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Nuclear Plant in Japan Leaks Toxic Water

TOKYO — Tens of thousands of gallons of radioactive water leaked from a large underground storage pool at Japan’s crippled nuclear plant, and thousands more gallons could seep out before the faulty pool can be emptied, the plant’s operator said Saturday.

About 120 tons, or almost 32,000 gallons, of highly contaminated water appeared to have breached the inner protective lining of the pool at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, said the operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company. It was unclear how much of the water had made it through two additional layers of lining to reach soil, but radiation levels outside the pool have risen, a sign that some water is getting out, said the company, known as Tepco.

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Phasing Out, Cracking Up and Shutting Down—A Bad Week for Nuclear Power

Santa María de Garoña Nuclear Power Plant, copyright Pedro Armestre/Greenpeace

Santa María de Garoña Nuclear Power Plant, copyright Pedro Armestre/Greenpeace

Historic news that Japan will phase out nuclear power has rounded off yet another terrible week for the global nuclear industry.

Japan's decision to end its reliance on nuclear power by the 2030s means it will join countries such as Germany and Switzerland in turning away from nuclear power after last year's Fukushima disaster. This is an incredible step forward for a country that was once 30 percent dependent on nuclear power and follows a wave of public protests in a country not known for civil disobedience.

The decision comes as two nuclear reactors are out of action in Belgium after indications of cracks were found in their reactor vessels.

And adding to the industry's woes this week, Spain said it will close its Garoña nuclear power plant in July 2013, while Quebec's new government has confirmed it will also close the Gentilly-2 nuclear reactor. These are momentous times.

Greenpeace has cautiously welcomed Japan's new “energy and environment strategy” as a long overdue decision. Still, we believe 18 years is still far too long to wait for a full nuclear phase-out. Japan had already shown this summer that it could live without nuclear power after no power shortages or blackouts were reported despite just two of its 50 nuclear reactors being in operation.

The road ahead is abundantly clear.

Greenpeace has shown in its Energy [R]evolution scenario that with a quick uptake of renewable energy and energy efficiency, Japan can enjoy an economic recovery and meet its 2020 target to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

It does not need to restart any of the nuclear reactors shut down after the Fukushima disaster. In Europe, the fact that the Doel 3 and Tihange 2 reactors in Belgium are out of action after inspections indicated cracks in their reactor vessels underscores the ongoing risk to public safety that nuclear power poses.

It’s possible that the damage is so great that these reactors will never be restarted.

If that isn’t chilling enough, there’s a chance that a number of other reactors across the globe might be similarly affected. All these reactors had their vessels made by the now defunct Dutch company, RDM (Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij).

Belgian nuclear watchdog FANC organised a meeting of nuclear safety authorities in Brussels last month to discuss the issue. Officials from Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the US and Argentina attended the talks.

Greenpeace is alarmed, however, that the operators and nuclear regulators of the reactors in these other countries claim they have no problems at all.

We are calling for all of these reactors to be immediately shutdown to allow for proper and thorough investigations and to ensure public safety.

On a more positive note, however, public safety took a significant step forward in Spain this week when it was announced that Spain’s Garoña nuclear power plant would be shutdown in July 2013.

The plant’s operators were hoping to extend the aging plant’s lifetime until 2019, which would have cost an estimated 120 million euros (US$153 million) in modernisation and safety upgrades, but this week finally admitted defeat.

This should signal the start of Spain’s renewable and sustainable future and is a huge victory for campaigners in Spain who have been fighting the good fight for 20 years.

All this makes you wonder how many more hits the nuclear industry can take. It’s battling against younger and better alternatives such as solar and wind energy - a battle that nuclear power can’t win.

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Japan’s Toxic Tsunami Debris Heads Towards North America

The spill and spread of industrial chemicals across the coastline of British Columbia is a possibility as slower-moving tsunami debris from Japan approaches the west coast, according to experts observing its movements.

The risk of chemical contamination is sizable, especially considering that many of the tsunami-affected areas on the Japanese coast were industrial and used many different types of toxic chemicals in manufacturing operations.

"[Chemical contamination] could be a real threat," said Dr. M. Sanjayan, the lead scientist at conservation group the Nature Conservancy. "For example, it's very hard to imagine how 50 drums [filled] with something could all show up at the same time, unless it's an event like this. That's where it can be a little dangerous.

"Finding one drum of, say, paint thinner, or something you might find in your garage, it's not hugely toxic. But if you find 50 of them all washed up on a rocky shore and then breaking and leaking, then you have some problems."

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Activists Brace for Long War Against Nuclear Power

TOKYO, May 17, 2012 (IPS) - For the past two decades Masao Ishiji (59), has been fighting tooth and nail to ban the operation of four nuclear reactors that dot the western coastline of Oi in the Fukui prefecture facing the Japan Sea.

Earlier this week, that desperate battle reached a critical front. When the Oi municipal assembly passed a new resolution Monday to restart Unit 3 and 4 reactors that had been closed for a year for stress tests, anti-nuclear activists knew they had reached a crucial juncture in their fight to eradicate nuclear power from the country.

"The new Oi decision is a blow to the anti-nuclear movement," explained Yuki Sekimoto of Greenpeace, Japan. " It is also a stark reminder of the excruciating position faced by the local residents. They have to chose between their jobs or stopping nuclear power, a very unfair situation."

