Saturday, February 18, 2012

Fukushima I Nuke Plant Reactor 2: TEPCO Changes to a Different Thermocouple for Cold Shutdown Assessment, Says No Problem at 30 Degrees Celsius

Kyodo News (2/18/2012):

 福島第1原発2号機で圧力容器底部の温度計が異常な高温を示した問題で、東京電力は18日、同じ高さにある別の温度計の値を代表的な温度として採用することとし、30度前後になったと発表した。

Regarding the thermocouple that exhibited abnormal temperatures at the bottom of the Reactor 2 Pressure Vessel at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, TEPCO announced on February 18 that the company had decided to pick another thermocouple at the same height as representing the temperature at the RPV bottom. The official RPV bottom temperature was now about 30 degrees Celsius, the company said.

 東電は「同じ底部にあり、健全性が確認されている」と説明している。

TEPCO explained that "the new thermocouple is also located at the bottom of the RPV, and it has been confirmed to be working".

 圧力容器底部には、容器を囲むように同じ高さに温度計が三つ設置されている。これまで代表点としてきた温度計の数値が2月初めごろから大幅に上昇したため、東電は故障と判断。配線がほぼ断線状態になったとみている。

There are three thermocouples at the bottom of the RPV at the same height, surrounding the RPV. The temperature at the thermocouple that had been used as official temperature gauge for the RPV bottom [of Reactor 2] started to rise sharply in early February. TEPCO has determined that it is the instrument failure in which the wires have been nearly severed.

The new and improved official thermocouple for the RPV bottom is "69H2", as of 5PM on February 17, 2012 when "69H1" exhibiting -3 degrees Celsius was unceremoniously ditched. (See TEPCO's plant parameters for Reactor 2 RPV temperature as of 2/19/2012 11AM.) The ever-incurious TEPCO also stopped measuring the Reactor 2 RPV temperatures every hour.

The temperature at the CRD Housing is now 212.6 degrees Celsius, after it started the steady rise on February 14 from 112 degrees Celsius. Conveniently, the thermocouple there is also suffering the instrument failure.

On the other hand, the temperature at the "RPV Drain Pipe Upper Part" has plunged from about 50 degrees Celsius in mid January to -0.3 degrees Celsius on February 19, but it is not considered the instrument failure.

Nothing to see here, move on, say TEPCO and the government.

Long-time Foreign Resident in Japan Defends Japan from Fear-Mongering "International" Media

It's just sad.

Daniel Kahl is an American whose Yamagata dialect Japanese became quite popular among the Japanese that launched his career as business owner (translation company) and TV "talent" personality in Japan.

This is his video from May 2011, berating the "international media" without identifying which one for reporting only the bad news about the radiation contamination in Japan, and telling people that the strict testing by the government cleared the agricultural produce in the disaster affected Fukushima and Miyagi. We now know how "strict" those tests were (one produce, in one farm plot, in one city).

His youtube video description:

I am sick & tired of the int'l media's constant stream of negative news on Japan. They purposefully select to broadcast ONLY negative items coming out of Japan, even though the situation is improving in many ways. Please do not allow yourselves to be fooled by scaremongers. They are NOT telling you the WHOLE truth.

I also sadly recall some "gaijin" (foreigners, in Japanese) sites that attacked any journalist or blogger inside and outside Japan back in spring and early summer last year for reporting the not-so-rosy news about the Fukushima accident, the radiation contamination, and the Japanese government's response to the nuclear disaster.

Saddest of all, Mr. Kahl seems to think that the "international media" actually reports something about the nuclear accident or the radiation contamination in Japan on a regular basis.

Uh... no.

My blog does, in a very small way, but almost all my news is from the Japanese media.

He has the uncanny timing, though. He uploaded this video on May 12, 2011 upon detection of radioactive cesium in teas grown in Kanagawa Prefecture. From that day onward, the detection of radioactive cesium in teas in all growing areas in Kanto ensued one after another.

He has another video, again ranting against the "international" news of radioactive cesium in Fukushima rice. The video was uploaded on November 18, 2011. Two days prior, 630 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium was found in rice grown in Onami District of Fukushima City. It was treated as "exception". Then on November 25, 1,270 becquerels/kg of cesium was found in the same district. So much for "exception".

His November video, this time in Japanese (I wonder why), calls Dr. Chris Busby a fear-mongering scam artist. I'd suggest he say the same in English so that Dr. Busby would understand what he's saying.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Genba: "Wearing Masks Is Baseless Rumor"

In the Budget Committee in the Upper House of the Diet in November last year, Foreign Minister Koichiro Genba said "There is a baseless rumor created by the foreign media by showing people wearing masks".

Not surprising from the minister, who, as the minister in charge of national strategy in March 2011, said "Let's all cheer for TEPCO!" after 3 reactors blew up in one way or another, and radioactive plumes swept through parts of Tohoku and much of Kanto, as TEPCO and the national government were implementing the totally unnecessary "blackout" to scare the nation into continuing to accept nuclear power generation even after the Fukushima disaster.

Not surprisingly, he is a politician elected from Fukushima Prefecture.



Like many politicians in their 40s and 50s in Japan, Genba looks like a third-grader with wrinkles. Failed to mature, or remaining youthful. Take your pick.

Disaster (Radioactive) Debris Burning: Now It's Labor Union's Turn to Say "Yes, Let's!"

There is always "the first".

It's not just the mayor of a small city in Shizuoka who happens to own a waste processing business, or large cement companies eager to accept and burn at their plants in Saitama Prefecture. Please welcome the labor union in Ehime Prefecture in Shikoku, Rengo Ehime with 50,000 members, as the latest entity to strongly support burning the debris in their prefecture to help Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures "recover".

From Nankai Broadcasting Company (2/17/2012):

連合愛媛は、東日本大震災で発生した大量のがれきの処理について、愛媛県内での受け入れ実現に向けた取り組みを求める要請書を県に提出することを決めました。

Rengo Ehime [Labor Union Ehime] has decided to submit a request to the Ehime prefectural government to come up with the plan to move forward in accepting the disaster debris from the March 11, 2011 earthquake/tsunami in Ehime.

 これは、17日開かれた連合愛媛の執行委員会で決まったものです。東日本大震災で発生した震災がれきを巡っては、東京や山形などが受け入れを実施していますが、原発事故による放射性物質の影響などを理由に多くの自治体は受け入れに消極的な対応となっています。要請書案では、被災地の仮置き場に積み上げられた震災がれきが復興・再生の妨げになっているとして、県に対し、一刻も早くがれきの受け入れが実現するよう取り組むことを求めています。連合愛媛は週明け早々にも、要請書を県に提出することにしています。

This was decided on February 17 at the steering committee of Rengo Ehime. Tokyo and Yamagata have already started accepting the disaster debris, but most municipalities are reluctant to accept because of the effect of radioactive materials [on the debris] from the nuclear accident. The request states that the disaster debris piling up in the temporary storage yards in the disaster affected areas is the impediment to the recovery and renewal, and that the prefectural government should come up with the plan to facilitate the acceptance of the disaster debris into Ehime as soon as possible. Rengo Ehime plans to submit the request early next week.

Tokyo Shinbun reports (in print version only) that there is hardly any sign of the disaster debris in the disaster-affected areas being perceived as the impediment to recovery by people in the disaster-affected areas themselves. The facts are apparently none of the concern for the labor union in Ehime; it's the idea that matters, or what the labor union thinks it must be. In that, the union is not alone, either.

Ehime Prefecture takes up the northwest quadrant of the island of Shikoku, facing the Setonaikai, the Inland Sea of Japan. Temperate climate, famous for Ehime mandarin oranges (called "satsumas" in the US, as the orange originated in Satsuma, today's Kagoshima Prefecture). The prefecture has a nuclear power plant at Ikata, on Sadamisaki Peninsula, the narrowest peninsula in Japan jutting out toward the island of Kyushu.

By the way, the entire peninsula is sitting right along the largest fault in Japan, the Median Tectonic Line. If the prefecture is that bold to build a nuclear power plant by the largest fault in the country, I suppose burning a bit of radioactive debris is nothing.

(From Wiki, the MTL in Japan, in red; Sadamisaki Peninsula in black circle)

Friday, February 17, 2012

More on Minami Soma's Mysterious Black Dust: Spectrum Analysis by Prof. Yamauchi, and High Alpha Radiation Detection by an NGO

The data sheet of the black dust with over 1 million Bq/kg of radioactive cesium from Minami Soma, as Professor Yamauchi measured, from Naoya Fujiwara:

Minami Soma's Assemblyman Koichi Ooyama says he simply took the sample to a laboratory in Minami Soma instead of waiting for the city officials to come back to work on Monday. The result, presented in his blog, was:

dried soil
Germanium semiconductor detector for 600 seconds
718,000 becquerels/kg [of radioactive cesium]
margin of error 10%

He says the sample was from a different location than the sample that Professor Yamauchi had tested. Assemblyman Ooyama says he will be giving a press conference at 11AM on Monday February 19.

In his blogpost, Ooyama mentions OPCOM institute of isotopes. It is an arm of the NGO called HCR (Heart Care Rescue) which has been active in supporting people in the nuclear disaster since last March.

