September 26, 2013

Sep 26, 2013 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • Fukushima fisheries say they have resumed off-shore fishing. The Soma-Futaba Fisheries Cooperative suspended operations in early September because of reports of leaks at Fukushima Daiichi. However, tests run on 100 fish and seafood products have shown nearly nothing. 95 of the products had no detectible Fukushima radioactivity, and the other five were at less than one-tenth of Japan’s 100 Becquerel per kilogram limit for consumption. The Cooperative explained their reasoning in a Press release, “Through tests we know the radioactive levels of the fish are not an issue and that they are safe.” Federation chief Hiroyuki Sato told the 21 vessels that put to sea, “You probably harbor all sorts of feelings on the contaminated water problem, but put your motivation into action so we can make this lead to full-scale operations.” About 1,500 kilograms of seafood are expected to be prepared for sale. This morning, the first of the catch hit the stores in Soma City, including crab and squid. Initial sales were encouraging. More seafood will be marketed in Sendai on Friday and Tokyo on Saturday. Another fisheries cooperative in Iwaki City says they will resume off-shore testing on October 3rd. Iwaki fishing has been suspended since March, 2011.  http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2013/09/247753.html — http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20130926_23.html —  http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20130925p2a00m0na002000c.html
  • Hirono town will market their rice for the first time in three years. After last year’s small test crop tested to within national standards (100 Becquerels/kilogram), it was decided to expand to a 110 hectare planting this year. This is half of the paddies farmed before the Fukushima accident. Hirono actually has stricter limit on radioactivity than that set by the Tokyo government for shipment to national markets. The lower limit is hoped to quell consumer fears and allow the product to regain its former level of sales.  http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20130925_28.html
  • Tepco’s president met with Niigata’s dissident governor next week over nuke restarts. Governor Hirohiko Izumida and Tepco President Naomi Hirose met for the first time since the governor refused to support restarts of two units at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa station in early July. Izumida took umbrage with Tepco announcing plans to apply for restarts without informing him first. The governor has developed a deep distrust of the company over the summer. After the meeting, Izumida said that he has not made a decision, and “I will keep this issue on hold.” But, this morning the governor has given his consent for Tepco to apply for restart. A Tepco Press release also said that the mayors of Kashiwazaki City and Kariwa Village have also agreed with Tepco’s desire for a restart filing. Tepco added that the K-K station has improved their sea-walls, flood barriers, and installed water-tight doors to the reactor buildings. They have also deployed mobile emergency diesel generators and other power-supply cars.  http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2013/09/247986.html — http://jen.jiji.com/jc/eng?g=eco&k=2013092500584 — http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/2013/1230926_5130.html
  • Tepco will soon resume its test run of the F. Daiichi wastewater purification system (ALPS). Plant staff hoped to have the tests completed and place the system in full operation last month. A leak in the system was discovered and the trial run was terminated due to a chemical-corrosion-based leak. The system has been re-designed to prevent a recurrence. Three of the five parallel ALPS systems will be tested beginning Friday and all five within the next month. After tests are complete, high-performance resins will be installed that will allow up to 1,500 tons of wastewater to be decontaminated daily. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20130926_01.html
  • A rip in the silt fence for F. Daiichi units 5&6’s shoreline seawater structure has a rip in it. The two units were not operating at the time of the accident and never lost all electrical power. There was no damage to the fuel or any emergency cooling systems for either unit. There has been no release of radioactive material from the two units, but Tepco decided to install the silt fence anyway. The silt-filtering “curtain” seems to have been torn by the typhoon that recently passed over the station. The curtain will be repaired after another, smaller typhoon passes the power complex. Press coverage in Japan is treating this as if it is yet another nuclear accident and give the strong impression that the contained water is contaminated to a lesser extent than the “more toxic water” inside the barricaded quay along the unit #1-#4 shoreline.  All testing of the units #5&#6 seawater since Dec. 2011 have shown nothing detectible.  http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20130926p2g00m0dm100000c.html
  • The Nuclear Regulation Authority says they will work closely with the IAEA on information flow. The IAEA suggested the move last month after the world’s Press blew the wastewater leak reports from F. Daiichi way out of proportion. The Kantei’s (Prime Minister’s office) new English-version website on the wastewater situation (http://www.kantei.go.jp/foreign/96_abe/decisions/2013/osensui_e.html) is but one step in the process. While the leaks at Fukushima have been a headache, experts say the Press has exaggerated the risks involved, and both the Kantei and IAEA feel this needs to be mitigated in order to keep rumors as reduced as possible. While the Cesium-removed waters stored at F. Daiichi are of a much weaker variety than the pre-cleaned waters coming into the Cesium absorption system, it has been routinely broadcast as highly radioactive and toxic by the Press. “The public has been traumatized by the accident itself and ongoing issues and there is a lot of concern out there,” said American expert Lake Barrett. “In my scientific view, much of that concern is overstated sometimes, but there are legitimate concerns. Not only does the water management plan need to be scientifically effective for the public, it needs to be perceived and understood by the public.” The Kantei and IAEA hope that a corroborative effort will turn the tide and lead to more realistic reporting. Some critics feel that more control over the Press’ reporting might be dangerous. http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2013/09/26/fukushima-watch-japan-to-cooperate-with-iaea-on-public-communication/
  • Ex-American chair of the NRC, Gregory Jaczko, says Fukushima leaks will not affect Tokyo. He told the Foreign Correspondent’s Club of Japan, “There is no immediate impact from the contamination issues at the Fukushima Daiichi plant on Tokyo.” However, he said that the flow of contaminated groundwater at F. Daiichi “cannot be controlled. You can try and do things to mitigate the impact of that groundwater on the site. But whether it’s an ice wall…whatever system you build… groundwater will find a way around it and affect it.” He added that the problem with groundwater contamination had been expected “from the beginning”, and he has been surprised that the issue has not been addressed until recently. http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20130924p2g00m0dm074000c.html
  • Renowned radiation expert Dr. Jerry Cuttler says most negative health effects with Fukushima are from a misunderstanding of radiation exposure. He explains that most of the people evacuated from around F. Daiichi in 2011 were not actually at risk, and many evacuation-related deaths could have been avoided. Cuttler argues that considerable evidence shows the low levels of exposure relative to Fukushima evacuees are not at all harmful. The average person has more than 15,000 gamma rays pass through them every second from naturally-occurring radioactivity. These theoretically cause about one genetic “double-strand break” per 10,000 cells per day. However, spontaneous double-strand breaks occur at a rate of one per ten cells per day. Natural cell and genetic repair mechanisms have evolved to fix any damage produced, and as exposures increase so does the rate of repair. Radiation exposure is actually a very weak cellular and genetic threat at low exposures. The estimated doses to Fukushima evacuees are many times lower than any level that could possibly hurt anyone. Cuttler calls for a resolution of the “divergence between fear and facts regarding Fukushima”. http://news.heartland.org/newspaper-article/2013/09/23/fukushima-and-misunderstood-effects-radiation#!
  • Tepco has received $741 million from the government to meet their evacuee compensation payouts through October. The money came from the Nuclear Damage Liability Facilitation Fund under the revised Special Business Plan. The evacuee payouts conform to the “Act on Contract for Indemnification of Nuclear Damage Compensation”. The monies previously received, nearly $3 billion, would have been exhausted in October if not for the new funding support from Tokyo. http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/2013/1230837_5130.html