Fukushima - the continuing saga

[Jlaw]

Fukushima nuclear reactors were old tech built on 'the ring of fire'. China's new reactors are 100x safer than Fukushima

 

[hirobo2]

There are hidden costs with nuclear power.
One is nuclear accidents such as Fukushima and another one is spent fuel disposal.
If countries have not learnt from Chernobyl, let's hope they will learn from Fukushima.
Make the damn thing as safe as possible, or don't use it.

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Woman breaks silence among Fukushima thyroid cancer patients
By YURI KAGEYAMA
June 7, 2016 3:43 AM

View attachment 309973

KORIYAMA, Japan (AP) — She's 21, has thyroid cancer, and wants people in her prefecture in northeastern Japan to get screened for it. That statement might not seem provocative, but her prefecture is Fukushima, and of the 173 young people with confirmed or suspected cases since the 2011 nuclear meltdowns there, she is the first to speak out.

That near-silence highlights the fear Fukushima thyroid-cancer patients have about being the "nail that sticks out," and thus gets hammered.

The thyroid-cancer rate in the northern Japanese prefecture is many times higher than what is generally found, particularly among children, but the Japanese government says more cases are popping up because of rigorous screening, not the radiation that spewed from Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant.

To be seen as challenging that view carries consequences in this rigidly harmony-oriented society. Even just having cancer that might be related to radiation carries a stigma in the only country to be hit with atomic bombs.

"There aren't many people like me who will openly speak out," said the young woman, who requested anonymity because of fears about harassment. "That's why I'm speaking out so others can feel the same. I can speak out because I'm the kind of person who believes things will be OK."

She has a quick disarming smile and silky black hair. She wears flip-flops. She speaks passionately about her new job as a nursery school teacher. But she also has deep fears: Will she be able to get married? Will her children be healthy?

She suffers from the only disease that the medical community, including the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, has acknowledged is clearly related to the radioactive iodine that spewed into the surrounding areas after the only nuclear disaster worse than Fukushima's, the 1986 explosion and fire at Chernobyl, Ukraine.

Though international reviews of Fukushima have predicted that cancer rates will not rise as a result of the meltdowns there, some researchers believe the prefecture's high thyroid-cancer rate is related to the accident.

The government has ordered medical testing of the 380,000 people who were 18 years or under and in Fukushima prefecture at the time of the March 2011 tsunami and quake that sank three reactors into meltdowns. About 38 percent have yet to be screened, and the number is a whopping 75 percent for those who are now between the ages of 18 and 21.

The young woman said she came forward because she wants to help other patients, especially children, who may be afraid and confused. She doesn't know whether her sickness was caused by the nuclear accident, but plans to get checked for other possible sicknesses, such as uterine cancer, just to be safe.

"I want everyone, all the children, to go to the hospital and get screened. They think it's too much trouble, and there are no risks, and they don't go," the woman said in a recent interview in Fukushima. "My cancer was detected early, and I learned that was important."

Thyroid cancer is among the most curable cancers, though some patients need medication for the rest of their lives, and all need regular checkups.

The young woman had one cancerous thyroid removed, and does not need medication except for painkillers. But she has become prone to hormonal imbalance and gets tired more easily. She used to be a star athlete, and snowboarding remains a hobby.

A barely discernible tiny scar is on her neck, like a pale kiss mark or scratch. She was hospitalized for nearly two weeks, but she was itching to get out. It really hurt then, but there is no pain now, she said with a smile.

"My ability to bounce right back is my trademark," she said. "I'm always able to keep going."

She was mainly worried about her parents, especially her mother, who cried when she found out her daughter had cancer. Her two older siblings also were screened but were fine.

Many Japanese have deep fears about genetic abnormalities caused by radiation. Many, especially older people, assume all cancers are fatal, and even the young woman did herself until her doctors explained her sickness to her.

The young woman said her former boyfriend's family had expressed reservations about their relationship because of her sickness. She has a new boyfriend now, a member of Japan's military, and he understands about her sickness, she said happily.

A support group for thyroid cancer patients was set up earlier this year. The group, which includes lawyers and medical doctors, has refused all media requests for interviews with the handful of families that have joined, saying that kind of attention may be dangerous.

