Another Fire in Fukushima Reactor Complex!

The Nuclear catastrophe continues to increase the apocalyptic nightmare situation of the poor people of Japan. 


As if a 9pt Earthquake with endless after shocks weren't enough, a Tsunami that wiped out 200 miles of coastline communities and three huge explosions at the Nuclear Complex weren't enough, now horrific fires have broken out in the spent fuel rod storage "ponds". 

NPR has the story on the latest episode.

http://www.npr.org/2011/03/15/134552475/radiation-fears-rise-at-japanese-power-plant

FREDERICK FLORIN/AFP/Getty Images

A satellite image showing the Fukushima Dai-Ni nuclear power plant after the earthquake. Radiation near the nuclear plant reached levels harmful to health, officials said on March 15, advising thousands of people to stay indoors after two explosions and a fire at the facility.

The credibility of officials in Japan and elsewhere is becoming stretched to the breaking point. The Tokyo Electric Power Plant officials are admitting that there IS a danger of radiation exposure for people within the near range of the damaged plant. A No-Fly Zone has been declared over the site to prevent aircraft from bringing radiation contamination back to their destinations.

Fifty brave workers are staying on site while 800 others have left the site.

The Union of Concerned Scientists has been a clarion voice of reason in the midst on seemingly endless denial of all government officials. They have been speaking out in the last few days and

warning that this incident is a huge wake-up call, on the recent rush towards a "nuclear renaissance" that has been pushed in the last few years.

40 Years of Doubts About Mark I Containment

| by David Wright | nuclear power | nuclear power safety | Japan nuclear |

The New York Times ran a story today citing memos from September 1972 by officials in the Atomic Energy Commission, the forerunner of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), showing longstanding concerns about the ability of reactors like those at Fukushima Dai-Ichi to contain a nuclear accident.

These documents and others that raise questions about the Mark I and similar pressure-suppression containment systems for reactors are likely to spur a discussion of its safety in the U.S. and elsewhere.

In the U.S., there are currently 35 operating boiling-water reactors, all of which use pressure-suppression containment. Of these, 23 reactors use the Mark I. In addition, there are 9 pressurized-water reactors operating in the U.S. that use ice-condenser containment, which has the same shortcomings.

The 1972 documents linked to by the NYT story were originally obtained by UCS through a FOIA request. UCS released them publicly with a press release in October 1972 - the month following the exchange of memos.

Union of Concerned Scientists graphic on

how the reactors are constructed

NPR is reporting that the temperatures in the "pools" with the spent fuel rods have now reached 

183 degrees (F). This is twice the safe level.

http://www.npr.org/2011/03/15/134552475/radiation-fears-rise-at-japanese-power-plant

A new fire broke out Wednesday in an already fire-damaged reactor at a crippled nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. spokesman Hajimi Motujuku says the blaze erupted early Wednesday in the outer housing of the reactor's containment vessel. Fire fighters are trying to put out the flames. Japan's nuclear safety agency also confirmed the fire, whose cause was not immediately known.

It is the second fire to break out at the plant's reactor No. 4 in as many days. The first occurred Tuesday morning near a pool where spent fuel rods are left to cool. That fire and an apparent explosion damaged the reactor's roof, and there are concerns that the spent fuel rods are overheating.

Desperate plant operators are considering dramatic plans to stave off a meltdown in the reactor, including dumping water on it by helicopter. But plant operators are worried that the water wouldn't reach the fuel rods.

According to NHK television, officials at Tokyo Electric Power Co. decided a hole in the roof of the reactor was "dozens of meters" from the swimming-pool-like chamber where the spent fuel rods are overheating. So a helicopter dump, similar to putting out a forest fire, probably wouldn't reach the pool.

Moreover, officials say helicopters can't carry enough water to do the job. And Japanese defense ministry officials are worried about the safety of military personnel on the helicopters, according to Kyodo News.

Storming The Sound Program This Friday

The public is invited to a major conference this coming Friday, March 25th at SAM. 

