- JAIF reports the Japanese government plans to begin wide-spread decontamination of the “no-entry” evacuation zone next month. Nuclear Crisis Minister Goshi Hosono says the goal is to eventually decontaminate the entire zone so that everyone can safely return to their homes at some point early next year. He did not comment on whether or not re-population will happen gradually as each segment of the area is decontaminated.
- Hosono has also announced that Prime Minister Kan’s cabinet is considering moving NISA and NSC, the the two most important nuclear regulatory bodies, from their present ministry locations to the Environmental Ministry. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters officials share the view that the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency should be separated from the industry ministry around April next year. No timetable has been reported for an NSC relocation.The moves would make considerable sense, but merely “considering” the move is unacceptable. April next year is an unacceptable timetable. Do it. Do it now. Plus, NISA and NSC are but two of a half-dozen nuclear regulatory agencies currently found in various cabinet Ministries. Move them all. Bring them together into one agency independent of all cabinet offices other than the Environmental Ministry.
- TEPCO has reported the highest localized radiation level at Fukushima Daiichi to date. Monday, radiation monitoring employees found a “hot spot” measuring about 10 sieverts (10,000 millisieverts) as they approached some pipes inside a venting duct connecting units 1 & 2. The workers who took the reading quickly moved away from the area because 10 sieverts is a whopping-big exposure level. Their dosimeters recorded an exposure of 4 millisieverts for each worker, which is well below the emergency worker limit. However, if someone stayed in the area for an hour or more, it is likely that person would contract Acute Radiation Syndrome and probably die.
- TEPCO also reports the discovery of the highest exposure “hot spot” inside a reactor building. It is on the demolished spent fuel handling floor of reactor building #1. TEPCO said it is at least 5 sieverts per hour, but that was the upper limit of the detection device so it is possible the actual value is higher. The hot spot is a pipe which is part of the “vent” system which was used to try and depressurize the RPV and Containment on March 12, before the hydrogen explosion. TEPCO speculates the unusually high radiation level may be due to some meltdown material which may have been carried into the piping during the depressurization attempts.
- Hiroshima University is running a detailed investigation into the possible negative health effects of low level radiation exposure. Some 40 researchers are taking part in the study. The investigation has 3 main themes: analysis of the impact of low-level radioactive exposure on human genes, medical response to internal exposure and exposure during an emergency. A preliminary finding is that a 100 millisievert acute (experienced over a short period of time) exposure could increase the probability of cancer by 0.5%. The group says they have yet to find sufficient data from anywhere in the world to show negative health effects below that level, but data compiled from the citizens of Fukushima should help resolve the low level exposure issue.At what point will the team conclude that they will find no negative health effects of any kind below 100 millisieverts? Radiation hormesis studies show that exposures of between 1 and 100 millisieverts produce health benefits and no negative effects. Let’s hope Hiroshima University takes the bull by the horns and eventually joins with the ever-growing number of research groups around the world that understand radiation hormesis to be a universal reality.
- Two additional Prefecture’s beef is being banned from sale. Iwate Prefecture has detected higher-than-health-standard Cesium levels in two cattle, so they have banned all shipments because of public radiation fears. Iwate Prefecture ships out some 36,000 cattle per year. In addition, the ban has been extended to Tochigi Prefecture because 4 cattle have been found to contain Cesium levels above the government standard. Tochigi ships 55,000 head of cattle annually. The government says the ban will be lifted when the Prefecture’s all have a viable system in place to check all cattle before shipment. The cattle with below-standard Cesium levels will be allowed for shipment.
- Mainichi Shimbun reports they have discovered that the two worker’s bodies found in turbine building #4 three weeks after the tsunami were TEPCO employees sent there by the shift supervisor to check for earthquake damage. There was about forty-five minutes between the earthquake and tsunami. The inspection was due to a tank in the basement showing a lower water level than before the quake hit. The two workers were sent into the turbine room basement to check for any leaks that might explain the lower water level reading in the control room. However, there was a full tsunami warning all along Japan’s Northeast coastline at the time, so the decision to send the men out on inspection during the tsunami warning was improper, to say the least. The shift supervisor may have felt government assurances that the plant was totally protected from any tsunami, may have influenced his decision. A false sense of security, if you will. The basement is physically below sea level, thus the tsunami completely flooded it and drowned the two workers.
- Mainichi also tells us of a legal request filed by a local resident’s group designed to get an injunction against the restart of the seven nukes in Fukui Prefecture. The former Judge filing for the group, Kenichi Ido, says existing government standards for nuke safety are inadequate and no nukes should be operated as long as these current standards establish the operating prerequisites. He further says, “If, for example, there was even a one percent risk of an accident, nuclear power plants would have to be shut down.” Perhaps most troubling is the filing’s statement that “there is no need to consider” long term loss of power in the decision to restart reactors. The group has about 170 members living in Fukui and three other adjoining prefectures.
- An Asahi Shimbun editorial calls for a national energy debate, but cautions that the debate should center on objective data rather than political expediency, rumors and fear-mongering. Whether or not the ultimate decision eliminates or continues nuclear electricity production in Japan is not as important as making it an objectively-informed decision. Politically, the editorial points to Prime Minister Kan’s naïve and knee-jerk anti-nuclear politics. Asahi says, “It is important to flesh out the nuclear-free vision presented by Prime Minister Naoto Kan as his ‘personal view’ into a more specific and realistic Cabinet policy.” The article continues, “We are eager to see healthy, thorough debate of the new energy policy. This important initiative should not be watered down through haphazard policy changes or maneuverings driven by short-term political expediency. There is a variety of opinion on renewable energy and phasing out nuclear power, and it is vital that the government gives reliable and objective data to inform debate on these issues.”Beyond the government itself, Asahi continues, “Outside government, people are making arguments using data shaped to support their cases. The shortage of reliable and objective data is muddling the debate.” In other words, the debate should not be skewed by opinions that first create agenda-fulfilling conclusions and then seeks only that evidence which supports the pre-concieved concepts. The editorial concludes with a practical caution we fully support, “We urge the government to make sure that the formulas, raw data and other information used to make the estimates are disclosed. If that information is not revealed, there will be considerable public distrust of the figures, and that will make constructive, cool-headed debate impossible.”
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