SimplyInfo » Entries tagged with "daiichi"
Fukushima Daiichi To Clean Debris Off Sea Floor
Over five years later TEPCO is just now starting the process to remove debris from the sea floor up to 20km from the plant. The Japan Today article cites it as tsunami debris but it would also include debris from the reactor explosions at the plant. Pieces from these explosions have been found as far inland as Naraha. Why this work had not been done sooner was not mentioned. This article would not be possible without the … Read entire article »
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The Big Job To Sample Water At A Fukushima Vent Stack
The effort to deal with the unit 1-2 vent stack has grown in complexity. TEPCO claims in this new work that the radiation levels near the tower are so high that it is complicating work. A mock up facility was built to practice the work before the actual on site work took place. The goal of this latest work is to determine the water level in the sump, the water composition and to collect the sump … Read entire article »
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Typhoon Melts Two Sections Of Fukushima Ice Wall
Asahi Shimbun reported that two sections of the underground ice wall at Fukushima Daiichi have thawed and failed two sections. TEPCO also admitted that this caused contaminated water to reach the area past the wall near the sea. 740 tons of groundwater were pumped out of the reactor block area yet the groundwater level increased 7cm due to the extreme rainfall. TEPCO had not published any reports to their public system by the time Asahi Shimbun … Read entire article »
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Japan Is NOT Trying To Restart Fukushima Daiichi
A factually incorrect article published at OilPrice.com (Update: they have corrected the erroneous claim about restarting Fukushima Daiichi but left a photo of Fukushima Daiichi on their somewhat corrected story a copy of the original version can be found here) has begun propagating across the internet. TEPCO is NOT trying to restart reactors at Fukushima Daiichi. “Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings Inc.’s (TEPCO) plan to restart the defunct Fukushima nuclear power plant has an increased chance of being implemented … Read entire article »
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1 Billion USD Lawsuit Over Hitachi Fukushima Cleanup Contracts
Purolite company based in the US has sued Hitachi for 1 billion USD in a US court over theft of intellectual property. The suit alleges that Hitachi signed on to a joint venture to develop contaminated water systems for Fukushima Daiichi back in 2011 or 2012. Once Hitachi had the proprietary technical information from Purolite they signed on to work on the project with AVANtech, also a US company, according to the allegation in the … Read entire article »
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Typhoon Lionrock Targets Fukushima Daiichi
Typhoon Lionrock has strengthened and changed course. Current predictions as of today shows it hitting the Tohoku coast as a category 1 typhoon. The center of the predicted path is around Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. Fukushima Prefecture and Fukushima Daiichi are within the predicted path zone. Even if it doesn’t directly hit Fukushima Daiichi, outer bands could still cause significant problems. High winds could damage contaminated water tanks in the process of being disassembled or assembled on … Read entire article »
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Another Worker Drops Dead At Fukushima Daiichi
A worker has died at Fukushima Daiichi. The report (machine translated below) indicates he was found dead around 10:39 in the morning. So it would be unlikely he was leaving work for the day. The weather recently has been somewhat warm but not extremely hot. Some of the early cases of workers dropping dead or falling ill at the plant were considered heat related. After this some heat related counter measures were put in place. … Read entire article »
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Pokemon Spotted At Fukushima Daiichi
TEPCO has reported Pokemon have been spotted on the grounds of Fukushima Daiichi. They did not specify what ones were found on site so it remains a mystery if they would be worth catching. The company has asked Niantic to remove the creatures in the game from the disaster site to deter would be Pokemon trainers from showing up on site. They have also asked workers at the disaster site to refrain from playing the … Read entire article »
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What Windscale Can Tell About The Future Of Fukushima Daiichi
The decommissioning authority managing the long term response to the Fukushima Daiichi disaster site has cited three previous nuclear disasters as sources of information for planning their efforts. Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Windscale. The Windscale reactor was a graphite pile weapons material reactor using highly enriched uranium unlike Fukushima Daiichi’s units that are all boiling water power reactors using low enriched uranium. Yet some of the challenges at Windscale show where technology is at currently … Read entire article »
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Fukushima Daiichi Manga To Be Available In English
The Fukushima Daiichi Manga released a few years ago will be made available in English in 2017. Advance purchase is available through Amazon and an English chapter is available on the publisher’s facebook. The series depicts life as a disaster response worker at the plant by a worker who is also a manga artist. This article would not be possible without the extensive efforts of the SimplyInfo research team Join the conversation at chat.simplyinfo.org © 2011-2016 SimplyInfo.org, Fukuleaks.org All … Read entire article »
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Virtual Reality Being Used To Tackle Fukushima Daiichi
