PRAGUE — The Czech Parliament’s lower house has rejected a government proposal to annul a 2000 law that bans Czech companies from supplying equipment for Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant.
Iran has one operational nuclear plant in the southern port city of Bushehr. It is planning to build more reactors there.
[…]
Iran has denied ever seeking atomic weapons.
Read more at Czechs refuse to lift ban on nuclear supplies for Iran
This Week’s Featured Interview:
- Nancy Foust of SimplyInfo.org again joins us to review the actual flooding at South Texas Project’s nuclear reactors next to Bay City, Texas.
Listen to the podcast at #324 Texas Nuke Site FLOODED, IRMA Aims at FLA – But NRC Mute on Hurricane Dangers as Nuke Industry PR Hacks Brag
福島県が首都圏などの大学に通う学生を招いて行ったスタディーツアーの報告会が９月８日、都内で開かれた。ツアーに参加した大学生約１００人が東日本大震災の被災地である福島を訪れて感じたことを報告し、風評の払拭（ふっしょく）や風化防止を図るための企画を発表した。
ツアーは、福島県内の現状や復興への取り組み、観光や食の魅力を首都圏などの学生に理解してもらい、多くの人に伝えてもらうために企画。昨年に続き２回目で、８月２２～２４日に行われた。
参加者は、福島▽郡山▽会津喜多方▽いわき相双南▽いわき相双方北の５つのエリアに分かれ、ツアーを企画した福島県内の学生と共に観光地や農園、地元企業などを訪れた。地元の伝統文化に触れたほか、郷土料理を味わったり、震災の語り部の話を聞いたりした。
参加学生は関東学院大、成城大、成蹊大、上智大、東洋大、創価大、法政大、立命館大など１３大学と専門学校１校からの約３０人。福島県内からは、福島大、郡山女子大、いわき明星大、桜の聖母短大などから約７０人が参加した。
（略）
ツアーに参加した首都大東京都市環境学部３年の村松美桜さん（２１）は「福島に実際に行くことで多くの魅力があることがわかった。今後は子供たちへの震災の風化防止教育に携わっていきたい」。ミャンマーから東日本国際大に留学している経済学部３年のスウェスウェアウンさん（２７）は「福島の魅力を発信したいという思いで企画に参加した。実際に各所を回り、思っていたより復興が進んでいることがわかった」と話した。【丸山仁見】
東京電力は８日、福島第一原発で協力会社の３０代男性作業員が内部被曝（ひばく）する事故があったと発表した。被曝量は今後５０年で最大０・０１ミリシーベルトと見込まれ、体内に入った放射性物質は多くないとみられるが、作業方法に問題があったとみて調べるという。
東電によると、作業員は８日午前６時半～同７時５０分、かつて高濃度汚染水をためていたタンクの解体を３人態勢で行っていた。午前８時２０分ごろ、作業後の検査を受けたところ、鼻の内側に放射性物質による汚染が確認された。
作業は全面マスクをして行っていたが、鼻の内側で放射性物質が検出されたことから、体内に取り込んだと判断したという。作業員は体を除染する処置を受けた。
[…]
The only underground nuclear waste repository in the United States doesn’t have enough space for radioactive tools, clothing and other debris left over from decades of bomb-making and research, much less tons of weapons-grade plutonium that the nation has agreed to eliminate as part of a pact with Russia, federal auditors said.
In addition, the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that the U.S. Energy Department has no plans for securing regulatory approvals and expanding the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico before it reaches capacity in less than a decade.
“DOE modeling that is needed to begin the regulatory approval process is not expected to be ready until 2024,” the auditors said in their report released Tuesday.
Energy Department officials contend there’s enough time to design and build addition storage before existing operations are significantly affected.
A Senate committee requested the review from auditors amid concerns about ballooning costs and delays in the U.S. effort to dispose of 34 metric tons of its plutonium.
Citing the delays and other reasons, Russia last fall suspended its commitment to get rid of its own excess plutonium.
[…]
Read more.
By Maggie Gundersen & Ben Shulman-Reed
The South Texas Project (STP) is a two-unit atomic power reactor located near flooded Houston in Bay City, Texas right on the coast near where the Hurricane has hit. Incredibly, throughout Hurricane Harvey and its ensuing floods, STP has continued to operate. Pro-nukes are claiming two things: First, that the electricity from STP is desperately needed, which is not true. And, second that this ‘feat of operating during the Hurricane’ proves how rugged atomic power reactors are to withstand the gale force winds from the hurricane.