HCR's Facebook page has additional information of the surface radiation levels of this mysterious substance:

【今消されたツイート】「黒い粉」通報によりHCRの専門部会OPCOM Institute of Isotopes緊急出動、放射線測定を済ませて只今帰還。南相馬市営住宅の駐車場でγ+β+α:61.321μSv/h、γ+β:15.622μSv/h,残り45.699μSv/h:α線!

(Tweet that just got deleted) Emergency survey by OPCOM Institute of Isotopes, special arm of HCR, upon the discovery of "black dust". In the parking lot of a public housing project of Minami Soma City, measurement was:

γ+β+α:61.321μSv/h
γ+β:15.622μSv/h
which means α: 45.699μSv/h

If this is the same public housing apartments that the blogger "Night that never ends" wrote about, then people, including children, have been living there.

2 Earthquakes Just Hit Exactly the Same Location Within 16 Minutes in Chiba

The first quake:

1:59PM, 2/18/2012
lat. 35.6N., long. 140.1E.
Depth 10 kilometers
Magnitude 3.8

The second quake:

2:15PM, 2/18/2012
lat. 35.6N., long. 140.1E.
Depth 10 kilometers
Magnitude 4.2

The location is northwest Chiba.

I don't know about the statistics enough to comment on the likelihood of two earthquakes happening at exactly the same location 16 minutes apart.

OT: Happy Birthday To Me, Happy Birthday To Me...

Happy birthday to meeee....
Happy birthday to meeeeee...

Video on my birthday. Some see it as "phoenix", others see it as "dragon". (I saw it as a chicken coming out of the sun...)

Video of "Miss Campus Eat and Support East Japan"

Captioned by Tokyo Brown Tabby, uploaded by sievert311:


Japanese Gov't Appointed 9 College Beauty Queens... by sievert311

Some are hoping the girls are smarter than they look, while others think they are as smart as they look.

Power Transmission Tower for Fukushima I Nuke Plant Fell Because Drain Pipe Wasn't Installed When the Site Was Prepared in 1960s

A mountain stream used to flow near the site for the power transmission tower for Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. They dumped a lot of soil and filled the stream to create the embankment, and built the power transmission tower. They thought the water would naturally flow underground at the old surface level. Well it didn't.

From Jiji Tsushin (2/17/2012):

東京電力福島第1原発事故の際、5・6号機に外部電源を供給する電線の鉄塔が倒れたのは、隣接地の沢を1960年代後半に埋めた時に排水管を設置しなかったため、盛り土が巨大地震の強く長い揺れで崩れたことが原因と分かった。東電が17日、経済産業省原子力安全・保安院に報告した。

The power transmission tower for Reactors 5 and 6 at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant fell because the embankment collapsed from the intense and long shaking from the mega earthquake. In late 1960s the nearby mountain stream was filled but a drain pipe was not installed. TEPCO reported the findings to the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency on February 17.

 5・6号機は鉄塔倒壊で電線が切れて外部電源が失われたが、非常用発電機の一部が機能し原子炉を冷却できた。1~4号機は別ルートの鉄塔や電線が無事だったが、配電設備や非常用発電機が津波被害を受け、冷却電源を完全に失った。

Reactors 5 and 6 lost external power when the tower fell and the electricity supply was cut off when the power lines were severed. But one of the the emergency power generators worked, and the reactors were cooled. For Reactors 1 through 4, the other tower and the power lines remained intact, but the power distribution equipment and the emergency power generators were damaged by the tsunami, resulting in the complete loss of power for the cooling systems.

 報告書によると、鉄塔付近では昨年3月11日午後2時48分すぎに最も強く揺れ、同49分すぎに鉄塔が倒れ電線が切れた。66年当時の工事図面などによると、鉄塔建設地に向かって沢が流れており、盛り土をした後は地下水の流れとなった。この流れの位置は旧表土層から約2メートル上になり、盛り土の中を通る形になっていた。

According to the report. the strongest shaking near the tower from the quake occurred at 2:48PM on March 11, 2011. At 2:49PM, the tower fell and the power lines were severed. According to the blueprint from 1966, there was a mountain stream flowing toward the site for the power transmission tower. After the embankment was built, the stream went underground. The underground stream then flowed at about 2 meters above the old surface, flowing right through the embankment.

 東電の松本純一原子力・立地本部長代理は記者会見で、「沢を埋めた際、地下水は旧表土層に沿って流れるとみていた」と説明した。

TEPCO's Matsumoto explained in the press conference, "When the stream was filled, we assumed that the underground water would flow along the old surface level."

The general contractor who built Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant is Kajima, who should have known better. The company was, and still is, the first and foremost general contractor in Japan in huge civil engineering projects. I would give them some slack though, as building something that would withstand Magnitude 9 earthquake may be near-impossible.

TEPCO's report to NISA is in Japanese only, and it is not known if NISA will ever provide the English translation. If you read Japanese, the report is here.

The report says the tower fell 30 seconds after the maximum acceleration.

From the report, it looks a large tree jammed into the tower:



The cross section views:


BBC: Tokyo Highly Recommended for Honeymooners

From BBC Travel section with Lonely Planet (2/17/2012), by Josey Miller:

Asia-Pacific high budget: Tokyo, Japan
This sprawling metropolis is consistently ranked among the most expensive cities worldwide, but since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, Tokyo needs your tourism dollars now more than ever. Despite the high price tag, the city’s culinary scene is top notch -- Tokyo offers more Michelin-star-rated restaurants than Paris! For starters, sushi snobs will be hard pressed to find fresher fish than at Kyubey. And for a taste of Japan’s signature Kobe beef, try Seryna -- you may even find a menu in English. Stay for at least 10 days at the over-the-top Peninsula Hotel, and aim for May when the rainfall and heat are not at their peak — but average sunshine is.

Fresh fish, Kobe beef... Fukushima does not exist in the minds of people at BBC; the cache was cleared long time ago, apparently.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Goshi Hosono to Municipalities: "Stand Up Against Opposition to Disaster Debris"

A veritable declaration of war against citizens.

From Jiji Tsushin (2/17/2012):

各自治体は「立ち上がるべきだ」=がれき広域処理で-環境相

Municipalities should "stand up" in disaster-debris wide area disposal, says Minister of the Environment

 細野豪志環境相は17日の閣議後の記者会見で、静岡県島田市が岩手県山田町の災害廃棄物の試験焼却に着手したことに関連し、「島田市のような小さな自治体が立ち上がったわけだから、(廃棄物)処理の力がある自治体の首長は立ち上がるべきだ」と述べ、全国の自治体に東日本大震災のがれきの広域処理への協力を改めて求めた。

During the press conference after the cabinet meeting on February 17, Minister of the Environment Goshi Hosono referred to the start of experimental incineration of disaster debris from Yamada-machi, Iwate Prefecture by Shimada City in Shizuoka and said, "A small municipality like Shimada City has stood up, and so should the heads of the municipalities with the ability to process (disaster debris)", calling for cooperation from the municipalities all over Japan to process the disaster debris from the March 11, 2011 earthquake/tsunami.

 環境省は、岩手、宮城両県のがれき受け入れを各自治体に呼び掛けているが、東京都や山形県などで実現した以外に進んでいない。細野氏は「震災から1年を迎えるに当たり、何としても広域処理を前に進めたい」と強調した。

The Ministry of the Environment has been asking the municipalities to accept the disaster debris from Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures, but hasn't made much progress. Only Tokyo and Yamagata Prefecture have started accepting the debris. Hosono emphasized, "As the one-year anniversary of the quake/tsunami approaches, I want to move the wide-area processing forward, at all cost."

The state-of-the-art melting furnace of Shimada City in Shizuoka Prefecture is located right in the middle of tea plantations. The mayor's family is in the business of waste disposal management. The pricey melting furnace needs to have at least 60% of the furnace stuffed with garbage and waste to operate, so the disaster debris is God-sent.

So Shimada City stood up against thousands of residents who did not want disaster debris that was exposed to radioactive fallout from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant to be burned in their city. It may not even be the city that stood up; it was its mayor. Mayor Sakurai went so far as to say "I'm using Shimada City as a guinea pig."

OT: Comment Section of the Blog (Nth Time)

For nearly a year, this blog has been covering the natural and nuclear disasters after the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

There have been people who decided to discuss topics that were not related to the the post or the blog, and who successively became a running joke among regulars. Luckily they have mostly stopped coming, and when they do they seem to be routed out quickly.

This is my personal blog about the Fukushima disaster.

The comment section of the blog is not for advertisement, not for sharing the lengthy personal or professional stories unrelated to the nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan, and not for launching a personal attack on other posters.

I decided to allow free comments, instead of me having to go through each comment and publishing it, to facilitate the exchange of information, opinions, ideas that are related to the nuclear disaster. I will keep it that way.

Thank you for your continued support.

Wall Street Journal Stating the Obvious: "Tepco and the government were made for each other..."

Just like Chisso (of Minamata mercury poisoning fame) and the government were meant for each other, I suppose, with taxpayers footing the bill. Nothing new.

