May 12, 2014

May 25, 2014 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • The health impact of the Fukushima accident is impaired social and mental well-being. So says the most recent Fukushima report from the United Nations Scientific Committee on Atomic Radiation. The report is summarized by Mark Flanagan of America’s Nuclear Energy Institute. Also in the summary is an overview of Dr. Jim Conca’s summation of the UNSCEAR document in Forbes. In fact, NEI says Conca feels much the same as they and posts part of the Forbes article which says, “But if you want to continue feeling afraid, and want to make sure others keep being afraid, by all means ignore this [UNSCEAR] report on Fukushima.” http://neinuclearnotes.blogspot.com/2014/05/fukushima-radiation-report-tonic-for.html
  • The recent manga (comic) depicting Fukushima nosebleeds continues in the news. Environment Minister Nobuteru Ishihara has criticized the manga story for linking nosebleeds with exposure to Fukushima radiation, “I cannot understand the intention behind the story or what the author wants to say.” The ministry has been running on-going research of possible health effects from low level radiation exposure. Ishihara says none of the experts have found a causal connection between low exposures and harm to humans. The comic is quite popular, so the minister felt it was important to go public with his view in order to check what seems to be a purely rumor-based publication. Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga added to the situation by saying, “We cannot think of any causal links.” Also, Fukushima Governor Yuhei Sato called the comic episode extremely regrettable because it fosters groundless rumors. He is considering a formal response to the publication, in addition to the protest filed by the current town government of Futaba. In the latest episode of the comic, the mayor of host community Futaba says, “Many people in Fukushima suffer nosebleeds and are developing strong fatigue because of exposure. That is why I am telling the people of Futaba not to live in Fukushima Prefecture.” The prefectural government filed a formal protest with the publisher, saying the manga fuels harmful rumors and is “completely deplorable”. The publisher responded that the artist had asked the prefecture about radiation and nosebleeds and was told that extremely high exposures could do it. Thus, the artist felt the depiction was acceptable. http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0001269114 — http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2014/05/289695.html — NHK World; Fukushima Governor: Manga story regrettable; May 12, 2014
  • Ex-Futaba Mayor Katsutaka Idogawa, admits that he is the source of the manga artist’s information. Idogawa maintains he has regular nosebleeds and knows of many Fukushima residents with the same problem. The ex-mayor says he has nosebleeds every day, and wants everyone to know, “There is no way I would retract my comments in the manga.” Further, he takes personal umbrage with the Environment Minister’s statement, “The minister has no business with my physical condition.” http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20140510p2a00m0na014000c.html
  • The Fukushima fishing industry is not doomed. A few Fukushima residents are taking seabed samples, having them independently analyzed, and have found nothing to be concerned about. An Iwaki seafood processing employee, Riken Komatsu, has founded the Iwaki Ocean Investigation Squad Sea Lab, supported by Tomioka community fishermen. Fukushima residents are measuring contamination levels in parks and on farmland, so Komatsu decided to do the same with the seabed and compare the results to those found near Aquamarine Fukushima, a local aquarium at least 30 kilometers south of F. Daiichi and outside the exclusion zone. Komatsu chartered the fishing boat of Hirokazu Ishii, of Tomioka. Project members began dredging up samples on April 27, about 1.5 kilometers from the F. Daiichi station. Captain Ishii said the first day’s work caused him to notice something surprising when he looked at the Fukushima station from sea for the first time. Since then, he has heard clients say much the same thing, “It’s smaller than you think, isn’t it? Everyone asks, ‘Is this tiny thing getting the world stirred up?” The most recent sample was tested for activity at the aquarium and was found have a level of 417 Becquerels per kilogram. This is only about 100 Bq/kg more than the sea bottom next to the aquarium. Aquarium veterinarian Seiichi Tomihara says, “…considering it was taken from right in front of the nuclear plant, this number does not justify the view that Fukushima’s fishing industry is doomed.” http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20140510p2a00m0na015000c.html  An unpolished video of F. Daiichi from the sea taken by the Mainichi Shimbun to accompany the above article can be accessed here… http://mainichi.jp/movie/movie.html?id=821879797002
  • The Naraha town assembly demands more decontamination before repopulation. 10 members of the group handed a formal demand to the Environment Ministry saying lowering annual radiation exposure below the international standard of 20 millisieverts is unacceptable. Instead, they want the town’s radiation level below 1 mSv/yr before the government lifts its evacuation restrictions. In addition, the document calls for complete cleaning inside homes and buildings as well as stripping the contaminated bottom of the town’s Kido dam. Group Chairman Motoi Aoki says the ministry response to the group demands will determine when the assembly agrees to let residents return home. He then called for restoration of the environment as soon as humanly possible. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20140508_35.html  (Comment – I suspect the group wants to extend the time before the living restrictions are lifted for one purpose…greed. Getting the entire community down to 1 mSv/yr is unrealistic, considering that Japan’s average natural background level is 1.5 mSv/yr and Naraha’s background before the accident. If the evacuation period is extended for many years, and all evacuees could continue to get their $7,500 per month compensation check plus $1,000/month mental anguish stipend. This is a huge income, and much more than the assembly members are paid for their political jobs. It seems they are using the low level radiation issue as a ploy to keep their windfall of money coming in.)
  • The latest estimate of total F. Daiichi Cesium releases are the highest numbers yet. A Japanese research team says the total amount of Cesium-137 released was 20,500 terabecquerels (20.5 thousand-million-million). This is about 1.5 times higher than Tepco’s estimate of 13,600 TBq. The team reported on Cs-137 during a session of the European Geosciences Union in Vienna on the Fukushima nuclear accident. The team believes their findings are the best yet. They say 12,000 to 15,000 TBq was deposited in the Pacific Ocean, and the rest (5,500 to 8,500 TBq) were dropped on land. 14,000-17,000 TBq were estimated to have been deposited from the atmosphere and 3,500 TBq were the result of water flow into the sea. They also estimate that up to 400 TBq has fallen on North America.  http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/05/10/national/radioactive-cesium-137-released-from-fukushima-1-5-times-tepco-estimate-study/#.U24m9qNOUdU (Comment – While some might dismiss this new estimation as being yet another scare-mongering report out of Japan, I’m not one of them. First, one of the organizations involved in the study is Fukushima University’s Institute of Environmental Radioactivity, which is not prone to alarmist tactics. Secondly, I have been skeptical of Tepco’s total release numbers since 2011, and stated this in some of my earliest blogs. It seemed from the start that Tepco underestimated the releases due to the hydrogen explosions of units #1 and #3 because their onsite monitors didn’t show much on March 11 and March 14, 2011, respectively. However, the wind was constantly blowing out to sea until late in the day of March 14, and Tepco had no sea-side monitors located there. I’ve said “they missed it” all along, and now it seems a reputable research group has verified my argument.)
  • Another antinuclear lawsuit in Japan is thrown out of court. The Osaka High Court has dismissed a suit to block the restart of the Oi nuclear station units, two of which operated safely through last summer to avoid severe regional power shortages. Presiding Judge Keisuke Hayashi said, “It is inappropriate for a court to prevent the resumption before the Nuclear Regulation Authority decides whether to give a nod to the reactors.” Units 3 and 4 at Oi station are under consideration for restart by the Nuclear Regulation Authority. http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2014/05/289350.html