Skip to main content

Monday Update

By
From NEI’s Japan micro-site:
TEPCO, Government to Revise Timetable for Returning Evacuees
October 17, 2011
Industry/Regulatory/Political Issues
  • Tokyo Electric Power Co. expects to achieve a stable “cold shutdown condition” of reactors 1, 2 and 3 by the end of the year, a month earlier than originally planned, according to a revised“Roadmap Towards Restoration From the Accident at Fukushima Daiichi.” The report says TEPCO has brought the release of radioactive materials under control. NHK World reported that the revised timetable will allow the government to begin discussions on allowing evacuees to return to their homes.
  • As of Oct. 13, TEPCO has decontaminated more than 128,000 cubic meters of highly radioactive cooling water at the Fukushima Daiichi reactors. The company told Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency it expects to treat about 250,000 cubic meters by March. The decontamination and recycling efforts have been instrumental in the company’s being able to bring the temperatures at the bottom of reactors 1-3 below 100 degrees Celsius.

Plant Status
  • TEPCO reports it has completed attaching the heavy polyester covering to the steel frames it has installed around Fukushima Daiichi reactor 1. The company expects to complete testing of the effectiveness of the cover by the end of the month. It is considering installing similar covers for reactors 3 and 4.

Media Highlights
  • The Associated Press and RTTNews note the IAEA report praising the radiation remediation measures being conducted by Japanese authorities. Japan’s Mainichi Daily News reports on thedecontamination efforts being conducted in towns surrounding the Fukushima Daiichi facility.
  • Reuters takes note of the advice in the IAEA report for the Japanese government to “avoid becoming over-conservative” in future remediation efforts, such as topsoil removal, so as to preclude creating unnecessarily large quantities of radioactive waste requiring storage and disposal.
Labels:

Comments

D Pulaski said…
The links you have lead to a sign on screen for Outlook.

I don't use Outlook, and can't view the links.

D. Pulaski
October 18, 2011 at 11:38 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wednesday Update

By
From NEI’s Japan micro-site: NRC, Industry Concur on Many Post-Fukushima Actions Industry/Regulatory/Political Issues • There is a “great deal of alignment” between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the industry on initial steps to take at America’s nuclear energy facilities in response to the nuclear accident in Japan, Charles Pardee, the chief operating officer of Exelon Generation Co., said at an agency briefing today. The briefing gave stakeholders an opportunity to discuss staff recommendations for near-term actions the agency may take at U.S. facilities. PowerPoint slides from the meeting are on the NRC website. • The International Atomic Energy Agency board has approved a plan that calls for inspectors to evaluate reactor safety at nuclear energy facilities every three years. Governments may opt out of having their country’s facilities inspected. Also approved were plans to maintain a rapid response team of experts ready to assist facility operators recoverin...
Post a Comment
Read more

Fluor Invests in NuScale

By
You know, it’s kind of sad that no one is willing to invest in nuclear energy anymore. Wait, what? NuScale Power celebrated the news of its company-saving $30 million investment from Fluor Corp. Thursday morning with a press conference in Washington, D.C. Fluor is a design, engineering and construction company involved with some 20 plants in the 70s and 80s, but it has not held interest in a nuclear energy company until now. Fluor, which has deep roots in the nuclear industry, is betting big on small-scale nuclear energy with its NuScale investment. "It's become a serious contender in the last decade or so," John Hopkins, [Fluor’s group president in charge of new ventures], said. And that brings us to NuScale, which had run into some dark days – maybe not as dark as, say, Solyndra, but dire enough : Earlier this year, the Securities Exchange Commission filed an action against NuScale's lead investor, The Michael Kenwood Group. The firm "misap...
1 comment
Read more

Activists' Claims Distort Facts about Advanced Reactor Design

By
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...
23 comments
Read more