company:tepco

  • Les #déplacés de l’#accident de #Fukushima. : Les conséquences sociales et sanitaires, et les #initiatives_citoyennes.

    La situation des déplacés de Fukushima est complexe et mouvante. Ce projet se focalise sur les sinistrés de l’accident nucléaire hors zones d’#évacuations_forcées, qui sont les moins audibles dans les recherches existantes. La situation locale évoluant extrêmement rapidement, tant au niveau institutionnel qu’aux niveaux familial et individuel, nous avons décidé de recourir à la #recherche-action c’est-à-dire en coopération étroite avec les groupes de citoyens, pour partager leurs connaissances fines et suivies du terrain. Nous avons sélectionné un terrain permettant d’appréhender des régions à la fois lointaines et proches du département de Fukushima, la #distance semblant discriminante a priori des attaches au département et de la conscience du #risque. Des entretiens biographiques réalisés par une équipe franco-japonaise pluridisciplinaire permettront de saisir le parcours des individus, qui se tracerait dans les trames tissées par les cadres institutionnels, leurs liens aux connaissances « scientifique » et « profane » de la #radioactivité, et leurs expériences biographiques. Ces entretiens permettront aussi d’aborder l’individualisation de la gestion du risque, ses aspects psychologiques et juridiques.

    https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00967033
    #santé #nucléaire #catastrophe_nucléaire #IDPs #déplacés_internes #migrations

    Et d’autres publications de #Marie_Augendre :
    https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/search/index/q/*/authFullName_s/Marie+Augendre/sort/producedDate_tdate+desc
    ping @reka

  • Fukushima : pour la première fois un robot touche du combustible fondu
    https://www.crashdebug.fr/international/15648-fukushima-pour-la-premiere-fois-un-robot-touche-du-combustible-fond

    En 2018, Tepco organise une visite des journalistes de la centrale nucléaire détruite sept ans plus tôt. —

    TORU HANAI / POOL / AFP

    L’opération est inédite. La compagnie d’électricité japonaise Tepco a envoyé ce mercredi un robot dans un des réacteurs de la centrale ravagée de Fukushima pour y « toucher » le combustible fondu. Une première depuis la catastrophe nucléaire du 11 mars 2011.

    The internal investigation of the Unit 2 PCV of Fukushima Daiichi conducted today (Feb. 13th) was completed as scheduled. No significant fluctuations in the concentration of radioactive substances in dust were seen during the investigation and there was no impact on the outside. — TEPCO (@TEPCO_English) 13 février 2019

    « Aucune fluctuation significative de la concentration de substances radioactives dans la poussière (...)

    #En_vedette #Actualités_internationales #Actualités_Internationales

  • Six Years After Fukushima, Robots Finally Find Reactors’ Melted Uranium Fuel - The New York Times
    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/19/science/japan-fukushima-nuclear-meltdown-fuel.html

    Now that engineers say they have found the fuel, officials of the government and the utility that runs the plant hope to sway public opinion. Six and a half years after the accident spewed radiation over northern Japan, and at one point seemed to endanger Tokyo, the officials hope to persuade a skeptical world that the plant has moved out of post-disaster crisis mode and into something much less threatening: cleanup.

    “Until now, we didn’t know exactly where the fuel was, or what it looked like,” said Takahiro Kimoto, a general manager in the nuclear power division of the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., or Tepco. “Now that we have seen it, we can make plans to retrieve it.”

    Tepco is keen to portray the plant as one big industrial cleanup site. About 7,000 people work here, building new water storage tanks, moving radioactive debris to a new disposal site, and erecting enormous scaffoldings over reactor buildings torn apart by the huge hydrogen explosions that occurred during the accident.

    C’est beau la com’ du nucléaire

    At the plant’s entrance, a sign warned: “Games like Pokemon GO are forbidden within the facility.”

    “We have finished the debris cleanup and gotten the plant under control,” said the guide, Daisuke Hirose, a spokesman for Tepco’s subsidiary in charge of decommissioning the plant. “Now, we are finally preparing for decommissioning.”

    In September, the prime minister’s office set a target date of 2021 — the 10th anniversary of the disaster — for the next significant stage, when workers begin extracting the melted fuel from at least one of the three destroyed reactors, though they have yet to choose which one.

    #Nucléaire #Fukushima #Propagande #Robots

  • Un niveau de radiations record détecté à la centrale nucléaire de Fukushima

    http://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2017/02/03/un-niveau-de-radiations-record-detecte-a-la-centrale-nucleaire-de-fukushima_

    Une caméra a permis à la fin du mois de janvier de détecter un niveau de radiation extrêmement élevé d’environ 530 sieverts par heure dans le réacteur 2 de la centrale de Fukushima.

    Grâce à une petite caméra envoyée à la fin janvier à l’intérieur de l’enceinte de confinement du réacteur 2 de Fukushima, la compagnie Tepco, opérateur de la centrale nucléaire, a pu y observer des niveaux de radiations records ainsi qu’un trou, a-t-elle annoncé vendredi 3 février.

