available free from Lerner eSource.
The January 27, 2012, Fukushima status report of the International Atomic Energy Agency reports this good news:
"Plant operators have brought the reactors into a 'cold shutdown condition' defined by TEPCO and the Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters as:
1) Lowering the coolant water temperature to below 100 degrees centigrade while reducing the pressure inside the reactor vessels to the same as the outside air pressure, or 1 atmosphere (atm); and
2) Bringing release of radioactive materials from primary containment vessels under control and reducing the public radiation exposure by additional release (not to exceed 1 mSv/year at the site boundary as a target)."
"Anti-nuclear movement growing in Asia" by Winifred Bird, Christian Science Monitor, January 27, 2012. Sub-headline: "Though nuclear power still has a strong foothold in Asia, anti-nuclear sentiment and protest are growing from Mongolia to South Korea to Taiwan and even - in modest ways - in China."
The section heading on page 46 of Meltdown! asks this question: "Is Nuclear Power Worth the Risk?" The section doesn't answer the question but describes the ongoing international debate about it. This article shows that the debate is continuing, and that the answer to the question is not a simple one.
"Federal Regulators Approve Two Nuclear Reactors in Georgia" by Matthew L. Wald, New York Times, February 9, 2012
This article discusses not only the news of the license approvals for two new reactors, but also the continuing questions about the long-term future of nuclear power in the United States. The approval came on a 4-1 vote, and the Fukushima meltdowns were the reason for that one objection. "The sole vote against approval was cast by the commission's chairman, Gregory B. Jaczko. He said the license would not assure that all of the safety improvements sought by the agency in response to Japan's Fukushima disaster would be accomplished before the reactors begin operating in 2016 and 2017."
"Japan Ignored Nuclear Risks, Official Says" by Hiroko Tabuchi, New York Times, February 15, 2012.
This goes along with page 45 of Meltdown!, which notes: "Nuclear power plant technology can be safe. Yet the Fukushima Daiichi power plant suffered three meltdowns, two major explosions, and several fires that sent radioactivity into the environment. None of those failures should have happened." (Emphasis in original)
"Crippled Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant at One Year: Back in the Disaster Zone" by David McNeill, The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol 10, Issue 9, No 4, February 27, 2012. An award winning journalist returns to Fukushima Daiichi one year after the meltdowns and describes the slow pace and challenges of recovery.
"Japan feared 'demonic chain reaction' at reactor, report says by John M. Glionna, Los Angeles Times, Feb. 28, 2012. The subheadline notes: "Officials feared they would have to evacuate Tokyo even as they assured the public that things were under control at the Fukushima nuclear plant, a panel finds." I include this link with some reluctance. The factual information is useful, but the language of the article is potentially biasing in the anti-nuclear direction. For example, the term "chain reaction" does not refer to a nuclear chain reaction, which is the source of energy in a nuclear power plant, but rather a succession of meltdowns and explosions that could have potentially made the disaster much worse than Chernobyl.
Also, it discusses a worst-case scenario and there is considerable debate over whether that scenario was realistic or plausible. Certainly, the policy-makers needed to be aware of that scenario and develop contingencies for it. And certainly serious researchers need to have access to the panel's deliberations. But non-expert readers may not recognize the full context surrounding the material in this article.
"Japanese Prime Minister Says Government Shares Blame for Nuclear Disaster" by Hiroko Tabuchi, New York Times, March 3, 2012. As Meltdown! notes, the political decisions about the future of nuclear power are going to be difficult--even in Japan. As the article notes in its opening paragraph, Japan's new prime minister recognizes the need for nuclear power as well as new policies to deal with it. "Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda of Japan acknowledged ... that the government shared the blame for the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, saying that officials had been blinded by a false belief in the country's technological infallibility, even as he vowed to push for the idled reactors to be restarted."
"Japan's Nuclear Energy Industry Nears Shutdown, at Least for Now" by Martin Fackler, New York Times, March 8, 2012. As Japanese nuclear plants shut down for routine maintenance, they are not restarting because of objections from citizens who live near them. Only two of Japan's 54 nuclear plants are still operating, and that is causing economic hardship and other difficulties associated with a limited electricity supply. This article shows the mixed feelings that many Japanese people are experiencing with respect to nuclear power as the country struggles to recover from the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami.
