July 11, 2012

Jul 11, 2012 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • The latest tests on Fukushima-area breast milk for Cesium shows…nothing! Since June 1st, the Fukushima government has been testing mother’s milk. Since then, more than 300 mothers from Fukushima, Miyagi, Yamagata, and Niigata prefectures have called for counseling. More than 250 have applied to have their breast milk tested for Cesium. Of the first 26 actually tested, no radioactive cesium has been found. The tests are on a first-come, first-serve basis and free of charge. (Japan Times)
  • The maximum child thyroid exposure from Fukushima is below 50 millisieverts total dose. This is below the 50 mSv threshold for the administration of thyroid blocking medication advocated by the IAEA. The exposures for children who were nearest the F. Daiichi power complex when the accident began were from 15-42 mSv. The testing was run by the National Institute of Radioactive Sciences. The government established 100 mSv as the national standard since 3/11/11, but these findings have led Tokyo to reconsider and adopt the IAEA standard. (Kyodo News)
  • Futaba mayor Katsutaka Idogawa has condemned Tokyo for withholding America’s radiation data during the first days of the Fukushima accident. “(Futaba residents) were exposed to radiation that they didn’t have to be exposed to,” an emotional Idogawa testified during a meeting of the House of Councillors’ Budget Committee. “What can we do to make people who haven’t been exposed to radiation understand this feeling? If the information had been disclosed efficiently, I would have changed (residents’) evacuation routes. Being told things like that it’s all right because radiation doses are at such and such a level of millisieverts makes me really furious.” Although the levels of radiation exposure have been too low to cause any actual health damage, Prime Minister Noda extended a formal apology, saying, “As a result of insufficient cooperation and information sharing between related organizations, preparedness to disclose information relevant for the protection of residents’ lives was weakened. I apologize.” (Mainichi Shimbun)
  • Jellyfish have invaded the Oi unit #3 turbine-generator’s cooling water intake system. On Sunday, for a brief time, the plant had to cut its power production a bit because of an influx of jellyfish which partially clogged the seawater intake structure at the Oi facility. This reduced the ability to efficiently cool the turbine-generator exhaust, thus power output was diminished to compensate. The reactor’s power level was not affected…only the electrical generator output was lowered while the jellyfish influx was dealt with. Predicting an infestation of the creatures is notoriously difficult and a solution has proved elusive. However, the problem is not exclusive to Japanese nukes. Thermal plants (fossil-fueled) have been affected too. Kansai Electric Power Company says jellyfish problems have forced it to reduce power output in 17 of its generators between April and June, the largest number of affected plants for the utility in the past 5 years. No reports have been made that jellyfish have completely blocked water intakes.  The main problem is with the Sea of Japan on the country’s west coast. (NHK World)
  • Sean Bonner, founder of the group known as Safecast, has been Press-praised for the group’s effort to get reputable, independent radiation data to the Japanese public quickly after 3/11/11. “There was no data that was available anywhere, and we were rather surprised,” Bonner said during a trip to Japan last week to meet with volunteers. “We realized that we could help.”  The group made some reliable radiation detectors soon after 3/11/11, and had them placed in key locations around Japan. They also had mobile units checking rad levels. There are now about 350 fixed and 35 mobile units sending data into the group’s system, which has logged more than 2.5 million data points. Safecast is promoted as “a global sensor network for collecting and sharing radiation measurements to empower people with data about their environments.” Their main focus over the past 16 months has been in Japan. Safecast systems have proved to be so reliable that the Fukushima government is now linked into their internet system. Toshikatsu Watanabe, who heads a marketing company in Fukushima, is grateful to Safecast, “When you don’t know, you become afraid. I can only do what I can, and we don’t know for sure if the radiation is going to have a bad effect or what.” Safecast filled a public need in post-Fukushima Japan for reliable, government-independent radiation data. It did so by bringing people from various countries together in a common effort. Bonner said, “Everything is radioactive all the time, but nobody was paying any attention to it,” referring to the variety of natural background levels present everywhere, “Most of us have no point of reference for what radiation is.” He and his non-profit group are trying to correct this. (Japan Today)