    Le réacteur 2 est, à l’instar des 1 et 3, l’un des plus endommagés et responsables de dégagements massifs de substances radioactives dans la nature après la mise en péril du site par le tsunami gigantesque de mars 2011.

    L’analyse des images filmées a permis de déduire qu’il règne dans une partie de l’enceinte de confinement « des radiations qui peuvent atteindre 530 sieverts par heure », a précisé Tepco. Un homme exposé à une telle radioactivité mourrait presque instantanément. Le précédent relevé, réalisé en 2012 à un autre endroit du réacteur 2, était, selon Tepco, de 73 sieverts.

    Ce niveau extrêmement élevé « s’il est exact, peut indiquer que le combustible n’est pas loin et qu’il n’est pas recouvert d’eau », a déclaré Hiroshi Miyano, professeur de l’université Hosei qui préside une commission d’étude pour le démantèlement de la centrale.

    Jusqu’à présent, les examens n’ont pas permis de localiser précisément le combustible supposément fondu dans ces trois unités sur les six que compte la centrale.

  • Atomic Suicide : The Tale of the Sailors and the Seals – RadChick Radiation Research & Mitigation
    https://radchickblog.wordpress.com/2014/01/26/atomic-suicide-the-tale-of-sailors-and-seals


    Article très complet avec une richesse de sources officielles sur les conséquences de l’accident nucléaire de Fukusihima.

    Navy sailor Lindsay Cooper knew something was wrong when billows of metallic-tasting snow began drifting over USS Ronald Reagan. She and scores of crewmates watched a sudden storm blow toward them from the tsunami-torn coast of Fukushima, Japan. Lindsay didn’t know it then, but the snow was caused by the freezing Pacific air mixing with a plume of radioactive steam. “As soon as you step foot on the flight deck and went outside you had this taste of like aluminum foil. We thought that we had felt a plume because there was kind of this warm air that went past the ship and you could kind of tell the differences between jet exhaust — we didn’t have any jets going around at the time. It was like 20 degrees outside and you could feel this warm air and you kind of enjoyed it at first and then you’re like, ‘Is that aluminum foil that I taste?’

    Within about 5 days of those initial plumes, the seals would have had their first taste of aluminium foil, too. Some by direct inhalation, more by what landed in the snow and revolitalized later. What landed in the ocean, quickly worked its way through the food chain. Plutonium, Americium, Uranium, and other highly toxic elements were found a few months later in every single organism tested in Alaskan waters, by the US Department of Energy. That’s extremely bad news if you’re a seal, or anything else that eats seafood from the Pacific. Although the fishing industry, various deceitful news outlets, and paid government scientists seem to want you to believe otherwise.

    The Alaskan Dispatch reported in the Fall of 2011: “Indigenous hunters in Alaska’s Arctic noticed ice seals they rely on for food and other uses covered in oozing sores and losing hair. They were sick and some were dying. As of this month, despite the international group of scientists and researchers the declaration pulled together, no cause has been officially identified for the illness plaguing the ice seals. Walruses and polar bears have turned up with similar ailments. Some of the animals were found to also have bleeding and swelling in their lungs, livers, lymph nodes and other internal organs.

    Meanwhile, Navy personnel began experiencing more severe and mysterious symptoms, including hemorrhaging and cancer. Sebourn, who had been assigned to investigate radiation levels in the air and on American military aircraft, now spends his days going from one specialist to another. After seeing at least 10 doctors and undergoing three MRI’s and two ultrasounds, he still doesn’t know what’s wrong. Sebourn says he very suddenly lost 50 to 60 percent of the power in the right side of his body. This shocked him when he walked into the gym one day and could only do his workout on his left side – he says his right side just didn’t work. Administrative Officer Steven Simmons was on the USS Ronald Reagan too. Simmons suddenly lost 20 to 25 pounds, started running fevers, getting night sweats and tremors, and his lymph nodes started to swell. He can no longer use his legs and spends all of his time in a wheelchair. His weakness has traveled up to his core and arms, and the signals between his brain and his bladder have failed. He uses a catheter every four hours. Other sailors have been diagnosed with immune system failure, blindness and ocular cancers, testicular cancer, lung cancer, colon cancer, and brain cancer.

    “As for the people who are saying those levels weren’t very high, normal background radiation, I call bogus to that, because I was the man taking the background levels. If you think 300 times higher than a normal day’s radiation level is fine, than I don’t know what to tell you” says Seybourn. Over 150 sailors are now part of a class-action lawsuit against TEPCO, for lying about the meltdowns, and the risk to military personnel that were participating in the mission.

