Fukushima Daiichi latest - hows the clear up going?

[Metabo Oyaji 71]

Aren't they scheduled to declare "cold shutdown" tomorrow?

 

Which is pretty much just a formality, given that:

 

a ) the reactors are not "shut down," they are "broken," and

 

b ) Tokyo Electric admits that they do not know exactly where the fuel is, except that they are pretty sure that much of it is not where the thermometers are, so the actual temperature of the fuel is somewhat speculative.

 

But actually, the only thing I care about as an outsider is that the plant not be spewing in large quantities, which seems to be the case, so they can label it whatever they want as far as I'm concerned.

[muikabochi 208]

Wasn't the main point of this "cold shutdown" or whatever it is, that if there was another great big shake going on.... it would not potentially cause huge problems again?

[Azuki 0]

I feel they (who is they?) have done good job at gradually taking our minds off Fukushima Daiichi.

It hardly makes the news anymore.

[Metabo Oyaji 71]

Wasn't the main point of this "cold shutdown" or whatever it is, that if there was another great big shake going on.... it would not potentially cause huge problems again?

 

Yes, I think it means they will let people start moving back into some of the evacuation zones, at least those which are not too heavily contaminated.

 

I feel they (who is they?) have done good job at gradually taking our minds off Fukushima Daiichi.

It hardly makes the news anymore.

 

Really? Still seems like an almost daily staple in the newspapers and nightly news to me...

[muikabochi 208]

I get the impression that you are particularly interested in it all Metabo, perhaps you are just seeking out more than just taking it in?

I kind of feel there should be more coverage of the situation myself.

[NoFakie 45]

There's a big article about in Nature this week if anyone gets it or works at a uni etc.

Apparently its Hatoyama and another DPJ politician calling for the plant to be nationalised.

The reason they is calling for this is that the politicians (the ruling party!!!) don't know what happened at the plant and TEPCO will not disclose it.

 

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/politics/AJ201112150003

[Metabo Oyaji 71]

I get the impression that you are particularly interested in it all Metabo, perhaps you are just seeking out more than just taking it in?

I kind of feel there should be more coverage of the situation myself.

 

It's possible there is some of that going on. Such as, when leafing through the newspaper, perhaps I am more likely to stop and read some article related to that. But honestly, I don't think there has been a huge break in the coverage, and I think I get my news from fairly standard sources (Asahi Shimbun, NHK news, Hodo Station...)

 

Though, it is certainly not all about what is going on inside the plant, if that is what is meant. By coverage, I am including things like reports on changes in nuclear energy policy (e.g., rewriting school textbooks to be less favorable to nuclear power was on the front page of the paper this morning, and the mayor of Tokai-mura, Ibaraki requesting that the reactor in his town be shut down permanently was featured on Hodo Station last night), contamination and decontamination (front-page article this morning), economic effects, etc. So we may not necessarily be talking about the same thing.

[pie-eater 207]

I still think they would have been better implementing my "Dome" concept.

 

In fact, recently I watched an episode of The Outer Limits.

 

In it, some aliens basically carved up a complete town and took it into outer space. They were doing an experiment on the humans or something. You know, like aliens do....

It was almost like digging up a plant and moving it.

If we could get in touch of those aliens with their technology, perhaps a similar plan could be implemented.

Fukushima, also being a plant, could perhaps just be scooped up, like a big fluoro-green turd, and shoved off into outer space!!!!

 

No doubt some environmental 'wackos' would be against the idea though.

And I suppose finding those aliens would be a bit of a difficult job as well.

[1 4]

There seems to be a fair dose of cynicism in foreign reports on this.

Sadly no 'underline' really...

[Metabo Oyaji 71]

Reckon those aliens would come in handy, pie-eater.

 

Just had Mizuno "genpatsu setsumei dude" explaining the whole cold shutdown thing on NHK.

何か懐かしい。

[Tubby Beaver 209]

it seems they made their target......just on time as well, phew!! Good work TEPCO, glad you are so sorry!

[RobBright 35]

Its in cold shutdown, which is still far from ideal. Just means that the water is below 100c.

 

For all we know, and for cynical purposes, it could be 99c.

[Metabo Oyaji 71]

But, it is good that they will start working on getting some of the evacuation zone ready for habitation again.

That in itself is an important milestone.

[pie-eater 207]

Do people generally want to go back there, by all accounts?

[grungy-gonads 54]

Always thinking 'out of the box' hey, pie-eater?

[pie-eater 207]

I do my best grungy-gonads.

 

I will continue to try to help in these matters and get some ideas out there.

 

It's then up to the scientist bods to bring those ideas to fruition.

 

Gambarimasu!

[nswindler 0]

Here in Japan the radiation fear has abated, so I have a feeling that all this 'gambaro Tohoku' will result in more activity on the slopes up north this year (by Japanese skiers and boarders at least). Fukushima may be the exception, but Miyagi and Iwate prefectures should be the recipients of some goodwill ski trips this year, no?

[IIIII 2]

The thing is, many people talk about and may well have the intention of 'supporting Tohoku' and doing what they can, but actually getting out there and going is a whole different matter.

