TEPCO Dumps 565-Page Report on Early Days of Crisis, Says No Re-Melting of Reactor 3 Fuel

"WTF?" seems to have been literally the reaction by both the journalists who regularly cover TEPCO and the officials at the regulatory agency Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency.

NISA nor any government agency asked for the report, but TEPCO apparently volunteered. The voluminous data is supposed to refute the claim by certain researchers that the melted fuel at the bottom of the RPV in Reactor 3 may have been re-melted on March 21 and went through the RPV and dropped on the floor of the Containment Vessel, releasing a huge amount of radioactive materials as evidenced by large spikes in air radiation throughout Tohoku and Kanto on that day.

According to TEPCO, there was no re-melt, because their data shows that the amount of water into Reactor 3 RPV was more than adequate, and the spikes in air radiation was simply because of the rain, and had nothing to do with what was happening in Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant.

The 565-page report also covers the other reactors.

I think I know what this is all about. It's TEPCO's defense and counterattack against the former Kan administration officials like Cabinet Secretary Edano and Prime Minister Kan himself, who, upon resigning, immediately started the media blitz to spread their versions of the event, painting themselves as selfless heroes worried for the humanity and TEPCO as the sole villain.

TEPCO's report on September 9 in Japanese:

http://www.tepco.co.jp/cc/press/betu11_j/images/110909m.pdf

The company promises it will upload the English translation as soon as it is done.

In the press conference on September 9, TEPCO released these charts as part of the evidence that there was no re-melt. TEPCO's translation is just as bad as the man who pointed finger at TEPCO livecam, but I hope the charts speak volume:

More about → TEPCO Dumps 565-Page Report on Early Days of Crisis, Says No Re-Melting of Reactor 3 Fuel

(UPDATED) NISA Mentions "Neptunium-239" in August 29 Press Conference

(UPDATE on 8/30/2011: NISA still hasn't said a word about conversion, but someone in Japan did the calculation based on the NISA's numbers released on June 6. You can view it at this link or in the image below. In plain language, neptunium-239 will decay into plutonium-239, adding 2×10^7 becquerels (20,000,000 becquerels) to the existing plutonium-239. The calculation was done by Tomohiro Endo, a researcher (nuclear physics) at Nagoya University.)



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(UPDATE on 8/29/2011: NISA backtracked in the joint conference (TEPCO/government) in the afternoon, and now says it's not sure about the conversion rate of neptunium-239 into plutonium-239.)

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Now this is very curious.



The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA)'s daily press conference is ongoing (August 29). The NISA spokesman Moriyama mentions neptunium-239's conversion ratio to plutonium-239 as 1 to 1.



According to the June 6 estimate by the NISA:

Plutonium-239: 3.2×10^9

Neptunium-239: 7.6×10^13

So, now it is:

Plutonium-239: 7.6 x 10^13, or 76,000,000,000,000 or 76 terabecquerels

The amount of plutonium-239 has increased 23,000-fold, according to NISA.



On August 15 I wrote about neptunium-239, half life of about 2 days, having been detected in large quantity in Iitate-mura, 35 kilometers from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. I had to take down the second post on the subject, but the information was correct.



Now, NISA is suddenly mentioning neptunium-239. Admission of wide dispersion of this nuclide and resultant plutonium-239 may be finally forthcoming, after more than 5 months.

More about → (UPDATED) NISA Mentions "Neptunium-239" in August 29 Press Conference

Radionuclides Released into the Air from Fukushima I Nuke Plant, by NISA

as announced by Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) on June 6, 2011 (on page 13 of the PDF file). Click on the image below to view it in a separate window:

What's interesting about the numbers in the chart is:



1. Radioactive strontium came more from Reactor 2 and Reactor 3, 1 to 2-digit higher.



2. More plutonium came out from Reactor 2, 2-digit higher, not from Reactor 3 with MOX-fuel.



Strontium-89 (in becquerels)

Reactor 1： 8.2 x 10^13 (or 82 terabecquerels)

Reactor 2: 6.8 x 10^14 (or 680 terabecquerels)

Reactor 3: 1.2 x 10 ^15 (or 1,200 terabequerels)

Total: 2.0 x 10^15 (or 2,000 terabequerels)



Strontium-90 (in becquerels)

Reractor 1: 6.1 x 10^12 (or 6.1 terabecquerels)

