaminate radiation from the roof of Yasawa Kindergarten in Minami-Soma, about 12 miles (20 kilometers) away from the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear facility, in Fukushima prefecture, northeastern Japan, Thursday, Aug. 18, 2011.  Photo - Associated Press (AP)

As the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Plant drags on, worries are growing particularly among Fukushima Prefecture residents over drawn-out and in some cases apparently futile nuclear decontamination operations.

The unease is especially strong in areas in and around mountains that must be repeatedly decontaminated, as every rainfall brings a new batch of radioactive substance-contaminated leaves and soil washing down from the hills. Since some 70 percent of Fukushima Prefecture is mountainous, such instances of regular recontamination could occur over a broad area, while the same effect has also been observed in some undeveloped areas of cities.

IAEA Team in Japan; Fukushima Starts Thyroid Tests

Sun, 2011-10-09 22:15 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by Eric Talmadge - Associated Press - boston.com - October 9, 2011

A boy is taken by his mother to Fukushima Medical University Hospital for a thyroid test in Fukushima, northern Japan, Sunday, Oct. 9, 2011. Local doctors began a long-term survey of children for thyroid abnormalities, a problem associated with radiation exposure. Officials hope to test some 360,000 people who were under the age of 18 when the nuclear crisis began in March, and then provide follow-ups throughout their lifetimes. Japanese on the board reads: a thyroid test entrance. (AP Photo/Kyodo News)

TOKYO—Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency arrived in the Japanese city of Fukushima on Sunday to observe the massive decontamination effort following the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

Local doctors also began a long-term survey of children for thyroid abnormalities, a problem associated with radiation exposure. Officials hope to test some 360,000 people who were under the age of 18 when the nuclear crisis began in March, and then provide follow-ups throughout their lifetimes.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) Hit by Cyber-Attacks; Data Stolen

Tue, 2011-10-04 23:29 — Kathy Gilbeaux

The Daily Yomiuri - September 20, 2011

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has come under cyber-attack by unidentified hackers who are believed to have stolen confidential data from defense- and nuclear power-related facilities run by the major machinery maker, sources familiar with the case said.

About 80 servers and computers at MHI factories, including those used to build state-of-the-art submarines, missiles and nuclear power plants, have been infected with computer viruses, according to the sources.

"We are investigating all the facts of the case," an MHI spokesman said.

The servers and computers in question were apparently penetrated from outside the company, and there are indications that some confidential information has been stolen from the machines.

MHI reported the incident to police after concluding that its servers and computers had been targeted by what are known as spear attacks, the sources said.

The latest revelation is the first of its kind to be made in connection with cyber-attack on the nation's defense industry, according to observers.

Gov't to decontaminate areas with radiation exposure of 5 millisieverts or more per year

Thu, 2011-09-29 03:37 — JRees

SOURCE: The Mainichi Daily News
DATE: 28 SEPT 2011

Original Article Japanese Version

The Environment Ministry has decided to decontaminate areas where people could be exposed to radiation of 5 millisieverts or more per year by removing up to 28.78 million cubic meters of radioactively contaminated soil in Fukushima and four other adjacent prefectures affected by the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant.

The areas subject to the decontamination project are in Fukushima, Miyagi, Yamagata, Ibaraki and Tochigi prefectures. A huge temporary storage facility for contaminated materials needs to be built, and therefore the government is likely to have tough talks with local municipalities on selecting a space for such a facility.

Map - Maximum Radiation Levels in Eastern Japan

Wed, 2011-09-28 23:38 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Stuart Leiderman - September 26, 2011

The radiation pattern suggested by the map at http://www.japantimes.co.jp/radiation-levels.html does not follow the simple radii circles; thus the map does not educate the public on controlling factors.

It would be better to have maps with iso-lines that account for topography, weather history, soil type, etc.  Then, an agricultural defense might be envisioned.  This requires a new national soil survey, including radiology, and land-use inventory.

'best,

Stuart

                 

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/radiation-levels.html

Residents near Fukushima nuclear plant make own radiation map, clean contaminated areas

Mon, 2011-09-26 13:56 — JRees

"We can't keep on relying only on the government," Kisao Watanabe, 70, the chairman of the council, said. "We decided to do what we could by ourselves, hoping we can return to normal life as soon as possible."

