TEPCO has found that cesium-134/137 levels in seawater off Fukushima is higher than groundwater. fukushima-diary.com

An estimated 360 liters of radioactive water has leaked from a desalination unit at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. enenews.com

New Iranian President Hassan Rohani showed flexibility and a willingness to compromise when he was the country’s top nuclear negotiator years ago. csmonitor.com

The NRC appears to be upset about the reception it received at an open meeting in Plymouth. wickedlocal.com

Geiger Counter Readings in Seattle, WA on June 21, 2013

Ambient office = .110 microsieverts per hour

Ambient outside = .078 microsieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = .119 microsieverts per hour

Hass avacado from local grocery store =  .121 microsieverts per hour

Tap water = .115 microsieverts per hour

Filtered water = .087 microsieverts per hour

          I have discussed various nuclear projects in different parts of the world but usually focused on a particular country. In today’s blog, I am going to talk about the Middle East and their ambitious plans for nuclear power. There are plans for investing two hundred billion dollars to building thirty seven new reactors across the region in the next fifteen years. This would represent an almost ten percent increase in the number of operational reactors in the world today.

         I have already mentioned the new nuclear project in Turkey at Sinop on the Black Sea in prior posts. The French company Areva and the Japanese company Mitsubishi Heavy Industries are collaborating on the twenty two billion dollar project to build Turkey’s second nuclear power plant. I have reservations about the technical competence of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries following the rapid failure of two steam turbines they built for the San Onofre power plant in California.

          Jordan will decide soon whether a Russian consortium or a French-Japanese consortium will build two gigawatt reactors in Amman at a cost of about sixteen billion dollars.  Jordan is also in the process of building a reactor for research and training. Jordan is a very dry country and some critics of nuclear power have raised the question of how Jordan is going to find the water to cool nuclear reactors.

           Egypt has decided that nuclear energy is critical to its future supply of electricity. It is working with the Russians on studies at the Dabaa nuclear station. Lacking oil, natural gas and coal, Egypt plans to exploit deposits of uranium to supply fuel for new reactors. Egypt has requested bids to build its first nuclear power plant which will utilize a Generation Three type reactor employing the latest proven nuclear technology for efficiency and safety.

            ENEC, the company that owns and operates Abu Dhabi’s nuclear power plants plans to spend twenty billion for four new nuclear reactors to be operational by 2020. The United Arab Emirates government has worked hard to sell the idea of nuclear power to its people and a recent poll found that eighty two percent of the people supported nuclear power. Their need for new sources of energy is not as acute as Jordan and Egypt because of their huge oil and natural gas reserves.

             Although Saudi Arabia has committed to expanding renewable energy sources, they are also committed to building nuclear reactors for electricity generation. They are going with the Generation Three design type and expect to have their first reactors online by 2020.

             Just looking at the numbers in this article, it would seem to me that the countries of the Middle East may be a little optimistic about the cost of thirty seven nuclear reactors. The three projects for which I have quoted actual dollars amount to about sixty billion dollars. That estimate accounts for six or seven reactors. Figuring an average of about ten billion dollars per reactor, the cost for thirty seven reactors should be more like four hundred billion dollars. While the oil rich countries such as Saudi Arabia and the UAE can absorb significant cost overruns, countries like Egypt and Jordan will have a more difficult time. Availability of cooling water will also be a problem in countries other than Jordan.

             There is also the issue of corruption in Middle Eastern countries. The countries mentioned above are not any more corrupt than global averages except for Egypt which is among the third most corrupt nations. Even an average level of corruption is very dangerous when it come to constructing, operating and regulating a nuclear power plant. The countries of the Middle East would be much better off working on renewable energy sources such as solar and wind power than spending money on dangerous and expensive nuclear power.

Fukushima Diary reported that the multiple nuclide removing system at Fukushima possibly leaked contaminated water. Fukushima-diary.com

On June 13, 2013, TEPCO invited foreign correspondents to Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant to show them the progress that’s been made at the plant. ex-skf.blogspot.jp

Thyroid data means much more radiation must have come out of Fukushima reactors than anyone reported. Enenews.com

Obama urges ‘bold’ nuclear cuts in Berlin speech. News.yahoo.com

Geiger Counter Readings in Seattle, WA on June 20, 2013

Ambient office = .095 microsieverts per hour

Ambient outside = .085 microsieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = .091 microsieverts per hour

Banana from local grocery store =  .099 microsieverts per hour

Tap water = .076 microsieverts per hour

Filtered water = .070 microsieverts per hour

I have discussed many different problems that can occur with the design, construction and operation of nuclear reactors in previous posts. I have also mentioned issues involving the staff of a nuclear power plant such as training, competence, integrity and diligence. In this post, I am going to talk about another possible problem with nuclear operators that is monitored by the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The owners and operators of nuclear power plants must certify the health of their staff.

            All critical staff at a nuclear power plant must have regular physicals and must be free of potentially debilitating illnesses. If someone develops a condition like epilepsy or narcolepsy, they could have a seizure or fall asleep and either miss an alarm or neglect to take corrective action if some system is out of normal bounds or is failing. The stress of an emergency at a nuclear plant could actually trigger certain types of medical events such as an asthma or heart attack. Any such attack could render the operator unable to carry out his duties. The medications for many common health problems contain warnings that the person taking the medication should not operate heavy machinery or drive a vehicle because the medication may cause drowsiness or dizziness. If a nuclear operator develops a condition requiring such medication, they should not continue to work in a critical area where they might have to respond quickly and competently to an emergency.