Reactor 2: 4.8 x 10^13 (or 48 terabecquerels)

Reactor 3: 8.5 x 10^13 (or 85 terabecquerels)

Total: 1.4 x 10^14 (or 140 terabecquerels)



Plutonium-241 (in becquerels)

Reactor 1: 3.5 x 10^10 (or 35 billion becquerels)

Reactor 2: 1.2 x 10^12 (or 1.2 terabequerel)

Reactor 3: 1.6 x 10^10 (or 16 billion becquerels)

Total: 1.2 x 10^12 (or 1.2 terabequerel)



Neptunium-239, which decays to plutonium-239, was estimated at 7.6 x 10^13 becquerels, or 76 terabequerels, adding to 3.2 x 10^9 becquerels of plutonium-239 that came out. Again, most neptunium-239 came out of Reactor 2, whose reactor building is more or less intact and whose Suppression Chamber is said to have been damaged on March 15 morning.



In the PDF file linked above, NISA estimated 770,000 to 850,000 terabecquerels of radioactive materials have been released into the atmosphere from Fukushima I Nuke Plant (although they are now trying to lower that number), and additional 720,000 terabecquerels of radioactive materials are in the contaminated water at the plant.



(Thank you "Kyotoresident" for reminding me to put this up, which I did for my Japanese blog long time ago and forgot to do for this blog.)

More about → Radionuclides Released into the Air from Fukushima I Nuke Plant, by NISA

US Nuclear Regulatory Commission: It's All About Politics?

If Japan's Madarame's Nuclear Safety Commission is "all about money", the US counterpart, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, seems all about political infighting.



It's Chairman Jaczko (Democratic appointee) vs Commissioner Svinicki (Republican appointee), with a former chairman fanning the infighting.



From Politico (8/16/2011):

NRC infighting goes nuclear



By DARIUS DIXON | 8/16/11 4:20 PM EDT



It's war at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.



NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko regularly faces the sharp end of Republican spears for his work to shut down the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, but his biggest clash appears not to be with Capitol Hill but with fellow NRC Commissioner Kristine Svinicki.



Jaczko, a Democrat and former aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and Svinicki, a Republican, have sparred over everything from serious issues including safety reviews and agency budgets to minor items like foreign travel requests.



The tension between Jaczko and Svinicki is so thick that the two haven’t addressed one another in months, sources tell POLITICO.



“There’s been a history of punches and counterpunches,” David Lochbaum, director of the Union of Concerned Scientists’s Nuclear Safety Project and a longtime observer of the NRC, said of Jaczko and Svinicki. “I don’t know who started it but at some point it doesn’t matter. It takes two to fight.”



... Dale Klein, a former NRC chairman, said he believed the report presented a tamer version of accounts than what was collected by investigators.



Klein described Jaczko’s behavior as “ruling by intimidation” and by cornering his colleagues on agency issues through the media. When it came to Jaczko’s interactions with Svinicki, he said, “While I was there, he would oftentimes yell at her.”



Before retiring from the NRC, Klein said he gave Jaczko a warning. "I had told him early on, several times, that the title is chairman — not dictator," Klein said.



The latest skirmish came last month after Jaczko went to the National Press Club to announce his plan to have the NRC review recommendations of a special Fukushima task force in 90 days. One problem: The chairman went forward with the proposal without convincing his fellow commissioners to support it, and his announcement was widely seen as a maneuver aimed at painting his colleagues into a corner. (Jaczko told the other commissioners about his plan, but there was little to no negotiation.)



Three commissioners — Svinicki, William Magwood and William Ostendorff — quickly moved to block the 90-day timetable.



For his part, Jaczko struck back last week, writing a memo saying his colleagues have a "preoccupation with process at the expense of nuclear safety policy."



Jaczko’s 90-day proposal was “the classic example of what not to do,” Klein said. “What’s magic about 90 days?



"That’s not the way that you’re going to build a consensus..."



(The article continues.)

Consensus? In nuclear safety?



Then Japan's NSC and NISA should be lauded for their exemplary consensus building over the decades.

More about → US Nuclear Regulatory Commission: It's All About Politics?

TEPCO and NISA: #Fukushima Reactor 3 Is Earthquake-Safe, Trust Us

TEPCO assured the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency that its Reactor 3 at Fukushima I Nuke Plant, no matter how badly it has been destroyed, will withstand the earthquake for which it was designed for, no problem. NISA said OK we believe you.

