- Prophets of nuclear energy doom have again descended on Japan’s willing, nuclear-averse Press. Tepco is preparing to remove more than 1,300 spent fuel bundles from the storage pool on the fifth floor of F. Daiichi’s unit #4 reactor building. The bundles will be placed in another storage facility’s pool, at ground level, until a permanent solution of high level nuclear waste is decided upon by Tokyo. The “prophets’ are using exaggerations, conveniently-selective data and fear-oriented rhetoric in order to keep Japan’s already-frightened millions on edge. For example, one maintains the 1,300 fuel bundles contain radiation equivalent to 14,000 times the Hiroshima atomic bomb explosion in 1945. Here’s the kernel of truth…there is 14,000 times more radioactive Cesium in the pool’s fuel bundles than was generated at Hiroshima. But, Cesium is far, far down the list of all the isotopes produced at Hiroshima. It’s one of the lowest isotopic quantities of the hundreds of radioactive isotopes produced by bombs…So low that no-one has ever been found to have suffered cancer as a result of Hiroshima’s Cesium yield. When this fact is multiplied by 14,000, it loses most, if not all, of its scary content. This is but the tip of the fear-mongering rhetorical iceberg. There are also unfounded inferences of possible criticality accidents, fuel bundle meltdowns, and broken assemblies virtually guaranteed to “cause by far the most serious radiological disaster to date”. The doom-sayers even allege that one of the nine most-sturdy man-made structures in Fukushima Prefecture, the unit #4 inner containment building which holds the pool, is fragile and may collapse due to another 9-Richter-Scale quake. There’s more, but I think you get the point. http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/the-deadliest-part-of-fukushimas-nuclear-clean-up-removing-fuel-rods?utm_campaign=jt_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=jt_newsletter_2013-08-16_PM
- International, historically-antinuclear groups want increased testing of the Pacific Ocean. The Institute for Energy and Environmental Research and the Radiation and Public Health Project want the sea and its fish tested for radioactivity off the coast of the United States due to Press reports of contaminated groundwater leaks at Fukushima Daiichi. IEER president Dr. Arjun Makhijani says that while the dilution factor in the ocean is massive, distrust of Tepco’s flow of information makes it impossible to ascertain how polluted the Ocean is actually becoming. He calls for water analysis as well as fish testing because the creatures can migrate thousands of kilometers. “I definitely would recommend that the FDA and EPA increase their vigilance in terms of the monitoring of food,” he said.Executive director of RPHP Joseph Mangano says the reported leaks are “a cocktail of more than 100 radioactive chemicals” that can potentially bring dangers through eating contaminated fish or merely breathing the sea air. He says health risks include thyroid cancer (although radioactive Iodine has been gone for two years) and birth defects such as reduced immune system function. It should be noted that RPHP posted a report in March alleging that Fukushima radiation had raised infant hypothyroidism 28% on the west coast of America. The report was subsequently quashed by the scientific community because the increase fell within the variations that normally occur anyway. Undeterred, Mangano said, “We’ve had such enormous releases already, we need to vigorously monitor how much radiation is in our environment and bodies, not just in Japan but in the U.S.” http://japandailypress.com/calls-for-us-seafood-testing-after-revelations-of-fukushima-radiation-leaks-1633993/ — http://news.msn.com/us/calls-for-seafood-tests-due-to-radiation-leak-in-japan
- Tepco has found elevated levels of Cesium in a unit #1 equipment tunnel. The Cesium content is 11,600 Becquerels per liter. The total radioactivity for all other isotopes is 63 Bq/liter. Because of this massive disparity in activity, Tepco says it is likely due to rainfall run-off which necessarily contains high cesium concentrations but very little of anything else. It is quite likely the contamination source is not the water in the unit #1 basement which has 55,000,000 Bq/liter of Cesium and about half of that activity from all other water-borne isotopes. If the unit #1 tunnel water had leaked from the unit #1 basement, it would have contained at least 5,000 Bq/liter of all non-Cesium radioactivities. Regardless, the Press focusses on how much the tunnel’s water has increased in activity since late March, 2011, when it measured at 1,490 Bq/liter. It is also reported that the Cesium level is 1/100,000 of that first found in the now-infamous unit #2 tunnel. There is nothing in the Press about the disparity between Cesium and non-Cesium activities. http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201308160041 — http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/2013/1229771_5130.html
- Tepco says their groundwater “pumping-up” system will be finished later today. Last Thursday, they said they would be done by Sunday. However, the excavation machine experienced some damage and a new one had to be shipped in to complete the job, delaying the schedule a day. http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2013/08/241428.html In addition, the company posted a Press handout explaining the installation of the “pumping up” system, which can be viewed here… http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/handouts/2013/images/handouts_130815_03-e.pdf This morning Tepco says 22 “well points” have been installed the of thirty which are planned. The increased flow from the new system has dropped groundwater level in the earth about 20 inches in four days. The indicated level is now about three inches above the top of the soil-solidification wall between the unit #2 and unit #3 seawater intake structures. http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/2013/1229829_5130.html
- A Liberal Democratic Party subcommittee wants all nuke construction stopped. The LDP is now the party controlling the Japanese government. This past Friday, the subcommittee announced they will recommend a full cessation of nuclear construction until the spent nuclear fuel disposal issue is settled. A committee member said, “It is not possible for the government to fulfill its responsibility to provide an explanation to the public if it builds new nuclear plants when there is still no final disposal site for spent nuclear fuel — which is like having an apartment with no toilet.” The proposal, to be submitted to PM Abe later this month, also calls for the permanent shutdown of nukes that are no longer financially viable because of expensive tsunami-protective upgrades. http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20130816p2a00m0na015000c.html
- Fukushima repopulation continues to be disappointing. Of the 3,000 Kawauchi residents who could return home, only about 500 have actually done it. Most of the town’s returnees are elderly. Those not returning have various reasons for their reluctance, above and beyond fear of residual radiation. Some say their reluctance is because the town has no functioning medical facility or high school. Another complaint focuses on the Tokyo government. Former resident Yatsutsugu Igari says, “There is no comprehensive plan on how to rebuild the village,” said Yasutsugu Igari, 34, who works in the reconstruction department at Kawauchi’s village office. “It’s the government that destroyed it, but now it’s doing very little to help us re-create our lives.” But decontamination manager Masayoshi Yokota says the objections are nothing new, “First they said they wouldn’t come back unless we decontaminated. So we did that and told them they could come back. But then it was about jobs or that they didn’t want to come back because they have children.” Some evacuees will lose their income from Tepco if they return, and say it is unfair to cut off financial support when their homes and villages might still be unsafe. Ministry official Hiroaki Inoue voiced is frustrated with the complaints, “I feel like some people don’t want to go back because they’re happy living off the compensation money from TEPCO and they don’t want that to end.” http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/decontamination-of-fukushima-hotspots-costly-and-complex?utm_campaign=jt_newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_source=jt_newsletter_2013-08-18_PM
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