#nonewnukes — Public Fediverse posts

My comments in brackets.

A small drone flies into a damaged #Fukushima #nuclear reactor for the first time to study melted fuel

by MARI YAMAGUCHI

Updated Wed, February 28, 2024 at 8:20 AM EST

"A drone small enough to fit in one's hand flew inside one of the damaged reactors at #Japan's #FukushimaDaiichi #NuclearPowerPlant Wednesday in hopes it can examine some of the molten fuel debris in areas where earlier robots failed to reach [the radiation fried some of them].

"Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings also began releasing the fourth batch of the plant’s treated and diluted #radioactive #wastewater into the [#PacificOean] Wednesday. The government and TEPCO, the plant's operator, say the water is safe [BULLSHIT] and the process is being monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency, but the discharges have faced strong opposition by fishing groups and a Chinese ban on Japanese seafood.

"A magnitude 9.0 quake and tsunami in March 2011 destroyed the plant's power supply and cooling systems, causing three reactors to melt down. The government and TEPCO plan to remove the massive amount of fatally radioactive melted nuclear fuel that remains inside each reactor — a daunting decommissioning process that's been delayed for years and mired by technical hurdles and a lack of data.

"To help on data, a fleet of four drones were set to fly one at a time into the hardest-hit No. 1 reactor’s primary containment vessel. TEPCO plans to probe a new area Thursday.

"TEPCO has sent a number of probes — including a crawling robot and an underwater vehicle — inside each reactor but was hindered by debris, #HighRadiation and the inability to navigate through the rubble, though they were able to gather some data. In 2015, the first robot to go inside got stuck on a grate.

"Wednesday’s drone flight comes after months of preparations that began in July at a nearby mock facility.

"The drones, each weighing 185 grams (6.5 ounces), are highly maneuverable and their blades hardly stir up dust, making them a popular model for factory safety checks. Each carries a front-loaded high-definition camera to send live video and higher-quality images to an operating room.

"In part due to battery life, the drone investigation inside a reactor is limited to a 5-minute flight.

"TEPCO officials said they plan to use the new data to develop technology for future probes as well as a process to remove the melted fuel from the reactor. The data will also be used in the investigation of how the 2011 meltdown occurred.

"On Wednesday, two drones inspected the area around the exterior of the main structural support in the vessel, called the #pedestal. Based on the images they transmitted, TEPCO officials decided to send the other two in Thursday.

"The pedestal is directly under the reactor’s core. Officials hope to film the core’s bottom to find out how overheated fuel dripped there in 2011.

"About 880 tons of highly radioactive melted #NuclearFuel remain inside the three damaged reactors. Critics say the 30- to 40-year cleanup target set by the government and TEPCO is overly optimistic. The damage in each reactor is different, and plans need to accommodate their conditions.

"TEPCO's goal is to remove a small amount of melted debris from the least-damaged No. 2 reactor as a test case by the end of March by using a giant robotic arm. It was forced to delay due to difficulty removing a deposit blocking its entry.

"As in the past three rounds of wastewater discharges which started in August, TEPCO plans to release 7,800 metric tons of the treated water through mid-March after diluting it with massive amounts of seawater and sampling it to make sure radioactivity is far below international standards [by using faulty dosimeters].

"China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning on Wednesday accused Japan of risking the whole world with '#NuclearContaminated water' and demanded it stop 'this wrongdoing.' Mao urged #Japan to cooperate in an independent monitoring system with neighboring countries and other stakeholders [rather than bribing the #IAEA]."

Source:
https://www.yahoo.com/news/small-drone-flies-damaged-fukushima-051008732.html

#WaterIsLife #FukushimaIsntOver #TEPCOLies #RethinkNotRestart #NoNewNukes #RenewablesNow #ThermalSprings #TidalEnergy

Application Filed to Extend Life of #DiabloCanyon Power Plant Another 20 Years

PG&E Submits Application with #NRC to Renew Plant’s License

By Jean Yamamura
Wed Nov 08, 2023

"Renewal of Diablo Canyon Power Plant’s license was formally filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by owner #PacificGasAndElectric Company on November 7, more than a month ahead of the end of 2023 deadline. The 2,200 megawatts of carbon-free power generated by the nuclear plant can provide electricity for as many as three million of #California’s 39 million residents, fully 17 percent of the state’s supply of zero-carbon electricity, according to PG&E. But is it still needed?

