The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency of Japan, has asked three nuclear power plants to inspect their reactors for damage.  This after the agency realized that the 11 March earthquake was stronger than what many nuclear power plants were designed to withstand.

Since then Japan has had more than 400 aftershocks, several in the 5 to 6 magnitude range, and at least two of magnitude 7.  There is concern that nuclear plants already damaged by the 9.0 quake, will be further weakened by the aftershocks.

Work at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant has been continually interrupted by aftershocks.  Currently employees are moving diesel generators to higher ground, because there is concern that there could be another big quake caused tsunami.

Fukushima Daiichi is not the only nuke plant damaged by the 11 March quake.  Fukushima DaiNi, just a few miles away, has been struggling to keep its reactors cool, using external power.  Also, in Miyagi Prefecture, there is Onagawa nuclear plant (owned by Tohoku Electric, not to be confused with Tokyo Electric).  It too, has been struggling to keep its fuel pools cool with external power.  One aftershock cut the power lines running to the plant.  Onagawa had all its reactors shut down for maintenance prior to 11 March, so all the active fuel rods are in the spent fuel pools.

Tokyo Electric Power Company operates several nuclear power plants in Japan, not just Fukushima Daiichi.  Some of those plants went off line because of the 11 March disasters. In fact many nuclear plants run by other companies are off line, that’s why the electricity shortage in Japan is so bad.

TEPCo announced that they will restart one reactor at their Kashiwazaki Kariwa plant, in Niigata Prefecture.  The KK plant has four reactors.  Reactor 1 is operational, but 2 through 4 are shut down.

They hope to get Reactor 3 up and running by the end of the year.  Part of the delay is from a government ordered earthquake reinforcing program for the reactor buildings.

“Children have been rejected from evacuation centers. It’s really sad for them to be told, ‘Don’t come near, don’t come near’.”-Abe Sadayasu, Minamisoma City official

Adding insult to injury, many Japanese evacuees are reporting they’re being turned away from emergency shelters for health reasons.

The latest evacuees are coming from recently expanded nuclear evacuation zones.  Emergency shelter operators believe the new evacuees are contaminated with radiation, and think it will spread to the other people in the shelters.

Surprisingly it’s not just shelters that have a fear of radiation, it’s Japanese hospitals.  An 8 year old girl, with a skin condition, was refused treatment at a hospital for fear it was caused by radiation.

The current round of evacuees must show official ‘radiation free’ documents, or go through radiation contamination screening, before being let into shelters. Prefectural governments are now issuing radiation free certificates.

A shelter operator, who doesn’t want his name published, said they are doing it for “peace of mind” of the evacuees already in the shelters.

Even hotels are refusing customers from areas that are near the nuclear evacuation zones. “When I explained that I was from an area that was not even in the voluntary evacuation zone… the clerk responded: ‘You can’t stay here unless you have been tested and can prove you’re not a ‘hibakusha’.”-evacuee from Fukushima

Hibakusha is a term originally applied to survivors of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan, by the U.S., during World War 2.  It’s a negative term, and you’re treated like a Leper (someone with Leprosy).  The discrimination that’s taking place, against evacuees from radiation zones, shows how ignorant the Japanese people are when it comes to radiation. Which is amazing since they’ve experienced first hand nuclear attacks.

Sony has announced that they will start using the dreaded (for some people) Day Light savings, to help save electricity in a Japan now strapped for electrical power.

It’s expected that lack of electrical power will become more of a problem in summer, because that’s when demand normally goes up.  There are several nuclear power plants off line, not just the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant.

Tokyo Electric Power Company president, Shimizu Masakatsu, is stepping down from his post as chairman of the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan.  It is a direct result of the crisis at Fukushima Daiichi.

The FEPC is a kind of union, or club, of electrical power companies in Japan. Yagi Makoto, president of Kansai Electric Power Company, will replace Shimizu as chairman of FEPC.

Shimizu said he plans on resigning from one of Japan’s biggest nuke power lobby groups, Nippon Keidanren, as well.

“As strong aftershocks occur almost daily, we have to consider what will happen to buildings already damaged by blasts.”-Nishiyama Hidehiko, Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency

Concern for new problems at Fukushima Daiichi, caused by several intense aftershocks, and rising temperatures in Reactor 4 spent fuel pool after a battery storage box caught fire.

Tokyo Electric Power Company says that higher-than-usual levels of radioactive iodine-131, cesium-134 and cesium-137, are coming from Reactor 4 fuel pool.  Reactor 4 was shut down at the time of the tsunami, and all the active fuel rods were in the spent fuel pool.  Inspection of the fuel pool revealed that some rods are damaged, but most are intact.

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency wants TEPCo to inspect all buildings for more damage caused by aftershocks.  The concern is that the buildings have been weakened by the 9.0 quake, tsunami and massive hydrogen gas explosions.