From Wall Street Journal (2/16/2012):

Reading Austen in Tokyo
Tepco and the government were made for each other, if only they would admit it.

By Joseph Sternberg

An Internet wit offers a facetious summary of Jane Austen's collected works: "Female Lead: 'I secretly love Male Lead. He must never know.' Male Lead: 'I secretly love Female Lead. She must never know.' They find out." While perhaps not entirely accurate with regard to Austen's novels, it does describe the comedy of manners now unfolding between the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company, or Tepco.

Nearly a year after an earthquake and tsunami devastated eastern Japan, Tepco is still shaking. Saddled by astronomical costs for clean-up and compensation related to the tsunami-induced disaster at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, the company is fighting the government over the terms of a bailout. The government insists on a majority voting share for taxpayers—an effective nationalization—and some officials have even hinted darkly at the prospect of breaking up the vertically integrated utility. Tepco is resisting any dilution of existing owners while trying to hike commercial power rates.

That both sides are making this look like a genuine feud is enough to raise suspicions in a land where subtlety and indirect speech are the norm. Sure enough, there are good reasons to think that despite the conflict, this Jane and Mr. Bingley will end up living happily ever after together by the time the last chapter is written.

Tepco's calculation is simple: It needs the cash. The government is offering 1 trillion yen ($13 billion) in ready money with which the utility can meet demands for nuclear-related compensation, fully shut down the stricken Fukushima plant, and pay for the more expensive fossil fuels it's burning now that its former generation mainstay, nuclear, has fallen into ill repute. Tepco recently announced it lost 623 billion yen from April to December 2011.

The utility also can make a cogent argument that government money need not come with managerial strings attached. The taxpayer cash injection would amount to an insurance pay-out. There has been a lot of talk over the past 11 months about pre-tsunami management failures and safety lapses at Tepco. Lost in the shuffle is the fact that whatever its inability to plan for or respond to a once-in-a-hundred-lifetimes natural disaster, the company under normal circumstances would have functioned quite happily indefinitely had Mother Nature not intervened.

That makes Tepco different from the case of Resona Bank, a financial institution Tokyo bailed out in 2003 in exchange for management control. Yukio Edano, the trade minister and government point man on Tepco, now says Tokyo views Resona as a model for how to do intervention. In that case, a long string of management failures on matters such as lending standards prompted government to step in. But there is a less obvious argument that Tepco needs better, government-imposed management to . . . do what, exactly? Stop the next earthquake?

Note that the government's interests align neatly with Tepco's, despite Mr. Edano's strong statements to the contrary. Since honest socialism—paying compensation directly from the government purse—seems to be off the table, Tokyo's chief goal is to preserve Tepco as a going concern capable of "paying back" over time taxpayer money used for accident payouts today. Yet while it may be impossible to save the utility without taxpayer cash, it likely would be equally impossible to rescue it with the kind of government control Mr. Edano purports to want.

Consider rates. The rate of increase in electricity consumption has been fairly low over the past decade (and sometimes negative), and is likely to remain so for as long as the overall Japanese economy stagnates. That leaves tariff increases as the only way Tepco could realistically expect to raise the additional revenue needed to pay back government bail-out money.

Such increases are proving hard enough now, while Tepco still is nominally a private-sector company. Last month the utility proposed raising rates for commercial customers by some 17% (it also wants to raise household rates, which are capped by regulation). Political uproar ensued, but the company appears to be standing its ground—to the benefit of politicians who will have to cope with less of a Tepco loss thanks to the increase. It would be hard for politicians to inveigh against rate increases approved by their own proxies on the board.

Similarly, the government doesn't stand to gain much if Tepco were broken up and sold for parts. In theory this would generate sufficient cash to fund compensation claims. But if it didn't? Good luck finding a buyer for whatever piece of a broken-up Tepco got stuck with the nuclear liabilities, and good luck funding those liabilities without revenue from all the other parts of what as a whole is a viable, cash-generating utility. The government would have to step in to pay compensation directly, in a form of socialism a bit too honest for Tokyo's liking.

Thus are our protagonists not-quite-so-secretly pining for each other, and eventually will admit their love. They're likely to do so in a deal where Tepco gets all the cash it needs in exchange for token government board representation, if any. If it all lacks a certain romance, well, it's business we're talking about. And anyway, marriage also had a certain mercenary quality in Jane Austen's day.

Mr. Sternberg edits the Business Asia column.

Ministry of Education Radiation Council's Official Position: No Need for Special Standard for Food for Infants

Not surprising at all coming from the Ministry of Education, who declared 20 millisieverts per year external radiation exposure for school children would be safe and acceptable.

The Radiation Council, the organization under the Ministry of Education and Science who officially endorses the new radiation standards for foods, has already expressed its dismay on stricter standards as harming the producers. It has just made it "official".

In an unusual "opinion", the Council, staffed with nuclear industry insiders and nuclear and radiation researchers, has said the lower safety standards for infants are unnecessary, even though the Council will go along with it.

Which means, perhaps, the new safety standards will be full of "exceptions", not just beef and rice, rendering the new standards as good as the old. Not to mention the local governments may not even possess or have access to the detectors with much lower detection limits. Maybe the cheapest way to solve the conundrum is going to be the renewed PR campaign that everything sold in the market is safe.

From Jiji Tsushin (2/16/2012):

乳幼児食品基準「不要」と意見=セシウム100ベクレルで「配慮十分」-放射線審

Radiation Council: Food safety standard for infants "unnecessary", 100 Bq/kg radioactive cesium limit "sufficient consideration"

 食品に含まれる放射性セシウムの新たな規制値案について、厚生労働省から諮問を受けた文部科学省放射線審議会が16日開かれ、1キロ当たり50ベクレルとした「乳児用食品」や「牛乳」の基準について、「特別の規格基準値を設けなくても、子どもへの配慮は既に十分なされた」などとする意見が示された。

The Radiation Council of the Ministry of Education and Science was held on February 16 to discuss the new safety standards for radioactive cesium which had been submitted by the Ministry of Health and Labor for deliberation in the Council. The opinion was expressed that "there is already sufficient consideration for children even without the special safety standard", which is to be 50 becquerels/kg for "food for infants" and "milk".

 放射性物質による被ばくが懸念されている子どもへの特別な基準は不要とするもので、消費者や保護者から批判の声が上がる可能性もある。

This [formal] opinion states that there is no need for a special standard for children for whom the radiation exposure is feared from ingesting radioactive materials. It is possible that consumers and parents may criticize the Council [over the opinion].

 厚労省の新規制値案では、食事による被ばく線量の上限を年1ミリシーベルトと以前より厳しく設定。穀類や肉、野菜など「一般食品」に含まれるセシウムの規制値は1キロ当たり100ベクレル、新設される「乳児用食品」や「牛乳」は同50ベクレルなどとし、4月から導入するとしていた。これに対し、放射線審議会の意見では、1キロ当たり100ベクレルの基準で、1歳未満を含む子どもの年間被ばく線量が1ミリシーベルト以下に抑えることが十分可能なものになっていると指摘している。

In the new safety standard from the Ministry of Health and Labor, the annual internal radiation exposure limit will be set at 1 millisievert, which is stricter than the existing limit [5 millisievert]. For "food for general consumption" like grains, meat, and vegetables, the safety limit for radioactive cesium will be 100 becquerels/kg. For "food for infants" and "milk", the safety limit will be 50 becquerels/kg. The new standards are to be introduced in April. However, in the opinion of the Radiation Council, the 100 becquerels/kg standard is already sufficient to keep the annual radiation exposure for children including infants less than 1 year old to less than 1 millisievert.

The first sentence of the last paragraph is not exactly true. 1 millisievert annual limit from internal radiation exposure from food is only about radioactive cesium.

The current provisional safety limit for radioactive cesium, 500 Bq/kg, would result in maximum 5 millisieverts annual internal radiation exposure from food, which the media started to report only toward the end of last year to the surprise of many in Japan. (My Japanese blog had written about it in April last year, but not many people were reading my blog back then.)

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Over 1 Million Bq/kg of Radioactive Cesium from the Mysterious Black Dust in Minami Soma City

Minami Soma City assemblyman Koichi Ooyama discloses the result of the test of the mysterious black dust found in locations in Minami Soma City, Fukushima Prefecture.

A blogger whom I featured before, "Night that never ends", has been measuring radiation on the strange, black dust he finds in many locations in Minami Soma City, mostly on the road surface. His geiger counter (Inspector) measures all alpha, beta, gamma radiations and x-ray, and his measurement on the surface of this black dust was 295 microsieverts/hour.

Assemblyman Ooyama apparently sent the sample to Professor Tomoya Yamauchi of Kobe University. Professor Yamauchi did the test, and here's the result, from Assemblyman Ooyama's blog:

Cs-134: 485,252 Bq/kg
Cs-137: 604,360 Bq/kg

TOTAL: 1,089,612 Bq/Kg

Converting the total number to Bq/square meter,

1,089,612 × 65 = 70,824,780 Bq/m2

"Night that never ends" says in his blog this substance is very light-weight and blows off easily. He is finding it all over Minami Soma. He has asked the construction workers if it is from asphalt used in roads. The workers say no. To see the image of this black dust, go here.