If you wondered why there was an interest within the last year to take 3D images of the reactor buildings at Fukushima Daiichi, this is why. The Naraha Remote Technology Development Center is using those images to build a virtual version of the damaged reactors. Researchers can navigate the buildings and structures using virtual reality technology. Only certain portions of the building have been 3D mapped, more of this work is planned. A fuller virtual view … Read entire article »
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How The Fukushima Daiichi Sea Wall Was Damaged
TEPCO announced last week that the steel and concrete sea wall they installed and recently closed the last section of had been damaged. The wall was bowing outward due to increased groundwater pressure. A recent presentation to METI shows why. Steel pilings to close the opening near unit 4 happened around September 22. The final concrete sealing work took place around October 26th. TEPCO monitored water levels in the amount of ground water they removed from wells … Read entire article »
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Last Of Fukushima Daiichi Steel Wall Closed
The last portion of the steel piling wall installed in the sea front of Fukushima Daiichi has been closed. On September 24th the last section was installed. This portion of the wall had been left open near unit 4′s intakes to allow groundwater and rain runoff to escape into the port to avoid flooding the areas around the reactors. With the land side section of the frozen wall operational, TEPCO finally completed this section of steel … Read entire article »
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Researchers Confirm 100% Of Fukushima Unit 2 Core May Have Melted
Nagoya University announced that their ongoing research of the unit 2 reactor at Fukushima Daiichi has shown that 70-100% of the reactor core melted. The university research team has been using muon particle scanners to search for rector fuel in the remains of the unit 2 reactor vessel. While this isn’t really news to anyone who has been seriously following the disaster since 2011 it is significant that a major research project involved with the decommissioning … Read entire article »
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Fukushima ALPS System Secret Revealed
TEPCO and their contract partners have been fairly secretive about what exactly makes the ALPS system work. While they have provided schematics and some explanation of the systems processes, they have not said what filtration materials are being used in the systems. Finnish company Fortum has been providing ion exchange materials to Fukushima Daiichi since 2012. In their recent press release they explain what some of those filtration materials used in ALPS are. A proprietary ion exchange material called Nures® includes three proprietary ion exchange materials CsTreat® removes cesiums SrTreat® removes strontium CoTreat® removes cobalt If you are unfamiliar with ion exchange materials, Wikipedia has a good explanation This article would not be possible without the extensive efforts of the SimplyInfo research team Join the conversation at chat.simplyinfo.org © 2011-2016 SimplyInfo.org, Fukuleaks.org All Rights Reserved Content cited, quoted etc. from other … Read entire article »
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Fukushima Tritium Removal Technology Moves To Next Phase
Industry insiders and the IAEA told Japan to just dump their tritium laced water at Fukushima Daiichi into the Pacific. Japan instead continued to look for a potential solution. With an 8.6 million dollar METI grant Kurion is going to scale up their initial design for a tritium removal system. This work is towards eventually having a functioning system that could be deployed at Fukushima Daiichi. While actual results of the first phase have not been … Read entire article »
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Fukushima Daiichi Worker Died From Accident Injuries Saturday
Another worker at Fukushima Daiichi has died. The worker was doing some sort of work involving small tanker trucks used in building the impervious walls. TEPCO didn’t clarify if this was the frozen wall or a different structure. The worker somehow had his head caught in the rear hatch of a truck like this. TEPCO’s report mentions that the ER doctor went to the accident site before the worker was transported to the on site ER … Read entire article »
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Fukushima Residents Warned TEPCO About Tsunami Risk At Plant In 2004
A citizen panel made up of residents near Fukushima Daiichi had warned TEPCO in 2004 about the tsunami risk at the plant. The group had heard from workers at the plant about the dangerous location for emergency diesel generators and the lack of other tsunami defenses. TEPCO never acted on these requests. This article would not be possible without the extensive efforts of the SimplyInfo research team Join the conversation at chat.simplyinfo.org © 2011-2016 SimplyInfo.org, Fukuleaks.org All Rights … Read entire article »
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Rosatom Begins Tritium Removal Project At Fukushima Daiichi
Plans for a demonstration system based off of the Russian Triton tritium removal technology will begin construction early next year. Plans for the system were given approval by Japanese officials recently. If the demonstration unit proves useful a full scale system could be built at Fukushima Daiichi to remove the massive amounts of tritium from contaminated water. GE-Hitachi and Kurion also have tritium demonstration projects in the works for Fukushima Daiichi but little information has been … Read entire article »
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TEPCO To Resume Fukushima Unit 1 Cover Removal Work In Late July
TEPCO announced work to remove the unit 1 cover will resume on July 28th and take about 4 months to remove the six roof panels. Work was stopped in part when they discovered the balloon plug for the equipment hatch had been dislodged by concrete rubble. Engineers decided to let work resume without a major change to the balloon. TEPCO did not explain why it would take four months to remove the roof panels. This article … Read entire article »
