Decommissioning Fukushima

It has all the challenges of Three Mile Island plus there are four damaged reactors not just one

The effort to contain the nuclear reactor crisis at Fukushima brings to mind the 1933 horror movie King Kong, in which a giant ape, escaped from captivity, and perched at the top of the Empire State Building, is fatally wounded by a swarm of war planes of the era.

While fictional film character Carl Denham intones his famous last line “It was beauty killed the beast,” a less prosaic New York sanitation department might have been wondering how to remove a giant dead gorilla carcass from the corner of 5th Ave. and 34th St.  (King Kong image from Wikipedia)

Kong’s fall would have created a cleanup problem of  immense scale. It would have been “beyond the design basis” of even the entire fleet of city garbage trucks.

Six gorillas at Fukushima

This dramatic movie metaphor is relevant as a visual image of the scope of the problem faced by Tokyo Electric Power Corp. (TEPCO) with the eventual decommissioning of six reactors at Fukushima. The utility doesn’t have just one dead giant gorilla, there are six. The first three nuclear reactors are likely to be found to be fatally compromised with heat damaged fuel assemblies from loss of cooling water.  Partial melting of fuel may be part of the problem.

Massive hydrogen explosions blew the roofs off of secondary containment structures at reactors 1, 3, and 4. The fourth reactor is also likely severely damaged beyond repair. Its spent fuel pool is exposed to the open air as a result of one of the huge hydrogen explosions.

The fifth and sixth reactors, relatively undamaged, may never restart because of wrecked balance of plant infrastructure and ferocious public opposition which is leveraged by Japanese law that gives veto power over nuclear facilities to the provincial government.

BWR reactor schematic. Image from World Nuclear Association

The 15-meter high tsunami swept away the normal infrastructure of a nuclear power station which, along with rubble from the hydrogen explosions, put debris across access roads and rail sidings blocking delivery of emergency equipment.

Efforts to control leaks from buildings and trenches may go on for months or years. In short, it will be a very dangerous place to conduct cleanup work.

Read the full story exclusively at ANS Nuclear Cafe online now.

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NRC threat assessment of Fukushima risks

The 15 page document provides recommendations on how to mitigate them

The New York Times reports today that a March 26 threat assessment by the Reactor Safety Team of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) warns that the crippled nuclear plant faces fresh threats that could persist indefinitely.

The newspaper reports that in some cases risks are expected to increase as a result of the very measures being taken to keep the plant stable, according to a confidential assessment prepared by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

This blog has obtained the NRC assessment from a source outside the government Click here for a copy in PDF format.

Tweet this link: http://tinyurl.com/Fuku-RPV

Note that because of the way the document was scanned it appears to be upside down. Just print out the 15 page report to read it right side up. If you are using Adobe Reader, you can rotate the image to right side up.

New threats for old

The New York Times reports that among the new threats that were cited in the assessment are new levels of stress on the containment structures as they fill with radioactive cooling water. The NRC assessment says that in a worst case scenario, the reactor primary containment structures could break open from earthquake aftershocks.

While the assessment notes that it impossible to inspect the reactor pressure vessels directly, it does not speculate that there is a breach of any of them at the time the assessment was completed (March 26).

U.S. Rep. Ed Markey is claiming in a press release April 6 that the reactor pressure vessel at Unit 1 has been breached and that melted fuel assemblies are on the floor of the primary containment building. He cites the NRC as the source of his information.

Markey said in his press statement, “The cores of at least two of the Japanese reactors are severely damaged. I have been informed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that the core of Unit Two has gotten so hot that part of it has probably melted through the reactor pressure vessel.”

The Wall Street Journal reported April 6 that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission disputed Markey's claim.

Martin Virgilio, deputy executive director for reactor and preparedness programs at NRC, said the regulator believes there was significant fuel damage in all three reactors and the four spent fuel pools.

"But we don't believe at this point in time that that core has left the vessel," he said. "That's not in the situation report that we have from the team in Japan, and that's as of this morning."

Update: On April 7 the New York Times in new coverage of the issue indicated there were several "speculative" scenarios of core breach for unit 2.

Control of Hydrogen

The NRC document reviewed by the New York Times also cites the possibility of new explosions inside the containment structures due to the release of hydrogen and oxygen from seawater pumped into the reactors. According to the newspaper, the document offers new details on how semi-molten fuel rods and salt buildup are impeding the flow of fresh water meant to cool the nuclear cores.

