Japan earthquake - contamination & consequences outside Fukushima NPP

[joewein]

The science ministry is saying that the 40 millisievert source is buried radium-226.

Why would someone keep burying this around Setagaya?

I imagine it is expensive stuff?

Its use really declined from the 1950s. That turned an asset into a liability.

Parts of Setagaya still had a more rural character then. Even now the Tokyo University of Agriculture has a major campus here, with fields and greenhouses.

Setagaya is relatively affluent, so there may be more than a few families that owned industrial companies that might have used radium in the past. Also, higher incomes may lead to a higher rate of possession of dosimeters, hence a better chance of detection of such hotspots than elsewhere.

 

[tsutsuji]

Tokyo:
http://sankei.jp.msn.com/affairs/news/111102/crm11110218280015-n1.htm [Setagaya] Inside the bottle there is a brown color solid believed to be radium 226. Because the radiation was 2 mSv/h after removing the bottle, it is feared that the Earth is polluted by things such as scattered glass. Removal work will be continued on 3 November. As a result of a new survey performed today, 8 μSv/h was found in the supermarket's selling space. It is believed that there are multiple radiation sources. Until now only the 110 μSv/h spot near shop entrance was dug. The 170 μSv/h spot near the concrete block wall will be dug in turn.

http://mainichi.jp/select/jiken/news/20111103k0000m040041000c.html The bottle is broken. Some Earth was removed together with the bottle. Radioactive substances and glass are remaining. Radiations will be further lowered by removing more earth. An 8 μSv/h spot and a 12 μSv/h spot were found close to the digging place. A 2 μSv/h one was also found on the street on the western side of the supermarket premises.

http://news.tv-asahi.co.jp/ann/news/web/html/211102021.html video of the digging.

 

[Martin Peters]

Tokyo:
http://sankei.jp.msn.com/affairs/news/111102/crm11110218280015-n1.htm [Setagaya] Inside the bottle there is a brown color solid believed to be radium 226. Because the radiation was 2 mSv/h after removing the bottle, it is feared that the Earth is polluted by things such as scattered glass. Removal work will be continued on 3 November. As a result of a new survey performed today, 8 μSv/h was found in the supermarket's selling space. It is believed that there are multiple radiation sources. Until now only the 110 μSv/h spot near shop entrance was dug. The 170 μSv/h spot near the concrete block wall will be dug in turn.

http://mainichi.jp/select/jiken/news/20111103k0000m040041000c.html The bottle is broken. Some Earth was removed together with the bottle. Radioactive substances and glass are remaining. Radiations will be further lowered by removing more earth. An 8 μSv/h spot and a 12 μSv/h spot were found close to the digging place. A 2 μSv/h one was also found on the street on the western side of the supermarket premises.

http://news.tv-asahi.co.jp/ann/news/web/html/211102021.html video of the digging.

Is the level of radiation of the soil, glass shards, and other debris left in the hole after the bottle and it's brown contents were removed really 2 MILLI Sv/HR? This is not an inadvertent slip of the wrong "m"?

 

[rowmag]

Is the level of radiation of the soil, glass shards, and other debris left in the hole after the bottle and it's brown contents were removed really 2 MILLI Sv/HR? This is not an inadvertent slip of the wrong "m"?

No obvious typo.
It was 110 micro-Sv/h measured on the surface before they started digging down.
The bottle (which had no cap) was 40 mSv/h.
2 mSv/h was what remained in the dirt after removing the bottle.

 

[tsutsuji]

http://www.asahi.com/national/update/1103/TKY201111020803.html After removing the bottle, the 40 mSv/h (one mili is ten micro) dropped to 2 mSv/h. After removing Earth and scattered glass from the surroundings, it further dropped to 25 μSv/h. The bottle has an about 10 cm diameter and an about 30 cm height. It is broken and was put together with the adhering Earth in a special sealed container. It does not bear any label, but looks rather old.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20111103/t10013695301000.html (with video) in a 50 m range around the supermarket, 15 new hotspots were found. The highest one is a 12 μSv/h on the parking lot. The radiation at 1 m above these 15 spots is not much higher than normal, but the ministry of education and science put sandbags on some of them as a radiation shielding countermeasure. A detailed investigation of the 15 new spots is currently being discussed.

 

[nikkkom]

After removing the bottle, the 40 mSv/h (one mili is ten micro) dropped to 2 mSv/h.

"one mili is ten micro"??!

 

[joewein]

"one mili is ten micro"??!

That's a mistake, maybe by automated translation.

Japanese:

毎時約４０ミリシーベルト（１ミリは１０００マイクロ）

English:

40 millisievert per hour (1 milli is 1000 micro)

 

[NUCENG]

I am not trying to stifle this discussion, but the bottle is clearly not related to the Earthquake or Fukushima. Should this be a new thread?

 

[tsutsuji]

http://www.asahi.com/national/update/1103/TKY201111020803.html After removing the bottle, the 40 mSv/h (one mili is [STRIKE]ten[/STRIKE] one thousand micro) dropped to 2 mSv/h.

It was a human mistake. Thanks Joewein for the correction. I don't mind moving talks on contamination unrelated to Fukushima to other threads.

 

[nikkkom]

It is somewhat related since this bottle wouldn't be found without large-scale dosimetric campaign induced by Fukushima disaster. How many more wonderful discoveries await us?

 

[tsutsuji]

Japan:
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/genpatsu-fukushima/20111105/1630_kenko_eikyo.html During a conference in Hamamatsu, nuclear accident minister Goshi Hosono said that he would build up a specialist team, whose mission will be to examine the effects on health of low radiations of the order of 20 mSv/year.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20111031/t10013622731000.html The Ministry of health's food safety commission held a meeting on 31 October. The provisional food safety levels will be revised with the goal of setting the maximum food exposure at 1 mSv/year from next April (instead of the present 5 mSv/year). Each food's new safety level will be decided within this year.

http://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/national/news/CK2011103102000163.html The food safety commission received a report that considered that health effects can happen if the accumulated dose of internal exposure over one's life is 100 mSv or above. The maximum 1 mSv/year level for cesium was decided using references such as those of the codex alimentarius. 887, or 6% of the 14,536 food tests performed from July to September in Japan except Fukushima prefecture were above 100 Bq/kg (10% for Fukushima prefecture).

http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=soc_30&k=2011110300274 According to the ministry of Agriculture, there are 7200 tons of contaminated straw in 8 prefectures. If it is above 8000 Bq/kg it must be stored in special temporary storage facilities, but most of it is still stored on each farmer's land, as securing such storage space is a time consuming effort.

