Radiation Effects Us All: January 2012

Tuesday 31 January 2012

NewsDaily: No big Fukushima health impact seen: U.N. body chairman

Posted 2012/01/31 at 10:20 am EST

VIENNA, Jan. 31, 2012 (Reuters) — The health impact of last year's Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan appears relatively small thanks partly to prompt evacuations, the chairman of a U.N. scientific body investigating the effects of radiation said on Tuesday.

The crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant's No.4 reactor building is seen in Fukushima prefecture, in this handout picture taken on January 14, 2012. REUTERS/Tokyo Electric Power Co./Handout

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The fact that some radioactive releases spread over the ocean instead of populated areas also contributed to limiting the consequences, said Wolfgang Weiss of the U.N. Scientific Committee on the effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR).

"As far as the doses we have seen from the screening of the population ... they are very low," Weiss told Reuters. This was partly "due to the rapid evacuation and this worked very well."

Weiss was speaking on the sidelines of a week-long meeting of 60 international experts in Vienna to assess for the United Nations the radiation exposures and health effects of the world's worst nuclear accident in 25 years.

The March 11 disaster caused by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami wrecked the Fukushima plant on the coast north of Tokyo, triggering a radiation crisis and widespread contamination. About 80,000 residents fled a 20-km (12-mile) exclusion zone.

Weiss said Japanese experts attending the meeting had told him that they were not aware of any acute health effects, in contrast to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine.

Monday 30 January 2012

Radiation fears slow clean-up in Tohoku ‹ Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion

By Karyn Poupee

NATIONAL JAN. 30, 2012 - 12:05PM JST ( 34 )

TOKYO —

Giant piles of debris from Japan’s earthquake and tsunami scar the country’s once picturesque northeast coast—and the clean-up is hamstrung by fears the rubbish may be contaminated by radiation.

Decades-worth of waste was left behind when the waters receded in March last year after claiming more than 19,000 lives.

The survivors are desperate to rebuild, but must first get rid of more than 22 million tons of rubbish—far too much for the disaster-struck region to deal with alone.

But despite appeals to national solidarity, worries over nuclear contamination from the crippled Fukushima power plant mean virtually no one elsewhere in Japan wants the debris processed near them.

“We hope everything will be taken away as quickly as possible so we can go back to normal life,” said one man from the devastated town of Onagawa.

According to Environment Minister Goshi Hosono, facilities across the entire country will have to be brought into play to deal with the 16 million tons of debris from Miyagi Prefecture and 4.42 million tons from Iwate—amounts that dwarf the annual average waste generated by both areas.

Hosono, who is also responsible for handling the nuclear crisis, agrees the 2.28 million tons of waste in Fukushima will have to be treated on site as radioactive elements have been released into the environment in the prefecture.

When the disaster struck a national outpouring of empathy brought with it offers of help from all over the country.

But these have since dried up and now there are few volunteers for taking waste from Miyagi and Iwate, amid fears it could be contaminated and would be dangerous to burn despite the use of filters in incinerators.

Monday 23 January 2012

Comedy Show? Radio: Fukushima very much under control — Notion that Japan is ruined in any way isn’t true unfortunately — Nuclear power not all China Syndrome stuff (VIDEO) « EneNews.com

Thursday 19 January 2012

Japan to let some nuclear plants operate after 40-year limit ‹ Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion

By Mari Yamaguchi

NATIONAL JAN. 19, 2012 - 03:20PM JST ( 68 )

TOKYO —

Japan’s planned 40-year cap on nuclear power plants could be extended up to 20 years, but exemptions will be rare, the government said Wednesday.

Japan currently does not have a limit on the operational lifespan of reactors, and the government had hinted when it announced the cap that extensions were a possibility. The proposed legislation requiring plants to shutter after 40 years is part of the government’s campaign to improve safety following the nuclear crisis set off by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Concern about aging reactors has grown because three of those at the tsunami-hit plant were built starting in the late 1960s and many more of Japan’s 54 reactors will reach the 40-year mark in coming years.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said the government still plans to stick to the 40-year cap in principle. He said exemptions would be rare, with each reactor only allowed a maximum of one. He said to qualify a reactor would have to meet strict safety requirements.

The Cabinet is set to approve the proposed bill by end of January before submitting legislation to parliament for further debate, he said.

The proposed legislation is similar to regulations in the U.S., which grant 40-year licenses and allow for 20-year extensions. Such renewals have been granted to 66 of 104 U.S. nuclear reactors. That process has been so routine that many in the industry are already planning for extensions that could push the plants to operate for decades longer.

If the 40-year-rule is applied, 36 reactors would have to close by 2030, the Asahi newspaper reported.

Since the meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, Japan has ordered reactors across the country to undergo new “stress tests” and get community approval before they can be restarted.

