The hazardous fault line that runs through Japan
ILLUSTRATION BY DEAN ROHRER
Jul 25, 2007 04:30 AM
Christopher Johnson
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
TOKYOJapanese often claim supremacy over "less advanced" nations based on
their ability to export "more advanced" products such as nuclear technology.
But after an earthquake caused mayhem at the world's most powerful nuclear
plant, a clear distinction has emerged between Japan's sophisticated
hardware such as eco-cars and its awkward software, evidenced by the
country's inept handling of natural disasters.
At a time when international attention was supposed to be focused on North
Korea's nuclear sites, the International Atomic Energy Agency has asked
Japan for a thorough report about nuclear safety after last week's quake in
Niigata prefecture killed 11 people, injured more than 1,000, and caused
more than 60 problems at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear reactor run by
Asia's largest utility, the Tokyo Electric Company.
With 55 nuclear reactors nationwide and plans to build 11 more in the next
10 years, Japan has sent mixed signals. The government, which first said no
to the IAEA request, on Sunday announced it would share information with the
IAEA, although would not allow it to inspect sites.
This is a typically vague Japanese response to international pressure: say
no, yes, well maybe under the following conditions. In the end, many expect
Japan will finesse its way into changing nothing.
Change is needed, because Japan's response to disasters is a disaster in
itself. Although about 2 million non-Japanese reside here, including
thousands of Canadians, Japan is still not set up to accept outside
assistance during a crisis.
People here still talk about how the government, for three critical days,
forbade the entry of sniffer dog teams from Switzerland, France and other
countries that could have saved lives after the Kobe earthquake in 1995,
which killed 6,400 and shackled the economy for a decade.
The problem lies in Japan's patronizing approach to foreign relations. For
the Japanese, foreign aid means rich developed countries (i.e. Japan)
building bridges for Sri Lanka, buying raw timber from Indonesia, and
donating to Africa through UN bodies.
For Japan, accepting an offer of help would damage a sense of national pride
rooted in samurai perfectionism and shame for making even minor mistakes.
The accident at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant could have been a minor
mistake if not for a clumsy attempt at damage control, which made the public
fallout greater than the radiation leak.
Releasing information in stages, which irked Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the
company admitted that the plant wasn't designed to handle the size of
earthquakes that hit this country every few years. Nor did the company know
about an undersea fault line only nine kilometres from its seaside location.
The company says the radioactive leaks did not hurt the environment. Still,
a recent Kyodo News survey found 80 per cent of Niigata locals no longer
feel safe about the nuclear plant.
Russia, which sits on the other side of the Sea of Japan, has a legitimate
reason for demanding more answers from Japan. Yet foreigners should be
careful about bashing the delicate Japanese psyche while thousands shelter
in school gyms, having lost homes uninsured against quakes.
Canadians can help Japan in the long-term by calling for more transparency,
better scrutiny of its nuclear industry and exports, and more respect for
humanity in general.
Foreign diplomats in Japan and international organizations should use this
chance to persuade Japanese officials to take measures now to allow
immediate foreign help if a disaster strikes Tokyo or elsewhere. Canadian
expatriates buried under collapsed houses, for example, should not be denied
sniffer dog rescuers just because the dogs aren't from Japan.
On top of that, Japan needs more tourists from Canada and elsewhere to
bolster stagnant rural areas, such as Niigata, dependent on risky nuclear
facilities for employment and tax base. Moreover, Japan needs a better
immigration policy than the one which last year granted political asylum to
a grand total of 18 refugees, according to the justice ministry.
Japan could benefit from the dynamic energy which immigrants bring to
Toronto, Vancouver and other global cities. With an infusion of human
software to go along with their world-class hardware, mono-ethnic Japan
would be better prepared to compete with an increasingly multicultural North
America, integrating Europe, and prospering China.
Without it, Japan is sitting on a dangerous fault line.
Questions posed about nuclear accident evacuation plan
Posted by the Asbury Park Press <http://www.app.com/> on 07/25/07
BY NICK CLUNN <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
STAFF WRITER
[image: Story Chat] Post Comment
<http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070725/NEWS/707250354/1070/NEWS02#comments>
TOMS RIVER The role that teachers, school bus drivers and other caretakers
would play if a radioactive release from the Oyster Creek nuclear power
plant ever threatens the public was brought into sharp focus during a
Tuesday night public hearing about the Lacey reactor's emergency plan.
Like police and firefighters, workers responsible for the welfare of others
during the course of an average workday might be called upon to fulfill
evacuation or shelter orders before leaving their posts to look after their
own safety or that of their families.
