Japan Nuclear Crisis: Government Official Says Country Will Not Abandon Nuclear Power

TOKYO -- A top Japanese official says Japan will maintain atomic power as part of its energy policy despite the country's ongoing nuclear crisis.

Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku said Sunday that Japan will "stick to nuclear power as a national energy policy." He made the comment on a talk show on public broadcaster NHK.

Sengoku also said the government has no plans to halt nuclear reactors other than three at the Hamaoka power plant in central Japan. On Friday, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said he had asked the plant to suspend operations at the reactors until a seawall is built and backup systems are improved.

A March 11 earthquake and tsunami crippled the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in the north and left more than 25,000 people dead or missing.

Comments

[eareks]

01:03 PM on 05/14/2011

J O B S, NO ORATORY PEP-TALK!!!
Use US OIL reserves to stimulate the market!!!
Make tomorrow ALL USA made EV cars for 10K or less
Back to USD = GOLD/SILVER/PLATINUM back-up idea
Fire hopeless B.Bernanke...
Than you will walk FULL of GLORY....
AMEN

[brt 177]

03:25 PM on 05/11/2011

This article gives just barely enough information to start an uninformed debate. Are they going to continue building nuclear power plants after these have been decommissioned? Are they just not going to ever decommission these plants? Are they going to use these plants until they can get make back the initial investment they made when building them and then switch over to something cleaner?

I can understand using the nuclear fuel they have in reserve until they can actually build a solar/wind/geothermal plant or something along those lines; but if the plan is to never change, then that warrants a different reaction.

[HLL]

12:34 PM on 05/11/2011

Japan islanders oppose proposed nuclear plant, year after year
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-japan-nuclear-protest-20110504,0,2767498.story

Japan Veers Away from Nuclear Energy, May 11, 2011
"Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s decision to stop the building of new nuclear power plants and explore solar and wind energy signals a drastic turn in Japan’s energy policy that has brought a sigh of relief to wary scientists, anti-nuclear groups and an increasingly anxious public...."

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=55587

[DrStrangelov]

01:55 PM on 05/11/2011

the ones under construction will still be built

[HLL]

02:26 PM on 05/11/2011

Thanks for clarifying, Doc.
(What happened to all your fans? Fanned! ;-) ☮

[bad spelling grammar]

03:01 PM on 05/10/2011

Japan is the same country which has a massive jellyfish outbreak which is killing everything in its path. The Japanese fisherman deal with the issue by hurdling the jellyfish to the surface and then cut them up with spears and long knifes (same way they kill 25000 dolphins a year). The jellyfish have only one defense and that is to release all there sperm and eggs to mix and ensure their survival by creating new offspring. There are billions of eggs released creating more and more and more jellyfish and now the problem is considered a epidemic (like the plague). For being such a smart country I don’t understand how they have such a stupid approach to certain issues. Clearly they know by killing the jellyfish they are only creating billions more and yet the still DO IT. Japan still has a lot to learn about the concept of long term investment and this nuclear issue will only come back to haunt them again as long as they carelessly rely on short term results.

[Winston13]

05:11 PM on 05/10/2011

"In an unprecedented situation, a swarm of moon jellyfish drifted into the plant’s circulating cooling system on Oct. 21, clogging the protective screens and forcing production to nearly a dead halt.

Sharon Gavin, a PG&E spokesperson, said the jellyfish were each about as big as a human head. Although they caused no damage to the plant, the clog triggered an automatic safety system that forced operators to shut down one reactor and reduce the other reactor to half power.

Plant operators were not aware of the cause when water pressure numbers began to spike. Dive teams had to explore the cove that supplies the system with water to discover that the source of the problem was jellyfish. Gavin could not estimate how many jellyfish had jammed the screen.

The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission described it as “a rapid influx of jellyfish,” that flooded the system at 8:51 p.m. Gavin said plant operators plan for increased ocean debris after high winds, but jellyfish have never been an issue.

“This is really an abnormality,” she said."

http://www.newtimesslo.com/news/1211/suicidal-jellyfish-jam-diablo-canyon/

[bad spelling grammar]

05:46 PM on 05/10/2011

DAME I had no idea about that. thank for the link

[DrStrangelov]

10:21 PM on 05/10/2011

This is on the BOP side.

