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Sun, 2011-03-13 17:03 — mdmcdonald
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IAEA International Fact Finding Expert Mission of the Fukushima Dai-ichi NPP Accident Following the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

Fri, 2011-08-05 20:00 — Kathy Gilbeaux

                                        

Report to the IAEA Member States

Tokyo, Fukushima Dai-ichi NPP, Fukushima Dai-ni NPP, and Tokai Dai-ni NPP, Japan

24 May - 2 June 2011

By agreement with the Government of Japan, the International Atomic Energy Agency

conducted a preliminary mission to find facts and identify initial lessons to be learned from

the accident at Fukushima Dai-ichi and share this information across the world nuclear

community. To this end, a team of experts undertook this Fact Finding Mission from 24 May

to 2 June 2011. The results of the Mission will be reported to the IAEA Ministerial

Conference on Nuclear Safety at IAEA headquarters in Vienna on 20 24 June 2011.

During the IAEA Mission, the team of nuclear experts received excellent cooperation from all

parties, receiving information from many relevant Japanese ministries, nuclear regulators and

operators. The Mission also visited three affected nuclear power plants (NPP) — Tokai Dai-

ni, Fukushima Dai-ni and Dai-ichi — to gain an appreciation of the status of the plants and

the scale of the damage. The facility visits allowed the experts to talk to the operator staff as

Video - IAEA Chief Surveys Progress at Fukushima Accident Site

Fri, 2011-08-05 12:00 — Kathy Gilbeaux

IAEA.org - July 25, 2011

At the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, operated by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano received on 25 July 2011 an extensive briefing and visited key locations at the nuclear accident site.

Eyewitnesses at Fukushima

3 Top Japanese Nuclear Officials to be Axed Amid Crisis

Thu, 2011-08-04 21:48 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Janine Rees

The Mainichi Daily News - August 5, 2011

                                          

Japan's Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Banri Kaieda speaks during a budget committee meeting at the upper house of the Diet in Tokyo on Thursday, July 7, 2011. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Industry minister Banri Kaieda said Thursday he plans to sack three top officials in charge of nuclear power policy to hold them responsible for the handling of the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The three officials are Kazuo Matsunaga, vice minister for economy, trade and industry, Nobuaki Terasaka, head of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, and Tetsuhiro Hosono, head of the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy.

Kaieda said he will reveal details later. The minister, who has expressed his intent to resign to take responsibility for confusion over the stalled restart of nuclear reactors, did not specify when he will do so and only said, "I will decide on my own."

Kaieda said he wants to "put new life" into the ministry with the reshuffle and that he has conveyed the plan to Prime Minister Naoto Kan.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Japan Task Force Makes Its Report

Fri, 2011-07-15 19:06 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by Mike Campbell - earthtimes.org - July 13, 2011

San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station - San Clemente, California - Image: © iofoto

On 11th March 2011, northeast Japan was struck by a magnitude 9 earthquake and an ensuing tsunami. The Fukushima nuclear power plant was directly in the path of the tsunami and was also at the epicentre of some aftershocks. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission established a Japan Task Force which was charged with identifying lessons that the USA should learn from the Fukushima incident.

The task force was led by Charles Miller and it came up with a set of twelve recommendations aimed at improving safety at US nuclear power plants (NPP) and re-evaluating the level of public health protection required to meet needs in the 21st century.

Government Report Calls for 28 Nuclear Safety Steps

Wed, 2011-06-08 23:13 — Kathy Gilbeaux

The Yomiuri Shimbun - Daily Yomiuri Online - Associated Press - June 9, 2011

In a report submitted to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the government has called for a drastic revision of nuclear reactor design standards, including the development of air-cooling devices and a reconsideration of the location of temporary storage pools for spent nuclear fuel rods.

The report concerning the accident at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami was submitted to the IAEA on Tuesday.

The report included 28 proposals to strengthen the safety of nuclear plants, drawing on lessons from this year's earthquake-triggered nuclear crisis.