But a few of the 13 speakers scheduled to address state officials
responsible for the plan questioned whether enough individuals who are not
professional emergency responders would stay behind to avoid a nightmare
scenario in which children and the elderly are left unprotected.
"Human behavior is what it is," said Paul Gunter, an advocate for Beyond
Nuclear, a newly formed group based in Maryland that is concerned about the
hazards posed by nuclear power.
Gunter cited a 1985 University of California Los Angeles study that found
about one-third of teachers surveyed around a nuclear power plant in that
state said they would have an obligation to first take care of their
families during a radiological emergency.
The study also found that about 65 percent of school bus drivers who worked
near a nuclear power plant in New York said they would not drive toward the
plant to pick up people who needed to be evacuated, Gunter said.
He then acknowledged that those tendencies could not be changed, and asked
the panel if the plan took into account the possibility of "role
abandonment."
*Drills build trust*
Sgt. Thomas Scardino, assistant supervisor of the State Police Radiological
Emergency Response Planning Unit, said it did, pointing to periodic
evacuation exercises in which teachers and school bus drivers work with
authorities.
"The way we drill with the school bus drivers and teachers builds trust," he
said. He added that catastrophic events such as the Sept. 11 attacks and the
August 2003 blackout have brought out the best in people by compelling them
to help those in need.
Scardino also said that children, the elderly and anyone else needing
assistance with transportation would be among the first to evacuate, meaning
that teachers and other caretakers would be helping emergency responders
long before a situation at the plant became critical.
Outside the meeting following Scardino's response, Gunter said he wanted to
hear if evacuation drills took into account some degree of attrition. He
wondered, for instance, if there were contingency plans in place if 40
percent of school bus drivers decided not to participate in an evacuation.
After praising police and members of first aid squads, Joan Rubin of Pine
Beach said she would predict that a number of professional emergency
responders would abandon their posts to take care of their families.
"You are asking the impossible of them," she told the panel.
*Caring for disabled*
Theresa Kotsolakis, who is responsible for the 50 or so disabled adults who
attend daily recreational programs about 2 miles from Oyster Creek at Lacey
Community Support Services, suggested in her comments to the panel that she
would remain in her role as program coordinator during a plant emergency.
Kotsolakis asked how authorities could help the senior program, and the
families of her clients, during an emergency since many of the disabled
adults she tends to need walkers, canes and wheelchairs to get around.
Scardino told her that she should provide a list of names to Lacey's Office
of Emergency Management, which is responsible for keeping track of
special-needs individuals who might require help during an evacuation
prompted by any kind of emergency, nuclear or otherwise.
The hearing is an annual event held by the state near each of New Jersey's
three nuclear plants to allow officials an opportunity to hear suggestions
from the public and to answer questions.
*CARE TO COMMENT?* Visit our Web site, www.app.com, and click on this story
to join the online conversation about this topic in Story Chat.
Saturday, July 21, 2007 at 17:14
Subject: /Germany-Nuclear/Sweden/
ROUNDUP: Vattenfall idles a second German nuclear plant
Berlin (dpa) - Swedish-owned electricity company Vattenfall idled a second
nuclear power plant in Germany on Saturday at government orders amid an
ongoing row about nuclear power.
The plant at Brunsbuettel, west of Hamburg, had been in a "standby" state
since the middle of this month for a change of oil at its transformer, but
must now be powered down so government inspectors can take a closer look.
Inspectors for the state of Schleswig-Holstein said Saturday they would
check reports that a sub-standard type of fastening had been used to bolt a
gantry to a wall near the reactor.
Vattenfall's Kruemmel plant east of the city has been offline for repairs
since its transformer oil caught fire on June 28 and sub- standard
fastenings were subsequently found there too.
Vattenfall has taken a lashing from the media and is at odds with the
inspectorate. The Swedish company insists are no grave safety risks at the
two plants, which both failed on June 28 because of non- nuclear defects.
During the week, Vattenfall sacked senior executives at its German unit for
not being frank enough to the media.
Social Democrats in Chancellor Angela Merkel's ruling coalition have called
for a speeding up of plans to close down all 17 nuclear power stations in
Germany by 2021, with older plants scrapped sooner.
By contrast, centre-right leaders called for a modest extension past 2021 to
curb carbon-dioxide emissions.
That was topped Saturday by Guenther Beckstein, the Christian Social Union's
choice as next premier of Bavaria state, who said the legislation must be
changed to allow nuclear power for several more decades.
Staff at German nuclear power stations feel under siege from the media and
public opinion, according to the chief executive of the Swedish utility,
Lars Goran Josefsson.
In an interview released Saturday by the German weekly Der Spiegel, he said,
"Our staff aren't frightened of nuclear energy, but they are sometimes
frightened of the outside world.