When the group held a news conference in Tokyo in March, it connected by live video feed with two fathers with children with thyroid cancer, but their faces were not shown, to disguise their identities. They criticized the treatment their children received and said they're not certain the government is right in saying the cancer and the nuclear meltdowns are unrelated.

Hiroyuki Kawai, a lawyer who also advises the group, believes patients should file Japan's equivalent of a class-action lawsuit, demanding compensation, but he acknowledged more time will be needed for any legal action.

"The patients are divided. They need to unite, and they need to talk with each other," he told AP in a recent interview.

The committee of doctors and other experts carrying out the screening of youngsters in Fukushima for thyroid cancer periodically update the numbers of cases found, and they have been steadily climbing.

In a news conference this week, they stuck to the view the cases weren't related to radiation. Most disturbing was a cancer found in a child who was just 5 years old in 2011, the youngest case found so far. But the experts brushed it off, saying one wasn't a significant number.

"It is hard to think there is any relationship," with radiation, said Hokuto Hoshi, a medical doctor who heads the committee.

Shinsyuu Hida, a photographer from Fukushima and an adviser to the patients' group, said fears are great not only about speaking out but also about cancer and radiation.

He said that when a little girl who lives in Fukushima once asked him if she would ever be able to get married, because of the stigma attached to radiation, he was lost for an answer and wept afterward.

"They feel alone. They can't even tell their relatives," Hida said of the patients. "They feel they can't tell anyone. They felt they were not allowed to ask questions."

The woman who spoke to AP also expressed her views on video for a film in the works by independent American filmmaker Ian Thomas Ash.

She counts herself lucky. About 18,000 people were killed in the tsunami, and many more lost their homes to the natural disaster and the subsequent nuclear accident, but her family's home was unscathed.

When asked how she feels about nuclear power, she replied quietly that Japan doesn't need nuclear plants. Without them, she added, maybe she would not have gotten sick.

___

Ash's video interview:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpmdZYCRIZfvTtTE1sbY3ynaGsfDYmNWn

___

Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at https://twitter.com/yurikageyama

Her work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/yuri-kageyama

Except for the ear piercing, which I detest, that girl looks really pretty.

Anyways, not denying the 3-11 tsunami that caused all of this, but a lot of the Fukushima news is overhyped. One only needs to look at the uranium spot price chart to see why. Prior to 3-11 tsunami in Japan, uranium prices (and stocks) boomed like it was in a tulip bulb mania market. It profited everyone who shorted uranium at the market top to make news of Fukushima even years after the 3-11 incidence to drive down uranium prices....

Look at this crazy U308 chart. The insiders needed Fukushima/ 3-11 2011 to drive the sucker down hard afterwards!

 

[Jlaw]

Except for the ear piercing, which I detest, that girl looks really pretty.

Anyways, not denying the 3-11 tsunami that caused all of this, but a lot of the Fukushima news is overhyped. One only needs to look at the uranium spot price chart to see why. Prior to 3-11 tsunami in Japan, uranium prices (and stocks) boomed like it was in a tulip bulb mania market. It profited everyone who shorted uranium at the market top to make news of Fukushima even years after the 3-11 incidence to drive down uranium prices....

Look at this crazy U308 chart. The insiders needed Fukushima/ 3-11 2011 to drive the sucker down hard afterwards!

interesting. The same thing with put options weeks prior to 9-11. It was trading 3x the normal average day volume.

 

[ahojunk]

from Japan Times. I don't think the Abe government is doing enough wrt nuclear reactor safety.
This may come back and bite them again and again.

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Former nuclear regulatory body official calls for review of safety screening method
JUN 12, 2016

Japan needs to review its current method for screening nuclear plant safety, seismologist and former senior regulator Kunihiko Shimazaki said in a recent interview.

The current method risks underestimating the magnitude of possible earthquakes that may hit nuclear plants, Shimazaki, former acting chairman of the Nuclear Regulation Authority, said.

“A review is needed” for the method to calculate the design basis quakes that is currently adopted in the NRA’s screening procedures, he said.

Shimazaki said that he has confirmed the need for such a review after examining data on powerful quakes that hit Kumamoto Prefecture and other areas in Kyushu in April.

“The NRA has to be aware that the current screening procedures have shortcomings,” he said, adding it is “very dangerous to keep using the method.”

Before leaving the NRA in September 2014, Shimazaki was in charge of assessing quake and tsunami impacts in its nuclear safety screening.