Indeed, Mayor Shinobu Tokioka, who now faces the difficult task of approving the local assembly decision, told the Japanese media on Monday that his main consideration was the potential damage to the local economy brought on by a prolonged halt of the reactors.

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San Onofre: Bad Vibrations

Arnie Gundersen, Chief Engineer of Fairewinds, demonstrates what has happened inside the replacement steam generators at the site of the San Onofre nuclear generating station in San Diego, California. Arnie shows that steam generator tube vibrations have caused extensive damage due to design changes between the original and replacement generator tubes.

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Fukushima Radiation Moving Steadily Across Pacific

By Common Dreams Staff

Teams of scientists have already found debris and levels of radiation far off the coast of Japan, one year after the nuclear disaster at Fukushima. Reports are now suggesting that nuclear radiation has traveled at a steady pace. That contaminated debris and marine life could reach the US coast as soon as one year from now, depending on ocean currents.

Radiation from Fukushima's nuclear disaster is appearing in concentrated levels in sea creatures and ocean water up to 186 miles off of the coast of Japan. The levels of radiation are 'hundreds to thousands of times higher than would be expected naturally' according to Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI). Researchers are questioning how the radioactive accumulation on the seafloor will effect the marine ecosystem in the future.

"What this means for the marine environment of the Northwest Pacific over the long term is something that we need to keep our eyes on," said the WHOI.

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Experts: Radiation at Fukushima Plant Now at Lethal Levels

Radiation levels inside Fukushima's reactor 2 have reached fatally high levels, and levels of water are far lower than previously thought, experts say today.

The current radiation levels are so high that even robots cannot enter. Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) says that new robots and equipment will need to be developed to deal with the lethal levels of radiation.

TEPCO spokesperson Junichi Matsumoto told the Associated Press, "We have to develop equipment that can tolerate high radiation" when locating and removing melted fuel during the decommissioning.

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Steam Generator Failures at San Onofre

Steam Generator Failures at San Onofre: The Need for a thorough Root Cause Analysis Requires No Early Restart

The two San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station reactors owned by Southern California Edison (Edison) are unable to safely generate the necessary electricity for the people of California. The likely cause is excessive wear, leaks and pressure test failures in the steam generator tubes. Despite Edison's rush to make an early restart of at least Unit 2 if not Unit 3, and the apparent relaxed approach of the NRC as to their role in the timing of any start up by Edison, Fairewinds Associates recommends that both San Onofre Unit 2 and Unit 3 remain shut down until the “root causes” of the nuclear power plant's rapid tube failures are understood and repaired, reliability is assured, and radioactive releases are prevented.

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Message to world leaders: Fukushima is a reminder; end the threat of nuclear power

More than 50 organisations and individuals from around the world have joined forces with Greenpeace and called for investments in safe, renewable energy in order to end the threat of nuclear power. That message is in the form of an open letter being delivered to world leaders following the first anniversary as a reminder that the Fukushima nuclear disaster must be seen for what it is: another overwhelming piece of evidence that nuclear energy can never be safe and must be phased out.

Signatories include Archbishop Dr. Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Laureate; Marina Silva, former Brazilian Environment Minister; Senator Bob Brown, Australian Green Party Leader; John Hall, former US Congressman; Richard Harvey, international Human Rights lawyer. In addition, several artists; leaders of human rights, labour, development and environment organisations, such as Action Aid International, Health Care without Harm, Friends of the Earth US, CIVICUS, the Feminist Task Force of the Global Call to Action against Poverty, and many national non-governmental organisations.

Since the Fukushima nuclear disaster, most governments have demonstrated that they have learned nothing from the accident and remain more concerned about protecting the profits of the nuclear industry than protecting people.

Two supporters of the letter echo the letter’s clear alternative to nuclear energy. Bernd Nilles, Secretary General of CIDSE, an international alliance of Catholic development agencies said: “Today, we have a moral duty to produce energy that is both clean and safe. The memorial of Fukushima reminds us that we must shy away from energy sources that put people and the planet at risk. Prolonging our dependence on unsustainable energy sources is only a distraction from urgently needed real solutions. Saving energy, increased efficiency and a focus on renewables would go a lot further in providing sustainable energy access to all, including the poorest. These are the kind of solutions we should invest in.”

And US political activist, author, lecturer and attorney Ralph Nader said: "Atomic energy is too uneconomical, too unsafe, too uninsurable, too unneeded, too under-regulated, too unevacuable, too tax-payer-guaranteed and too much of a national security risk to continue operating in any country that respects present and future generations' right to accelerating priorities for energy efficiency and renewable energy."

From the open letter: it is time to end the threat of nuclear power. That threat could be ended if governments had the political will to phase out nuclear and invest in a modern energy system based on energy conservation and clean, green energy.

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Fukushima: Far More Cesium Released than Previously Believed

A mind-boggling 40,000 trillion becquerels of radioactive cesium, or twice the amount previously thought, may have spewed from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant after the March 11 disaster, scientists say. The figure represents about 20 percent of the discharge during the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

TEPCO on Feb. 28 began pouring cement on a trial basis from a marine platform onto the seabed in the port at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant with the aim of preventing radioactive cesium that accumulated there from spreading offshore. The project is intended to cover 7 hectares of seabed inside the breakwaters and is expected to take 3-4 months to finish.

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