October 5, 2011

Oct 5, 2011 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • Oxford University Physicist (and friend) Wade Allison spoke about Japan’s radiation standards at Tokyo’s Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan, this past Monday. Dr. Allison stunned the gathering by saying Japan’s radioactivity limits are far too restrictive and ought to be relaxed by at least 250%. For example, the 500 becquerel limit on Cesium in food should be raised to 1,250 Bq. As it turns out, the 500 Bq limit was selected by Japan because it is the most conservative national standard found elsewhere in the world. Allison suggests Japan should use America’s 1,250 Bq limit, at the very least. But, he says even that limit would be too restrictive. Limits could be raised many times higher than the American standard and be safe. Further, Allison proposes Japan’s 20 millisievert/yr exposure standard be raised to 100 msv/yr. The suggested change would still be many times below exposure levels that have actually hurt anyone. The Physicist also states the evacuated areas around Fukushima are far greater in size than need be, and the psychological damage caused by making people unnecessarily leave their homes is far worse than any biological damage which would have been caused by staying. Allison uses CT and PET scan data on human health effects to support his position. (Japan Times)
  • The Japanese government has decided to arbitrarily expand the zones designated for decontamination cleansings beyond the regions previously identified. This is not because the detectable levels of Cesium in the expansion areas are health threatening, but rather because a flood of criticism has come from the Prefectural governments of Fukushima, Toshigi and Gunma. The governors all maintain their residents do not trust the government criteria of 5 msv/yr to determine decontamination needs. The Prefectures demanded the criteria be dropped to 1 msv/yr, so Tokyo caved to the pressure. (Asahi Shimbun)
  • The Japan Chernobyl Foundation and Shinshu University Hospital have reported their preliminary results of testing Fukushima children for thyroid and/or hormonal abnormalities. Ten of the 130 children tested in August were found to have hormonal abnormalities. One child has a below-normal thyroid hormone level and seven had levels higher than the norm. The remaining two were diagnosed with slightly-above-average blood concentrations of a protein called thyroglobulin. Three of the 10 children were from the 20km no-go zone, one from the northwest evacuation corridor, and the rest from outside both zones. The researchers point out the detected abnormalities are not health-threatening and the children remain under scrutiny as a precaution. “At present, we cannot say the children are ill, but they require long-term observation,” said Minoru Kamata, chief of the foundation. Kamata further says no link has been established between the children’s conditions and contamination from Fukushima Daiichi. (Mainichi Shimbun)
  • On Monday, a group of Fukushima residents who voluntarily left their homes more than a month after March 11, demand the Japanese government in Tokyo extend them financial compensation. Tokyo’s Dispute Reconciliation Committee for Nuclear Damage Compensation decided on Sept. 21 to divide voluntary evacuation into those who left in the “initial days after the accident” and “after a certain period”, as criteria for compensation. Those who had evacuated in the “initial days” following the outbreak of the crisis would be eligible for compensation because it was deemed “reasonable to evacuate due to fear about radiation.” The citizens who did not leave within the “initial days” do not qualify. Many of the people who implored the panel on Monday said they found radiation levels inside their homes were up to 20 times higher than what the government said was “normal” before the Fukushima emergency, and much higher than the levels outside their homes. The residents maintain they washed everything down indoors, but the levels did not drop. They feared for the health of themselves and their children and left, in some cases four months after March 11. Thus, the residents believe they deserve compensatory funds. (Mainichi Shimbun)If the higher readings inside the homes remained after decontamination, this indicates that the levels are not due to Fukushima. Rather, the higher levels are due to a situation that existed prior to Fukushima which they were not aware of. The higher readings could be due to construction materials such as brick or metamorphic stone, or high radon concentrations. We hope the Tokyo government looks into this scientifically before making a decision that could result in needless wide-spread repercussions.
  • TEPCO has agreed to give unexpurgated copies of their 4 nuclear emergancy manuals to NISA, in accordance with last weeks demands by the government caused by TEPCO previously submitting mostly blacked-out copies. However, TEPCO demands that only about 50% of the content be made public because the manuals contain information covered by intellectual property rights, and some of the information could be used by terrorists. (NHK World)We feel the “intellectual property rights” tactic is vacuous and should be rejected. On the other hand, the terrorism argument doesn’t disturb us.
  • TEPCO’s latest posting of airborne Cesium activity levels surrounding the Fukushima power complex shows all but one of the locations are below detectable concentrations. The one detectable level is 10,000 times below Japan’s national standards. (not a typo) This makes all news reports that radiation continues to leak from Fukushima patently false. Actually, the emergency staff at Fukushima effectively ended the above-standard radioactive releases from the site several weeks ago. The “detectable-is-dangerous” concept seems to be the current news media tactic to keep the public on edge. As a friend said yesterday, “Good news is no news”.
  • The Horuriku Power Company has begun construction of a robust sea wall around its Shika Nuclear Power Station. The nuclear plant already sits 11 meters above sea level, so the 4 meter-high wall will barricade it from a Fukushima-level tsunami (~14 meters). In addition, new drainage systems will be built to allow any water which might surge over the wall to rapidly return to the sea. Further, additional emergency pumping systems and a dedicated valve-operating power source for venting the primary containment are being installed. (NHK World)While the above are certainly commendable efforts, we continue to feel the waterproofing of the emergency diesel enclosures, or their being moved to dedicated anti-seismic buildings external to the reactor buildings, are the best options available. If Horuriku Electric is investing huge sums to build a sea wall, why not spend a bit more and upgrade electrical reliability to an international state-of-the-art condition? (NHK World)