- The source of Sunday’s high radiation alarm has been found. Rain collection areas on the roof of the reactor building #2 equipment access area, drains into the ditch where the radiation monitor alarmed. One of the “puddles” on the roof tested at 23,000 Becquerels per liter for Cesium and 52,000 Bq/liter of Beta emitters, which would be sufficient to have caused the 90-minute-long alarming condition. Other “puddles” on the rooftop were found to contain between 920 and 1,900 Bq/l, which were not high enough to have caused the monitor to read in excess of 7,000 Bq/l. Records tracing back to May, 2014, show that the monitor recorded slight increases every time it rained, but this is the first time the concentration exceeded the alarm set-point for Beta—emitters of 1,500 Bq/liter. Tepco also announced that zeolite, a Cesium absorbing material, has been placed in the main drainage channel and around the unit #2 roof top drain outlet. http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/2015/1248334_6844.html The Press handout on the incident, including pictures of the suspect “puddle” and positioning of Cesium-absorbing zeolite around the roof drains, can be found here – http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/handouts/2015/images/handouts_150224_01-e.pdf Tepco says they have not detected “any significant increase” in the seawater inside the F. Daiichi port area. Actually, there has been no increase in quay water activity, but Tepco is too timid to say their data shows nothing. However, they have increased the sampling frequency from weekly to daily until the full investigation is completed. The concentration of Cesium and “gross Beta” activities inside the port area can be found here – http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/handouts/2015/images/handouts_150223_01-e.pdf For comparative purposes, he activity levels in the quay at the end of 2014 can be found here – http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/f1/smp/2014/images/intake_canal_141216-e.pdf
- Beginning Wednesday, Japanese Press has gone haywire over the incident. Mainichi Shimbun called the sporadic, environmentally-harmless rainwater release “highly toxic”. The “toxic” modifier is commonplace whenever Fukushima radiation is the case, even though there is no evidence to support its use with levels this low. In addition, Thursday’s Mainichi editorial calls Tepco’s handling of the rainwater situation “terribly managed”, “deplorable”, and “insensitive”. It also says Tepco is “clumsy” when it comes to releasing information that is scarier than wild beasts. The piece closes by saying that Tepco is at fault due to “misreading what we need to fear most”. Thus in the opinion of the Mainichi, low level radiation is the most dangerous phenomena imaginable. Japan Times reported, “The utility admitted Tuesday it failed to disclose leaks of rainwater containing radioactive substances from a drainage ditch at the stricken plant even though it was aware of high radiation in the water last spring.” Even the usually-objective NHK World chimed in, “TEPCO knew last April that the density of radioactive substances in the channel rose when rain fell. But it did nothing to prevent contaminated water from leaking directly out to sea, nor did it make the finding public.” The obvious intent of the Press barrage is to make it seem that Tepco has covered up something unconscionably horrible. To make matters worse, the Nuclear Regulation Authority demanded that Tepco thoroughly investigate the drain-leakage incident, as if to say the company wasn’t already doing it. Chair Shunichi Tanaka said Tepco should not have allowed any contamination to drain to the plant’s port and a system of automatic gate closures should have been in place to stop flow if a monitor alarmed. http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150225p2g00m0dm041000c.html — http://mainichi.jp/english/english/perspectives/news/20150226p2a00m0na013000c.html — http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/02/25/national/tepco-admits-failed-disclose-cesium-tainted-water-leaks-since-april/#.VO3J96McQdU — http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150225_13.html — http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150225_26.html (Comment – all of the hub-bub is because of a detectible contamination increase in a drainage ditch due to rainwater run-off. This affirms several points concerning Japan’s Press made by this writer over the past few years… (1) If radiation is detected, no matter how miniscule, it is treated as if it is necessarily harmful. (2) Even the most innocuous radiological events – and this one is completely harmless – are blown out of proportion. (3) Most of Japan’s news outlets admit they are antinuclear. When there is a lull in reports of problems at F. Daiichi, the Press will exaggerate anything possible to keep its antinuclear crusade fresh in the public mind. This is the first “negative” newsworthy incident in 2015, and the Press is treating it as equally important as the events of March, 2011.)