Water cooling to continue

According to the newspaper, experts have said the Japanese need to continue to keep the fuel cool for months.

The steps recommended by the NRC include injecting nitrogen, an inert gas, into the containment structures in an attempt to purge them of hydrogen and oxygen, which could combine to produce new explosions.

On April 6, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, which owns the plant, said it was preparing to inject nitrogen into one of the reactor containment vessels.

No new criticality incident likely

The document also recommends that engineers continue adding boron to cooling water to help prevent the cores from restarting the nuclear reaction, a process known as criticality.

According to the New York Times, the engineers who prepared the document do not believe that a resumption of criticality is an immediate likelihood, Neil Wilmshurst, vice president of the nuclear sector at the Electric Power Research Institute, when contacted about the document, told the newspaper. “I have seen no data to suggest that there is criticality ongoing.”

The newspaper reports that the document was prepared for the commission’s Reactor Safety Team, which is assisting the Japanese government and the Tokyo Electric Power Company. It says it is based on the “most recent available data” from numerous Japanese and American organizations, including the electric power company, the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum, the United States Department of Energy, General Electric and the Electric Power Research Institute, an independent, nonprofit group.

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Fukushima reactor status news for April 5, 2011

Update to Information Sheet Regarding the Tohoku Earthquake

The Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan (FEPC) Washington DC Office

As of 11:30AM (EST), April 5, 2011

• Radiation Levels
  • The concentration of radioactive nuclides from the seawater sampled at the screen device (installed to remove waste before the intake of seawater) of Unit 2 of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Station was as follows:

The details of this report are available at:

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/11040506-e.html

• At 6:00PM on April 5, radiation level at main gate (approximately 3,281 feet from Unit 2 reactor building) of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station: 112 micro Sv/hour.
• At 6:00PM on April 5, radiation level at west gate (approximately 3,609 feet from Unit 2 reactor building) of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station: 67.4 micro Sv/hour.
• Measurement results of environmental radioactivity level around Fukushima Nuclear Power Station announced at 7:00PM on April 5 are shown in the attached PDF file. English version is available at: http://www.mext.go.jp/english/radioactivity_level/detail/1304082.htm
• For comparison, a human receives 2,400 micro Sv per year from natural radiation in the form of sunlight, radon, and other sources. One chest CT scan generates 6,900 micro Sv per scan.
• Fukushima Daiichi Unit 1 reactor
  • At 6:00AM on April 5, pressure inside the reactor core: 0.308MPa.
  • At 6:00AM on April 5, water level inside the reactor core: 1.7 meters below the top of the fuel rods.
  • At 6:00AM on April 5, pressure inside the primary containment vessel: 0.15MPaabs.
  • At 6:00AM on April 5, the temperature of the reactor vessel measured at the water supply nozzle: 452.3 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • At 7:20AM on April 5, the temperature directly above the spent fuel pool by thermography measurement: 64.4 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • At 7:20AM on April 5, the temperature directly above the primary containment vessel by thermography measurement: 78.8 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • As of 7:00PM on April 5, the injection of freshwater into the reactor core continues.
  • As of 7:00PM on April 5, preparation to recover and transfer the accumulated water at the turbine building continues.
• Fukushima Daiichi Unit 2 reactor
  • At 6:00AM on April 5, pressure inside the reactor core: -0.018MPa.
  • At 6:00AM on April 5, water level inside the reactor core: 1.5 meters below the top of the fuel rods.
  • At 6:00AM on April 5, pressure inside the primary containment vessel: 0.10MPaabs.
  • At 6:00AM on April 5, the temperature of the reactor vessel measured at the water supply nozzle: 287.1 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • At 6:00AM on April 5, the temperature of the spent fuel pool: 159.8 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • At 7:20AM on April 5, the temperature directly above the second containment building by thermography measurement: 82.4 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • At 2:15PM on April 5, TEPCO announced that the tracer (white colored dye) was observed entering the ocean through a crack on the lateral surface of the pit (a vertical portion of an underground structure for housing electric cables) near the seawater intake.
  • At 3:07PM on April 5, TEPCO began injecting coagulator into the soil around the pit in an attempt to stop the discharge of water.
  • As of 7:00PM on April 5, the injection of freshwater into the reactor core continues.
  • As of 7:00PM on April 5, preparation to recover and transfer the accumulated water at the turbine building continues.
• Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3 reactor
  • At 7:20AM on April 5, the temperature directly above the spent fuel pool by thermography measurement: 132.8 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • At 7:20AM on April 5, the temperature directly above the primary containment vessel by thermography measurement: 64.4 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • At 10:20AM on April 5, pressure inside the reactor core: 0.005MPa.
  • At 10:20AM on April 5, water level inside the reactor core: 1.85 meters below the top of the fuel rods.
  • At 10:20AM on April 5, pressure inside the primary containment vessel: 0.1071MPaabs.
  • At 10:20AM on April 5, the temperature of the reactor vessel measured at the water supply nozzle: 184.5 degrees Fahrenheit. (This figure is under investigation.)
  • As of 1:30PM on April 5, approximately 4,978 tons of water in total has been shot into the spent fuel storage pool.
  • As of 7:00PM on April 5, the injection of freshwater into the reactor core continues.
  • As of 7:00PM on April 5, preparation to recover and transfer the accumulated water at the turbine building continues.
• Fukushima Daiichi Unit 4 reactor
  • At 7:20AM on April 5, the temperature directly above the spent fuel pool by thermography measurement: 122 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • At 5:35PM on April 5, TEPCO began to shoot freshwater aimed at the spent fuel pool, with a specialized vehicle normally used for pumping concrete, until 6:22PM.
• Fukushima Daiichi Unit 5 reactor
  • At 1:00PM on April 5, the temperature of the spent fuel pool: 94.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Fukushima Daiichi Unit 6 reactor
  • At 1:00PM on April 5, the temperature of the spent fuel pool: 81.5 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Fukushima Daiichi Common Spent Fuel Pool
  • At 7:10AM on April 5, the temperature of the spent fuel pool: 84.2 degrees Fahrenheit.

