December 9, 2013

Dec 9, 2013 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • America’s Allison Macfarlane says Japan should consider discharging tritiated water to the sea. Chair of America’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Macfarlane commented on the wastewater build-up at F. Daiichi. Tritium is difficult to strip from water because it is part of the water molecule itself. She said the issue in Japan is complex and there is no “silver bullet” which will resolve it. But, diluting the waters to below national Tritium limits would be a safe and effective solution. Macfarlane explained that she agreed with the recent IAEA suggestion because it is “a reasonable recommendation”. She added that people on the west coast of the USA are “rightly concerned about radiation in general”, but the levels of Fukushima contamination found in the Pacific are “two orders of magnitude less than the [American] drinking water standard.” http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20131206_37.html — http://jen.jiji.com/jc/eng?g=eco&k=2013120600557
  • A recent survey indicates that most Fukushima evacuees don’t want to go home. Japan’s Reconstruction Agency ran the survey on the two towns nearest F. Daiichi; Okuma and Futaba. Of the 2,760 Okuma households, 67% said they have given up on returning while 65% of the Futaba families said the same. Of those who said they will not go home, 70% cited concerns about nuclear safety and radiation exposure. Of the same cohort, 65% said it has taken too long and they are literally fed up. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20131206_38.html
  • A Science Ministry panel wants added payments to Fukushima evacuees. Specifically, those who have no prospect of returning home due to high radiation levels. In addition to the generous monthly compensation paid to them by Tepco (~$7,500 per person) and lump-sum pay-out of $75,000 per person for mental stress and suffering, they might each receive between $25,000 and $65,000 as a further supplement. The panel is also considering increasing payments for housing. Many evacuees complain that payments to-date have not been enough to build new homes at their evacuation locations. Further considerations will be discussed at the panel’s next meeting on December 26th. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/nuclear.html
  • The Environment Ministry has OK’d building three interim low level waste storage facilities. One facility is planned for each of three Fukushima Prefecture towns very near F. Daiichi; Okuma, Naraha, and Futaba. Okuma and Futaba border on the nuke station property. Senior Vice-Minister Shinji Inoue said this is “a major step forward” in the process of decontamination of the region around F. Daiichi. Firm plans for the facilities can now be drafted and submitted to the town’s officials by the end of the year. The plans will be made public concurrent with their local submittals. http://jen.jiji.com/jc/eng?g=eco&k=2013120700355
  • Tokyo now estimates that Tepco will eventually owe them $18 billion for decontamination. This is $300 million more than previous projections. The $18 billion is seen as a cap on Tepco’s financial responsibility. Any over-runs will be covered by Tokyo, as well as waste disposal construction costs exceeding $10 billion. Cost-sharing between Tokyo and Tepco promises to speed up recovery work. The projected numbers are based on the Nuclear Regulation Authority’s recent decision to allow repopulation of evacuated zones with annual exposures below 20 millisieverts per year. If the long-term target of 1 mSv/yr were used as a repopulation criterion, the total cost could skyrocket to more than $50 billion. http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0000854872
  • The nuclear moratorium continues to bludgeon Japan’s economy. Japan’s “current account balance” (export income + investment earnings minus import costs) for October, ran at its first deficit in nine months. The October deficit was nearly $13 billion. The main reason for the shortfall was increased imports of fossil fuels needed to compensate for Japan’s 50 idled, fully-operational nukes. The resulting fossil-fuel-caused “goods trade deficit” was $11 billion, bringing oil and LNG import increases for the year to a record $70 billion. Takeshi Minami, chief economist at the Norinchukin Research Institute, said the trade deficit is expected to continue for some time as the need for hefty fuel imports will linger while nuclear reactors remain closed. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/12/09/business/fuel-costs-yield-deficit-in-current-account/#.UqXHAIAo4dV
  • The first rice harvest from the F. Daiichi “no-go” zone is well-below radiation standards. Most Of Iitate village, 40 kilometers northwest of the accident, has been designated as a no-entry zone for 20 months. Rice paddies in the Nagadoro District had their topsoil stripped last year and crops planted this past June to test whether or not rice grown there would pass inspection. The first crop was harvested in October and 3 kilograms of product was tested by the government. All samples were below 10 Becquerels per kilogram, one-tenth of the national standard. While agriculture-for-sale remains banned in the no-go zone, farmers plan on another crop next year in the hope their efforts will re-open the district to resumption of selling their rice. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20131209_13.html