A few conference highlights:

Participate with keynote speaker, Kathy Fletcher - on the eve of her retirement from People For Puget Sound - in a discussion and exploration of your role in protecting and restoring Puget Sound.

Cherry Point on Puget Sound

Storming the Central Sound Conference

Registration is open at:  http://www.ecy.wa.gov/puget_sound/stormthesound2011central.html  To register click on online registration.

Theme: Making connections for Puget Sound: Building on the past, looking toward the future

Date: Friday, March 25, 2011

Time: 9:00 to 4:00 PM

Location: Seattle Art Museum, Downtown, 1300 First Avenue

Storming the Sound is a one-day conference for environmental and sustainability educators in the Central Puget Sound region. This is a great opportunity for teachers, non-formal educators, environmental organizations with education programs, and students with an interest in a career in environmental education to learn and network together.

·         Learn about other Puget Sound environmental education programs.

·         Bring home practical strategies and tactics you can use.

·         Gain skills and insights with experts and capable peers.

·         Share insights and network with other educators.

·         Engage and grow in sessions where everyone is a participant.

·         Exchange ideas and experiences to help you develop new perspectives and approaches.

Registration fee is $30, which includes lunch, coffee/tea and snacks. (Note: If this fee is an obstacle to attend, please inquire about scholarships, see contact below.)

For questions please contact:
Justine Asohmbom at Dept of Ecology, juas461@ecy.wa.gov or (425) 649-7108, or
Ann Butler at People For Puget Sound, abutler@pugetsound.org, or (360) 754-9177

Organization Seeks to Clone the World's Giant Trees

A group based in Michigan is seeking to clone the largest and strongest ancient trees in order to grow more. It's called the Archangel Ancient Tree Archive http://www.ancienttreearchive.org The theory is that these trees are the strongest genetically, and could be the best way to preserve their species and also spread their inherent benefits.

AP – In this September 2010 photo provided by the
Archangel Ancient Tree Archive, group member Meryl Marsh …

Yahoo News has the story, reprinted from AP (Associated Press).
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110313/ap_on_re_us/us_cleansing_trees

Shoreline has many big trees and Shoreline's Community Backyard Wildlife Project identified many of them in a "Champion Tree Contest" over the last two years. There are many others that haven't been identified or highlighted yet. Most of these are "second growth" trees. But, there are a few old growth trees around our area still.  We even have some giant sequoias. There is a big one at the Kruckeberg Garden.


This is a hopeful trend for the future, to honor these ancient trees and spread their strong genes into places that need more more tree cover and oxygen giving life they provide.

By JOHN FLESHER, AP Environmental Writer – Sun Mar 13, 2:14 pm ET

COPEMISH, Mich. – Redwoods and sequoias towering majestically over California's northern coast. Oaks up to 1,000 years old nestled in a secluded corner of Ireland. The legendary cedars of Lebanon.

They are among the most iconic trees on Earth, remnants of once-vast populations decimated by logging, development, pollution and disease. A nonprofit organization called Archangel Ancient Tree Archive is rushing to collect their genetic material and replant clones in an audacious plan to restore the world's ancient forests and put them to work cleansing the environment and absorbing carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas largely responsible for global warming.

"In our infinite wisdom, we've destroyed 98 percent of the old growth forests that kept nature in balance for thousands of years," said David Milarch, the group's co-founder. "That's what we intend to put back."

Milarch, a tree nursery operator from the northern Michigan village of Copemish, and sons Jared and Jake have been producing genetic copies of ancient trees since the 1990s. They've now joined with Elk Rapids businesswoman Leslie Lee and a team of researchers to establish Archangel Archive, which has a staff of 17 and an indoor tree research and production complex.

Its mission: Clone the oldest and largest individuals within the world's most ecologically valuable tree species, and persuade people to buy and plant millions of copies — on factory grounds and college campuses; along riverbanks and city streets; in forests, farms, parks and back yards.

