Video Summary of Fuel Transfer in Reactor 4 Spent Fuel Pool at #Fukushima I NPP on 11/18/2013

Source: EX-SKF Blog
Date: 11/18/2013
In this, I don't blame TEPCO for not having posted a video of the entire work (9 to 10 hours) on November 18, 2013.

The preparation for submerging the cask started in the morning, with the cask submerged completely at 12:30PM. The removal of unused (new) fuel assemblies into the cask started at 3:18PM, and by 6:45PM 4 unused fuel assemblies were transferred into the cask.

The names of the companies and the names of the workers are blurred in the video. They could be TEPCO workers, but most likely from one of the primary contractors.

From TEPCO's photos and videos library (11/19/2013):

...
Read the rest of this great blog here.

11/18/2013 Removal of nuclear fuel rods begins at Fukushima I

Fukushima I Unit 4, Spent Fuel Rod Removal Training  Photo Credit: NHK World

Removal of the unit 4 spent fuel pool nuclear fuel rods has begun today (11/18/2013) at Fukushima I. The process will take more than a year to complete. See NHK's Removal of nuclear fuel begins at Fukushima article for video and Asian Gazette Blog by Joël Legendre-Koizumi for further details.

7/23/13 Deplorable Radiation Surges & TEPCO Lies More!

Source: MsMilkytheclown1
Date: 7/23/2013

Video Description

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/englis...
Industry ministry official slams TEPCO

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/englis...
TEPCO shows media work to harden soil, halt leak

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/englis...
Suga: TEPCO must stop leak quickly

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/englis...
Fishermen in Fukushima angry at TEPCO over leak

Decontamination slow, effectiveness in doubt
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/englis...

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/englis...
Nuclear regulator rebukes TEPCO

Experts estimate decontamination costs at $50 bil. (it's Now uploaded in video form on NHK since I finshed rendering project)
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/englis...

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/englis...
Govt. report urges fiscal reconstruction

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/englis...
Nuclear regulator delays safety inspections

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/englis...
Business groups react to Abe's election victory

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/englis...
China environment fair features Japan technology

this one is new since I finished rendering project:
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/englis...
Radioactive materials found near Fukushima Daiichi

Highly radioactive materials have been found in a town near the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The plant operator says they are likely to have been contaminated in the March 2011 nuclear accident.
Four radioactive substances were found last month and this month on the riverbed of the Ide River that runs through Naraha Town in Fukushima Prefecture.
Tokyo Electric Power Company checked the radioactive cesium in the materials. The utility says the ratio of cesium 137, whose half-life is about 30 years, is higher than that of cesium 134, whose half-life is about 2 years.
TEPCO says a similar ratio is found in materials detected more than 2 years after radioactive contamination.
The company says it is trying to identify the substances. It is not known why they were discovered about 15 kilometers from the nuclear plant.
TEPCO officials say it is possible they were blown by hydrogen explosions in the 2011 disaster or were emitted by the plant around that time.

important video:
BBC: It's Boiling Inside Fukushima Unit No. 3 (with MOX Fuel) !
http://youtu.be/AmtvUWYHrDg

Latest Headlines: http://enenews.com/

Gizmodo: Entirely possible leaking nuclear material from Fukushima is going to U.S. and Canada — Bloomberg: "Fish contamination concerns have spread beyond Japan"

Senior Japan Officials: Nuclear material flowing into ocean a 'grave matter' — Situation at Fukushima is 'deplorable' (VIDEO)

BBC: It's boiling inside Fukushima Unit No. 3 — Reactor supposed to be in cold shutdown — Situation 'worrying'

AFP: 'Fukushima reactor site engulfed by steam' — Kyodo: 'Something like steam' coming from unknown source at Unit No. 3 — Tepco: 'Continuously wafting through the air' — Work to remove rubble suspended

Japan Times: 'Fears marine life is being poisoned' by nuclear material flowing from Fukushima — Experts warn of 'festering radioactive sore' contaminating food chain — Tepco flip-flop 'shocking'

Gundersen: Fukushima tanks releasing x-rays in very high quantities offsite — Exposure to people outside plant is very, very high from 'Bremsstrahlung' phenomenon — Hundreds of tanks could easily start leaking after quake (VIDEO)

"Worrisome" spike in deadly birth defects around leaking U.S. nuclear site — Officials claim "it could be a complete coincidence" — No news reports mention it's by the most contaminated area in Western Hemisphere #Hanford

AP: Tepco admits radioactive water is flowing into Pacific from Fukushima plant — AFP: Experts warn of effects on humans; "Fears of ocean contamination"

'Fukushima cancer risk surges' — Ongoing saga at nuclear plant 'dangerously murkier' — Over 10 times more workers suffered cancer-inducing radiation doses than Tepco admitted

AFP: Steaming Fukushima reactor is 'baffling' — Tepco: We still don't know what caused it and are currently investigating

songs by HumbleHorsemen "when the bombs fall" on soundcloud
and
Jonathan Mann on YouTube SongADayMann Sick and your monster's come to life

---

12/17/2012 More Lessons From the Fukushima Daiichi Accident

Source: Fairewinds Energy Education
Date: 12/17/2012
by: Arnie Gundersen

Description
In this Monday's video, Fairewinds investigates a recently released report from Tokyo Electric. Arnie Gundersen discusses TEPCO's latest analysis that, almost two years after the accident, fully substantiates Fairewinds long held position that the explosion at Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3 was the result of a detonation shock wave. Arnie also discusses troubling reports that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has been avoiding the analysis of damage to many nuclear plants' emergency cooling systems (Ultimate Heat Sink) from storm surges, tsunamis or dam failures. The ramifications of both of these issues on old designs and also the AP1000 are also analyzed in depth.

11/1/2012 Fukushima Crime Syndicate

Source: Breaking the Set
Date: 11/1/2012
by: Abby Martin

Description
Abby Martin takes a look at the intertwined relationship between the Japanese Yakuza crime syndicate and the nuclear energy industry in Japan.
LIKE Breaking the Set @ http://fb.me/BreakingTheSet 
FOLLOW Abby Martin @ http://twitter.com/AbbyMartin

6/27/2012 Fukushima report prompts anger at TEPCO meeting

Source: ABC Radio Australia
Date: 27 June 2012, 11:53 AEST

In its report, TEPCO denies ever hiding information, blames the government for confusion and delays, and rejects suggestions it ever downplayed the seriousness of the meltdowns. (Credit: Reuters)

Anger against the company has intensified, after it released an in-house report into the disaster, in which it denies ever hiding information and blames the Japanese Government for confusion and delays.
...
Read the rest here

6/27/2012 Fukushima operator to be nationalized

Source: RT News
Date: 27 June, 2012, 14:16

Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s (Tepco) Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant in Okuma Town, Fukushima Prefecture (AFP Photo / Tomohiro Ohsumi)

Shareholders of Japan’s Tepco power company, which operates the troubled Fukushima nuclear plant, have approved the nationalization of the company through a $12.58 billion cash injection from the Government.
... 
Read the rest here

5/26/2012 Nuclear Crisis/Environment Minister and Reporters visit Fukushima No.4

Source: CNTV, NHK World


Environment minister Goshi Hosono and four reporters are given a tour of Fukushima No.4, where the spent fuel rods are housed. The storage pool contains 1,535 fuel rods. This is at a time when there are fears that the spent fuel pool could collapse if there is another earthquake, and cause a massive release of radiation.