Our official sources are:

• Office of The Prime Minister of Japan
• Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA)
• Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) Press Releases
• Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Taro Ishida

The Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan
1901 L Street, NW Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036

Mobile (202) 253-2579

Phone (202) 530-0769 (Direct)
Phone (202) 466-6781
Fax (202) 466-6758

email: ishida@denjiren.com

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Post Fukushima future of nuclear energy

Three important reasons why the U.S. new build will continue

Prognosticators of financial doom and gloom for the future of construction of new nuclear power plants in the U.S. say they have plenty of evidence to bolster their case. The main Japanese utility responsible for trying to control the disaster has itself demonstrated at times confusion in resolving problems.

Financial analysts say if the leading utility in Japan, a nation strongly committed to nuclear energy, can't control its reactors, what does it say about the global industry?

Of course, they fail to mention that six reactors at Fukushima were taken out of service by the combination of a 9.0 earthquake and a 15 meter high tsunami. Is it any wonder the utility, which has asked for international help, is at times overwhelmed by the damage?

The view of naysayer groups is open to question based on three factors.

• First, the Obama administration continues to be committed to nuclear energy. In the first week following the Fukushima accident, President Obama spoke out repeatedly on the issue.
• Second, the Department of Energy said it would continue to evaluate new nuclear reactor projects for federal loan guarantees.
• Third, a Gallop Poll taken in late March showed steady support for nuclear energy with little change from similar polls a decade ago.

Read the complete story exclusively at Cool Hand Nuke, a nuclear energy jobs portal and a whole lot more.

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Fukushima reactor status news for April 4, 2011

Includes press release from TEPCO on discharge of radioactive water to ocean

Update to Information Sheet Regarding the Tohoku Earthquake

The Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan (FEPC) Washington DC Office

As of 11:30AM (EST), April 4, 2011

• Radiation Levels
  • The level of concentration of radioactive nuclide I-131 (2.5 x 10¹ Bq/cm³) from the seawater sampled near the seawater discharge point of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Station at 1:50PM (JST) on April 3 was approximately 625 times higher than the maximum permissible water concentration (4.0 x 10^-2 Bq/cm³) set by the government.
  • On April 4, TEPCO announced that it will discharge 10,000 tons of low level radioactive water stored at the Central Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility in order to accommodate higher level radioactive water. It will also discharge 1,500 tons of low level radioactive water which had accumulated at the sub-drain pits of Unit 5 and 6 in order to prevent important equipment of Unit 5 and 6 from being submerged.
  • The original TEPCO press release is attached and also available at:

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/11040404-e.html

(At 9:30PM on April 4, NHK reported the discharge of water from the Central Radioactive Waste Facility has commenced around 7:00PM and from the sub-drain pits at 9:00PM.)

