Fukushima Japan earthquake - contamination & consequences outside Fukushima NPP

[tsutsuji]

I wonder what the general background level from Pu from the 1950s/1960s above ground tests is?

From 1955-1966 plutonium deposition (Pu239+Pu240) in Japan from weapon testing by the nuclear powers was above 1 Bq/m2 annually, with a cumulative total of about 40 Bq/m2 during those years alone. Given the long half lives (24110 for Pu239 and 6537 for Pu240), most of that should still be around.

That problem is adressed at paragraph 4.2 of http://radioactivity.mext.go.jp/ja/distribution_map_around_FukushimaNPP/0002/5600_0930.pdf : the Pu238/(Pu239+Pu240) ratio found in Japan in 1999-2008 is, as shown in Attachment 3 (the last one at the bottom of the pdf) 0.026. The present measurements reveal ratios between 0.33 and 2.2 for five samples. For that reason it is thought that the deposits are new deposits created by the plant. Also in one location only Pu238 is found and Pu239+Pu240 is below detection level. The ratio for that sample, using the detection level for Pu-239-240 (0.5 Bq/m²) is also significantly higher than the 1999-2008 ratio. [I think the shape of the Pu238 map, being similar with the shape of the Cesium map is also significant]

It turns out that when the Nikkei says "6 locations" it means "6 locations with a significantly high Pu238/(Pu239+Pu240) ratio. The map shows a lot of locations with a grey triangle, which means that only Pu239+Pu240 was found while Pu238 was not found.

erratum (adding the underlined text):

http://www.nikkei.com/news/headline...19695E1E2E2E6868DE1E2E2EBE0E2E3E3E2E2E2E2E2E2 The highest figure for Pu238 is 4 Bq/m² at Namie.

 

[M. Bachmeier]

Feel I need to be pointing out the other side of the "it's not science, it's propaganda" discussion.

Try not to be too hard on a man who has been trying to fight against financial influence corrupting scientific surety. He is notable for many truths and many absences of truth discovered. His failings have likely to do more with his age and fear than an honest account of observation.

 

[tsutsuji]

Beef:

In some cases, slaughterhouses in other prefectures are refusing to accept Fukushima cattle because of concerns that the screening process isn't stringent enough.

To dispel those concerns, the Fukushima Prefectural Government is trying to determine how amounts of radioactive matter in blood and meat are related.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20111002x3.html

 

[Shinjukusam]

Try not to be too hard on a man who has been trying to fight against financial influence corrupting scientific surety. He is notable for many truths and many absences of truth discovered. His failings have likely to do more with his age and fear than an honest account of observation.

Fear should not be an excuse, this is a matter of science. I don't care if he's scared of what could happen, I want to know what is happening.

 

[Astronuc]

For those interested:

International Symposium on Decontamination:
Towards the Recovery of the Environment

The Cabinet Office, Government of Japan, will hold an International Symposium on Decontamination under the co-sponsorship of the Ministry of the Environment. The objective of the symposium is to share experience and best practices in the remediation of land contaminated with radioactive materials, and to contribute to the planning and effective management of decontamination activities in Japan.

Date: 16 October 2011
Time: 10:00 - 18:30 (registration from 9:00-)
Venue: Convention Hall "Paluse Iizaka"
Iizakamachi, Fukushima-city, Fukushima-prefecture, 960-0201 Japan


http://www.oecd-nea.org/press/2011/NEWS-07.html

The symposium is open for the public, and registration must be made by Oct 7.

 

[tsutsuji]

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/genpatsu-fukushima/20111005/0730_suiden.html Theories are proposed to explain the 500 Bq/kg rice in Nihonmatsu : the presence of much sand in the soil, which might enhance cesium absorption by the rice, or the presence of 10,000 Bq/kg and higher soil higher in the mountains, with rainwater bringing the radioactive substances down to the rice fields. Further surveys will be performed in the surrounding mountains.

 

[Astronuc]

Clean-up in Fukushima
05 October 2011
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Clean_up_in_Fukushima_0510111.html

Most of these were from the 20 kilometre radius of compulsory evacuation, while more people left the next 10 kilometre band where official instructions were to prepare for evacuation should the accident worsen. About another 20,000 in a separate sector extending about 50 kilometres to the northwest were recommended to evacuate because radioactivity deposited there was leading to dose rates of over 20 millisieverts per year.

This compares to a global average background dose rate of 2.4 millisieverts per year from natural sources to which all people are exposed with no apparent ill effects. . . . .