Fairewinds believes that STP should have shut down as the storm approached, and certainly still should be closed right now until the complete impact of the aftermath is understood.
With all of Fairewinds ongoing work studying the aftermath of the Japan earthquake and tsunami and the ongoing radiation releases from the Fukushima Dai-ichi atomic power reactors, we are very cognizant of the risks involved in the ongoing operation of nuclear power plants in the midst of a hurricane as malevolent as Harvey. See our recent peer-reviewed journal article here!
There is no doubt that the South Texas Project (STP) is being threatened by the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. Water levels at surrounding rivers continue to rise creating a risk that power lines into and out of STP may collapse in rain soaked soil. Rather than face a sudden shutdown from uncontrollable forces, why not have a planned, orderly temporary closure that also helps to keep the fuel cooler?The final line of defense at a nuclear plant is its emergency plan. Anyone who has viewed the devastation in Texas can clearly see that evacuating from southern Texas is a lengthy process that is already under-financed with FEMA cuts and lack of critical emergency services. If STP began to have an operational or radioactive crisis, it would be impossible for any emergency responders or additional operators and engineers to arrive and assist with the calamity. Furthermore, how would an evacuation occur if it were needed? Remember “radiation knows no borders”, it is not going to stop at the site boundary, the county line, or stay within Texas, it will migrate wherever that weather front sends it.
And at this time of year in Texas, there is no need for the excess electricity that STP is currently providing. So why take any more risk by allowing STP to continue to operate when other sources of electricity are available?
The Fairewinds Crew cannot answer these questions. Only the people of Texas, already beleaguered by Hurricane Harvey, can answer those questions and demand action by their state government and regulators. There is only one reason why STP continues to operate during this hurricane and its aftermath: its owner STP Nuclear Operating Company (STPNOC) continues to make money by sending the electricity it generates to the grid.
Who owns STP Nuclear Operating Company (STPNOC)? The national energy corporation NRG Energy owns 44 percent, and two local Texas utilities own the remainder: San Antonio municipal utility CPS Energy owns 40 percent, and Austin Energy owns 16 percent. As the rivers continue to rise and the threat of another hurricane hitting Texas is eminent, the possibility of a flooding debacle causing an immense radioactive plume to migrate with the weather through Texas and other states is ever present in our minds at Fairewinds Energy.
By the way, don’t count on the federal government Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to do anything to close STP. During Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey, while houses floated across evacuation routes, the storm surge threatened its emergency cooling systems, and 80% of its emergency sirens had already failed. There was not a peep from the NRC. Luckily for the East Coast, the Oyster Creek atomic power plant had already shut down one week earlier for its routine refueling!
Texans are already facing real environmental issues, like leaking chemical plants causing toxic flood waters as well as the heat and dirty water creating a breeding ground for e-coli and typhoid. Hospitals are either closed or maxed out. We hope sound minds will prevail to close the South Texas Project (STP) while it is still possible, especially with rising rivers, ongoing flooding, and the possibility of Hurricane Irma hitting the same location.
[…]
Read more.
Florida’s two nuclear plants are in line for a possible direct hit from Hurricane Irma, but they are braced and ready, the plants’ owners said Friday.
[…]
Silagy said that the reactors would be shut down when Irma draws closer and winds hit Category 1 levels. The shutdown, which takes about 24 hours, reduces the temperature in the reactor. Lower temperatures reduce the amount of power needed for cooling, making the plant safer and less likely to spin out of control in an emergency.
“We have safely operated these plants for over 40 years,” Silagy said.
Nuclear plants are located near lakes, rivers and oceans because they need large amounts of water to cool the reactors. Turkey Point uses an unusual cooling system, relying on canals that cover 6,800 acres.
But during storms that creates hazards. Turkey Point stands just 20 feet above sea level. Essential equipment is 22 feet above sea level, the company’s website says. St. Lucie’s elevation is 15 feet above sea level.
[…]
Before Fukushima, U.S. nuclear reactors focused on other perils, such as securing radioactive materials. The vital components of Turkey Point’s reactors are in buildings with steel-reinforced concrete walls six feet thick. But Fukushima showed that electricity supply could be an Achilles’ heel for reactors. Regulators assumed plants would not need to be without power for more than eight hours, said David Lochbaum, a nuclear power plant safety expert at the Union of Concerned Scientists. However, Fukushima was without power for nine days.
In March 2012, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ordered plant owners to provide portable equipment that could provide power for an indefinite period.