• At 6:00PM on April 4, radiation level at main gate (approximately 3,281 feet from Unit 2 reactor building) of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station: 118 micro Sv/hour.
• At 6:00PM on April 4, radiation level at west gate (approximately 3,609 feet from Unit 2 reactor building) of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station: 72.1 micro Sv/hour.
• Measurement results of environmental radioactivity level around Fukushima Nuclear Power Station announced at 7:00PM on April 4 are shown in the attached PDF file. English version is available at: http://www.mext.go.jp/english/radioactivity_level/detail/1304082.htm
• For comparison, a human receives 2,400 micro Sv per year from natural radiation in the form of sunlight, radon, and other sources. One chest CT scan generates 6,900 micro Sv per scan.
• Fukushima Daiichi Unit 1 reactor
  • On April 2, lighting was restored at the part of the turbine building.
  • At 7:20AM on April 4, the temperature of the spent fuel pool by thermography measurement: 64.4 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • At 11:00AM on April 4, pressure inside the reactor core: 0.299MPa.
  • At 11:00AM on April 4, water level inside the reactor core: 1.65 meters below the top of the fuel rods.
  • At 11:00AM on April 4, pressure inside the primary containment vessel: 0.15MPaabs.
  • At 11:00AM on April 4, the temperature of the reactor vessel measured at the water supply nozzle: 469.0 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • As of 3:00PM on April 4, the injection of freshwater into the reactor core continues.
  • As of 7:00PM on April 4, preparation to recover and transfer the accumulated water at the turbine building continues.
• Fukushima Daiichi Unit 2 reactor
  • On April 2, lighting was restored at the part of the turbine building.
  • On April 2, monitoring cameras were set at the trench outside the turbine building and at the basement floor of the turbine building to monitor the water levels.
  • At 9:30AM on April 2, the accumulated water was found in the pit (a vertical portion of an underground structure for housing electric cables) near the seawater intake and the radiation level of the water was over 1,000 milli Sv/hour. In addition, the water was observed entering the ocean from a crack (about 20cm = 7.9 inches) on the lateral surface of the pit.
  • At 4:25PM on April 2, concrete was injected into the pit in an attempt to stop the discharging of water. (injected again at 7:02PM)
  • At 1:47PM on April 3, polymer absorber, sawdust, and shredded newspapers were inserted in the pit in an attempt to stop the overflow of the discharge of water, until 2:30PM.
  • At 7:08AM on April 4, tracer (white colored bath agent) was inserted into the trench outside the turbine building to determine the route of the water leakage.
  • At 11:00AM on April 4, pressure inside the reactor core: -0.018MPa.
  • At 11:00AM on April 4, water level inside the reactor core: 1.5 meters below the top of the fuel rods.
  • At 11:00AM on April 4, pressure inside the primary containment vessel: 0.10MPaabs.
  • At 11:00AM on April 4, the temperature of the reactor vessel measured at the water supply nozzle: 282.2 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • At 11:00AM on April 4, the temperature of the spent fuel pool: 122 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • As of 3:00PM on April 4, the injection of freshwater into the reactor core continues.
  • As of 7:00PM on April 4, preparation to recover and transfer the accumulated water at the turbine building continues.
• Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3 reactor
  • On April 2, lighting was restored at the part of the turbine building.
  • At 9:52PM on April 2, TEPCO began to shoot freshwater aimed at the spent fuel pool, with a specialized vehicle normally used for pumping concrete, until 12:54PM (approximately 75 tons in total).
  • At 7:20AM on April 4, the temperature of the spent fuel pool by thermography measurement: 134.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • At 9:30AM on April 4, pressure inside the reactor core: 0.005MPa.
  • At 9:30AM on April 4, water level inside the reactor core: 1.75 meters below the top of the fuel rods.
  • At 9:30AM on April 4, pressure inside the primary containment vessel: 0.1069MPaabs.
  • At 9:30AM on April 4, the temperature of the reactor vessel measured at the water supply nozzle: 194 degrees Fahrenheit. (This figure is under investigation.)
  • As of 3:00PM on April 4, the injection of freshwater into the reactor core continues.
  • At 5:03PM on April 4, TEPCO began to shoot freshwater aimed at the spent fuel pool, with a specialized vehicle normally used for pumping concrete.
  • As of 7:00PM on April 4, preparation to recover and transfer the accumulated water at the turbine building continues.
  • As of 7:00PM on April 4, approximately 4,908 tons of water in total has been shot into the spent fuel storage pool.
• Fukushima Daiichi Unit 4 reactor
  • On April 2, lighting was restored at the part of the turbine building.
  • At 5:14PM on April 3, TEPCO began to shoot freshwater aimed at the spent fuel pool, with a specialized vehicle normally used for pumping concrete, until 10:16PM (approximately 180 tons in total).
  • At 7:20AM on April 4, the temperature of the spent fuel pool by thermography measurement: 86 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • As of 7:00PM on April 4, approximately 1,473.2 tons of water in total has been shot into the spent fuel storage pool.
• Fukushima Daiichi Unit 5 reactor
  • At 2:00PM on April 4, the temperature of the spent fuel pool: 94.3 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Fukushima Daiichi Unit 6 reactor
  • At 2:00PM on April 4, the temperature of the spent fuel pool: 70.7 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Fukushima Daiichi Common Spent Fuel Pool
  • At 8:10AM on April 3, the temperature of the spent fuel pool: 89.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Others
  • At 9:10AM on April 2, a US Military barge (No.2) carrying freshwater docked at the dedicated port at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, towed by a vessel of the Marine Self Defense Forces.
  • At 10:20AM on April 2, transferring freshwater from the US Military barge (No.1) to a filtrate tank resumed, until 4:40PM.
  • At 12:12PM on April 4, a US Military barge (No.2) carrying freshwater docked again at the dedicated port at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, after refilling the freshwater.