            As in other areas, unfortunately, some operators of nuclear reactors apparently don’t think that they need to bother with rules that may require effort and expense if followed properly. The NRC is currently criticizing the officials at the PPL Susquehanna Steam Electric Station nuclear power plant in Salem Township in Pennsylvania because they did not report that some of their employees in the reactor control room had developed medical conditions that could affect their ability to carry out their duties. These duties include starting up and shutting down the reactor, monitoring all plant parameters, measuring temperatures and pressures, checking for alarms and deciding on appropriate responses to events. One employee had developed asthma/chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a second has developed coronary artery disease, a third has been showing deteriorating pulmonary function and a fourth has been taking medication for stress-related anxiety. In addition, PPL is also being accused of submitting medical records that are inaccurate and/or incomplete.

            The response of PPL was that it did not endanger public safety because the employees work as a group in the control room of the reactor. I would assume that responding to an emergency requires that the control room staff function as a team. The loss of one member of the team might reduce their effectiveness at responding to an emergency as well as distracting other members of the group who would be trying to help the impaired employee. There was no information about whether or not two or of the problem employees were scheduled to work in the control room at the same time. Obviously, PPL was trying to save money because it is expensive to hire and train a control room operators. This is just one more example of a nuclear corporation putting profits ahead of public safety.

Susquehanna steam electric station:

Two men from upstate New York have been accused of trying to make and sell a portable X-Ray weapon that could be fired upon people they perceived to be enemies of Israel. News.yahoo.com

Groundwater shows massive spike in radioactive material at Fukushima plant with Strontium-90 levels up over 10,000% in past few months. Enenews.com

After pump issues forced New Jersey’s Hope Creek reactor 1 to shut down last week, a walkdown of the plant Thursday revealed a small leak in the residual heat removal system. Nuclearstreet.com

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has proposed a $70,000 civil penalty against the Tennessee Valley Authority for violations related to the commercial grade dedication program during the construction of Watts Bar nuclear plant Unit 2 in Tennessee. chattanoogan.com

Geiger Counter Readings in Seattle, WA on June 18, 2013

Ambient office = .075 microsieverts per hour

Ambient outside = .084 microsieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = .100 microsieverts per hour

Banana from local grocery store =  .054 microsieverts per hour

Tap water = .117 microsieverts per hour

Filtered water = .097 microsieverts per hour

Geiger Counter Readings in Seattle, WA on June 18, 2013

Ambient office = .075 microsieverts per hour

Ambient outside = .084 microsieverts per hour

Soil exposed to rain water = .100 microsieverts per hour

Banana from local grocery store =  .054 microsieverts per hour

Tap water = .117 microsieverts per hour

Filtered water = .097 microsieverts per hour

My last blog post deal with the efforts of the new Abe administration in Japan to restart the Japanese nuclear reactors and expand the export of nuclear reactor technologies to other countries. Since taking power six months ago, Abe has signed a number of agreements with other countries to build nuclear reactors for them. There are currently massive demonstrations in Japan by citizens who not only are against restarting the idle Japanese reactors but also against exporting reactors to the rest of the world.

           I mentioned the conference that Abe attended in Eastern Europe to push nuclear exports. Agreement was reached at the Visegrad Group summit between Japan and the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia to cooperate on the development of nuclear power technology in the four Eastern European countries. Japan media discussed the possibility that Abe would sign a memorandum of agreement with the Czech Republic to have Japanese companies involved in the construction of two new reactors in the Czech Republic at Temelin. Nuclear energy currently provides about one third of the electricity in the Republic.

           Unfortunately for Mr. Abe, during the conference, Petr Necas, the Czech Prime Minister, stated that he would be resigning his office immediately following scandals involving charges of bribery and the abuse of his power. The press release from the bilateral summit between Abe and Necas just made vague reference to a potential for cooperation on technology and energy. Japanese officials refused to speculate whether the resignation of Mr. Necas would have an impact on the Japanese bid for Czech nuclear projects. On the other hand, Czech officials have admitted that the resignation of Mr. Necas might delay final decisions on suppliers for currently planned nuclear project.

          There has been intense competition for the Czech nuclear projects. Rosatom, a Russian company was working hard to secure at least part of the estimated ten billion dollars involved in the Czech project. Russia is already supplying oil, gas and nuclear fuel to the Czech Republic. The Japanese company, Toshiba was pushing its U.S. subsidiary Westinghouse’s nuclear technology. Areva, a French company had been involved in the bidding but was disqualified last December because it “failed to meet important criteria” required in the bid process according to CEZ, the Czech power company. Areva is contesting the ruling and is trying to get back into the running.

          Abe is aggressively traveling around the world pushing Japan’s nuclear technology. In addition to the deals mentioned my previous post involving collaborating on new reactors for Turkey and an new relationship with the French nuclear industry, Abe has also signed a deal with the United Arab Emirates for nuclear cooperation. Abe is also working on facilitating talks with India about nuclear cooperation.

           In addition to the opposition at home and the competition from other countries exporting nuclear technology, Abe also has to contend with political complexities such as the resignation of the Prime Minister in the Czech Republic. It is interesting to note that in 2010, Toshiba was embroiled in a bribery scandal in Russia. Now the Prime Minister of a country that Toshiba is trying to do business with has resigned over bribery charges and the scandal may derail the deal that Toshiba was trying to cement. I am not saying that Toshiba bribed the Czech Prime Minister to help get Czech business but it is not outside the realm of possibility.

Temelin nuclear power station in the Czech Republic: