Re: [Marxism] Paper on Japanese nuclear reactors and earth quakes

[Lajany Otum <lajany_otum@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

 Les Schaffer writes:

<<i think the operators of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant have a genuine
headache on their hands. they know that the seismologists who rumbled
about fault lines were not off their rocker. PLUS, they had a genuine
strong event with acceleration profiles that were *double* the design
spec. this is not a good thing. Much was made of how the reactors were
quickly shut down when the seismic activity was detected. i say
mazel-tov. but what about all the structures designed for large
amplitude vibrations? do you go in and check ALL the welds and supports?
do you go look at your previous "factor of safety" and play "roll the
dice"? or do you just suppose that because there was no serious failure
during the quake, all structures are intact?

anyone for a little poker?>>

In poker, you might lose your shirt.... and Kashiwazaki is not the only 
plant cited above a major geological fault: the Hamaoka plant in 
Shizuoka is generally judged to be the most precarious of the lot: 

The world?s biggest nuclear power station stands directly above an active 
earthquake faultline, which provoked an atomic spill this week, seismologists 
revealed yesterday.

The disclosure that the Kashiwazaki plant was prone to further earthquake 
damage threw Japan?s nuclear industry into crisis as seismologists recommended 
that up to a third of the country?s 55 atomic power stations should be closed 
for inspection.

In addition to the seismic threat to the Kashiwazaki plant, scientists 
identified an active threat to one of Japan?s oldest nuclear power stations and 
demanded that it should be closed immediately.

The former head of the country?s top authority on earthquake prediction told 
The Times that the Shizuoka plant posed a serious safety risk and that atomic 
experts were calling for it to be shut down. 

Professor Kiyoo Mogi, of Tokyo University, the former chairman of the 
Co-ordinating Committee of Earthquake Prediction Japan, said it was ?hard at 
this stage to say how many nuclear power plants should be stopped?. He added: 
?But I can say Hamaoka power plant in Shizuoka should be stopped immediately.?

The precarious state of the Kashiwazaki plant was underscored by an earthquake 
on Monday that knocked over hundreds of drums of nuclear waste, many of which 
split open during the tremors. The town?s mayor ordered all activity at the 
power station to be suspended indefinitely. It was shut down temporarily during 
the quake.

The suspension, and the threat of widespread disruption to nuclear plants 
around the country, was likely to herald ?a hot summer of blackouts? in parts 
of central Japan, according to energy analysts. The power shortages would 
affect factories and businesses across the region. Japan, which has almost no 
oil or gas reserves, generates 33 per cent of its electricity in nuclear power 
stations, but the Government hopes to increase this to 40 per cent by 2010.

The revelations of Kashiwazaki?s geological weakness dealt a massive blow to 
the credibility of the Tokyo High Court and to the National Institute of 
Advanced Industrial Science and Technology ? the government- affiliated body 
whose survey showed the fault to be about 15km (nine miles) from the plant.

In 2005, fearing the effects of a large quake, a group of residents fought to 
have Kashiwazaki?s license to build a new reactor revoked. The Tokyo High Court 
rejected the plaintiffs? claim that an active fault ran under the station, 
concluding that what the residents thought was an active fault ?did not even 
amount to a fault and could not cause a quake?. Atomic experts said yesterday 
that the discovery may dramatically challenge the safety of the entire atomic 
energy supply in Japan and that as many as a third of the country?s 55 nuclear 
power stations might have to be suspended until they were made sufficiently 
quake-proof to be restarted.

The chaotic response by the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) to the 
earthquake and its after-effects prompted Mohamed ElBaradei, the 
Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, to demand that 
Japan should conduct a full examination of the plant. ?Japan needs to go into 
full investigation of the structure, of the systems, of the components of the 
reactor,? he said, offering to send a team of IAEA experts to assist.

Reflecting growing concerns that Tepco may be unaware of or has concealed the 
extent of the damage at Kashiwazaki, Dr ElBaradei added: ?I would hope that 
Japan would be fully transparent in its investigation of the accident.? The 
catalogue of problems so far discovered by investigators at Kashiwazaki 
includes several leaks of radioactive materials, a fire, and the toppling of 
438 drums of low-level radioactive waste. Hiroshi Aida, the Mayor of 
Kashiwazaki, said that his staff?s own investigation had found that the ground 
on which the plant was built had been distorted and suffered several cave-ins.

The Japanese Government fiercely attacked the sloppy response of Tepco.

Akira Fukushima, the deputy director-general for nuclear safety, said: ?We 
definitely think the report from Tepco was delayed, and this is very serious.?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article2096238.ece







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