    Toxicity of inhaled plutonium dioxide in beagle dogs.
    http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8927705

    Many baby seals dying of leukemia-linked disorder along California coast — Blamed for over 1/3 of recent deaths at San Francisco Bay rescue center (CHART)
    http://enenews.com/many-seals-dying-leukemia-linked-disorder-along-california-coast-13-recent-

    Si après la lecture des ces articles sur des catastrophes vous avez envie de vous détendre voici un reportage sympa :

    Baby seals that practice in pools make better divers — ScienceDaily
    https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/07/150701214543.htm

    #accident_nucléaire #santé #environnement

  • Groundwater wall at #Fukushima plant leans slightly - News - NHK WORLD - English
    http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20151125_37.html

    The operator of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has found that a wall it built 30 meters into the ground to block the flow of radioactive water is leaning slightly.

    Tokyo Electric Power Company built the steel barrier along a coastal embankment to stop contaminated groundwater from seeping into the sea. The utility finished building the wall in late October.

    TEPCO inspectors found that the wall is leaning up to some 20 centimeters toward the sea. They say this is due to the pressure of the groundwater flow.

    The officials also blamed rising groundwater levels for cracks found in the embankment’s pavement.

    The utility says workers are buttressing the wall with steel pillars. They are also repairing the cracks to keep out rainwater so groundwater levels don’t rise further.

    TEPCO says the lean doesn’t affect the wall’s ability to block contaminated water.

  • No One Knows What to Do With Fukushima’s Endless Tanks of Radioactive Water - Facts So Romantic
    http://nautil.us/blog/no-one-knows-what-to-do-with-fukushimas-endless-tanks-of-radioactive-water

    This is what passes for good news from Fukushima Daiichi, the Japanese nuclear power plant devastated by meltdowns and explosions after a cataclysmic earthquake and tsunami in 2011: By the end of last month, workers had succeeded in filtering most of the 620,000 tons of toxic water stored at the site, removing almost all of the radioactive materials. After numerous false starts and technical glitches, most of the stored water has been run through filtration systems to remove dangerous strontium-90, as well as many other radionuclides. TEPCO, the Japanese utility that operates the power plant, trumpeted the achievement: “This is a significant milestone for improving the environment for our surrounding communities and for our workers,” said Naohiro Masuda, TEPCO’s chief decommissioning (...)

    • The amount of tritium in Fukushima Daiichi’s water is not negligible. The World Health Organization’s standard for tritium in drinking water is 10,000 becquerels per liter (34 ounces). According to Mayumi Yoshida, a TEPCO communications officer, Fukushima’s stored water contains between 1 and 5 million becquerels per liter. Yet Yoshida noted that operational nuclear power plants around the world discharge water with a much higher level of tritium than that.

  • « A Fukushima, tout n’est pas sous contrôle » - Reporterre
    http://reporterre.net/A-Fukushima-tout-n-est-pas-sous


    Toute similitude avec Areva en France serait absolument fortuite, à un ou deux mensonges près...

    L’#information originelle est détenue uniquement par l’entreprise Tepco. C’est problématique car par exemple lorsque que j’étais Premier ministre, le jour de l’accident le 11 mars 2011, nous avions reçu des données erronées de la part de Tepco, qui disaient que les réacteurs n’étaient pas entrées en fusion.

    Il y a donc deux possibilités. Soit Tepco fournit des données erronées au gouvernement parce que l’entreprise elle-même est mal informée. Soit c’est un #mensonge volontaire parce que les informations n’arrangent pas Tepco. La limite entre ces deux possibilités est floue.

    #nucléaire

  • Bon, il a pas gagné le gars ... mais c’est déjà un premier pas.

    Fukushima worker files historic lawsuit over radiation exposure — RT News
    http://rt.com/news/157668-fukushima-worker-lawsuit-radiation

    A worker at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant has filed the first lawsuit from an employee against plant operator TEPCO due to high levels of radiation he was exposed to during the initial days of the plant’s 2011 disaster.

    #fukushima #nucléaire

  • Fukushima : 51 soldats américains atteints du cancer portent plainte contre Tepco - Chroniques du Yéti
    http://yetiblog.org/index.php?post/fukushima-51-marins-us

    En 2011, ils naviguaient sur le porte-avions USS Ronald Reagan. Ils participèrent aux missions de secours près des côtes du Japon, après le Tsunami et la catastrophe de Fukushima. Aujourd’hui, ils sont atteints de leucémie, de cancer de la thyroïde ou des testicules, de tumeurs cérébrales, de saignements rectaux ou gynécologiques. Ils portent plainte.

    Non, non, ils ne firent pas trempette dans les eaux infectées par les radiations. Mais burent, cuisinèrent, utilisèrent pour leurs ablutions, comme tous leurs compagnons, celle que leur distillaient les machines de dessalement de leur vaisseau de guerre.

    • 51 Sailors from USS Ronald Reagan Suffering Thyroid Cancer, Leukemia, Brain Tumors After Participating in Fukushima Nuclear Rescue Efforts

      http://www.turnerradionetwork.com/news/99-pat

      The Reagan passed through debris as far as the eye could see: wood, refrigerators, car tires, roofs of houses with people riding on them. Hair was told they were five to 10 miles off the coast from Fukushima, which had been damaged by a massive tsunami spawned by the quake.

