UNDTE !!!! April 26, 2012 - Enformable - Earthquake woes continue to obfuscate restart of nuclear reactors - On Monday, a report by three Japanese utilities said that the Tomari nuclear plant in Hokkaido and the Tsuruga plant in Fukui Prefecture are at risk of earthquakes that exceed their designed quake-resistance parameters. A day later on Tuesday, Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) suggested the possibility of an old fault "fracture zone" right beneath the Number 1 and Number 2 units of the Tsuruga nuclear plant moving closely with an active fault nearby, and subsequently issued the inspection order on Tuesday to the Japan Atomic Power Company, after a team of experts surveyed 3 faults in the compound and found that one of them located 150 meters west of the No.2 reactor may be active. According to NISA, a 35-km-long fault named Urazoko runs beneath the compound of the Tsuruga power plant, and experts believe it caused an earthquake there around 4,500 years ago or later. The team said the fault could shift simultaneously with a known active fault nearby. If that happens, they could trigger an earthquake more powerful than the plant is supposed to withstand. Japan has rules against installing a nuclear plant on top of an active fault that has moved within the last 120,000 to 130,000 years, and some are concerned that the Tsuruga site may be declared unfit to host a nuclear plant.
April 26, 2012 - UPI - Worker exposed to uranium - A Westinghouse Electric Co. employee exposed to uranium at a South Carolina plant appears to be in good condition, officials say. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission reported the worker was taken to a hospital this week, The State of Columbia, S.C., reported. Dave Precht, a spokesman for the Columbia nuclear fuel plant, said that was "precautionary." The man was exposed to acid containing uranium Monday night. Precht said he was back on the job soon after his hospital visit and appears to have suffered no ill effects. The plant makes nuclear fuel for power plants.
April 26, 2012 - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - New claims made in radiation lawsuit - Nuclear fuels plants in Apollo and Parks Township didn't safeguard workers' health and regularly spewed radioactive materials into the environment, according to an expert's report submitted late yesterday in a series of federal lawsuits against Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group. The 37-page report by Harvard University Radiation Safety Officer Joseph P. Ring, who teaches at Harvard and the University of Massachusetts, alleges "numerous large-scale releases of ionizing radiation into the neighboring environment" during the plants' operating lives, which spanned 1958 through 1983. Workers likely got doses that "endangered their health," he wrote, and the amount of unaccounted-for materials believed to have been released into the environment was "the largest quantity ... of any nuclear facility in the United States," he wrote. Attorneys for Babcock & Wilcox could not be immediately reached for comment. The lawsuits, filed in 2010 by workers and neighbors of the plants, are being handled by U.S. District Court Chief Judge Gary L. Lancaster.
April 26, 2012 - Novinite - Ukraine Launches Construction of New Sarcophagus around Chernobyl Reactor - A handout photo released by environment organisation Greenpeace on 26 April 2011 shows a projection by activists on the wall of the Chernobyl `Sarcophagus`, the concrete cover of the damaged reactor, on the same day and at the same hour exactly 25 years a Ukraine will launch Thursday the construction of a new sarcophagus around the destroyed nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl plant. The step aims to secure the zone around the nuclear power station, which is still characterized by high radiation. The construction of the new safety cover is scheduled to be completed in 2015, according to reports of international news agencies. Some experts, however, have voiced doubts that the radiation problem will be solved with the new sarcophagus because the remaining radioactive material will not be removed. On April 26, 1986, Bloch 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear station exploded, releasing several tons of radioactive material into its surroundings. A concrete mantle was put up in the first few months after the disaster, but the facility is said to be in danger of collapsing. The construction of the new confinement is expected to cost around EUR 980 M and will be executed by French Novarka Consortium. The new safety cover is intended to ensure the safety of the reactor for a period of 100 years.
April 26, 2012 - TVR - World learnt about most dreadful man-made disaster in human history 26 years ago - 2 expositions occurred at Power Unit 4. About 200 tons of radioactive materials were released into the atmosphere because of the fire, which lasted almost 2 weeks. 70% of the radioactive substance scattered over Belarus. The fifth part of the population suffered. In 2004 the United Nations General Assembly announced April 26 the International Day of remembrance for the victims of radiation accidents and catastrophes.
