Wednesday Update

TEPCO to Build Iron Wall to Contain Radioactive Water

Plant Status

• Tokyo Electric Power Co. plans to build an “iron wall” between the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear energy facility and the ocean to keep radioactive water out of the sea. Thousands of 24-yard-long iron pipes will be sunk into the earth, extending to below the sea bed, to create a wall around the water intakes for reactors 1-4. Construction of the 875-yard wall is expected to begin by the end of the year and be complete in about two years.

Industry/Regulatory/Political Issues

• The Japan Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry has been conducting experiments since May on reducing radiation levels in rice fields near Fukushima Daiichi. In one test, workers have scraped contaminated topsoil from dry paddies. In another, soil has been stirred in water-filled paddies and then removed. Both methods have reduced radiation levels to below government safety levels.

New Products

• New talking points summarize key topics from NEI’s comment letter to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on proposed near-term actions at U.S. reactors following the Fukushima Daiichi accident. Another set of talking points discusses localized spikes of radiation in areas near the nuclear facility. More talking points address the NRC's approach toward plant seismic studies, which respond to misconstrued media reports on these studies.

Media Highlights

• Tokyo Electric Power Co. will put $30 billion into a new entity established to help the utility compensate individuals and businesses claiming damages caused by the Fukushima Daiichi accident, the Japan Economic Newswire reported. The fund also will receive $91 million from the government and $91 million from 11 other utility companies.

• Japanese citizens are debating the country’s energy future following the accident at Fukushima Daiichi. It is a dilemma for a country that lacks natural resources and has relied heavily on nuclear energy, NPR reports.

Upcoming Events

• A public Sept. 8 NRC Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards meeting will include a review the agency’s near-term task force report on the events at Fukushima.

• The NRC commissioners will be briefed on short-term actions recommended in its Japan task force report in a public meeting Sept. 14. The meeting will be webcast.

• The NRC commissioners will be briefed on prioritization of recommendations from its Japan task force in a public meeting Oct. 11. The briefing will be webcast.

Comments

Activists' Claims Distort Facts about Advanced Reactor Design

Below is from our rapid response team . Yesterday, regional anti-nuclear organizations asked federal nuclear energy regulators to launch an investigation into what it claims are “newly identified flaws” in Westinghouse’s advanced reactor design, the AP1000. During a teleconference releasing a report on the subject, participants urged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to suspend license reviews of proposed AP1000 reactors. In its news release, even the groups making these allegations provide conflicting information on its findings. In one instance, the groups cite “dozens of corrosion holes” at reactor vessels and in another says that eight holes have been documented. In all cases, there is another containment mechanism that would provide a barrier to radiation release. Below, we examine why these claims are unwarranted and why the AP1000 design certification process should continue as designated by the NRC. Myth: In the AP1000 reactor design, the gap between the shield bu...

What Happens During a Refueling Outage?

You may have noticed over the past few weeks that a number of nuclear plants are shut down for refueling outages or are resuming operations after just returning from one. This type of routine outage usually occurs in the spring or fall when electricity demand is low so that nuclear reactors can replace about one-third of the spent fuel rods with new fuel and conduct other routine maintenance and repairs at the plant. To get a better sense of how refueling works at a nuclear energy facility, I spoke with Marcus Nichol, NEI’s senior project manager for used fuel storage and transportation, and asked him to explain the basics. Why does a nuclear plant need to replace one-third of its fuel? Nichol: The main purpose of a refueling outage is to replace older fuel that is depleted—meaning it can no longer efficiently produce energy from nuclear fission reactions—with new fuel. This “used fuel” has typically been used in the reactor for four-and-a-half to six years before it is pe...

How Much Land Does Nuclear, Wind and Solar Really Need?

Not too long ago, we reviewed a report that looked at nuclear energy (and other energy sources) as biodiversity agents. This had to do, in part, with the amount of land a facility needs to function. Nuclear energy and fossil fuel plants use relatively little, wind farms and solar arrays quite a lot of land . Based on an objective and transparent analysis of our sustainable energy choices, we have come to the evidence-based conclusion that nuclear energy is a good option for biodiversity conservation (and society in general) and that other alternatives to fossil fuels should be subjected to the same cost–benefit analyses (in terms of biodiversity and climate outcomes, as well as sociopolitical imperatives) before accepting or dismissing them. Writer Barry Brook, who collected 75 scientists to endorse his paper, is interested in land use as it impacts flora and fauna. Biodiversity concerns do not get as much play as they might – and, when they do, it annoys many when land is withdraw...

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