Our official sources are:

• Office of The Prime Minister of Japan
• Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA)
• Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) Press Releases
• Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)

TEPCO Press Release

Press Release (Apr 04,2011) Discharge of low level radioactive accumulated water in the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station to the sea(2nd Release)

There is currently great amount of radioactive waste water in the turbine buildings of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station and especially the turbine building of Unit 2 has extremely high level radioactive waste water.

We think it is necessary to transfer the radioactive waste water to the Central Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility in order to store it in a stable condition. However, ten thousand of low level radioactive waste water has been already stored and we have to discharge the existing low level radioactive waste water to receive new liquids.

In addition, as low radioactive subsurface water is piling up in sub-drain pits of Unit 5 and 6 and a part of subsurface water is running into buildings, we are concerned that important equipment to secure the safety of reactors will be submerged.

Based on the Section 1 of the Article 64 of the Nuclear Reactor Regulation Law, we have decided to discharge to the sea approximately ten thousand tons of the accumulated low level radioactive water and a total of 1,500 tons of the low level radioactive subsurface water stored in the sub drain pits of Unit 5 and 6 as soon as we get ready.

We evaluate approximately 0.6 mSv of effective radioactive doses per year for adults as the impact on the discharge of the low radioactive waste water to the sea if they eat adjacent fish and seaweeds every day. The amount (0.6 mSv of effective radioactive doses per year) is one-fourth of annual radioactive dose to which the general public is exposed in nature.

Afterwards, we were preparing to discharge the low radioactive waste water to the sea. We intend to start to discharge the low radioactive waste water stored in the Central Radioactive Waste Disposal Facility to the sea at 7:00 pm today on April 4th. In addition, at 9:00 pm today on April 4th, we intend to start to discharge the low level radioactive subsurface water stored in the sub drain pits to the sea.

---------------------------

FEPC Transmittal 4/4/11

Dear Friends,

Please find the updated information sheet below and attached that summarizes the events from Update-18 at 11:00AM on 4/1.

