August 28, 2014

Aug 28, 2014 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • Tokyo offers Futaba and Okuma $820 million (USD) for land purchases and/or leases. The government hopes to locate local rural radioactive waste storage facilities in the two towns that co-host the F. Daiichi nuke station. Environment Minister Nobuteru Ishihara met with the 2 town’s assemblies on Tuesday to explain for the plan. He told them that the intermediate storage facilities are necessary for the decontamination and reconstruction process. He added that the money will be part of the previously-promised #3 billion to be granted by Tokyo. Leaflets on the plan will be sent to all residents and a hotline set up to answer questions. NHK World; $820 million grant plan for 2 Fukushima towns; 8/26/14 On Tuesday, the town assemblies agreed to planning for interim storage facilities. No objections were voiced during the plenary sessions with either community. In addition to the direct subsidies (above), another $150 million will be extended for revival of livelihood. But, some town officials remain cautious. Yukio Chiba, speaker of the Okuma Municipal Assembly, said, “This (today’s meeting) is not a place to decide whether we accept (the temporary storage facilities) or not. There are still matters that need to be discussed.” http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20140827p2a00m0na015000c.html
  • More information on the latest Fukushima thyroid cancer discoveries. Earlier this week, Fukushima Prefecture said 57 minors have been diagnosed with thyroid cancer, one non-cancerous tumor diagnosis, and another 46 are showing symptoms. Of the 57 confirmed to have cancerous tumors, all were surgically removed and patients are recovering “smoothly”. The American Thyroid Association says thyroid cancer is “usually very treatable and is often cured with surgery.” Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said, “There is a possibility that early-stage cancer and small tumors were discovered because experienced doctors conducted thorough checkups using the newest machinery.”  Of the 367,707 minors hoped to be examined, 296,000 have been scanned. Researchers say there is no statistical difference between the many communities in the Prefecture, regardless of distance from F. Daiichi. http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2014/08/25/fukushima-watch-early-data-on-thyroid-cancer-released/
  • World Nuclear News asks “What was deadly at Fukushima?” Malcolm Grimston of Imperial College in England says, “What created the human misery at Fukushima was the response – not the immediate precautionary evacuation but what followed and ironically what preceded… Clearly there is something in the way radiation from civil nuclear activities is being communicated which has created a set of fears which are not there in other contexts.” In a blunt summation of the situation, Grissom says that we are dealing with massive over-reaction, and he blames the government of Japan. There seem to be three possible explanations. 1. The authorities have gone stark staring mad (or are deeply uncaring) by blighting so many lives and incurring such vast costs for no defensible reason. 2. The authorities are simply lying about the levels of contamination in the exclusion zone. [or] 3. Man-made radiation is significantly more dangerous than the ‘same amount’ of natural radiation, so comparisons are meaningless.” Grimston concludes that the first possibility is true, and the other two are false. He closes with a bold assertion, “It can be argued, then, that an overzealous infatuation with reducing radiation dose, far from minimizing human harm, is at the heart of the whole problem. Maybe the key question is – how do we protect people not from radiation but from the effects of radiological protection?”  http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/E-What-was-deadly-at-Fukushima-2608141.html
  • Another ALPS water decontamination system will be tested. The existing system has dropped the activity of all but five isotopes below limits. The new system should remove four of them, but Tritium will remain. The system eliminates the vast majority of the four niggling isotopes, down to a level that is just a bit greater than Tepco’s extremely low standards. The Nuclear Regulation Authority approved the test run on Wednesday. A third ALPS system is due for completion in December. The three are expected to purify up to 2,000 tons of waste water per day. NHK World; TEPCO to test-run second water treatment system; 8/27/14
  • Whitebait fishing has resumed off Fukushima Prefecture. The immature fish, including some five species, are a food fish that is boiled and dried for shipment. On Tuesday, about three tons were gathered off Iwaki City and tested for radioactivity. None was detected. Whitebait was a mainstay of the Fukushima fishing industry before the nuke accident. The catch will be limited to once a week, unless demand is sufficient to warrant a greater frequency. NHK World; Whitebait fishing resumes off Fukushima Pref.; 8/26/14
  • Two Japanese newspapers hotly debate the released testimony of Masao Yoshida. Yoshida was the F. Daiichi Plant Manager during the nuke accident in March, 2011. The Sankei Shimbun says that the Asahi Shimbun misinformed their readers as to whether or not 90% of the plant’s staff fled on March 15, 2011. One headline in the Sankei suggested the Asahi “twisted the facts”, and it is an “injury to the newspaper’s honor”. The original Asahi report said, “Yoshida’s testimony revealed clearly that the plant management temporarily left their posts. Is it really proper to entrust disaster response to power companies?” On the other hand, the Sankei says the testimony shows that confusion, not intent to violate Mr. Yoshida’s command, caused the employees to move to the other Fukushima nuclear plant. They quote Yoshida, “Actually, I never told them to go to 2F [Fukushima Daini]. This is the typical stuff with relayed messages. We were discussing, ‘Should we head for 2F if we are ever going?’ I said, ‘Take shelter, get automobiles.’ And somebody who relayed my message told the drivers to go to the Fukushima Daini plant.” He later ordered the management staff at F. Daini to return, and they did. The Sankei points out that the incorrect Asahi interpretation is consistent with the newspaper’s unabashed antinuclear posture, and its desire to conform to Ex-PM Naoto Kan’s antinuclear perspective. http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2014/08/28/fukushima-watch-plant-managers-testimony-stirs-debate/
  • Over 10,000 Tohoku children remain estranged from their former schools. 11,452 students from three prefectures – Iwate, Fukushima, and Miyagi – continue to attend schools in other prefectures. This is 1.351 less than last year. The numbers were released by the Education Ministry on Tuesday. A ministry official said,“(The figures show that some students) returned to their homes, but the impact (of the disasters) still remains.” Fukushima Prefecture, experiencing the Tokyo-mandated restrictions to tens-of-thousands of residents, had the largest number at 9,767, a drop of 1,219 students from the previous year. In Miyagi Prefecture, the number decreased by 74 to 1,400 students. The figure in Iwate Prefecture dropped by 58 to 285 students. The prefectures that have taken in the most students are Yamagata, Niigata, and Saitama. http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/quake_tsunami/AJ201408270036
  • The Cabinet Office says Fukushima suicides are higher than in other disaster-hit prefectures. There have been 56 Fukushima suicides since 3/11/11, compared to 30 in Iwate and 37 in Miyagi Prefectures. The office links the higher number of suicides to the Fukushima accident because of the extended time evacuees have had to stay away from their homes. The Cabinet Office says the relationship is “most likely”. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/08/26/national/social-issues/fukushimas-high-number-disaster-related-suicides-likely-due-nuclear-crisis-cabinet-office/#.U_yPHqN0wdU