For TEPCO's summary, go here (it's in English).

NISA has a more detailed summary than TEPCO, but it's only in Japanese.

Neither has the actual report on the website, if there's one.

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NISA Removes Hidehiko Nishiyama from His Spokesman Job

Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency has removed Hidehiko Nishiyama from his position as the spokesman for the agency on June 29 and sent him packing back to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), because his love affair with a young woman (almost his daughter's age) has become a distraction, hindering the proper function of the agency. The woman also works at METI.

At the press conference on June 23, Nishiyama, 54-year-old career elite bureaucrat (Tokyo University Law School - Harvard Law School) married with 2 adult children (the daughter works for TEPCO, I don't know about the son), expressed regret that his private life was revealed in a major weekly magazine Shukan Shincho, but denied that he would resign his post as the NISA's spokesman.

He has been the familiar face of the Fukushima I Nuke Plant Accident, ever since he became the third NISA spokesman on March 13. The first spokesman was quickly removed from the job after he said during the March 12 press conference that the fuel inside the Reactor 1 was probably melted. The second spokesman was also quickly removed when he said on the March 13 morning press conference, "I don't want to do this but I was told to do it so here I am."

Well, Nishiyama is gone now. His successor is Yoshinori Moriyama.

Ah, the end of an era.

More about → NISA Removes Hidehiko Nishiyama from His Spokesman Job

#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: NISA's Nishiyama Indicates There Is No Plan-B Right Now

if the Kurion-Areva-Toshiba-Hitachi contaminated water treatment system doesn't work.

From Mainichi Shinbun Japanese (6/18/2011), commenting on the latest problem with the Kurion's absorption system:

経済産業省原子力安全・保安院の西山英彦審議官は「一歩一歩解決するしかない。うまくいかないと別の選択肢を探さなければならない」と述べた。

Hidehiko Nishiyama, spokesman for the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, said, "We'll have to keep solving the problems as they arise. If the system doesn't work, we'll have to look for other alternatives."

I take it to mean that they are not considering alternatives now.

There's a more fundamental problem beyond decontaminating the water at the plant.

One reason for setting up the water treatment system was to decontaminate the water enough so that it can be used as coolant that circulates back into the Reactor Pressure Vessels. But now that it's been admitted by TEPCO that the melted fuel (with other things melted with it, forming the "corium") may be out of the RPVs and possibly out of the Containment Vessels, what will the water be cooling? How can you cool the corium that's eating the concrete foundation?

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#Radiation from Fukushima I Nuke Plant: It Was 850,000 Terabecquerels, NISA Now Says, and Not 370,000

In April when it nonchalantly raised the INES level of Fukushima I Nuclear Plant accident to "Level 7", the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) said the total amount of radioactive materials (iodine and cesium) released into the atmosphere from the plant was 370,000 terabequerels.

Now it's been revised to 850,000 terabecquerels, 130% jump from 370,000.

Why the revision? NISA says it underestimated the release from the Reactors 2 and 3.

And remember, the contaminated water at Fukushima I Nuke Plant contains 720,000 terabecquerels of radioactive iodine and cesium.

Slowly and steadily approaching Chernobyl.

From Mainichi Shinbun English (6/7/2011):

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) on June 6 revised the level of radioactivity of materials emitted from the crisis hit Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant from 370,000 terabecquerels to 850,000 terabecquerels.

The Cabinet Office's Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan (NSC) had estimated that the total level of radioactivity stood at around 630,000 terabecquerels, but this figure was criticized as an underestimation. NISA officials plan to present the new figure at a ministerial meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) after reporting it to the NSC.

The NSC and NISA, which operates under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, announced a figure for the total amount of radioactivity on April 12, when the severity of the Fukushima nuclear crisis on the International Nuclear Events Scale was raised to level 7, matching that of the Chernobyl nuclear accident. In the Chernobyl accident, the total amount of radioactivity reached 5.2 million terabecquerels.

The NSC calculated the amount of radioactive materials released into the air between the outset of the crisis and April 5, based on the amount of radiation from measurements taken near the plant. NISA based its calculations on the state of the plant's reactors.

