April 14, 2014

Apr 14, 2014 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • 638 fuel bundles have been removed from unit #4 spent fuel pool. 616 of the transferred bundles were actual spent fuel and 22 were unused. http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/decommision/index-e.html
  • Resolving radiation anxieties is the key to Fukushima repopulation. The lifting of living constraints for the Miyakoji district of Tamura City marked the beginning of possible resident returns to the exclusion zone. The two primary requirements for repopulation were completion of decontamination projects and reducing annual radiation exposures below 20 millisieverts. The actual radiation levels in Miyakoji are no more than 16% of the 20 mSv/year goal, and similar to readings in locations outside the exclusion zone that were never evacuated. The problem is resident hesitation to return primarily due to radiation fears over these low, biologically-innocuous exposure levels. International expert views on these exposures are virtually unanimous; health risks with doses below 100 mSv/yr are indistinguishable from typical lifestyle habits not connected to radiation exposure. The United Nations most recent report “finds no discernible changes in future cancer rates [of adults] and hereditary diseases are expected due to exposure to radiation as a result of the Fukushima nuclear accident; and, that no increases in the rates of birth defects are expected.” Efforts by the Fukushima Prefecture medical community to quell fears and unfounded rumors have had a positive impact, but the low return rate to Miyakoji shows that it has not nearly been enough. Activist-spurred calls for lowering the repopulation standard to 1 mSv/yr continue to hurt the repopulation effort. There are also other factors affecting repopulation, including a steady prefectural depopulation prior to 3/11/11 and few immediate jobs. http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0001202646
  • Lack of nuclear energy and radiation education continues in Japanese schools. Only one out of the six approved new science texts for primary schools includes information concerning the Fukushima accident. The problem stems from a complete lack of curriculum fundamentals such as defining “atom” and “radiation”. Another problem is a decidedly negative tone taken by some prospective texts relative to Fukushima and radiation. One editor said, “We could not deal with the issue negatively when our textbook is used in some municipalities hosting a nuclear plant.” The only approved text merely mentions Fukushima and nothing about radiation as dollows, “The earthquake off the Pacific coast of the Tohoku region triggered an accident at a nuclear power plant,” and that effective use of resources is a lesson learned. One publisher tried to add basic radiation information because it is a scientific fundamental, but gave up because “there is no appropriate relation with the [existing] curriculum’s guidelines.” http://japandailypress.com/education-ministry-approves-of-only-1-elementary-school-textbook-mentioning-fukushima-disaster-1147137/ (Comment – This writer has long held that the major reason for Japanese over-reaction to the Fukushima accident and radiation exposure is due to a historical lack of these topics in Japan’s public schools. An old adage holds that “ignorance is bliss”. However, there is nothing blissful about what has happened in Japan since 3/11/11. This latest academic setback will only continue a situation where rumor and fiction hold sway over fact and reason.)
  • Another tank leak occurred at F. Daiichi. On Sunday, Tepco said about a ton of contaminated water escaped a plastic storage tank, but none of it reached the sea because the tank is 700 meters from the shoreline and there are no drainage channels near enough to allow run-off to the ocean. The water in the tank had 1,640 Becquerels per liter of Cesium isotopes 134 and 137, and 1,400 Bq/liter of other Beta-emitting materials. http://jen.jiji.com/jc/eng?g=eco&k=2014041300113  A little over 200 tons of wastewater was pumped to the wrong location. The liquid containing about 37 million Becquerels per liter was incorrectly sent to a building used as an incineration workshop. During routine transfer of water from the waste bunker building to the main processing building on Thursday, water level in the processing building dropped unexpectedly. The inadvertent pumping to the incinerator building was eventually stopped and no loss of contaminated water to the environment occurred. Tepco is investigating the cause. http://jen.jiji.com/jc/eng?g=eco&k=2014041400215
  • Residents of the Sendai station’s host town are eager to get its two Pressurized Water Reactor units restarted. Sendai is some 1,600 kilometers south of F. Daiichi on Kyushu Island. Although no quake or tsunami was experienced by the nuke plants on 3/11/11, Japan’s nation-wide moratorium has idled them for over two years. Most people in host community Satsumasendai are happy that the Nuclear Regulation Authority has placed the station at the top of the list for restart consideration. Resident Hiroya Komatsu says, “I know it [Fukushima] was a horrible accident, but right now I’m more concerned about the economy and my job. We saw it on TV, but it could very well have been the Philippines. It didn’t feel like it was Japan.” The town has received more than $250 million in government subsidies since construction began in 1974, and gets about $25 million added annually to the local economy from refueling and maintenance periods for both units. Satsumasendai was hit hard by a severe economic downturn in the 1980s and the local average income remains at about a fifth of the national average. The nuke moratorium has added to the economic suffering. Hotel owner Daisaku Fukuyama says, “This whole town used to be booked up and you couldn’t get a room even if you made reservations months ahead,” thus many hotels have closed since 3/11/11. http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/kyushu-town-rallies-for-nuclear-plant-restart?utm_campaign=jt_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=jt_newsletter_2014-04-14_PM
  • Japan’s new national energy policy continues to be a Press focus. Most news outlets say it is reinstating nuclear energy, which is a reversal of the prior regime’s plans to eliminate nukes from Japan. However the Yomiuri Shimbun, Japan’s biggest newspaper, says the new policy “takes a realistic stance”. A stable, affordable energy supply is essential to the national recovery from both 3/11/11 and the prior regime’s failed economic policy. It is also vital that the currently poor trade balance be reversed by cutting back on the expensive imports of fossil fuels caused by the nuclear moratorium. Nuclear plants operate both day and night at full power, which is a must for the country’s industrial base. The Yomiuri says, “The plan is appropriate for officially ending the policy line of phasing out nuclear energy that was upheld by the administrations of the Democratic Party of Japan.” http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0001205376  However, in deference to outcries for a firm statement on the policy’s commitment to a reduction in reliance on nukes, Prime Minister Abe says they will set a ratio of nuclear-to-renewables after all qualifying nukes have been restarted. He stressed that the new policy includes developing an energy-efficient society and doubling of renewable generation, while not building any new nukes. He added that given Japan’s increased dependence on natural gas and other fossil fuels, he can’t say that Japan will ever completely abandon nuclear power. NHK World; Gov’t to set ratio for nuclear power; April 12, 2014
  • The former mayor of Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture, says the new policy is wrong. He also says the economic benefits of nuke operations to the host communities is an “illusion”. Since retiring in September, Tatsuya Murakami has been lecturing on his antinuclear opinion and joined the Mayors for a Nuclear Free Japan. The group numbers about 90 former and incumbent Mayors from the roughly 470 municipalities in Japan. Murakami says host communities treat nuke operators “just like lords”, while opposing them is a taboo. He believes that so much money comes in from the operating nukes that communities become dependent on it and “as a result, we have failed to cultivate other businesses”. After the Tokiamura reprocessing plant accident in 1999, Murakami began to wonder “how to reconstruct our village”. He added, “We were thrust into notoriety — Tokaimura was contaminated with radiation and the villagers were not being chosen as marital partners.” http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20140413p2g00m0dm103000c.html (Comment – several other members of the antinuclear mayoral group were cited, but none of the mayors from host communities who are not group members were approached. The practice of non-balance with antinuclear group reports is becoming more and more common in Japan.)