      And it wasn’t until the USS Ronald Reagan had left Japan and sailors were scrubbing down the ship that they were offered radiation protection. Enis said the enlisted sailors were never offered any iodine. He said he later learned the “higher ups” — officers and pilots — had received the tablets to protect their thyroids from radiation damage.

      #Fukushima #cancers #tepco #nucleaire

  • #Fukushima radiation leaks reach deadly new high | Environment | theguardian.com
    http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/sep/04/fukushima-radiation-deadly-new-high

    The crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has radiation leaks strong enough to deliver a fatal dose within hours, Japanese authorities have revealed, as the government prepares to step in to help contain leaks of highly toxic water at the site.

    On Wednesday the country’s nuclear regulation authority said radiation readings near water storage tanks at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have increased to a new high, with emissions above the ground near one group of tanks were as high as 2,200 millisieverts [mSv] per hour – a rise of 20% from the previous high.

    Earlier this week the plant’s operator, Tepco, said workers had measured radiation at 1,800 mSv an hour near a storage tank.

    That was the previous highest reading since Tepco began installing tanks to store huge quantities of contaminated water that have built up at the plant.

    An unprotected person standing close to the contaminated areas would, within hours, receive a deadly radiation dose. The nuclear regulation authority said the radiation comprised mostly beta rays that could be blocked by aluminium foil, unlike more penetrative gamma rays.

    #nucléaire

  • How everything went so wrong at #Fukushima - Salon.com
    http://www.salon.com/2013/08/23/how_everything_went_so_wrong_at_fukushima

    The plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, or Tepco, had “rigged a makeshift system of pipes and hoses” to continue cooling the reactors. From the beginning, that contaminated water has been leaking. As much as possible was contained in the plant’s storage tanks, but some made its way into the sea. For the past two and a half years, a “massive underground reservoir” of contaminated water has been building up underneath the plant. Tepco is widely alleged to have not done enough to contain it.

    The slow, seeping buildup of a second catastrophe came to a head this summer. On July 10, Japan’s nuclear watchdog announced it “highly suspected” that the plant was leaking contaminated water into the ocean.

    #nucléaire

  • Et pendant ce temps à Fukushima... - Arrêt sur images
    http://www.arretsurimages.net/articles/2013-08-08/Et-pendant-ce-temps-a-Fukushima-id6047

    Situation hors de contrôle à Fukushima. Si l’opérateur japonais Tepco (Tokyo Electric Power Company) le niait depuis longtemps, il l’a désormais reconnu : de l’eau radioactive se déverse bel et bien dans l’océan (300 tonnes par jour, selon un chiffre communiqué aujourd’hui par le gouvernement). Cette déclaration remet momentanément Fukushima au centre des préoccupations médiatiques. Depuis deux ans, les médias internationaux et français ne suivent plus la situation que de loin. Selon des blogueurs de Fukushima, Tepco continue d’occulter des éléments sur la situation dans la centrale et ses conséquences.

  • #Fukushima et le casse-tête des eaux contaminées | Monde - lesoir.be
    http://www.lesoir.be/279649/article/actualite/monde/2013-07-11/fukushima-et-casse-tete-des-eaux-contaminees

    Une brusque montée des taux de césium radioactif a été mesurée dans la nappe phréatique. Elle pourrait venir des cœurs fondus des réacteurs

    J’avais loupé ce superbe usage du conditionnel ! #journaliste_c_est_un_metier #catastrophe_nucleaire #pollution

    Du coup je découvre cet euphémisme réjouissant :

    Fukushima : fuite d’eau radioactive
    http://www.gentside.com/japon/fukushima-fuite-d-039-eau-radioactive_art24266.html

    Quinze tonnes d’#eau_radioactive se sont échappées ce mardi de la centrale nucléaire japonaise Fukushima, fragilisée par le séisme et le tsunami de mars dernier.

    L’Agence japonaise de sûreté nucléaire et industrielle a annoncé ce mardi la fuite de quinze tonnes d’eau radioactive dans le sol. L’exploitant de la centrale TEPCO, pour Tokyo Electric Power Co, a demandé l’ouverture d’une enquête sur les causes de l’écoulement.

    On était trois mois après l’explosion. La centrale "fragilisée" :-p. Et l’exploitant demandait une enquête sur les causes de l’écoulement ! Bravo.

    Et puis aujourd’hui :

    « Urgence » nucléaire à Fukushima | Sciences et santé - lesoir.be
    http://www.lesoir.be/294994/article/actualite/sciences-et-sante/2013-08-07/urgence-nucleaire-fukushima

    Le Premier ministre japonais a annoncé que les autorités allaient davantage s’impliquer dans la gestion de l’eau contaminée de la centrale nucléaire de Fukushima, dont la fuite dans la mer constitue selon lui un problème « urgent ».

    Une situation d’urgence a été déclarée ce mercredi par l’Autorité de régulation nucléaire japonaise (NRA). De l’eau hautement radioactive se déverse dans l’océan Pacifique depuis la centrale nucléaire de Fukushima.