Source:  The Mainichi Daily News September 27, 2011
English Translation  |  Original Article Japanese

MINAMISOMA, Fukushima -- Residents in this city, some areas of which fall within the 20-kilometer no-entry zone from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, have organized a council to measure radiation levels and remove radioactive material spread from the power plant.

FukushimaResidentsMapping

The council has also published a radiation map that is twice as precise as the one released by the government, making it the most up-to-date and detailed radiation map available for the area.

Radioactivity in Japan Rice Raises Worries

Sat, 2011-09-24 20:48 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by Hiroko Tabuchi - The New York Times - September 24, 2011

     

In this photo taken Friday, Aug. 19, 2011, Naoto Matsumura's dog Aki runs to meet him while he checks on his rice paddy in Tomioka town, Fukushima, northeastern Japan. (AP / Hiro Komae)

TOKYO — Government officials on Saturday ordered more tests after detecting elevated levels of radiation in rice crops near the crippled nuclear power plant at Fukushima.

Radioactive substances have already been discovered in beef, milk, spinach and tea leaves, leading to recalls and bans on shipments. But officials have been especially worried about rice, a staple that makes up a significant part of the Japanese diet. Japan grows most of the rice that it consumes.

Typhoon Roke Weakens Over Japan as Wind, Floods Kill at Least Three

Wed, 2011-09-21 23:22 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by Stuart Biggs and Chisaki Wantanabe - bloomberg.com - September 21, 2011

Typhoon Roke made landfall in central Japan, causing flooding and disrupting transport links as it weakened on a path toward the stricken nuclear power plant in Fukushima. At least three people were reported killed.

Roke was over Kofu city, 100 kilometers (64 miles) east of Tokyo, at 5 p.m. local time. It was moving northeast at 50 kilometers per hour, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The storm’s winds are expected to weaken to 120 kph from 148 kph as it approaches Fukushima today as a Category 1 hurricane, the weakest on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale.

Japan’s weather agency issued warnings for landslides and flooding throughout the main island of Honshu, with high waves in coastal areas. Public broadcaster NHK showed footage of fallen trees, damaged buildings and flooding across central Japan, where rainfall exceeded 80 millimeters (3.1 inches) per hour. Roke comes three weeks after typhoon Talas killed 67 people, the nation’s deadliest storm in seven years.

Typhoon Roke

Tue, 2011-09-20 01:32 — Kathy Gilbeaux

For current information on Typhoon Roke, click on the Joint Typhoon Warning Center logo (below)

     

Japan Braces for More Heavy Rain and Damage from Typhoon

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's weather agency warned on Tuesday of heavy rainfall in an extensive area encompassing southwestern to northeastern Japan due to a strong typhoon, amid heightening fears of further landslides and flooding in the Kii Peninsula in western Japan, already devastated by a deadly typhoon earlier this month.

Mud dams produced earlier by Typhoon Talas in Wakayama Prefecture and elsewhere were on the verge of bursting on Tuesday after downpours from Typhoon Roke, moving eastward over waters south of Kyushu, brought water levels to the brim in the morning and prompted authorities to evacuate more residents.

Typhoon Roke is expected to make landfall in western Japan on Tuesday. Picking up speed as it moves eastward, the typhoon may land as it approaches closest to Japan's main island of Honshu on Wednesday, the Japan Meterological Agency said.

Explosion at French Nuclear Waste Plant

Mon, 2011-09-12 16:35 — Kathy Gilbeaux

The Guardian - September 12, 2011

      

Rescue workers and medics land by helicopter at the Marcoule nuclear site, in France. Photograph: Claude Paris/AP

An explosion at a French nuclear waste processing plant that killed one person and injured four others sparked fears of a radioactive leak on Monday.

An emergency safety cordon was thrown around the Marcoule nuclear site near Nimes in the south of France immediately after a furnace used to melt nuclear waste exploded and caused a fire. It was lifted later in the day after France's nuclear safety agency, the Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire (ASN), said there was no danger to the public.

Reports said the body of one male worker at the plant had been "found carbonised", but there was no evidence that the explosion had caused any radioactive leak, though the ASN admitted there was the "possibility of a leak of low-level radioactivity, but no shooting of radioactivity in the air". There was no information as to the cause of the explosion.

The accident came just a week after the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, bucked the anti-nuclear trend following Japan's Fukushima disaster and pledged €1bn (£860m) of new investment in atomic power.

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