"A lot of them think, 'Our enemies are out there and will distort whatever
we say.'"
He insisted that both plants in Schleswig-Holstein state were "absolutely
safe."
All of Germany's 17 reactors must shut down by 2021 under German
legislation, but Vattenfall has sought a change in scheduling that would
allow Brunsbuettel to run longer if another reactor is mothballed earlier.
"I see no reason to withdraw that application," said the Swede.
The state of Schleswig-Holstein's regulatory department meanwhile rejected
allegations by pro-business politicians that it, not Vattenfall, had delayed
for five days disclosures about the June 28 incidents.
A spokesman said it had taken experts several days to analyse reports and
the findings had always been made public instantly after that.
Europe News One third of nuclear reactors shut down in Germany Jul 23, 2007,
18:59 GMT
Berlin - On third of Germany's 17 nuclear reactors are out of action for
maintenance or repairs, but electricity industry officials said Monday
Germany had sufficient electricity.
They spoke as inspectors began three days of checks at Brunsbuettel power
station, west of Hamburg, after reports that racks holding piping were not
properly fastened to concrete walls in the reactor building.
'We haven't found anything serious yet. But we can't say finally till
Wednesday,' said Oliver Breuer, a spokesman for government regulators.
The industry is under pressure to improve safety at older sites. It has been
disclosed that another idle site, the Unterweser Power Station in Lower
Saxony state, had of its four emergency cooling systems wrongly calibrated.
The VDEW electricity-industry federation said the six stations currently
offline included Brunsbuettel and Kruemmel, knocked out by a transformer
fire on June 28 and facing a round of inspections till the end of August.
The other three have workmen in: Biblis A and Biblis B are being
reconstructed, while Isar 2, like Unterweser, is undergoing its annual
inspection.
VDEW said the six had a joint capacity of 7,269 megawatts, but the shortfall
could be met from the European power grid or using German reserve capacity.
No power supply shortages in Germany despite nuclear plant outages: official
Berlin <http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/menu-239/key-822/>, July 24, IRNA
Germany
<http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/menu-239/key-11037/>-Energy<http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/menu-239/key-10859/>
-Utility <http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/menu-239/key-95219/>
Germany is not experiencing any power supply shortages despite the present
breakdowns at 6 of the 17 nuclear power plants across the country, announced
a spokesman for the VDEW utility industry advocacy group in Berlin.
There are no supply shortfalls in Germany, the official said.
European-wide agreements among various utility companies will offset for
power outages.
Two nuclear plants, based in the northern Germany have been completely shut
down as a result of a recent fire incident at one of the reactors.
Four other nuclear power stations in southern Germany have been closed for
renovation work and check ups.
Although the German government plans to gradually phase out atomic energy by
the year 2021, nuclear power accounts still for 26 percent of all energy
consumption in the country.
Germany's nuclear reactors are still working at full power, having raised
their electricity production in 2006.
German atomic power plants generated 167.4 billion kilowatt hours of
electricity last year, compared to around 163 billion kilowatt hours in
2005.
Water from pipe flooded reactor floor
07/25/2007
BY HIDEYUKI MIURA, THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
KASHIWAZAKI, Niigata Prefecture--Up to 2,000 tons of water from an outdoor
pipe broken in the July 16 earthquake inundated the basement of a nuclear
reactor building here, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said.
The basement at the TEPCO-run Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant is a
"radiation-controlled area" containing radioactive materials. It must be
completely shut off from the outside environment.
However, the earthquake showed that the area can be linked to the outside
environment.
According to TEPCO officials, the ground around the building that
accommodates the No. 1 reactor sank by about 20 to 30 centimeters during the
earthquake. Underground electric cables leading from the first basement
floor of the building to the outside were pulled down by the ground
subsidence, creating a large space on the outer wall.
An underground water pipe for fire extinguishing near the cables ruptured in
the quake, allowing water to flow into the basement areas through the space.
"It was beyond our imagination that a space could be made in the hole on the
outer wall for the electric cables," a TEPCO official said.
However, he stressed: "As the air pressure in the radiation-controlled area
was reduced, no air leaked from the area to the outside environment. No
radioactive materials leaked to the outside."
TEPCO officials said the building itself did not subside because it had been
built on solid ground. But the ground around the building sank because it
consists of layers of sand.
The water that entered the building flowed down a drainpipe to the fifth
basement floor, a radiation-controlled area.
The water entered a waste water tank, which soon overflowed, inundating the
floor with water to a height of 48 centimeters.
An estimated 2,000 tons of water spilled on the floor, equivalent to the
volume in five 25-meter-long swimming pools.
The flooding also apparently damaged motors that send waste water containing
radioactive materials to filtering devices, the officials said.