People are like that.

[klingon 10]

Yes I know a few people who were all talk of going to ski resorts in Fukushima / Miyagi etc.

 

They have booked to go to Hakuba.

[Metabo Oyaji 71]

The government came out today with a list of 102 towns in 8 prefectures that they plan to give financial support to for decontamination efforts -- these being towns that were relatively more contaminated than others. I note that that the town I live in, as well as the towns that several other members here live in (I believe) are included in that list. On the other hand most of the ski towns in Fukushima, including Inawashiro and the Ura-Bandai area, are NOT included in that list. And yet, from what I can tell, hotel occupancies are suffering much more in those Fukushima towns than they are in other towns outside of Fukushima that were, in fact, more affected by radioactive contamination. Just because of the name "Fukushima."

 

STOPザ風評被害！Let's ski Fukushima!

 

Just a humble suggestion...

[muikabochi 208]

Can't find that list - do you have it Metabo?

[Metabo Oyaji 71]

Can't find that list - do you have it Metabo?

 

It can be found on the Ministry of the Environment web site: http://www.env.go.jp...hp?serial=14598 (linked with permission of SJ)

汚染状況重点調査地域

・指定対象: 放射線量が１時間当たり0.23マイクロシーベルト以上の地域

・今回指定する地域:

 

岩手県 ３

一関市、奥州市及び平泉町の全域

 

宮城県 ８

石巻市、白石市、角田市、栗原市、七ヶ宿町、大河原町、丸森町及び山元町の全域

 

福島県 ４０

福島市、郡山市、いわき市、白河市、須賀川市、相馬市、二本松市、伊達市、本宮市、桑折町、国見町、大玉村、鏡石町、天栄村、会津坂下町、 湯川村、三島町、昭和村、会津美里町、西郷村、泉崎村、中島村、矢吹町、棚倉町、矢祭町、塙町、鮫川村、石川町、玉川村、平田村、浅川町、古殿町、 三春町、小野町、広野町及び新地町の全域並びに田村市、南相馬市、川俣町及び川内村の区域のうち警戒区域又は計画的避難区域である区域を除く区域

 

茨城県 ２０

日立市、土浦市、龍ケ崎市、常総市、常陸太田市、高萩市、北茨城市、取手市、牛久市、つくば市、ひたちなか市、鹿嶋市、守谷市、稲敷市、 鉾田市、つくばみらい市、東海村、美浦村、阿見町及び利根町の全域

 

栃木県 ８

佐野市、鹿沼市、日光市、大田原市、矢板市、那須塩原市、塩谷町及び那須町の全域

 

群馬県 １２

桐生市、沼田市、渋川市、安中市、みどり市、下仁田町、中之条町、高山村、東吾妻町、片品村、川場村及びみなかみ町の全域

 

埼玉県 ２

三郷市及び吉川市の全域

 

千葉県 ９

松戸市、野田市、佐倉市、柏市、流山市、我孫子市、鎌ケ谷市、印西市及び白井市の全域

 

計 １０２

 

Note that the above are outside the evacuation zone, which is in a different category:

除染特別地域

・指定対象: 警戒区域又は計画的避難区域の対象区域等

・今回指定する地域:

 

福島県 １１

楢葉町、富岡町、大熊町、双葉町、浪江町、葛尾村及び飯舘村の全域並びに田村市、南相馬市、川俣町及び川内村の区域のうち警戒区域又は計画的避難区域である区域

[brit-gob 9]

Thanks MO.

[pie-eater 207]

Something weird going on?

 

東京電力の福島第一原子力発電所2号機で、原子炉圧力容器の温度が70℃前後に上昇している。核分裂が連続的に起こる「再臨界」は起こっていないが、東電は念のため、反応を抑える働きのあるホウ酸水の注入を始めたという。

 

東電の発表によると、2号機原子炉圧力容器底部の温度は、5日午後11時には70.3℃だった。その後、原子炉への注水量を増やしたが、6日午前11時時点での温度は71.0℃だったという。

 

Just when you thought it was over, the temperature at reactor number 2 at Fukushima's nuclear plant has soared 26.7 degrees Celsius in the last few hours. Worse: they don't know why the temperature is increasing after being stabilized for so long.

The reactor reached 164 degrees Fahrenheit (73.3 degrees Celsius) after being stabilized at 113 degrees Fahrenheit (45 degrees Celsius) since last December. Here's the latest official update by Tepco, the owner of the plant:

 

At this moment, temperature indicates approx. 71.0 °C (as of 11:00 am on February 6). We will monitor it continuously.

 

The reactors were finally shut down cold after ten months of dramatic struggle by company and emergency workers.

 

Tepco has admitted that they don't have a clue about what is going on. They have increased the amount of water pumped into the reactor ten percent, but their technicians don't know what is going on. The change was detected in one of the three thermometers at the base of the reactor.

 

[Tubby Beaver 209]

apparently they had to inject boric acid to stop re-criticality happening..

 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-07/tepco-injects-boric-acid-into-fukushima-no-2-reactor-as-temperature-rises.html