"Night that never ends" says he has alerted the City Hall, and Mr. Ooyama indicates there will be a meeting with the city officials on this finding.

Ministry of Agriculture Enlists "Miss Campus" from 9 Universities to Be "Eat and Support East Japan" Ambassadors

(UPDATE 2/17/2012: Enjoy the video, too.)

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The Japanese government is going to make these young women eat food from the nuclear-disaster affected Tohoku and Kanto to support the recovery.

This is simply beyond my comprehension. Some on Twitter call it "student mobilization", just like during the World War II; the government knowingly putting young people in danger so they can remain in their positions a while longer.

From Sankei Photo News (2/15/2012):

ミスキャンパスが震災復興の応援大使  農水省

"Miss Campus" to become "ambassadors" to support the disaster recovery, says Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries

 東日本大震災の被災地の農林漁業を支援しようと、農林水産省は15日、青山学院大や学習院大などのミスキャンパス9人を「食べて応援学生大使」に任命した。9人は震災復興に加え、食料自給率の向上に向けた活動も展開していく。 

To support the agriculture, forestry sand fisheries industries in the disaster-affected areas, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries appointed 9 "Miss Campus" (beauty queens) on 9 campuses including Aoyama Gakuin University and Gakushuin University as "Eat and Support student ambassadors" on February 15. The nine young women will participate in activities not only for the disaster recovery but also for improving the food self-sufficiency rate.

東京・霞が関の農水省で開かれた任命式で、鹿野道彦農相は「食にさらなる関心を持って活躍してほしい。国産の農林水産物の魅力を、食料自給率向上の鍵を握る多くの若者世代に伝えてもらうことを期待している」と述べた。 

In the swearing-in ceremony at the Ministry in Kasumigaseki, Tokyo, Minister Michihiko Kano said to the students, "I would like you to play an active part with keen interest in food. I am looking forward to your effort to appeal the charm of domestically grown agricultural, forest and fishery products to the younger generation, as they are the key to improving the food self-sufficiency."

メンバーは任命にあたってそれぞれ抱負を披露。成蹊大の蛇川真菜さ(20)は「東日本の食材をもりもり食べます」、立教女学院短大の藤田美沙さん (22)は「東北の果物を使った米粉スイーツを毎週1個考え、食べていきます」と意気込んでいた。(写真は、「食べて応援学生大使」に任命され、鹿野農相と記念写真に納まるミスキャンパスたち=15日午後、農水省)

Upon being sworn in, each member spoke of their plans. Miss Seikei University (age 20) said, "I will eat food items from east Japan heartily". Miss Rikkyo Women's College (age 22) said enthusiastically, "I will come up with one desert a week using fruits from Tohoku, and eat it." (Photograph of "Miss Campus" members with Minister Kano, February 15 afternoon)

"Charm" of domestic produce? You mean radionuclides are a charm?

Agricultural products like rice and vegetables from Tohoku and Kanto are contaminated with radioactive materials in varying degrees. You don't want to eat fish caught off the coast of Tohoku and Kanto if you don't want to eat cesium and strontium (and God knows what else). Fruits from Tohoku are particularly bad, with kiwis, blueberries regularly exceeding the provisional safety limit (500 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium). Peaches, apples, persimmons have all been found with radioactive cesium. Mushrooms are routinely found with radioactive cesium easily exceeding the safety limit.

I wonder what the Ministry offered these women in return. As Haruki Madarame famously said, "It's about money". If not money, it should still be something of value, enough to offset the potential health risk of promoting recovery by eating Tohoku and Kanto produce.

From the Ministry's webpage, it seems a photo magazine called B.L.T. is involved in the project. Maybe these young women get to pose for the magazine, and that will be the reward for them...

Haruki Madarame: "No Memory of First Week of the Accident Because I Couldn't Sleep"

The NISA's head in the early days of the accident says he didn't advise the PM because he was a liberal arts major.

The Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (NAIIC) set up by the Japan's Diet is eliciting some interesting reactions (or excuses I should say) from the officials in charge of Japan's nuclear policies who also oversaw the initial government response to the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident.

The Commission held its fourth hearing on February 15, 2012 which was net-cast live (archived here, if you understand Japanese). The following is from what's been reported in the media about the hearing, as tweeted by the Commission (@jikocho):

From Sankei Shinbun (2/15/2012):

官邸への助言など、事故当時のそれぞれの行動について、班目氏は「1週間以上寝ていないのでほとんど記憶がない。私がいた場所は固定電話が2回線で携帯も通じず、できる助言は限りがあった」と説明。

About the advice to the Prime Minister and other activities during the early days of the accident, Mr. Madarame said, "I didn't sleep for more than a week, and I hardly remember anything. There were only two landlines where I was, and there was no cellphone signal. What advice I could give was limited."

寺坂氏は「私は文系なので、官邸内の対応は理系の次長に任せた」と述べた。

Mr. Terasaka [who was the head of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency then] said, "I am a liberal arts major. So I delegated the dealings with the Prime Minister's Residence to my subordinate who was a science major."

班目氏は津波や全電源喪失に備える原発の安全指針について「瑕疵(かし)があったと認めざるを得ない。おわびしたい」と謝罪。指針が改善されなかった背景について「低い安全基準を事業者が提案し、規制当局がのんでしまう。国がお墨付きを与えたから安全だとなり、事業者が安全性を向上させる努力をしなくなる悪循環に陥っていた」と言及し、「わが国は(対策を)やらなくてもいいという言い訳に時間をかけ、抵抗があってもやるという意思決定ができにくいシステムになっている」と述べた。

As to the safety guidelines for nuclear power plant to prepare for the tsunami and station blackout, Mr. Madarame apologized by saying "I have to admit there were flaws. I would like to apologize." As to why the guidelines weren't improved, Madarame said, "Low safety standards are proposed by the plant operators, and the regulatory agencies simply rubber-stamp them. With the approval from the national government, they are considered safe, and there is no incentive for the operators to improve safety. It is a vicious cycle." He also said, "The system in this country is set up so that people spend much time in making up excuses for not doing anything, and decision-making is not done against opposition."

He speaks the truth on that point.

Nuclear Experts from Germany, UK, France, Japan Visiting Taiwan to Review Nuclear Facilities

The experts from the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO) are inspecting Taiwan's nuclear power plants at the request from the Taipower, state-owned power generation company.

From Focus Taiwan (2/15/2012):

Taipei, Feb. 15 (CNA) Four foreign nuclear energy experts are visiting Taiwan to review local nuclear power generation facilities but have not yet made any suggestions for improvement, state-owned Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) said Wednesday.

"The experts arrived in Taipei Feb. 6 from Germany, Britain, France and Japan, respectively, and are scheduled to stay until Feb. 18," Taipower spokesman Lee Hung-chou told CNA.

As a member of the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO), Taipower is entitled to seek technical support mission from the London-based organization, Lee said.

Taipower can apply for up to four WANO support missions every year since it has four nuclear power plants, Lee said, adding that the company twice applied for such missions last year.

Taipower has conducted thorough safety checks and taken measures to reinforce safety at its nuclear plants following the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan last year, and Lee said the experts were invited to review those new measures.

Over the past few days, he said, Taipower staff have taken the four experts to the country's three nuclear power plants in operation and the fourth one under construction.

According to a bilateral confidentiality agreement, Taipower cannot disclose any opinions or suggestions expressed by WANO specialists without the organization's prior consent, Lee said.

"As the experts are still in the process of inspection, they have not yet made any definite suggestions," Lee said, adding that Taipower will unveil the content of their final report only after obtaining the WANO's agreement.

(By Huang Chiao-wen and Sofia Wu)

Here's a photo of Taipower's No. 3 Nuclear Power Station, right on the popular Nanwan beach where tourists can swim in the water with discharge from the nuke plant (as it appeared in the Age, 4/29/2008 in the article titled "Swimmers dive in to nuclear reactor cooling water", quoting Reuters):

It's really cute with windmills. Nice sand hills. Not a problem! say locals.

(H/T Enformable)

214,200 Bq/Kg of Radioactive Cesium from Crushed Stones from Namie-machi, Fukushima

Remember the radioactive apartment complex in Nihonmatsu City, Fukushima, where the concrete foundation contained the supposed "radioactive" crushed stone from the stone pit in Namie-machi, bordering the "no-entry" zone?

Fukushima Prefecture finally released the data on the radioactivity of the stones, and it was indeed high. The survey by the Fukushima prefectural government and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is still ongoing, in an effort to identify the elevated radiation levels coming off the concrete that used these crushed stones. Good luck.

Jiji Tsushin (2/15/2012) reports:

...県は、1月20日に実施した砕石場の現地調査の結果も公表。屋根のない保管場所では生コン用砕石から1キロ当たり最大12万200ベクレル、路盤材用砕石からは同21万4200ベクレルの放射性セシウムが検出されたという。

...Fukushima Prefecture also announced the result of the survey at the stone pit [in Namie-machi] conducted on January 20. The crushed stones for concrete stored in the open without a roof were found with the maximum 120,200 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium, while the crushed stones used as subbase course materials were found with 214,200 becquerels/kg.