- Fukushima fishermen add to the cacophony of anti-Tepco criticism, and the Press has exploited it to the fullest. Japan Times reports that Masakazu Yabuki, chief of the Iwaki fisheries cooperative, said, “I don’t understand why (Tepco) kept silent even though they knew about it. Fishery operators are absolutely shocked.” Jiji Press adds that Soma-Futaba fisheries head says, “[Tepco] concealed the leaks into the ocean” and “Our relationship of trust has collapsed”. NHK World reports, “Fishermen are accusing the operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant of betraying their trust.” NewsAsia spins the story to make it seem PM Shinzo Abe’s mislead the International Olympic Committee when he said Fukushima Daiichi is “under control”. Perhaps the most heavily “spun” report is to be found in the Asahi Shimbun. The Asahi says all negotiations with the fisheries “concerning TEPCO’s overall strategy for decommissioning” will be “put on hold” because one Fishery official said it. In a most egregious “twist” of the facts, the Asahi makes it seem that Tepco’s alleged cover-up began last August and has continued since. In addition, the Asahi takes a pot-shot at Tokyo by saying, “Central government officials did not appear as concerned as the Fukushima officials or the fishermen.” http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201502260060
Meanwhile, other important events have occurred in Japan…
- Area radiation levels in Kawamata have been cut in half. The entire Kawamata community is outside the Fukushima evacuation zone, but decontamination efforts have been on-going for more than three years. The Yamakiya District has dropped 49% with the 350 homes designated for decontamination. The effort will now focus on farmland and roads. An official with Fukushima Office for Environmental Restoration said, “Once we proceed with decontamination of the farmland and other areas, it is possible that the air radiation dose in residences may fall further.” http://www.fukushimaminponews.com/news.html?id=472
- Tepco may stop requiring full face-masks for some F. Daiichi decommissioning work. Beginning in May, Tepco wants permission to have workers wear half-masks or dust masks. If given permission, the relaxed requirement will apply to about 90% of the station. Full face-masks will still be required for work with the units #1 through #4 buildings. This will necessarily reduce the physical burden on workers in the all other areas. The Fukushima government committee monitoring decommissioning safety wanted Tepco to expand areas in which workers do not need to wear full-face masks to reduce the chance of injury and accidents, as well as speeding up work. http://www.fukushimaminponews.com/news.html?id=473
- The antinuclear base-camp in Tokyo is ordered to be taken down. Back in September of 2011, tents were erected on the Environment Ministry’s property to act as a home-base for weekly antinuclear protests in Tokyo. Even though the weekly protests have had so little attendance that the Press has stopped covering them, the antinuclear activist leaders have kept three tents on the premises, using them for live internet feeds over the past year. Tokyo’s District Court says they have been there way too long, ordered them to remove their tents, and two lead organizers were assessed about $92,000 for property use since the summer of 2013. The useage fee will increase at about $200 per day until the tents are gone. http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2015/02/338473.html
- Fukushima InFORM says no accident Plutonium has been found in the Pacific Ocean seabed. Two recently-published papers prove it. The reports say that estimates of Plutonium releases from Fukushima were up to 5 million times lower than from Chernobyl and that’s the reason why no Plutonium is discernible from the remains of post-WWII weapon tests. Project leader Dr. Jay Cullen and the InFORM staff conclude, “Given the absence of both isotope ratio [Pu-239 vs. Pu-240] and activity anomalies thus far in the western Pacific traceable to the Fukushima meltdowns, it is unlikely that any impact on organisms or the North Pacific ecosystem should be expected.” http://fukushimainform.ca/2015/02/23/most-recent-measurements-of-plutonium-in-pacific-fukushima-fallout-undetectable/#more-1134
- Former Prime Minister and vocal nuclear critic Naoto Kan wants atomic energy abolished. Kan made a speech in Paris, France, relating his personal nightmares during the Fukushima accident. At one point he feared he would have to evacuate 40% of Japan’s population. As a result of his nigh-apocalyptic vision, he believes all nukes in the world should be eliminated. He calls for the 21st Century to be “the age of solar energy”. http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2015/02/338171.html
- As expected, Fukushima’s governor has approved the movement of rural radioactive wastes. Governor Masao Uchibori met with the mayors of Futaba and Okuma on Tuesday after receiving the central government’s response to 5 conditions they set for transporting the material. Okuma Mayor Toshitsuna Watanabe said that allowing the transportation of radioactive waste to an intermediate storage facility in his town was a difficult but necessary decision. Futaba Mayor Shiro Izawa says that two of his pre-conditions have yet to be fully met, but he would likely agree if they are accepted by Tokyo. Izawa’s agreement was issued this morning. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/nuclear.html
- Die-hard antinukes in Tokyo refuse to believe the worst of the nuke accident has passed. Undaunted, some groups continue to monitor radioactivity levels. One group, Albireo, works out of a western Tokyo suburb. One member, Rumiko Hashiba, has become increasingly concerned about the steady drop in news media coverage of radiation levels and decreased interest by the public. She continues to take her own radiation readings, even though there seems to be nothing detectible. Hashiba says, “We don’t know anything until we actually take measurements,” which strongly suggests she distrusts the Tokyo government. Dwindling interest has made it difficult for the operators to cover expenses for rent and the cost of promotional material for meetings. Albireo says public requests have dropped from about ten per month down to one or two. Doctor Makoto Yamada, who started Albireo says, no one knows what will happen over the next 20-30 years, so citizen groups must keep memories of the nuke accident from fading. Other citizen-monitoring groups claim they have similar problems. http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201502240004