The current method risks underestimating design basis quakes when it is applied to vertical faults found mainly in western Japan, according to him.

The design basis quakes for Kansai Electric Power Co.’s Takahama and Oi nuclear plants, both in Fukui Prefecture, and Kyushu Electric Power Co.’s Genkai nuclear plant in Saga Prefecture, should be recalculated based on a different method, he said.

The NRA should draw up a revised method by taking into account new data, including on strong tremors such as the Kumamoto quakes, Shimazaki said.

The Nos. 3 and 4 reactors at the Takahama plant have passed the NRA’s safety screening. The NRA is expected to approve Kansai Electric’s request for extending operational periods at the plant’s Nos. 1 and 2 reactors beyond 40 years, a basic lifetime for nuclear reactors in Japan.

 

[GS Zhou]

Safety performances of CAP1400, the newest China-developed nuclear power station.

In case a Fukushima-alike earthquake/tsunami occurred to CAP1400, the passive safety system, with no human intervention, is able to keep the CAP1400 safe for 72hours. The traditional reactor could only assure a 30min safety time (with no human intervention). Within the 72hours, government could allocate sufficient technology/human resources to tackle with the nuclear accident.

 

[S10]

That 20km quarantine zone imposed by the Japanese government is far from enough to protect residents nearby. It should at least be a 50km radius.

 

[AndrewJin]

That 20km quarantine zone imposed by the Japanese government is far from enough to protect residents nearby. It should at least be a 50km radius.

I think 100km is the best.

 

[ahojunk]

That 20km quarantine zone imposed by the Japanese government is far from enough to protect residents nearby. It should at least be a 50km radius.

I think 100km is the best.

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I agree. However, looking at the Japanese Islands, there isn't much coastal land that allows for the 100 km buffer. Their islands are quite hilly.

Although Japan is caught between a rock and a hard place, they should NOT sacrifice safety.

... CAP1400, the passive safety system, with no human intervention, is able to keep the CAP1400 safe for 72hours. ...

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Keep in mind that in emergencies, 72 hours is not a long time.

IMHO, the goal is to make nuclear reactors as safe as they can be, so that in whatever situations, we don't have an emergency. If that's not possible, let's make the nuclear reactors as safe as possible.

 

[ahojunk]

I don't think the Abe government has given all the details .... yet.

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China Hopes Japan to Give True Picture of Fukushima Nuclear Leak
2016-06-15 06:42:04 CRIENGLISH.com Web Editor: Guan Chao

Black bags containing buildup of contaminated wastes are seen in the town of Iitate, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, March 7, 2015. [Photo: Xinhua]​

China has again urged the Japanese government to give an honest explanation of the Fukushima nuclear leak incident and its impact on the environment as soon as possible.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang made the remarks after the Japanese government decided to lift the evacuation order in the highly radiated "residential restricted area," allowing evacuees to return to where they used to live.

"We have noticed that since the responsible person of the atomic energy department of the Tokyo Electric Power Company disclosed on May 30 the truth that had been concealed for five years, the Japanese government has, up to the present, not made any responsible and open response to the matter."

He added that the impact of the Fukushima nuclear leak on the environment, ecology and food safety is not limited to Japan itself.

Lu also addressed the issue of whether Chinese tourists to Japan are safe.

"I want to clarify that it is the freedom and choice of each and every Chinese citizen to make their own travel plan. But the Chinese government has responsibilities to give a necessary warning when there are uncertain risks and it is the compelling obligation of the Japanese government to give an honest and true answer of the Fukushima nuclear leak and its impact as soon as possible."

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has issued an alert, warning Chinese citizens and tourist groups to be cautious when going to Fukushima, and other seriously affected areas.

 

[AndrewJin]

I don't think the Abe government has given all the details .... yet.

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China Hopes Japan to Give True Picture of Fukushima Nuclear Leak
2016-06-15 06:42:04 CRIENGLISH.com Web Editor: Guan Chao

View attachment 310543
Black bags containing buildup of contaminated wastes are seen in the town of Iitate, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, March 7, 2015. [Photo: Xinhua]​

China has again urged the Japanese government to give an honest explanation of the Fukushima nuclear leak incident and its impact on the environment as soon as possible.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang made the remarks after the Japanese government decided to lift the evacuation order in the highly radiated "residential restricted area," allowing evacuees to return to where they used to live.