Sunday 15 January 2012

Fukushima Fallout: Thousands Protest Against Nuclear Power in Japan | Common Dreams

Published on Saturday, January 14, 2012 by Common Dreams

Fukushima Fallout: Thousands Protest Against Nuclear Power in Japan

- Common Dreams staff

Thousands of demonstrators hit the streets of Yokohama, Japan on Saturday afternoon calling for an end to nuclear energy in Japan after the Fukushima March 11, 2011 disaster that sparked the planet's worst atomic crisis since Chernobyl. The protest began a 2-day conference committed to fostering global momentum against atomic power.

Anti-nuclear activists hold placards during a rally against nuclear energy in Yokohama, Japan. Thousands of demonstrators hit the streets of Yokohama on Saturday calling for an end to nuclear energy. Radiation fears have become part of daily life in Japan after cases of contaminated water, beef, vegetables, tea and seafood.They marched in the port city southwest of Tokyo chanting in chorus: "We don't need nuclear power. Give back our hometown. Protect our children."

The Japan Times reports:

YOKOHAMA — A two-day antinuclear conference kicked off Saturday in Yokohama with the aim of sharing lessons from the Fukushima crisis and fostering global momentum against atomic power.

"Nuclear power plants are all over the world. In order to deal with this issue, we must create a global network," said Tatsuya Yoshioka, director of the nongovernmental organization Peace Boat, during the opening ceremony for the Global Conference for a Nuclear Power-Free World.

Thursday 12 January 2012

Humans Too? French nuclear expert warns against trip to Fukushima City… for Louvre artwork — Decontaminating radioactivity would be a complex operation « Enenews.com

The world’s most visited museum is due to send around 20 works in April to three towns in northern Japan, including Fukushima City, less than 40 miles from [the meltdowns ...]

France’s nuclear safety and protection institute, IRSN, had advised French citizens only to visit the areas for essential reasons and to “regularly pass the vacuum cleaner over the surface of furniture and carpets” in the fallout zone.

“What about the paintings and 16th century Flemish tapestry that the Louvre is sending? Will they ‘regularly’ vacuum these?,” asked Mr [Didier Rykner, head of The Art Tribune website].

Tuesday 10 January 2012

10L of water leakage “500,000Bq/cm3″ | Fukushima Diary

0:30AM 1/10/2012, a Tepco employee found water leaking from the tank to storage abandoned salty water after purifying system of highly contaminated water.
It was 10L to leak. They say it was from the rubber part of the bottom of the storage tank. It was stopped by clinching the bolt.

Tepco states the leaked water was stocked on the concrete around the tank, nothing was absorbed to the ground. It’s supposed to contained a portion of radionuclides such as Cesium or Strontium, which is 500,000 Bq/cm3.

Sunday 8 January 2012

Japan Journalist: Many police in Fukushima died from radiation -Policeman « Enenews.com

Japanese journalist Terasawa Yu
When Fukushima women demonstrated around Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry on 10/27/2011
He was interviewing an activist, Sono Ryota, a public security approached them
Terasawa [...] asked if it’s true that a lot of police officers, who were sent to Fukushima, die of taking too much radionuclides
The man answered, that is true, his parents are in Fukushima too [...] He said no words and walked off. [...]

Friday 6 January 2012

Nuke regulators get teeth via bills | The Japan Times Online

The government wants to legally compel nuclear plant operators to take every measure possible to prevent a crisis like the one that occurred at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 power plant and follow the latest safety steps when reactor standards are changed, Environment Minister Goshi Hosono said Friday.

The government also plans to limit reactors to 40 years of service, but Hosono said there may be exceptions if safety requirements are met.

The new conditions will be included in bills to revise laws on the regulation of reactors and nuclear fuel to be submitted to the Diet this month.

Wednesday 4 January 2012

South Korea: Radioactive store-bought seaweed measures 0.81 microSv/hr — 20 microSv/hr on tissue used to wipe car hood (VIDEOS) « Enenews.com

In South Korea an english-speaking man — using the name joytek — bought Korean seaweed that his Geiger counter detected as radioactive. He just put two videos in English about it on Vimeo.

The seaweed is called “East coast” brand kelp and is still in the factory sealed packaging in the first video, in which it gives a top reading of about 0.76 microSv/hr. An Inspector Alert pancake GM geiger counter has been used for the tests:

Over half of claimants yet to receive compensation from TEPCO ‹ Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion

TOKYO —

A consultation center that has been helping displaced Fukushima residents through the process of claiming compensation from Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) revealed this week that less than half of claimants have received payment in the first round.

As of Dec 31, of approximately 70,000 claimants who applied for compensation, only 34,000 applications were accepted, NHK reported

Sunday 1 January 2012

Breaking News: M7 hits Japan and water leakage at reactor4 | Fukushima Diary

Though the connection with this earthquake is not clear, Tepco announced water is leaking from the cooling system of spent fuel pool in reactor 4.

The water level of the tank to pool overflowed water from spent fuel pool decreased by 8cm from 2PM to 5PM on 1/1/2012.

This tank is to give back the water to the spent fuel pool after purifying the water. Tepco assumes the leakage is at a joint of pipe but it’s not detected yet.