March 17, 2014

Mar 17, 2014 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • Tepco has now safely moved 506 fuel bundles out of F. Daiichi unit #4 pool. 22 are unused fuel bundles and 484 of the transferred assemblies are actual spent fuel.  http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/decommision/index-e.html
  • The Fukushima child thyroid cancer cluster is probably due to intensive testing never previously done in Japan. The discovery of 33 child thyroid cases, out of the more than 225,000 examined, has been widely headlined across Japan, around the world, and over the internet. Columbia University’s Norman Kleiman tried to shed light on the situation. He said, “If you’re going to screen that many children, you’re going to find more cases than you normally [would], because you’re looking for something. I suspect if you took the same number of children in Montana and did the same [screening], you’d probably find a similar ratio… Many of these [detected] cancers would have gone undiagnosed, or might not have progressed. The same thing happens with prostate cancer: Most men over a certain age are going to have cancerous cells in their prostate [if they are tested]. But that doesn’t mean there’s any clinical significance.” He addd that Fukushima children’s thyroid cancer rate should not be compared to what happened in Belarus after the 1986 Chernobyl accident because the exposures were many times higher than with Fukushima children and the latency period hasn’t yet elapsed. Kleiman concluded, “Over the long term I don’t think we’re going to find any health effects related directly to radiation. The primary health concerns are mental health effects—anxiety and fear of living in what people perceive as a contaminated area. That’s where significant efforts need to be directed.” http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/03/140313-fukushima-nuclear-accident-cancer-cluster-thyroid-chernobyl/
  • Another demonstration against nuke restarts was held in Tokyo on Saturday. Demonstrators believed government regulators are ready to allow Kyushu Electric Power Co. to restart two units at Sendai station. The protest march began at Hibiya Park and progressed through the Ginza shopping district. Demonstrator Masatoshi Harada said, “Japan is prone to earthquakes. We have to seriously think about whether nuclear power is a good idea for Japan. This is an opportunity for Japan to drop nuclear power.” Protestors rejected Prime Minister Abe’s desire to restart idled reactors and ease Japan’s severe trade deficit caused by the nuclear moratorium. They feel Japan can live without nuclear power as it has done since the two Oi units were shuttered last year. Campaigner Junichi Okano said, “Nuclear plants have been closed, so you cannot say we cannot live without nuclear energy.”  http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/thousands-rally-in-tokyo-against-nuclear-power?utm_campaign=jt_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=jt_newsletter_2014-03-16_PM — http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/03/15/national/over-5000-rally-in-tokyo-against-nuclear-reactor-restarts/#.UyWiR6NOUdU  (comment – The number of protestors is questionable. Only two news outlets, Japan Today and Japan Times, reported on the rally. They both said more than 5,000 were in the demonstration. However, none of the other news outlets mentioned the demonstration on Sunday. If there really 5,000 in attendance, there would have been wide coverage. It should be noted that both the Times and Japan Today say last weekend’s third anniversary protest had tens of thousands in it, but other news media said maybe 5,000, and the metro police estimated about 1,700. Exaggerations of this sort are common to nuclear demonstration figures, especially by the event organizers. This practice has been commonplace since the Three Mile Island accident in 1979.)
  • Former workers at Fukushima Daiichi held a rally outside Tepco headquarters in Tokyo. The number of participants was believed to be about 100. They believe they were cheated by contractors who hired them to work at the plant. One laid off demonstrator said, “Workers at the Fukushima plant have been forced to do unreasonable tasks with no decent safety measures. Workers are forced to handle contaminated water in such grim working conditions, where any human being should not be put to work. They tend to make easy mistakes under the pressure, but it’s not they who are at fault — it’s the conditions that force them to do terrible tasks.” Some demonstrators said they received far less pay than promised as various layers of bosses docked money for supplying meals, transportation and other expenses. Others said they were never paid a $100 per day premium for working with contamination. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/03/14/national/fukushima-no-1-workers-rally-against-tepco/#.UyMI_aNOUdU
  • An antinuclear rally was held in Kagoshima City. The crowd assembled to protest the Nuclear Regulatory Authority announcement that the two Sendai units in the prefecture are being prioritized for restarts.  Fukushima evacuee Masumi Kowata spoke to the throng, “Although three years have passed, the situation facing Fukushima has not changed. Please don’t restart the reactors.” As the crowd marched through the capital, they chanted “The restarts will never be forgiven” and “We want to live on an Earth that has no nuclear plants”. The demonstration was organized by the Anti-Nuclear Kagoshima Network. Organizers estimate that there were about 6,000 people in attendance. http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201403170063
  • The head of the Nuclear Regulation Authority says the Sendai unit’s startups are not guaranteed. Chairman Shunichi Tanaka says that many safety items remain to be resolved and anything can happen. He called Press speculations on a restart date unfounded. Tanaka stressed that how quickly any plant can meet the new regulations is up to the operators of each unit. It is his opinion that the owners of Japanese nukes are struggling to adapt to the new safety regulations, which he says are very different than those that existed before the Fukushima accident. NHK World; NRA chief: Massive tasks for screening; March 14, 2014
  • Some Fukushima evacuees say restarting idled reactors is premature and there is a public shift away from the antinuclear feelings that once existed. The NRA prioritizing the two Sendai units in Kagoshima Prefecture for restart screenings has upset some Fukushima evacuees. They are especially upset with Satsuma-Sendai Mayor Hideo Iwakiri, who said, “We’ve gotten over a big hump. I believe [the Sendai plant] is the safest, most secure nuclear power plant in Japan.”  Kagoshima Governor Yuichiro Ito, who supports restarting the reactors, said, “The prefectural government will keep careful watch over the screening process.” On the other hand, a pear farmer from Okuma said Fukushima proved there are no safe nuclear plants. Another farmer, Kiyoe Kamata, said, “It remains unclear what is happening to the reactors in Fukushima. A succession of crises such as water leaks, have been reported. How can we conclude that other plants are safe?” The debate over restarts will probably continue as long there are nukes waiting to be cleared by the NRA. http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201403140062
  • Another Fukushima tsunami refugee story is reported. Tomokatsu Endo worked in a health care facility in Iwaki, working on his nursing degree after hours. He was bathing a patient when the mighty earthquake struck. Endo carried the patient up the nearby stairs on his back just before the black water surge of the tsunami swept through. The patient said, “You saved my life”. After the waters receded, he cared for as many patients as possible. At around ten pm that night, he was told his wife and child were safe. Four days later they discovered their home had been swept away. They stayed at an Iwaki evacuation center until they could get enough gasoline to leave the area. They made a temporary move to Tokyo, but without clear prospects for the rebuilding of their devastated town, they decided to stay. Endo continued his health care work in the city. Six months after their move, he began experiencing terrifying nightmares about the tsunami, so he enrolled in a vocational school. “I realized that nothing will happen if I didn’t take action,” Endo said, “I think it made me a bit stronger.” The nightmares have ceased. He has completed his classes and hopes he passed the final examination for becoming a nursing assistant. He feels indebted to everyone who assisted him, especially his wife who took a job at Japan’s National Council of Social Welfare. He is eager to begin his nursing career, saying, “So many people have helped me. Now I want to be the one to support people.” http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20140316p2a00m0na001000c.html