Need to test children in Fukushima region for internal radiation contamination
When asked whether the cesium levels found in these children were significant, Mr. Boilley said, “The amount of cesium should be zero.” He said Acro has determined traces of Cesium-137 in the air, soil and water around the world before the Fukushima Daiichi disaster, saying these traces could be remnants from nuclear experiments in the 1960s and the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. But he says that Cesium-134 is certainly from the Fukushima disaster.
More Fukushima Worries: Internal Contamination, WSJ By Anna Novick, 2 July 11 A urine analysis performed by a French non-profit organization on a small number of children in Fukushima city suggests they may have suffered internal radiation contamination from reactor fuel from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, even though they live outside the national government’s 30-kilometer evacuation zone. Continue reading
30 years radiation health monitoring for 2 million Fukushima residents
Residents in the Fukushima region have expressed growing concern surrounding the possible longterm health risks, in particular for children, triggered by the on-going nuclear power plant crisis.
Two million Fukushima residents to undergo radiation health checks Telegraph By Danielle Demetriou in Tokyo, 21 June 11 More than two million residents living in the region surrounding Japan’s damaged nuclear power plant will undergo longterm health checks starting from this month. 20 Jun 2011 The health of residents in Fukushima prefecture in northeast Japan will be monitored over the next 30 years in order to ease growing concerns surrounding radiation contamination. Continue reading
UK government held gravest fears about Fukushima crisis
A substantial number of documents were withheld on grounds that they contained “information which, if disclosed, would adversely affect international relations,” the government’s civil contingencies team said…….
UK government’s Fukushima crisis plan based on bigger leak than Chernobyl As Japan’s nuclear emergency unfolded, scientists devised a worst case scenario involving issuing iodine pills to Briton. Ian Sample, science correspondent. guardian.co.uk, 20 June 2011
The British government made contingency plans at the height of the Fukushima nuclear crisis which anticipated a “reasonable worst case scenario” of the plant releasing more radiation than Chernobyl, new documents released to the Guardian show. Continue reading
TEPCO’s sloppy care of 3700 nuclear clean-up workers
Whereabouts of 30 nuclear power plant subcontractors unknown: Health Ministry Mainichi Daily News 21 June 11 The whereabouts of about 30 subcontractors who helped deal with the crisis at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant is unknown, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said on June 20.
The workers are among some 3,700 who worked to control the disaster in March, the month the plant was struck by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.
The workers’ names were listed in records showing that they had been loaned dosimeters, but when the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), contacted the companies they were associated with, the companies replied that there was no record of those workers.
The ministry has branded TEPCO’s administration of workers “sloppy” and ordered the company to conduct an investigation to identify the workers.
“We don’t know why there is no record of the workers. The records and dosimeters were managed by TEPCO and its administration can only be described as sloppy,” a representative of the ministry’s Labor Standards Bureau said…..http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110621p2a00m0na005000c.html
Another failure in Fukushima water treatment system
Decontamination system fails again at Japan nuclear plant THE HINDU 22 June 11The operator of a damaged Japanese nuclear plant suspended another test run of a newly installed water-treatment system after its pump stopped on Tuesday.
Tokyo Electric Power Co said the pump was overburdened by excessive liquid flow, Kyodo News reported.
The system designed to decontaminate highly radioactive water stopped only five hours into full operation on Friday at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, 250 kilometres north-east of Tokyo.
The operator concluded on Monday that absorbent materials inside the decontamination equipment needed changing more frequently than previously estimated, public broadcaster NHK reported.
The company is trying to reduce radioactivity in water that has accumulated around the plant as a result of emergency measures to cool the reactor cores. Storage facilities for contaminated water were reaching capacity.
Giant cover for No 1 nuclear reactor to stop Fukushima radiation to atmosphere
N-bldg cover to be built, unbuilt, rebuilt, The Yomiuri Shimbun, 21 June 11 IWAKI, Fukushima–-Work to assemble parts of a giant cover for the No. 1 nuclear reactor building at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant is proceeding at a fever pitch at Onahama Port in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture.