Children who have been exposed will have to be monitored for two or more decades.

 

[Caniche]

Clean-up in Fukushima
05 October 2011
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS_Clean_up_in_Fukushima_0510111.html



Children who have been exposed will have to be monitored for two or more decades.

"representing the people and organisations of the global nuclear profession" I guess that mission statement is at least an honest declaration of bias.

As a point of interest ,does anyone know ,if, and if so ,how ,these 'experts' distinguish between "natural" background radiation and background radiation resulting from previous accidents/incidents and bombs and bomb tests.

You have to applaud the stated ambition of the clean up campaign to reduce the levels of radioactive pollution to "half" the 'natural' background level.

 

[tsutsuji]

http://mainichi.jp/select/weathernews/news/20111006dde012040008000c.html There are limits to how much you can decontaminate with pressure washers. Pr. Yamauchi of Kobe university tells about his findings at a building used for children after-school care in Fukushima city. Inside the building, the floor had 0.33 μSv/h, the beams had 0.52, and just below the roof, it was 0.72 μSv/h, and he understood that the radiation increased with the height. So he checked the roof, outside, and it was 1.79 μSv/h. The roof had been cleaned using a pressure washer, but the radiation could not be reduced more. He is afraid the roof must be changed. He says the goal is to create secure areas where the radiation inside buildings is as low as 0.05 μSv/h as it was before the accident. Pr Kodama of Tokyo university says that in a kindergarten in Minamisoma there were mini hot spots such as the roof (33 μSv/h) and below the toboggan (5~10 μSv/h). After cleaning it once, the roof's radiation was lowered by 50%. It will be difficult to bring it to the 0.5 μSv/h goal, he says. Probably the surface must be removed or the whole roof must be changed. Know-how from house construction companies is needed.

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/fukushima-np/images/handouts_111001_02-e.pdf Dealing with higher levels of radiation inside the plant, using dust collectors, Tepco achieves decontamination rates of about 30%, bringing the radiation from 0.48 to 0.33 mSv/h on asphalt.

 

[tsutsuji]

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/genpatsu-fukushima/20111007/0520_hibaku.html Until now nuclear worker safety regulations were limited to the jobs indoors or inside nuclear plant premises. So the ministry of labour and health has created a new regulation for the workers who perform decontamination tasks outside the plant, requiring to wear masks, to wear radiation measuring instruments, etc. Some citizen groups had complained that some outdoor workers were not sufficiently protected from radiations.

http://radioactivity.mext.go.jp/ja/1910/2011/09/1910_092917_1.pdf Saitama and Chiba helicopter survey results

http://radioactivity.mext.go.jp/ja/1910/2011/10/1910_100601.pdf Tokyo and Kanagawa helicopter survey results

http://radioactivity.mext.go.jp/ja/5000/2011/10/5000_100601.pdf Aomori helicopter survey plan

http://radioactivity.mext.go.jp/ja/5000/2011/10/5000_100602.pdf Toyama helicopter survey plan

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/genpatsu-fukushima/20111007/0835_hosyasen.html As a result of the Tokyo and Kanagawa helicopter survey, levels higher than 0.2 μSv/h are found in Tokyo in part of the mountainous region of Okutama and at the border with Chiba prefecture in Katsushika ward. For Kanagawa, except some part of the mountainous region, all is below 0.1 μSv/h. According to the ministry of education and science, there are two routes, one in the west and one in the east, and the mountain regions have a higher level than surrounding areas due to the deposits in forests.

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/science/news/20110908-OYT1T00890.htm "The [15000 TBq] estimate does not comprise Cs-134, so the total is even greater".

Another estimate of the sea release, was presented by a Japan Meteorological Agency team at a meeting of the Geochemical Society of Japan in Sapporo:

A total of 13,500 terabecquerels of radioactive cesium-137 is slightly more than 10 percent of that of the residual substance left in the northern Pacific after previous nuclear tests, according to the researchers.
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110914p2g00m0dm104000c.html

 

[Azby]

Try not to be too hard on a man who has been trying to fight against financial influence corrupting scientific surety. He is notable for many truths and many absences of truth discovered. His failings have likely to do more with his age and fear than an honest account of observation.

His failings have to do with a blatantly self-serving agenda. He's now selling radiation measurement sevices in Japan, with prices much higher than those charged by other labs :

[noparse]http://www.busbylab.com/%E9%A3%9F%E5%93%81%E6%A4%9C%E6%9F%BB/[/noparse]

And is also selling expensive "Busby Laboratories" brand vitamin supplements! "Devised by the noted radiation risk specialist Dr. Christopher Busby," for "detox against impurities in the body." If he actually said "for detox against radioactive contamination" he could be accused of fraud, so he just leaves it implied.