Tokyo:
http://www.asahi.com/national/update/1103/TKY201111020738.html 0.01111 Bq/m³ of strontium 90 was measured in a 15 March air sample taken in Tokyo, Setagaya ward and reported to the Tokyo metropolis administration on 21 June.

Kanagawa:
http://www.jiji.com/jc/c?g=soc_30&k=2011110400425 12 Bq/kg of strontium 90 was measured in an Earth sample, Zushi city announced on 4 November. The laboratory that made the measurement says it is reasonable to believe it came from Fukushima Daiichi.

http://news.kanaloco.jp/localnews/article/1111050004/ At Maioka park, Yokohama, 955 Bq/kg was found in shiitake mushrooms harvested and dried in October, and 2770 Bq/kg in those harvested in March and dried in April. 1.8 kg of the March harvest have been served in dishes.

http://mainichi.jp/area/kanagawa/news/20111103ddlk14040258000c.html 510 Bq/kg was found in tea grown in Yugawara, Kanagawa prefecture announced on 2 November. A tea shipment ban had been in force in 10 towns and villages since June, but in 9 of them, tests have always been below the 500 Bq/limit. The ban has been lifted in those 9 towns and villages except in Manazuru.

Chiba:
http://water-news.info/2103.html Ichihara Ecocement (Ichihara city) was ordered by the prefecture to stop effluents above 1000 Bq/kg flowing into Tokyo Bay, and the plant was stopped on 1 November. 1103 Bq/kg had been measured on 21 September and 1054 Bq/kg on 14 October.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/e-japan/chiba/news/20111105-OYT8T00065.htm The prefecture took 5 seawater samples in Tokyo Bay up to 2 km away from the cement plant and announced on 4 November that no radiation had been detected.

http://www.chibanippo.co.jp/cn/news/national/63980 Fish samples will be tested to address the concerns of the nearby fish angling park which receives up to 300 visitors per day.

http://www.chibanippo.co.jp/cn/news/local/63749 A detailed survey of the Kashiwa Nedo district hotspot (the 270,000 Bq/kg one) was started on 2 November. Workers measured the surroundings' topography and took 20 Earth samples. Sediment samples were also taken in the Ohorigawa river and in the Teganuma marsh. The results are expected for the end of November.

Ibaraki:
http://mytown.asahi.com/ibaraki/news.php?k_id=08000001111040004 & http://mytown.asahi.com/ibaraki/news.php?k_id=08000001111050002 A citizen group found 122,800 Bq/kg in a 6 October Earth and sand sample from a concrete path between the main gate and the children building entrance in a school in Ryugasaki city. The city cleaned the path on 14 October, but samples taken near the path on 3 November had 11720 ~19050 Bq/kg (above the 8000 bq/kg standard that requires waterproofing and shielding measures). 228 locations in schools are above the city's 0.23 μSv/h standard. The mayor said "I have a child too. I will launch countermeasures not only as mayor but also as a parent".

http://mainichi.jp/area/ibaraki/news/20111103ddlk08040121000c.html The Tsukubamirai school board has decided not to serve to children the 7 kg of fresh shiitake mushrooms that had been planned for a 4 November school lunch menu. They had been harvested on 1 November in a farm's green house in Tsukubamirai city, and tested for radiation on 2 November, and 89 Bq/kg was found. The school board does not have a precise standard, but explains that it wants "to appease the parent's anxiety". Tsukubamirai city has two school lunch cooking centers. The school lunch food ingredients have been checked for radiations since the beginning of October and this is the first time that radioactive substances are detected.

http://mainichi.jp/area/ibaraki/news/20111103ddlk08040124000c.html Shiitake mushrooms grown outdoors in Omitama and Namegata had respectively 520 and 650 Bq/kg, Ibaraki prefecture announced on 2 November. The shipment ban issued in mid October is going on.

Tochigi:
http://mainichi.jp/area/tochigi/news/20111105ddlk09040183000c.html 1850 Bq/kg was found in kuritake mushrooms grown in Yaita city.

Gunma:
http://mainichi.jp/area/gunma/news/20111104ddlk10040095000c.html 3.3 Bq/kg found in raw milk from Naganohara village. The milk from Kawaba was below detection level (0.2 ~ 0.4 Bq/kg).

Niigata:
http://mainichi.jp/area/niigata/news/20111103ddlk15040248000c.html 24 prefectoral high schools etc. were checked and 19 hotspots of 0.31 ~ 1.1 μSv/h were found. The mud removed in one location had 50,000 Bq/kg . All 119 prefectoral middle and high schools will be checked by the end of this month.

Fukushima:
http://www.kfb.co.jp/news/index.cgi?n=201111052 The turnips, spinach and cabbages grown in Hosono and Kawauchi outside the planned evacuation zone can be distributed again, as the test results have been below detection level for 3 consecutive times. Turnips are allowed in the whole Fukushima prefecture, but in the central region, there is a requirement to remove leaves. The test results concerning 32 food products in 38 cities and villages released by the prefecture on 4 November were all below detection level or below the provisional safety limit.

http://www.yomidr.yomiuri.co.jp/page.jsp?id=49699 7% of babies and preschool children below 7 years old in Minamisoma have radiations in urines. The results that were announced cover 1532 children. It is the first part of a survey that will ultimately concern 3500 children. 93% are below the 20 Bq/l detection limit. The highest was 187 Bq/l. The accumulated doses over 70 years were calculated for all of the 104 children with radiations. 93 children between 20 and 30 Bq/l have a 0.054 ~0.058 mSv dose. The child with 187 Bq/l has 0.37 mSv.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20111105/t10013753271000.html The young children urine test is a response to the complaint that the internal exposure surveys conducted so far by Fukushima prefecture etc. have been checking only the older children who are able to keep a position in a "special equipment".