The giant cover is designed to prevent most radioactive substances from dispersing into the atmosphere from the No. 1 reactor, which was damaged by a hydrogen explosion on March 12.
It will enclose an area of 42 meters by 47 meters and will stand 54 meters high.
To limit workers’ exposure to radiation and shorten the construction period, 62 parts, including pillars, beams and polyester-sheeted panels, are being assembled at the port into a unified structure. After it is confirmed that the parts fit together properly, the cover will be disassembled and transported to the nuclear power plant by ship.
On-site assembly of the components is scheduled to start next Monday. TEPCO plans to complete the work in late September. Final construction of the cover will be carried out by two giant cranes, which will be remote-controlled.A traditional Japanese insertion-only joint method, which does not employ welding or bolts for joining materials, is being used to assemble the cover… http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110620004790.htm
Japan experimenting with incineration of radioactive rubble
Environment Ministry to approve incineration of rubble contaminated with radiation, (Mainichi Japan) June 20, 2011 The Environment Ministry has decided to approve the proposed incineration of rubble contaminated with radiation from the tsunami-hit Fukushima nuclear power plant at existing incineration facilities equipped with exhaust gas filters and absorption devices, officials said.
It made the decision after discussing how to safely dispose of rubble contaminated with radiation from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant.
No law currently provides for ways to dispose of waste contaminated with radiation from a crippled nuclear power plant. After consultations between ministries and agencies concerned, the government decided to apply the Waste Disposal and Public Cleaning Law to the disposal of radioactive rubble.
The ministry had initially urged local governments not to move radioactive rubble out of temporary storage sites. However, it will explain its decision to local governments concerned and ask them to resume their disposal of contaminated rubble as early as the end of this month……….
The government will also try to form a consensus among Fukushima residents about its plan to build final disposal sites for radioactive waste in the prefecture….http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110620p2a00m0na017000c.html
Tokyo residents fearful, as radiation ‘hot spots’ confirmed, far from Fukushima
Some city, ward, town and village governments in the Tokyo metropolitan area have started doing their own radiation checks. An increasing number of citizens also are apparently checking radiation levels themselves…..
Precise response needed to quell ‘hot spot’ concerns,The Yomiuri Shimbun,18 June 11 As the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant continues to unfold, high radiation readings have been confirmed in several isolated areas outside evacuation zones. Residents in these areas are feeling increasingly anxious about their radiation exposure.The government must quickly expand the scope of radiation measurements to grasp the actual condition on the ground and take steps to remedy the problem.”Hot spots” with high levels of radiation also were detected after the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear meltdown in the former Soviet Union. Some were several thousand kilometers from the Chernobyl plant. Continue reading
Japan’s green tea industry hit with radiation crisis
VIDEO Crisis brewing as Japan’s tea farmers face radiation ban June 19, 2011CNN) — Japan’s green tea fields sway in the early summer winds, the picture of bucolic beauty. But beneath these peaceful rows of young green buds, ready for the second harvest of the year, a national crisis is brewing.Earlier this month, Japan’s government banned green tea from parts of three prefectures: Tochigi, Chiba and Kanagawa; and banned tea from all of a fourth prefecture, Ibaraki.The authorities had detected levels of radioactive cesium in tea leaves above the legal limit of 500 becquerels per kilogram.Now the discovery of radiation in fields further south in Shizuoka, Japan, some 400 kilometers away from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant, threatens the most robust tea-producing region in Japan.The Shizuoka government says it asked five tea manufacturing plants in the Warashina district of Shizuoka to voluntarily stop shipping green tea leaves, after tests revealed dried tea contained 581 to 654 becquerels of cesium per kilogram…Crisis brewing as Japan’s tea farmers face radiation ban – CNN.com
Japan’s atomic bomb victims call for move away from nuclear energy
Japan Confederation of A- and H-bomb Sufferers Organizations to strengthen its opposition to nuclear energy, Hiroshima Peace Media Center, (June 14, 2011),by Kohei Okada, At its annual meeting in Tokyo, held on June 8, the Japan Confederation of A- and H-bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo) determined its policy for this fiscal year, indicating that, among other actions, it will demand strongly that the Japanese government move away from the nation’s reliance on nuclear energy and call for the decommission of nuclear reactors that have been shut down. This intention goes beyond its previous policy of demanding “changes in Japan’s energy policy.”……..Japan Confederation of A- and H-bomb Sufferers Organizations to strengthen its opposition to nuclear energy – News – Hiroshima Peace Media Center
Radiation rise forces Japan to halt Fukushima water clean-up
Japan nuclear: Radiation halts water clean-up, The radioactive water will be temporarily stored in special tanks when it is removed from the site, BBC News 18 June 11 Operators of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant have suspended an operation to clean contaminated water hours after it began due to a rapid rise in radiation.