    Apparemment, pour les communicants de crise, après 30 mois on peut commencer à parler des problèmes et donner l’impression qu’on est en mesure d’y faire face.

    A la radio, on annonce que 300 m3 d’eau contaminée partent à l’océan chaque jour. Goutte d’eau dans l’océan ?

    #eau_contaminée

    • Magnifique encore (mai 2013 ce coup-ci) ! TEPCO maîtrise grave : juste ils envisagent de rejeter de l’eau stockée. Cela se gère un peu comme un supermarché une catastrophe nucléaire, en fait.

      Fukushima : Tepco envisage de rejeter en mer l’eau radioactive stockée dans la centrale - WikiStrike.com
      http://www.wikistrike.com/article-fukushima-tepco-envisage-de-rejeter-en-mer-l-eau-radioactive-sto

      Tepco, l’exploitant de Fukushima, ne sait plus quoi faire des dizaines de milliers de tonnes d’eau contaminée stockée dans les réservoirs de la centrale accidentée. Alors que la compagnie pensait pouvoir rejeter ces eaux dans l’océan Pacifique, les pêcheurs japonais s’y opposent farouchement, craignant une contamination environnementale.

      La compagnie d’électricité Tepco fait encore des siennes à Fukushima. Après avoir connu une série d’incidents à la centrale accidentée, l’opérateur est en effet de nouveau la cible de vives critiques. La raison ? L’idée que Tepco a eu pour se débarrasser de l’eau stockée à Fukushima.

      Avec les pêcheurs dans le rôle des vilains citoyens limite écologistes qui s’opposent pour le plaisir.

    • Une dernière (juillet 2013) :

      Fukushima : des éléments radioactifs à nouveau découverts dans l’eau souterraine | Fil info Monde - lesoir.be
      http://www.lesoir.be/276678/article/actualite/fil-info/fil-info-monde/2013-07-07/fukushima-des-elements-radioactifs-nouveau-decouverts-dans-l-eau-sou

      « Selon les échantillons analysés le 5 juillet (...), nous avons détecté un niveau record de 600.000 becquerels par litre » de tritium, dix fois supérieurs aux recommandations gouvernementales de 60.000 becquerels par litre, a indiqué l’opérateur Tepco.

      « Nous poursuivons nos efforts pour empêcher que la pollution prenne de l’ampleur (...) et allons renforcer tout le processus de contrôle », a de nouveau promis l’opérateur.

      A noter, le taux de radioactivité par litre excède juste une « recommandation gouvernementale », ils font des efforts et vont « renforcer » le contrôle. On sent bien que le renforcement est flagrant là depuis 2,5 ans ;-)

    • Ah oui... (je laisse passer plein de seens intéressants par manque de temps :-/).

      Il y en a une belle (au moins) aussi là :

      L’eau hautement radioactive qui se déverse dans l’océan à partir de la centrale nucléaire de Fukushima endommagée par un séisme et un tsunami il y a deux ans créée une « situation d’urgence » que son opérateur a du mal à contenir, a déclaré lundi un responsable de l’autorité nucléaire japonaise.

      Elle est « endommagée » parce qu’il n’y a que deux cœurs officiellement en train de fondre ? J’aurais tendance à parler de « site de la catastrophe nucléaire de Fukushima » plutôt que de « centrale nucléaire endommagée »...

    • Râââ, il faut suivre le tag #fukushima ^^.

      On trouve encore une réécriture à caractère rassurant amoindrissant apaisante magnifique (les adjectifs me manquent) http://seenthis.net/messages/154973

      L’autorité de sûreté nucléaire japonaise a indiqué mercredi qu’elle craignait que de l’eau contaminée souterraine de la centrale accidentée de Fukushima ne s’écoule dans la mer.

      A noter que c’est une remarquable initiative de prudence à caractère journalistique vu que d’après la même citation les experts parlent eux de « forts soupçons que l’eau hautement radioactive accumulée dans le sol ne se répande dans la mer ».

      Forts soupçons vs. craintes... Si on avait confié le dossier Berlusconi à ce genre de presse on en serait encore à « craindre » qu’il ait magouillé ? (rien à voir ok, je -> [ ])

  • JAPON • L’ex-directeur de la centrale de Fukushima meurt d’un cancer | Courrier international
    http://www.courrierinternational.com/article/2013/07/09/l-ex-directeur-de-la-centrale-de-fukushima-meurt-d-un-cancer

    vu sur Rezo. Il FAUT rappeler que si tout n’a pas pété, c’est essentiellement à ce bonhomme qu’on le doit.

    En poste depuis 2010 à Daiichi, Masao Yoshida était très respecté par son équipe et avait confié au Mainichi Shimbun qu’il s’était préparé à mourir sur le site en réalisant à quel point la situation était critique. « M. Yoshida avait donné l’ordre de poursuivre le refroidissement des réacteurs par l’eau de mer, alors que le siège de Tepco avait ordonné l’interruption de cette opération depuis Tokyo », rappelle le Yomiuri Shimbun.