The latest figure takes into consideration the release of radioactive materials during explosions at the plant's No. 2 and 3 reactors. The INES scale designates leaks of tens of thousands of terabecquerels as level 7 events, and the seriousness of the disaster on the scale will not change as a result of NISA's revision of the amount.

More about → #Radiation from Fukushima I Nuke Plant: It Was 850,000 Terabecquerels, NISA Now Says, and Not 370,000

#Fukushima I Nuke Accident: NISA Now Says 1.31 Million Becquerel Iodine-131 Was Detected on March 15, 38 Kilometers from the Plant

It was not just the tellurium-132 data that the Japanese government hid.

The national government and the Fukushima prefectural government had the data that showed 1,230,000 becquerels/kilogram iodine-131 was detected from the grass on March 15 in Kawamata-machi, 38 kilometers from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant.

They sat on it. It didn't occur to them to disclose, said NISA's Nishiyama. His subordinate at NISA further commented, as seen in the news clip on NHK Japanese, "It is not clear that the data would have helped at all, even if it had been disclosed."

Tell that to parents in Fukushima and elsewhere.

By the way, Kawamata-machi is where the residents in the areas closer to the plant intially evacuated, including the residents in Iitate-mura and Namie-machi.

From NHK Japanese (4:32AM JST 6/4/2011):

... 公表されていなかったのは、避難や飲食物の摂取制限など、住民の防護対策を決める際の参考にするため、発電所周辺で国や福島県によって行われた「緊急時モ ニタリング」のデータの一部です。

Part of the "emergency monitoring data" collected by the national government and the Fukushima prefectural government around the nuclear plant wasn't disclosed [until June 3]. The data was to be used for protection of the residents, such as evacuation and restriction on food and water consumption.

このうち、大気中のちりなどに含まれる放射性物質の調査では、事故の翌日の３月１２日午前８時半すぎに発電所からおよそ ７キロの浪江町の地点で、核燃料が溶けた際に出るテルルと呼ばれる放射性物質が１立方メートル当たり７３ベクレル検出されていました。

In the survey of radioactive materials in the dust particles in the air, 73 becquerels/kilogram of tellurium was detected at 8:30AM on March 12 at a location 7 kilometers from the power plant in Namie-machi. Tellurium is one of the radioactive materials released when the nuclear fuel melts.

このデータが検出さ れる３時間ほど前、政府は避難区域を発電所の３キロから１０キロ以内に拡大し、住民に避難を呼びかけていましたが、燃料の損傷の説明はなく、その後、昼す ぎに行われた原子力安全・保安院の会見でも、核燃料は壊れていないと説明していました。深刻な事態が進みつつあることを示すデータが早い段階で公表されて いれば、住民の避難のしかたや避難への心構えなどに役立てられた可能性がありますが、原子力安全・保安院は「データがどれだけ住民のために役立てられたか は現時点では分からない」としています。

3 hours before tellurium was detected, the national government expanded the evacuation zone from 3-kilometer radius from the plant to 10-kilometer radius, and was asking the residents to leave. But there was no mention of the damage to the fuel. In the press conference that afternoon, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said the nuclear fuel was not damaged. If the data had been disclosed at an early stage when a serious situation was developing, the data might have been useful in evacuating the residents or better informing the residents. However, NISA claims "It is not known at this point how useful the information would have been to help the residents."

一方、事故発生の４日後に周辺の市町村で行った放射性物質の調査のうち、原発から３０キロから５０キロの４か所で 採取した雑草などのデータも公表されていませんでした。このうち、原発の北西およそ３８キロの川俣町で採取した雑草からはヨウ素１３１が１キログラム当た り１２３万ベクレルという高い濃度で検出されていました。

Meanwhile, of the survey done in cities, towns, and villages around the nuclear plant 4 days after the start of the accident, the data on the grass taken at 4 locations 30 to 50 kilometers from the plant wasn't disclosed. The withheld data shows a high concentration (1,230,000 becquerels/kilogram) of iodine-131 was detected from the grass in Kawamata-machi, 37 kilometers northwest of the plant.

原発周辺の雑草については、この調査から９日後になって初めて飯舘村で１キログラム当たり２５２ 万ベクレルの放射性ヨウ素が検出されたと発表されていました。

About the grass in the area around the plant, it was announced [on March 24] that 2,520,000 becquerels/kilogram of radioactive iodine was detected in Iitate-mura, 9 days after [the data in Kawamata-machi was taken].

