Degenerate Japan: No Lessons Learned
Channel: rumorecurioso
Date: 31/08/2013

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/  

FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI LEAK RAISED TO LEVEL 3 SEVERITY
 
Japan's nuclear regulators have raised the level of severity of the radioactive water leak from a tank at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. It is now a level-3 serious incident.

 The revision from level 1 is based on estimates of the volume of radioactive substances leaked.

 The leak was found earlier this month at one of the tanks storing highly radioactive water. The plant operator estimates 300 tons of contaminated water flowed out of the tank and through a ditch, some of it possibly reaching the sea.

 Officials at the Nuclear Regulation Authority on Wednesday ranked the incident 2 notches higher on the international scale of nuclear and radiological events.

 The scale is from zero to 7 and grades nuclear events ranging from no significant safety threat to a major accident.

 The International Atomic Energy Agency supports the revision. They say the tank leak can be assessed separately from the Fukushima Daiichi crisis as a level 3 incident. The crisis overall has been ranked as a level-7 major accident.

 Japanese experienced a level-3 nuclear event in 1997 with the fire and explosions at a fuel reprocessing plant in Tokai Village, Ibaraki Prefecture. 37 workers there were exposed to the leaked radioactive substances.

Aug. 28, 2013 - Updated 06:24 UTC

SHIKOKU ELECTRIC ASKS FOR LOCAL UNDERSTANDING
 
Workers of an electric power company are visiting households to gain support for restarting its nuclear plant in Ehime Prefecture, western Japan.

 Shikoku Electric Power Company plans to put the number 3 reactor at the Ikata plant back online. Last month, it applied for government safety screening of the reactor.

 On Tuesday, employees of the utility began visiting about 28,000 households in the cities of Ozu and Seiyo, within 20 kilometers of the plant. About 50 workers are to make such visits each day for one month.

 The employees explained to residents safety measures the utility has taken in line with new government regulatory standards.
 They also explained the company's recent failure to report for about 2 months that foreign objects were found stuck to nuclear fuel in June.

 Residents asked that the company take full safety measures.

 The plant's public affairs official Hiroshi Nagao says local people must have deep distrust in nuclear power amid the continuing crisis in Fukushima. Nagao also says he hopes the door-to-door visits will help win support for the planned restart.

Aug. 27, 2013 - Updated 09:01 UTC

REGULATOR ORDERS MANDATORY NUCLEAR SAFETY CHECKS
  
Japan's nuclear regulator will make it mandatory for plant operators to regularly test their facilities for resistance against earthquakes and tsunami.

 The move means utilities will be legally obliged to carry out so-called stress tests on plants and fuel facilities using computer analysis every 5 years. The Nuclear Regulation Authority agreed on the measure on Monday.

 The operators will also be required to calculate the probability of severe accidents, like the one at Fukushima Daiichi.

 After Fukushima, the government ordered idled nuclear plants to undergo stress tests before they could go back online. The latest move for the first time legalizes those tests for both operating and idled plants.

 The regulator plans to introduce the new measures by December after listening to public opinion.

Aug. 27, 2013 - Updated 05:34 UTC

TEPCO: HIGH RADIATION FOUND ON OTHER SIDE OF TANK
 
The operator of the disabled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant says radioactive water may have flowed out of a leaking storage tank in 2 opposite directions.

 Tokyo Electric Power Company found on Monday last week that more than 300 tons of highly radioactive wastewater had leaked from one of its storage tanks.

 The utility said at the time that the water seeped out of a low barrier around the tanks through an open rainwater drainage valve on the northeastern side.

 The company now says workers detected last Thursday a radiation level of 16 millisieverts per hour near an open valve on the southern side as well. The reading was higher than in nearby areas.

 TEPCO officials fear contaminated water may have come out from this valve as well. They've decided to remove soil from a wider area as the runoff may have seeped into the ground.

 The utility still doesn't know the cause of the leakage or the extent of contamination. Officials suspect some of the water may have flowed into the ocean through a drainage ditch.

Aug. 27, 2013 - Updated 01:25 UTC