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/e-japan/fukushima/news/20111103-OYT8T00092.htm The dried kaki test results are 530 Bq/kg in Fukushima, 570 and 1230 Bq/kg in Minamisoma, which brings to 5 the number of cities or villages having a dried kaki shipment ban.

 

[NUCENG]

It is somewhat related since this bottle wouldn't be found without large-scale dosimetric campaign induced by Fukushima disaster. How many more wonderful discoveries await us?

Oky Doky! At least here in the US, improper disposal of hazardous waste is already a criminal offense. From descriptions this is an old bottle. It will be difficult to find the person responsible, so after it is removed and cleaned up what lessons are to be learned and what will be done differently? If they find unexploded ordinance left over from WWII while searching for hotspots is that somehow related to Fukushima, the earthquake, or the tsunami? But if you believe this is linked to the accident, then go ahead and discuss it here. I'll admit, it is an interesting discovery that could happen in any country. So I would read it whether it is here or in a separate thread.

 

[tsutsuji]

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20111109f1.html "the government has shifted the focus of its decontamination plan to areas with radiation readings, based on an annual accumulative amount, of between 20 millisieverts and more than 1 millisievert, with the goal of reducing the contamination by 50 to 60 percent over two years."

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/genpatsu-fukushima/20111113/1610_anzentaisaku.html The Japanese government has released a decontamination manual for volunteers.On 13 November minister Goshi Hosono gave a hand to a group of 60 volunteers decontaminating houses in Date city, Fukushima prefecture.

video of Minister Hosono with the volunteers (the meeting before starting to work).

http://mainichi.jp/select/wadai/news/20111111k0000e040071000c.html The helicopter maps have been released for Iwate, Yamanashi, Nagano, Shizuoka, Gifu, and Toyama prefectures.

http://radioactivity.mext.go.jp/ja/1910/2011/11/1910_111112.pdf Iwate, Yamanashi, Nagano, Shizuoka, Gifu, and Toyama prefectures' helicopter maps.(37 pages).

Tokyo:
http://mainichi.jp/select/wadai/news/20111112k0000e040036000c.html The Tokyo water agency has experimented a process using chlorine and activated carbon that enables to remove 40 to 60% of iodine. "If we had known it, we could have kept iodine below 100 Bq/l" (in March, instead of 210 Bq/l).

Chiba:
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/news/20111113-OYT1T00461.htm It was found that the company that was supposed to bury the 0.18 ~ 0.37 μSv/h (50 cm above ground) sand from school sandboxes in Kashiwa was instead storing it in the company premises with reuse in mind.

http://sankei.jp.msn.com/region/news/111111/chb11111122580013-n1.htm 5 spots above 0.23 μSv/h (maximum 0.59) in one school in Ichihara.

Ibaraki:
http://sankei.jp.msn.com/region/news/111113/ibr11111302060000-n1.htm Log shiitake shipment is banned in Ibaraki city (outdoor and greenhouse) and in Ami (outdoors), bringing to 6 the number of towns in Ibaraki prefecture with a log shiitake restriction.

Kanagawa:
(TBS) 2651 Bq/kg (above the 400 Bq/kg standard) in ashes from trees and grass from a park in Yokohama, distributed as fertilizer.

Shizuoka:
http://www.chunichi.co.jp/article/shizuoka/20111113/CK2011111302000003.html The shipment ban concerning dried shiitake produced in Izu city was lifted for the shiitakes harvested after 1 October.

Gunma:
http://mainichi.jp/area/gunma/news/20111112ddlk10040219000c.html Between 28 and 72 Bq/kg was found in mud in 6 sewage plants. Nothing detected in the other 5 plants.

http://mainichi.jp/area/gunma/news/20111112ddlk10040202000c.html 482 Bq/kg in deers. 337 Bq/kg in wild boars. Hunting is allowed again.

Tochigi:
http://mainichi.jp/area/tochigi/news/20111112ddlk09040337000c.html 517 Bq/kg in nameko mushrooms in Nikko city.

Fukushima:
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/news/20111112-OYT1T00441.htm?from=navlp 713 Bq/kg in dried kakis from Date city harvested in October.

http://sankei.jp.msn.com/affairs/news/111111/dst11111123200033-n1.htm 700 Bq/kg in shiitake grown in vinyl houses in Kawamata. 84.5 kg in 845 packs had already been shipped. 95 packs have been recalled from the shops, the other packs are already sold.

http://video.jp.msn.com/watch/video...pkey=731df92e-7d4c-42ea-8a7f-04b43e4f8336|||| (TBS) 8300 Ha of agricultural land are above the 5000 Bq/kg limit.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/news/20111111-OYT1T01048.htm Fukushima city's 20 kindergartens are requesting a compensation from Tepco because the number of pupils has diminished by 472 pupils.

 

[SteveElbows]

The IAEA published the final version of their report into remediation efforts. I haven't had the chance to read it in full yet.

http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/2011/missionfinalreport.html

 

[SteveElbows]

Im reading it now. Suggestions I've read about so far are along the lines of:

Involve Universities/academia.

Extend the whole body counter measurements program to remedial workers after they have finished a days work.

Come up with some clear guidelines on what activity levels are suitable for landfill-type disposal.

Balance the psychological/economic impact against the actual real benefits from certain kinds of remedial work, and focus efforts on stuff that can make a real difference to exposure levels. Also consider how much radioactive waste some measures may produce, creating new problems that may exceed the benefits.

Dont label everything that comes from decontamination efforts as waste, you may be able to reuse some of it without exposing the public to unacceptable risk.

Try and educate the public into the importance of dose rates rather than just letting them focus on surface or volume concentration levels.

