March 2, 2012

Mar 2, 2012 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • 57% of the local governments within 30 kilometers of Japanese nuclear power stations favor restarts. The results come from a Mainichi Shimbun poll of 137 municipalities. However, none of the polled governments wanted unconditional restarts. The restart conditions include… 80% want an indication of safety measures and conditions of plants’ restart by the government, 62% want completion of stress tests, and 46% ask for approval by a local assembly. Minority conditions included “an explanation of the relationship between supply and demand of electric power,” by the Furubira Municipal Government in Hokkaido, and “achieving 100 percent security and safety,” by Shizuoka Prefecture’s Kakegawa Municipal Government. When asked why the officials favored restarts, 77% said the electricity would be needed to stabilize the energy supply and 53% said “because plants’ safety will be secured through stress tests and other means”. Sabae Municipal Government in Fukui Prefecture said, “It is necessary until an alternative energy supply method is firmly established.” Approval based on financial reasons was mentioned by 6% of those polled. (Mainichi Shimbun)
  • 17% of the polled local governments opposed nuclear plant restarts, and 26% either did not respond or said they were undecided. Of those opposed, 74% said “Because the cause of the Fukushima nuclear disaster has not been established yet”, 65% “the nuclear crisis has clarified the danger of nuclear power plants”, and 57% “Because stress tests and other inspection means have not proved the safety of the plants”. One local government, Tokai in Ibaraki Prefecture opposed because, “…the electric power industry and the central government have failed to show sincere remorse for causing the nuclear crisis.” Tottori Prefectural Government said, “It is necessary to analyze the cause of the Fukushima nuclear crisis and fundamentally map out safety measures. However, the government has failed to do what it should.” (Mainichi Shimbun)
  • Nuclear Safety Commission Chairman Haruki Madarame will resign in April. He said he will step down when the new nuclear regulatory commission is established. Madarame spoke before the House Budget Committee amid harsh criticism. There were a few calls for his immediate resignation for being “irresponsible” because the SPEEDI radiation computer projection system wasn’t used during the Fukushima accident. Madarame responded, “When April comes, there will be a new organization (Nuclear Regulatory Agency) and the NSC itself will be disbanded. I will naturally step down.” He added no country in the world that plans evacuations based on systems like SPEEDI. (Mainichi Shimbun)
  • Tokyo has said they will begin disposing of tsunami debris from Onagawa, Miyagi Prefecture. Tokyo has been testing incineration of samples of the rubble for two months. Tokyo found the process to be safe. This will be in addition to the debris they are already handling from Miyako, Iwate prefecture. The Onagawa rubble is being mixed with local refuse before burning at a ratio of 20% Onagawa and 80% local. It was found that exhaust gas, water, and ash radioactive levels were the same as processing only Tokyo debris. (Japan Times)
  • Two Japanese nuclear power stations will undergo new inspections based on recent seismic studies. Tokai Daini and the Tomari power facility both say they cannot rule out the possibility of vulnerability due to simultaneous movement of multiple seismic faults that exist near them. Whether or not the stations could withstand bigger quakes than previously considered cannot be judged until the new inspections are completed. The announcement could affect the results of their stress tests. All other Japanese nukes say faults near them would have limited impact and are not likely to move together. Prior to March 11, simultaneous fault movement was considered only if the possibility existed within 5 kilometers of the power station. However, March 11 demonstrated that severe simultaneous movement more than 100 kilometers away could be catastrophic. (NHK World)
  • The municipality of Hirono has resumed services for returning evacuees. Most of the town lies outside the southern edge of the 20km no-go zone, but was evacuated because its northern tip falls inside the zone. The restriction was lifted by Tokyo in September, but the Hirono government decided to continue the evacuation precaution themselves. They now want residents to return home in April. A few hundred of the town’s population of 5,300 has already come back. “This is the first step” toward recovery from the disaster, Hirono Mayor Motohoshi Yamada told town officials Thursday. He also said, “It remains unclear how much time it will take us to remove all their fears…but I know that we must get the job started.” The town is planning to decontaminate its schools in time for the students to return for the autumn semester. Every house is scheduled to be cleansed by the end of 2012. (Japan Times)
  • The Japan Dairy Industry Association says its 116 member companies have detected no Cesium in their milk products. The association said, “The safety has been confirmed. We would like consumers to feel safe to drink milk.” The association voluntarily did the tests in response to consumers’ concerns, although local governments have regularly tested raw milk. None of the tested samples were above the new standard of 10 Becquerels that becomes law in April. TEAM Nihonmatsu, an organization that independently tests food products, said it detected a maximum Cesium level of 14 Becquerels per kilogram in one milk product. (Mainichi Shimbun)
  • Japan Press Research Institute held a conference last Monday concerning news media coverage of the 3/11 disasters. One research team polled 1,000 residents of Tokyo and found that while most felt news coverage of the disasters was sufficient, many felt the Press didn’t do enough to properly deal with harmful rumors. Another team found that foreign opinion on some Press coverage (e.g. NHK World) was non-sensational, but was critical of most other news sources. The final report on the Institute’s study will be published this summer. (Mainichi Shimbun)