http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/04/88604.html
Weather chief draws flak over plea not to release radiation forecasts
The chief of the Meteorological Society of Japan has drawn flak from within the academic society over a request for member specialists to refrain from releasing forecasts on the spread of radioactive substances from the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2011/04/government-adviser-quits-post-to.html
Government Adviser Quits Post to Protest Japan's Policy on Radiation Exposure for Fukushima Schools.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110430x2.html
TOKYO—A prominent Japanese radiation safety specialist has resigned his governmental advisory post in protest over what he calls "inexcusable" standards for school children in Fukushima Prefecture. The Yomiuri Online news web site reported in Japanese this evening that Toshiso Kosako
Prime Minister Naoto Kan defended his government's handling of the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 plant on Saturday, a day after one of his advisers on the emergency vowed to resign in protest at what he called the state's lax response.
Kan told the Lower House Budget Committee the departure of Toshiso Kosako, a professor on antiradiation safety measures at the University of Tokyo's graduate school who assumed the advisory post March 16, is extremely unfortunate.
"We are dealing with the crisis based on the advice that comes as a result of discussions by the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan. Our handling of the crisis has never been impromptu," Kan said.
Kosako told the government Friday he will resign as Kan's adviser.
"The government has belittled laws and taken measures only for the present moment, resulting in delays in bringing the situation under control," Kosako said.
It is extremely rare for an intellectual adviser appointed by the prime minister to resign in protest at measures the government has taken.
Kosako told reporters at the Diet on Friday it is problematic for the government to have delayed the release of forecasts on the spread of radiation from the Fukushima plant, done by the Nuclear Safety Technology Center's computer system, called the System for Prediction of Environmental Emergency Dose Information (SPEEDI).
He also blasted the government for hiking the upper limit for emergency workers seeking to bring the crippled plant under control to 250 millisieverts from 100 millisieverts after the crisis broke out.
"The prime minister's office and administrative organizations have made impromptu policy decisions, like playing a whack-a-mole game, ignoring proper procedures," the radiation expert said.
He also urged the government to stiffen guidelines on upper limits on radiation levels the education ministry recently announced as allowable levels for elementary school grounds in Fukushima Prefecture, where the radiation-leaking plant is located.
The guidelines announced by the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry "are inconsistent with internationally commonsensical figures and they were determined by the administration to serve its interests," he said.
As the only country to experience an atomic bombing, Japan has long had a powerful antinuclear movement, and such protests have become louder.
Yoshiko Nakamura, 50, a part-time worker, was among 450 who gathered Saturday in Tokyo's Yoyogi Park. The demonstrators beat drums, shouted "No more nukes" and held banners that read "Electricity in Tokyo, sacrifice in Fukushima."
"We knew all along nuclear power was dangerous. I just didn't know how to express myself," said Nakamura, taking part in her second demonstration in two weeks. "This is a great opportunity to send a message and voice my fears."
Such demonstrations have become more frequent, including during the Golden Week holidays, which continue through the weekend and this week. "What I had feared might happen has become reality," said Kenji Kitamura, a 48-year-old office worker. "It is outrageous children are being exposed to such high levels of radiation."
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110427006549.htmA worker removes surface soil from school yard at Kaoru Primary School in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, on Wednesday.
http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/04/88438.html
Chubu Electric eyes restarting Hamaoka nuke reactor in July
Chubu Electric Power Co. plans to restart a nuclear reactor at its Hamaoka plant in Shizuoka Prefecture after the present regular checkups in July, the utility said Thursday despite mounting local concerns about the plant's safety amid a nuclear crisis in Fukushima Prefecture.
OPINION: Children of Fukushima need our protection | Kyodo News
http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/04/87835.html
I was dismayed to learn that the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology earlier this week increased the allowable dose of ionizing radiation for children in Fukushima Prefecture.
In Germany, a recent study of 25 years of the national childhood cancer register showed that even the normal operation of nuclear power plants is associated with a more than doubling of the risk of leukemia for children under 5 years old living within 5 kilometers of a nuclear plant.
Increased risk was seen to more than 50 km away. This was much higher than expected, and highlights the particular vulnerability to radiation of children in and outside the womb.
In addition to exposure measured by typical external radiation counters, the children of Fukushima will also receive internal radiation from particles inhaled and lodged in their lungs, and taken in through contaminated food and water.
A number of radioactive substances are concentrated up the food chain and in people. As a parent, as a physician, the decision to allow the children of Fukushima to be exposed to such injurious levels of radiation is an unacceptable abrogation of the responsibility of care and custodianship for our children and future generations.
I didn't look up the direct link, but this should indicate to the slow-to-act that a wider evacuation is needed.