Lochbaum also said that the NRC previously required accident response plans for the outage of a single reactor at a multiunit site such as Turkey Point. “Fukushima dispelled that notion,” Lochbaum said in an email. “Now, owners must stage sufficient equipment resources and associated staff to cope with challenges to all on-site reactors and spent fuel pools.”
Allison MacFarlane, former chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said in an email that in response to the Fukushima accident, reactor owners were required to upgrade emergency equipment, put it in “hardened buildings” to withstand storms, and bolster instrumentation on spent fuel pools.
But Lochbaum said that the NRC does not require the testing of portable pumps and generators. On Jan. 9, seven inches of rain fell in five hours at the St. Lucie nuclear plant, flooding an auxiliary building with nearly 50,000 gallons of water that flowed through missing or degraded seals.
“Fukushima revealed a vulnerability. NRC ordered that vulnerability remedied. St. Lucie claimed to have remedied it. NRC claimed to have double-checked the remedy. And then rainfall reveals them both to be wrong,” Lochbaum said.
[…]
Read more.
『松平耕一さんを追悼し、東京電力に抗議する集会』
9月8日（金）19時半〜20時半
場所：東京電力本店前（JR新橋駅SL広場から右へ徒歩5分）
※キャンドルやプラカードなどをお持ち下さい
呼びかけ 松平さんの友人、知人有志雑誌『新文学』を主宰し、国会前抗議、反ヘイトスピーチ、『福島原発事故による健康被害者の会』、弾圧の救援会など様々な運動に参加していた東京都府中市の松平耕一さんが、8月に39歳の若さで亡くなりました。15年末に末期大腸がんが発覚したからでした。彼は「この若さで末期がんになるのは、原発事故の放射能が大きな一因だ。国と東電を許さない。」と書き続けていました。
インタビュー：http://jimmin.com/2017/07/17/post-3692/上記インタビューにあるように、彼は東電の被曝労働の一種をしていました。
その影響もあると思います。そこでお葬式の後、友人・知人有志で東電前での追悼・抗議・申し入れ集会が持たれました。
報告と申し入れ内容：http://d.hatena.ne.jp/Ryota1981/20170821（略）
以下に東電の回答を載せます。許されません。
（略）
2017年8月18日にいただきました質問について、以下の通りご回答させていただきます。
１：私たちは福島原発事故由来の空気や食品からの内部被曝が、松平さんの末期大腸がんを発病させたと考える。責任は東電にあると
考える。それを東電はどう考えるか答えよ。（回答）
国連科学委員会（UNSCEAR）から2014年4月2日にリリースされた報告書「2011年東日本大震災後の原子力事故による
放射線被ばくのレベルとその影響」では、福島原発事故の結果として生じた放射線被ばくにより、今後がんや遺伝性疾患の発生率に識
別できるような変化はなく、出生時異常の増加もないと予測しています。さらに、その後に入手した知見を含めた最新のレビュー報告書（2016年白書）においても、健康影響に関する項目の報告内容は現在も有効とされております。
（略）
３：福島の小児甲状腺癌を始め、健康被害は増幅している。要求した全ての被害者に治療費を払え。国は放射能安全キャンペーンを張
っている。これを東電がやめさせよ。また福島原発の代表取材をやめさせ、屋根の吹き飛んだ惨状を自由に報道させよ。責任を認めよ。（回答）
当社といたしましては、福島県ご当局と協議のうえ、平成24年1月、「福島県民健康管理基金」に対して、250億円を拠出させて
いただいており、健康被害対策に充てていただけるものと伺っております。また、当社事故と相当因果関係が認められる健康被害があった場合には、誠実かつ適切に対応してまいります。
なお、国の活動について、当社はコメントする立場にありません。
取材については、核物質防護に関する法令に基づき、発電所構内での撮影は一部制限があることから、基本的に代表取材にてお願いさせていただいております。
なお、当社はホームページで福島第一原子力発電所1号機〜4号機の映像をリアルタイムで配信しています。
◯福一ライブカメラ（1号機側）
http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/f1-np/camera/index2-j.html
◯福一ライブカメラ（4号機側）
全文は2017/09/08 （原発事故の放射能で大腸がんになり３９歳で亡くなった）『松平耕一さんを追悼し、東京電力に抗議する集会』（新橋駅）
[…]
Whether it’s a nuclear weapon, a radiological dispersion device (RDD or dirty bomb) or a radiation exposure device (RED), they all involve radioactive materials that emit radiation at some point in their life history. It’s this radiation, or the radiological material itself, that can be detected and/or fingerprinted to determine where it came from.