    Dans les descriptions de l’incident juste après, il y avait à ce sujet précis une description du coup de téléphone entre Yoshida et sa direction qualifiant le niveau des échanges quelque chose comme « musclé ».

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masao_Yoshida_(nuclear_engineer)

    On March 12, about 28 hours after the tsunami struck, TEPCO executives had ordered workers to start injecting seawater into Reactor No. 1. But 21 minutes later, they ordered Yoshida to suspend the operation. Yoshida chose to ignore the order. At 20:05 JST that night, the Japanese government again ordered seawater to be injected into Unit 1.[3]
    The week of June 7, 2011, TEPCO gave Yoshida a verbal reprimand for defying the order and not reporting it earlier.

    Article du 23/11/2012
    http://findognews.blogspot.fr/2012/11/give-thanks-for-masao-yoshida-fukushima.html

    Give thanks for Masao Yoshida, Fukushima plant manager, who ignored orders and prevented a meltdown

    Giving thanks to a rebel

    Luckily for him, Masao Yoshida, 55, was on watch. He was Fukushima’s plant manager, and he was among the 50-odd employees who stayed in the hot zone as radiation levels rose well above toxic levels. He was already a hero, although at that point only a foolish one. Yoshida knew that the reactor was vulnerable to seawater, and in the absence of emergency power or viable containment rods, that natural salty fluid was the only weapon he had. At the same time, he knew that the moment the reactor core came into contact with sea water, the plant itself would be effectively inoperable forever. His bosses at TEPCO ordered him to do nothing while they modeled the potential consequences of injecting seawater into the reactor core. An early attempt to flood part of the core was done improperly, and engineers worried that the contaminated seawater would simply flow back into the ocean. Also, by damaging the reactor this way, too much radioactive gas might be released.
    Yoshida and his workers figured out how to prevent backflow of seawater, but TEPCO still ordered him to wait on word from the prime minister. He ignored them, and on his order, decided to flood the bay. Problem: Getting seawater into the core was impossible, or almost impossible, because of the debris and damage done by the earthquake and the flood. Fukishima workers began to use abandoned firefighting equipment to literally pump water in, just gallons at a time, equivalent to a dropper of ink in a well.
    TEPCO told him to stop.

    He conveyed the orders to his crew, telling them simply to ignore what upper management was saying. He had cultivated enough loyalty among his engineers, and they obeyed his disobeyance.

    TEPCO then said in a press statement that said that there was little risk of a radioactive plume being released because the reactor core hadn’t been destroyed; in blunt terms, the radioactive particles were still contained. That was a lie. Yoshida and his crew were successful; they managed to corrode the core.

    ou encore (au milieu d’un récit long et détaillé)
    http://www.smh.com.au/world/heroes-of-the-meltdown-20130617-2ocz5.html

    The only one who didn’t appear confused at this point was Yoshida. He had just taken a call from Ichiro Takekuro, TEPCO’s government liaison, telling him to stop the seawater injections, which he had started.
    Showing the maverick streak that had endeared him to his colleagues inside the bunker, Yoshida disobeyed Takekuro’s order and continued injecting seawater into Reactor 1. As plant manager, Yoshida had the authority to ignore, overrule and defy head office. He was in the bunker. He was in control. He had hundreds of people’s lives in his hands. “Suspending the seawater could have meant death [for those at the plant],” he later revealed. Already, he felt they’d cheated death several times.
    (…)
    Nearly a year and a half after the meltdowns at Fukushima Dai-ichi, Masao Yoshida broke his silence. In a video message, the manager of the nuclear plant at the time of the disaster confessed he thought he and his fellow workers would never make it out alive. It was Yoshida’s only appearance since the meltdowns. He had preferred not to comment about what had happened until all the official investigations were completed and their reports were released. And the plant manager was also in hospital being treated for cancer of the oesophagus.
    In his message, Yoshida repeatedly praised the courage of his workers. “It was clear from the beginning we couldn’t run. Reactors 5 and 6 would have also melted down if people hadn’t stayed on site. My colleagues went out there again and again. The level of radiation on the ground was terrible, yet they gave everything they had. Pushing their physical limits, they would go out and risk their lives, come back in, then go out to do it again.”
    Yoshida is now regarded as a national hero by many. He was the man who ignored orders from his TEPCO superiors to stop pumping seawater into one of the stricken reactors, and he was the man who refused to be pushed about by pesky politicians like Naoto Kan. And he was a hero for staring death in the face to save his country from an even worse nuclear nightmare.
    The plant manager dismissed any suggestion, such as the one from the former prime minister, Kan, that an evacuation of Fukushima Dai-ichi was contemplated. At least, it wasn’t contemplated by him. “I never said to headquarters anything about pulling people out - it never occurred to me ... There was no way we were going to leave the plant,” Yoshida insisted.

