August 10, 2013

Aug 10, 2013 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • On Wednesday, the Tokyo government estimated F. Daiichi’s leak to the sea could be 300 tons per day. While any leak is into the well-barricaded quay along the F. Daiichi shore, Press outlets in Japan make it sound like the Pacific Ocean is being polluted. In addition most Japanese news media calls the groundwater “toxic” and “highly radioactive”. Also, the levels of Cesium and Strontium found inside the quay have not discernibly changed since April. The increased quay activity is from Tritium, the radioactive isotope of Hydrogen. Regardless of the realities involved, news media pressure has Prime Minister Abe doing the politically-correct thing by pledging to increase government efforts to stop the leakage. Abe said, “Stabilizing the Fukushima plant is our challenge. In particular, the contaminated water is an urgent issue which has generated a great deal of public attention.” He added that he would make sure Tepco would not be left to fix the problem on its own and has committed extra funds to pay for any government involvement. Abe asserted, “To ensure safety, I would also like the head of the Nuclear Regulation Authority to do his best to find out the cause and come up with effective measures as a regulator.” The PM seems to be focusing on the Nuclear Regulatory Authority plan to have the earth perpetually frozen around the four damaged unit’s basements. It would be very costly and there is currently no technology available to freeze a 1.4 kilometer-long stretch of soil many meters deep for long periods of time. Shinji Kinjo of the NRA’s Fukushima Task Force says, “Right now there are no details (of the project yet). There’s no blueprint, no nothing yet, so there’s no way we can scrutinize it.” Groundwater expert Kotaro Ohga is critical of the idea, “It is incredibly difficult to completely block the groundwater like this. It would be better if they could pump [away] clean water before it reaches the plant.”  Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga echoed Ohga by saying, “There is no precedent in the world to create a water-shielding wall with frozen soil on such a large scale [as planned now at the Fukushima complex]. To build that, I think the state has to move a step further to support its realization.” Estimates on the cost of creating the ground-freezing system run as high as $400 million. http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/abe-orders-govt-to-help-contain-toxic-water-at-fukushima-plant?utm_campaign=jt_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=jt_newsletter_2013-08-07_PM — http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20130807_22.html — http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20130807p2g00m0dm077000c.html
  • Tepco has started to pump contaminated groundwater away from the quay shoreline. They drilled a wide hole 2.5 meters into the embankment and began pumping some water out on Friday. The removed water is temporarily being sent to an empty cabling trench attached to the unit #2 turbine building basement. Next week, Tepco will sink 30 5-meter-long pipes into the ground and pump more water out. They estimate the system will remove 100 tons per day, which should reduce the level of groundwater at the underground soil-solidified wall and keep it from seeping over the solid earth. The NRA estimates there is a 1,000 ton per day influx of groundwater under the station. 400 tons seeps into the basements of units #1-#4, 300 tons bypasses the four damaged plants, and another 300 tons of contaminated water flows around the basements into the sea (actually, the barricaded quay). An official of the Natural Resources and Energy Agency said, “We are assuming that there are three locations from where a total of 300 tons of contaminated groundwater is flowing into the ocean.” http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20130808_03.html —  http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2013/08/240148.html —  http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20130808p2g00m0dm037000c.html
  • Local fishermen and Greenpeace have entered the groundwater contamination fray. Tetsu Nozaki, head of the Fukushima fisheries federation has called for an end of the assumed leak and claimed Tepco has a severe lack of transparency. He maintains he did not find out about the recent problems until he saw it in media reports, and he says that is the wrong way to handle information flow. At the same time, Greenpeace alleges that Tepco “anxiously hid the leaks”. In an Email, the international antinuclear group’s Dr. Rianne Teule said, “Greenpeace calls for the Japanese authorities to do all in their power to solve this situation, and that includes increased transparency…and getting international expertise in to help find solutions.” Both groups point to the two contaminated fish caught in the quay this year and Tepco’s release of mildly-contaminated wastewater a few weeks after 3/11/11 as proof of their claims. http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/fishermen-greenpeace-rap-tepco-over-toxic-water-leak?utm_campaign=jt_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=jt_newsletter_2013-08-08_PM
  • The Industry Ministry has assembled a working group to mitigate the contaminated groundwater problem at F. Daiichi. Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told panel members to come up with ways to keep groundwater away from the basements of units #1 through #4. The Ministry estimates 1,000 tons of water flows under the station every day and Motegi wants it pumped out of the ground before it reaches the yet-to-be-determined contamination sources. He suggested pumping the uncontaminated groundwater directly to the sea, but local fisheries opposed the idea because they say it is hard to tell contaminated from uncontaminated water. Motegi also suggested building an underground wall at the foot of the hills behind F. Daiichi to divert all groundwater flow away from the nuke station. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20130808_35.html