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Fukushima Daiichi Unit 2 Prepares For Containment Inspection
A newly released document shows progress in the effort to inspect inside unit 2′s containment. At unit 1 they went directly to installing a shape changing robot to inspect inside containment in two directions. With unit 2 there are more problems to overcome. For unit 2 this initial attempt will be to run a different crawler bot down the CRD rail. If it is successful they hope to obtain images from inside the reactor pedestal. In … Read entire article »
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Fukushima Daiichi Reactors Torus Structures In Need Of Reinforcement
IRID published a call for proposals mid June related to research and development into a way to reinforce the torus structures of the damaged reactors. Toshiba is in charge of overseeing the project and assigning the research contract. Based on documents posted by Toshiba the work would involve creating a plan, design and 1/4 scale model of the concept. The requested work is to create bracing to shore up the lower portion of the torus tube and … Read entire article »
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Fukushima Daiichi Tank Dismantling Explained
TEPCO provided more information about how they will go about taking down the many bolt together tanks at the disaster site. The tanks are being replaced with welded tanks in what is becoming a crowded patch of land on the plant grounds. Example drawing of the tank preparation process including an air filtration system and the spraying of dust inhibitor s prior to disassembly Interior of a drained tank with sprayer installed Tank with plastic tarp roof Partially disassembled … Read entire article »
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Fukushima Daiichi Has More Defective Hoses
After a recent leak from a Kanaflex hose at Fukushima Daiichi, TEPCO inspected other similar hoses at the plant. They found 159 of the Kanaflex type hoses were still in use at the plant and 90% of those were installed improperly. TEPCO says they are working to replace all of the remaining Kanaflex hoses at the plant. These were found to have a high failure rate soon after the disaster where things like weeds and … Read entire article »
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New Problems & Challenges Plague Fukushima
As June wanes we find more delays, more problems and new admissions about the extent of the disaster. TEPCO introduced a new roadmap plan. In this they declared they would now focus on safety over speed. At the same time they announced that spent fuel removal work for units 1-3 would be delayed again. Currently they are attempting to remove the cover on unit 1 but this process has not actually begun based on visual evidence … Read entire article »
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TEPCO Begins Tank Removal Work At Fukushima Daiichi
Work began in late May to remove some of the bolt together tanks at Fukushima Daiichi. The bolt together tanks were installed in a hurry after the initial accident. It was after they were in use that it came out that these tanks only had a 3-5 year life span due to the gaskets used between the tank panels. The tanks were purchased used. A combination of the second hand tanks, poor installation and the … Read entire article »
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Rain May Have Caused Radiation Spike At Fukushima Drainage Canal
TEPCO reported a small radiation spike at the K drainage canal on June 6th. Levels went up on the 6th and back down slightly the following day. Workers had been doing additional monitoring after a tank leak had caused the readings in the K drainage canal to rise. This newest increase coincided with a small amount of rain at the plant. .59 inches of rain fell during June 6th according to the historical weather data. The … Read entire article »
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IRID Shows Off New Robot To Help With Containment Inspections At Fukushima Daiichi
IRID has announced a new robot to help access the containment structures at Fukushima Daiichi. The new robot named TEMBO is based on a normal forklift. This robot’s job will be to manage shielding blocks in high radiation areas. The robot will be needed when containment inspection inside unit 2 takes place this summer. The entry pipe for unit 2 is currently being shielded by 140 shielding blocks that look like big bricks. This area also … Read entire article »
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TEPCO Caught Lying About Fukushima Failed Hose Incident
TEPCO was reprimanded by the NRA after being caught lying about the use of the now failed transfer hose at the plant. TEPCO told NRA it was being used to transfer waste water from the rainwater catchment system. TEPCO began also transferring highly radioactive water from unit 3′s turbine building into the same system. They never informed the regulator of this change. It was also discovered that TEPCO had been questioned previously about the hose run that … Read entire article »
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New Leak At Daiichi Used Known Weak Hose
TEPCO’s latest contaminated water leak at least partially made it to the sea. TEPCO eventually closed the drainage canals and began pumping the water out of the ditch with a pumping truck. That water is then returned to the contaminated water systems. This is of course problematic but the underlying cause it more serious. Soon after the disaster took place TEPCO put down lines of flexible hose to move water around the plant. These flexible hoses … Read entire article »
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Fukushima Daiichi Cleans Most Contaminated Water, Not Really
TEPCO announced that they have cleaned most of the contaminated water at Fukushima Daiichi. But the details show they are no where near close to being done. Only cesium 137 & 134 along with strontium 90 have been removed from certain tanks of water. 620,000 tons of water have had these two isotopes removed. 10,000 tons of water currently can not be filtered for an undisclosed reason. 440,000 tons of water have now been run through ALPS … Read entire article »