"A number of groups fighting the nuclear power plant contend a potential for disaster exists from the aging facility, finished in 1973. Nonprofits like the #MothersForPeace in San Luis Obispo, where the plant is located, and the #AllianceForNuclearResponsibility argue that questions about brittle welds and nearby earthquake faults remain unanswered. Friends of the Earth is seeking to overturn the NRC’s licensing procedure for Diablo in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

"The NRC agreed to shorten the five-year window for the license renewal, causing #FriendsOfTheEarth’s legal director, Hallie Templeton, to say: “PG&E’s reckless push to extend the life of Diablo Canyon, while unsurprising, should set off alarm bells for everyone living near this high-risk facility. Diablo Canyon’s operations are extremely dangerous, harmful to the climate and put all of California at risk of a catastrophic accident.”

"In answer to the question of safety at a nuclear facility located 90 miles northwest of Santa Barbara, PG&E’s chief nuclear officer, Paula Gefen, said, 'We have a dedicated workforce that is committed to operating DCPP with integrity and safety at the forefront.' [PG&E is known for greed and poor safety record keeping -- see link in comments]

"During this shortened window, PG&E has a number of state agencies to persuade in addition to the NRC: It received a lease extension from the State Lands Commission in June for the strip of beach it uses, but the California Energy Commission and the California Public Utilities Commission are assessing actual costs and outage costs against renewed operations and market revenues. Their documents are underway or in a comment period and are supposed to be final before the end of 2023.

"If PG&E’s license renewal application passes muster, Diablo would be allowed to operate beyond its current end dates of 2024 and 2025, while the application is further reviewed, said PG&E spokesperson Suzanne Hosn. The process takes longer than a year, after which PG&E would submit for #CoastalZoneManagement ct recertification with the California Coastal Commission.

"Bruce Severance, a regulatory compliance engineer, has argued that certain welds, known to be #faulty from Reactor One’s inception, are so #brittle that replacement of the #ReactorVessel was a considerable cost the CPUC must consider. Severance and Digby MacDonald, a nuclear engineering and materials science professor at UC Berkeley, submitted a paper to the Diablo Canyon Independent Safety Committee outlining the #fracture toughness problem with the welds, but that committee won’t be meeting to discuss their conclusions until February 2024.

As for the need for Diablo to continue generating electricity, David Weisman of the #AllianceForNuclearResponsibility pointed to Governor Gavin Newsom’s statement in October that California’s #battery storage capacity reached more than 6,600 megawatts: 'More than equivalent to the power Diablo generates,' Weisman said.

"The turmoil surrounding the nuclear power plant began after PG&E decided to abandon its application for a license renewal in 2016. That would have shuttered the power plant’s two reactors in 2024 and 2025. However, Governor Newsom deemed the power was needed in the face of air-conditioning use during California’s increasingly hot summers. The State Legislature passed Senate Bill 846 last fall to loan PG&E $1.4 billion and extend Diablo’s operations to 2030.

"The CPUC held a hearing on Tuesday, at which Linda Seeley of #MothersForPeace addressed the commissioners. She told them California was on track to add another 6,000MW in #renewable power by 2026, three times Diablo’s output. Regarding safety, she said, 'while the Legislature and the CPUC have been relying on the NRC to ensure the safe operation of Diablo Canyon past the reactors’ 2024/2025 license expiration dates, the NRC itself appears to be bending to the State requests — rather than protecting the public.'

"Seeley emphasized the decision to prolong Diablo’s life could not be a political one. 'Put it together,' she urged the commissioners. 'No inspection of the Unit 1 pressure vessel since 2002; active #earthquake faults under the plant — couple those conditions with the fact that we don’t even need the power from Diablo Canyon, and you can easily reach a decision that your grandchildren will thank you for.'"

#TEPCOLies #Fukushima #RethinkNotRestart #Japan #PG&E #NRC #IAEA #NoNukes #NoNewNukes #PriceAndersonAct