(At least) 7 tonnes of stones (for building exterior) from Fukushima Prefecture were sold in Tokyo last year, as I reported in my post on January 22, 2012. I haven't heard news of whatever happened to them.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Professor Dapeng Zhao of Tohoku Univ: Fukushima I Nuke Plant Could Be Hit by Epicentral Earthquake

From Daily Mail (2/14/2012):

Stricken Fukushima nuclear plant at dire risk of massive new earthquake, scientists warn

By Damien Gayle

Scientists have issued a dire warning that the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant is at risk of a massive new earthquake.

Research using data from more than 6,000 recent tremors has found that last March's disaster has reactivated a seismic fault practically beneath the power station.

Now scientists are telling Japanese authorities to urgently shore up the damaged reactor in expectation of more massive 'quakes.

Fukushima Daiichi was the scene of the worst nuclear disasters in history after it was damaged by the March 11, 2011, magnitude 9 earthquake and following tsunami.

But this tremor's epicentre was about 100 miles from the site, off the coast of Japan, and a much closer one could occur in the future at Fukushima.

Dapeng Zhao, geophysics professor at Japan's Tohoku University, said: 'There are a few active faults in the nuclear power plant area, and our results show the existence of similar structural anomalies under both the Iwaki and the Fukushima Daiichi areas.

'Given that a large earthquake occurred in Iwaki not long ago, we think it is possible for a similarly strong earthquake to happen in Fukushima.'

The April 11, 2011, magnitude 7 Iwaki earthquake was the strongest aftershock of the 11 March earthquake with an inland epicentre.

It occurred 37 miles south-west of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, 124 miles from the March 11 epicentre.

The research, published in European Geosciences Union's open-access Solid Earth journal, shows that the Iwaki earthquake was triggered by fluids moving upwards from the subducting Pacific plate to the crust.

The Pacific plate is moving beneath north-east Japan, which increases the temperature and pressure of the minerals in it.

This leads to the removal of water from minerals, generating fluids that are less dense than the surrounding rock. These fluids move up to the upper crust and may alter seismic faults.

Ping Tong, lead author of the paper, said: 'Ascending fluids can reduce the friction of part of an active fault and so trigger it to cause a large earthquake.

'This, together with the stress variations caused by the 11 March event, is what set off the Iwaki tremor.'

The number of tremors in Iwaki increased greatly after the March earthquake. The movements in the Earth's crust induced by the event caused variations in the seismic pressure or stress of nearby faults.

Around Iwaki, Japan's seismic network recorded over 24,000 tremors from March 11, 2011 to October 27, 2011, up from under 1,300 detected quakes in the nine years before, the scientists report.

The 6,000 of these earthquakes selected for the study were recorded by 132 seismographic stations in Japan from June 2002 to October 2011.

The researchers analysed these data to take pictures of the Earth's interior, using a technique called seismic tomography.

Professor Zhao explained: 'The method is a powerful tool to map out structural anomalies, such as ascending fluids, in the Earth's crust and upper mantle using seismic waves.

'It can be compared to a CT or CAT scan, which relies on X-rays to detect tumours or fractures inside the human body.'

While the scientists can't predict when an earthquake in Fukushima Daiichi will occur, they state that the ascending fluids observed in the area indicate that such an event is likely to occur in the near future.

They warn that more attention should be paid to the site's ability to withstand strong earthquakes, and reduce the risk of another nuclear disaster.

The scientists also note that the results may be useful for reviewing seismic safety in other nuclear facilities in Japan, such as nearby Fukushima Daini, Onagawa to the north of Fukushima, and Tōkai to the south.

The paper at Solid Earth Open Access Journal of the European Geosciences Union is here.

Temperature at Reactor 2 RPV Thermocouple (69H1) Slowly Coming Down

It doesn't look like the behavior of a thermocouple that has been broken, but what would I know?

From TEPCO's plant parameter, Reactor 2 RPV temperatures, hourly (latest: 2/15/2012 10AM):



In the meantime, the temperature at the CRD (control rod) Housing has been rising again. Again, instrument failure. (Brown line in the graph. 69H1 is light green.)

From TEPCO's plant parameters, Reactor 2 RPV temperature (2/15/2012):

#Fukushima I Nuke Plant Reactor 2 RPV: 8 Thermocouples out of 41 Show Abnormality, TEPCO Says

From Kyodo News (2/14/2012):

福島第1原発2号機で原子炉圧力容器底部の温度計の数値が異常に上昇した問題で、東電は14日、他の温度計の点検を進め、圧力容器に41個ある温度計のうち計8個に異常がみられると発表した。

As the temperature at the bottom of the Reactor 2 Pressure Vessel shot up extremely high, TEPCO announced on February 14 that the company had conducted the test of 41 thermocouples on the RPV, and found 8 of them showing abnormality.

 一時、400度を超えた温度計1個のほか、2個に温度を測るもととなる電気抵抗値に異常が見つかった。残りの5個は故障と判断していた。東電は残る33個の温度計で圧力容器全体の温度傾向を監視する。

In addition to the thermocouple that exhibited the temperature above 400 degrees Celsius, 2 other thermocouples had abnormal electrical resistance. 5 had been deemed broken. TEPCO will continue to monitor the temperature trend of the RPV with the remaining 33 thermocouples.

 経産省原子力安全・保安院から、故障とみられる温度計に代わる温度監視の策を求められたことについて、東電は「新たに温度計を設置するのは難しい。実現可能性含め対応したい」としている。

As for the request from the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency to submit a plan to monitor the temperatures at the locations where the thermocouples failed, TEPCO says, "It is difficult to replace the thermocouple, but we would like to consider further whether it is possible at all."

8 out of 41 showing abnormality? That's not quite what I read in the TEPCO's report in December 2011. Page 1-64 of the report has a table that shows the numbers of thermocouples in Reactors 1, 2, 3 that were evaluated with equivalent circuit. In the case of Reactor 1 RPV,

  • No. of thermocouples that can be used with equivalent circuit: 32

  • No. of thermocouples that cannot be used with equivalent circuit: 1

  • No. of normal (functioning) thermocouples: 2

So, as far as I can understand (correct me if I'm wrong, as I could be very wrong) one of the 32 thermocouples on the Reactor 2 RPV shows a certain value, and TEPCO compares it with the value of the equivalent circuit, and figure out over time whether the value shown by the thermocouple can be used after equivalent circuit calibration.

TEPCO's report says the standard deviation for Reactor 1 RPV's thermocouples is about 15 degrees Celsius, and 8 degrees Celsius for Reactor 2 RPV's thermocouples. Thus the margin of 20 degrees Celsius mentioned by TEPCO for the maintenance of "cold shutdown state", I think, to be on the safe side of 15 degrees Celsius.

The report says 14 thermocouples on the Reactor 3 RPV can be used with equivalent circuit calibration, while 18 thermocouples cannot. There is no normal thermocouple on the Reactor 3 RPV.

Hmmm. Maybe it is Reactor 3 we should be worrying about.

FYI, the latest temperature information of Reactor 3's RPV is here.

91,600 Bq/Kg of Radioactive Cesium from Sunflowers in Iitate-mura, Fukushima

So the sunflowers DID concentrate radioactive cesium in soil. It was not where the Japanese government wanted you to find.

According to one Iitate-mura villager, Mr. Itoh, who had his sunflowers tested, the radioactive cesium was IN THE ROOTS. He suspects that the government knew, and cherry-picked the data that seemingly supported the foregone conclusion that sunflowers do not work in decontaminating the soil.

Why? Because the government wants and needs to distribute big money to big businesses that closely work with the government in the "decontamination" bubble that they've created.

From his tweets on February 7, 2012:

ヒマワリの根 セシウム134 39,500bq/kg セシウム137  52,100bq/kg セシウム計  91,600bq/kg。ヒマワリの根の灰については、焼却温度が低く、体積が1/4程度にしか減らなかった、2,200gの根を燃やし460gの灰が出た。

Sunflower roots: Cesium-134, 39,500 Bq/kg; cesium-137, 52,100 Bq/kg; total 91,600 Bq/kg. Since the roots were burned at low a temperature, the roots were reduced to only one-quarter in mass. 2,200 grams of the roots were burned, resulting in 460 grams of ashes.

焼却温度が高ければ1/100、とすると200万bq?。農水省は税金を投入し大臣自ら植えたヒマワリの実験畑の除染効果は無いと断言したが、ある思いを持っての実験、効果なしの結論を前提にしたものだったから。農水省の放射性廃棄物の検査は何故か“根”を外しているから。

If they were burned at a higher temperature, maybe the concentration would be 100 times, resulting in about 2 million Bq/kg of radioactive cesium, maybe? After pouring in taxpayers' money and the minister himself planting sunflowers in the experimental plot in the village, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has declared sunflowers have no decontamination properties. It is because that conclusion was pre-determined with one purpose in mind. The ministry's test of radioactive wastes inexplicably excluded the sunflower "roots".