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/news/20110427p2a00m0na015000c.html
The Japanese government unveiled a map of radioactive contamination on April 26, predicting residents in areas near the troubled nuclear power plant could be exposed to radiation far greater than permissible levels.
According to the contamination map unveiled by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, a cumulative dose of radiation for the year to March 11, 2012 is expected to reach 235.4 millisieverts in Akogi Kunugidaira in Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, 24 kilometers northwest of the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant.
The cities of Fukushima and Minami-Soma are also predicted to receive more than 10 millisieverts of radiation, 10 times the dose of artificial radiation an ordinary person is allowed to be exposed to a year.
Based on data collected from 2,13...8 monitoring points, the ministry calculated total cumulative doses of radiation between March 12 and April 21 and added them up to expected cumulative doses of radiation for the period thereafter to March 11, 2012. Expected radiation exposure was based on the assumption that the nuclear power plant continues to spew the same level of radiation as that detected on April 22. The ministry assumed that people in each monitoring point spend eight hours outdoors and 16 hours inside wooden houses a day. The ministry assumes the level of exposure to radiation in wooden houses is 40 percent lower than outdoors.
As a result, higher levels of radiation were predicted in areas northwest of the nuclear power plant. On April 11, the government designated areas outside a 20-kilometer radius of the nuclear plant that were expected to receive 20 millisievers per year as "planned evacuation zones." Ten locations in the zones including Namie, Iitate and Kawamata were predicted to receive more than 20 millisieverts of radiation. Ryozen in Date, 48 kilometers northwest of the nuclear plant, was predicted to receive 21.2 millisieverts per year.
The ministry had unveiled a similar map on April 11, but the map released this time predicted radiation levels in wider areas based on larger quantities of data. The ministry plans to update the map regularly and release it twice a month.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110426x1.html
Nuke plants' backups fall way short | The Japan Times Online
Most nuclear reactors in Japan would fail to achieve a stable condition in the event that all regular power sources are lost, even though plant operators have prepared new backup power sources as well as electric generators amid the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, it was learned Monday.
More than 200 farmers brought two cows to Tokyo, where they shouted and punched the air Tuesday in a protest to demand compensation for products contaminated by radiation spewing from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
The Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry has set allowable radioactive contamination levels for grazing grass and asked 16 prefectures to check fields in areas where higher-than-normal levels of atmospheric radiation have been detected, they said.
"I want my city to become the (global) center of industries that will transcend nuclear power generation," said Mayor Katsunobu Sakurai.
Since the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant crisis triggered on March 11, criticism is being directed at judges because of their tendency to side with the state and power companies.
"It's graver than Chernobyl in that no one can predict how the situation will develop," said Atsushi Kasai, a former senior researcher with the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute.
"Who can really guarantee that they're 100 percent safe? I want nuclear plants to be halted if they're so frail," said the 53-year-old housewife, who's lived in Shizuoka Prefecture for more than 20 years.
Beyond Nuclear - Home
www.beyondnuclear.org
Beyond Nuclear aims to educate and activate the public about the connections between nuclear power and nuclear weapons and the need to abandon both to safeguard our future. Beyond Nuclear advocates for an energy future that is sustainable, benign and democratic.
Beyond Nuclear has submitted a Title 10 Code of Federal Regulations Part 2.206 (10CFR2.206) "emergency enforcement petition" to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) urging the suspension of 21 General Electric Boiling Water Reactor ...Mark 1s' operating licenses in the wake of the catastrophic failure of identical containment systems at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant in Japan. In addition, Beyond Nuclear has petitioned that a total of 24 GE BWR Mark 1 storage pools for high-level radioactive waste in the U.S. be required to install backup power supplies for running cooling water circulation systems in the event of a loss of the primary electrical grid, something they now lack, despite their location outside of a primary containment structure.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13050228
BBC News - How does Fukushima differ from Chernobyl?
A table comparing the Chernobyl nuclear disaster with the crisis at Fukushima, Japan.
...
Officials say radiation leaks are continuing and could eventually exceed those at Chernobyl. The priority is restoring adequate coolant to the fuel ponds and the reactors themselves.
