mcgowanjm wrote:And a BTW, it turns out that Japan can get along very well without nuclear electricity.

Japan posts largest-ever trade deficit in January
Monday, February 20, 2012 11:14 +0900 (JST)

Japan logged a record trade deficit in January due to exports slumps stemming from the European credit crisis and an increase in fuel imports after the nuclear disaster.

The Finance Ministry said in a preliminary report on Monday that the nation's trade deficit was about 18.4 billion dollars last month, registering red for the 4th month in a row.

Imports surged 9.8 percent, due largely to a rise in imports of liquefied natural gas and crude oil following the shutdown of nuclear plants after the Fukushima disaster.

This resulted in a trade deficit of more than 12-billion-dollars with the Middle East.

The finance ministry says high oil prices will increase the cost of Japanese imports further.

mcgowanjm wrote:They. Don't. Have. Equipment. To. Measure. 10SV+.......

New robots on their way to Fukushima nuclear plant
Monday, February 20, 2012 18:10 +0900 (JST)

Two Japanese-made robots will be used to examine the inside of reactors at the damaged nuclear power plant in Fukushima.

A group of researchers at Chiba Institute of Technology developed the remote-controlled robots named Quince Number 2 and Number 3.

On Monday, a truck carrying the pair left for Fukushima from the school's campus in Narashino, Chiba Prefecture.

Quince Number 1 was put to work at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in June last year. It was the only Japanese-made robot involved in the operation at the plant after the March 11th disaster. It took video footage of reactor buildings and checked radiation levels, but stopped operating in October after becoming tangled in cables.

The 2 new robots have been remodeled to deal with cables. They are equipped with blades to cut away the cables left behind by the first robot, allowing them to move smoothly in the area. One of the robots has a camera fixed at a higher position that will let it record the inside of a storage pool for spent fuel.

Deputy Director Eiji Koyanagi of the Future Robotics Technology Center at the Chiba Institute of Technology said he expects the robots to take precise readings of radiation levels inside the plant. He said the dismantling of the reactors requires work by people, and he hopes the robots will help pinpoint spots where workers can operate with less exposure to radiation.

The new robots are scheduled to begin their work before the end of the month.

Plutonium evaluations take 3 minutes to complete, with the right equipment. If it takes 8 months, they're not looking.

TEPCO to use underwater robot for repair work
Friday, February 24, 2012 22:12 +0900 (JST)

Tokyo Electric, or TEPCO, the operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant says it is considering using an underwater robot to probe and repair the damaged reactor containment vessels.

The plan was unveiled at a meeting in Tokyo to discuss ways to dismantle the reactors at the plant on Friday. Nuclear experts and officials from the robot maker attended.

The utility firm and the manufacturer say they are planning to deploy the remotely controlled robot on the underground level of the reactor buildings, as it is flooded with contaminated water.

They say this is a step toward repairing the containment vessels of No.1 to No.3 reactors so that the melted nuclear fuel can be removed.

In the meeting, another proposal was also made to use a 10-meter-long rod with a camera on the tip to examine the interior of the containment vessels.

A roadmap for decommissioning the reactors, set by the government and TEPCO, says the removal of the nuclear fuel should start within 10 years. Technological development appears to hold the key to the project's success.

Gov't to demand resignation of entire TEPCO board
(Mainichi Japan) February 25, 2012

The government is set to demand that all 17 board members of Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, resign at the utility's next shareholder meeting in June, government sources said.

In return for the planned infusion of about 1 trillion yen in public funds, officials have deemed it necessary to replace all TEPCO's board members to clarify their responsibility for the nuclear crisis.

The government will force TEPCO Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata, who has announced his intention to step down, to give up his retirement allowance, and halve the number of the utility's board members.

Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yukio Edano has apparently deemed it necessary for not only the TEPCO president and chairman but the entire board to step down to avoid giving the public the impression that the infusion of public funds is aimed solely at bailing out the utility, according to government sources.

russshackleford wrote:...
Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yukio Edano has apparently deemed it necessary for not only the TEPCO president and chairman but the entire board to step down to avoid giving the public the impression that the infusion of public funds is aimed solely at bailing out the utility...