- Fukushima internal radiation exposures are declining. More than 20,000 examinations have been given to Minamisoma residents since the Fukushima Daiichi accident. This is about 50% of the population now living within the community. None of the results in 2012 show levels that would exceed the government’s 1 millisievert per year limit. With adults, 92% of the 7,000 examinations since April 1, 2012, have no detectible levels of radioactive Cesium. This can be compared with the examinations between Sept. 2011 and March 2012, where 67% showed nothing measurable. In addition, 99.9% of the nearly 1.700 children examined since April, 2012, also show no detectible Cesium. The lowest level the detectors can measure is about 4 Bq/kg. The highest single exposure measured in adults was 141 Becquerels per kilogram, and one child topped out at 26 Bq/kg. Both translate to well below the 1 mSv/yr standard. The three adults who measured at over 50 Bq/kg say they regularly eat wild mushrooms they find in the area. Dr. Masaharu Tsubokura makes many of the examinations. He says that as the number of detectibly contaminated persons goes down, the number of people who come in for their free examinations also decreases. He attributes this to the general decrease in radiation fears since the Fukushima accident happened. He said, “I’m surprised to see such a dramatic loss of interest in just about a year and a half.” Considering the chaotic, near-hysteric public condition soon after the nuke crisis began, Tsubokura feels the current situation is remarkable. He suggests many feel they initially over-reacted, “To be honest, local people have almost no worries (about radiation exposure because of eating contaminated food) these days. . . . They are satisfied with their results from last year (where many were below detectable levels).” He adds that there are a small number of people who may feel they are being used as guinea pigs, so they never came in for check-ups. Others not taking advantage of the free examination probably felt there was little to worry about given the small levels of contamination outside the part of the town that was not evacuated. Tsubokura has been running the tests since May, 2011. (Japan Times)
- The Tokyo Cabinet Office wants to upgrade medical facilities within 5 kilometers of Japan’s nukes to avoid evacuating patients in the event of a nuclear accident. Due to inadequate sheltering technology at hospitals and care centers in the Fukushima evacuation zone, thousands of patients and infirmed elderly people were ordered by the government to be moved as quickly as possible. Dozens died in the process due to the stress of being moved, and some were left unattended because their care-givers fled and left them behind. About $140 million will be allocated out of Tokyo’s budget expansion to pay for the upgrades. Buildings will be fitted with air-tight doors and windows, as well as filtering technology on their ventilation systems, to keep the internal air free of airborne radio-isotopes. Schools located within 5 km will also be retrofitted. When completed, the upgrades will make it possible to keep those in medical and care facilities from being evacuated, and remain in a risk-free environment. (Yomiuri Shimbun; Japan Daily Press)
- Nearly a billion dollars from the budget expansion will be used to build a modern radiological research center in Fukushima Prefecture. It is intended to be an international hub for radiation studies. The center will provide hundreds of new jobs which will assist in the Prefecture’s recovery from the 3/11/11 quake/tsunami catastrophe. The budget expansion approved today designates “recovery from the nuclear disaster” and related “support for research and development in the private sector” as priority issues. The project will be overseen by the industry-independent Japan Atomic Energy Agency. The facility will focus on analyzing radioactive waste and study methods for the processing and storing the material. Research for safe decommissioning of reactors will also be conducted, as well as methods for effectively collecting rare metals from radioactive debris. (Mainichi Shimbun)
- Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has ordered his Cabinet to focus heavily on quake/tsunami reconstruction. At Thursday’s post-disaster reconstruction meeting, Abe said, “I want you all to make all-out efforts to create a new Tohoku.” Reconstruction minister Takumi Nemoto detailed the current state of recovery and presented issues that need to be addressed, stressing the necessity to strengthen the Reconstruction Agency. Under the old government, the task force was directed to focus on getting Fukushima accident refugees back home. Now, they will also stress building temporary towns for evacuees until they are allowed to repopulate their home communities. They will also accelerate construction of emergency residences for the 250,000 tsunami refugees now residing in temporary housing. The former Tokyo regime promised 23,000 such multi-dwellings, but only 30 have been constructed over the past 18 months. (Yomiuri Shimbun)
- Survivors of the 3/11/11 tsunami have begun teach-ins concerning their disaster experiences. The first was held today in Yamada Town, Iwate Prefecture. One speaker, Himeko Okawa, told the small audience of 18 people about the shock she felt watching the black water swamp anti-tsunami breakwaters and sweep away farming rafts weighing several tons. She explained how she felt when her husband was seriously injured because he went to check on their boat. Okawa said the people along the Tohoku coast must never forget that huge tsunamis are possible after big earthquakes. She wants people who were not impacted by the Tsunami to understand what those harmed by the event went through. One woman in the audience said the tsunami refugees must not be forgotten. (NHK World)
- Rice from Miyagi Prefecture has been found to contain more than double the national limit for radioactive Cesium. Rice from one farm has 240 Becquerels per kilogram, which is above the mandated 100 Bq/kg maximum. The prefectural government has asked that all farms in the surrounding region have all rice tested before shipment. There had been spot checks on rice shipped from Miyagi ever since the Fukushima accident, but there was no cause for alarm because there had been no previous above-standard results. This is the first time Miyagi rice has been analyzed above the limit. It should be noted that Japan’s standard for foodstuffs is 10 times lower than the international limit recommended by the IAEA. (Japan Today)
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Tokyo Electric Company will install filtration devices on the “vents” of their nuclear plant containments. During an accident, if pressure inside the massive containment structure around the reactor gets too high, the gasses and steam are released to the outer atmosphere through tall stacks (chimneys) more than 100 meters high. The filtration units will scrub radioactive materials from the exhaust stream before it enters the stack. The device is a water tank 4 meters long and 8 meters high. Since the vast majority of the radioactive materials that can come out of the containment are soluble Iodine and Cesium, the water will reduce the concentrations by at least a factor of 1,000. The first one will be installed on the Kashiwazaki unit #7, Niigata Prefecture, next week. Tepco says they will put the filtration tanks on all of their nuclear units. It is believed the Nuclear Regulatory Authority will make exhaust filtering mandatory for all Japanese nukes, and a condition for restarting them. (NHK World)
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