Sunday May 27, 2012

JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION

Second Fukushima plant unlikely to reopen: Edano

National Sep. 16, 2011 - 04:55AM JST ( 27 )

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27 Comments

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sillygirlSep. 16, 2011 - 07:10AM JST

a great big DUH?!?!?!?!
2

JapanGalSep. 16, 2011 - 08:50AM JST

“I do not believe that we can obtain local approval,”

hahahahahahahaha
0

AsagaoSep. 16, 2011 - 09:00AM JST

Still keeping quiet on what happened at Daini. Please remember that the govt and industry has said nuke power plants are earthquake proof. But Niigata was closed from an earthquake, Fukushima Daichi melted down because of one, and Daini mysteriously shutdown without many details other than "it was slightly damaged". Wake up Japan. Don't build nukes on fault lines.
1

Christina O'NeillSep. 16, 2011 - 09:16AM JST

Seems that when the locals act collectively they can influence decisions that may have an adverse effect on their community.Power to the people, well done
1

smithinjapanSep. 16, 2011 - 09:19AM JST

You KNOW corruption and money grubbing are absolutely rampant when they are even CONSIDERING the possibility. If they're saying they might not be able to operate it it really REALLY must be in horrible shape!

And is it me, or has Edano gained quite a bit of weight since we saw him constantly apologizing and saying 'it poses no health hazard' twice a day when this disaster occurred?
0

beangrySep. 16, 2011 - 09:22AM JST

The "complex is about 12 km from the stricken daiichi plant" and by definition within the mandatory exclusion zone.

Seriously, how could the government ****allow**** any workers to remain in area even they acknowledge is inherently unsafe because of excessive radiation, and will expose workers to more milllisieverts annually than they ever should have? In fact, what about those workers there now? It is unconscionable to ask them to continue to remain at the other plant (also damaged!) just to make electricity no one needs. 11 of 54 reactors are running and no shortages in sight.
-1

beangrySep. 16, 2011 - 09:29AM JST

Smithinjapan@ I agree! I mean this guy was part of the govt that lied to us and said everything was safe even when they knew on march 12 there were full meltdowns. He's a pr spokesman, a job that has nothing to do with honesty. Anyone putting faith in him should examine what Arnie Gunderson, Michio Kako etc have been saying, not to mention professor Busby and dr. Robert Jacobs. I'm quoting some of them, for some of them are on the record saying the govt knew on March 12th.
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zichiSep. 16, 2011 - 09:30AM JST

He was the anti-nuke mouth piece for PM Kan? TEPCO had a behind the scene plan at some point to restart reactors 4/5/6 at the crippled Fukushima plant.

The Daini seemed undamaged by the disaster. I think it's also on higher ground than the Daiichi plant.

At the Daiichi plant there was a steam explosion from inside reactor No3 which released massive amounts of radiation and could have blown the cap off the top of the reactor.

The Daini plant can't be restarted because it's inside the exclusion zone.

No reactor can be restarted without permission from the prefecture governor who has stated no more nuke reactors.

For more on the steam explosion.

http://houseoffoust.com/group/?p=3018
1

zichiSep. 16, 2011 - 09:41AM JST

France has offered to take all the spent fuel from the Daiichi plant.
0

Ranger_Miffy2Sep. 16, 2011 - 09:54AM JST

“I do not believe that we can obtain local approval,” from Planet Earth!!!
-1

beangrySep. 16, 2011 - 09:54AM JST

Actually we do not know IF it was a steam explosion or a nuclear one. Dr. Busby was giving some interviews on Russian Today and later held a conference in Japan to discuss this topic, in part. TEPCO says it's this or that, but they have no credibility.

Now in terms of him being anti nuclear or not, such is irrelevant. The fact remains HE we telling people things were safe when they were not. He could oppose nukes and give a hundred conferences a day, but international criticism is and was directed at him too for failing to disclose necessary data he should have given.
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erikajSep. 16, 2011 - 10:02AM JST

You KNOW corruption and money grubbing are absolutely rampant

Yes, it is unfortunate that politics and corruption always seem to go hand-in-hand. Which is why I just can't bring myself to trust any politician anywhere, whatsoever. They kind of rank up there with lawyers as people you can't trust at all. Every politician seems to only put their own agenda ahead of others. And whenever a President, Prime Minister, Governor, etc. seems to do something good, it's only because they are trying to put on a good appearance, or boost their declining approval ratings. Appointing Edano as yet another industry minister is simply a weak way to appease the public's disappointment in the long line of terrible industry ministers before him.
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Elbuda MexicanoSep. 16, 2011 - 10:09AM JST

Thank god! Thank the gods !!!
0

zichiSep. 16, 2011 - 10:12AM JST

"do not know IF it was a steam explosion or a nuclear one"

but we do know because there can be no nuclear explosion from a nuke power plant.
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beangrySep. 16, 2011 - 10:24AM JST

Nope. Not so. And until independent scientists can get there to check it, other well respected scientists will continue to have doubts and question TEPCO.

Btw, France ****can't**** take the fuel out because nobody has developed the technology to do so. We dont even know if the fuel is in the reactor or if it melted through to the concrete below, which would explain the decrease in temperature.

Any honest nuclear scientist will tell you they don't know how to fix it, it's as they say "without precedent". France can't swoop in and scoop it out. No human or machine can even approach the reactor because the radiation is off the scale.
1

gogogoSep. 16, 2011 - 10:34AM JST

You can't get local approval because no one in living there, it is inside the 20 km zone is it not?
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zichiSep. 16, 2011 - 10:35AM JST

France has offered to take all the spent fuel rods from the common cooling pool and from the cooling pools in the reactor buildings. There may be no fuel rods left in the No3 cooling pool, that's one big mess?

