Speak Out At SF Japan Consulate To Oppose Nuke Plant Start-ups & Defend The Families

6/11 Rally-Speak Out At SF Japan Consulate To Oppose Nuclear Plant Start-ups & Defend The Fukushima Children and Families
Monday June 11, 2018 3:00 PM
Japanese Consulate
275 Battery St near California St.
San Francisco

Despite the continuing failure to remove the melted rods at the Fukushima nuclear plants and the expanding amount of radioactive water to cool the plant the Japanese Abe government continues to restart nuclear plants throughout Japan. The Japanese government also seeks to force families and children to Fukushima by threatening to shut off their subsidies.The plants which have been reopened are decades old and have serious safety problems. The government is also preparing for another major earthquake that could kill according to the government 230,000 people yet it continues to re-open nuclear plants.

The Abe government which also runs TEPCO is continuing to allow contract labor to be brought in for the clean-up without proper training and is even using so called “trainees” from Vietnam and other countries.

The government also is pushing for militarization of the country removing Article 9 which prohibits offensive war and the development of nuclear weapons by Japan.

Join us in calling for justice for the people of Fukushima and against more nuke plant start-ups that threaten Japan and the world


Date: Monday June 11, 2018 3:00 PM
Place: The front of SF Japanese Consulate
275 Battery Street, SF 3-4 blocks from the BART Embarcadero station
Initiated by No Nukes Action nonukesaction.wordpress.com

Air duct corrosion and holes found at seven Japanese nuclear plants
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/05/23/national/air-duct-corrosion-holes-found-seven-nuclear-plants/KYODO

MAY 23, 2018

Corrosion and holes have been found in ventilation ducts at 12 reactors at seven nuclear plants across the country, the Nuclear Regulation Authority said Wednesday, raising concerns that workers could be exposed to radiation in the event of an accident.

The governmental nuclear watchdog released the results of a nationwide survey it had ordered following a revelation in December 2016 that corrosion had left multiple holes in the air ducts of the No. 2 reactor at Chugoku Electric Power Co.’s Shimane plant in western Japan. That reactor was not included in the survey.

Serious corrosion was found at the No. 3 unit of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant in Niigata Prefecture operated by Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. and may have abnormally affected ventilation of the central control room, the watchdog said.

Although the No. 7 unit at the same plant has passed a test to resume operation, the NRA said it will inspect the impact of any corrosion found at the reactor. No abnormality associated with corrosion has been found at the remaining 10 units, it said.

Corrosion or holes were found in steel or galvanized steel ducts at Tohoku Electric Power Co.’s Onagawa nuclear plant, Japan Atomic Power Co.’s Tokai No. 2 nuclear plant, Tepco’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant and Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant, Chubu Electric Power Co.’s Hamaoka plant, Hokuriku Electric Power Co.’s Shiga nuclear plant and Chugoku Electric’s Shimane plant.

If an accident occurs, radioactive materials could flow into a plant’s central control room through such holes, putting workers in danger of radiation exposure.

At the No. 3 reactor at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, a crack as large as 13 centimeters in length and 5 cm in width was found. A total of nine holes and cracks have been discovered at the Nos. 3 and 7 units at the plant.

All the reactors with corrosion were boiling-water reactors, the same type used at the Fukushima No. 1 plant, which spewed a massive amount of radioactive material into the atmosphere following the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

No problems have been detected at pressurized-water nuclear reactors, as filtering and other measures take place near air inlets.

The holes at the No. 2 unit at the Shimane plant were discovered when insulation materials covering the ducts were removed for inspection.

The holes, the largest of which measured about 100 centimeters wide and about 30 centimeters long, are believed to have been caused by dew condensation and rainwater that seeped inside the building, as well as salt deposits on the ducts, given that the corrosion extended about 50 meters from the air inlet and spread from the inner surface of the ducts.

Chugoku Electric has decided to increase the number of inspection points at sections near fresh-air inlets and bolster anti-corrosion measures, including the installation of a dehumidifier.

No. 4 reactor at Oi nuclear plant restarted after nearly five years offline

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/05/10/national/no-4-reactor-oi-nuclear-plant-restarted-nearly-five-years-offline/

Oi nuclear power plant's No. 4 reactor (far left) in Fukui Prefecture is seen on Wednesday before being restarted by Kansai Electric Power Co. | KYODO

No. 4 reactor at Oi nuclear plant restarted after nearly five years offline
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/05/10/national/no-4-reactor-oi-nuclear-plant-restarted-nearly-five-years-offline/

MAY 10, 2018

OI, FUKUI PREF. – Kansai Electric Power Co.’s No. 4 reactor at its Oi nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture inched closer toward running at full capacity Thursday, four years and eight months after operations were suspended.