ヒマワリに除染されたのでは利権が発生しない、要は利権が簡単に得られる従来型の公共工事による“除染”こそ懐を簡単に肥やす方法だから。1000年に一度の大震災でも役人や政治家が考えることはこの程度。誰だこの程度の政治家を選んだのは。

If sunflowers could decontaminate, there would be no subsidies and handouts. In essence, "decontamination" via the public works loaded with pork is the easiest way to get rich quick. Even in the face of the biggest disaster in 1,000 years, that's the level where the bureaucrats and politicians operate. Who elected these pols?

Mr. Itoh no doubt knows well it is the Japanese people who elected these pols and keep electing them, but that doesn't mean Mr. Itoh himself is complicit. He may have voted to oust these politicians in his district, in vain.

Seiichi Nakate on March 11 Nuclear Accident: "We Weren't Told About Anything, and Cover-Up and Safety Propaganda Engulfed Fukushima"

Mr. Nakate is the head of "Fukushima Network to Protect Children from Radiation (子どもを放射能から守る福島ネットワーク)". He held a talk, one of the series, on January 17, 2012 in Sapporo, Hokkaido. He said he would be moving to Hokkaido himself. Fukushima was now almost forgotten by people in Japan, he said.

Following is from his talk as compiled into the togetthers (here and here, if you read Japanese) created by people who watched the USTREAM (archived here, nearly 2 hours).

"What is happening in Fukushima Now: What has happened to the children in Fukushima, where the contamination level far exceeds that from the Chernobyl accident? What are the responsibilities of the adults?"

Looking back on the March 11 nuclear accident:

3/13にはポータブルのものでもはっきり測れる程の異常がでていた。文部省には原子力研究所があり、測定の専門家がいる。率直にいえばマニアックな人達 で、平気で計測し、平気でHPに公開していた。でも、私達にはその数字がわからなかった。数百倍、場所によっては数千倍の線量だったのに。

On March 13, the radiation levels were so abnormal that even a portable survey meter could tell. The Ministry of Education and Science has the nuclear research lab [JAEA?] and there are specialists who measure radiation. They are nuclear science geeks, frankly, who measured the radiation levels and published the results on the homepage. But we didn't know what those numbers meant. They were hundreds of times, even thousands of times more than the normal levels.

NHK・ETV取材班によれば、文部省が測った数値、浪江の対馬地区・赤宇木は333μSv/hだった。通常0.03~0.06程。3時間で1mSv、1 日で8mSv、3日で今の避難基準を超える。一週間いれば、原発作業員でさえ絶対ありえない、まさに「ただちに健康に影響がでるような」数値に。

According to NHK's ETV, the Ministry of Education measured 333 microsieverts/hour in Akougi in Tsushima District of Namie-machi. The normal levels were 0.03 to 0.06 microsievert/hour. 1 millisievert in 3 hours, 8 millisieverts in one day, and in 3 days it would have exceeded the current standard for evacuation [20 millisieverts]. If you stayed for one week, it would have been the level which "would affect the health immediately". It would have been the level not even the nuclear plant workers are exposed.

立派な機材を積んだモニタリングカーがその辺を計測してまわり、その傍らには何も知らない住民たちが日常を送っていた。浪江の対馬地区は、原発の南西 30km位のところで、3/12に避難指示がでたため、20km圏内の人が避難してきていた。避難してきたはずが何十倍も被曝してしまった。

A monitoring car with good equipment came and measured the radiation levels. The residents continued to live there, knowing nothing. Tsushima District of Namie-machi is located at about 30 kilometers southwest [sic. it is northwest] of the plant, and many people inside the 20-kilometer radius evacuated there after the evacuation order was issued on March 12. They were supposed to have escaped from radiation, but they ended up getting irradiated several tens of times more.

(地図を示しながら)この阿武隈山地が防波堤のように防いでくれていた。が、3/15の波は阿武隈山地も乗り越えて、大量の放射能が中通り、新幹線の通る 一帯、福島や郡山のあるところまで達してしまった。そして隠ぺい工作、安全デマが福島県内を覆いつくした、市民には真実は伝えられなかった。

(Showing the map) This Abukuma Mountains acted like a breakwater [against radioactive materials). But the wave on March 15 went over the mountains, and a large amount of radioactive materials reached Nakadori [middle 3rd of Fukushima], areas where the Shinkansen bullet train runs, Fukushima City, and Koriyama City. Then the cover-ups and "safety" propaganda completely engulfed Fukushima. Residents were not told the truth.

そこで住民は普通の暮らしをしていた。情報の隠蔽、安全デマがものすごい勢いで福島県内に押し寄せ、被曝を拡大させた。正直、住民は大丈夫だよ、と言って欲しかった。安全を裏付ける情報を必死で求めた。そういう状況だった。ただ、やはり本当の情報が必要だと思った。

People were living the normal lives. Information was hidden, and the "safety" propaganda flooded Fukushima, causing even more exposure to radiation for the residents. To be honest, the residents wanted to be told "It's OK, nothing to worry about." They did all they could to look for information that would support "safety". That was how it was. I thought we needed the real information.

(to be continued)

It is perfectly understandable that Fukushima residents wanted assurance from the authorities in the early days of the accident. Everyone did. They wanted to believe the word of Yukio Edano, Chief Cabinet Secretary and the mouthpiece of the Kan administration, when he told the nation "There is no immediate effect on health". Now we all know that he only meant the radiation levels were not going to cause acute radiation poisoning.

After all, for more than a half century, the majority of the Japanese believed nuclear power was safe, and that Japan was leading the world by peaceful use of atomic energy. Despite the Fukushima accident, the majority still do, this time with the added delusion that nuclear power is necessary to prevent global warming.

That aside, I wonder if the US government, military or the NRC had anything to say to the Japanese counterparts about the way the Japanese authorities were not informing the people in Japan about the disaster and the danger of radiation exposure. They raised issues with how the Japanese government was handling the plant accident. Since they had access to SPEEDI data from very early on, thanks to Jerome Ryan, Second Secretary in the Political Section of U.S. Embassy Tokyo, they must have also known about the extremely high radiation levels in wide areas outside the immediate vicinity of the plant, and that people continued to live in places like Namie-machi and Iitate-mura, which were finally designated as planned evacuation zone in late April.

I wonder if they were OK with the cover-ups and safety lies.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Reactor 2 RPV Bottom Temperature at Support Skirt Junction Also Fluctuating Widely

The location whose thermocouple (69H1, bottom head) apparently broke after the resistance test by TEPCO yesterday and the location at the support skirt junction are both located at 0 degree.

The thermocouple at the support skirt junction, 69F1, is not spiking up or continuously trending up like 69H1, but the range of fluctuation is rather wide, compared to the other two at the same height at different angles.

Hmmm. Next to go?

From the latest plant parameter on Reactor 2 RPV temperature, hourly, 69H1 (bottom head at 0 degree) and 69F1 (support skirt junction at 0 degree) highlighted:

Hourly temperature fluctuation at the thermocouples at the support skirt junction:

69F1 (at 0 degree): by 0.1 to 11.7
69F2 (at 135 degrees): by 0.1 to 0.3
69F3 (at 270 degrees): by 0.1 to 0.2

By the way, TEPCO released the graph of the thermocouple 69H1 (2/13/2012). It sure looks like TEPCO's resistance test did something:

People are chiming in on Japanese Twitter, saying "Yes I've done exactly that, pushing one test too far..."

The Film "Nuclear Nation" Featuring Mayor Idogawa of Futaba-machi Screened at Berlin Film Festival

Mainichi Daily, quoting Kyodo News (2/13/2012):

BERLIN (Kyodo) -- A documentary film featuring residents forced to evacuate their town, home to the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, was screened Sunday at the Berlin International Film Festival.

"I hope nobody in the world will have such an experience like ours again," Katsutaka Idogawa, mayor of Futaba, Fukushima Prefecture, said in a video message shown after the screening of the tentatively titled "Nuclear Nation" by director Atsushi Funahashi.

"We had attracted the nuclear power plant to promote our town. But I changed my mind because of the accident. While a final disposal site for nuclear waste is not set, it is quite dangerous that many nuclear power plants are built in the world," the mayor said.

The documentary depicts residents taking shelter at a former school building in Saitama Prefecture and scenes of Futaba town, which was evacuated due to a nuclear crisis following the March 2011 quake and tsunami.

The film director said after the screening, "I hope many people in the world will look at the current situation of people from Futaba. I will continue keeping a record until they find a permanent dwelling place."

Musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, who composed piano music used in the documentary, also attended the screening.

Sakamoto said he plans to produce an album under the theme of Fukushima this summer and stage a performance with fellow musicians.

For more on Mayor Idogawa of Futaba-machi, see my previous post.

The film maker, Atsushi Funahashi, says he started shooting in late March when people were still focused on the aftermath of March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Despite the 4 explosive events in Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, I do remember that back then many people in Japan were still talking about fulfilling their duty to go out and spend money to help people in the disaster-affected area and prevent the collapse of the economy. Good old, ignorant days when the nuclear accident was a minor nuisance.

On second thoughts, it is still a minor nuisance for the majority.

