March 19, 2012

Mar 19, 2012 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • TEPCO has made underwater videos of the unit #4 Spent Fuel Pool (SPF) giving further proof there was never any fire during the accident. Debris which fell into the pool from the building’s hydrogen explosion is seen in one video, and another shows the tops of the spent fuel bundles with little or no explosion debris. There is no evidence of heat deformity or fire. (TEPCO)
  • Disaster Minister Goshi Hosono has literally taken to the streets for support of tsunami recovery. On Saturday, Hosono handed out flyers near a train station in Shizuoka City, asking for the public’s understanding and help in disposing of tsunami debris. He also attended a public briefing in Nakanojo, Gunma Prefecture, which has agreed to accept tsunami rubble. Hosono thanked the gathering of 250 citizens and said that by accepting 1,000 tons they were setting an example for the rest of the nation. He thinks that the effort to gain support is finally gaining momentum. (Japan Today)
  • The Tokyo government promises all-out support for tsunami debris disposal. A pledge was formally presented Sunday to Kanagawa Governor Yuji Kuroiwa by Disaster minister Hosono during a street campaign for citizen support. The governor said he was encouraged by Tokyo’s pledge and would do all he could to assist in debris disposal. The government promises they take full financial responsibility for the disposal effort. (JAIF)
  • One prefecture is asking a power company to assist in tsunami debris disposal. Aichi Gov. Hideaki Omura said he is making arrangements with Chubu Electric Power Co. to build an incinerator and waste disposal site for tsunami remains at a local thermal (fossil-fueled) power plant near the city of Hekinan. The prefecture will set its own safety standards, then release results of a test run, along with other data, to help win local acceptance. The prefecture has taken this step because none of its 54 municipalities have agreed to help with tsunami debris disposal. (Mainichi Shimbun)
  • The Kasama city council of Ibaraki Prefecture wants the city to help in tsunami debris disposal. A formal resolution was passed unanimously. The city council says there should be no restrictions on processing the waste so long as the radiation levels are safe. The city has a disposal site capable of burying nearly 2.5 million tons of material. Ibaraki Prefecture’s assembly is expected to adopt a similar resolution soon. ((JAIF)
  • Four more municipalities favor restarting idled nukes. The four are Tomari (Hokkaido), Higashidori (Aomori Prefecture), Kariwa (Niigata Prefecture) and the town of Genkai, Saga Prefecture. Their mayors have said they will respect the central government’s judgment on restarts. Seven others said they would support restarts under “certain conditions”, which were not specified. A questionnaire was sent to 34 municipalities and 17 responded. Only one, Mayor Tatsuya Murakami of Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture, said he would not support restarts under any condition. (Yomiuri Shimbun)
  • There is no radioactive Cesium on the pollen in the air of Fukushima and Tokyo. Shogo Higaki of the University of Tokyo’s Radioisotope Center had 20 residents wear face masks for six days in February, and then analyzed the filtering material Cesium. While the pollen collected on the masks had no Cesium, the dust was found to have a barely detectable level. The dus’st Cesium was a maximum of 4.3 Becquerels (4.3 radioactive disintegrations per second) in Fukushima and 0.6 Becquerels in Tokyo. However, in keeping with the severe nation-wide case of radiophobia which is now the case, Higaki said “By ingesting dust, though it is a small amount, there is a possibility of internal radiation exposure, but it can be lessened by wearing a mask. Currently, radioactive material (on pollen) has not been detected, but it is necessary to continue monitoring changes. People who are worried should wear masks.” Higaki estimates that the total internal exposure in Fukushima for six days is about 0.082 microsieverts. (Mainichi Shimbun) [comment – This can be juxtaposed with the average natural radon gas activity in the air of Japan which is constantly ~21 Becquerels and equates to ~0.7 microsieverts per hour.]
  • The Fukushima federations of fisheries are opposed to off-shore wind farms. The government-sponsored project to build a huge, floating wind-power installation in waters off Fukushima Prefecture has sparked a fierce backlash from local fishermen. While fish caught close to the Fukushima shoreline contain more than the current 500 Becquerel Cesium limit, the concentrations are dropping and will eventually be safe for consumption. In order to make the equivalent electricity of one nuclear plant, more than 100 floating windmills would have to be installed, each more than 200 meters tall. Tokyo says the farm would be located 20-40 kilometers off of Iwaki Town in about 150 meters of water. If the wind farm is built, it will be located in prime fishing waters and could negatively impact the sea’s bounty indefinitely. Akira Egawa, deputy chief of the Iwaki Fisheries Cooperative Association, said, “If the fishing ground is destroyed, we will not be able to make a living. It is a life-or-death issue.” Yoshihiro Niizuma, executive director of the Fukushima fishing body, said, “We fear that we may not be able to do trawl fishing anymore. That’s the main line of our business. We can’t cooperate with the plan easily also because the safety of the floating windmills is uncertain.” (Mainichi Shimbun)
  • A new poll finds 42% of Fukushima children say they do not understand radiation. Whether or not they know anything about it, 46% say they fear it. The high percentage of children who learned about radiation after the disaster struck suggests they started fearing it after the evacuation, said Mitsuo Yamakawa, professor at Fukushima University. The poll covered about 300 fifth grade and junior high students. Less than 8% said they knew something about radiation before the Fukushima accident. More than 50% say they are not paying attention to the issue. 25% said they do not know what others are concerned about. (Kyodo News)
  • TEPCO is now letting women work at Fukushima Daiichi because radiation levels are very low. They may work in the “anti-seismic” building, site “rest station”, and the service buildings for units #5 & 6. Decontamination efforts have dropped radiation fields below 1 microsievert per hour at these locations. Also, airborne Cesium activity is no longer detectable. TEPCO’s exposure limit for women is 4 millisieverts over a three month period. All allowed areas for women are well below that limit. For example, the anti-seismic building shows just a 1.69 mSv exposure for three months of work. The total restriction on pregnant women is being maintained. (JAIF)