February 19, 2015

Feb 19, 2015 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • The IAEA urges Tepco to release treated F. Daiichi wastewater. After a nine day visit to the site, an IAEA inspection team advised the discharge the huge volume of water containing only the radioactive isotope Tritium. During the exit interview, team leader Juan Carlos Lentijo cited the continuing buildup of contaminated water one of the two challenges to be focused on (the other is dealing with the wastes generated during station decommissioning). Merely storing the fully-treated waters will eventually lead to running out of space for more tanks. Lentijo asked Tepco and Tokyo to seriously consider releasing the Tritiated waters to the sea. “Controlled discharges are a normal practice in the industry. Most of the nuclear power plants are discharging treated water,” he said in Tokyo, “This is accomplished with negligible impact on the environment and the safety of the people.” The team’s full report is expected by the end of March. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/nuclear.html — http://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-iaea-japan-water-fukushima-plant-20150217-story.html
  • IAEA praises the progress made at F. Daiichi. Team leader Lentijo said, “Japan has made significant progress since our previous mission. The situation on the site has improved – progressive clean-up has led to reduced radiation dose levels in many parts of the site.” Naohiro Masuda, TEPCO’s Chief Decommissioning Officer, said: “The IAEA peer review has acknowledged our progress at Fukushima Daiichi, such as in the management of radioactive waste and contaminated water, removal of spent fuel assemblies and reduction of dosage on the site and in the vicinity.  The IAEA has also given us valuable points for improvement and we look forward to their continued advice.” The IAEA’s preliminary report said Tepco and Tokyo’s combined efforts have resulted in removal of used fuel from unit #4, improved waste water cleanup systems, slowed the influx of groundwater into the basements, and reduced radiation exposure to workers. With respect to transparency, the report urges Tepco and Tokyo to “help lay audiences understand the relevance of the information by basing it on the health and safety aspects of both the workforce and the public, as well as protection of the environment.” http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/2015/1248191_6844.html
  • Fukushima’s birth defect rate is no different from the rest of Japan. The Prefectural government ran a survey on the rate of birth defects from 2011 to 2013. They found Fukushima’s rates were consistently in the 2-3% range, which is below the national average of 3-5%. In addition, there seemed to be no correlation between occurrence and location within the prefecture. Keiya Fujimori, professor at Fukushima Medical University, said, “The rates of occurrence (in Fukushima) do not differ from the commonly accepted figures so it is unlikely that there was any impact from radiation.” Kenichi Hata, head of the Fukushima Prefecture Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said: “It is important to publicize the survey findings nationwide.” http://www.fukushimaminponews.com/news.html?id=468
  • Fukushima Prefecture fights radiophobia with discount travel coupons. In April, the prefectural government will begin issuing a 50% discount for visitor’s overnight accommodation. The Prefecture’s typical $100 coupon will be sold for $50. One coupon per person will be allowed per night. The coupons will be issued three times during fiscal 2015, which begins in April. The coupons can also be used by Fukushima residents making overnight trips within the prefecture. Fukushima Gov. Masao Uchibori says this should help the prefecture’s recovery. It is hoped this will combat harmful rumors about Fukushima radiation and help recover the pre-accident tourism trade. Fukushima tourists numbered more than 57 million in 2010, but dropped about 40% to 35 million in 2011. It recovered to 48 million in 2013, but that was still 15% below the 2010 figures. http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150218p2a00m0na012000c.html
  • The total number of Fukushima refugees continues to drop. It is below 120,000 for the first time since March, 2011. The total includes both those forced to leave by government mandate, and those outside the mandated zones who fled out of fear. Voluntary evacuees from outside the exclusion zone are less than 50,000. Fukushima’s government says about 73,000 of the total remain in the prefecture, and nearly 46,000 live elsewhere. While only a few thousand have been allowed to return home within the no-go zone, it appears that tens of thousands of voluntary evacuees have gone home since June of 2012. Officials believe this is due to decontamination efforts and an overall reduction in radiation levels have spurred the return. In addition, economics may have also contributed. About 70,000 of the total are from the dictated “no-go” locations and receive continual monthly compensation checks. On the other hand, voluntary evacuees received compensation for about a year after the nuke accident, but that ended more than 2 years ago. http://www.fukushimaminponews.com/news.html?id=469
  • Canada’s citizen-scientist group says no Fukushima isotopes have reached the Pacific shore. The Integrated Fukushima Ocean Radionuclide Monitoring Network (InFORM) reports that as of November of 2014, no Cesium-134 had been detected along the length of the British Columbia coastline. Cs-134 is the “unambiguous fingerprint” of the radioactive material released by Fukushima Daiichi in 2011. InFORM concludes “The absence of detectable 134-Cs indicates that waters near these locations spanning the length of British Columbia have not been contaminated with Fukushima radioactive elements transported across the Pacific by prevailing currents as of Nov. 2014.” InFORM is a collaborative effort between qualified radiological and environmental scientists, and public volunteers. The citizens gather the oceanic samples and send them to Dr. Jay Cullen at Victoria University, where the liquids are scanned by a sensitive germanium detector. Radioactive isotopes can be detected to below 1 Becquerel per ton of seawater. http://fukushimainform.ca/2015/02/16/more-citizen-science-seawater-monitoring-results-no-fukushima-contamination-detected/
  • Japan’s Industry Ministry has drafted a revision in basic policy for disposal of highly radioactive wastes. Tokyo intended to inter the wastes in geological formations at least 300 meters below the surface, and leave it there. The new policy will be to bury in a fashion that will allow recovery in the future. The policy draft states, “In principle, we grant reversibility regarding policies on final disposal…so future generations can choose the best way to dispose.” Allowing recovery will facilitate currently unforeseeable technical issues and possible policy changes in the future. The main concern is used nuclear fuel bundles from nuclear power plants. Japan has reprocessed spent fuel, up to this point, stripping the fission products that inhibit continued usage. The recovered Uranium and Plutonium, about 95% of the used fuel, is recycled into new fuel bundles. However, the time frame needed to handle all of the spent fuel now stored at Japanese nukes is a problem, so Tokyo is considering deep disposal without reprocessing as a parallel option. A thirty day public comment period must be endured before the policy can be forwarded to the Prime Minister’s Cabinet for endorsement. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150217_25.html — http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150217p2g00m0dm047000c.html