2/29/2012 Japanese Government Softened Tsunami Warning 8 Days Before One Hit Fukushima

Source: AllGov.com
Date: Wednesday, February 29, 2012

At the behest of nuclear power companies, government officials in Japan softened language relating to the threat of earthquake-produced tsunamis only eight days before last year’s disaster.   In early March 2011, representatives of Tokyo Electric Power Co., Tohoku Electric Power Co. and Japan Atomic Power Co. asked the secretariat of the Earthquake Research Committee to amend a draft document discussing the possibility of a huge tsunami striking the northeast part of the country. ... Read the rest here

2/2/2012 Shining the Light on the Triple Meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi

Source: Fairewinds Associates
Date: 2/5/2012
by: Arnie Gundersen


CCTV host Margaret Harrington interviews Maggie and Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds Energy Education Corp regarding the triple meltdown in March 2011 at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. There were ample warnings that both TEPCO and Japan's regulators ignored steps that would have prevented this tragedy. Throughout the world, nuclear oversight has been compromised by the revolving door and cozy relationship between the nuclear industry and the so-called nuclear regulators who promote nuclear power rather than regulate.

1/12/2012 Accident at Second Japanese Nuclear Complex

Source: Washington's Blog
Date: 1/12/2012

The Japanese Nuclear Accident You Never Heard About

You’ve heard about the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex.
But there was another Japanese nuclear accident last year.

12/30/2011 The Yakuza and the Nuclear Mafia: Nationalization Looms for TEPCO

Source: The Atlantic Wire
Date: 12/30/2011 10:42 AM ET
by: Jake Adelstein 

Mari Kurisato

Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the monolithic corporation that controls all electric power in Greater Tokyo, and runs the Fukushima Daichii nuclear plant that experienced a triple meltdown following the March 11 earthquake, is on the brink of nationalization according to Japanese government sources. The official reason is that the firm may not be able to handle the massive compensation payments it owes to victims of the meltdown without going bankrupt. Unofficially, the firm has such long-standing ties to anti-social forces, including the yakuza—that some members of the Diet, Japan’s national legislature, feel the firm is beyond salvation and needs to be taken over and cleaned up. A Japanese Senator with the Liberal Democratic Party stated on background, "TEPCO's involvement with anti-social forces and their inability to filter them out of the work-place is a national security issue. It is one reason that increasingly in the Diet we are talking de facto nationalization of the company. Nuclear energy shouldn't be in the hands of the yakuza. They're gamblers and an intelligent person doesn't want them to have atomic dice to play with."
...
Read the rest here

11/22/2011 Fukushima: “China Syndrome Is Inevitable” … “Huge Steam Explosions”, “Massive Hydrovolcanic Explosion” or a “Nuclear Bomb-Type Explosion” May Occur

Source: Washington's Blog
Date: 11/22/2011

Fukushima May Blow

I’ve repeatedly noted that we may experience a “China syndrome” type of accident at Fukushima.
For example, I pointed out in September:

Mainichi Dailly News notes:

As a radiation meteorology and nuclear safety expert at Kyoto University’s Research Reactor Institute, Hiroaki Koide [says]:
The nuclear disaster is ongoing.
***
At present, I believe that there is a possibility that massive amounts of radioactive materials will be released into the environment again.
At the No. 1 reactor, there’s a chance that melted fuel has burned through the bottom of the pressure vessel, the containment vessel and the floor of the reactor building, and has sunk into the ground. From there, radioactive materials may be seeping into the ocean and groundwater.
***
The government and plant operator TEPCO are trumpeting the operation of the circulation cooling system, as if it marks a successful resolution to the disaster. However, radiation continues to leak from the reactors. The longer the circulation cooling system keeps running, the more radioactive waste it will accumulate. It isn’t really leading us in the direction we need to go.
It’s doubtful that there’s even a need to keep pouring water into the No.1 reactor, where nuclear fuel is suspected to have burned through the pressure vessel. Meanwhile, it is necessary to keep cooling the No. 2 and 3 reactors, which are believed to still contain some fuel, but the cooling system itself is unstable. If the fuel were to become overheated again and melt, coming into contact with water and trigger a steam explosion, more radioactive materials will be released.
***

 We are now head to head with a situation that mankind has never faced before.

