[ RadSafe ] After Five Years, What Is The Cost Of Fukushima?

[Brennan, Mike (DOH)]

If I were in charge of energy policy for Japan, I would focus on decentralizing energy production.  This would include solar where appropriate, improved efficiency where possible, and Generation 4 modular nuclear reactors, placed close to the loads and with survivability as one of the highest priorities.  There are small reactors that would ride out an earthquake as a unit, without breaking, and that are engineered so that the fuel can't melt (at the expense of some efficiency in eliectrical production, but I think the trade-off is good).  Decentralization helps with a lot of problems.  And I would not put them below the historic tsunami high-warter marks.

-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu [mailto:radsafe-bounces at health.phys.iit.edu] On Behalf Of jjshonka at shonka.com
Sent: Friday, March 11, 2016 10:15 AM
To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List <radsafe at health.phys.iit.edu>
Subject: Re: [ RadSafe ] After Five Years, What Is The Cost Of Fukushima?

I have read the earthquake produced $300 billion in total damages, over 18,000 fatalities (including missing and 1600 from poorly executed evacuation from Fukushima), entire towns wiped off the map, and over 1,000,000 buildings damaged or totally destroyed.  Many coastal areas had seawalls which were not able to stop the tsunami that reached over 40 meters in height.  


To put things in perspective, on a safety basis (or lives lost), any dollars might be better spent hardening coastal towns and cities.  The costs and impacts of the Fukushima reactor meltdowns is a small piece of the overall disaster, greatly aggravated by excess public concerns.  For example, should we move San Francisco 10 miles inland in case the San Andreas fault has a similar earthquake?  What about San Diego, etc.  


The safety of nuclear power reactors is quite good.  Lessons learned from Fukushima (such as getting electrical switchgear in hardened structures not susceptible to flooding) will make existing or new plants even safer.  


Joe Shonka






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From: Dan McCarn
Sent: ‎Thursday‎, ‎March‎ ‎10‎, ‎2016 ‎1‎:‎11‎ ‎PM
To: The International Radiation Protection (Health Physics) Mailing List





This is from my friend, Jim Conca.

*After Five Years, What Is The Cost Of Fukushima?*

The direct costs of the Fukushima disaster will be about $15 billion in clean-up over the next 20 years and over $60 billion in refugee compensation. Replacing Japan’s 300 billion kWhs from nuclear each year with fossil fuels has costJapan over $200 billion, mostly from fuel costs  for natural gas, fuel oil and coal. This cost will at least double, and that only if the nuclear fleet is mostly restarted by 2020. Since 2011, Japan’s trade deficit has become the worst in its history, and Japan is now the second largest net importer of fossil fuel in the world, right behind China. Strangely, the costs that never materialized were the most feared, those of radiation-induced cancer and death.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2016/03/10/after-five-years-what-is-the-cost-of-fukushima/#3a7a79346016

Dan ii

Dan W McCarn, Geologist
108 Sherwood Blvd
Los Alamos, NM 87544-3425
+1-505-670-8123 (Mobile - New Mexico)
HotGreenChile at gmail.com (Private email) HotGreenChile at gmail dot com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dwmccarn
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