    • C’est aussi la personne qui n’a rien trouvé à redire à diriger une centrale nucléaire sans protection face à l’océan et à avoir laissé les réservoirs de fuel de ses générateurs de secours vides.

      Bref, un bon collaborateur du Capital comme on aime, qui n’aura même pas le courage d’un minimum d’auto-critique.

    • Les générateurs de secours ? Il n’y en avait plus.
      (c’est dans le dernier lien)

      The diesel back-up generators had been submerged by the seawater that had flooded the basements of the turbine buildings and other generator sites. Electrical circuits had been shorted and generator fuel tanks washed away. There was no power source cooling the reactors. All that was left to stop Fukushima Dai-ichi’s nuclear fuel from overheating and disgorging radiation were banks of what are called “coping” batteries. They had enough charge to last just eight hours.

    • Ha....

      Le 29 décembre 2011, NHK World révèle que les générateurs de secours, tombés en panne lors de l’accident nucléaire de Fukushima, avaient déjà subi une inondation 20 ans plus tôt à la suite d’une fuite d’eau. À cette occasion, deux des générateurs de secours étaient tombés en panne. Malgré cet incident, TEPCO avait seulement fait installer des portes étanches mais n’avait cependant pas déménagé en hauteur ces générateurs30.

  • #Fukushima #Nuclear Crisis Update for June 18th to June 20th, 2013 | Greenpeace International
    http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/nuclear-reaction/fukushima-nuclear-crisis-update-for-june-18th/blog/45670

    #TEPCO said this week that it has discovered high levels of radioactive #strontium-90 and tritium in a well located just 27 meters from the Pacific Ocean, and was forced to admit that it sat on the information for nearly a month before revealing the news to the public. The new evidence confirms that groundwater near the Fukushima Daiichi #1 and #2 nuclear reactors is highly radioactive, but officials said that they do not believe that the contamination has reached the ocean yet. Samples contained 1,000 Bq/liter of strontium-90, which has a half-life of 28.8 years and can lodge in human bones and lead to cancer if it enters the food chain and is ingested. That level is 33 times the legal limit, and is 100 times higher than measurements of the same water collected in December, which showed just 8.6 Bq/liter.

    Workers also discovered 500,000 Bq/liter of #tritium, which has also been linked to increases in cancer and which has a half-life of 12.3 years. The tritium level exceeds the legal limit by 8.3 times; water collected in December contained only 29,000 Bq/liter of tritium. Four wells were originally dug there at the end of 2012 to measure radiation levels in groundwater; they are separate from 12 other wells currently being built to divert groundwater from flooding basements of the reactor buildings.

  • Fukushima nuclear plant cleanup may take more than 40 years: IAEA
    http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/04/24/national/fukushima-nuclear-plant-cleanup-may-take-more-than-40-years-iaea

    A U.N. nuclear watchdog team said Japan may need longer than the projected 40 years to decommission the Fukushima power plant and urged Tepco to improve stability at the facility.

    The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency team, Juan Carlos Lentijo, said Monday that damage at the nuclear plant is so complex that it is impossible to predict how long the cleanup may last.

    #nucléaire #fukushima #décontamination

  • 40% of workers had no dosimeter at nuke plant soon after disaster - AJW by The Asahi Shimbun
    http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201209040060

    TEPCO records show 7,766 people worked at the Fukushima No. 1 plant between March 15 and March 31, 2011, and 3,077, or about 40 percent, did not have a dosimeter.

    The actual number of workers is estimated to be in the hundreds because the same individuals were counted more than once if they worked on different occasions.

    During the 17-day period, only the representative of a working group wore a dosimeter, and all members of the working group entered the reading of the representative’s dosimeter into their records as their own.

    It was an emergency measure because most of the 5,000 dosimeters at the plant were washed away by the tsunami.

    Some workers told The Asahi Shimbun that their representatives stayed at least 10 meters from their nearest approach.

    #japon #nucléaire #fukushima

    • Très instructif !
      On peut en déduire que Tepco n’est même pas fichue de connaître le nombre de travailleurs ayant travaillé pendant les deux semaines en question puisqu’apparemment, ce qui est compté, ce sont les contrats (intérimaires) et non pas les personnes.
      On imagine la qualité du suivi individuel des intéressés…

  • Niveau de #radioactivité record sur des poissons au large de Fukushima
    http://www.lemonde.fr/japon/article/2012/08/21/niveau-de-radioactivite-record-sur-des-poissons-au-large-de-fukushima_174828

    Un niveau record de radioactivité a été détecté sur des lottes pêchées au large des côtes japonaises, à hauteur de la centrale nucléaire accidentée de #Fukushima Daiichi, a indiqué mardi 21 août l’opérateur Tepco. Les poissons, prélevés le 1er août à 20 kilomètres de la centrale nucléaire, ont révélé un niveau de 25 800 becquerels de césium par kilogramme, soit un niveau 258 fois plus élevé que la limite fixée par le gouvernement dans l’alimentation.