I didn't mention anything about the fuel rods which were in reactors 1-3 which had meltdowns, and melt-throughs creating deadly Corium, probably more than 300 tons of it. Currently, since this is a first time experience, there's no available data about how to remove the Corium.

I have experience of steam explosions and personally support the theory that No3 reactor had a steam explosion which was much greater than the other hydrogen ones. The steam came from inside the reactor so the radiation level would have been high.
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pawatanSep. 16, 2011 - 10:41AM JST

Anyone putting faith in him should examine what Arnie Gunderson, Michio Kako etc have been saying, not to mention professor Busby and dr. Robert Jacobs.

Nobody should examine what any of those people are saying. Really, that group? They are just fabricators with a different agenda, the flip side of TEPCO with just as little credibility.

Don't believe what any of the agenda-types say, be it from TEPCO, the government, OR the other side of the coin. We need to hear from independent, unbiased sources.
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zichiSep. 16, 2011 - 10:53AM JST

pawtan,

I agree with you. I would like to see all the nuke power plants in the country shut down. The pro nuke gang will do everything to support nuke power, the anti nuke gang will do everything not to support. Both gangs lie and twist the facts according to their needs.

What we need is the facts, which have been short in coming from both TEPCO and the government.

We don't need fear mongering.
0

escape_artistSep. 16, 2011 - 11:03AM JST

"I do not believe that we can obtain local approval,"

Uhh, since when did anyone in Japan's nuclear industry or govt truly care about local approval when it comes to siting or operating plants? What about the few plants that are being used to support Japan's supposed secret nuclear weapons program, centered supposedly in Fukushima Pref.? Perhaps those in control don't want any public scrutiny of what's going on down at No. 2?

There's probably a lot more going on here than this article says.
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zichiSep. 16, 2011 - 11:15AM JST

escapist_artist,

according to law, every reactor must be shut down every 13 months for inspection and maintenance. They however, can't be restarted without the approval of the governor.

The governor of Fukui is refusing permission to KEPCO to restart its reactors until clear safety guidelines are issued from Tokyo.

By next year, all reactors could be shut down by default.
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escape_artistSep. 16, 2011 - 11:39AM JST

zichi,

as we all know, the stated law is one thing, and the desires of the nuclear industry (in Japan or anywhere else) is quite another. The "local support" in Japan, for all its talk of being democratic, tends to fall pretty far behind both of these. We'll see if your constant faith (since it is like a religion) in the nuclear powers that be in Japan turn out to be true. Only time will tell. I think the sooner all the nuke plants in Japan are shut down and start decommissioning, the better.
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zichiSep. 16, 2011 - 11:47AM JST

escape_artist

I agree, but how long will those governors hold out? I don't know? There will be pressure and black mail from the power companies, from Tokyo too. Then there's the massive amount of nuke taxes paid to those prefectures with nuke power plants, which is only paid for working reactors. I believe some power companies like KEPCO have offered to increase the amount of nuke tax.
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LagunaSep. 16, 2011 - 12:24PM JST

Yes, it is unfortunate that politics and corruption always seem to go hand-in-hand.

It does take two to tango. TEPCO is a private enterprise, after all, and corruption even within the business community is not entirely unheard of. Public or private is irrelevant; money corrupts.
1

zichiSep. 16, 2011 - 12:41PM JST

During the summer only 18 of the total 54 reactors were operational, and another 7 or 8 are due to be shut down by the end of this year. It does seem the country does not need so many reactors.

Prior to the nuke disaster, another 12 reactors were planned, including another 2 at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. I hope that plan will now be scrapped?
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zichiSep. 16, 2011 - 02:24PM JST

Both Fukushima plants won't come back on line, but TEPCO over the next 3 years intends to increase its power charges by 15% to help bring it back to profitability, why is this company even still in business?
3

Johannes WeberSep. 16, 2011 - 02:54PM JST

It is enough to have some deformation or small structural damage at or near the pressure vessel to make people think twice (or more often) before they restart a nuclear reactor without any kind of release of radioactivity. Just take a minute and imagine the cost for bringing a slightly damaged nuclear plant back into shape, when You suddenly have real safety requirements! This is probably just so expensive that TEPCO doesn't want to take the risk if they know that the plant could be shut down very soon, if public opinion turns against it. The financial risk due to volatile public opinion has changed since March.

@beangry:

I'm nuclear scientist (particle physicisit with minor in nuclear chemistry) and I tell You that it is a f**cking difficult piece of work to make a nuclear explosion happen. There is enough fissile material in the reactors or the spent fuel pools for a criticality, but You'd have to compress it quite a bit to get a nuclear explosion. In a common nuclear bomb, You do this with a conventional bomb. In an H bomb, You do this with a common nuke.

I don't like nuclear plants at all because the main arguments for their use are based on wrong assumptions and the usual argument "cheap power" is pure nonsense. Cheapness is created by subsidiaries and negligence of the true cost factors. Also by bad technological and safety standards. A nuclear plant, which is up to date cost around 4.5 billions of euro, as You can see in Finland. This plant would need about 25 years before it becomes profitable. Calling that cheap is just insane.

@pawatan:

The truth is mostly out there. If You take enough different sources of information and get Yourself some nuclear science education, then it is rather clear which statements are mostly blatant lies and which statements are mostly credible.

@zichi:

TEPCO is too big to fail. Like banks in the US or Europe, the system would suffer on an unknown scale if one of the big banks went bankrupt. Which is the main reasons why they can speculate at high risks, because they know that the taxpayers bear the majority of the risks.