www.bbc.co.uk
In the US there are 23 reactors using the MK I containment system that are still operating:http://www.nirs.org/factsheets/bwrfact.htm
Plant Name STATE OL Issued OL Renewed OL Expires
Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Unit 1 AL 12/20/1973 5/4/2006 12/20/2033
Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Unit 2 AL 8/2/1974 5/4/2006 6/28/2034
Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Unit 3 AL 8/18/1976 5/4/2006 7/2/2036
Brunswick Steam Electric Plant, Unit 1 NC 9/8/1976 6/26/2006 9/8/2036
Brunswick Steam Electric Plant, Unit 2 NC 12/27/1974 6/26/2006 12/27/2034
Cooper Nuclear Station NE 1/18/1974 1/18/2014
Dresden Nuclear Power Station, Unit 2 IL 2/20/1991 10/28/2004 12/22/2029
Dresden Nuclear Power Station, Unit 3 IL 1/12/1971 10/28/2004 1/12/2031
Duane Arnold Energy Center IA 2/22/1974 2/21/2014
Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant, Unit 1 GA 10/13/1974 1/15/2002 8/6/2034
Edwin I. Hatch Nuclear Plant, Unit 2 GA 6/13/1978 1/15/2002 6/13/2038
Fermi, Unit 2 MI 7/15/1985 3/20/2025
Hope Creek Generating Station, Unit 1 NJ 7/25/1986 4/11/2026
James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant NY 10/17/1974 9/8/2008 10/17/2034
Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant, Unit 1 MN 1/9/1981 11/8/2006 9/8/2030
Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, Unit 1 MI 12/26/1974 10/31/2006 8/22/2029
Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station, Unit 1 NJ 7/2/1991 4/8/2009 4/9/2029
Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, Unit 2 MI 10/25/1973 5/7/2003 8/8/2033
Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, Unit 3 MI 7/2/1974 5/7/2003 7/2/2034
Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station MI 6/8/1972 6/8/2012
Quad Cities Nuclear Power Station, Unit 1 IL 12/14/1972 10/28/2004 12/14/2032
Quad Cities Nuclear Power Station, Unit 2 IL 12/14/1972 10/28/2004 12/14/2032
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant, Unit 1 VT 3/21/1973 3/21/2012
A large inverted light-bulb-shaped steel structure called "the drywell" is constructed of a steel liner and a concrete drywell shield wall enclosing the reactor vessel--this is considered the "primary" containment.. The atmosphere of the drywell is connected through large diameter pipes to a large hollow doughnut-shaped pressure suppression pool called "the torus", or wetwell, which is half-filled with water. In the event of a loss-of-coolant-accident (LOCA), steam would be released into the drywell and directed underwater in the torus where it is supposed to condense, thus suppressing a pressure buildup in the containment.
The outer concrete building is the "secondary" containment and is smaller and less robust (and thus cheaper to build) than the containment buildings used at most reactors.
As early as 1972, Dr. Stephen Hanauer, an Atomic Energy Commission safety official, recommended that the pressure suppression system be discontinued and any further designs not be accepted for construction permits. Hanauer's boss, Joseph Hendrie (later an NRC Commissioner) essentially agreed with Hanauer, but denied the recommendation on the grounds that it could end the nuclear power industry in the U.S.
...the three original AEC memos, including Hendrie's:
November 11, 1971: outlines problems with the design and pressure suppression system containment.
September 20, 1972: memo from Steven Hanauer recommends that U.S. stop licensing reactors using pressure suppression system
September 25, 1972: memo from Joseph Hendrie (top safety official at AEC) agrees with recommendation but rejects it saying it "could well mean the end of nuclear power..."
In 1976, three General Electric nuclear engineers publicly resigned their prestigious positions citing dangerous shortcomings in the GE design.
An NRC analysis of the potential failure of the Mark I under accident conditions concluded in a 1985 report that Mark I failure within the first few hours following core melt would appear rather likely."
In 1986, Harold Denton, then the NRC's top safety official, told an industry trade group that the "Mark I containment, especially being smaller with lower design pressure, in spite of the suppression pool, if you look at the WASH 1400 safety study, you'll find something like a 90% probability of that containment failing."
PressTV - 'N-waste to haunt US for generations'
...electricity is merely a fleeting by-product of nuclear power plants. The real legacy -- the lasting product of nuclear power plants -- is nuclear waste, which will be a hazard to future generations who will not get one watt of electricity, but will get this toxic legacy for millions of years.
Prime Minister Naoto Kan's government on Friday instructed parts of Fukushima Prefecture outside the 20-km no-go zone around the crippled No. 1 nuclear plant to evacuate by the end of May, saying that cumulative radiation levels may pose a health risk to residents.
* As to "Today's Maximum supply capacity at peak demand" and "the forecasted maximum demand of today", in principle, we are posting figures forecasted the previous day.
Sorry Blogger, I've been hanging out with a new 61t¢h, initials fb, instead of you--but i dont love her the way i love you, blogger. She's just convenient.
http://atmc.jp/ has added a national radiation map to their existing database which includes air, soil, rain, food. They have also added a map of radiation at Fukushima Prefecture schools, http://atmc.jp/school/ as measured by the Fukushima Prefecture Disaster Office over three days, at present.