11/3/2011 Criticality Confusion at Fukushima Daiichi

After checking the RadiationNews™ Google gadget, I noticed ENENEWS (the tab one to the right of this feed) has highlighted that The Japan Times is calling for an investigation to determine the true seriousness of the condition now at the melted down Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.  In The Japan Times article Find out true reactor conditions from 11/4/2011 JST it is reported that re-criticality (a sustained fission reaction) has occurred and that TEPCO has initially (on Tuesday 11/1/2011 JST) reported localized temporary criticality:

[...]

Because the half life of xenon-133 is 5.25 days and that of xeon-135 is 9.14 hours, criticality is very likely to have occurred just before the gases were analyzed.

Although more than seven months have passed since the start of the nuclear fiasco, clearly the reactor has not yet been stabilized. Tepco's plan to achieve "cold shutdown" of the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 reactors by the end of this year may face difficulty.

The fact that Tepco cannot deny the possibility of criticality irrespective of its scale is a grave situation. The conditions are similar in the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 reactors. It is thought that nuclear fuel in them melted and has collected in the bottom of both the pressure and containment vessels.

[...]

After claiming that possible criticality was indicated by release of various isotopes of Xenon gas TEPCO has now backtracked to say it is only a spontaneous fission reaction of curium (a less serious condition).  So what is really true?  TEPCO has had a tendency to lie, downplay and delay releasing news concerning their crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant so it is likely that something more serious is going on than what they are attempting to present to the public.  For example, per the ENENEWS article Krypton-85 up over 14,000% in one day at Reactor No. 2 — Kr-85 used to detect “plutonium separations” the existence of Krypton-85 in Fukushima Daiichi reactor 2 is indicative of plutonium fission.

4/29/2011 True Stories by An Ex-TEPCO Nuclear Designer "TEPCO Is A Terrible Company"

Source: tokybrowntabby
Date: Video dated 4/29/2011 uploaded 10/6/2011

Please click on "cc" to show English subtitles. Mr. Toshio Kimura is a former nuclear designer at TEPCO. He used to work at Fukushima-1 Nuclear Power Plant. When the earthquake/tsunami hit, he was living 15km west of the plant, operating his own business of solar power generation, surfing on his free time. After the explosion of Unit 1 reactor, he and his family evacuated to Kochi Prefecture, where they live now.

Mr. Kimura has given talks at various anti-nuclear rallies around the country. This video is one of his talks at the rally held in Kochi Prefecture on April 29, 2011.

*********************************************************
The rest of his talk goes like this:
*********************************************************
As to the situation of the plant, 70% of the fuel in Unit 1 have melted. I haven't looked at the most recent data, but the reactor pressure is increasing, the radiation dose inside the containment vessel is increasing, and iodine-131 is not decreasing. It has started to decrease a bit recently, though. All this means is there definitely has been re-criticality until recently. Because, as you know, the half life of iodine-131 is only 8 days. And yet, after more than a month from the accident, we still see an increase in the level of iodine-131. That itself proves there has been re-criticality, because otherwise iodine shouldn't have been produced. A neutron hits the atom of uranium-235, the atom splits, and iodine-131 is produced. That's how the nuclear fission occurs. And through the mechanism that can be explained by Einstein's theory of relativity, heat is produced. The heat boils water to create steam, and the steam spins the turbin. The turbines are connected in series and drive the electrical generator to produce electricity. This is the mechanism of electricity generation.

Iodine-131 is not produced unless neutrons cause nuclear fission. That's why I'm saying there has been re-criticality. Nuclear Safety Commission won't admit it. TEPCO won't admit it. The government won't admit it. But really there has been re-criticality until very recently. This is the fact. Any professional with the knowledge of physics of nuclear reactor can tell. This re-criticality issue is one of the things they are hiding from you.