Some 110,000 tonnes of water have built up during efforts to cool reactors hit by the 11 March earthquake and tsunami. The contaminated water, enough to fill 40 Olympic-sized swimming pools, has been at risk of spilling into the sea.
A spokesman for the plant operators said engineers were trying to find the cause of the jump in radiation levels.
“The level of radiation at a machine to absorb caesium has risen faster than our initial projections,” a spokesman for the Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) said. Earlier this week, officials had warned that the growing pools of radioactive water at the Fukushima Daiichi plant were in danger of spilling into the sea within a week….http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13819767
Radiation travelling far and wide in Japan
Elevated radiation levels widespread in eastern Japan, Unsafe levels of radioactive contamination have been reported from multiple sources throughout vast areas of eastern Japan in locations far away from the Fukushima nuclear power plant, Smart Planet By David Worthington | June 17, 2011
Science Magazine cites data from the prefectural government of Iwate revealing radioactive cesium has traveled over 100 miles away from Fukushima. Pastoral grasses are contaminated beyond safety standards
Japanese scientists have begun to track background radiation levels independently, according to the magazine’s report. Levels are exceeding acceptable safety limits in many locations.
A “citizens’ map” of radiation levels is being maintained by a group of Japanese bloggers. Levels appear highest near Fukushima and toward its northwest. The vicinity around immediate southwest of the reactors shows elevated radiation, and a large pocket of contamination has settled further south in the outskirts of Tokyo……. http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/intelligent-energy/elevated-radiation-levels-widespread-in-eastern-japan/7160
Japanese govt must deal with the justifiable fears of nuclear plant communities
Are earthquake-resistance capabilities of nuclear power plants, including surrounding facilities, adequate?
Local governments that host nuclear power plants are refusing to agree to the resumption of operations of reactors that have completed their routine inspections.
Government must address local anxieties over nuclear plants, Asahi Shimbun, 2011/06/18, The central government has to seriously listen to the voices of local governments and swiftly re-examine the standards for resumption of operations by taking into consideration the damages from the March 11 disasters.
What is needed in advancing work is close attention to “the worst case.” Up to now, operations of nuclear power plants were based on the assumption that “accidents do not occur.” As far as Fukushima is concerned, damage has been caused not only by the tsunami, but also the earthquake. Continue reading
Some Japanese mothers rebel against complacency about Fukushima radiation
Japan has long been a country that values consensus – and thus it’s particularly trying for mothers who are speaking out against the very system that’s responsible for educating their children. Most have invested in their own dosimeters, as the local government is not providing daily radiation readings.
The Geiger Club: Mothers Bust Silent Radiation Consensus, WSJ, By Mariko Sanchanta, 18 June 11″…….Some, who were due in March or April, gave birth overseas or as far away from Tokyo as possible. Most expat wives and their young kids left Japan, leaving their husbands here. Continue reading
Japan’s govt changes evacuation system, as “radiation hot spots” are found
places that are outside the evacuation zones but are feared to have concentrations of radiation due to geographical or weather conditions will be designated as “specific evacuation recommendation spots.”…….
Govt refines evacuation system, The Yomiuri Shimbun, 18 June 11 The government has decided to adopt a new system that would recommend evacuation from areas affected by radiation from the crisis-hit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant not by municipality but on a house-by-house basis. Continue reading
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