NSSS follows BOP. Jellyfish would have jammed any intake. The intake is transparent to how heat gets rejected. Could have been an oil plant. California outlawed coal a long time ago. That is why there are 4 nuclear reactors in So Cal. That and the population boom of the 70s and 80s.

[Greatest Darthfruit]

02:31 PM on 05/10/2011

they are doomed already

[Winston13]

10:38 AM on 05/10/2011

Time for a different headline, HP ... like this one:

Japan Nuclear Power Plans Scrapped

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/10/japan-nuclear-power-plans_n_859834.html#comments

[charles77]

04:28 PM on 05/10/2011

They are really saying the same thing. You article says they will look at adding more renewable, but does not say they are abandoning nuclear.

The plan they are "Scrapping" was to ONLY add nuclear in the future.

[Winston13]

05:02 PM on 05/10/2011

No, there are no plans in Japan to add ANY new nuclear power plants.

The "pillar" of future energy generation will be renewables. There will never be another reactor constructed in Japan, and as the renewables are brought online, the aging, dangerous existing reactors will gradually be decommissioned.

The Japanese have learned the lesson, they are awakening to the 21st Century and its new possibilities, and their reactors are heading for the scrap heap of history, where they belong.

[DrStrangelov]

10:23 PM on 05/10/2011

they might revise their nuclear plans to accomidate the other stuff. They still will probably build 6 or 8 of the original 15 planned, just after everything calms down and people are rational. When the rubber hits the road, and Japan finds out its not easy going away from nuclear, they will resolve to make it safer. Its the girl they too to the dance, and they have to dance with her.

[Lonesome Tears]

09:51 AM on 05/10/2011

No Moderation too?!?!
Wow!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/10/japan-nuclear-power-plans_n_859834.html

[Lonesome Tears]

09:49 AM on 05/10/2011

New Main
Japan Nuclear Power Plans Scrapped
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/10/japan-nuclear-power-plans_n_859834.html

[DrStrangelov]

10:57 AM on 05/10/2011

you guys hop from story to story like locusts

[carpediemfriends]

11:21 AM on 05/10/2011

can't keep us down - hard as you try!

[alvdh1]

11:47 AM on 05/10/2011

It is a lot better than hopping from lie to lie - which you seem so gifted at doing on this site. In addition, you would have to be hopping from one story to the next in order to ascertain our travels and therefore makes you the king of locusts.

[Lonesome Tears]

09:48 AM on 05/10/2011

Accelerated Aging Effects of Radiation on Materials At Fukushima Daiichi
http://theintelhub.com/2011/05/08/accelerated-aging-effects-of-radiation-on-materials-at-fukushima-daiichi/

[mrJJ]

09:31 AM on 05/10/2011

NHK NewsCrawl

The government has demanded TEPCO to make as much effort as it can if the utility is to receive state financial help in paying compensation over the accident at its Fukushima plant.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan says that from now on the government will focus on use of natural energy and measures to save energy, rather than on nuclear power.

TEPCO has detected high levels of radioactive materials in the spent fuel pool of Fukushima Daiichi's No.3 reactor.

Workers are adjusting gauges at the Fukushima Daiichi plant's Number 1 reactor to determine the level of water inside the vessel, which TEPCO plans to fill with water to ensure stable cooling.

Japanese nuclear scientists are calling for the creation of an independent professional nuclear watchdog, similar to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Japan's environment minister says the government will push for the introduction of renewable energy now that Chubu Electric has agreed to suspend operations at its Hamaoka nuclear plant.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
The governors of two Japanese prefectures say they need more information from the government before they can agree to resume operations at nuclear power plants in the prefectures.　　　　　　

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/index.html

[Lonesome Tears]

09:24 AM on 05/10/2011

Fukushima Daiichi also found the first site of strontium from the sea
http://translate.google.com/translate?js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.asahi.com%2Fspecial%2F10005%2FTKY201105080156.html

Strontium
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strontium

[mrJJ]

09:17 AM on 05/10/2011

TEPCO starts adjusting gauges at Unit 1

Workers at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in northeast Japan have started adjusting gauges at the plant's Number 1 reactor to ensure stable cooling.

The 9 workers started the work on Tuesday morning as part of a plan to fill the reactor's containment vessel with water.

The plant's operator, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, says it hopes to determine the level of water inside the vessel, which the firm plans to fill with water.

The firm installed radiation-proof mats containing lead at the site after a survey on Monday detected radiation levels of 7 to 12 millisieverts per hour nearby.