For your reference, JAIF (Japan Atomic Industrial Forum) has been posting the translation of news reports on their website.

http://www.jaif.or.jp/english/

Please direct any questions regarding this document to me, Ishida@denjiren.com or Samuel Lederer, Researcher of FEPC at lederer@denjiren.com.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Taro Ishida

The Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan
1901 L Street, NW Suite 600
Washington, DC 20036

Mobile (202) 253-2579

Phone (202) 530-0769 (Direct)
Phone (202) 466-6781
Fax (202) 466-6758

email: ishida@denjiren.com

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

# # #

Impact of MOX Fuel at Fukushima

A plain English explanation

Based on alarms raised by scientists in Japan and elsewhere about the use of mixed oxide fuel (MOX) in the Fukushima reactor #3, the American Nuclear Society (ANS) published a technical brief on the issue on March 25, 2011. It contains factual information on the impact of mixed oxide fuel use at Fukushima Daiichi.

There are two key points that emerge from the ANS Technical Brief which was prepared by ANS members contributing their expertise as individuals and not on behalf of their respective employers. The paper is being published online by the ANS Special Committee on Nuclear Nonproliferation.

No significant impact on reactor cooling or releases of radioactivity

Mixed Oxide (MOX) fuel has been used safely in nuclear power reactors for decades. The presence of a limited number of MOX fuel assemblies at Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3 has not had a significant impact on the ability to cool the reactor or on any radioactive releases from the site due to damage from the earthquake and tsunami.

Less than 6% of fuel in core was MOX

At the time of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake, Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3 was operating with 32 mixed oxide (MOX) fuel assemblies and 516 low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel assemblies in its reactor core. In other words, less than 6 percent of the fuel in the Unit 3 core was MOX fuel. There were no other MOX fuel assemblies (new, in operation or used) at the Fukushima Daiichi plant at the time of the accident.

& & &

A summary set of talking points, based on the technical brief, is online at the ANS Nuclear Cafe which includes an extended Q&A about MOX fuel at Fukushima.

Please circulate the summary and link to the blog post to colleagues and interested persons.

Media inquiries should be directed to Clark Communications at (301) 987-7113

Questions about ANS should be directed to Laura Scheele in the ANS Outreach Dept. at (708) 579-8224

The full text of the ANS MOX paper is online at the ANS website.

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46th Carnival of Nuclear Energy Blogs

The discontinuous nature of current events suggests this graphic of a mobius strip as the  design basis for a roller coaster

The 46th Carnival of Nuclear Energy Blogs is up at Next Big Future.  The carnival  features blog posts from the leading U.S. nuclear bloggers and is a roundup of featured content from them.

If you want to hear the voice of the nuclear renaissance, the Carnival of Nuclear Energy Blogs is where to find it.

Past editions have been hosted at Cool Hand Nuke, NEI Nuclear Notes, ANS Nuclear Cafe, Yes Vermont Yankee, Idaho Samizdat, and several other popular nuclear energy blogs.

If you have a pro-nuclear energy blog, and would like to host an edition of the carnival, please contact Brian Wang at Next Big Future to get on the rotation.

This is a great collaborative effort that deserves your support. Please post a Tweet, a Facebook entry, or a link on your Web site or blog to support the carnival.

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When man does not bite dog is news

The issue of how reactors handle hydrogen gets aired

In the annals of journalism, improbable news stories are categorized by the headline “Man bites dog.” It signals the reversal of the normal flow of events and challenges to the logic of daily life.

Of course, the headline has been the butt of many jokes, “Man bites dog at county fair,” says Mayor Billy Bojangles, “it was a corn dog. Ha ha.”

According to Wikipedia, the phrase was coined to describe the fact that you never read about a plane that did not crash and you don't hear about cases where a politician kept his pants on and his hands out of the till.

The phrase was reportedly first spoken by Alfred Harmsworth, a British newspaper magnate, but is also attributed to New York Sun editor John B. Bogart (1848–1921): "When a dog bites a man, that is not news, because it happens so often. But if a man bites a dog, that is news.

So when the New York Times writes that U.S. nuclear utilities are complying with requirements from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) regarding the control hydrogen in reactor pressure vessels, why is that news? But if an anti-nuclear group claims that the NRC’s requirement itself it unsafe,does that make it news? Maybe.

The newspaper seems motivated to run to ground a charge that the NRC acted against the interests of safety. It turns out the charge by the consultant at Beyond Nuclear is without merit, but the newspaper printed the story anyway.

Maybe the newspaper’s original intention was to debunk the charge? I’d like to hope so, but it’s not easy to draw that conclusion from the way the material is presented to readers. Of course, the newspaper would say it is just reporting the news.