    #nucléaire #alimentation

  • La maison #Japon se fissure | Harry Harootunian
    http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2011/04/HAROOTUNIAN/20397

    Après le choc du tsunami, le gouvernement japonais s’est fait tantôt alarmiste, tantôt rassurant sur les risques de contamination radioactive, au gré des informations fournies par l’entreprise privée Tepco, pour le moins désinvolte. / Japon, Écologie, Énergie, #Entreprise, État, Identité culturelle, (...) / Japon, Écologie, Énergie, Entreprise, État, Identité culturelle, Nucléaire civil, #Politique, Santé, #Environnement - 2011/04

    #Écologie #Énergie #État #Identité_culturelle #Nucléaire_civil #Santé #2011/04

  • Two Other Nuclear Reactors Suffer Serious Damage - WSJ.com

    By MITSURU OBE

    TOKYO—Substantial damage to the fuel cores at two additional reactors of Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex has taken place, operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Sunday, further complicating the already daunting task of bringing them to a safe shutdown while avoiding the release of high levels of radioactivity. The revelation followed an acknowledgment on Thursday that a similar meltdown of the core took place at unit No. 1.

    View Full Image
    0515tepco
    European Pressphoto Agency

    Junichi Matsumoto, an official of Tokyo Electric Power Co. listens to questions during a press conference regarding the meltdown of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant at the company headquarters in Tokyo, Japan, May 13, 2011.
    0515tepco
    0515tepco

    The operator of Japan’s stricken nuclear plant is using remote-controlled robots inside reactor buildings damaged by a hydrogen explosions to gauge radiation and temperature levels. Video courtesy of AFP and image courtesy of Associated Press.

    Workers also found that the No. 1 unit’s reactor building is flooded in the basement, reinforcing the suspicion that the containment vessel is damaged and leaking highly radioactive water.

    The revelations are likely to force an overhaul of the six- to nine-month blueprint for bringing the reactors to a safe shutdown stage and end the release of radioactive materials. The original plan, announced in mid-April, was due to be revised May 17.

    The operator, known as Tepco, said the No. 1 unit lost its reactor core 16 hours after the plant was struck by a magnitude-9 earthquake and a giant tsunami on the afternoon of March 11.

    The pressure vessel a cylindrical steel container that holds nuclear fuel, “is likely to be damaged and leaking water at units Nos. 2 and 3,” said Junichi Matsumoto, Tepco spokesman on nuclear issues, in a news briefing Sunday.

    He also said there could be far less cooling water in the pressure vessels of Nos. 2 and 3, indicating there are holes at the bottom of these vessels, with thousands of tons of water pumped into these reactors mostly leaking out.

    Tepco found the basement of the unit No. 1 reactor building flooded with 4.2 meters of water. It isn’t clear where the water came from, but leaks are suspected in pipes running in and out of the containment vessel, a beaker-shaped steel structure that holds the pressure vessel.

    Additional nuclear evacuations begin outside a 30 kilometer exclusion zone on fears of high levels of accumulated radiation. Video courtesy of Reuters and photo courtesy of Getty Images.

    The water flooding the basement is believed to be highly radioactive. Workers were unable to observe the flooding situation because of strong radiation coming out of the water, Tepco said.

    A survey conducted by an unmanned robot Friday found radiation levels of 1,000 to 2,000 millisieverts per hour in some parts of the ground level of unit No. 1, a level that would be highly dangerous for any worker nearby. Japan has placed an annual allowable dosage limit of 250 millisieverts for workers.

    The high level of radioactivity means even more challenges for Tepco’s bid to set up a continuous cooling system that won’t threaten radiation leaks into the environment.
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    Tepco separately released its analysis on the timeline of the meltdown at unit No. 1. According to the analysis, the reactor core, or the nuclear fuel, was exposed to the air within five hours after the plant was struck by the earthquake. The temperature inside the core reached 2,800 degrees Celsius in six hours, causing the fuel pellets to melt away rapidly.

    Within 16 hours, the reactor core melted, dropped to the bottom of the pressure vessel and created a hole there. By then, an operation to pump water into the reactor was under way. This prevented the worst-case scenario, in which the overheating fuel would melt its way through the vessels and discharge large volumes of radiation outside.

    The nuclear industry lacks a technical definition for a full meltdown, but the term is generally understood to mean that radioactive fuel has breached containment measures, resulting in a massive release of fuel.

    “Without the injection of water [by fire trucks], a more disastrous event could have ensued,” said Mr. Matsumoto.

    Tepco also released its analysis of a hydrogen explosion that occurred at unit No. 4, despite the fact that the unit was in maintenance and that nuclear fuel stored in the storage pool was largely intact.

    According to Tepco, hyrogen produced in the overheating of the reactor core at unit 3 flowed through a gas-treatment line and entered unit No. 4 because of a breakdown of valves. Hydrogen leaked from ducts in the second, third and fourth floors of the reactor building at unit No. 4 and ignited a massive explosion.

    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703509104576325110776621604.html