  • The Fukushima fisheries cooperative has stopped their test-fishing program due to the speculated leakage of contamination into the sea. Soma-Futaba Fisheries Cooperative had test-fished north of the Prefecture since June, 2012. Although all of the fish tested have radioactive levels far below Japan’s ridiculously low standards, the fisheries decided to stop the program. They explained that consumers would doubt the fish’s safety due to the heavy Press coverage over the presumed leakage of contamination into the sea. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20130809_21.html
  • A University of Tokyo team has found some sea-bed hot spots off the Tohoku coast. One, 6 kilometers from F. Daiichi, is 70 meters wide at a depth of 32 meters. It has a Cesium concentration of 651 Becquerels per kilogram. The researchers believe this came from the damaged F. Daiichi nuke station. They found another hot spot much further north, off Miyagi’s coast, with 1,029 Bq/kg of Cesium in the bottom mud. The team suspects it came from a nearby river where contractors were discarding contaminated debris. Team member Bill Thornton says he hopes this will shed light on the effect of low level contamination of sea life. Professor Toyoji Kaneko, an expert on maritime creatures, said he doesn’t believe all fish caught at or near the seafloor hot spots is dangerous to eat. “Although I can’t guarantee 100 percent safety, it’s not like (meat from) fish will get immediately contaminated with radioactive cesium”, he said. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/08/07/national/radioactive-hot-spots-found-in-seabed-as-far-away-as-miyagi/#.UgOXk-vD8dU
  • Former PM Naoto Kan will not be indicted over his actions concerning the Fukushima accident…at least not yet. Resident’s groups across Japan had filed complaints against about 40 people on suspicion of professional negligence allegedly resulting in deaths, injuries and other charges. At the top of the list is Naoto Kan. Others named in the complaints included Tepco’s top executives at the time of the accident. Prosecutors say they can indict none of the named parties because it has been too difficult to establish negligence. The public prosecutors decided, based on the testimony of tsunami experts, that the government and TEPCO could not have expected the 3/11/11 tsunami because of a lack of “unified knowledge”. However, the charges against Kan included accusations that he delayed the venting (depressurization) of unit #1 and caused the three subsequent hydrogen explosions. The prosecutors have asked Kan to explain his actions at the outbreak of the crisis, thus keeping him in the dock, so to speak. Kan’s aides say he will submit documents proving he was not criminally responsible for what happened at F. Daiichi.  http://jen.jiji.com/jc/eng?g=eco&k=2013080900366 — http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20130809p2g00m0dm069000c.html
  • Controversy about Tepco’s possible restart of the undamaged Kashiwazaki-Kariwa station continues. The mayors of the host towns have now say they will support Tepco applying for a restart, but stop short of saying whether or not they will be in favor of resumption should the application be approved. Kashiwazaki mayor Hiroshi Aida indicated his approval, saying the responsibility to file applications is “up to the plant operator.” The village of Kariwa has also said it will give TEPCO the go-ahead. On the other hand, Niigata Governor Hirohiko Izumida refuses to agree to Tepco submitting a restart application. It is his opinion that there is no indication that Tepco has thoroughly investigated the Fukushima nuclear crisis. Tepco President Naomi Hirose has been trying to meet with the governor for several weeks, with no success. He says, “I want to meet with the governor.” http://japandailypress.com/some-local-officials-give-tepco-go-signal-to-apply-for-restart-in-niigata-0733483/ — http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20130807p2g00m0dm041000c.html
  • Repopulation of former no-go zone communities has been slow. Less than 40% have returned to the now-unrestricted areas, and there’s a chance that those who have stayed away will decide to never return. Yamakiya residents who have returned this week are optimistic. Ornamental flower-grower Itsuki Miura says, “If I can cultivate quality flowers and turn a profit, I’ll be able to continue living here in the Yamakiya district, and this in turn will help encourage others to return as well.” On the other hand, non-returnee Katsunori Shigihara says he will not go back and called for the government to build “recovery housing” for people like him. The Reconstruction Agency said he doesn’t qualify because his home is in a district where repopulation is imminent, and the subsidized housing is only for “long-term” refugees. Shigihara scoffed, “We have already experienced long-term evacuation. If the housing is not constructed, more and more people will leave the region. It seems like the government is in a hurry to lift the evacuation orders.” Yamakiya official Kiyokazu Kanno spoke of the frustration felt by many non-returnees, “Decontamination has not been completed even in the other areas where zone revamping has already taken place — and compensation payments haven’t been forthcoming, either.” Evacuees who are not expected to be allowed home for 5 years can opt to build homes in their towns of resettlement. Each family will get $1,000 per month for 5 years toward securing new living arrangements. One building contractor in Fukushima said many evacuees are currently building new homes. This indicates they have no plans to repopulate their former domiciles. http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20130808p2a00m0na013000c.html