"The number of these ancient survivors that go in the ground will be the ultimate measure of our success," said Lee, who donated several million dollars to get the project off the ground and serves as board chairwoman. The group hopes donations and tree sales will raise enough money to keep it going.

Scientific opinion varies on whether trees that survive for centuries have superior genes, like champion race horses, or simply have been in the right places at the right times to avoid fires, diseases and other misfortunes. But Archangel Archive is a true believer in the super-tree idea. The group has tracked down and cloned some of the biggest and oldest of more than 60 species and is developing inventories.

The plan is eventually to produce copies of 200 varieties that are considered crucial. The trees preserve ecosystem diversity, soak up toxins from the ground and atmosphere, store carbon while emitting precious oxygen, and provide ingredients for medicines. Rebuilding forests with champion clones could "buy time for humanity" by mitigating centuries of environmental abuse, said Diana Beresford-Kroeger, an Ontario scientist who studies the roles of trees in protecting the environment.

California's coastal redwoods and giant sequoias, the world's largest trees, are best suited for sequestering carbon because of their size, rapid growth and durability, said Bill Libby, a retired University of California at Berkeley tree geneticist and consultant to Archangel Archive. The longer a tree lives, the longer its carbon remains bottled up instead of reaching the atmosphere.

"They grow like crazy," Libby said. "I have a clone of what used to be the world's tallest redwood tree in my back yard. It's still a baby, only 30 years old. It's already taller than anything around it, probably 80 to 100 feet."

Shout Out to Little Swamp Creek Blog

Discovered another beautiful local blog called "Little Swamp Creek" in Kenmore.

LITTLE SWAMP CREEK

THE RECORD OF A SUBURBAN STREAM

http://littleswampcreek.blogspot.com/

Beautiful images of wildlife and streamside scenes. 

Check them out!

Nice job L'il Swamp!

Shoreline Snags a Tree

A tree was leaning over severely, in the Paramount Park Natural Area next to the street. It had been impacted by some water district repairs last year. (They'd left the tree standing by request, but the recent winds were too much for it.) It wasn't really threatening anything or anyone.

But, it wasn't necessary to cut the tree down entirely.  A citizen request to "snag" the tree was honored by the Shoreline Parks Department. There is a "wildlife snag" section already in the city code. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife also recommend this whenever possible if a tree must be cut.

Roots exposed of Bitter Cherry Tree

So the Parks Department came out and expertly cut the top off the tree (about 15-20'). It is adjacent to the natural area with lots of underbrush, where bird habitat is already abundant. Littles Creek is nearby and also the wetland restoration area of Paramount Park. 


And this is a good week to talk about Wildlife Snags, because this week is actually 
National Wildlife Week!
National Wildlife Week

March 14-20, 2011

Wildlife That Move Us – Celebrating the Wildlife All Around Us

Here's how Shoreline Parks did it: 

Leaning Tree

Parks "Cherry Picker" Truck

Multi-Trunked Tree Cut off one by one

Expert work by Shoreline staff

Thanks Shoreline Parks for the quick response and expert work, for the wildlife and our neighborhood! 

WDFW photo credit -Raccoon family in tree den. A note about raccoons – raccoons can become habituated to people;
they are aggressive and sometimes dangerous and carry the roundworm Baylisascaris procyonis that can infect humans and pets.
Do NOT leave pet food and garbage out andnever feed raccoons.

Nuclear Disaster Update from Heart of America's Gerald Pollett

Second Explosion at Fukushima Plant
AFP/Getty Images

A screen grab taken from news footage by Japanese public broadcaster NHK shows the moment of a hydrogen explosion at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power station number three reactor on Monday.