Another lie is that 0.24 microsievert/h is safe. This is wrong.

These are the things I wanted to tell you today. Here in Kochi, you don't have to worry too much because Kochi is quite far from Fukushima. But please look at the radiation dispersion forecast by the German Weather Service. If you notice the north-east wind is blowing throughout Japan, don't ever let children get wet in the rain. And women who want to have children in the future. Don't let them go outside on such days. We, middle-aged men are okay, including me.

It's because cesium-137 is dangerous. Its half life is 30 years. It's dangerous because it tends to accumulate in muscles. Men have relatively more muscle. Even if cesium-137 gets absorbed inside their bodies, it spreads thinly throughout their muscles. On the other hand, women don't have much muscle, and the absorbed cesium tends to concentrate in the organs like mammary gland and uterus. It may increase the incidence of breast cancer. But this is something you can prevent if you have the knowledge. If you have to go outside on such days, please wet the gauze inside the mask first and put on the mask before you go out.

Also, you have to be careful with iodine, too, while it is still released. Iodine accumulates in seaweed and it is easily absorbed from your hair. So, one way to prevent iodine absorption is to put on a hat so that your hair won't get wet from the rain.

You haven't heard about such things, have you? Nobody tells you that. The government doesn't tell, either. But I wanted to let you know. That's why I came here today.

I don't want to talk too long, but one last thing.

I hear some wise old men protected a very beautiful fountain located within the radius of 30km from Chernobyl plant. How they protected it is mysterious. I studied nuclear energy intensively and I studied physics to some extent. But still I believe in an invisible power. Those wise old men didn't evacuate after the accident. How did they protect the fountain? By prayer. I'm not sure how many of you believe in the power of prayer. But if you can believe in it, even if just a little, then please pray in the morning that the Fukushima-1 nuke plant may rest in peace. And remember, we've benefited from radioactivity because it produces electricity. So, please pray that the radiation will be neutralized and vanished by our sense of gratitude and our love. I hope we'll pull together and pass that prayer over to the next generation.

That's all I had to say. Thank you.

*********************************************************
Translation and captioning by tokyobrowntabby.

10/6/2011 Fukushima nuclear plant worker dies

Source: The Telegraph
Date: 1:23PM BST 06 Oct 2011

A worker at Japan's disaster-stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant has died, its operator said, adding that the death was not necessarily related to radioactive leaks.

The Fukushima nuclear site after the tsunami Photo: EPA

1:23PM BST 06 Oct 2011

The male worker, in his 50s, was taken to hospital for treatment on Wednesday after feeling ill during a regular morning assembly at the plant, some 140 miles north of Tokyo, according to Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO).
...
Read full article here

Editor's Note: This is the third reported Fukushima worker death.  TEPCO historically is a proven liar, so if they said this guy did not die from radiation, take it with a grain of salt.

Second Fukushima worker death: August 30, 2011 Fukushima worker dies of acute leukemia
First Fukushima worker death: May 14, 2011 10:32 PM Worker dies at damaged Fukushima nuclear plant
 

10/5/2011 Yakuza possibly involved in TEPCO sub-contracting of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear workers

Both ENENEWS and EX-SKF Blog had recent articles pertaining to the "pointy guy" or "camera guy" (Takeuchi) who has famously stood in front of the TEPCO webcam at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in radiation protective gear and pointed his finger directly at the camera.


So why was he pointing?  "I would like to request that TEPCO and the government improve in a tangible way how they contract work to subcontractors and how they monitor the employment situation.", says pointy guy as quoted from EX-SKF Blog.  Also according to EX-SKF Blog "pointy guy" believes the Yakuza are gathering sub-contractors for TEPCO for the dangerous Fukushima Daiichi nuclear work:

[...]
As has been much reported, some workers have been forced to work here by the outlaw element [i.e. "yakuza" or the Japanese mafia]. Such workers are disguised as being employed by legitimate contractors but have to accept an unfair or severe employment conditions. Sometimes even the legitimate contractors who post recruitment information at employment Offices don't know who their workers' true contractors are. The excessive multi-layered subcontracting leads to various problems such as lower wages, no insurance, and no contract document, as has been reported.
[...]

