Monday, June 20, 2011

#Radiation in Japan: Greenpeace Detected Cobalt-60 and High Radiation "Hot Spots" in Fukushima City in Fukushima

Fukushima City in Fukushima Prefecture is 60 kilometers northwest from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. No part of the city is designated as "evacuation" zone of any kind (mandatory or planned). It is the 3rd largest city in Fukushima Prefecture with over 290,000 people.

Shukan Gendai, a Japanese weekly magazine, had a feature article in early June (for the June 24 Issue) that described the radiation survey in Fukushima City done by Greenpeace on June 7.

The article says Greenpeace detected cobalt-60 in a park in Fukushima City.

Cobalt-60?? From the RPV??

Very rough, partial translation of the Shukan Gendai (June 24 Issue) article follows:

--------------------------------------------------

Fukushima City is in danger
Extremely high radiation detected
Our urgent, special report reveals

More than 10 times the radiation limit. Even cobalt-60 was detected. Children should be evacuated immediately, but the government says nothing, pretending not to know anything 

[body of the article]

What some have feared all along is coming true.

"This Fukushima City has become a place where children should not live. The only choice left would be a mass evacuation. But no politician understands that. Or rather, they don't want to know, probably."

Seiichi Nakate, 50-year-old man who lives in Fukushima City, could barely suppress his anger.

On April 19, the Japanese government suddenly raised the upper limit of the annual radiation exposure for children from 1 millisievert to 20 millisieverts. Mr. Nakate is the head of the organization called "Fukushima Network to Protect Children from Radiation", which was set up to protest against this barbaric act.

Located 60 kilometers away from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, Fukushima City is not in the evacuation zone designated by the government. However, it is now a known fact that the heavy radiation contamination exists in the northwest direction from the plant, in places like Namie-machi and Iitate-mura. People started to wonder from early on that Fukushima City might be in danger also.

Nakate says, "Unlike Namie and Iitate where the radiation is high everywhere, Fukushima City has so-called "hot spots" hidden throughout the city where the radiation spikes up compared to areas surrounding them. But since the government insists "it's safe", the residents are complacent. That makes the situation even more dangerous."

The residents do not know that they are not safe - because they "cannot see" the radiation contamination. Because it can't be seen, the government is simply kicking the can, doing nothing.

Fukushima City is the capital of Fukushima Prefecture, with government offices and headquarters of major businesses. Its population is over 290,000. But the government doesn't do anything.

"If the national government doesn't do anything for us, then we'll have to think and act for ourselves."

And Mr. Nakate started the network.

On June 7, an urgent survey was done in Fukushima City.

The survey was conducted by Greenpeace, an international non-profit organization for environment. Seven Greenpeace staff came to Fukushima City, responding to Mr. Nakate and his organization.

.........

The survey team started the measurement in a park located at 5-minute driving distance from the Fukushima City Hall.

There is a reason why they [Greenpeace] included the parks in the survey. On April 24, Fukushima Prefecture restricted the use of 5 parks in the prefecture to "1 hour per day" when the radiation exceeding 3.8 microsieverts/hour was detected, which was the national safety limit. Then, the prefectural government removed the restriction on June 6, one day before the Greenpeace survey, saying the later survey showed the radiation within the limit.
 
"To begin with, 3.8 microsieverts/hour was calculated, based on the high annual radiation exposure limit of 20 millisievert, and it's not appropriate. It isn't just the matter of restricting the use. Parks directly affects the health of children, and should be very carefully monitored", says Greenpeace Japan's Sato.

The survey team went to locations where the high radiation was expected - dirt pile in the corner of a park, water drain behind the public restroom. The radiation measuring equipment was made in Czech Republic, home country of one of the Greenpeace staff members. It costs about 1.2 million yen. It can not only measure the overall radiation level, but it can also identify the nuclides.

The dirt pile measured 6.3 microsieverts/hour, 1.7 times the national guideline. The staff were surprised at the high number. A pile of dead leaves in the corner measured 4.2 microsievert/hour.

