NEI Nuclear Notes

Prime Minister Naoto Kan visited Fukushima today: Kan praised the workers of Tokyo Electric Power Co. and its subcontractors in the J-Village lobby and thanked them for their "hard work." "The accident at the Fukushima No. 1 plant needs to be put under control with your collective efforts," Kan said. "We have to work hard until we reach a point where we can say our country has overcome the quake and the tsunami disaster." Kan made stops at other affected locales, too, and picked up some criticism from people who have been displaced: "I wonder how well he could grasp the situation faced by victims," fisherman Kazuo Sato, 45, said. "There are shelters still without electricity or water. Some people haven't even been able to begin searching for bodies. I want (Kan) to turn attention to those matters." No comment here, except that it's good and expected that people want to resume their lives and get the earthquake as far behind t...

At present, it is not known what caused the water around Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3 to show high radiation levels. The AP lists several possibilities – as have many news sources: The possible breach in Unit 3 might be a crack or a hole in the stainless steel chamber of the reactor core or in the spent fuel pool that's lined with several feet of reinforced concrete. The temperature and pressure inside the core, which holds the fuel rods, remained stable and was far lower than would further melt the core. So, the AP doesn’t know. Nobody really knows yet. When we see a definitive explanation for this event, then we can determine its seriousness, but not before then. Prime Minister Naoto Kan said in a address to the Japanese people: “The situation at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant is still very grave and serious. … We must remain vigilant. We’re trying to prevent a deterioration of the situation and we are still not in a position where we can be optimistic. We must t...