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Waste Storage Tanks At Fukushima Daiichi At Risk Of Explosion
Filter waste containers stored at Fukushima Daiichi are at risk of having hydrogen explosions. TEPCO released documents on Friday detailing in depth the analysis of the stored HIC (high impact container) containers at the disaster site. Radioactive water had been found puddling up in the lip of the plastic and steel containers a few months ago. TEPCO then conducted inspections on groups of these containers to try to determine what was going on. The end result … Read entire article »
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Fukushima Daiichi Frozen Wall Begins Freezing Operations
TEPCO’s contractors have begun the process of freezing the completed sections of the frozen wall. Blocks 1-8 are currently in the freezing process. Other sections are either still under construction or in the process of having the plumbing installed. The sections currently being frozen include the land side and north sides of the reactor building areas. TEPCO handout: http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/fukushima-np/handouts/2015/images/handouts_150423_01-j.pdf This article would not be possible without the extensive efforts of the SimplyInfo research team Join the conversation at chat.simplyinfo.org © … Read entire article »
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Fukushima Daiichi Port Concreting Completed
Work to put down a coat of concrete across the entire port floor at Fukushima Daiichi has been completed. Initial work in 2012 did sections closer to the reactor building. Efforts that just wrapped up this week covered the remaining sections of the port floor. Since this last round of concrete work began operation we have seen the level of contamination in fish in the port decrease. There is some skepticism that TEPCO’s fish testing has not been 100% accurate, but the fish readings could be tied to this port work. TEPCO never clearly said what mechanism they were attempting to seal off. If this was to seal in sediment that contained contamination and potentially fuel fragments or if it was to seal leak routes into the port. TEPCO Handout: http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/fukushima-np/handouts/2015/images/handouts_150423_02-j.pdf This article would … Read entire article »
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TEPCO Refused To Upgrade From Windows XP At Fukushima Daiichi
Japan’s NRA has publicly urged TEPCO to upgrade computer systems used at Fukushima Daiichi, and possibly company wide. NRA pointed out the lack of current security updates in Windows XP created a significant security risk. The regulator urged TEPCO to stop being cheap and do the needed computer upgrades. After the public flogging a TEPCO representative said the company would move up the date for potential computer upgrades but didn’t say when they would be … Read entire article »
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Fukushima Unit 1 Containment Inspection Conducted
TEPCO reports that the work is underway and released three images of the robot being inserted into the containment structure. The images of the robot were taken with a scope camera and confirm the robot was inserted into containment, made it down to the catwalk and successfully rearranged itself for the inspection work. No additional information was given by TEPCO at this time but they did label the handout for the work as “preliminary” so additional … Read entire article »
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IRID Fukushima Fuel Debris Research Progress Reports
IRID published English language versions of their fuel debris removal and other new technology research reports. Various contractors were hired to conduct research towards the best way to remove the melted fuel inside the reactor buildings at Fukushima Daiichi. The reports all showed dry methods for removing fuel both from the top and from the side of the containment vessels. The ATOX/Areva plan involved processing removed debris in the outer reactor building in some way but didn’t clarify … Read entire article »
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Unit 1 Basement Shows Highly Contaminated Water Remains
TEPCO is making an effort to lower the water level in some of the basement rooms of the unit 1 reactor buildings. As groundwater has been pumped up via the outdoor subdrain pits, this has created a situation where the standing water in the basements could end up higher than the surrounding groundwater. This could lead to more contaminated water leaking out of the buildings. TEPCO is installing more water level monitoring sensors to better … Read entire article »
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Fukushima Daiichi Unit 1 Containment Inspection Starts April 10th
According to a recently released handout from TEPCO and IRID the robot inspection of unit 1′s containment should commence around April 10th with the second inspection on April 13. Scope inspections to install monitoring instruments into containment will happen roughly around the same time frame. This 3D map of containment shows where the two robot inspection routes are planned to take place. Each numbered spot on the route is a location they plan to stop, take photos, … Read entire article »
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Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3 Spent Fuel Pool Gate Inspected
The unit 3 spent fuel pool gate was inspected further after concerns that the fuel handling crane could have damaged the gate. The inspections produced a number of photos of the condition of the gates. This overhead view shows the two gates for the spent fuel pool along with the concrete reactor cover from above. The G2 gate is clearly dislodged from the normal position. This could have been the result of the blast during the meltdown. … Read entire article »
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