When you involve local people in decontamination efforts, make sure they are trained, and recognise that you will probably need specialists to do certain work.

Provide signs/other markings on the routes into the 'deliberate evacuation area', along with some instructions for the public (there are currently no signs on roads etc to mark the borders of this zone).

Decontaminating certain areas such as forests, or taking the level of decontamination beyond certain 'optimised levels', may involve time & effort that is not rewarded by an automatic drop in public exposure, and may create new problems by creating more stuff that's classified as radioactive waste.

There will be another airborne survey this month covering the entire Eastern part of Japan.

Praise for various data collection efforts, recommendation to formally describe the management of the collected data in a management plan.

Thats all I have time to look at today, having just reached page 34 where attention turns to agricultural land.

 

[Luca Bevil]

One question to you all (tsutsui san especially thanks for the great painstaking work you ar edoing for us all).

is there an assessment of suicide cases among Fukushima evacuees as of today ?

 

[tsutsuji]

is there an assessment of suicide cases among Fukushima evacuees as of today ?

It does not answer your question about evacuees, but there are suicide statistics about Fukushima prefecture in general:

In the area hit hardest by the nuclear crisis, Fukushima saw 19 more suicides in May 2011 compared with May last year, with a total of 68.
http://articles.cnn.com/2011-06-08/world/japan.suicides_1_suicide-rate-northern-japan-prefecture?_s=PM:WORLD

http://www.npa.go.jp/safetylife/seianki/H23_tsukibetsujisatsusya.pdf 2011 suicide statistics per prefecture and per month.
http://www.npa.go.jp/safetylife/seianki/H22jisatsunogaiyou.pdf page 8: 2010 monthly statistics per prefecture and per month.

I calculated the number of suicides in Fukushima prefecture from April to October and found 323 in 2011 versus 314 in 2010 (increase of 9 = +2.9%).
The number of suicides in Japan from April to October was 19269 in 2011 versus 18515 in 2010 (increase of 754 = +4%)

 

[tsutsuji]

http://www.asahi.com/national/update/1117/TKY201111170270.html & http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20111117/t10014032781000.html The ministry of environment, in Tokyo, received a parcel from Fukushima prefecture containing contaminated Earth (0.18 μSv/h according to NHK, maximum 0.6 μSv/h according to Asahi). It was found that the contaminated Earth was later dumped by a ministry employee in an empty lot near his/her home in Saitama prefecture.

Tokyo:
http://mainichi.jp/select/wadai/news/20111119mog00m040005000c.html During the two months that preceded the finding of the 2300 Bq/kg cow on 8 July, only 2 cows had been tested out of the about 2100 cows that were shipped to Tokyo metropolis.

http://eco.nikkeibp.co.jp/article/report/20111118/109948/ Incinerators in Tokyo's 23 wards and in the Tama area are going process tsunami debris from Onagawa, Miyagi prefecture. The radiations are 440 Bq/kg (textiles) 220 Bq/kg (tatami mats) 100 Bq/kg (plastics), 77 Bq/kg (paper), 69 Bq/kg (wood). For the treatment of the debris from Miyako (Iwate prefecture), the standard was that ashes above 8000 Bq/kg should not be produced. Using a concentration factor of 33, that meant that the debris should not be above 240 Bq/kg.

Kanagawa:
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/news/20111118-OYT1T01356.htm Kanagawa prefecture's rainwater data for the 6 day period from 20 March to 1 April had errors. The largest error concerns the iodine radiation from 21 March 9 AM to 22 March 9 AM. The radiation was 9500 Bq/m³ which is 28 times as much as the 340 Bq/m³ value that had been reported then. It is a calculation mistake that was made at a time when personnel from other departments came for help. The mistake was reported to the Ministry of education and science on 13 May, but the ministry failed from immediately correcting the figures.

http://mainichi.jp/life/today/news/20111111k0000m040106000c.html Tea samples from Manatsuru have been measured with 500, 360, and 290 Bq/kg. The shipment ban has been lifted.

Chiba:
http://mytown.asahi.com/chiba/news.php?k_id=12000001111190002 A value below the 8000 Bq/kg ( 5100 Bq/kg = 2400 (Cs134) + 2700 (Cs137)) was found for the first time in the ashes from a mud incinerating facility in Abiko on 8 November. In the past values as high as 25000 Bq/kg had been found. 510 tons of 8000 Bq/kg and above ashes produced until October have to be stored in tents. When the values below 8000/kg are considered stable enough, the facility will start burying the ashes again. For the time being tent storage is going on.

http://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/chiba/20111118/CK2011111802000026.html?ref=rank An incinerating facility in Matsudo is going to try burning branches and grass again from 18 November to 28 November, limiting their quantity to 10% of the total and checking the ashes's radiation everyday. Branches and grass burning had been stopped as it was feared that the 8000 Bq/kg standard for ash burying would be exceeded.

http://mainichi.jp/area/chiba/news/20111118ddlk12040104000c.html 831 Bq/kg in outdoor grown shiitake mushrooms in Nagareyama. With Abiko and Kimitsu, this brings to 3 the number of cities in Chiba prefecture with above limit shiitake.

Saitama:
http://mainichi.jp/area/saitama/news/20111118ddlk11040257000c.html 1300 Bq/kg in one brand of Sayama tea. This brings to 112 the brands of tea above safety level among 1659 brands of tea tested in Saitama prefecture since September.

Gunma:
http://mainichi.jp/area/gunma/news/20111118ddlk10040209000c.html 2500, 900 and 870 Bq/kg in mud generated at 3 water processing facilities

Niigata:
http://mainichi.jp/area/niigata/news/20111115ddlk15040250000c.html Earth samples were taken in 38 areas in 17 cities and towns where the helicopter survey had found the highest contaminations. All areas are below 0.23 μSv/h. In the two areas above 10,000 Bq/m² in Uonuma city, the highest sample had 320 Bq/kg, which is below the ministry of agriculture's 5000 Bq/kg limit.　

http://mainichi.jp/area/niigata/news/20111118ddlk15040175000c.html Niigata prefecture wants to charge the national government with the cost of the disposal of contaminated waste above 100 Bq/kg instead of the 8000 Bq/kg value proposed by the national government. 100 Bq/kg is the value below which the law regulating nuclear power plant decommissioning allows to process nuclear waste in general waste processing facilities.

