Posts Tagged "Fukushima Daiichi"

As part of the work of CODIR-PA(1) aimed at drawing up a post- nuclear-accident doctrine in France, the case of herds producing milk or meat contaminated beyond the maximum admissible norms was examined. Two ideas were considered:

– 1 Slaughter the herds. The Veterinary Services Department recommends burying the carcasses on the spot in pre-selected locations that do not expose groundwater and surface water to radioactivity migration. The VSD has had some experience of this procedure during outbreaks of disease.

Satellite and aerial photos show that hydrocarbons are visually present in the basins at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant and without doubt so are visually unidentifiable radioactive liquids. This pollution comes from soil leaching and the breakdown of equipment and pipelines. Nuclear power plants need gasoline to function and especially to operate the emergency generators.

In these circumstances the cooling systems are beyond repair. Moreover cooling water polluted by hydrocarbons is unusable. Oil spills are also a menace from the exterior to nuclear power plants as is marine litter as it can clog up the filter drums.

For the last 30 years France and Japan have been steadily forging on towards a dazzling and unlimited nuclear energy.

Fast breeder reactors down, reprocessing of spent fuel, unnecessary reserves of plutonium, reactors packed up like sardines, internal discharges of waste and spent fuel, the Japanese and French governments have not stopped to consolidate, to reinforce, to encourage, to support, to complement, to glorify and to deceive each other in the field of civil nuclear power.

The radioactive particles which are escaping from the Fukushima power plant originate from mixed fuel consisting of uranium and plutonium made in France at Marcoule by AREVA.

In the long history of cooperation between France and Japan on nuclear issues, one should not forget MOX fuel which contains enriched uranium and plutonium. In October 1999, MOX shipments were transported by sea between Cherbourg and Japan. The Pacific Teal delivered MOX fuel, in the port of Okuma, which was destined for Fukushima, the very site where the nuclear reactors exploited by Tepco are in a state of crisis. The October 1999 delivery took place a couple of hours after a major accident on the Tokai-Mura nuclear site, today Tokai-Mura is also affected by the domino events following the earthquake and tsunami. In 1999, the Japanese government reduced communication on the subject and played down the effects on the workers 2 of whom were killed after exposure to radiation.

Both the n°2 and n°3 reactors at the Fukushima-Daiichi site have a 750 MW capacity, almost the double of the reactor n°1. It is thus probable that explosions similar to the one which occurred in the building of reactor n°1 would be more devastating and would release larger doses of radiation.

The reactor n°1 at Onagawa has a capacity of 498 MW and reactors n°2 and n°3 796 MW ; the reactors at Onagawa are also in a state of emergency.

In 2001 the co-director of the Nuclear Department in the Japanese Ministry and the head of the Japanese Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) wrote that “The nuclear plants are designed to withstand earthquakes by keeping at the adequate security level measures such as the shutting down of the nuclear reactor, the cooling down and the confinement of radioactive substances whatever the seismic solicitations conceivable on this particular site.” (Journal “Contrôle“ n° 142 French Nuclear Safety Authority Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire française.)