I suggest a new headline for this story should be “man did not bite dog” or something like that. It would make a lot more sense and tell a truer story.

So why is the story news?

The multiple hydrogen explosions (Unit 3 right) at the Fukushima nuclear reactor complex in the days following the massive earthquake and tsunami that devastated the area March 11 were alarming visually, but caused little real damage to the part of the reactor that matter.

So far as experts in the U.S. with direct on-the-ground knowledge of the situation in Japan know, the two pieces that count – the reactor pressure vessel and primary containment – are still intact at Fukushima reactors units 1-4.

The hydrogen explosions were caused because the level of cooling water dropped inside the reactor pressure vessels, and in the damaged spent fuel pool at unit #4, uncovering the fuel rods. The fuel rods are bound together with zirconium.

When it gets too hot from the residual heat of the fuel assemblies, zirconium interacts with the water to oxidize claiming the oxygen and releasing hydrogen. Hydrogen is a volatile gas and is easily set off with explosive results from a variety of sources including sparks from static electricity.

As a practical matter, even if the reactors at Fukushima had hydrogen recombiners retrofitted into the plants, there was no electricity to run them to harmlessly vent hydrogen gas out the stacks. The tsunami that breached the seawall by two times its height wiped out the fuel supply for the emergency diesel generators shutting them off.

Safe control of hydrogen

The safety issue for U.S. reactors is how to control the hydrogen, or vent it, in the case of an accident. The New York Times ran a story March 31 which was based on an allegation by a representative from an anti-nuclear group that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) had failed to require nuclear utilities to properly deal with the risks of hydrogen explosions. The problem with the allegation, as detailed in the news report, is that isn’t true.

The story begins with a statement by Paul Blanch, a Hartford, Conn., energy consultant, who's work has been prominently featured on the website of Beyond Nuclear, an NGO which is stridently opposed to the use of nuclear energy.

“The change in commission policy was pointed out this week by a nuclear safety critic, Paul M. Blanch, who said that he had been involved in installing such equipment at Millstone 3, a nuclear reactor in Waterford, Conn.

“Post-Three Mile Island, they were considered very important to safety,’’ Mr. Blanch said. He accused the Nuclear Regulatory Commission of having “gutted the rule’’ because the industry wanted to save money.“

The newspaper also quotes a spokesman from the NRC.

“They [recombiners] weren’t needed for design basis accidents and they didn’t help with severe accidents,’’ Mr. Brenner said.”

Nitrogen is an inert gas

When the primary containment structure is filled with nitrogen, which is a common practice, then even if hydrogen is generated in there it cannot ignite in an inert atmosphere. It follows that it makes sense to drop the requirement to have hydrogen recombiners.

Yet, the newspaper ran with a story that suggest the NRC acted against the interests of safety at reactors when in fact the regulatory agency was reasonable in its logic.

TMI or refinery fire?

Also, the use of a photo of TMI with the article is at least gratuitous or does it seem obligatory for editors these day when publishing something about the U.S. nuclear industry.

This is no different than CBS and CNN running pictures of a refinery fire in Japan for voice-overs about the status of the Fukushima reactors. It is a form of sensationalism and has no place in reporting about industrial accidents.

# # #

Fukushima reactor status news for 2011 04 01

Update to Information Sheet Regarding the Tohoku Earthquake

Source: The Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan (FEPC) Washington DC Office As of 11:00AM (EST), April 1, 2011

· Radiation Levels

o At 7:00PM (JST) on April 1, radiation level at main gate (approximately 3,281 feet from Unit 2 reactor building) of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station: 141 micro Sv/hour.

o At 7:00PM on April 1, radiation level at west gate (approximately 3,609 feet from Unit 2 reactor building) of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station: 90.0 micro Sv/hour.

o Measurement results of environmental radioactivity level around Fukushima Nuclear Power Station announced at 7:00PM on April 1 are shown in the English version is available at: http://www.mext.go.jp/english/radioactivity_level/detail/1304082.htm

o For comparison, a human receives 2,400 micro Sv per year from natural radiation in the form of sunlight, radon, and other sources. One chest CT scan generates 6,900 micro Sv per scan.