Yamagata:
http://mainichi.jp/area/yamagata/news/20111119ddlk06040092000c.html It has been decided that the "Yonezawa beef" brand name would be attributed only to beef with "no cesium detected (below 25 Bq/kg)", which is more severe than the government safety level of 500 Bq/kg. Beef where cesium is detected will be sold as "Grown in Yamagata" or "Grown in Japan".

Fukushima:
http://www.mhlw.go.jp/english/topics/2011eq/dl/Instructions111109.pdf One page listing the food shipment restrictions applying to Fukushima prefecture, updated on 9 November.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/genpatsu-fukushima/20111116/0615_idou.html A survey of the mud at the bottom of rivers was performed in September. It was found that the mud is more highly contaminated downstream than upstream, which suggests that the contamination migrates toward river mouths. In Niidagawa river, 3200 Bq/kg was found upstream in Iitate village, and 13000 Bq/kg close to the mouth in Minamisoma. 28,000 Bq/kg was found in Manogawa river in Minamisoma, which is twice the value measured in May.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/genpatsu-fukushima/20111118/1700_josen.html A decontamination model work was started in Ookuma town (restricted zone). The plan is to decontaminate a 4.5 Ha zone near the town hall, including public facilities and 20 homes. In some places the radiation goes up to 20 μSv/h.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/genpatsu-fukushima/20111118/1440_keikaikuiki.html The Japanese government is studying the dispatch of military forces to perform decontamination tasks in the restricted zone.

http://www.asahi.com/national/update/1116/TKY201111160523.html 630 Bq/kg was found in unpolished rice (300 Bq/kg in polished rice) from Fukushima city's Oonami district (former Oguni village).

http://mainichi.jp/select/wadai/news/20111120k0000m040049000c.html The Oonami district has produced 142 tons of rice. 67 tons are stored by each farmer. 57.6 tons have been shipped to Japan Agricultural Cooperatives. 15 tons have been shipped to relatives or friends. 2 tons have been sold to shops in Fukushima city and Date city. The people who have this rice at home or who received it are advised, at this step, not to eat it. The prefecture administration plans to perform radiation tests with the rice from each farm in the Oonami district.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/news/20111119-OYT1T00353.htm Rice samples from the 4 farms from Oonami district which had shipped rice to shops in Fukushima city and Date city have been tested. The results are 11 Bq/kg, 22 Bq/kg and no cesium detected in the two other farms. The 70 bags (2 tons) were stored in the shops and had not been sold to customers.

http://sankei.jp.msn.com/affairs/news/111118/dst11111822040029-n1.htm The Oonami district rice problem was found as a result of a self-decided testing at the local level. 136 Bq/kg before harvest and from 28 to 33 Bq/kg after harvest is what had been found for the Oonami district rice until then. The prefecture administration is studying a plan to reinforce controls by controlling each farm in all areas where cesium was detected after harvest.

http://www.nikkei.com/news/category...E3EBE0E6E2E3EBE3E3E0E2E3E39191E2E2E2E2;at=ALL 550 Bq/kg was found in dried Kikurage mushrooms from Aizuwakamatsu. Shipment is banned. 16 kg (783 bags) have already been shipped to 12 shops and must be recalled.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/e-japan/fukushima/news/20111119-OYT8T00042.htm Radiation control equipment is going to be installed for the general population to use after harvesting vegetables in gardens, taking water from wells, or picking mushrooms in forests. First of all, one equipment will be installed in each of 14 cities or towns in Fukushima prefecture.

http://online.wsj.com/video/volunte...pan/B369F99D-1D56-4ADA-8766-9CCD57249BA5.html Cleaning efforts in Koriyama.

 

[Azby]

An interesting and even-handed journalistic canvassing of opinion on post-Fukushima health risks in Japan:

Future cancers from Fukushima plant may be hidden
By MALCOLM RITTER, Associated Press
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j_vcmAC7eK-SvnTn5QTg6EWmOmhw?docId=c8a51550787d46b18512dda569488e08


It's refreshingly free of spin. Not a lot of it will be news to people who have been following the debate closely, but I think it will be very good in helping people get up to speed on the main issues.

 

[NUCENG]

It does not answer your question about evacuees, but there are suicide statistics about Fukushima prefecture in general:


http://www.npa.go.jp/safetylife/seianki/H23_tsukibetsujisatsusya.pdf 2011 suicide statistics per prefecture and per month.
http://www.npa.go.jp/safetylife/seianki/H22jisatsunogaiyou.pdf page 8: 2010 monthly statistics per prefecture and per month.

I calculated the number of suicides in Fukushima prefecture from April to October and found 323 in 2011 versus 314 in 2010 (increase of 9 = +2.9%).
The number of suicides in Japan from April to October was 19269 in 2011 versus 18515 in 2010 (increase of 754 = +4%)

One problam may be separating suicides related to the tsunami, loss of employment, loss of family members and mental health issues other than the Fukushima accident. How many triggers are too many when sometimes one is enough?

You have provided documented numbers, Thank You. I suspect Luca and I might interpret those numbers differently. It is unlikely that unless suicide notes were left by all 323 people we may not be able to tie this to a specific cause. Two years of data doesn't even give us a standard deviation for evaluation of numeric uncertainty.

 

[NUCENG]

An interesting and even-handed journalistic canvassing of opinion on post-Fukushima health risks in Japan:

Future cancers from Fukushima plant may be hidden
By MALCOLM RITTER, Associated Press
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j_vcmAC7eK-SvnTn5QTg6EWmOmhw?docId=c8a51550787d46b18512dda569488e08


It's refreshingly free of spin. Not a lot of it will be news to people who have been following the debate closely, but I think it will be very good in helping people get up to speed on the main issues.

