- Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency has a 2000 page document covering all nuclear crisis meetings between March 13 and October, 2011. NISA has come under severe criticism because no minutes were kept during crucial emergency meetings held the first few days of the Fukushima accident. In March, NISA released a 76 page report on 23 of the meetings taken from recordings of conversations and personal notes kept by participants. This new, far more comprehensive report literally covers everything except a news conference on March 12 where a NISA spokesperson said it might be possible that a meltdown had occurred at Fukushima Daiichi unit #1. That statement remains as an open issue because it allegedly prompted then-Prime Minister Kan to begin complaining of a lack in information sharing between NISA and his office. The 2000 page report was released through a Kyodo News freedom of information request. (Japan Times)
- A new Tokyo government projection includes maps of Fukushima “hot spots” through 2032. Tatsuo Hirano, state minister in charge of reconstruction and disaster prevention, says, “They are prognostic charts based on theoretical values but decontamination factors were not taken into account.” In other words, the government is projecting which locations will take anywhere from 5 years to more than 50 years before radiation levels drop below national safety standards, if no further decontamination efforts occur! (Mainichi Shimbun)
- Another press statement on the same report says, “Bereft of decontamination work, residents will be unable to return home for at least 5 years in seven municipalities around…Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.” Futaba mayor Katsutaka Idogawa welcomes the information saying it will provide invaluable help in planning for recovery. But Namie Mayor Tamotsu Baba described the charts as “just cartoons,” and he reiterated his request for the government to draw up a more specific decontamination plan. “I am worried what residents will think after seeing the charts,” Baba said. “The town cannot make any move without government projections for radiation levels that include the carrying out of decontamination efforts.” On the other hand, Okuma Mayor Toshitsuna Watanabe said, “Natural declines (in radiation) can be somewhat predicted. It is important to determine what decontamination method should be taken to make the areas more habitable. We will decide on a program for a return of the evacuees and restoration of the areas based on results from future decontamination tests.” (Asahi Shimbuns)
- Industry Minister Edano says that the maps show that a few areas will not be repopulated for at least 10 years. Specifically, locations in Futaba and Okuma towns adjacent to the F. Daiichi power complex. These hot spots could still exceed 100 millisieverts per year in 2112, if no decontamination work is performed. Disaster Minister Hosono says evacuees from these areas should seriously consider giving up on ever going home, but he acknowledges that many evacuees continue to insist on returning no matter how long it takes. (JAIF)
- Japanese electric companies say they have been asked by the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry to submit a report on the “Outlook of electric power supply and demand of this summer”. The data is unquestionably being pursued by METI in response to widespread disbelief that keeping all nukes shuttered will result in summer power shortages. This has become a major issue in the debate over restarting Oi units #3 & 4. (Tepco)
- Senior vice industry minister Seishu Makino will visit Kyoto and Shiga prefectures today, to try and convince the local governments of the safety in restarting Oi units #3 & 4. Makino is expected to hold separate meetings with Kyoto Gov. Keiji Yamada and Shiga Gov. Yukiko Kada because of heightened public fears over atomic power. Officials from NISA as well as the Natural Resource and Energy Agency will also attend the meetings to explain the safety measures being taken and official estimates of summer electricity demand. Both Yamada and Kada, however, have criticized the government’s decision to restart the Oi reactors as premature. The governors are expected to press Makino to adopt their proposals. (Japan Times)
- Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto has said he plans to attend Kansai Electric Power Co.’s shareholders’ meeting in June. The mayor is an outspoken opponent of atomic energy and is expected to demand that Kansai Electric abolish all its nuclear power plants. Osaka Municipal Government is a 9% shareowner in Kepco, and Hashimoto’s opinion carries considerable weight. Hashimoto is also expected to demand Kepco immediately increase its use of renewables, separate its generation and distribution systems, cut the number of board members in half, openly post executive salaries, and stop appointing ex-bureaucrats to executive positions. (Japan Times)
- The Tokyo Farm Ministry has asked food distributors to stop using their own, arbitrary radiation limits for the sale of foods. The ministry said, “The national standards fully ensure safety. Different standards create confusion.” The ministry says their new 100 Becquerels per kilogram Cesium limit is the most restrictive in the world and food processors who demand their products be as much as five times lower makes the government standards seem questionable. Yukiguni Maitake Co., a major distributor of mushrooms in Niigata Prefecture, set its own allowable radiation limit at 40 becquerels per kilogram of mushrooms in November last year, then lowered it to 20 Becquerels this March. Many distributors have complained that the ministry should not tell food companies to relax their self-generated safety standards. Hiroshi Tsuchida, in charge of product quality control at the co-operative union, said, “It is the consumers’ right to select safer food, and the notification is too demanding. The national standards are not considered reassuring in the first place, and therefore if they are forced upon us, the government will lose all the more confidence.” (Mainichi Shimbun)
- While not specifically a Fukushima article, the re-publication of a revised 2007 Scientific American report on the radioactivity in coal ash bears mention. It has been known for decades that when coal burns, the natural Uranium, Thorium and Radium in the mix does not burn. Thus, their concentrations increase dramatically in the ash produced by burning the coal. As a result, the level of radiation exposure from a coal plant can be more than 100 times greater than from a nuclear plant. Further, most of the ash is used for land-fills, some of which have housing projects and malls built on them. The report concludes, “…ounce for ounce, coal ash released from a power plant delivers more radiation than nuclear waste shielded via water or dry cask storage.” http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=coal-ash-is-more-radioactive-than-nuclear-waste comment – Japan should keep this in mind when debating the relative risks of restarting nukes versus operating old, ash-spouting fossil-fueled plants, which includes oil and LNG.While the natural isotopic concentrations in oil and LNG are lower than with coal, the radiation exposures will still be at least ten times greater than with a nuke.
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