· Fukushima Daiichi Unit 1 reactor

o At 10:00AM on April 1, pressure inside the reactor core: 0.295MPa.

o At 10:00AM on April 1, water level inside the reactor core: 1.65 meters below the top of the fuel rods.

o At 10:00AM on April 1, pressure inside the primary containment vessel: 0.165MPaabs.

o At 10:00AM on April 1, the temperature of the reactor vessel measured at the water supply nozzle: 479.5 degrees Fahrenheit.

o As of 3:30PM on April 1, the injection of freshwater into the reactor core continues.

o As of 7:00PM on April 1, preparation to recover and transfer the accumulated water at the turbine building continues.

o As of 7:00PM on April 1, approximately 90 tons of water in total has been injected into the spent fuel storage pool.

· Fukushima Daiichi Unit 2 reactor

o At 10:00AM on April 1, the temperature of the spent fuel pool: 122 degrees Fahrenheit.

o At 10:00AM on April 1, pressure inside the reactor core: -0.007MPa.

o At 10:00AM on April 1, water level inside the reactor core: 1.5 meters below the top of the fuel rods.

o At 10:00AM on April 1, pressure inside the primary containment vessel: 0.11MPaabs.

o As of 3:30PM on April 1, the injection of freshwater into the reactor core continues.

o As of 7:00PM on April 1, preparation to recover and transfer the accumulated water at the turbine building continues.

· Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3 reactor

o At 4:30PM on March 31, TEPCO began to shoot freshwater aimed at the spent fuel pool, with a specialized vehicle normally used for pumping concrete, until 7:33PM (approximately 105 tons in total).

o At 11:45AM on April 1, pressure inside the reactor core: 0.016MPa.

o At 11:45AM on April 1, water level inside the reactor core: 1.9 meters below the top of the fuel rods.

o At 11:45AM on April 1, pressure inside the primary containment vessel: 0.1068MPaabs.

o As of 3:30PM on April 1, the injection of freshwater into the reactor core continues.

o As of 7:00PM on April 1, preparation to recover and transfer the accumulated water at the turbine building continues.

o As of 7:00PM on April 1, approximately 4,802 tons of water in total has been shot into the spent fuel storage pool.

· Fukushima Daiichi Unit 4 reactor

o At 8:28AM on April 1, TEPCO began to shoot freshwater aimed at the spent fuel pool, with a specialized vehicle normally used for pumping concrete, until 2:14PM (approximately 180 tons in total).

o As of 7:00PM on April 1, approximately 1,278 tons of water in total has been shot into the spent fuel storage pool.

· Fukushima Daiichi Unit 5 reactor

o At 2:00PM on April 1, the temperature of the spent fuel pool: 100.6 degrees Fahrenheit.

· Fukushima Daiichi Unit 6 reactor

o At 2:00PM on April 1, the temperature of the spent fuel pool: 69.8 degrees Fahrenheit.

· Fukushima Daiichi Common Spent Fuel Pool

o At 7:30AM on April 1, the temperature of the spent fuel pool: 89.6 degrees Fahrenheit.

· Others

o At 3:42PM on March 31, a US Military barge carrying freshwater docked at the dedicated port at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, towed by a vessel of Marine Self Defense Forces.

o At 3:00PM on April 1, anti-scattering agent was dispersed on a trial basis around the Fukushima Daiichi Common Spent Fuel Pool.

o At 3:58PM on April 1, transferring the freshwater from the US Military barge to a filtrate tank commenced.

Communications & Contact Information

· From: Taro Ishida [ishida@denjiren.com]
  Sent: 04/01/2011 11:43 AM AST
  To: Taro Ishida <ishida@denjiren.com>
  Cc: Samuel Lederer <lederer@denjiren.com>
  Subject: <Update-18> Information Sheet Regarding the Tohoku Earthquake (from FEPC Washington Office)

Dear Friends,

Please find the updated information sheet below and attached that summarizes the events from Update-17 at 11:00AM on 3/31.

For your reference, JAIF (Japan Atomic Industrial Forum) has been posting the translation of news reports on their website.

http://www.jaif.or.jp/english/

Please direct any questions regarding this document to me, Ishida@denjiren.com or Samuel Lederer, Researcher of FEPC at lederer@denjiren.com.

Our official sources are:

• Office of The Prime Minister of Japan
• Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA)
• Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) Press Releases
• Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)