"Nuclear Disaster in Japan Was Avoidable, Critics Contend" by Martin Fackler, New York Times, March 9, 2012. This article reports that "some insiders from Japan's tightly knit nuclear industry have stepped forward to say that Tepco [Tokyo Electric Power Company] and regulators had for years ignored warnings of the possibility of a larger-than-expected tsunami in northeastern Japan, and thus failed to take adequate countermeasures, such as raising wave walls or placing backup generators on higher ground." Other critics include James M. Acton and Mark Hibbs of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, whose op-ed entitled "Fukushima Could Have Been Prevented" appeared in the Times on the same date.
"Japan's nuclear crisis: Fukushima's legacy of fear" by Geoff Brumfiel and Ichiko Fuyuno, Nature, vol. 483, issue 7388, pp. 138-140, March 8, 2012. Subheadline summary: "Japan's worst-ever nuclear accident displaced more than 100,000 people. Many could now safely return home. Yet mistrust of the government prolongs their exile." An editorial on page 123 of the same issue, entitled "Lessons of a triple disaster," notes the following in its subheadline: "The aftermath of the biggest earthquake in Japan's history, and the tsunami and nuclear disaster that followed, offers a map for preparing for the next catastrophe." Those are two of several useful online articles of a special news feature section of Nature called "The Japanese tsunami: After Shocks."
"Over the Rainbow: If there are better ways to split atoms, they will be a long time coming", The Economist, March 10, 2012, looks at the future of nuclear power, other power sources, and the impact of Fukushima in a world where climate change is becoming an increasingly more important issue. The conclusion (similar to Meltdown's) is: "In a low-emissions world, the role for nuclear will be limited to whatever level of electricity demand remains when renewables are deployed as far as possible."
Fukushima FAQs Fukushima Frequently Asked Questions page of the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) which is part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an intergovernmental organization of industrialized countries. The NEA's mission is "To assist its member countries in maintaining and further developing, through international co-operation, the scientific, technological and legal bases required for a safe, environmentally friendly and economical use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. To provide authoritative assessments and to forge common understandings on key issues as input to government decisions on nuclear energy policy and to broader OECD policy analyses in areas such as energy and sustainable development." In other words, it promotes the use of nuclear energy but also helps governments develop policies and regulations that can make it safe.
"Fukushima was preventable, experts say" by David Kramer, Physics Today daily edition, March 22, 2012. Subheadline: "A year after Japan's disaster, improvements in US reactor safety are still in process." Excerpt "One year after the accident, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission is close to issuing several orders to US plant operators in response to lessons learned from Fukushima. One of the orders will require NRC licensees to implement 'mitigating strategies' for accidents that exceed the worst case accident scenarios considered at the time the plants were built."
"Radiation Decontamination in Fukushima: a critical perspective from the ground" by Miguel Quintana. The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus, March 26, 2012. This article discusses the progress that the Japanese are making toward cleaning the areas radioactively contaminated by the Fukushima meltdowns to enable people to return to their homes and farms.
"One of Japan's damaged reactors has high radiation, little water, renewing stability concerns" by Mari Yamaguchi, Associated Press, Minneapolis Star-Trbune, March 27, 2012. Even though all Tokyo Electric Power workers have achieved "cold shutdown" for all three reactors that melted down at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in the March 2011 disaster, an internal examination of one of them (reactor #2) with special equipment raises concern about its stability. The other two reactors (#1 and #3) are more difficult to examine. To quote the article: "The data collected Tuesday showed the damage from the disaster is so severe, the plant operator will have to develop special equipment and technology to tolerate the harsh environment and decommission the plant, a process expected to last decades. The other two reactors that had meltdowns could be in even worse shape. The No. 2 reactor is the only one officials have been able to closely examine so far."
"Japan nuke-free for the first time since '70," Japan Times, May 6, 2012. Japan's last operating nuclear reactor has shut down for maintenance. Although the government hopes to begin restarting nuclear reactors in time for the summer air-conditioning season, public concern after the Fukushima meltdowns is standing in the way. The Japanese economy suffered badly in 2011 when the country began importing natural gas to generate electricity to replace the temporarily lost nuclear capacity.
The Japanese are faced with difficult choices, and other countries will also face similar questions as power shortages and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions come up against concerns about the safety of nuclear power and what to do with nuclear waste. These are the issues that Meltdown! The Nuclear Disaster in Japan and Our Energy Future leaves open for readers.
See Other Resources for reports, books, and television programs published or broadcast after Meltdown!, including two remarkable Frontline documentaries.
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