November 20, 2012

Nov 20, 2012 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • The December 16th national election could usher in a new, less-antinuclear energy policy. Polls indicate that the liberal Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) will no longer control the government and instead be replaced by the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Shinzo Abe, LDP party leader, calls the DPJ’s zero-nuclear energy goal “irresponsible”. He says the LDP wants to “achieve economic growth in Japan by promoting policies on nuclear power.” In the long term, the LDP wants to reduce, but not eliminate the nation’s reliance on nukes while increasing the use of renewables in the energy mix. Two popular new parties are split on the nuclear issue. Osaka mayor Tori Hashimoto’s Japan Restoration Party wants all nukes abolished by 2040, while former Tokyo mayor Shintaro Ishihara’s Sunrise Party supports continuing nuclear operations and construction of new nukes. Regardless of who wins in December, a change in nuclear policy will not happen quickly. One electric company official said, “It is too early to think that halted nuclear reactors will be reactivated soon after a change of administration.” Other utility executives are cautiously optimistic. Osaka Gas Co. President Hiroshi Ozaki said, “I hope the current energy policies will be reset and a new plan will be made under a new administration.” The DPJ’s no-nukes policy proposal brought sharp criticism from the business sector, resulting in PM Noda’s cabinet refusing to endorse it. “The country’s energy policy is in disarray,” said Harutoshi Funabashi, a professor at Hosei University, “After all, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has been in a deadlock on this issue.” (Japan Times; Kyodo News Service)
  • Fear of radiation continues to hinder repopulation of the restricted zones around Fukushima Daiichi. Hirono mayor Motohoshi Yamada reports that although the government has lifted the “no-go” designation for his town, few residents have returned. He sees more decontamination workers and recovery contractors fixing earthquake damage in the streets than citizens. Hirono is about 10 kilometers south of F. Daiichi and received relatively little contamination because the winds blew away from the town most of the weeks that followed 3/11/11. The mayor says the main reason most people are reluctant to return is because they don’t have “certainty” about “the actual situation of the nuclear plant”. Concerning the fear of radiation, Yamada laments, “I kind of understand that it is difficult. Nobody knows that it is really safe.” About 60 of the previous elementary school children in town have returned for classes, but most live 90 minutes away in Iwate. The school now teaches rudimentary lessons on radiation, trying to have the children understand that low levels of radiation should not be scary. Unfortunately, that message doesn’t seem to have gotten home to the parents. Another repopulation problem is that no restaurants have re-opened in town because the owners can’t find enough people willing to work in them due to fear of radiation. Nearby Naraha town has also had the government restrictions lifted. However, very few former residents have exploited the opportunity. One Nahara issue is numerous bags of mildly contaminated waste which line many streets because nobody will take them for disposal. This sends a visual “danger” message to anyone who might try to return. It’s not that people cannot repopulate the two communities: it’s that they choose to stay away because they do not understand radiation and they are afraid of it. (National Journal Magazine)
  • The Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) says Tepco is prepared for a sudden Spent Fuel Pool water loss at Fukushima Daiichi unit #3. The NRA called for Tepco to assess the worst-case scenario after a large metal frame was accidently knocked into the pool by a crane on September 22. Data from the investigation shows that a sudden, complete loss of water from the pool would allow the stored fuel bundles to heat up. Because the heat of radioactive decay is now quite low, it would take at least 24 hours for the Zirconium tubes that contain the Uranium fuel pellets to reach their melting temperature of 1200oC. The scenario also included an assumed complete loss of power (blackout) at the same time, which would make recovery of the water level by normal means unlikely. However, Tepco would use a concrete pumping truck garaged nearby and have it injecting water over the hot bundles within six hours of the sudden water loss. The NRA believes that Tepco has adequately prepared for this rare-but-not-impossible situation. (Kyodo News Service)
  • About 80,000 tons of sewage residues with Cesium contamination above the 8000 Becquerel per kilogram (Bb/kg) national standard has not been disposed of. The current Tokyo government is responsible for finding suitable disposal sites, but they have not had any luck in identifying any locations due to local opposition. 70,000 tons have piled up in Fukushima Prefecture and the remaining 10,000 tons languish in 11 other prefectures. The prefectures farthest from Fukushima are Shizuoka and Yamagata which have 11 tons of the material between them. (NHK World)
  • At least one Tokyo restaurant is not afraid to use Fukushima foodstuffs, and their business is hopping. All of 47-Dining’s dishes are made with Fukushima-grown produce…in fact, 80% of the total fare comes from the Fukushima area. Owner Kenji Suzuki’s business plan when he opened in June, 2011, seemed to defy logic. He wanted to use ingredients mostly from in and around his home town of Iwake, Fukushima. ”We were supposed to open in April that year but then the tsunami and nuclear accident changed everything,” Mr Suzuki says, ”The day after the disaster, I thought this place was never going to open.” After he saw the tsunami’s devastation to the Tohoku coast, he decided to give Fukushima farmers whatever help he could. For weeks following opening, business looked bleak. After radiation levels dropped to below the new food-standard levels, he began a policy of reassuring his patrons that everything was safe. That brought people into his establishment “in droves”. ”I eat here regularly because the food is fantastic,” Mika Matsumoto says. ”I’m not worried about radiation because we know that everything has been tested, and tested again.” (theage.com.au)
  • A trout caught in Fukushima’s Niida River has a radioactive Cesium content of 11,400 Becquerels per kilogram. This is more than 11 times the international limit for sales and consumption, and 100 times Japan’s overly-restrictive limit. In addition, a smallmouth bass and catfish caught at Mano dam in Fukushima have 4,400 and 3,000 Bq/kg, respectively. These findings conform very well with those found between December and February. “Like the previous survey, concentrations (of cesium) tended to be higher in rivers and lakes than in the sea. We want to grasp the extent of pollution by continuously conducting the survey,” a ministry official said. (Japan Times) It should be added that the Ministry of the Environment has monitored these waters for Cesium content and found no detectable Cesium. However, the bottom sediments show a wide range of Cesium levels that vary between 47 and 11,000 Bq/kg. Thus, the fish contamination must be coming through the food chain which includes bottom vegetation and bottom-feeding fish. (MEXT report, March 30, 2012)