This can occur before the device is used. Or after. Obviously, we want to detect it beforehand.
We had been quietly coordinating with other global agencies for decades to detect and stop nuclear trafficking, but the attacks of September 11, 2001 changed things quite a bit. The creation of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2002, and its Domestic Nuclear Detection Office (DNDO) in 2005, put the issue front and center.
[…]
The Nuclear Forensics International Technical Working Group (ITWG) was founded around the time that nuclear smuggling was increasing at borders across Northern Europe, raising concerns about nuclear proliferation. From 1993 to 2001, there were over 500 confirmed incidences with special nuclear materials and other radioactive sources (see figure).
Radioactive materials naturally decay along well-known pathways, but they can be very complicated. Similarly, if you split some atoms, like uranium-235 (235U) or plutonium-239 (239Pu), in either a reactor or a bomb, the pieces that form are also well-known. This very complexity makes it possible to trace where certain radioactive materials came from or how certain radioactive materials were formed.
We can even determine when some of them were formed, called radiochronometry, using the differences in decay rates of various elements and the rate of in-growth of their decay products, or daughters.
[…]
Global fallout is dominated by 1950s and 1960s above ground atmospheric tests of high-yield fusion bombs which produce higher amounts of fission products (137Cs and 90Sr) and lower amounts of 239Pu than lower-yield fission bombs (like North Korea’s) which produce lower amounts of fission products and lower amounts of 240Pu and 242Pu.
Different production runs for weapons grade material will produce different ratios, i.e., Savannah River-produced Pu will have a higher Pu240/Pu239 ratio than that produced at the Hanford Site in Washington State. So weapons will have a unique signature depending upon where their materials were made.
For nuclear power plants, the isotopes produced depend upon the fuel used and the burn-up rates for that plant.
Uranium Enrichment facilities will have a simple U signature, either enriched or depleted in 235U.
Nuclear waste repositories will reflect whatever is being disposed or stored there. A spent fuel waste site, as Yucca Mountain was meant to be, would have a signature similar to a power plant but have more non-volatiles. America’s weapons waste repository, WIPP, has more weapons-grade isotopes such as 239Pu, plus lots of U and even other metals, such as Be, that are used in weapons but not in power plants.
[…]
In Ulm, Germany, over 200 pellets of a radioactive substance were discovered in a bank safe by the police in 1996. The shape suggested that they were nuclear fuel from a light water reactor. Laboratory testing showed that the substance was 4.8% 235U. Two nuclear power plants were known to use these types of pellets, and the microscopic texture of the fuel’s surface correctly identified which plant they came from.
In 1961, we performed an underground atomic bomb test in southeastern New Mexico, called Project Gnome. If you collect soil in the region, and perform some nuclear forensics, like we did at the NMSU CEMRC laboratories in Carlsbad, NM you can map the region impacted by the test as it fades away into the global background using the ratios among 239Pu, 240Pu and 241Am.
Read more at CSI: Nuclear
TOKYO — Shares in Tokyo Electric Power Co, operator of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant, rose more than 3 percent on Thursday after media reports that it may get approval as early as next week to restart one of its other atomic plants.
Tepco’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa station, the world’s biggest nuclear power plant, may get initial safety approval from Japan’s nuclear regulator next week to restart two reactors, the Yomiuri newspaper and other media reported.
Approval would allow a company that has been widely criticized for a lax approach to safety and a slow response to the meltdowns at Fukushima to operate a nuclear power station after regulators earlier questioned if it was up to the task.
A go-ahead would also be the first for reactors of the same basic design as those that melted down at the Fukushima Daiichi station in March 2011, after a massive earthquake and tsunami knocked out cooling and power systems.
Radiation from the meltdowns forced 160,000 people from their homes, many never to return, and destroyed businesses, fisheries and agriculture. The latest government estimate puts the cost of the disaster at 21.5 trillion yen (150.99 billion pounds).
After reports of the possible approval for Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, Tepco shares rose as high as 450 yen, up 15 yen, or 3.4 percent. They were up 2.8 percent at 0239 GMT, while the broader market was up 0.4 percent.
[…]
Five out of 42 reactors are now operating after reviews, the most since the Fukushima disaster led to the eventual shutdown of all nuclear units.
All of the restarted units have a different design from those at Fukushima, using a technology that some experts say make them less susceptible to meltdowns.
Read more at Tepco Shares Rise After Reports of Possible Nuclear Restart Approval
A nuclear power plant in Byron, Illinois. Taken by photographer Joseph Pobereskin (http://pobereskin.com).
