"Tunnel vision: Plan to put Fukushima on ice hits snag"

As reported by RT, TEPCO's plan to freeze 11,000 tons (nearly 3 million U.S. gallons) of highly radioactively contaminated water, in tunnels beneath the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, has not gone well.

The contaminated water has been there since April 2011 -- it had piled up in the first weeks of the nuclear catastrophe, during the desperate efforts to stop the triple reactor core meltdowns at Units 1, 2, and 3.

Efforts to freeze the contaminated water under Unit 2 began in April of this year. TEPCO suspects that coolant flow is being blocked, so intends to add more pipes for injecting the freezing chemicals.

As TEPCO itself pointed out on June 18th, the project to freeze the contaminated water in the tunnels is distinct from its project to create an "ice wall" in the ground around the entirety of the wrecked nuclear power plant. The "ice wall," stretching 1.5 km on a side, would be intended to freeze the ground, and force groundwater around the sides of the radioactively contaminated area.

As RT reports, even if the unprecedented, expensive (a third of a billion dollars) "ice wall" project works as intended, it would merely decrease the current 400 tons (108,000 U.S. gallons) per day of radioactive water piling up at the plant, by 100 tons (27,000 gallons) per day, to 300 tons (nearly 81,000 U.S. gallons) per day still needing to be stored.

HBO's VICE: "Playing with Nuclear Fire," about Fukushima

HBO's investigative reporting series, VICE, took a trip to Fukushima Daiichi to examine untold stories from the nuclear catastrophe. Watch the reporter's debrief here.

Japanese citizens’ lawsuit halts restart of Ohi reactors

Nearly 200 Japanese citizens living within 150 miles of the Kansai Electric‘s Ohi nuclear power reactors near  Osaka, Japan have won a rare legal battle and court ruling to halt the restart of the two earthquake fault-situated units.

"Plaintiffs have rarely won. This is right in the middle of the restart process ... it could have very well have repercussions," said Aileen Mioko Smith, executive director of Green Action, which earlier this month had a lawsuit to close the Ohi reactors rejected by a court in Osaka.

The Fukui Prefecture Court ruled that “[T]he defendants (Kansai Electric) argue to the effect that operating nuclear power plants contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions and is beneficial from an environmental aspect, but the contamination to the environment once a severe accident does occur is devastating. In light of the fact that the Fukushima accident is the most serious pollution case in the history of our country, it is outrageously off the mark to ground the continued operation of nuclear power plants in environmental considerations.”

"Even if not operating nuclear power plants may result in massive trade deficit, the wealth of nation exists as long as citizens can live lives that are deeply rooted in sound land. Not being able to bring back such a reality is the loss of the wealth of nation" Judge Hideaki Higuchi is reported to say.

Kansai Electric said that it will appeal the court ruling. Japan remains at "zero nuclear" with all 48 of its remaining nuclear power plants in cold shutdown.

Asahi Shimbun editorial: Threat posed by volcanic eruptions to nuclear plants must be carefully examined

An Asahi Shimbun editorial begins:

"Now is the time to rethink the risk of operating nuclear power plants in Japan, which is one of the most volcanically active countries in the world.

Kyushu Electric Power Co. is currently aiming to restart the operations of idled reactors in its Sendai nuclear power plant in Kagoshima Prefecture. However, in the Nuclear Regulation Authority's inspection process on whether to permit the restarts, the possible consequences of volcanic eruptions in surrounding areas is attracting attention..."

(Note: readers are allowed to access a limited number of Asahi Shimbun articles each month, but then must pay a subscription fee to have unlimited access.)

Has Fukushima nuclear catastrophe contributed to Japan's economic slippage?

Al Jazeera reports that India has surpassed Japan, to take on the mantle of the world's third largest national economy, in terms of purchasing power parity, following behind the U.S. and China. This begs the question, how much has the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe dragged down the Japanese economy?