これについて、環境中の放射性物質に詳しい学習院大学の村松康行教授は「放射性ヨウ素は子ど もへの影響が大きく最も注意が必要な物質だ。早い段階で遠くまで放射性ヨウ素の汚染が広がっていることが公表されていればより早く何らかの対応ができた可 能性がある。当時の対応を検証する必要がある」と指摘しています。

Professor Yasuyuki Muramatsu of Gakushuin University, an expert in environmental radiation, points out, "Radioactive iodine affects children the most and we should monitor it very carefully. If the extent of contamination of radioactive iodine in places far away from the plant was disclosed early on, we could have done something about it. We need to examine the government response at that time."

データの公表が遅れたことについて、原子力安全・保安院は「対策本部を現地から福島県庁 に移す際に混乱したため、データがあることは把握していたが、公表しようという考えに至らなかった。深く反省している」と話しています。

About the delay in disclosing the data, NISA says, "There was a confusion when we moved the headquarters [to deal with the accident] from the plant to the Fukushima prefectural government hall. We knew there was such data, but it never occurred to us to disclose it. We deeply regret."

"Delay" is an understatement. And it is clear that it was a selective amnesia; they picked the worst data and hid it.

The government also "forgot" to disclose the simulation data that were created in case of an accident at Fukushima II Nuclear Power Plant, according to NHK.

More about → #Fukushima I Nuke Accident: NISA Now Says 1.31 Million Becquerel Iodine-131 Was Detected on March 15, 38 Kilometers from the Plant

#Fukushima I Accident: Tellurium-132 Was Detected on March 12 Morning, 6 Kilometers from the Plant, NISA Now Admits

Telluriuim-132 was detected 6 kilometers northwest of Fukushima I Nuke Plant in Namie-machi in the morning of March 12.

That's before the Reactor 1's reactor building blew up (March 12 late afternoon), and even before TEPCO managed to do the venting (March 12 early afternoon) for the Reactor 1.

Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, regulator for the nuclear industry, decided to sit on the data for 2 months and 3 weeks. Agency spokesman Nishiyama's excuse? "It never occurred to us to disclose the data."

The Japanese government is doing "one heck of a job" indeed, as IAEA's over-the-top praise indicates (from IAEA's preliminary report):

"The Japanese government's longer term response to protect the public, including evacuation, has been impressive and extremely well organized."

Yomiuri Shinbun (11:09PM JST 6/3/2011; emphasis is mine):

東京電力福島第一原子力発電所から約６キロ離れた福島県浪江町で３月１２日朝、核燃料が１０００度以上の高温になったことを示す放射性物質が検出されていたことが分かった。

It was disclosed that the radionuclide that would indicate the nuclear fuel temperature exceeded 1,000 degrees Celsius was detected in the morning of March 12 in Namie-machi in Fukushima Prefecture, about 6 kilometers [north] from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant.

　経済産業省原子力安全・保安院が３日、発表した。事故発生から２か月以上も経過してからの公表で、保安院の西山英彦審議官は「隠そうという意図はなかったが、国民に示すという発想がなかった。反省したい」と釈明した。政府の事故調査・検証委員会の検証対象になりそうだ。

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) announced on June 3. Asked about the disclosure after more than 2 months after the accident started, Agency spokesman Hidehiko Nishiyama defended his agency by saying "We didn't intend to hide the information, but it never occurred to us to disclose it to the public. We are sorry." The government's commission on the Fukushima I accident may investigate the incident further.

　検出された物質は「テルル１３２」で、大気中のちりに含まれていた。測定時間は、１号機で放射性物質の混じった蒸気が放出された「ベント」の前だった。

The radionuclide detected was "tellurium-132", and it was found in the dust particles in the air. It was detected before the venting of the Reactor 1, which released radioactive steam.

By the way, University of California Berkeley was detecting tellurium-132 in the air from March 18 to March 29. Is it any wonder that it was detected at a location 6 kilometers from the plant, when it was detected across the Pacific Ocean?

Tellurium-132's half-life is 3.2 days.

That seems to me to indicate that fission was ongoing long after the SCRAM (March 11). I'm still patiently waiting for NISA and the government to admit recriticality had occurred.

More about → #Fukushima I Accident: Tellurium-132 Was Detected on March 12 Morning, 6 Kilometers from the Plant, NISA Now Admits