Thursday, August 30, 2018

Nuclear News: Less Overisght and More Leakages


Nuclear narratives circulating across the news media point to less regulation and more contamination.

In particular, the highly hazardous and contested  Rokkasho "reprocessing" facility under construction in Japan has been leaking (it also has an active fault under the facilities) and US nuclear facilities are eroding transparency and accountability requirements with the support of the US Trump Administration:
Moss, Rebecca (2018 August 29). Nuclear Safety Board Slams Energy Department Plan to Weaken Oversight. ProPublica/ Santa Fe New Mexican. Available,https://www.propublica.org/article/nuclear-safety-board-slams-energy-department-plan-to-weaken-oversight?utm_source=pardot&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dailynewsletter
The Trump administration defended an order that could be used to withhold information about nuclear facilities from a federal board, but its leader says the action is not consistent with the U.S. Atomic Energy Act.

Unfinished nuclear fuel plant had water leak (2018, August 28). NHK https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180829_02/
...Japan Nuclear Fuel says an employee spotted the leak in the pipes of a storage pool at the plant in Rokkasho Village, Aomori Prefecture. The operator found that the pipes were corroded in 20 places and one of them had a hole... The operator believes that rainwater seeped through gaps in insulation materials wrapped around the pipes.
Meanwhile, Fukushima Daiichi continues to look strange, especially from the perspective of the Unit 1 cam.

The lens has been smudged and steam has been higher than usual. Now there is a fixed smudge emerging from the vent stack and I cannot tell whether it is a smudge on the lens or a leak in the vent pipe:

August 13 2018


August 28 2018
 
August 30


The line emerging vertical from the vent pipe is not evident in my screenshots from the first week of August unless its an arm of a crane that has been obscured by emissions.


Any thoughts?