Thank you for posting this article, Azby. It is an excellent example of an article requiring careful reading and evaluation. It describes a potential that the health effects of the Fukushima accidents may not be detectable. For most people, that is a valuable point, much preferred to the hysterical rhetoric of some other stories.

By providing some level of balance, I agree this article is a worthwhile read. However, look at the comments by Ed Lyman of UCS. UCS always makes the point that they do not oppose nuclear power (Yeah, right!) Here is the quote from the article:

"The idea that Fukushima-related cancers may go undetected gives no comfort to Edwin Lyman, a physicist and senior scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists, a group that advocates for nuclear safety. He said that even if cancers don't turn up in population studies, that "doesn't mean the cancers aren't there, and it doesn't mean it doesn't matter."

"I think that a prediction of thousands of cancer deaths as a result of the radiation from Fukushima is not out of line," Lyman said. But he stressed that authorities can do a lot to limit the toll by reducing future exposure to the radiation. That could mean expensive decontamination projects, large areas of condemned land and people never returning home, he said. "There's some difficult choices ahead." "

I hope you recognize that he is spinning like a top. What he is saying is that he believes that "thousands" will die as a direct result of radiation. He admits that it may not show up in population studies, but this lack of evidence proves his hypothesis is true because he tells us it is true. The anithesis cannot be true because it also lacks evidence and he tells us it is false. I must have been absent the day they taught that form in Logic class.

In the article you hear the fear and questions from Japanese citizens that comes from this irresponsible grandstanding. If it turns out that the population studies don't find an increase in cancer deaths. if the impact is not measureable, it means exactly that the stress of worrying about it is probably as big a risk.

Go ahead and remediate the contaminated area. Monitor the health of those exposed. Limit future exposures. If cancer numbers change the Ed Lymans out there will claim to be right. If the numbers don't change they will claim to be right. Or maybe , just maybe, it DOES "mean it doesn't matter."

The article didn't claim "We are all going to die!" even though we will, eventually. That is, indeed, refreshing.

 

[joewein]

I calculated the number of suicides in Fukushima prefecture from April to October and found 323 in 2011 versus 314 in 2010 (increase of 9 = +2.9%).
The number of suicides in Japan from April to October was 19269 in 2011 versus 18515 in 2010 (increase of 754 = +4%)

While any increase in suicides is bad, a lower increase in Fukushima vs. Japan as a whole would at least appear relatively positive. It might indicate fewer people suffering from depression there than one might expect.

On the other hand, about 0.1% of the population of the prefecture perished or disappeared on 3/11 and probably a much larger percentage will have left the prefecture altogether, for example to find work elsewhere or to raise their children in a place with fewer contamination problems.

Without up to date data on who is still around and who isn't it's hard to interpret these numbers.

 

[tsutsuji]

You have provided documented numbers, Thank You. I suspect Luca and I might interpret those numbers differently.

How can you know if your interpretation is different from mine as long as I don't provide any interpretation ? My only comment on those figures is that "It does not answer [Luca Bevil's] question about evacuees".

 

[Azby]

I hope you recognize that he is spinning like a top.

Yes, and because I've heard a lot of what Lyman has to say I'm prepared for his take on the matter, as well as for Brennan and many of the others quoted in the article as well. I guess I'm relieved that the author of the article let each of the interviewees state their positions without adding any spin of his own. He kind of simply laid out the "he said, she said" argument.

As for Lyman's position, I agree that it makes my logic neuron hurt (I'm pretty sure I don't have more than one...). But the larger issue is "how few illnesses or deaths are few enough not to worry about?" And I think he's trying to highlight that. We're all forced into the position of accepting a certain number as part of our participation in a developed society, through automobile accidents, carcinogens in our food, etc etc.. If we were one day able to detect these currently undetectable casualties, would we want to change our risk parameters, and possibly eliminate one cause? I think we would, because we want to become a better, fairer, healthier society. It's the same question as, "How safe is safe enough?" And at what point do we decide that the diminishing returns no longer make it worthwhile, and we make individuals responsible for protecting themselves from the lesser risks? Would that even be possible in the case of anthropogenic radiation?

I'd like to add that I'm glad the author said that various other diseases, like diabetes, cataracts and heart problems, have been "hinted at" by some Chernobyl studies, and not, as quite few people insist, that they have been "demonstrated" or "proven." And I'm SO glad he didn't give Busby's lunacy a platform. Looks like the latter is finally getting his due, btw:

"Post-Fukushima 'anti-radiation' pills condemned by scientists
Green party distances itself from Dr Christopher Busby, a former spokesman promoting products following Japanese nuclear disaster"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/nov/21/christopher-busby-radiation-pills-fukushima

 

[NUCENG]

How can you know if your interpretation is different from mine as long as I don't provide any interpretation ? My only comment on those figures is that "It does not answer [Luca Bevil's] question about evacuees".

I wasn't speculating about your interpretation. I really appreciate all the facts you dig up from Japanese language sources, as my Japanese skills are limited in technical terminology and writing. I was only suspecting that the reason that Luca asked about suicide was to insinuate that any increase was due to the reactor accident alone. I should not have posted this as a reply to your post. Sorry!

 

[NUCENG]

While any increase in suicides is bad, a lower increase in Fukushima vs. Japan as a whole would at least appear relatively positive. It might indicate fewer people suffering from depression there than one might expect.

On the other hand, about 0.1% of the population of the prefecture perished or disappeared on 3/11 and probably a much larger percentage will have left the prefecture altogether, for example to find work elsewhere or to raise their children in a place with fewer contamination problems.

Without up to date data on who is still around and who isn't it's hard to interpret these numbers.

Good point!

 

[tsutsuji]

...

Thank you for your understanding.

Without up to date data on who is still around and who isn't it's hard to interpret these numbers.

