Earthquake has impact on Fukushima Daiichi plantNuclear NewsPower & OperationsFebruary 23, 2021, 6:58AM|Nuclear News StaffThe black star represents the epicenter of the February 13 earthquake. Image: USGSThere has been no off-site impact from the February 13 earthquake that struck off the east coast of Japan near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) reported on February 19. The earthquake, however, has caused a water leakage from two of the site's primary containment vessels (PCVs).A nuclear alert order was issued by the plant about 20 minutes after the earthquake, and the water treatment and transfer facilities were shut down. Inspections after the event revealed no anomalies and the nuclear alert order was rescinded on February 14.The nuclear plant in Fukushima Prefecture in northeastern Japan is now undergoing decommissioning.Water levels: Following the earthquake, water levels in the primary containment vessels (PCVs) of Units 1 and 3, which were crippled by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident in March 2011, had dropped by several tens of centimeters and have continued to fall each day, according to TEPCO. In Unit 1, the water level fell by up to 70 centimeters (about 27.5 inches) beginning on February 15, while Unit 3 began leaking water on February 14, lowering the water level by 30 centimeters (about 9 inches).TEPCO said it is continuing to pump water into the vessels and that there should be no safety problem. Nitrogen is also being added to raise the pressure.“Since no significant fluctuations have been seen with temperatures at the bottom of the primary containment vessels . . . we have determined that there is no off-site impact,” TEPCO said.The cause: The water level decreases are likely due to the changes to damaged portions of the PCVs, according to Lake Barrett, a senior advisor to TEPCO and Japan’s International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning.“The earthquake did something in the lower sections of the PCVs to enlarge existing or create new leakage paths that is causing a new balance with a lower water elevation for the same flow out onto the reactor building basement floor,” Barrett told Newswire. “The increase was relatively small and not surprising as events and changes such as this will take place inside as time goes by."Based on the TEPCO data so far, the leakages are well within containment, while the processing capabilities of monitoring equipment, such as temperature sensors, are working. “The decrease in one of the Unit 3 temperature sensors is likely because it was underwater near the water surface,” said Barrett, a 50-year emeritus ANS member who was the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s site director for the cleanup of the Three Mile Island accident. “When the water level dropped, it was no longer under the slightly warmer water and became exposed to the cooler gas space above the water.”The gas atmosphere inside the containment is mostly nitrogen—not air—and is slightly cooler, which is likely why that sensor temperature went down slightly when the water level dropped.Barrett added that as TEPCO gathers information from further physical investigations and analyses, such as water volumes and radiological study of samples, more will be learned. The earthquake: The February 13 earthquake struck offshore east of Tōhoku, Japan, at 11:07 p.m. (JST) with a magnitude of 7.1. It was followed by multiple aftershocks less than an hour later, with the strongest shock being at magnitude 5.3. There was no tsunami threat from the earthquake or aftershocks, it was reported.The earthquake is considered to be an aftershock of the 2011 earthquake that ultimately resulted in the Fukushima plant accident. “The February 13 earthquake occurred in the vicinity of the rupture area of the March 11, 2011, magnitude 9.1 Tohoku earthquake,” according to the U.S. Geologic Survey. The USGA added that the earthquake was the result of "thrust faulting" near the "subduction zone interface plate boundary between the Pacific and North America plates."Broken seismometers: TEPCO reported on February 22 that two seismometers at one of its three melted reactors have been out of order since 2020 and did not collect data when the February 13 earthquake struck, according to the Associated Press. Tags:earthquakefukushimalake barrettpcvstepcotsunamiusgsShare:LinkedInTwitterFacebook
Farming in FukushimaScreenshot of the video from Vice. Vice News has published a video on YouTube that follows two farmers from the Fukushima Prefecture, Noboru Saito and Koji Furuyama. Saito, who grows many different crops on his farm, says that the rice grown in the area is consistently rated as the best. Furuyama specializes in peaches and explains his strategy to deal with the stigma of selling fruit from Fukushima: grow the best peaches in the world.Go to Article
The Toxic Pigs of Fukushima kicks off an online documentary seriesA film titled The Toxic Pigs of Fukushima gets top billing as part of The Short List with Suroosh Alvi, an online documentary series curated by the founder of the media company Vice. The film, which first aired on Vice TV on January 31, follows local hunters who have been enlisted to dispose of radiated wild boars that now roam abandoned streets and buildings in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, in the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami that caused the nuclear accident there.Go to Article