The "pointy guy" or "camera guy" (Takeuchi) apparently showed up at a recent TEPCO press conference and said the following according to ENENEWS:

[...] I was working for a sub-contract company at Fukushima in August. [...]
Media is banned to go into the plant site. Is it because media might see and report Yakuza people are working there ?
I actually saw people with Yakuza tatoo [sic] in the backroom. Is it not to let the media report the truth in the plant ?

Matsumoto, spokesman of TEPCO stumbled in his response as per ENENEWS:

Well, um, ah regarding of the Fukushima nuclear plant, eh [...]
The reason why we don’t disclose the actual situation inside is [...]
One of them is, um, because it’s in the caution zone and [...] From our point of view, now, um, [...] we are trying our best, so, ah [...] um, well, there is also the problem of exposure of the reporters. [...]
In that meaning, for now, discussing with the government and um.. [...] we can not disclose the actual situation inside of the plant.

Apparently this is not a new phenomenon in Japan.  There is an old 1995 documentary titled Nuclear Ginza which details how the Yakuza have recruited homeless and poor people from off the streets for high risk nuclear worker jobs in the past.

Nuclear Ginza: Japan's secret at-risk labor force Part 1/2


Nuclear Ginza: Japan's secret at-risk labor force Part 2/2

8/30/2011 Nuclear plant worker dies of acute leukemia

Source: Mainichi Daily News
Date: 8/30/2011

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- A worker in his 40s who had been engaged in recovery work at the crisis-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has died of acute leukemia, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Tuesday.
...
Read full article here

8/26/2011 Newly Released TEPCO Data Proves Fairewinds Assertions of Significant Fuel Pool Failures at Fukushima Daiichi

Source: Fairewinds Associates
Date: 8/26/2011
by: Arnie Gundersen


New TEPCO data measured on August 19 & 20 shows severe damage to the spent fuel in Fukushima Daiichi Units 1, 2, and 3. The adjacent TEPCO table posted on the front page shows incredibly high levels of Cesium 137 and Cesium 134 in all three spent fuel pools of Units 1, 2, & 3. This TEPCO data clearly contradicts and refutes the July assertion by the NRC the Fukushima Daiichi spent fuel pools were not damaged in this tragic accident. Crytome (cry to me) has a new high resolution photo, also uploaded, that shows the extensive damage of the Unit 3 spent fuel pool and the reactor building. Check it out.

TEPCO report on spent fuel pool water in unit 1-4: http://fairewinds.com/content/fukushima-daiichi-nuclear-power-station-analysi...

Photograph of damaged reactor 3: http://fairewinds.com/content/new-build-3-damage-photo-published-crytome

8/21/2011 [Inside Fukushima plant]

Source: Fukushima Diary
Date: 8/21/2011
by: Mochizuki

A young journalist went inside of the Fukushima plant getting disguised as an actual worker.
1) There is no ID check to get in.
2) They pay you 10,000JPY per 1mSv exposure. so if you are exposed to 10mSv in total,you are paid 100,000JPY.
3) The contract was 70,000JPY per day but it was actually about 13,000JPY.
4) Workers are really demotivated.Some of them are disaster refugees. They can’t help working there to earn the living.
5) He took pictures inside,he will publish them later.
6) There are at least 6 layers of sub-contract companies.The lowest level of the workers come and leave only for one day.However,nobody checks it.
7) Because of (6),workers don’t know each other.
There is no Geiger counter in the facility. They hang a sheet of paper to show “the current” radiation level ,which is hand writing,at cafeteria,but it was still “April”.(He went there in August.)
http://www.videonews.com/special-report/031040/002026.php