Bad news in this map is that schools in Fukushima City and elsewhere with numbers up around 4 to 6 microsieverts per hour are far above the 20 MILLIsieverts per year the govt is setting as an evacuation threshold. Do the math: Anything over 2.3 MICROsieverts an hour will accumulate to more than 20 MILLIsieverts a year. They should err on the side of caution considering: the intl standard for added dose is 1 millisievert annually, not 20; these are children, not adults; there is a possibility of ingesting and inhaling radioactive particles; and emissions and deposition levels are continuing and accumulating. They should evacuate.
One argument against evacuation is that these levels may be temporary, and go down soon, but that is doubtful. Even if so, I think they should temporarily evacuate the cities of Fukushima (290,000ppl), Nihonmatsu (61,000ppl), and Sukagawa (80,000ppl), or, if that is impossible, evacuate at least the children. Note that our levels down here in Chiba are 0.055 microsieverts per hour today, only 1% of what is measured at some of those schools. (compare to 5.5)
If the govt keep to their stated standard of evacuating places with a risk of accumulating over 20millisieverts/year, then they will announce an evacuation. If they keep to their established precedent of moving slowly (and erring on the side of radiation), the announcement will come in about 2 weeks (and allow another month to take effect).
Using the slider on the school map also reveals wider investigations done on previous days. I guess they are not cumulatively added to the map because yesterday's measurements may have changed by today. There are 2 measurements: at 1cm (above the soil, I assume), and 1 meter.
Measurements of the known VERY radioactive areas were done mostly on the first day.
Streinj deyz haev faund as
Streinj deyz haev traekd as daun
Dhey'r gouing tu distroy
Aar kaezhual joyz
Wii shael gou on pleying
Or faind a nuu taun
Yae!
Streinj aiz fil streinj ruumz
Voisis wil signal dhear taiard end
Dha houstes is grining
Hur gests sliip fram sining
Hiar mii tok av sin
Aend yuu nou dhis iz it
Yae!
Streinj deyz haev faund as
Aend thruu dhear streinj awars
Wii linger aloun
Baadiiz kanfyuuzd
Memariiz misyuuzd
Aez wii ran fram dha dey
Tu a streinj nait av stoun
http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/tsunamiupdate01.html
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/16/world/asia/reactors-status.html
http://mitnse.com/
http://allthingsnuclear.org/
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/emergency-assistance.html
http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/nuclear/Fukushima-nuclear-disaster/
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/japan-earthquake-and-tsunami
Melted fuel rod fragments have sunk to the bottoms of three reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant and could theoretically burn through the pressure vessels if emergency water-pumping operations are seriously disrupted, the Atomic Energy Society of Japan said Friday.
http://atmc.jp/
has added radioactivity plume forecasts from various (foreign--and domestic!) sources
拡散予測： 日本気象庁 | ドイツ気象局 | オーストリア気象局 | イギリス気象局 | ノルウェー気象局 | 台湾気象局
with translate.google
| Diffusion: | Japan Meteorological Agency | Weather Bureau Germany | Austria Weather Bureau | Bureau of Meteorology, UK | Norwegian Meteorological Bureau | Bureau of Meteorology Taiwan |
http://www.japanquakemap.com/
Relive the quakes from a different perspektiv visually and spatially.
yet another radiation monitoring site
http://rdtn.org/
JT
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/radiation-levels.html
Links I posted on Facebook retroactivly reposted to Blogger with some messy html remaining.
:-(This is May 5 but this post's links were collected prior to Apr 10)-:
This way I won't have to look at facebook for my links either, because I hate (and like) facebook.
My apologies to my reader for the complete lack of posts in the post-earthquake post-tsunami recent past.
http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/tsunamiupdate01.html
http://english.kyodonews.jp/rss/news_japan_nuclear_crisis.xml
http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/campaigns/nuclear/Fukushima-nuclear-disaster/
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/16/world/asia/reactors-status.html
http://allthingsnuclear.org/
http://mitnse.com/
http://twitter.com/JAPANTIMES
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news.html
http://twitter.com/Reuters
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/japan-earthquake-and-tsunami
Radiation: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/ra
Water: http://atmc.jp/water/
http://atmc.jp/
Earthquakes: http://tenki.jp/earthquake/
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/radiation-visualization.html
Normally, the public is supposed to only get ONE extra millisievert per year from nuclear-industrial actions, nuclear workers 50 millisieverts.
The Japanese govt is saying 20 millisieverts a year is now OK for the public before they would consider evacuation
(and note that some UNevacuated areas are getting much more than that weekly),
250milliSvrt for nuclear workers (That is actually in line with guidelines for life-saving activities.)
This is a commercial site, but has a good explanation.
http://search.japantimes.c
A case in Kashiwa, Chiba was the worst!
Cheating the workers: