Japan Rocked by 6.2 Earthquake

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[size=40]Even [size=40]Robots[/size] [size=40]Cannot[/size] [size=40]Handle[/size] [size=40]Fukushima[/size] [size=40]Radiation[/size][/size]
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ASIA & PACIFIC
01:31 04.03.2017Get short URL
055710

Radiation from the failed reactors at Fukushima is causing clean-up robots to malfunction and fail. Naohiro Masuda, head of decommissioning for Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), the plant’s operator, has called for the robots to be redesigned so they can withstand the lethal conditions inside the nuclear power plant.

In the aftermath of a magnitude-9.0 earthquake and tsunami in 2011, three of Fukushima’s six reactors suffered a meltdown, forcing nearly 100,000 people living nearby to be relocated. Roughly 19,000 people were recorded as killed or missing in the disaster. 

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Record Radiation Aborts Robot Mission Inside Fukushima Reactor

In the largest nuclear incident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, radiation levels are so high that every robot sent to examine the site has failed.
Last month one of these robots aborted its mission after it was blocked by what appeared to be deposits of debris and melted fuel. There have been at least two similar incidents in the past, with one robot abandoned after not being able to find fuel for several days, and another failing after falling into a gap.
"We should think out of the box so we can examine the bottom of the core and how melted fuel debris spread out," said Masuda, according to Japan Today. He added that before alternative methods for gathering fuel can be explored, he intends to send in another robot. 

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‘Unimaginable’ – Understanding Radiation Levels Inside Fukushima Reactor

The Japan Times quoted an email from MIT engineering and nuclear science professor Jacopo Buongiorno saying, "The road map for removing the fuel is going to be long, 2020 and beyond…The re-solidified fuel is likely stuck to the vessel wall and vessel internal structures. So the debris have to be cut, scooped, put into a sealed and shielded container and then extracted from the containment vessel. All done by robots."
It will take at least 40 years to fully decommission the reactors, with a projected cost of tens of billions.
A fear of the radiation has also caused Jeju Air, a low-cost South Korean air carrier, to tell its customers that they will no longer fly out of Fukushima’s airport, after users posted online that they would not "board airplanes that flew over Fukushima."[/size]

Zemljotres u Japanu? Pa to nije vise ni vijest...

[size=52]How Japan became the world leader in floating solar power

How do you increase your solar energy output when you need all your land for 
agriculture and for housing? Answer: take to the water. That’s just what they are doing in Japan.[/size]
The world’s first floating solar plant was built in Japan, in Aichi Prefecture in central Honshu. The country’s many inland lakes and reservoirs are now home to 73 of the world's 100 largest floating solar plants and account for half of those plants’ 246 megawatts of solar capacity.

Global growth of floating solar power

Image: World Bank

Hyogo Prefecture in southern Honshu has almost 40,000 lakes and already hosts nearly half the floating solar capacity of the world’s 100 largest plants. Many plants are small scale, helping the region to kick-start the move to distributed local power generation which the World Economic Forum has identified as the key to transforming the world’s power supply.
The biggest Japanese floating solar plant sits behind the Yamakura Dam at Ichihara in Chiba Prefecture. It covers 18 hectares, can power nearly 5,000 homes and is saving more than 8,000 tonnes of CO2 a year.

Japan’s Yamakura plant is made up of almost 60,000 solar panels

Image: World Bank

Tailor-made for Asia
Floating solar is particularly well suited to Asia, where land is scarce but there are many hydroelectric dams with existing transmission infrastructure. China has just connected the world’s biggest floating solar plant at Anhui, which will generate almost 78,000 megawatts in its first year, enough to power 21,000 homes.
But Anhui’s record may not stand for very long. Next year, South Korea is due to complete what it says will become the world's largest floating solar plant, delivering 102.5 megawatts, capable of powering 35,000 homes. Singapore has built an offshore floating solar power plant in the Strait of Johor and Thailand plans 16 floating solar projects on nine hydropower dam reservoirs.
The world’s top 10 floating solar plants

Image: Solarplaza.com

The technology is relatively new. The first patents were taken out in 2008 and its proponents say floating solar is up to 16% more efficient than land-based systems. As well as freeing up scarce land, floating solar panels also stop the growth of algae, which can harm fish stocks and slow the rate of evaporation from reservoirs.
Surging ahead
World floating solar output grew 100-fold from 2014 to 2018. It could soon provide more power than conventional land-based systems. The pace is picking up. India recently announced it plans to create 10 gigawatts of floating solar capacity.
Although its proponents say floating solar has massive potential, critics worry it may harm marine ecosystems by blocking sunlight. They also point to its vulnerability to bad weather. In 2017, a typhoon did considerable damage to an installation near Osaka.
On the up side, floating solar linked to hydroelectric plants has the potential to maintain power supplies when water levels drop. Experts say that it works well where power grids are weak. They think sub-Saharan Africa could be the next big beneficiary of the technology