April 26, 2012 - Industrial Laser Solutions - Underwater laser welding for nuke plants coming to US - Westinghouse Electric says its "underwater laser beam welding" (ULBW) laser welding process, already used at nuclear plants in Japan, will make its US debut in the fall of 2013 at Progress Energy's Robinson Nuclear Plant in Hartsville, SC, to repair reactor vessel nozzles with dissimilar metal welds during the plant's scheduled outage in the fall of 2013. Traditional methods of underwater welding typically involve arc welding and divers, either manually or with mechanized welding equipment. The ULBW process, developed jointly by Westinghouse and parent company Toshiba, applies stress corrosion, cracking-resistant weld metal to the inside diameter surface of components, able to seal cracks up to 0.5 mm. Precise heat and dilution control of the laser beam -- low-heat input of 2.5-7.6 kJ/in, about 10% of that of standard tungsten inert gas welding -- results in consistent weld quality and high deposit purity. The laser unit can also be located up to 1000 ft away from the actual work area.
April 26, 2012 - Democratic Underground - How a Group of Japanese Mothers Are Saying No to Nuclear Power - On the one-year anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Japanese women in New York City gathered for a rally they called Pregnant With Fear of Radiation. Protestors wore fake pregnant bellies, or carried posters with images of pregnant women wearing face masks. Well aware that fetuses, children under five, and women are at the greatest risk from radiation exposure, mothers have emerged as a powerful voice in Japan’s growing anti-nuclear movement. To call attention to their message, the mothers have organized marches, petitioned government officials, fasted, and held months-long sit-ins in public locations. They regularly wear symbols of maternity and motherhood in deliberately confrontational ways. The mothers call for action on multiple fronts. Most immediately, they demand the evacuation of all the families of Fukushima, where radiation emissions continue. They ask for tougher safety standards for food and drink in Japan, and an end to the practice of spreading and burning radioactive rubble from the contaminated zone throughout the country’s various prefectures. And, to prevent future disasters, they call for the permanent closure of all nuclear power plants in Japan and throughout the world.
April 26, 2012 - Rabble.ca - Chernobyl anniversary: Time to rethink nuclear power in Canada - On Wednesday morning, as part of Toronto-based anti-nuke group DONT NUKE TO!, I commemorated the 27th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster by unfurling an enormous stop sign banner in the middle of the intersection of Yonge and Dundas in the centre of Toronto. I was in the intersection of Yonge and Dundas simply because I'm 27 years-old and I've been alive for four nuclear meltdowns - unit 4 at Chernobyl, and units 1, 2, and 3 at Fukushima Daiichi. I've seen reports of the radioactive materials contaminating more that 125,000 square kilometres in the Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, causing hundreds of thousands of people to be relocated, willingly and otherwise. I've also seen the 30km exclusion zone around Chernobyl, an area that includes the once bustling city of Pripyat, which has now become a site of post-apocalyptic curiousity. There is also the matter of Chernobyl's collapsing ad hoc 'Sarcophagus', the concrete structure built to contain the radioactive contents of reactor four. The Sarcophagus around Chernobyl is rapidly deteriorating, and no longer a reliable guard against the radioactivity of the station. An international campaign launched by the European Commission to fund a new containment at Chernobyl is hoping to be completed by 2015.
April 26, 2012 - OpEdNews - Fearing California Could Become a Dead Zone, Irvine City Council Takes Lead Towards Stopping Likely Nuclear Disaster - On April 24, 2012, hundreds of concerned citizens flocked to the Irvine City Council chambers to listen to renowned nuclear experts Arnie Gundersen and S. David Freeman and to support motions by former mayor/current city councilman Larry Agran to prevent San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) from going Fukushima. San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station has the worst safety record of any nuclear plant in the United States. Workers are in fear of retaliation for speaking out about the dangers. Residents are afraid of dying. The meeting was filled will calls for the decommissioning of SONGS. Arnie Gundersen, top nuclear expert from Three Mile Island, pointed out that plugging the holes in the worn out tubes won't stop the vibrations as the problem resulted from about 400 too many tubes being crammed into a space that should contain fewer and they will continue to shake when the water goes over them. He spoke of how a pinhole leak could create a chain reaction, resulting in collapse and disaster. S David Freeman, who was in charge of the power plan for the state at one time and who has been in charge of power plants around the country, pointed out that this is a life and death matter. He thanked the Irvine City Council for its leadership in a country that is lacking leadership on this issue.