The reactor has reached criticality, its nuclear fission chain reaction having reached a self-sustaining state, and is set to begin power generation and transmission Friday. It is projected to reach full capacity early next week.

The reactor, which was halted in September 2013 for regular checkups, is the eighth to have been reactivated under the country’s new safety standards for nuclear plants. The new standards were introduced in the wake of the March 2011 triple meltdown at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.’s tsunami-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.

Kansai Electric plans to put the No. 4 reactor into commercial mode in early June and cut its electricity prices this summer.

Commercial operations of the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at the Oi plant are projected to help reduce the firm’s fuel costs by about ¥120 billion a year. The No. 3 unit was brought back online in March this year and entered commercial mode in April.

The utility lowered its electricity rates for households by 3.15 percent on average in August 2017, after it resumed commercial operations of the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at its Takahama plant in Fukui Prefecture.

As each of the two Oi reactors has a capacity of 1.18 million kilowatts — larger than the 870,000 kilowatt capacity of each of the Takahama reactors — the forthcoming rate cut may be more significant than the previous one and could bring the company’s electricity prices down to levels from before the Fukushima nuclear accident, industry observers said.

Kansai Electric owns 11 reactors — four each at the Oi and Takahama plants, and three at the Mihama plant, also in Fukui Prefecture.
Besides the four currently in operation, the Mihama No. 1 and No. 2 units and the Oi No. 1 and No. 2 units are set to be decommissioned. The Mihama No. 3 unit and the Takahama No. 1 and No. 2 units are undergoing work to allow them to continue to operate after reaching 40 years of service.

With the Oi and Takahama plants located as little as 13.5 kilometers from each other, the plant operator has been urged to draw up measures that should be taken in case accidents occur at the same time at the two facilities.

This summer the government plans to carry out a comprehensive anti-disaster drill assuming simultaneous accidents.

Contaminated water leak found at Ehime Pref. nuke plant

http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20180509/p2a/00m/0na/022000c

May 9, 2018 (Mainichi Japan)

IKATA, Ehime -- Water containing radioactive materials has leaked from a purification system inside of a stalled nuclear reactor here, Shikoku Electric Power Co. and the Ehime Prefectural Government announced on May 9.

The leak occurred in the auxiliary building of the No. 3 reactor at the Ikata Nuclear Power Station in the town of Ikata, Ehime Prefecture. According to the prefectural government and Shikoku Electric, the coolant water was found to be leaking from the pressure gauge stop valve for the purification system at around 2:10 a.m. on May 9.

The radiation level of the materials in the roughly 130 milliliters of escaped water measured 20 becquerels, far below the standard for filing a report to the central government. The utility and Ehime Prefecture said there is no reported leakage outside of the facility, nor was there any danger posed to employees or the surrounding environment. Regardless, the reason for the leak will be investigated thoroughly.

The No. 3 Reactor at the facility was restarted in August 2016. However, while the rector was undergoing a scheduled inspection in December 2017, a temporary injunction was handed down by the Hiroshima High Court that halted operation at the site.

(Japanese original by Aoi Hanazawa, Matsuyama Bureau)

More Vietnamese trainees made to conduct Fukushima decontamination work, union says
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/04/18/national/vietnamese-trainees-made-conduct-fukushima-decontamination-work-union-says/

APR 18, 2018

Three more Vietnamese men in a foreign trainee program in Japan were made to take part in radioactive decontamination work in Fukushima Prefecture, which was devastated by the March 2011 nuclear crisis, their supporters said Wednesday.

The Justice Ministry’s Immigration Bureau is conducting a probe, believing more foreigners may have been made to engage in inappropriate work under the Technical Intern Training Program.

Japan introduced the program in 1993 with the aim of transferring skills to developing countries. But the scheme, applicable to agriculture and manufacturing among other sectors, has drawn criticism at home and abroad for giving Japanese companies a cover to importing cheap labor.

According to the Zentouitsu Workers Union, which supports foreign trainees, the three Vietnamese men came to Japan in July 2015 and conducted radiation cleanup work in Fukushima Prefecture between 2016 and 2018 as trainees of a construction company in the city of Koriyama in the prefecture.

Their contracts only stated that they would be engaging in form-work installation and reinforcing steel placements, and the company did not give them a detailed explanation of the decontamination work beforehand.

In March, a Vietnamese trainee hired by a construction firm in Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, said at a news conference in Tokyo that he had been misled into conducting decontamination work in Fukushima Prefecture.

The Justice Ministry and the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare have released statements saying that decontamination work does not fit the purpose of the trainee program.