Chubu Electric Power Company has announced that it detected fresh corrosion from seawater in the Unit 5 reactor. The Japanese government ordered the utility to shut down all 5 reactors onsite in May 2011 due to concerns related to seismic activity in the area. One day after the order to shutdown, workers found that over […]
Over the course of the last year while the San Onofre reactors have been shut down by steam generator failures, readers may have visited and read the NRC’s representation of the steam generator issues in Unit 2 as described on their website.[1] They too may have felt that the description as is, stands in direct […]
Concerns over nuclear weapons proliferation has re-emphasized the need for swift and accurate detection of nuclear tests conducted anywhere in the world. Most nuclear weapons states publicly declare their nuclear status by way of nuclear tests, which can be conducted above ground, above the atmosphere, or underwater, but most recent tests have been underground detonations […]
Decontamination efforts in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster are facing serious problems, most of which seem to be of their own creation. In reality, the decontamination efforts to date have been relatively ineffective, and as some argue, a complete waste of tax funds. This week, according to the Fukushima Labor Bureau, only […]
According to a new report released by the Nuclear Regulation Authority, “The crush zone running under the Tsuruga power station is very likely an active fault.” The report also highlights the direction of the fault, and points out that it could be an extension of the same fault which runs directly underneath the Unit 2 […]
On Sunday and Monday, workers at Fukushima Daiichi carried out operations at the Unit 2 reactor to drill a new penetration on the first floor to insert a dosimeter, thermometer, and camera. The perforation was drilled in the RHR heat exchanger area on the north side of the reactor building. Workers found problems as they […]
Attached is a pdf of screening values for release of materials with surface contamination from the draft ANSI/HPS N13.12 Surface and Volume Radioactivity Standards for Clearance. The radioactivity concentration (screening value) for Cs-137 and Sr-90 is 1 Bq-cm2, which equates to a dose of 1 mrem/yr TEDE. Accordingly, a 4 Bq-cm2 contamination level on cargo […]
According to an updated timeline posted on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s website, a decision to restart the San Onofre Unit 2 reactor has been delayed until the end of May. According to Victor Dricks, a NRC spokesperson, the NRC needs additional time to conduct more on-site inspections at the plant. Both Unit 2 and Unit […]
After the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster released enormous amounts of radiation into the environment, scientists and researchers in Japan began monitoring the concentration of Cesium-134 and Cesium-137 in the organs of 79 abandoned cattle within a 20 kilometer radius of the nuclear power plant. Over 3,000 cows, 30,000 pigs, and 625,000 chickens were left behind […]
TEPCO has announced that it plans to dump contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean after processing it to reduce radioactive materials to legally permissible levels. By “processing”, TEPCO means once-high radioactive content has been reduced considerably, but not completely. The plant has already released enormous amounts of highly contaminated water directly into the ocean from […]
At a press conference on Wednesday, Nuclear Regulation Authority chairman Shunichi Tanaka said that the agency will not allow the Ohi reactors to continue operations if they fail to meet nuclear safety standards. Japan recently drafted new guidelines which are expected to be adopted in April and introduced in July. The new guidelines mandate that […]
The Board of Education of the San Diego Unified School District has passed a resolution Tuesday night, which calls for the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission to conduct an adjudicatory license amendment hearing process on the proposed restart to San Onofre’s defective Unit 2 nuclear reactor. The school board resolution states that “WHEREAS, a thorough […]
Nearly two years after the onset of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, over 220,000 metric tons of contaminated water have been collected and stored on site, still another 75,000 tons remains in the reactor buildings. Every day at least another 40 tons of contaminated water are created, requiring additional storage tanks to be constructed. Currently […]
Japan’s Nuclear Regulatory Authority presented a draft outline of new safety standards for nuclear power plants in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, including countermeasures against severe accidents and criteria for evacuating areas around nuclear power plants during an emergency this week. The new draft outline requires nuclear plant operators to take […]
After more than 20 years of non-action, the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission is reviewing its policies, regulations, guidance, and technical needs in several key areas, such as: retrievability, cladding integrity, and safe handling of spent fuel; criticality safety features and requirements for spent fuel transportation; and aging management and qualification of dual-purpose canisters and […]
A report by NHK has shown that operators of nuclear power plants in Japan charge the public users over 90 million dollars per year, in order to cover payments made to local authorities in the areas which host the nuclear sites. Last year, the central government announced that it did not consider these charges as […]
MALE PARTICIPANT: Yes, Mike, the last thing I heard was the Russians showed up a week ago but then they left. MR. FRANOVITCH: Wow. That’s interesting. DR. SHERON: And their President gave them good advice. He said don’t build nuclear plants in highly seismic areas. Thank you very much. Pages from ML13008A115 – March 26th, […]
TEPCO announced that it had captured a Murasoi fish from inside of the harbor at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Analysis detected 254,000 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive cesium in the fish, 2,540 times the legal dose. The internal dose if eaten would be 4mSv per kilogram. The Murasoi fish is somewhat similar […]
A commissioner of the Nuclear Regulation Authority of Japan told reporters this week that the nation’s boiling water reactors will not be allowed to restart until they have installed filtered ventilation systems to reduce the amount of radioactive materials released from containment systems during nuclear emergencies. “Without this (filtering systems), reactors will not reach the […]
Male Participant: You know, we do believe that based on information from TEPCO and identification of neutron sources, you know, found at the one mile from the plant that some fuel may have been injected, from that spent fuel pool when the hydrogen, when they had the hydrogen explosion. Pages from ML13008A113 – March 24th, […]