[noparse]http://www.4u-detox.com/[/noparse]

I thought it was a joke at first, and that the site had been hacked by a detractor. But it's genuine.

Has anyone seen Soderbergh's latest film, "Contagion"? Busby looks more and more like the blogger character Krumweide every day...

 

[swl]

Children who have been exposed will have to be monitored for two or more decades.

I wonder what children are to be "monitored."

Edit: see following post.

 

[Gary7]

Asahi Shinbun says that all kids in Fukushima prefecture who were under 18 at the time of the disaster (360,000 kids) will have lifetime thyroid testing.

http://www.asahi.com/special/10005/TKY201107240415.html

 

[tsutsuji]

erratum (as underlined):

http://mainichi.jp/select/weathernews/news/20111006dde012040008000c.html There are limits to how much you can decontaminate with pressure washers. Pr. Yamauchi of Kobe university tells about his findings at a building used for children after-school care in Fukushima city. Inside the building, the floor had 0.33 μSv/h, the beams had 0.52, and just below the ceiling, it was 0.72 μSv/h, and he understood that the radiation increased with the height. So he checked the roof, outside, and it was 1.79 μSv/h. The roof had been cleaned using a pressure washer, but the radiation could not be reduced more. He is afraid the roof must be changed. He says the goal is to create secure areas where the radiation inside buildings is as low as 0.05 μSv/h as it was before the accident. Pr Kodama of Tokyo university says that in a kindergarten in Minamisoma there were mini hot spots such as the roof (33 μSv/h) and below the slide (5~10 μSv/h). After cleaning it once, the roof's radiation was lowered by 50%. It will be difficult to bring it to the 0.5 μSv/h goal, he says. Probably the surface must be removed or the whole roof must be changed. Know-how from house construction companies is needed.

A full translation of the Mainichi article is now available at http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/news/20111007p2a00m0na018000c.html

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/genpatsu-fukushima/20111008/1140_america.html the United States lifts the 80 km zone that had been decided for the United States citizens living in Japan.

 

[Astronuc]

I wonder what children are to "monitored." It is my understanding that less than a single percent of the population exposed to elevated levels of Iodine-131 will be monitored in any way.

Children who were present in higher exposure areas, e.g., a "hot spot" near the village of Tsushima (Namie Precinct, Futaba District, Fukushima Prefecture) and at Hirusone (Namie Precinct, Futaba District, Fukushima Prefecture - 8 km to the east) with levels of up to 74uG/h recorded on the 28 & 29th March, should be monitored. Ref: http://www.postharvest.com.au/Fukushima_Radiation.htm

http://japanecho.net/cms/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/1022en_fig1.jpg
http://japanecho.net/311-data/1022/

http://www.mext.go.jp/english/incident/1303962.htm[/URL]


[url]http://www.nature.com/srep/2011/110907/srep00087/full/srep00087.html#/f3[/url]
[url]http://www.nature.com/srep/2011/110907/srep00087/pdf/srep00087.pdf[/url]

 

[tsutsuji]

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/genpatsu-fukushima/20111009/index.html 100% of Fukushima prefecture children (360,000 children below 18 years old as of 1 April) will receive their first thyroid medical examination by 2014. Then they will be checked every two years until they are 20 years old. Then they will be checked every five years. 150 children from Iitate, Kawamata and other places in the planned evacuation zone have had their first check on 9 October. Results are to be mailed about one month after each examination.

 

[clancy688]

Asahi Shinbun says that all kids in Fukushima prefecture who were under 18 at the time of the disaster (360,000 kids) will have lifetime thyroid testing.

http://www.asahi.com/special/10005/TKY201107240415.html

Just a thought that occurred to me:

As good as this precaution is, won't that give raise to a new generation of Hibakusha? I fear that those kids could be the target of bullying campaigns, since it's likely that they'll be spread all over Japan.

 

[NUCENG]

Just a thought that occurred to me:

As good as this precaution is, won't that give raise to a new generation of Hibakusha? I fear that those kids could be the target of bullying campaigns, since it's likely that they'll be spread all over Japan.

Based on Japanese social history that is possible, but the choice is between testing for thyroid cancer and risking social ostracism or not testing and possibly dying from an undiagnosed cancer that is highly treatable.

The survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki included large numbers of victims who had burn scars and other visible injuries. That will not be the case with the people exposed to radiation from Fukushima. Thyroid screening is non-invasive and would seem to be easily kept private. Further, I would hope that the Japanese have learned from the past. In any case, based on the lessons learned at Chernobyl, I would want my children tested.

 

[Bodge]

Strontium-90 Discovered in Yokohama City, 245 km from Fukushima I Nuke Plant

http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2011/10/strontium-90-discovered-in-yokohama.html

“To convert from “per kilogram” to “per square meter”, Japan’s Nuclear Safety Commission uses the factor of 65.”

This equals over 12,500 Bq/m² of strontium-90 in Yokohama.

It's time to stop focussing on Iodine and Caesium - there are nastier isotopes around..

 

[Sorai]

Strontium-90 Discovered in Yokohama City, 245 km from Fukushima I Nuke Plant

http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2011/10/strontium-90-discovered-in-yokohama.html

“To convert from “per kilogram” to “per square meter”, Japan’s Nuclear Safety Commission uses the factor of 65.”

This equals over 12,500 Bq/m² of strontium-90 in Yokohama.

The sample comes from dirt accumulated near a drain on the roof of a building. Using NSC's conversion factor for soil samples would not be accurate in this case. Actually you would have to divide by the total square meters of the roof and try to take into account how effective the drain was to get an idea of the fallout per square meter.

This is a previous EX-SKF post about the location in Yokohama (Kohoku-ku) where samples with high concentration (63 and 105 KBq/Kg) of radioactive cesium were obtained:
http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2011/09/105600-bqkg-of-radioactive-cesium-from.html"

And this is a photo of the sampling location:
"[URL
[/URL]
It seems each portion of the roof is 6*3.7m, so around 22 square meters.

 

[tsutsuji]

http://sankei.jp.msn.com/region/news/111011/szk11101118100003-n1.htm Dried shiitake mushrooms with 599 Bq/kg (above the 500 Bq/kg limit) have been found in Izu (Shizuoka prefecture). As a consequence all Izu shiitake sales are stopped. Some people propose to resume sales with a test on every box (20 kg), but nothing has been decided yet.

 

[tsutsuji]

http://mainichi.jp/select/today/news/20111012k0000e040065000c.html As the results of the final tests in Nihonmatsu and Miharu became known on 12 October, all the rice grown in Fukushima prefecture has been found to be below the 500 Bq/kg limit and is allowed for distribution. Rice growing had been forbidden in the three zones (the restricted zone, the planned evacuation zone and the evacuation prepared zone) .

http://new-fukushima.jp/result.php?kind_detail%5B%5D=%E7%B1%B3%28%E6%9C%AC%E8%AA%BF%E6%9F%BB%29&kind_detail%5B%5D=%E7%B1%B3%28%E4%BA%88%E5%82%99%E8%AA%BF%E6%9F%BB%29&start_year=2011&start_month=8&end_year=2011&end_month=10&search_area=&hyoji=all&x=28&y=24 The detailed rice tests results.

http://mainichi.jp/select/weathernews/news/20111012dde041040016000c.html The Yokohama City municipality is carrying out strontium tests in 3 locations in Kohoku ward. From March to May strontium had been found in Fukushima prefecture: 250 Bq/kg in Namie (29 km away from the plant), 120 Bq/kg in Iitate (36 km away), and 7.7 Bq/kg in Fukushima City (62 km away).

 

[joewein]

Near an elementary school in Tsurumaki, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo as much as 3.35 uSv/h have been measured, according to http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20111013/t10013231511000.html" for a report.

It was also observed that the reading was higher off the ground than at ground level, which is kind of consistent with the failure of the steam cleaning to significantly reduce radiation. A test by experts then showed that the radiation comes off the side of adjacent properties, such as fences and walls (if my Japanese is good enough), with an even higher reading of 3.35 uSv. Both the original reading and the latest reading are higher than at the village headquarter at Iitate mura in Fukushima prefecture.

I also live in Setagaya, about 2.5 km from that location.

 

[joewein]

The news from Tsurumaki, Setagaya took a surreal twist when the city announced that the unusually high radioactivity measured out in the street was emanating from a bottle kept inside a cardboard box in a house at that street.

No explanation was given for why that bottle was there, what exactly it contained and how come it was kept in that home, except that the radiation was not related to the Fukushima accident.

See: http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20111013/t10013243881000.html"

 

[swl]

Some good news about the triple meltdown. Had there been no accident in Fukushima, that radiation source in Setagaya might have gone undetected for years or decades.

