Tepco shareholders seek to hold board of directors responsible for Fukushima Daiichi catastrophe

The Asahi Shimbun reports that 42 Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) shareholders are seeking to hold 61 current and former Tepco board of directors members financially liable, to the tune of $71 billion, for the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear catastrophe. The shareholders blame the directors for not having taken action against earthquake and tsunami risks, even though government and even Tepco studies showed the potential for a severe earthquake offshore generating a 45 foot tall tsunami -- exactly what took place on March 11, 2011. The $71 billion would go toward compensating victims of the nuclear catastrophe, as well as decommissioning the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant -- a project that Tepco has estimated will take at least 30 years.

Study shows Fukushima fallout reached western Japan and Hokkaido

As reported by the Asahi Shimbun, study conducted by Maryland-based Universities Space Research Association, published in the Proceedings of the U.S. National Academies of Science, has documented the likelihood of Fukushima Daiichi radioactive fallout contamination as far flung as in Hokkaido -- Japan's northernmost island -- and the western reaches of Honshu, Japan's main island.

Reactor Core Melted Fully, Japan Says

TOKYO—Japan's tsunami-stricken nuclear-power complex came closer to a catastrophic meltdown than previously indicated by its operator—who on Wednesday described how one reactor's molten nuclear core likely burned through its primary containment chamber and then ate as far as three-quarters of the way through the concrete in a secondary vessel. Wall Street Journal (subscription required)

Update on December 1, 2011 by admin

Also see Yahoo News.

Update on December 1, 2011 by admin

The New York Times reports that Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) has admitted for the first time that the melted core at its Unit 1 reactor at the devastated Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has likely "bored" into the concrete floor of the primary containment, coming precariously close to an outer steel barrier, the final line of defense against even more catasatrophic radioactivity releases into the external environment. A critic describes Tepco's latest admission as "still an overly optimistic simulation." Hiroaki Koide, of the Kyoto University Research Reactor Institute, warns "I have always argued that the containment is broken, and that there is the danger of a wider radiation leak."

Speaking of overly optimistic nuclear disaster simulations, Greenpeace has strongly condemned Japanese government nuclear emergency preparedness for its inadequate "Speedi" radioactive plume computer code. The code only covers a 10 km area, whereas Greenpeace has documented Fukushima fallout 60 km downwind that should -- under international standards -- require evacuation of the population. Greenpeace also documents that actual nuclear catastrophes could be 10,000 times worse than those assumed by Speedi.

Update on December 1, 2011 by admin

The Asahi Shimbun also reported on this story. It reported that the Fukushima Daiichi Unit 1 reactor core had burned through 65 centimeters (25.6 inches) of primary containment structure concrete, leaving only 37 cm (14.6 inches) of concrete before a thin steel shell. Beneath that steel liner, a mere 7.6 meters (less than 25 feet) of concrete would remain before the molten core would reach earth below -- the very definition of "China Syndrome." Tepco assures that the 30 cm (11.8 inches) of cooling water at the bottom of the damaged primary containment structure will be enough to prevent further erosion, although it also admits many questions remain unanswered about where -- and how hot -- the molten fuel is.

Japan, China, and South Korea agree to set up early notification system for nuclear emergencies

The Asahi Shimbun reports that the governments of China, Japan, and South Korea have agreed to hammer out clear rules for communicating information during nuclear power plant emergencies in the aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi catastrophe. Both China and South Korea loudly protested Tokyo Electric Power Company's decision to intentionally release large quantities of radioactively contaminated cooling water into the ocean in March.

Radioactive rice seized, shipments suspended, monitoring expanded

The Asahi Shimbun reports that radioactive rice from highly contaminated regions of Fukushima Prefecture were sold to unwary consumers even though they violated Japanese government limits on contamination. In response, government agents will increase monitoring in areas known to be highly contaminated. The Japanese federal government has declared foodstuffs containing less than 500 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram as fit for human consumption, even though UN agencies have a stronger standard of just 350 Bq/kg of food. No level of radioactive contamination in food can be said to be "safe" -- it has been long established that any exposure to radioactivity, no matter how small, carries a health risk.