58,000 Bq/Kg of Cesium in Recycled Farm Soil in Chiba: Unthinking, Mind-Numbing Urge to Recycle Even After Nuclear Disaster

A "third sector" company in Chiba was recycling the soil from the plastic greenhouses and selling it to plant nurseries, until 57,000 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium was found recently.

From Jiji Tsushin (2/13/2012):

千葉県などが出資する第三セクター「千葉園芸プラスチック加工」(同県東金市)は13日、県内農家から集めた使用済みビニールハウスから洗い落とした土140トンから、国が指定廃棄物として定める1キロ当たり8000ベクレルの約7倍に当たる1キロ当たり最大5万8000ベクレルの放射性セシウムが検出されたと発表した。

Chiba Engei Plastic Kako (Chiba Horticultural Plastic Processing) in Togane City in Chiba Prefecture, a third-sector company with investment from the Chiba prefectural government, announced on February 13 that the maximum 58,000 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium was found from 140 tonnes of dirt that had been washed off from the used plastic greenhouses the company had collected from farmers in Chiba. The amount of radioactive cesium is more than 7 times the amount allowed by the national standard for regular disposal which is 8,000 becquerels/kg.

 同社は、使用済みビニールハウスを洗浄しリサイクル処理している。土は既に市内7カ所の植木畑に運び込まれているが、今後全て回収し、同社施設内で県の指導に従い保管する。洗浄に使った水は浄化処理をしており、放射性物質は検出されなかった。

The company washes down the dirt off the used plastic greenhouses and recycles the dirt collected. The dirt has already been brought in at 7 plant nurseries. The company plans to recall all the dirt, and will store it in the company's facilities according to the guidance from the prefectural government. The water used for washing was treated, and no radioactive materials were detected.

After I tweeted the Jiji news yesterday, people immediately dug up information of this company. It turns out the company is one of three that was partially owned and operated by the agricultural producer co-op, JA, in Chiba Prefecture. But on the JA Chiba's website, the company has gone missing. One person searched the cache, and found that the JA's site had this company on the page until January 29.

My guess is that's when they found out about radioactive cesium in the recycled dirt, but had kept quiet for 2 weeks.

The JA Chiba has two other "subsidiaries", no doubt third-sector companies: LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) company and a funeral home.

By the way, Chiba's governor is an ex-TV actor turned politician, a mind-numbingly unthinking person who uses his stage name instead of his real name (really, very pedestrian).

#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: Additional Info on That "Broken" Thermocouple on Reactor 2 RPV

From Yomiuri Shinbun (2/13/2012):

東京電力は13日、温度上昇を示していた福島第一原子力発電所2号機の原子炉圧力容器底部の温度計が同日午後の点検後、記録上限の400度を超えて振り切れるなど、異常な数値を示したと発表した。

TEPCO announced on February 13 that the thermocouple on the bottom of the Reactor 2 Pressure Vessel at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, which had been showing the rising temperature, exhibited the abnormal temperatures after the inspection in the afternoon on February 13, at one time going overscale over 400 degrees Celsius which is the limit.

 東電は「ほぼ確実に故障している」とみている。温度計は炉心溶融で高温にさらされた後、湿度の高い環境に置かれていた。

TEPCO thinks it is "most certainly broken". The thermocouple had been exposed to high temperature from the core meltdown, and has been in the high humid condition [inside the Reactor 2 Containment Vessel].

 東電は同日午後2時頃から、中央制御室内で温度計の電気回路の点検を実施。回路の電気抵抗が通常より大きく、温度計の指示値が高く出やすいことが判明した。検査直後、回路を元に戻した際には342度を示し、一時振り切れるまで数値が上昇した。

TEPCO conducted the test of the electric circuit of the thermocouple from the central control room from 2PM. The electrical resistance was higher than normal, which would result in the temperature indicated by the thermocouple higher [than the actual temperature]. Right after the test, the temperature showed 342 degrees Celsius, and it rose sharply at one time and went overscale.

 温度計は、2種類の金属を接合したセンサー(熱電対(ねつでんつい))で温度を検知する。センサーが熱を受けると電流が流れる仕組みで、回路に異常が生じたために電圧が変化し、極端な値が表示された可能性がある。

The thermocouple is a bi-metal sensor to detect temperature. It produces a voltage when it is heated. It is possible that an abnormality occurred in the circuit which caused the voltage to change, resulting in the extreme measurements displayed.

In the press conference yesterday, TEPCO's Matsumoto said it was a copper-constantan thermocouple. Constantan is a copper-nickel alloy.

I was watching the press conference live, and was quite amused that TEPCO's Matsumoto and the junior PR manager were rather put off and irritated at some of the senior journalists who kept asking tough questions. They are not the usual fixture these days at TEPCO's press conferences.

These journalists, unlike the regulars (dwindling number, these days) who are mostly young boys and girls in their 20s and early 30s at most who hunch over their laptops and ask questions from behind the laptop display screen while they type, looked straight into Matsumoto, and ask questions with a pen in hand and a notebook on the desk.

Old fashioned way of journalism, which I thought was refreshingly effective. You have to knock TEPCO's PR people out of their kilter to get an edge and draw answers which TEPCO didn't intend to give.

As I mentioned in my post reporting the press conference, Matsumoto was particularly announced by the 2 questions:

One was posed by a reporter from Yomiuri Shinbun (he's a regular). The reporter asked if the test itself broke the thermocouple. (Bingo...) Matsumoto denied the possibility, saying the test was conducted distantly from the central control room, not at the thermocouple (no way, as it is inside the CV).

The other was posed by an independent journalist who kept asking Matsumoto if TEPCO was consulting the manufacturer of the thermocouple for insight and technical assistance. That really set off Matsumoto, who immediately said TEPCO was fully capable of the maintenance of the thermocouples at the plant. Despite repeated questions, Matsumoto refused to give the name of the manufacturer or whether the representative of the manufacturer was on hand at Fukushima I Nuke Plant.

Never mind that this is not an ordinary maintenance of the thermocouples in a functioning reactor.

TEPCO Evening Press Conference 2/13/2012: Reactor 2 RPV Thermocouple Is Broken, Matsumoto Says

Press conference live link is here.

Reactor 2 RPV's thermocouple that's been going up seems to have finally broken. (0r else...)

15:00 285.4 degrees Celsius
16:00 260.9
17:00 275.9

Screen capture from the press conference screen:

The last time this particular thermocouple went to that level, it was March 2011.

TEPCO was measuring the electrical resistance of the thermocouple before the temperature suddenly shot up to 285 degrees at 3PM.

Resistance 500 to 530 ohm.

The instrument has totally failed, says TEPCO's Matsumoto.

Interesting question from a reporter from Nico Nico: Are you going to test the other two thermocouples at the bottom of the RPV?
A: No.

Yomiuri: Did measuring the resistance break the thermocouple?
A: We don't know why the temperature shot up after we finished the measurement.

Yomiuri: Do you know when this thermocouple broke?
A: At least, until the end of January it was showing the same trend as the other two. We want to carefully compare with other thermocouples.

===========================
Jiji Tsushin says right before 3PM, the temperature was 342.2 degrees Celsius.

===========================

Q: Who decided that the thermocouple was broken? Was the manufacturer consulted?
A: TEPCO decided. We have experience in maintenance of the thermocouple. (Matsumoto sounds very testy.)

Q: Is there a possibility of a thermocouple showing temperature lower than what really is and therefore it is broken?
A: If this thermocouple were correct, there would be other thermocouples that would show higher temperature. The other temperatures are trending down. So we think this particular thermocouple is broken.

Q: The temperature rise in early February - was it related to the instrument failure now?
A: We think so. But we didn't know at that time whether it was actually a rise in temperature or the instrument failure. The temperature did go down after increasing the water injection.

Q: How reliable is it to judge "recriticality" by xenon-135?
A: We think it is a reliable indicator.

Q: When was 342.2 degrees Celsius recorded?
A: We finished the testing at 2:54PM. So it must be between that time and 3PM. We'll have to check.

Q: How high did the temperature go? (looking at the graph that was provided)
A: It went overscale, so the graph shows temperatures like that [over 400 degrees Celsius].

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Reactor 2 RPV Bottom Temperature: 94.9 Degrees Celsius at Noon, 2/13/2012

(UPDATE: Instrument deemed broken, as the temperature at 5PM on February 13, 2012 is 275.9 degrees Celsius. It was as high as 342 degrees before 3PM. See my new post.)

==========================================

10:00 91.2
11:00 93.7 (from TEPCO's Plant Parameter, 2/13/2012 noon)
12:00 94.9 (Mainichi Shinbun, 2/13/2012, last update 12:57PM)

Mainichi does not have much to say beyond what I've already reported in the posts, here and here. Most certainly it is the instrument failure, TEPCO, NISA say.

The measurement of the temperature at noon must have been disclosed during the press conference held by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency after the TEPCO's press conference. There was no mention of the temperature at noon, as the press conference was brief and was over by 11:30AM.

There are nuclear engineers and experts who doubt this foregone conclusion of "instrument failure". I will write a post about it later once I understand it myself.