But they added that the radioactive-contamination level of the water that
flowed onto the floor was low.
"We have already closed the space (of the hole on the outer wall). We never
imagined that such a situation could take place," one of the officials said.
According to the officials, TEPCO is now considering measures to discharge
the water from the building.(IHT/Asahi: July 25,2007)
Tokyo Electric Net May Miss Forecast After Earthquake (Correct)
By Megumi Yamanaka
<http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/data?pid=avimage&iid=ird9Hjb7m1LY> Tokyo
Electric Power Co.'s shut nuclear power station
(Corrects headline and first paragraph to show that company may miss its
profit forecast.)
July 26 (Bloomberg) -- Tokyo Electric Power Co., Asia's biggest power
producer, may miss its full-year profit forecast after an earthquake shut a
nuclear power plant, forcing the utility to burn more oil and gas.
The company may post a pretax profit of 230 billion yen ($1.9 billion) in
the year ending March 31, 2008, according to the median of five analysts
surveyed by Bloomberg. That's 43 percent less than the 400 billion yen Tokyo
Electric predicted in April. This year's dividend may stay unchanged at 70
yen, four of the analysts including Credit Suisse Japan Securities Co.'s
Hiroyuki Sakaida said.
The utility's shares have slid 13 percent since the earthquake shook seven
reactors at Kashiwazaki Kariwa in Niigata prefecture on July 16, causing
radioactive leaks and prompting a government order to shut the facility
until safety is assured. Investors are selling the stock on concern that
increased use of more costly oil and gas-fired power will hurt profit.
``The uncertainty about when to restart the plant is negative for the
shares,'' Shigeki Matsumoto, an analyst at Nomura Securities Co. said in
Tokyo. ``The shutdown is expected to take longer following problems such as
radioactive leaks.''
The magnitude 6.8 tremor caused ground movements exceeding the maximum that
the nuclear facility, with capacity to generate 8,212 megawatts, is designed
to withstand. Tokyo Electric had found 67 cases of damage to the facility as
of yesterday, the company said in a statement.
The company is expected to revise its full-year profit forecast on July 31,
when it reports earnings for the quarter ended June 30.
Shares Slump
Shares of the utility fell 0.3 percent to close at 3,290 yen today. The
stock is down 500 yen since July 13, the last close prior to the July 16
earthquake.
The utility sells electricity to more than 27.8 million customers in Tokyo
and surrounding regions, and owns 191 power stations in Japan.
Tokyo Electric plans to run its thermal and hydro power plants at about 3
percent more than their design capacity, and purchase power from Kansai
Electric Power Co. and five other regional utilities, to meet summer demand,
when more customers turn on air-conditioners, President Tsunehisa Katsumata
said on July 20.
The utility may need to spend about 228 billion yen on buying oil, heavy
fuel and gas, assuming the Kashiwazaki Kariwa plant remains shut until March
2008, Hirofumi Kawachi, an energy analyst at Mizuho Investors Securities Co.
in Tokyo said in a report on July 23.
Operating Rate
By keeping the world's biggest nuclear plant idle, the average operating
rate of Tokyo Electric's 17 nuclear reactors may fall to 48 percent from the
72 percent predicted by the company earlier, Kawachi said. A 1 percent
decline in the rate would boost the utility's fuel costs by about 95 billion
yen.
``Rising crude oil prices are adding to costs that are already swollen by
additional fuel purchases,'' Tatsuya Tsunoda, senior analyst at Mizuho
Securities Co. said, estimating that higher crude prices will add 24 billion
yen to costs.
Oil prices have gained 25 percent this year.
For the year ended March 2007, Tokyo Electric raised its annual dividend for
the first time in seven years to 70 yen per share from 60 yen, the company
said in March. With the expected jump in costs, there is a greater
likelihood that the utility may trim the payout, Yoshihisa Miyamoto, an
analyst at Okasan Securities Co. said.
``If they reduce the dividend because of the shutdown, it'll be against
their policy of keeping a stable dividend,'' Credit Suisse's Sakaida said.
``Stable dividend, what that means is it won't trim the payout even during
these hard times.''
To contact the reporters on this story: Megumi Yamanaka in Tokyo at
[EMAIL PROTECTED] .
*Last Updated: July 26, 2007 07:09 EDT
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=agBErYolDFhM&refer=home
*
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200707250114.html
http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/menu-239/0707244893010318.htm
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/europe/news/article_1333784.php/One_third_of_nuclear_reactors_shut_down_in_Germany
http://www.eux.tv/article.aspx?articleId=11715
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070725/NEWS/707250354/1070/NEWS02
http://www.thestar.com/sciencetech/Ideas/article/239382
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