"We have noticed that since the responsible person of the atomic energy department of the Tokyo Electric Power Company disclosed on May 30 the truth that had been concealed for five years, the Japanese government has, up to the present, not made any responsible and open response to the matter."

He added that the impact of the Fukushima nuclear leak on the environment, ecology and food safety is not limited to Japan itself.

Lu also addressed the issue of whether Chinese tourists to Japan are safe.

"I want to clarify that it is the freedom and choice of each and every Chinese citizen to make their own travel plan. But the Chinese government has responsibilities to give a necessary warning when there are uncertain risks and it is the compelling obligation of the Japanese government to give an honest and true answer of the Fukushima nuclear leak and its impact as soon as possible."

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has issued an alert, warning Chinese citizens and tourist groups to be cautious when going to Fukushima, and other seriously affected areas.

Japan is always hiding, from atrocities to disasters.
Hiding, denying, beautifying...

 

[GS Zhou]

World Nuclear Association says most nuclear fuel melted at Fukushima nuclear plant
Source: Xinhua 2016-06-27 15:54:52

LONDON, June 27 (Xinhua) -- Recent tests carried out by the Tokyo Electric Power Co.(TEPCO) found little or no nuclear fuel in its original location inside some reactors at the Fukushima plant, a nuclear expert told Xinhua in an interview.

Jonathan Cobb, senior communication manager of the London-based World Nuclear Association, said this after the Japanese company was again suspected to have delayed the disclosure of a meltdown five years ago.

A report published earlier this month said TEPCO's former head Masataka Shimizu instructed staff not to use the term "core meltdown" in describing the situation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex when the nuclear disaster first struck in March 2011 following a powerful earthquake.

"There is no precise definition of a meltdown, but it represents a significant level of core damage where most of the reactor core has melted," said Jonathan Cobb, senior communication manager of the London-based World Nuclear Association.

According to media reports, TEPCO had defined a meltdown as damage to more than 5 percent of the fuel in its internal manual, but the company eliminated the definition from the manual in revisions after the Fukushima disaster.

Inside-the-reactor images that TEPCO managed to get recently showed that there is "little or no fuel to be present where it normally operates in the reactor" so the utility giant concluded that most of the nuclear fuel has melted and fallen to the bottom of the reactor pressure vessel, Cobb said.

"It is true that TEPCO initially underestimated the amount of damage there had been to the fuel cores of the three affected reactors. That there has been more extensive melting will mean it will be more challenging to eventually extract the fuel from the reactors," he added.

On TEPCO's ongoing project of "ice wall" -- an underground wall of frozen soil designed to prevent contaminated groundwater from leaking into the environment, Cobb said it should further help reduce the inflow of groundwater into the site, but he also warned that such projects should be introduced cautiously to ensure that they are working as expected.

While noting that TEPCO and the Japanese government have been providing "a huge amount of information and data" ever since the accident occurred, Cobb said they often failed to give enough context and explanation to help people understand such information.

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Thanks god, hope the sea between China and Japan could reduce the potential impacts to China from the nuclear fuels meltdown.

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

That's why we should boycott their next Olympic Games, since their irresponsible behavior has caused this disastrous mess to the ecosystems of this planet. And their soil is now full of radiation which is extremely unsafe for the athletes.

 

[Akhill]

That's why we should boycott their next Olympic Games, since their irresponsible behavior has caused this disastrous mess to the ecosystems of this planet. And their soil is now full of radiation which is extremely unsafe for the athletes.

irresponsible ?? what abt the earth quake and tsunami in the first place ?? that is the irresponsibility of japanese too ??

 

[ChineseTiger1986]

irresponsible ?? what abt the earth quake and tsunami in the first place ?? that is the irresponsibility of japanese too ??

They could prevent the meltdown of the nuclear plant, but they didn't seal it.

They still acted cheaply and wanted to preserve the damaged reactor.

 

[ahojunk]

Japan used to have a good reputation, products made in Japan are synonymous with quality.

Unfortunately, it is no longer the case. This Fukushima disaster has done undue damage to Japan's reputation.

Moreover, with its economy limping along, it doesn't help either.

The irony - if TEPCO had spent a little bit more money on prevention, this disaster would not have occurred.

Remember the saying, "Penny wise, pound foolish."