According to http://www.pref.fukushima.jp/toukei/html/01/m-jinko/22_23_3_9houbu.pdf , The Fukushima population decreased by 1.75% from 2,024,401 to 1,988,955 between 1 March 2011 and 1 October 2011. Between 1 March 2010 and 1 October 2010 there had been a 0.43% decrease. The note at the top of the page says that those figures take into account only the departures from and arrivals into Fukushima prefecture that were reported by the citizens to authorities, which suggest that the actual numbers might be different.

 

[NUCENG]

Yes, and because I've heard a lot of what Lyman has to say I'm prepared for his take on the matter, as well as for Brennan and many of the others quoted in the article as well. I guess I'm relieved that the author of the article let each of the interviewees state their positions without adding any spin of his own. He kind of simply laid out the "he said, she said" argument.

As for Lyman's position, I agree that it makes my logic neuron hurt (I'm pretty sure I don't have more than one...). But the larger issue is "how few illnesses or deaths are few enough not to worry about?" And I think he's trying to highlight that. We're all forced into the position of accepting a certain number as part of our participation in a developed society, through automobile accidents, carcinogens in our food, etc etc.. If we were one day able to detect these currently undetectable casualties, would we want to change our risk parameters, and possibly eliminate one cause? I think we would, because we want to become a better, fairer, healthier society. It's the same question as, "How safe is safe enough?" And at what point do we decide that the diminishing returns no longer make it worthwhile, and we make individuals responsible for protecting themselves from the lesser risks? Would that even be possible in the case of anthropogenic radiation?

I'd like to add that I'm glad the author said that various other diseases, like diabetes, cataracts and heart problems, have been "hinted at" by some Chernobyl studies, and not, as quite few people insist, that they have been "demonstrated" or "proven." And I'm SO glad he didn't give Busby's lunacy a platform. Looks like the latter is finally getting his due, btw:

"Post-Fukushima 'anti-radiation' pills condemned by scientists
Green party distances itself from Dr Christopher Busby, a former spokesman promoting products following Japanese nuclear disaster"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/nov/21/christopher-busby-radiation-pills-fukushima

Thanks for the Busby story. I love it when a socialist discovers capitalism and becomes just another greedy 1%-er. Unfortunately he makes the same mistake most neophytes commiit. He assumes that people will pay more for his product than the market competetive price because he is "special." That is a recipe for failure. When he fails he will blame Capitalism instead of his own stupidity.

 

[tsutsuji]

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20111125/t10014206531000.html The helicopter surveys of Aomori, Aichi, Ishikawa, and Fukui prefectures have been released, completing the contamination map of the 22 prefectures in Eastern Honshu. The ministry of education and science comments that some mountain ranges have limited the spread of radioactive clouds.

http://radioactivity.mext.go.jp/ja/1910/2011/11/1910_1125_2.pdf Helicopter maps of Aomori, Aichi, Ishikawa, and Fukui prefectures.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/news/20111124-OYT1T01108.htm At Abukuma river's mouth, 70 km North of the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Iwanuma city, Miyagi prefecture, the river carries 52,500,000,000 Bq/day into the sea as of August 2011, a study commissioned by the ministry of education and science has found. Upstream in Date city (Fukushima prefecture) the flow is 176,300,000,000 Bq/day. 90% of the radiation is carried by sand in the water. It is believed that some of it is stopped by dams.

Tokyo:
http://mainichi.jp/area/tokyo/news/20111125ddlk13040241000c.html Compost in 13 farms in 6 cities and 4 wards in Tokyo metropolis was found above the 400 Bq/kg standard. The highest was 2150 Bq/kg in Hino city.

Kanagawa:
http://mainichi.jp/select/jiken/news/20111125k0000m040107000c.html Whereas Yokohama city had found 129 Bq/kg of strontium in the Okurayama sample and 59 Bq/kg of strontium in the Shinyokohama sample, the ministry of education and science has found only 1.1 Bq/kg of Sr-90 in the Shinyokohama sample, and could not find any Sr-89 in both samples. For that reason, the ministry of Education and science denies any link between the Yokohama strontium and the Fukushima accident, and comments that the measuring method used by Yokohama city was not precise enough, by not distinguishing Sr-89 and Sr-90, and suggests that other natural substances such as lead could have been included in the city's measurement.

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20111125p2g00m0dm025000c.html [English] "The test detected 0.82 to 1.1 becquerels per kilogram of strontium 90 with a half-life of around 29 years, within levels observed prior to the nuclear crisis."

Tochigi:
http://www.shimotsuke.co.jp/news/tochigi/top/news/20111125/666412 Radiations between 1100 to 2400 Bq/kg were found in dried shiitake mushrooms in Yaita, Motegi, and Sano, bringing to 10 the number of cities and towns with a dried shiitake ban : Yaita , Sakura, Takanezawa, Shioya, Moka, Motegi, Haga, Ichikai, Mashiko, and Sano.

Miyagi:
http://www.kahoku.co.jp/news/2011/11/20111126t11017.htm Miyagi prefecture has released the results of a survey of tsunami debris. All of them are below the 8000 Bq/kg standard for burial, but some burnable material in Yamamoto (769 Bq/kg) and in Watari (350 Bq/kg) might exceed that level when reduced to ashes after incineration.

