Hitachi is rushing to fill orders for giant turbine power generators. One of their first orders was sent off today. It’s being sent to Ibaraki Prefecture.
The turbine generator weighs 50 tons, and took an hour and a half to be hauled nine miles to the shipping yards.
Hitachi says it is being swamped with orders since it’s become clear the problems with nuclear generated power will last well into summer.
The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency of Japan, has asked three nuclear power plants to inspect their reactors for damage. This after the agency realized that the 11 March earthquake was stronger than what many nuclear power plants were designed to withstand.
Since then Japan has had more than 400 aftershocks, several in the 5 to 6 magnitude range, and at least two of magnitude 7. There is concern that nuclear plants already damaged by the 9.0 quake, will be further weakened by the aftershocks.
Work at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant has been continually interrupted by aftershocks. Currently employees are moving diesel generators to higher ground, because there is concern that there could be another big quake caused tsunami.
Fukushima Daiichi is not the only nuke plant damaged by the 11 March quake. Fukushima DaiNi, just a few miles away, has been struggling to keep its reactors cool, using external power. Also, in Miyagi Prefecture, there is Onagawa nuclear plant (owned by Tohoku Electric, not to be confused with Tokyo Electric). It too, has been struggling to keep its fuel pools cool with external power. One aftershock cut the power lines running to the plant. Onagawa had all its reactors shut down for maintenance prior to 11 March, so all the active fuel rods are in the spent fuel pools.
Matsumoto Kenichi, special adviser to Prime Minister Kan Naoto, says they are looking at using Germany’s eco-friendly city models to build a new home for refugees from the failed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
The concern is that so much contamination has spread around the 30km (18.6 miles) danger zone, that people will not be able to return for 30 years or more (just like Chernobyl).
The proposed refugee city would be based on eco-friendly projects undertaken by several German cities. The city should be self sustaining, and have no more than 100,000 residents. As in the German experiments, residents would grow their own crops, and produce their own electricity, which could be sold on the power grid. There would also be no car zones, and pedestrian only zones.
Japan should consider the German model for all its cities, not just a refugee city.
Subaru (also called Fuji in Japan) is stopping production in Louisiana. Just like other car makers, it’s because of lack of parts. The production shut down will take place on April 15, April 18 and April 25.
Subaru says the employees will be given other work on those days, so they can still be paid.
Tokyo Electric Power Company operates several nuclear power plants in Japan, not just Fukushima Daiichi. Some of those plants went off line because of the 11 March disasters. In fact many nuclear plants run by other companies are off line, that’s why the electricity shortage in Japan is so bad.
TEPCo announced that they will restart one reactor at their Kashiwazaki Kariwa plant, in Niigata Prefecture. The KK plant has four reactors. Reactor 1 is operational, but 2 through 4 are shut down.
They hope to get Reactor 3 up and running by the end of the year. Part of the delay is from a government ordered earthquake reinforcing program for the reactor buildings.
“Children have been rejected from evacuation centers. It’s really sad for them to be told, ‘Don’t come near, don’t come near’.”-Abe Sadayasu, Minamisoma City official
Adding insult to injury, many Japanese evacuees are reporting they’re being turned away from emergency shelters for health reasons.
The latest evacuees are coming from recently expanded nuclear evacuation zones. Emergency shelter operators believe the new evacuees are contaminated with radiation, and think it will spread to the other people in the shelters.
Surprisingly it’s not just shelters that have a fear of radiation, it’s Japanese hospitals. An 8 year old girl, with a skin condition, was refused treatment at a hospital for fear it was caused by radiation.
The current round of evacuees must show official ‘radiation free’ documents, or go through radiation contamination screening, before being let into shelters. Prefectural governments are now issuing radiation free certificates.
A shelter operator, who doesn’t want his name published, said they are doing it for “peace of mind” of the evacuees already in the shelters.
Even hotels are refusing customers from areas that are near the nuclear evacuation zones. “When I explained that I was from an area that was not even in the voluntary evacuation zone… the clerk responded: ‘You can’t stay here unless you have been tested and can prove you’re not a ‘hibakusha’.”-evacuee from Fukushima
Hibakusha is a term originally applied to survivors of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan, by the U.S., during World War 2. It’s a negative term, and you’re treated like a Leper (someone with Leprosy). The discrimination that’s taking place, against evacuees from radiation zones, shows how ignorant the Japanese people are when it comes to radiation. Which is amazing since they’ve experienced first hand nuclear attacks.
The government of Japan says conflicts between government agencies, not just TEPCo, delayed the raising of the nuclear crisis to the highest level of 7.
‘‘The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency and the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan said they could not vouch for the certainty of their estimates, so I told them to make a thorough, reliable analysis as soon as possible.’’-Edano Yukio, Chief Cabinet Secretary
The Fukushima Daiichi disaster would have been raised to level 7 on 23 March. It turns out that not only was Tokyo Electric Power Company’s data faulty, but two government agencies had limited their radiation readings to just three locations. On top of that they weren’t even sure their data was correct. This is what the Japanese taxpayers pay for?
Several times the IAEA, and Greenpeace, said radiation readings at many sites, were too high, and evacuation zones should be expanded. At one point a Japanese official said the data from Greenpeace would not be considered because Greenpeace was not a reliable source.
Chief Cabinet Secretary, Edano Yukio, indicated that Japan’s current safety standards are not the problem. It’s the enforcement, and lack of implementation of the standards that is the problem.
Sony has announced that they will start using the dreaded (for some people) Day Light savings, to help save electricity in a Japan now strapped for electrical power.
It’s expected that lack of electrical power will become more of a problem in summer, because that’s when demand normally goes up. There are several nuclear power plants off line, not just the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant.
Volkswagen has been considering taking over Japan’s Isuzu, in a joint venture with Germany’s truck maker MAN. They’re a little hesitant after the 11 March 2011 disasters.
VW is also working on a partnership with Suzuki. The German car maker has cited cultural differences as problems getting into the Japanese market, but now has to consider the damaged ‘just in time’ production practices in Japan, which is causing the current severe parts shortages.
Tokyo Electric Power Company president, Shimizu Masakatsu, is stepping down from his post as chairman of the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan. It is a direct result of the crisis at Fukushima Daiichi.
The FEPC is a kind of union, or club, of electrical power companies in Japan. Yagi Makoto, president of Kansai Electric Power Company, will replace Shimizu as chairman of FEPC.
Shimizu said he plans on resigning from one of Japan’s biggest nuke power lobby groups, Nippon Keidanren, as well.