But the firm says the mats have reduced radiation by only about 10 percent, and that it must work out how to protect workers from exposure.

The firm also says the temperature of the plant's Number 3 reactor has been rising this month, and that work to pump water to cool the reactor may be insufficient.

The company says it is installing new pipes at the reactor and hopes to start pumping water through them on Thursday.
========
Now this is more like it : )

[Lonesome Tears]

09:56 AM on 05/10/2011

It sure is! I hope we see more and more GOOD NEWS jj.

[Lonesome Tears]

09:12 AM on 05/10/2011

I'm speechless...absolutely SPEECHLESS!

Canada and U.S. cut back radiation reporting
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2011/05/09/bc-radiation-monitoring.html

[nomorenames]

04:41 PM on 05/16/2011

Your point?

If you're alluding to the made up claims about radiation as propounded by such frauds as Caldicott you really need to study science. Anecdotally speaking... and a twisted version of that is all Helen has, my father personally witnessed 3 Atom bomb tests in the Pacific and the last time he saw a doctor the physician mistook him to be twenty years younger. What does that have to do with radiation? Absolutely nothing; yet if he had some for of cancer zealots on the left would try and claim him as a statistic.
The science of radiation is fairly well researched, and the scientific facts fly in the face of the rhetoric form the anti-nuclear left. In fact, rhetoric and fear mongering is all they really have.

[mrJJ]

09:11 AM on 05/10/2011

Fukushima, May 10 (Jiji Press)--Two months of efforts to contain the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant have left 30 workers exposed to radiation of 100 millisieverts or more on a cumulative basis as of Monday.
The Japanese government allows radiation exposure of up to 250 millisieverts for male workers at the plant under a special measure introduced after the nuclear crisis began on March 11, compared with the normal limit of 100 millisieverts.
Of the 30 workers, one has been exposed to more than 240 millisieverts, including internal exposure.
In addition, two female workers topped the legal limit of 5 millisieverts set for any three-month period.
There are some 200 workers deployed every day at the plant. Tokyo Electric Power Co. , the operator of the plant, faces the difficult task of making progress in containing the crisis while not endangering plant personnel.

[Lonesome Tears]

09:09 AM on 05/10/2011

Will Fukushima’s Next Earthquake Start A Global Extinction Event?
http://hawaiinewsdaily.com/2011/05/will-fukushimas-next-earthquake-start-a-global-extinction-event/

Live Cam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FptmoVcgpqg&feature=player_embedded

[RunningBecky]

09:55 AM on 05/10/2011

Actually we are already in a global extinction event. Climate change, pollution, etc has already assured that. Global extinction events do not happen in three days like Tthey do on TV. Their a relatively slow event and if you look at the massive, unprecidented numbers of species extinctions taking place, it is happening before our very eyes as we speak. Were particularly losing specis diversity. A massive (more then has happened already) radiation release would simply accelerate the process.
Question though. This website keeps saying the "cores have melted together." Do thiey mean the fuel in the reacters are melted together (which is partially true I believe) or that the whole cores in all four reacters are now one massive mess? If that's what their saying, of course that is not remotely true. What are they saying when they say that? I haven't figured that out yet so I don't know if it's true or not. Huggs Becky

[nomorenames]

04:54 PM on 05/16/2011

Climate change is an argument FOR nuclear power. Do the research. Study alpha particle, beta particle, gamma wave and x-ray radiation. Look at the normal background radiation around the world (it varies considerably form region to region). If you are worried only about radiation then a nuclear plant is by FAR the closet place to live near in most locations. A coal fired plant releases many times more radiation than a nuclear plant. Then local background radiation most of us live with is more. Smoking cigarettes expose you to more. Flying in an airplane exposes you to more.
We need a comprehensive energy solution, globally and nuclear has to be a part of that to reduce greenhouse gases. Solar and Wind cannot do ti by themselves. The amount of energy needed by emerging nations means a big crunch to come. That will not help stability. Also, newer generation nuclear designs are cheaper, modular and have the benefit if their revolutionary designs to not be able to be made to meltdown… even on purpose. We need all solutions now and the goal should be to decrease sources that release pollution and greenhouse causing gases, improve safety and lower the cost of energy while increasing access. Hard but not impossible... unless raving lunatics prevail in pushing voodoo science into our policies.