TEPCO's All 17 Nuclear Reactors Will Be Out of Service on March 26, 2012

As Reactor 6 at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant goes into the scheduled maintenance, all 17 nuclear reactors operated by TEPCO will be offline as of March 26, 2012.

By late April, all of Japan's 54 commercial reactors will go offline, unless Kansai Electric manages to obtain the permission to restart its Ooi Nuclear Power Plant.

Since last fall, there has been no rolling blackout, no rationing of electricity anywhere in Japan. Even the government officials have admitted that the rolling blackouts and rationing right after the March 11 quake/tsunami/nuke accident were "an experiment" and a lesson to teach the Japanese the importance of nuclear power.

Japan's need for electricity in winter is no less than in summer these days, as most households and businesses have come to rely on electricity for heating after a decade of campaigns by the utility companies pushing for "All-Electric Home". In retrospect, that push was for the push for more nuclear power plants.

From Market Watch (2/9/2012):

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Thursday it will suspend operations of the No. 6 reactor at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture on March 26 for a periodic check, a plan that will take all of its 17 reactors out of service, Kyodo News reported.

The No. 6 reactor with a power output of 1.356 million kilowatts is the last to be suspended out of the plant's seven reactors.

It will be the first time all 17 units have been halted since the April 15-May 6 period of 2002, when they were suspended after a public outcry over revelations that TEPCO had hidden problems at its nuclear plants.

Out of the seven at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, the No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 4 as well as the No. 7 reactors have been suspended as a result of periodic checkups and a 2007 earthquake that badly damaged the prefecture and its vicinity.

On Jan. 25, TEPCO suspended the No. 5 reactor at the plant for a periodic check, leaving the No. 6 reactor the only one in service both at the plant and throughout the utility's service area.

TEPCO says it wants to restart the operations of the seven reactors in stages, starting in fiscal 2013 or later.

But Niigata Gov. Hirohiko Izumida said the factors that triggered the 2011 crisis at the six-reactor Fukushima Daiichi plant must be examined and identified before the seven are allowed to restart operations. The nearby Fukushima Daini plant also run by TEPCO has four reactors.

Among Japan's 54 commercial reactors, only two will be in operation -- the No. 3 reactor at the Tomari plant in Hokkaido and the No. 3 reactor at the Takahama plant in Fukui Prefecture. Both will go offline for regular checkups by late April.

Reactor 2 RPV Bottom 91.2 Degrees Celsius (TEPCO Press Conference 11AM, 2/13/2012 11AM)

(UPDATE 2: Instrument deemed broken, as the temperature at 5PM on February 13, 2012 is 275.9 degrees Celsius. It was as high as 342 degrees before 3PM. See my new post.)

================================================

(UPDATE: 94.9 degrees Celsius as of noon on February 13, 2012. Instrument failure most likely, the company says.)

================================================

The temperature at the bottom of Reactor 2 RPV (69H1):

2/13 5:00 89.6
2/13 (missed the time, I think Matsumoto said 10:00) 91.2

It is not responding to the increased amount of water injected (about 18 tonnes/hour). The temperatures at the other two locations (69H2, 3) are going down. Therefore, it is the instrument failure most likely, TEPCO's Matsumoto concludes.

TEPCO will maintain the amount of water injected for the time being. No plan to change the amount for the time being.

Q: The steady rise of temperature like this doesn't seem like instrument failure.
A: We want to investigate whether such "failure" is possible where the temperature rises in small increments.

Many reporters, hardly any questions, and the press conference is over in less than 30 minutes.

Matsumoto said the temperature may change because they are conducting some test of the instrument.

The temperature data is not yet updated on TEPCO's site.

UPDATE: Hourly temperature at Reactor 2 RPV bottom, latest.

Reactor 2 RPV Bottom Temperature: 89.6 Degrees Celsius, 5AM on Feb 13

(UPDATE: The latest number is 91.2 degrees Celsius as of 10AM, 2/13/2012.)

==========================

For nearly 18 tonnes/hour water injection, the temperature hasn't dropped a bit. It remains high at 89.6 degrees Celsius at the Pressure Vessel bottom, but we're not supposed to worry. It's all nothing but instrument failure, as TEPCO and NISA have assured us.

From TEPCO's plant parameters, 2/13/2012:

3,000 Bq/kg of Radioactive Cesium in Dried Daikon in Fukushima

Dried daikon was made from daikon grown and harvested in Fukushima City in Fukushima Prefecture.

I don't know what to say to these farmers and food processors in Fukushima Prefecture, after almost a year since the nuclear accident started. Farmers there continued growing food in the contaminated soil, and in the case of dried daikon, continued making dried food by drying the vegetable outside in the sun as radioactive materials were falling.

I suppose it is "out of expectation" for everybody involved.

The defenders of farmers in Fukushima who grew crops last year, and there are numerous, say they had no choice, that they didn't know, and when these arguments fail they say "The purpose of life for the farmers is to grow crops, and we shouldn't deprive them of the purpose", as I just had one such defender on my Japanese blog.

To a degree, I agree, as in the case of organic rice farmer in Date City, Fukushima who REFRAINED from growing rice for the concern for radiation last year, only to be threatened by the municipal government to cultivate the contaminated land this year. The authorities are limiting choices for those who do not want to grow.

From Yomiuri Shinbun (2/13/2012):

福島県は12日、福島市で収穫された大根を使った切り干し大根から、国の暫定規制値(1キロ・グラムあたり500ベクレル)の6倍にあたる3000ベクレルの放射性セシウムが検出されたと発表した。

Fukushima Prefecture announced on February 12 that 3,000 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium was detected from the dried daikon made from daikon harvested in Fukushima City. The national provisional safety limit is 500 becquerels/kg.

 すでに、JA新ふくしまが経営する同市内の農産物直売所5か所で計102袋(1袋50グラム入り)が販売されており、県は同JAに対し、自主回収と出荷自粛を要請した。

102 bags of 50-gram dried daikon have already been sold at 5 direct sales depots of JA Shin-Fukushima in Fukushima City. The prefectural government has requested the JA to voluntarily withdraw the products and halt shipment.

 商品名は「干し大根」。福島市の「ここら吾妻店」「ここら黒岩店」「ここら清水店」「ここら大森店」「ここら矢野目店」で販売された。

The brand name is "hoshi daikon (dried daikon". It was sold at JA's 5 direct sales depots in Fukushima City.

The argument by the authorities and the producers is that when the product is reconstituted with water, the radioactivity goes down.

No it doesn't. Per-kilogram radioactivity goes down because 1 kilogram of dried daikon strips may result in 10 kilograms of reconstituted daikon strips. There may be only 300 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium in the reconstituted daikon, but if you are going to eat 1 kilo of dried daikon strips over time, you will still get 3,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium.

There have been 3 daikon grown in Fukushima City tested since June last year, and radioactive cesium was not detected, according to the Fukushima prefectural government site where you can check the result of the sample tests for Fukushima produce.

NISA on Reactor 2 RPV Temperature: Not a Problem

(UPDATE: Latest temperature is 89.6 degrees Celsius as of 5AM, 2/13/2012.)

since it is most likely to be the instrument failure.

Yomiuri Shinbun (2/11/2012):

東京電力福島第一原子力発電所2号機の原子炉圧力容器の底部温度が保安規定で上限と定めた80度を上回ったことを受け、経済産業省原子力安全・保安院の森山善範原子力災害対策監は12日夜、臨時の記者会見を開き、「原子炉全体としては冷却されている。放射性物質の放出量にも変化は無く、安全性に問題はない」と述べ、昨年末に政府と東電が宣言した「冷温停止状態」について、変更する必要はないとの認識を示した。

As the temperature at the bottom of Reactor 2 Pressure Vessel at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant exceeded 80 degrees Celsius, which is the upper limit in the safety regulations, Yoshinori Moriyama of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency held an ad hoc press conference in the evening of February 12, and said "The reactor as a whole is well cooled. There is no change in the amount of radioactive materials released, and there is no problem with the safety", sharing the agency's view that there was no need to change the status of "cold shutdown state" that the national government and TEPCO had declared at the end of last year.

 保安院によると、複数ある温度計のうち上昇傾向を示しているのは1か所だけで、温度も激しく変化していることから、故障の可能性もあるという。保安院は同日、東電に対し、圧力容器の温度の把握方法や、故障した温度計の保安規定上の取り扱いについて検討し、報告するよう口頭で指示した。

According to NISA, there is only one thermometer among several that shows uptrend and the temperature fluctuates widely, which has led to the speculation that it may be the instrument failure. NISA issued an oral instruction to TEPCO on February 12 to come up with a report to the agency regarding the ways to measure the temperatures of the RPV, and how to handle thermometers that are broken in light of the safety regulations.

Just remember that NISA is staffed with the nuclear and electric power industry people on leave.

In TEPCO's defense, though, the declaration of "cold shutdown state" to the derision of the world (even in Japan, surprise) was made by the prime minister of Japan whose interest seems to be more aligned with the "global" community than with the subjects in the increasingly Orwellian Japan. TEPCO went along with it, for sure.