December 12, 2012

Dec 12, 2012 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • A new poll about voter preferences for the upcoming election reveals that the largest percentage of non-aligned voters is voting for the Liberal Democratic Party candidates. About half of the nation’s 42% non-affiliated voters have made up their minds – 30% say they will vote LDP, 24% favor the Japan Restoration Party, and 12% are voting DPJ. The new Tomorrow Party is favored by only 4% of the non-aligned voters. Combined with last week’s nation-wide polls of aligned voters, it seems even more likely that the LDP could win a clear Diet majority and make party leader Abe the Prime Minister. The only hope for the other parties is that ~38% of the polled voters have yet to make up their minds, so they will be the focus of this week’s campaigning leading up to Sunday’s national election. (Yomiuri Shimbun)
  • The earthquake issue concerning the Tsuruga nuclear power station has heated up. Nuclear Regulatory Authority Chair Shunichi Tanaka has stated it seems the nuke may be located above an active fault, which might stop the power plants from being restarted. However, plant owner Japan Atomic Power Company says they disagree with Tanaka’s judgment. Japco intends to use on-going studies to show the error in the NRA’s analysis. In fact, a formal 10-point letter has been submitted to the NRA by Japco asking for the scientific basis behind the new watchdog’s decision. Kunihiko Shimazaki, the Nuclear Regulation Authority commissioner who led the team, said at a news conference they had “reached a decision based on the data we have now” and there is no need for the company to carry out further studies. Tanaka says the Urasoko seismic fault which runs parallel to the power station seems connected to the “D-1” crush zone seam that passes under the power complex’ reactors. It further seems the Urasoko fault has moved in the past 125,000 years, qualifying it as “seismic”. Japco wants a scientific explanation as to Tanaka’s statement. In response, the NRA chair said, “I want a detailed report to be compiled swiftly on the process of the discussion (by the panel) and then the Nuclear Regulation Authority will consider its decision.” So far, the NRA commissioners agree on three points – the Urasoko fault was recently discovered to have moved seismically in the past 125,000 years, the D-1 crush zone appears connected to the Urasoko fault, and if Urasoko moves again it could trigger simultaneous movement in the crush zone. The NRA’s final report will be issued next Monday. To additionally complicate things, existing Japanese regulations are not designed to keep a power station from operating once it has been constructed. If the Tsuruga nuke station actually sits on an active seismic fault, serious legal questions would have to be answered before it could be barred from operation. Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Law says measures to prevent nuclear disasters can be taken if there is “imminent danger”. What determines “imminent danger” is essentially a matter of opinion. Tanaka says he feels the designation of an underlying fault as being seismic is enough to meet the “imminent danger” definition. However, other officials in the NRA are not so sure. One said, “That was Mr. Tanaka’s personal view” and decommissioning would be legally up to a power station’s owner. The NRA staff explains that existing law “points to cases in which danger cannot be clearly predicted such as missile attacks, satellites falling to earth and volcanic eruptions, but active faults are said to move about every 1,000 years, and therefore it is deemed difficult to recognize active faults as an “imminent” danger.” A seismic fault that moves once every 125,000 years is much more difficult to designate as “imminent”. Forthcoming nuclear regulations created by the NRA might close the loop on this issue, but it would take a major change to national law. There is no precedent for a regulatory agency changing a law without government consent. (Mainichi Shimbun; Yomiuri Shimbun; Japan Times)
  • The Municipal government of Misato, Saitama Prefecture, has quietly built a temporary storage site for low level radioactive decontamination wastes. The city began planning in June with briefings of nearby residents and the city council. The site has been under construction since August. The facility will be completed in a few weeks and should begin actual storage in about a month. The location is on the grounds of a municipal athletic facility in the city’s Kobo district. City official Susumu Akimoto says, “We decided to build a temporary storage site until the national government decided on a final disposal site. We explained the plans to five households nearby, and let the city council know in June.” However, a local civic group concerned with radiation exposure is not happy with the city’s action. A representative said, “We wish we would have been notified about this, too.” (Mainichi Shimbun)
  • Minamisoma Town, 25 kilometers north of F. Daiichi, continues to slowly progress towards repopulation. The town’s Odaka district was included in the 20-kilometer evacuation zone until the government relaxed the eviction order in April. However, following more than a year of neglect, the recovery effort was slow and tedious. Residents are now allowed unrestricted access to their homes and businesses, but the government says they cannot stay overnight. Most businesses and public facilities remain closed. Some closures are due to the population only being “part-time”, while others stay closed because necessary infrastructure has yet to be restored. Many municipal services like sewage treatment and water supply systems were swamped by the Tsunami and the town doesn’t have the money or manpower to clean up the remaining tsunami debris and get all the services restored. In addition, the earthquake and tsunami totally destroyed about 1,000 buildings, including many homes, all of which need to be cleared away and rebuilt. Since April, only 30 have been razed. To many, it seems the government is more concerned about cleaning up the low levels of Fukushima contamination than they are about rebuilding the town itself. “We used to have a small but close-knit community, but now we seem to have different thoughts in our minds,” lamented Sunao Kato, a local barber. “There are people whose houses were completely washed away by tsunami… I doubt we can get people back even if this town manages to return into an inhabitable place.” Kato says he doesn’t get involved with the politics “I think someone who is barely getting by each day without any vision for tomorrow cannot discuss national politics. It feels like a very, very remote thing.” Then there is the lingering fear of radiation which has caused some 2,000 former residents of the town’s pre-3/11/11 population of 14,000 to find permanent residence somewhere else. Takako Kuroki’s residence is located in the Kawabusa area near the mountainside of Odaka, which is part of the current “unlivable” zone. She says that even if her home is completely decontaminated she will always worry about radioactive material being blow back from the mountainside. Kuroki’s fears have spurred her to attend Tokyo’s antinuclear rallies at least once each month. “Unless people who lost their homes to the nuclear accident raise our voices, the government and TEPCO will not feel regret,” Kuroki said. She is totally frustrated because it seems very few antinuclear candidates will win the upcoming election. (Asahi Shimbun)
  • Meanwhile, Minamisoma’s town government is trying its best to confront radiation fears. On December 2nd the town held its 25th annual distance races, ranging from 1.5km to a half-marathon. The races were cancelled last year because the town was part of the Tokyo government’s “no-go” designation. Mayor Katsunobi Sakurai was enthusiastic before he ran in the half-marathon, “People who participated in this event are all forward-looking. I hope they will demonstrate our will to fully rebuild this city.” He main goal is to dispel irrational radiation fears. Decontamination efforts brought the race-course’s radiation level down to below 0.3 microsieverts per hour. Thousands participated in the races, including 430 elementary students. Regardless, some residents protested the event saying it would harm children and pregnant women. An internet campaign touting “it is abnormal to allow 2,000 people to run through a radiation-contaminated area” had no impact on the event. (Asahi Shimbun)
  • The town of Okuma, adjacent to Fukushima Daiichi, is being re-zoned by the government. The eastern side of the town, where about 90% of the population called home, is re-zoned as an area that cannot be repopulated for at least five years. The town’s central area is designated for repopulation in less than 5 years. The western rural area has radiation levels low enough to allow people home “in the near future”. The Okuma town government says they will allow no one to go home for at least five years, regardless of what Tokyo says. (Yomiuri Shimbun)