  • A foreign nuclear critic says Japan’s new energy plan is too-little, too-late for nukes. Frenchman Mycle Schneider, who has long followed the no-nukes persuasion, says, “I think it is unavoidable that the Japanese utilities will write off most of their nuclear ‘assets’ and move on. Given the slim realistic prospects for a major nuclear share, the challenge will be flexibility and the whole base-load concept flies out of the window.” http://www.japantoday.com/category/politics/view/japan-approves-energy-plan-reinstating-nuclear-power  (Comment – Schneider’s Fukushima bashing began in March of 2011, soon after the accident. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-23/nuclear-cloud-comes-with-aura-of-arrogance-commentary-by-mycle-schneider.html His incessant antinuclear exaggerations using cherry-picked “evidence” have been published since the turn of the century. One of the most revealing news reports showing his anti-Fukushima biases is contained in a CNN piece of 2013. http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2013/08/30/why-fukushima-is-worse-than-you-think/  He advertises himself as an energy consultant and nuclear analyst, but is clearly no more than a typical antinuclear mouthpiece.)
  • Distrust of the government hampers the gathering of radiation exposure data for the IAEA. Japan’s Foreign Ministry asked 18 local governments for the latest exposure readings from personal dosimetry and whole body scans at hospitals and other community facilities. But half of the communities have declined because they suspect “the effects of radiation exposure on residents’ health could be trivialized” and that “it is senseless to request personal information via email.” A news media survey found many said “It lacks common sense to request radiation exposure data, which requires careful handling, via email alone,” and “The request came in all too sudden and we don’t have enough time to sort out the data.” http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20140414p2a00m0na009000c.html (Comment – IMHO, the real reason is that data from dosimeters carried by evacuees who have returned home have shown the actual radiation exposures are much less than prior estimates gleaned from aircraft monitoring. It is quite likely that the IAEA request for actual data will show much the same results. Many Fukushima communities do not want this to happen, especially those affected by Tokyo’s mandated 2011 evacuations. Much lower exposures mean more people allowed to return home, including officials from evacuated towns. Once living restrictions are lifted, a one-year clock begins ticking for the cessation of generous evacuee compensation.)
  • The Vancouver Sun says Fukushima radiation is coming to British Columbia. Ken Buesseler of Woods Hole Oceanographic says that his west coast citizen’s sampling program is being pursued because “No one wanted to take responsibility”. US officials say the concentrations will be so low it will not hurt anyone so they are not checking for Fukushima isotopes. Buesseler said he realized that testing needed to be done when his website’s activity started to “go through the roof” in November of last year when an infamous YouTube video of a beach near San Francisco hit the internet. He said it is a prime example of how unbridled fear of radiation can run rampant and cause widespread anxiety. Buesseler says, “You can be anti-nuclear and you don’t have to scare people about Fukushima. There have been some really awful scaremongering — showing lesions in fish and things that have never been shown to be due to Fukushima. A lot of false and misleading claims, I think, are out there.” The program has 22 citizen-operated and funded sites along the west coast of North and Central America, and another 27 working on raising the money to do it. Each sample costs about $600 to perform, including packaging and postage. The samples are tested for Cesium isotopes. If both Cs-134 and Cs-137 are found to be present, then the sample contains Fukushima radioactive material. The American drinking water standard for Cesium is 7,400 Bq/m3, and Canada’s is 10,000 Bq/m3. Buesseler speculates that detected Cesium from Fukushima will be anywhere from 1-30 Bq/m3 when it reaches the Pacific coast…which it hasn’t, as yet. Buesseler cautions, “I would not be concerned swimming in those waters or eating seafood. I personally don’t have concerns about human health and safety from what the levels are predicted to be. But without measurement, we won’t be able to confirm that level of radioactivity. Since there is debate about doses, even at the lowest levels, it behooves us to get those numbers. Radioactivity can be dangerous — but not at the levels we expect on the west coast of North America.” http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Citizen%20scientists%20prepare%20test%20West%20Coast%20Fukushima%20radiation%20with%20video/9730931/story.html