Fukushima: TEPCO mulling release of low-level radioactive water in sea
Via The Mainichi Daily News: TEPCO mulling release of low-level radioactive water in sea. Excerpt:
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Thursday it is considering releasing into the Pacific Ocean low-level radioactive water now stored in tanks at the premises of its crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant as storage capacity may run short by next March.
The plant operator known as TEPCO said the water would be released only after it clears the country's legal concentration limit of radioactive substances, including cesium and strontium, but a fisheries group immediately expressed strong concerns.
The National Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations filed a protest against the plan with TEPCO, saying it cannot accept such an action that could affect the fishing industry by lowering fish consumption.
Nobutaka Tsutsui, senior vice minister for agriculture, forestry and fisheries, said at a press conference he cannot approve of the plan.
He said he has already asked Tadahiro Matsushita, senior vice minister for economy, trade and industry which oversees the nuclear industry, to reconsider the TEPCO plan and will work on relevant parties to prevent TEPCO from implementing the plan.
The plant has been plagued with highly radioactive water accumulating inside reactor turbine buildings as a result of the continuing injection of water to cool the stricken Nos. 1 to 3 reactors.
The water is currently recycled as a coolant after reducing its radioactive level through a water processing facility, installed after the plant was hit by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
But as about 200 to 500 tons of groundwater a day flows into the reactor turbine buildings, the amount of water that is processed has exceeded that needed for injection into the reactors, according to TEPCO spokesman Junichi Matsumoto.
He said the capacity of tanks installed at the plant's premises is expected to total 15.5 tons but there is a possibility the capacity would fall short possibly by early March.
"We cannot keep on increasing the number of tanks in the next year or two. So we're considering the possibility of releasing water into the sea," Matsumoto told a press conference.
The water processing facility reduces the amount of radioactive cesium, but does not remove radioactive strontium, which tends to accumulate in bones and is feared to cause bone cancer and leukaemia.
TEPCO has not only accidentally released highly radioactive water into the sea after the nuclear crisis, but also intentionally dumped low level radioactive water as an emergency measure in April, drawing concerns from neighboring countries.
In a doubtless related article, we learn that the Japanese government is taking TEPCO under direct control.
Gov't to put troubled TEPCO under its control with infusion of 1 trillion yen
The TEPCO headquarters building, center. (Mainichi)
The government is set to provide Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) with an infusion of 1 trillion yen in public funds to place the utility plagued by the Fukushima nuclear crisis under its control, government sources said.
In return for the public funds, the government intends to replace a majority of the current members of its board led by Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata.
The action is in response to fears that the power supplier would otherwise fall into capital deficit, a situation in which its debts surpass its assets, in fiscal 2012 because its response to the nuclear crisis will cost it massive amounts of money.
A panel of Cabinet ministers working on the reform of TEPCO and the electric power industry as a whole, chaired by Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura, will officially propose the planned infusion of public funds early next year.
TEPCO has been strongly urging the government to grant it permission to raise its electric power bills and resume operations at nuclear power plants suspended for trouble or regular inspections.
However, the government is reluctant to do so because "it's no easy task to win public understanding because a consumption tax hike is under discussion."
From the viewpoint of ensuring a stable supply of electric power, the government intends to take the opportunity of the infusion of public funds to take the initiative in reforming TEPCO's management instead of liquidating the utility.
TEPCO is estimated to suffer about 576.3 billion yen in net losses in the current business year ending in March 2012, while its net assets will decrease more than 50 percent from the year earlier to 708.8 billion yen by the end of this business year.
Furthermore, the company will be required to recapitalize itself as its capital adequacy ratio has dropped to the 6 percent level. However, it will likely be difficult to raise funds on financial markets because the rating of its corporate bonds has significantly declined.
The government has already extended 890 billion yen in financial assistance to TEPCO via the Nuclear Damage Liability Facilitation Fund to help the utility pay damages to those affected by the nuclear crisis. However, the utility is strictly prohibited from diverting any of the money to purposes other than compensation payments.
It is believed certain that the company would fall into a capital deficit in the business year ending March 2013 without recapitalization since it will shoulder the heavy financial burden of decontaminating areas tainted with radioactive substances from the crippled nuclear plant and decommissioning the crippled nuclear reactors.
Tokyo Electric Power Co., (TEPCO) Chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata, right, speaks during a news conference at the company's head office in Tokyo, Wednesday, March 30, 2011. (AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye)
A subcommittee within the Cabinet Office's Japan Atomic Energy Commission compiled a report on Dec. 7, detailing a roadmap to decommissioning and dismantling the crippled reactors at the Fukushima plant.
A government third-party committee estimates that it will cost TEPCO approximately 1.15 trillion yen to decommission and dismantle the crippled No. 1 to 4 reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant. The amount is expected to sharply increase if the plant's No. 5 and 6 reactors that remain intact are also done away with.
In spring, the government estimated that it will need to provide TEPCO with an infusion of up to 2 trillion yen in public funds. One government source says it now needs to inject at least 1 trillion yen into the utility judging from the company's financial situation.
The government will inject public funds into TEPCO by having the Nuclear Damage Liability Facilitation Fund buy preferential shares to be issued by the utility.
TEPCO is allowed by its internal regulations to issue up to 1.8 billion shares, but has already issued approximately 1.6 billion shares. To provide TEPCO with an infusion of sufficient public funds, the company will be required to revise its internal rules at a shareholder meeting to issue more shares than the current upper limit.
If additional shares are issued, however, the value of shares that TEPCO shareholders currently own will likely decrease.
Preferential shares to be issued by TEPCO will likely be exchangeable for ordinary shares that allow their holders to vote in shareholder meetings. The holders of preferential shares are given priority in the allocation of remaining assets if the company is liquidated as well as in dividend payments, but their right to vote in shareholder meetings is restricted. Financially troubled companies that need to rehabilitate themselves typically issue preferential shares as a means to recapitalize themselves.
(Mainichi Japan) December 8, 2011
