The Fukushima Daiichi power plant was thrust into the spotlight as October wound to a close, providing the need for an update on the plant that was severely damaged in the March 2011 earthquake.
In other news from Japan last week, 19 of 26 Satsumasendai assembly members voted their approval to restart the Sendai facility, 600 miles south of Tokyo, that looks to be the first nuclear plant put back online since the country's 48 nuclear plants were shut down after the earthquake struck.
At the Fukushima plant, workers lifted a portion of a weather shield placed over Unit 1 reactor building, a major step towards eventual removal of radioactive fuel from the unit. The Japanese government and the plant operator, however, announced last week that fuel removal would not start for five years.
Tepco, the operator, said last week that it had made solid profits in the April through September period, up 71.4 percent from a year earlier, despite operating without its nuclear reactors, including the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant in Niigata, which is the world's largest.
In California, in Fukushima-related news, a judge last week said U.S. sailors could sue Tepco over exposure to radiation that occurred during 2011 rescue operations.
Here are more details for those stories:
The Weather Shield
On Friday, Tepco removed a portion of the weather shield built over reactor 1 building, which was put in place to contain radioactive dust after an earthquake-related explosion destroyed the building.
The section removal was a preliminary step toward retrieval of spent fuel rods from a storage pool and toward removing molten, post-meltdown fuel inside the structure. The first test will be to see if anti-dispersal agents meant to contain radioactive dust will be effective without the shield in place.
The plan is to finish dismantling the shield in March if an increase in ambient radiation in the area is not detected. So far, Tepco said, increased radiation leakage has not been detected, the Japan Times reported.
The government and Tepco said fuel removal would be delayed for five years, pushing the attempt to remove intact fuel rods from 2017 to 2019 and pushing the attempt to remove molten material back to 2025, the Japan Broadcasting Corporation said.
Part of the concern is the safety steps needed to remove radioactive debris around the reactor 1 building, given increased levels of radioactivity in nearby rice paddies has been attributed to dust that was stirred up during cleanup activities at Unit 3.
Tepco Posts Half-year Profits
Tepco said Friday that April through September profits had risen 71.4 percent over the same period for 2013, posting 242.8 billion yen or $2.32 billion in pre-tax profits for the six-month stretch.
Tepco said much of the gain came from delays in construction outlays and reduced operational costs, especially for labor and materials. Revenues for the period rose 3.7 percent to 3,334 billion yen or $30.57 billion, although electricity sales by volume declined due to cooler than normal summer weather.
The company's financial fortunes have fluctuated wildly since the 2011 earthquake. From March 2012 to March 2013, Tepco posted a loss of 326.96 billion yen or $2.99 billion. The following 12-month stretch saw profits rise to 101.42 billion yen or $920 million.
Sailors Can Sue in United States
In San Diego, U.S District Judge Janis L. Sammartino declined to dismiss a class action lawsuit at the request of Tepco, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, allowing that U.S. sailors could sue the company in California, although a lawsuit filed in Japan was also possible.
“Although Japan is an adequate alternative forum, the balance of the private and public interest factors suggest that it would be more convenient for the parties to litigate in a U.S. court,” Sammartino wrote a ruling issued Oct. 28.
Sailors are seeking to have Tepco create a $1 billion fund to monitor and address health issues that may arise from their participation in the 2011 rescue effort that included exposure to radioactivity. The lawsuit claims design flaws in the Fukushima Daiichi plant contributed to the disaster.
The precedent case is Lindsay R. Cooper v Tokyo Electric Power Company Inc., which has been filed in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of California.
The case was filed nearly two years ago on behalf of eight sailors, who were crew members of the U.S.S. Ronald Reagan. The lawsuit says the government-owned power company misrepresented the risks connected with the rescue effort.