- Radiation exposure levels inside the F. Daiichi exclusion zone have dropped to less than 25% of their Nov. 2012 values. The Nuclear Regulatory Authority says that initially 27% of the zone had exposure levels at or above 50 millisieverts per year. As of this past March 11, the 50 mSv/yr areas only covered 6% of the zone. The NRA says these figures will be used to revise repopulation and visitation restrictions, but no time-table was given for when this might happen. The difficult-to-return-to zones (areas of over 50 millisieverts per year) currently total about 320 sq. km in addition to the 3-km radius around the plant site. (Mainichi Shimbun)
- Tepco says they will closely inspect the forty 500-ton tanks installed to hold the waste water removed from underground reservoirs. One of the tanks was slowly dripping along one of the horizontal seams on Wednesday. Total leakage was about one liter. The company says tank seams may be welded to prevent a recurrence. The NRA is involved with the wastewater buildup issue at F. Daiichi, and they are not happy with the resent leak. NRA Chair Shunichi Tanaka said, “The handling of the contaminated water is an extremely pressing issue. But the ongoing measures are still inadequate and uncertain. We must make sure that the contaminated water storage plans will not fall apart.” (Japan Today)
- Decontamination is finished at nearly all schools not in Fukushima Prefecture. The Environment Ministry announced that 98% of the schools in 58 municipalities located in seven prefectures have been completed. This does not include schools inside Fukushima Prefecture. In addition, decontamination has been completed in 80% of parks and sports facilities. Home decontamination in the seven prefectures is at 25% and shows no improvement since 2012. This is because of a sharp increase in the number of homeowners who have demanded it be done. The criterion for home de-conning is quite liberal. If contamination is detectible and the owner wants it removed, the government adds the domicile to the list. (Jiji Press)
- In response to Wednesday’s official announcement on Fukushima child thyroid cancers, The Asahi Shimbun has posted an article clearly intended to foment uncertainty and doubt. The article leads with the following, “Health experts are at odds on whether radiation from the Fukushima nuclear accident led to an unexpectedly high occurrence rate of thyroid gland cancer among children in Fukushima Prefecture.” In Wednesday’s news release from Fukushima University Medical School, the majority of experts reject speculations that radiation from the nuke accident caused the 12 cases of thyroid cancer found in 174,000 examined children. However, a minority think it’s too early to draw that conclusion based on currently available data. It seems The Asahi is making it seem like a major controversy, but it isn’t. In addition, The Asahi says the average incidence for Miyagi Prefecture (and three others) in 2007 was 1.7 per 100,000, implying that the official report is not giving a representative assessment. In response, the Prefecture says that high-precision testing of this sort has never happened before in Japan, so the comparison to past statistics should not be attempted. Nippon Medical School professor Kazuo Shimizu prefers to remain cautious, “With the data we currently have, there is no way of telling if radiation has had any impact. A large-scale study is necessary to test the thyroid glands of children in similar age brackets who were never exposed to radiation.” Another voice of caution is Fukiko Kasuga of the Prefectural panel assigned to debate the findings of the University, “Comparison with doses is essential, so there should be more research emphasis on that front.” Hardly a raging controversy.
- The Fukushima panel created to debate medical findings related to F. Daiichi has axed four members. The four deposed individuals have been replaced by qualified people who are not affiliated with the University. This was done to show the panel’s goal has shifted from “alleviating anxiety” in the public, and to now “maintaining and promoting the health of prefectural residents into the future.” One of the members removed from the panel is Shunichi Yamashita, a key researcher in the on-going radiation exposure studies at Fukushima University. The move is in response to allegations of distrust voiced by some Fukushima residents who feel the University teams are working on the assumption that there are no adverse health effects from the accident. Fukushima officials hope to establish an aura of objectivity and neutrality in its evaluation of the prefectural health survey. (Mainichi Shimbun)
- Japan’s business lobby wants idled nukes restarted. Japan Business Federation Chairman Hiromasa Yohekura said restarting nuclear plants is necessary to insure a stable electricity supply for now and long into the future. He visited F. Daiichi on Thursday and pledged the organization’s support in decommissioning, “It is necessary to safely promote the decommissioning. We will draw on technology and knowledge of the Japanese business community so we can contribute to full-fledged reconstruction work.” Currently, 48 of the nation’s fifty available nukes are shut down due to a national moratorium imposed by the government. (Kyodo News)
- More than 150,000 Fukushima residents have received evacuation compensation for F. Daiichi. The 164,824 who qualify for compensation are mostly voluntary evacuees from outside the mandated exclusion zone. They have been given $10,000 per household. Another 11,000 have not filed for the lump-sum compensation for a variety of reasons. These people need to file before the 3-year filing statute expires next March. New renaissance Party head Hiroyuki Arai presented this data to the Fukushima government on Thursday. He claims, “TEPCO has taken no positive actions for encouraging people to file claims. Administrative bodies should turn to those who have yet to file claims and directly ask them if they wish to do so.” The Diet’s recent “Special Exemption Law” extends the statute for unmediated cases when the statute expires. It should be noted that the families who have not yet returned home receive a monthly living-expense subsidy for as much as $1,500. The $10,000 payment is in addition to the monthly stipend. (Japan Daily Press)
- The NRA has once again revised their emergency evacuation rules. The new rules involve the issue of Iodine tablet distribution. “There has been a lot of interest in [rules regarding radiation] monitoring and distribution of iodine tablets among local residents,” said NRA Chair Shunichi Tanaka. “Now that the basic framework has been decided, I would like to see a follow-up [by related parties] in order for the measures to function properly.” The new rules call for distribution to everyone within 5 kilometers of a nuke station, but only after explanations by doctors for ingesting the medication and possible side effects. Sufficient supplies of the pills should be stored for distribution between 5 and 30km if an accident occurs and a release of radioactive material is probable. Iodine tablets saturate the thyroid gland and prevent irradiation of the gland from radioactive I-131. (The Japan News)
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British columnist John Watson says “Japan’s radiation disaster toll: none dead, none sick”, and the nuclear debate should not be based on “Fukushima fear”. He argues that F. Daiichi is a hypothetical disaster, whereas “The quake and tsunami damage is the real catastrophe.” For the full op-ed piece, go to http://www.theage.com.au/comment/japans-radiation-disaster-toll-none-dead-none-sick-20130604-2nomz.html
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