Japan PM declares Fukushima Daiichi stable, but many don't believe him

As reported by the New York Times, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, in a nationally televised address last week, declared that the four destroyed units at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have been brought under control, and "cold shutdown" will be achieved by year's end, ending a catastrophic chapter in Japan's history. However, critics warn that the decommissioning and "clean up" of the site could take 40 years, and that nuclear criticality in the melted cores is still a risk. Noda's announcement comes with an "all clear" from federal, prefectural, and local authorities for many of the 90,000 nuclear evacuees to return to their homes for the first time in nine months, but many of them question such assurances, and people across Japan still fear the documented radioactive contamination of the food supply.

Meanwhile, the Mainichi Daily News reports that a journalist, Tomohiko Suzuki, worked undercover inside the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant for over a month this summer, and now reports that "absolutely no progress is being made," that rushed work is often shoddy and done for cosmetic, not safety purposes, and that major short cuts are being taken on such vital activities as decontaminating vast quantities of cooling water highly contaminated with radioactivity. Suzuki quotes one worker as saying "Working at Fukushima is equivalent to being given an order to die," and reports that many games are being played to under-report actually radiation doses being suffered by workers.

The article reports: " '(Nuclear) technology experts I've spoken to say that there are people living in areas where no one should be. It's almost as though they're living inside a nuclear plant,' says Suzuki. Based on this and his own radiation readings, he believes the 80-kilometer-radius evacuation advisory issued by the United States government after the meltdowns was "about right," adding that the government probably decided on the current no-go zones to avoid the immense task of evacuating larger cities like Iwaki and Fukushima." (emphasis added)

National Academy of Sciences study sounds cautionary note on uranium mining in Virginia

The long-awaited (22 months) study by the National Academy of Sciences into the feasibility of uranium mining in Virginia was released on December 19 before the Virginia General Assembly Uranium Mining Subcommittee. The lengthy report, now available on line, sounded a cautionary note and presented a series of serious challenges to the Commonwealth if it insists on overturning the current mortatorium on uranium mining in Virginia. The study concluded that there are "steep hurdles to be surmounted before mining and processing could be established in a way that is appropriately protective of the health and safety of workers, the public and the environment."

Behind the push to over-turn the moratorium is Virginia Uranium which has spent millions of dollars to support its hopes to mine uranium at Coles Farm in Pittsylvania County. However, the NAS, which was not tasked to do a site-specific analysis, warned that the environmental and health impacts, the threat of natural events (such as the recent major earthquake), and the wet environment (which contrasts with most arid uranium mine sites) would need to be mitigated using international best practices should uranium mining be undertaken. Virginia lacked experience in the field technically, and the regulatory landcape is confusing. Concerns were also raised about the lack of adequate public participation. A thorough site characterization conducted at Coles would be essential. "Additionally, until comprehensive site-specific risk assessments are conducted, including accident and failure analyses, the short-term risks associated with natural disasters, accidents, and spills remain poorly defined," the report said.

Beyond Nuclear attended the presentation. Our assessment was that the report represented uranium mining as risky and challenging and by no means a green light for lifting the ban. The study was by consensus with no minority report. However, Virginia legislators will now need to base their decision-making on the science within the report, not the lobbying powers (and dollars) of Virginia Uranium. The considerable complications, challenges, risks and expense of undertaking the needless venture of mining uranium in Virginia, as outlined in the NAS report, should be enough of a deterrent to end all consideration of this project and instead shift focus onto sectors where real, meaningful and safe jobs can be developed instead.

The NAS pointed out:

"Three over-arching best practices should be guiding principles if uranium mining were to be permitted: the need to plan at the outset of the project for the complete life cycle of mining, processing, and reclamation; the need to engage and retain qualified experts familiar with internationally accepted best practices for all aspects of a project; and the need to encourage meaningful and timely public participation throughout the life cycle of a project, beginning at the earliest stages."

NRC Rubberstamps Risky Reactor Restarts

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has recently approved some remarkably risky reactor restarts. NRC has approved a restart at Dominion's North Anna nuclear power plant in Mineral, Virginia, even though an August 23rd 5.8 magnitude earthquake, epicentered just 11 miles away, caused ground motion twice as strong as the twin reactor station was designed to withstand. NRC's restart approval for both North Anna reactors came even though one reactor was inadequately inspected, and the other almost not at all; many questions remain about the status of the reactors, the radioactive waste stored on-site, and even dams retaining cooling water vital to North Anna's safety. Beyond Nuclear and an environmental coalition have filed an emergency enforcement petition against the North Anna restart. Beyond Nuclear's Paul Gunter and Kevin Kamps, along with their environmental allies, just defended and supplemented the emergency enforcement petition before an NRC Petition Review Board on Dec. 12th.

Similarly, NRC has approved the restart of the Davis-Besse atomic reactor near Toledo, Ohio, despite significant cracking discovered in its secondary containment shield building. Beyond Nuclear and an environmental coalition has intervened against the 20 year license extension sought by FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company at Davis-Besse. U.S. Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) has strongly questioned NRC's rush to restart Davis-Besse while so many basic questions about the cracking linger.

At both nuclear power plants, NRC has, effectively, said "Restart Now, Fix Later (If At All)."

White House urges NRC Commissioners to resolve differences

As reported by Politico, President Obama's White House Chief of Staff, William Daley (photo left), has sent a letter to the five U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commissioners, urging them to seek a mutually trusted third party arbiter to help them ease their internal conflicts and communications break down. Daley also responded to a request by U.S. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), Chairman of the U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, that a White House representative testify at a hearing tomorrow about the conflict, with all five NRC Commissioners also at the witness table. Daley rejected Issa's request.

HuffPost reveals that NRC Commissioner Magwood consulted for Tepco

NRC Commissioner William Magwood IVThe Huffington Post has revealed that U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner William Magwood IV (pictured, left) consulted for Tokyo Electic Power Company, owner and operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant that has suffered three reactor core meltdowns and, very likely, a high-level radioactive waste storage pool fire since March 11, 2011. Magwood is at the center of an attempted "coup" at NRC, seeking to oust NRC Chairman Greg Jaczko. Magwood would be Jaczko's most likely successor. The article reports on a statement, signed by 100 organizations, seeking to block President Obama's nomination of Magwood to the NRC in the first place, due to his close ties to the nuclear power industry. Beyond Nuclear led that coalition effort. (Note one error in the article: the 2007 natural disaster that struck Japan was an earthquake, not a tsunami; several reactors at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, the largest single atomic power facility in the world, remain idled, nearly 5 years later).