Keeping a Sharp Eye On Japan's 
Nuclear Disaster and the NW Connections

Gerald Pollett of Heart of America NW has issued the following statement:

---

Japanese Nuclear Reactor Crisis Implications for Northwest:

_____________________

Working to Prevent Same Nuclear Mistakes Here --- Your public utility and local elected officials, e.g. City Light and Mayor of Seattle, need to hear from you

___________

The Japanese reactor crisis has important implications for Northwest:

The explosion Sunday night at Reactor 3 involved a reactor using Plutonium fuel. We have recently exposed secret plans by Energy Northwest, formerly WPPSS, to have its Hanford reactor be first in US to experiment using Plutonium fuel with higher risks of accident and more radiation release. Law suit being prepared.

 Photo: Explosion destroying Reactor 1’s containment building – which means uncontrolled venting of radioactive gas which comes out of the reactor vessel, even if vessel is intact. However, fuel in Reactors 1 and 3 appears to remain exposed to air and not getting cooled by water.  Reactor 3 – which had an explosion in the Reactor Vessel on Sunday night – is the most dangerous due to Plutonium Fuel. Heart of America Northwest has recently been warning and preparing a lawsuit over Energy Northwest secretly planning to use such dangerous weapons grade Plutonium Fuel.

We recently helped expose how Energy Northwest, formerly WPPSS, was secretly planning to use experimental Plutonium fuel (dubbed “MOX” fuel) in the commercial reactor at Hanford. This is the same type of experimental Plutonium fuel that is in Reactor 3 in Japan. News reports indicate that Reactor 3 continues to have its fuel rods partially uncovered after the hydrogen explosion inside the reactor vessel on Sunday night.

A partial meltdown and release from a reactor with Plutonium fuel would be far more catastrophic due to the Plutonium fuel than at the adjoining Reactor 1 (which is the reactor whose secondary containment building blew up yesterday).

The Plutonium has higher temperatures in the reactor compared to uranium fuel. “Higher temperatures increase gas release” and offsite dose according to internal Energy Northwest documents we obtained through the Public Records Act. Essentially, Plutonium fuel releases into the air, burns and releases more readily into air – as when left uncovered in Reactor 3 – and has a greater amount of highly radioactive elements to release into the air.

The news reports have not discussed the “spent fuel” pools atop the reactor buildings at the Japanese reactors. These apparently also lost cooling and are presumed to be having seawater pumped into what are essentially swimming pools used to cool the fuel. Again, if the fuel is uncovered both a critical reaction can begin along with fuel rods catching fire and releasing vast amounts of radiation. For Unit 1, no answers have been forthcoming about the condition of the fuel pool.

Reactor Vessels Do NOT Contain All Radioactivity from Reactor:

The Reactor containment vessels at the Tokyo Electric reactors are not designed to seal in all radiation from the reactor. They normally release about one percent of the radiation coming off of the fuel rods into the reactor containment building. This is normally held and slowly released after scrubbing to remove most radioactive gas before venting from the containment building.

However, there is no longer a reactor containment building at Unit 1 after the explosion –See photo.

Reports of radiation levels over 600 millirems per hour in the vicinity of the reactors after the explosion in Unit 1 are NOT “safe”.  This is a level equivalent to 60 x-rays per hour.

Spent Fuel Pools at Risk:

Despite calls for Energy Northwest to move its Spent Fuel from what is essentially an unshielded swimming pool vulnerable in event of earthquake or attack, into hardened concrete casks, Energy Northwest’s fuel remains in a swimming pool.  The Japanese reactors’ cooling pools are generally above the reactor in the containment building.  Presumably, with loss of normal coolant pumping, the Japanese are pumping seawater into the cooling pools.

Danger from Secret Plan by Energy Northwest to Begin use of Weapons Grade Plutonium Fuel in Columbia Generating Station at Hanford:

Ironically, we were working last week to prepare a lawsuit over Energy Northwest's failure to provide all public records on its secret plan to use Plutonium fuel beginning in 2013, with a deadline to file suit this coming week.