The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) the same day instructed electrical utility companies that operate nuclear power plants to take emergency measures to prevent hydrogen explosions and secure sufficient equipment to measure radiation levels.

The report may significantly affect the operations of about 50 nuclear reactors in the nation, observers said.

Japan Nuclear Crisis: IAEA Report Finds Country Underestimated Tsunami Risk For Nuclear Plants

Wed, 2011-06-01 11:49 — Kathy Gilbeaux

In this May 27, 2011 photo released by the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, members of the IAEA fact-finding team in Japan visit the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Okuma, Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan. (AP Photo/IAEA)

Reuters - June 1, 2011

TOKYO, June 1 (Reuters) - Japan underestimated the risk of tsunamis and needs to closely monitor public and workers' health after the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, a team of international safety inspectors said in a preliminary review of the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

The report, from an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team led by Britain's top nuclear safety official Mike Weightman, highlighted some of the well-documented weaknesses that contributed to the crisis at Fukushima when the plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, was hit by a massive earthquake and then a tsunami in quick succession on March 11.

Those start with a failure to plan for a tsunami that would overrun the 5.7-metre (19 ft) break wall at Fukushima and knock out back-up electric generators to four reactors, despite multiple forecasts from a government agency and operator Tokyo Electric Power Co's own scientists that such a risk was looming.

Japan Wants 3 Reactors Shut Until Seawall Built

Sat, 2011-05-07 21:14 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Chubu Electric asked to 'swiftly consider' government's request

CBC News - Posted: May 6, 2011 7:38 AM ET

Japan has urged a power company to suspend all three reactors at a coastal nuclear plant while a seawall and other structures are built to ensure a major earthquake or tsunami does not cause a second radiation crisis.

The move came Friday as the government is conducting a safety review of all Japan's 54 nuclear reactors after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that left more than 25,000 people dead and missing on the northeast coast.

The Hamaoka nuclear plant just 100 metres off the Pacific coast in central Japan is the only one so far where the government has asked that operations be halted until the utility can implement safety measures.

Chubu Electric Power Co. said in a statement it will "swiftly consider" the government's request. The statement gave no further details. Government officials estimate the work could last two years.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan said at a news conference Friday evening he requested the shutdown for safety reasons, citing experts' forecast of a 90 per cent probability of a quake with magnitude of 8.0 or higher striking central Japan within 30 years.

Japan Raises Severity Rating of Nuclear Disaster

Fri, 2011-03-18 08:51 — mdmcdonald

Japan has raised the severity rating of its nuclear disaster, as firefighters continue efforts to cool highly radioactive fuel rods at a nuclear reactor complex crippled by last week's earthquake and tsunami.

Japan on Friday increased the severity of the crisis at the Fukushima site from 4 to 5 on a 7-point international nuclear event scale. 

Firefighters are dousing water on damaged reactor buildings with powerful hoses.  But they have to limit their time inside the complex due to the high radiation levels. 

Japanese engineers also are extending an emergency power cable to the nuclear reactor complex.  A steady supply of power could enable workers at the Fukushima plant to get water pumps working again. 

 

For More Information:

No fallout danger to U.S. from Japan-NRC chief

Thu, 2011-03-17 13:54 — Katie Rast

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission believes there is no radiation danger to U.S. territory from the nuclear reactor disaster Japan, NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko said on Thursday.

"We don't see any concern for radiation levels that could be harmful here in the the United States or any of the U.S. territories," he told reporters. He said NRC recommended evacuating areas within 50 miles of Japan's stricken reactor as a prudent precaution.

Read more...

Obama defends nuclear power, says Hawaii, West Coast safe

Thu, 2011-03-17 13:48 — Katie Rast

WASHINGTON » President Barack Obama is defending nuclear power as an important source of energy in the U.S., even as new questions are raised about its safety following radiation leaks from an earthquake- and tsunami-damaged nuclear plant in Japan.

Obama also told a Pittsburgh TV station that he has been assured that Hawaii and the U.S. West Coast will not be affected by radiation released from the damaged nuclear plant in Japan.

Read more...

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