U.K., Japan to research remote D&D, fusion systemsThe LongOps project will develop innovative robotic technologies. Photo: UKAEABritain and Japan have signed a research and technology deployment collaboration to help automate nuclear decommissioning and aspects of fusion energy production. According to the U.K. government, which announced the deal on January 20, the £12 million (about $16.5 million) U.K.–Japanese robotics project, called LongOps, will support the delivery of faster and safer decommissioning at the Fukushima Daiichi reactors in Japan and at Sellafield in the United Kingdom, using long-reach robotic arms.The four-year collaboration on new robotics and automation techniques will also be applied to fusion energy research in the two countries.Funded equally by U.K. Research and Innovation, the U.K.’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, and Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Company, the LongOps project will be led by the U.K. Atomic Energy Authority’s (UKAEA) Remote Applications in Challenging Environments (RACE) facility.Go to Article
Japan should revive its nuclear industry, says new reportThe Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center has issued a report, Japan’s Nuclear Reactor Fleet: The Geopolitical and Climate Implications of Accelerated Decommissioning, contending that Japan’s reaction to the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident has led to an increased dependence on carbon-emitting energy sources that ultimately undermine the country’s recently announced climate goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.Recommendations: Released just a few months prior to the 10-year anniversary of the accident on March 11, 2011, the report recommends that Japan:Use its existing nuclear fleet in the near and long term to 2050,remain involved in global civil nuclear trade,develop a role for advanced nuclear technologies, including small modular reactors, which it should deploy as soon as feasible,rebuild its nuclear energy workforce and public trust in nuclear power, andregain its leadership position in the climate battle.Go to Article
Nuclear power: Are we too anxious about the risks of radiation?RowlattFollowing U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s recent restatement of the United Kingdom’s commitment to nuclear power, BBC News chief environment correspondent, Justin Rowlatt, wrote an article aimed at separating fact from fiction regarding the safety and benefits of nuclear energy.Among his points, Rowlatt defended the use of nuclear power to combat climate change, examined the data behind deaths from radiation exposure directly caused by the Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents, and explained that exposure to low levels of radiation is not a major health risk.Go to Article
GlobalData: China to pass U.S. nuclear capacity in six yearsChina is on track to overtake the United States in nuclear power capacity by 2026, according to GlobalData, a U.K.-based research and analytics company.More than 160 GW of nuclear capacity will likely be added globally between 2020 and 2030, some 66 percent of which is anticipated to take place in China, India, and Russia, the company reported on September 9. China alone is set to account for more than 50 percent (83 GW) of the new capacity, followed by India with 8.9 percent (14.5 GW) and Russia with 6.4 percent (10.5 GW). GlobalData also projects that during the same period, more than 76 GW of nuclear capacity will be retired.Go to Article
BAS: Don’t be afraid of nuclear energyThe Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (BAS) is currently featuring on its website a series of five articles by young American and Russian scholars on nuclear safety, with a focus on the industry’s three major accidents: Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima.In one of those articles, “Don’t let nuclear accidents scare you away from nuclear power,” the authors conclude that “even after accounting for both the immediate and long-term toll of the three accidents, nuclear power has a remarkably safe track record compared to coal, natural gas, and even hydroelectric power.”Go to Article
Decommissioning effort delayed for two Fukushima Daiichi buildingsDecommissioning work in parts of the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan has been delayed after engineers discovered that sandbags placed in the basements of buildings near Units 1 and 3 were found to contain excessive radiation levels. Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) operates the plant and is in charge of the decommissioning efforts following the accident caused by the earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011.Go to Article
IAEA supports discharge of treated water at DaiichiAn International Atomic Energy Agency team of experts said in a review published on April 2 that the two options for the controlled disposal of treated water stored at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant are “technically feasible.” A Japanese advisory subcommittee outlined the two options—vapor release and discharge to the sea—for the water that is being stored at the plant following the 2011 accident.Go to Article
RadioNuclear 22: HBO’s Chernobyl: A Setback or Opportunity? Episode 22 of RadioNuclear is now available. In this episode, we discuss the recent miniseries "Chernobyl", which recently concluded on HBO. We debunk some of the more egregious articles written in the wake of the show (see links to these articles below). We also discuss good ways to engage with individuals who are captivated with the show, and not necessarily familiar with nuclear technology.Go to Article