- Construction of the enclosure around unit #1 reactor building continues. World Nuclear News has given us some technical details of interest, “The sections of the steel frame will be fitted together remotely without the use of screws and bolts. All the wall panels will have a flameproof coating, and the structure will have a filtered ventilation system capable of handling 10,000 cubic metres per hour through six lines, including two backup lines. The cover structure will also be fitted with internal monitoring cameras, radiation and hydrogen detectors, thermometers and a pipe for water injection. It will be able to handle accumulated snow loads of 30 centimetres and wind speeds of up to 90 kilometres per hour.”
- TEPCO’s latest report on radioactivity in the seawater within the Fukushima Daiichi quay shows a continued decrease in Cesium levels, and compares them to concentrations found in April. JAIF summarizes the data, “Seawater collected near the water intake of the No.2 reactor on Saturday was found to contain 0.058 becquerels of cesium-134, or 0.97 times the government-set safety limit. It also contained 0.056 becquerels of cesium-137, or 0.62 times the limit. Both figures were around one tenth of the level found on the previous day. In April, the level of cesium-137 in seawater near the water intake of the No.2 reactor was found to be 1.1 million times the safety limit. Since then, the density of the radioactive element has been declining, and recently it has fallen below the limit sometimes.” Could the Cesium be precipitating out of the water and concentrating in the sediment found at the quay’s bottom?
- Japan Times reports 900 residents of the City of Minamisoma, Japan, just outside the 20km no-go zone around Fukushima Daiichi, have received their internal radioactivity reports. All were significantly below government standards and at least two orders of magnitude below the theoretical threshold for negative health effects. The whole body tests were run by the city government on 569 people aged between 15 and 91, and 330 elementary and junior high school students. The highest single exposure has been found at just above 1 msv/yr, and most residents were below 0.1 msv/yr. The article also says none of the evacuees from Fukushima who now live in Chiba Prefecture have tested above 1 msv/yr.
- The Japan Food Safety Commission (FSC) has been researching the health effects of ionizing radiation exposure for more than a month. They intend to set a lifetime internal exposure standard for the population. To date, they have found no evidence for negative human health effects below 100 msv lifetime exposure, combining the internal and external. However, they want to address concerns about the possibility of internal exposure being more hazardous than exposure from outside the body. They have also found little data on the health effects of radioactive materials ingested through foods. The FSC says they will probably adopt the 100msv lifetime dose as an upper limit, then base radioactivity-in-food standards accordingly. The FSC is trying to focus on internal exposures and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology on external exposure. Asahi Shimbun seems correct in criticizing this bureaucratic “compartmentalization”. The two efforts should be combined into one “overaching” agency which would streamline the decision-making process while eliminating cross-departmental delays and conflicts.
- In order to try and avert a “rice scare” similar to the recent beef phobia across Japan, the governments of 30 Prefectures will be testing this year’s crop. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries will newly harvested rice in 17 prefectures, but distrust of Prime Minister Kan’s government has spurred the Prefectures to do the job themselves. Rice is the biggest food source in Japan, and no one wants another consumer panic similar to the beef scare. Mainichi Shimbun reports the preliminary testing of more than 3,500 batches of rice will begin in early September.
- Meanwhile, Asahi Shimbun reports that international negative publicity from the Fukushima nuclear accident has severely hurt nearly all of Japan’s food exports. As of August 12, 17 nations (mostly in Asia) still have bans on foods imported from Japan. Most of the remaining bans are reportedly due to fears spawned by the international Press. Asahi points out, “Japanese food exports have plummeted across the board, and government efforts to publicize the safety of the products have been largely ignored or dismissed in markets overseas.” In Taiwan, one homemaker shopping with a child said, “I stopped buying Japanese fruits after a TV show said they were dangerous,” which is not an uncommon type of Fukushima news coverage in Asia. An official at Fukuoka Dydo Seika Co., a japanese agricultural exporter, said, “Even if we publicize the fact that there is no radiation contamination, foreign companies will not even look at agricultural products from eastern Japan.”Yes, this is another demonstration of the Hiroshima Syndrome at work, but it also shows the severe additional damage caused by the fractured Japanese government’s handling of the Fukushima accident. Distrust is not only among the Japanese citizenry, but has spread across Asia and around the world. We expect the government to try and shift blame to Fukushima Daiichi, TEPCO, and the nuclear energy option itself, but they need only look in their mirrors to find the true culprits.
- Tomorrow’s “Ancestor’s bonfire” in Kyoto has administratively boom-a-ranged due to fear of radiation concerning the wood to be burned. But, the most recent public outcry has taken a most interesting turn. Friday, the final decision was made to not burn the tsunami pine-wood from Iwate, even though the suppliers removed all bark from the tsunami wood because it is the only part which could possibly have any Fukushima radioactive contamination. But, this made no difference to the hyper-phobic-about-radiation Japanese demographic who once again made their fears known. In contrast, Kyoto’s city office said it has received about 2,000 telephone calls and e-mails criticizing the bonfire organizers for their action and accusing them of helping spread “harmful rumors” about radiation from the Fukushima plant. The committee says it will not change its mind again. Even though there is absolutely no chance of the bonfire’s ash containing Fukushima isotopes, the organizers have decided that caving to the phobic fears and not burning the tsunami wood is the easier path.
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