Working with Friends of the Earth, we have uncovered documents showing that Energy Northwest staff was far along in plans to have Energy Northwest be the first reactor in the US to use weapons grade Plutonium fuel. Numerous documents were improperly blacked out, including those showing what costs Energy Northwest is incurring to pursue this with public funds.

Energy Northwest is a consortium of publicly owned utilities – utilities who were not being consulted about the very dangerous, high risk venture that Energy Northwest staff want to undertake for political purposes. Their political purpose is to demonstrate that Plutonium can be extracted and reused from fuel rods.

Documents uncovered through a Public Records Act request demonstrate the high risks and costs that Northwest utilities would bear again – bringing back the mistakes of WPPPS – if Energy Northwest is allowed to proceed to use Plutonium (“MOX”) fuel:

“MOX fuel has reduced thermal conductivity compared with LEU (Low Enriched Uranium) fuel which causes the MOX fuel rods to operate with higher centerline temperatures…Higher temperatures increase gas release from fuel pellets and hence, fission product gap inventory, which may impact offsite

dose calculations.” From document labeled “Official Use Only” and Business Sensitive obtained from Energy Northwest.

Another document acknowledges higher accident consequences from “larger inventory of actinides” (which are radioactive elements), higher temperatures which increase radioactive gas releases “which may impact offsite dose calculations.”

.

Many of the records requested were blacked out.  Energy Northwest has no plan to prepare an environmental impact statement and provide for a public debate.In order to bring this dangerous scheme to light and allow our local public utilities to debate it, we are preparing to file suit.

The risks and costs from use of Weapons Grade Plutonium fuel were not apparently presented in PowerPoint presentations to the Energy NW board. Instead, slides made political statements repeating nuclear boosterisms: “Assist nuclear industry in closing the fuel cycle”, without revealing the higher costs and enormous safety risks.

Impacts for public:

·         Trucking weapons grade Plutonium to Hanford, after years of work to remove the Plutonium, has very high security and accident risks;

·         The scheme involves using Hanford buildings in the 300 Area to fabricate the Plutonium into fuel and dissect it, preventing closure and cleanup of already contaminated buildings and areas at Hanford, and creating NEW waste to be disposed;

·         Northwest public utilities would be the financial backers of use of the reactor as the guinea pig for the nation in using Plutonium fuel – placing us at risk as ratepayers and taxpayers in an enormous financial gamble.

·         Use of Plutonium fuel is far more expensive than uranium fuel, and there is no lack of uranium for fuel in sight for decades to come.

What you can do:

1)      Email, write or call your local city mayor, council members and public utility district commissioners depending on where you live. In Seattle, City Light reports to the Mayor and City Council. Other areas, e.g., Snohomish, have an elected PUD board.

2)      Contribute to support our ability to file suit to expose this scheme – the deadline for filing suit under the Public Records Act is this week. If we don’t meet that deadline, we will then pursue requiring an impact statement and public hearings, along with having local utilities withdraw and challenge this scheme.

3)      Write a letter to editor, forward to friends and ask them to write local elected officials;

4)      Write Members of Congress calling on them to drop the proposed $50 billion in subsidies to build new reactors, and calling on those funds to be used for renewable energy, schools and health care.

5)      Stay informed!

Gerry Pollet, JD;
Executive Director,
Heart of America Northwest"The Public's Voice for Hanford Clean-Up"(206)382-1014gerry@hoanw.org

Nuclear Energy Issues - Japan and Hanford

Everyone in the Northwest is obviously watching with horror the events in Japan. We were actually affected in a minor way watching for the tsunami to reach our shores, but never felt any real impact.

We all probably know someone who either has friends or relatives in Japan. 

The Seattle Times has some incredible photographs today of the disaster, and these give you some sense of the magnitude of this catastrophe. 

KYODO NEWS DISTRIBUTED BY AP

The town of Minamisanriku rests submerged in the tsunami's receding water on Saturday, March 12, 2011, after Friday's strong earthquake triggered a 30-foot tsunami in Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan.

Everyone feels the anguish of the victims of this tragedy.