Fukushima:
http://www.fnn-news.com/news/headlines/articles/CONN00212137.html A video showing an experimental decontamination of apple trees after harvest by removing their bark. Pressure washing was also used. A 90% reduction rate is claimed after bark removing and a 50% one after washing. The experiment is planned in 3000 farms in Fukushima city and other places.

http://mainichi.jp/select/wadai/news/20111126k0000m040052000c.html 5 more farms have been found with rice higher than the safety limit in the Oonami district. They are located between 1 and 2.5 km away from the farm where the problem was first found. This brings to 6 the number of farms higher than the safety limit, out of 34 farms tested so far in the district. The highest radiation found was 1270 Bq/kg. All of the district's 154 farms will be tested.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20111125/t10014209461000.html 103 rice bags were above 500 Bq/kg and 27 rice bags were above 1000 Bq/kg among the 864 bags in 34 farms in Oonami district tested so far.

http://mainichi.jp/area/fukushima/news/20111126ddlk07070263000c.html Some of the citizens of Namie town (21,000 people) have been dispersed into all of Japan. It is said that only 2 prefectures in Japan are not inhabited by Namie citizens. On 6 November, a traditional Namie festival was held in Nihonmatsu instead, where 3500 Namie citizens are living.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/news/20111125-OYT1T01033.htm?from=navr 14,600 Bq/kg in wild boars in Nihonmatsu.

http://www.asahi.com/national/update/1125/TKY201111250281.html A study of cows in the 20 km range around the Fukushima Daiichi plant found that the radiation is between 20 and 30 times higher in muscles than in blood.

http://mytown.asahi.com/fukushima/news.php?k_id=07000001111240006 Fukushima prefecture has already received 80 requests to test garden vegetables, well water, or mushrooms from private citizens. Appointments have been taken until mid December. Tests were started on 24 November in two facilities in Date and Fukushima city. Results will be released on the prefecture website. Facilities in 12 other cities will start receiving such requests by mid December. Fukushima city government also performs such tests and has received 1200 requests so far, which will keep its testing equipment busy until 18 January. On 18 November the results of 139 tests were released. Many are below the 20 Bq/kg detection level. The highest value was 334 Bq/kg for kiwi fruits. 298 Bq/kg in citrons, 258 Bq/kg in kakis, 62 Bq/kg in apples were also found.

Akita:
http://mainichi.jp/area/akita/news/20111126ddlk05040012000c.html Fallen leaves have been tested in 9 locations in the mountain region. Cesium was detected in 5 locations between 2.6 and 18 Bq/kg. The 400 Bq/kg standard for leaf mold is not exceeded. The radiation at 1 m above ground was between 0.03 and 0.08 μSv/h which is the usual level for Akita prefecture.

http://mainichi.jp/area/akita/news/20111126ddlk05040009000c.html All of the ashes from the general waste incineration facilities are below the 8000 Bq/kg standard. In one facility where 60Bq/kg had been found in June or July in exhaust gas soot, the November value was 11 Bq/kg. In another facility the soot radiation declined to 140 Bq/kg from 196 Bq/kg. 13.4 Bq/kg was found in one facility in exhaust water produced after washing ashes.

Aomori:
http://mainichi.jp/area/aomori/news/20111125ddlk02040117000c.html Hachinohe city will process tsunami debris below the 100 Bq/kg standard from other prefectures in addition to its own. Monitoring results will be released on the city's internet home page.

 

[Caniche]

Fukushima:
http://www.fnn-news.com/news/headlin...N00212137.html A video showing an experimental decontamination of apple trees after harvest by removing their bark. Pressure washing was also used. A 90% reduction rate is claimed after bark removing and a 50% one after washing. The experiment is planned in 3000 farms in Fukushima city and other places.

Well removing the bark will for defo ,100% kill all the trees so that should help reduce contaminated produce

 

[Luca Bevil]

I wasn't speculating about your interpretation. I really appreciate all the facts you dig up from Japanese language sources, as my Japanese skills are limited in technical terminology and writing. I was only suspecting that the reason that Luca asked about suicide was to insinuate that any increase was due to the reactor accident alone. I should not have posted this as a reply to your post. Sorry!

I was not trying to insinuate anything.
I was just trying to understand if we already have hard figures on which to begin to evaluate whether or not there might be an increase in suicidal rate as a direct consequence of the nuclear accident.

I sincerely hope with all my hearth, for our Japanese friends, that this will not be the case and that any contamination related anxiety/depression will be effectively dealt with.

It is true, as you write in a former post of yours, that there are several depressing factors acting on the mental status of our Japanese friends, both in Fukushima prefecture and in all the other Earthquake/Tsunami affected prefectures.
On the other hand, from careful analysis of single cases and from statistical incidence of rates among groups exposed to different depressing factors, it is likely that some conclusion on the specific issue we are discussing will be reached.

Thank you Tsutsuji san for your painstaking effort to keep us all informed.

 

[joewein]

I am curious when the radiation maps from the helicopter surveys for Hokkaido will be published. So far the area from Aomori to Gifu has been covered. Both of these prefectures at the far ends of the published area came out pretty clean.

A couple of weeks ago there were reports that caesium fallout may have reached eastern Hokkaido (e.g. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20111118a2.html), based on http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2011/11/11/1112058108.full.pdf.

Sapporo is further from Fukushima-1 than Osaka is, I had been hoping it would not be affected much. After returning to Japan in April I basically avoided buying milk from eastern Japan that was not from Hokkaido.

 

[zapperzero]

Hundreds of Fukushima residents were exposed to radiation well above the level permitted for the general public following the March nuclear disaster, according to an official survey released Tuesday, confirming the accident's broad impact on local communities.

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20111213-704941.html

paywall, sorry. if anyone has a free version or even the source I'd love to read it, thanks

 

[Azby]

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20111213-704941.html

paywall, sorry. if anyone has a free version or even the source I'd love to read it, thanks

I believe this is the same report:
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T111209006244.htm

Take-away: Half of the 1730 respondents are believed to have received less than 1mSv, half received more. 10 of the 1730 received 10 mSv or higher. The highest received by a person who didn't work at the plant was 14mSv.

These people lived in some of the most contaminated areas. The figures are in line with earlier findings reported for Minamisoma. Exactly how serious these levels are, what they mean for these residents' internal exposures, etc., will be debated for a long time. As more results come in we'll have a clearer picture. But if this is representative of the worst, then I'm cautiously optimistic.

Azby

 

[zapperzero]

I believe this is the same report:
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T111209006244.htm
Exactly how serious these levels are, what they mean for these residents' internal exposures, etc., will be debated for a long time. As more results come in we'll have a clearer picture. But if this is representative of the worst, then I'm cautiously optimistic.

Thank you for the link. The internal exposures of the residents (at least of those found to have had large external exposure) should not be up for debate. There are ways to measure it.