February 6, 2014

Feb 6, 2014 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • More information on plans to release groundwater to the sea. It is estimated that 800 tons of groundwater flows through the property at F. Daiichi every day. The source is the nearby inland mountains. It is also believed that 400 tons of this daily flow gets contaminated. The government and Tepco want to collect most of this in-flow and eventually pump it out to sea. Tepco drilled 12 inland wells last year in anticipation that the discharge would not be a problem since the groundwater from the mountains is not contaminated. However, local fisheries balked at the plans and asked the government to insure that the groundwater is not contaminated. Tepco decided to dedicate some of the new wastewater storage tanks to hold the collected groundwater and test it for contamination before pumping it to the ocean. Everything was ready to go last March, but distrust of Tepco and Tokyo by the fisheries brought the process to a halt. Basically, rumors of a cover-up with what was really happening at F. Daiichi were at the root of the fishery’s refusal to approve the plans. As of February 3, Tokyo promised the fishermen that no discharged water will be at or above 1 Becquerels per kilogram of Cesium, which is one-tenth of the Japanese limit for drinking water. In addition, “all Beta” will have a limit of 5 Bq/kg and 1,500 Bq/kg of Tritium, both of which are one-fourth of the drinking water standard. If the plan is allowed by the fisheries, it will cut the amount of water contaminated each day by 25%. Industry Minister Koichi Noda said, “Winning understanding from the local people is absolutely necessary before starting it.” Fisheries president Hiroshi Kishi said he is not opposed to the plan. http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2014/02/04/fukushima-watch-small-step-toward-cutting-water-flowing-into-site/
  • Tamura City’s mayor wants an evacuation order to end in April. Mayor Yukei Tomitsuka specified the entire Miyakiji district and said, “Lifting the evacuation order on April 1 is desirable.” This would be the first removal of repopulation restrictions inside the 20km radius around F. Daiichi station. Tokyo proposed to lift the order last October when all requirements for radiation levels and decontamination had been met. However, many Tamura evacuees opposed the move citing fear of low level exposure to radiation and the possibility of residual contamination. http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2014/02/270029.html
  • On Tuesday, Fukushima’s governor said he wants Tokyo’s low level waste storage plans changed. Governor Yuhei Sato has proposed that the town of Nahara be dropped as a potential site because of strong opposition from the mayor and local residents. Sato has asked the other two towns, Okuma and Futaba, to approve the government’s proposal. Prefectural government officials plan to hold more talks, including with Naraha’s mayor. On Wednesday, Sato said that Okuma and Futaba will accept low level waste storage facilities. Tokyo has earmarked $1 billion for buying land and building the facilities. The properties are all in locations with a greater than 50 millisievert per year exposure level, which has them designated as “difficult” to repopulate. The facilities will be designed to store 28 million cubic meters of material temporarily. The government is committed to finding a permanent storage location elsewhere. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/nuclear.html — http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/two-fukushima-towns-agree-to-interim-nuclear-waste-storage-facilities?utm_campaign=jt_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=jt_newsletter_2014-02-05_PM
  • Fukushima Prefecture wants the new evacuee psychological damage compensation paid as soon as possible. Vice Governor Fumio Murata and some local officials descended on Tepco’s Tokyo office today and told the company to make the pay-outs in a swift and appropriate manner. Murata also asked for yet another extension on the deadline for filing compensation claims so that those who no longer work in the area can be included. The deadline is the end of this month. Tepco told Murata they will announce their final decision on all matters in March. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/nuclear.html
  • Tokyo will run a study on the health of Fukushima Daiichi workers. The Health Ministry will designate up a group of radiologists and “other experts” to specify what and whom to study. Medical checks have already been run on about 19,000 people, but that will expand to nearly 30,000. However, the study will not include lifestyle behaviors or radiation exposures prior to 3/11/11. This will make it difficult to differentiate exposure-caused problems from other factors that could cause cancer or cataracts. Ministry officials hope to have the program in full operation during 2015. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20140205_01.html
  • It seems the first official reactor restart decision in Japan is not good. The Nuclear Regulation Authority has told the owner of Tomari unit #3 in Hokkaido Prefecture that it does not conform to the post-Fukushima regulations. At least not yet. Hokkaido Electric Co. says the added work needed to meet the NRA criteria “will not finish in several months”, thus a restart this summer will not be possible. The NRA indicated the process of making another restart determination could be prolonged. http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2014/02/269587.html
  • Supporters of antinuclear candidates in the Tokyo governor’s race are claiming a phantom victory. They say that if the combined votes of all candidates who have a no-nukes, no-restarts plank in their platform outnumber poll-leader and nuclear-neutral Yoichi Masuzoe, then it would be an antinuclear victory. As a result, some influential antinuclear intellectuals want the antinuke candidates to “join forces” in an attempt to win the election outright. Strangely, this might not be possible since such a move after the official campaign starting date (last week) would seem to violate Japanese election law. Popular Fukushima information website EX-SKF says it seems “…tantamount to either delusion or concession of defeat.” We will see what happens this Sunday when the election is held. http://ex-skf.blogspot.com.au/2014/02/ot-strange-logic-of-some-beyond-nuclear.html