But now, the nightmare has deepened. Japan has few homegrown energy resources and has built up quite a large network of Nuclear Plants to produce their own energy. Several of these reactors are in

a crisis of historic proportions right now.  Over 170,000 people have been ordered away from the Fukishima Nuclear sites. Meltdowns and partial meltdowns seem to be underway. "Hail Mary Passes" have been thrown by on site workers, in last ditch efforts to control the overheating of the reactor cores and "venting" of radioactive steam has already been deployed. They've flooded the reactors with seawater, which is guaranteed to destroy the reactor, but not necessarily stop the meltdown. All the expert engineers and nuclear scientists on site, at the NISA (Nuclear Agency) and even the UN are trying to contain the problem, but it seems to be growing in urgency.  

Huffington Post has a recent update. 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/12/japan-earthquake-2011-nuclear-meltdown-threat_n_835002.html

And of course the aftershocks continue, further threatening the nuclear reactors, which ironically do not have any electrical power, and that is why they are overheating.  

Here in the Pacific NW the irony continues since we have our own legacy of the nuclear energy programs. Hanford Nuclear Reservation was the birthplace of nuclear energy and the atomic bomb which devastated two cities in Japan to end WWII. 

Heart of America Northwest is a citizen advocacy group that has been working for many years to guarantee that the clean-up of Hanford is carried out effectively, and to prevent further damage from misuse of the site and impacts of nuclear energy. 

Gerald Pollett is Executive Director of Heart of America and says today,

The Japanese reactor crisis has important implications for Northwest: We recently helped expose how Energy Northwest, formerly WPPSS, was secretly planning to use experimental Plutonium fuel in the commercial reactor at Hanford. This is the same type of experimental Plutonium fuel that is in Reactor 3 in Japan, which news reports this afternoon state, has had its fuel uncovered for several hours and that a partial meltdown and release would be far more catastrophic due to the Plutonium fuel than at the adjoining Reactor 1 (which is the reactor whose sceondary containment building blew up yesterday).

Ironically, we have been working last week to prepare lawsuit over Energy Northwest's falure to provide all public records on its secret plan to use Plutonium fuel, with deadline to file suit this coming week. 

Heart of America is asking supporters and interested citizens to weigh in on the clean up  process underway at Hanford. Upcoming public meetings where you can make a difference -

Join us at public meetings with Hanford and regulator decision makers: Tuesday March 29th Seattle Center Northwest Rooms; Thursday March 31 Portland Red Lion Jantzen Beach Hotel                 town hall style meetings begin 7 PM   open house at 6PM 

Hearing on USDOE's Plan to import and bury EXTREMELY radioactive "GTCC" waste: Portland Thursday May 19th 6:30 PM  Doubletree Hotel Lloyd Center  Fact Sheet click 

UPDATES: Vitrification Plant, HoA's lawsuit to stop USDOE from using Hanford as a National Radioactive Waste Dump, Hanford’s Unlined Trenches: 

click here for  our  Citizens' Guide on the 40 miles of unlined ditches into which radioactive and chemical wastes were dumped for over 30 years.     
                                                                       
 click here for Recommendations on safety - explosion risks - and $12 billion cost of Hanford's Vitrification Plant to turn liquid High-Level Nucelar Waste into glass - on our blog with fun read
The New York Times quoted Heart of America Northwest in a July 11, 2010 article about Hanford, "A New Analysis Triples U.S. Plutonium Waste Figures."  Our testimony to President Obama's Blue Ribbon Commission was also featured on the NY Times Green Blog! 


So the Nuclear Energy issue is back in the spotlight in a big way. People's foggy memories are being jogged with a 2 x 4 to the brain, of past nightmares at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. 


 Of course the nuclear industry wants us all to believe that this is no big deal, and we shouldn't rush to judgement on renewing permits for new nuclear plants in America. The experts say "No Danger" and we should all go back to business as usual. 


What do you think?