 

[joewein]

There was a playground across the street from that house and a kindergarden and a pre-school for toddlers (hoikuen) nearby, as well as an elementary school.

It's the house at the corner of the intersection, surrounded by trees, in the middle of this map:

http://g.co/maps/fx9uc

The bottle was in a cardboard box inside a wooden box under the floor of the house, which was uninhabited.

 

[tsutsuji]

http://mainichi.jp/select/wadai/news/20111014k0000m040083000c.html The dimensions of one glass bottle is diameter 5 cm x height 7 cm, and there are 3 or 4 thin and high glass bottles. The 30 μSv/h upper limit of the measuring instrument was exceeded. The owner says "it is the first time I see those [bottles]". The radiation in the area dropped to 0.1 to 0.3 μSv [per hour, I guess] after the ministry of education and science employees put the bottles in a lead containment.

http://mainichi.jp/select/wadai/news/20111014k0000m040083000c2.html The Funabashi City municipality (Chiba prefecture) announced on 13 October that 0.91 μSv/h was found in a location in a park where a citizen group had found 5.82 μSv/h on 12 October. At a ceramic-made grass burning equipment it was 1.40 μSv/h. The spots have been designated as no entry zones and surface removal has been undertaken. 1.40 μSv/h is the highest record so far in that city. The municipality "does not want to treat lightly" the measurement difference with the citizen group, which is higher than the normal variation that is observed in one day's time.

http://radioactivity.mext.go.jp/ja/1910/2011/10/17485.pdf Niigata and Akita helicopter survey results.
http://radioactivity.mext.go.jp/ja/5000/2011/10/5000_1013.pdf Aichi helicopter survey plan.

TBS video news about Setagaya, made before discovering the bottles. About the helicopter surveys, it is explained that helicopters display mean values, and are not able to detect small hot spots. Then there is a report about a junior high school in Ota ward, where 1.01 μSv/h was found. 13 among 37 schools in Ota ward were found with "high levels" of radiations. Then there is a report about the 1.40 μSv/h spot in Funabashi. Then it is about the schools and kindergartens in Karuizawa, Nagano prefecture, where a survey found results between 0.05 and 1.7 μSv/h. Then the video goes back to Setagaya with a university professor detecting radium-226 with a 90% probability with his measuring instrument, and suspecting the radiation is not Fukushima-related.

 

[Bodge]

"in Funabashi, city workers cordoned off an area near a children’s theme park when a citizens’ group detected a level there of 5.82 microsieverts per hour"

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world...around-tokyo/2011/10/13/gIQA6XqHhL_story.html

Maybe there are radioactive bottles buried everywhere

 

[tsutsuji]

http://new-fukushima.jp/result.php?kind_detail%5B%5D=%E3%82%B7%E3%83%AD%E3%83%A1%E3%83%90%E3%83%AB&start_year=2011&start_month=8&end_year=2011&end_month=10&search_area=&hyoji=all&x=25&y=15 In Iwaki, Fukushima prefecture, shiromebaru fish (Sebastes cheni) caught on on 8 September was found with 1200 Bq/kg of Cs-137 and the one caught on 5 October had 420 Bq/kg.

http://www.asahi.com/national/update/1014/TKY201110130770.html Picture of the Setagaya bottles. The picture caption reads "tens of bottles where radioactive radium 226 was found. Some of them are filled with powder".

Another TBS video saying that radium was detected from the Setagaya bottles and that the ministry of education and science believes for this reason that this event is not related to Fukushima Daiichi. The video contains no precise explanation about the contents of the blue box that is carried from the house to the car.

http://mainichi.jp/area/tokyo/news/20111012ddlk13040260000c.html 208 measurements were made from 6 to 11 October 5 cm above ground below rain gutters near flowerbeds in 25 primary schools, 12 junior high schools, 5 kindergartens and 1 nursery in Ota ward, Tokyo. 30 measurements at 13 of these schools are above the 0.25 μSv/h limit.

 

[zapperzero]

http://new-fukushima.jp/result.php?kind_detail%5B%5D=%E3%82%B7%E3%83%AD%E3%83%A1%E3%83%90%E3%83%AB&start_year=2011&start_month=8&end_year=2011&end_month=10&search_area=&hyoji=all&x=25&y=15 In Iwaki, Fukushima prefecture, shiromebaru fish (Sebastes cheni) caught on on 8 September was found with 1200 Bq/kg of Cs-137 and the one caught on 5 October had 420 Bq/kg.

That's... a lot. Are these fish bottom-feeders?