Mr. Sato said, "Contaminated dead leaves should be collected in secure containers and managed for 20, 30 years. Burning them is out of the question, as it only spreads radioactive materials. If these leaves blow in the wind, they will spread contamination."

More serious numbers were to come. The ground surface with weeds behind the restrooms measured 9.1 microsievert/hour, and the area near the water drain at the restroom entrance measured 12.5 microsieverts/hour.

A local parent who accompanied the Greenpeace staff was surprised.

"Small children are attracted to dirt piles and leaf piles. They also like to play in a water puddle. I was shocked to see the high numbers around leaf piles and water. I don't feel like letting my children play in the park, no matter how safe the national or municipal government say it is."

Another thing that the survey team paid attention to was the types of nuclides that were detected in the park. They detected cesium-134, cesium-137, and cobalt-60.

Professor Kazuhiko Kudo of Kyushu University (nuclear engineering) says, "Cobalt-60 does not exist in nature. It has a half-life of 5.3 years. That cobalt-60 was detected in Fukushima City, 60 kilometers from the plant, proves that a certain amount of cobalt-60 was released from the reactor meltdown."

The survey team stood out in the summer-like heat, with uniforms, long boots, protective masks and the radiation measurement equipment. Men and women from different parts of the world that made up the survey team looked very foreign indeed in the park in a quiet residential neighborhood.

So, while the team was in the park, the residents stayed away. As soon as the survey was done, a young child went to the swing with the mother. They didn't know that there was a "hot spot" right near by.

Next, we went to Watari Junior High School, located near the park.

That day, they were removing the surface soil from the schoolyard. According to the workers, the soil was being buried in the hole dug in the schoolyard. The perimeter of the schoolyard was covered with blue tarp, because the neighbors complained. Needless to say, tarp cannot completely prevent the radioactive materials from spreading. It looked as if they wanted to hide.

Just when the team was about to do the survey, an elderly man came and started to protest loudly.

"You, why don't you stop already. There are people here who don't want to know the numbers. I say, "Stop squawking". I am a doctor, and I think there's no problem living in this neighborhood. For children? There isn't any data that proves the danger, is there?"

Spitting out the words breathlessly, he left.

We cannot criticize the man. He is also being threatened by radiation.

However, it is a reality that the Japanese citizens are underestimating the negative effect on health, because the government has emphasized "baseless rumors" more than "negative effect on health". It is absolutely necessary to recognize the danger for children and pregnant women.

Mr. Nakate did his own measurement before the surface soil removal started at Watari Junior High. The soil around the warehouse near the parking lot measured 360 microsieverts/hour.

This time, the survey team measured the soil after the surface soil removal. It was till 45 microsieverts/hour, about 12 times the limit. It is equivalent to 240 millisieverts per year [?], almost the radiation exposure limit of 250 millisieverts for the workers at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. The Greenpeace staff frowned, put on the protective suits and collected the soil sample.

Mr. Nakate said, as he looked on the work to remove the surface soil from the schoolyard,

"Look. The workers are removing the contaminated soil, and the regular class is being held as usual. What a contradiction, isn't it? This is how the government responds. Haphazard, with no long-term vision. What's most important right now is to evacuate children to safe places.

(The article continues.)

------------------------------------

There is one more segment on a private nursery school 200 meters from the junior high school. The article describes how the Greenpeace survey team measured radiation along the road that small children walk on, on the way to the nursery school. 35 microsieverts/hour under the rain gutter. At the nursery school, the principal didn't know what to do with the radioactive soil that had been removed. "We want the national government to tell us how to deal with the contaminated soil, the playground equipment. We need guidance."

Toward the end, a mother whose daughter goes to this nursery school says,

"There are many mothers who want radiation measuring equipment. Whether to send children to places with lower radiation, or to continue to live here. I wonder everyday. But looking at the silly exchange between the politicians in the Diet [she is probably referring to the vote of no confidence in which PM Kan conned everyone and stayed on], we will have to leave on our own, if we leave."

Many readers have wondered why the mothers like her don't simply pick up and leave with their children to safer places. I can tell you one reason. Unless the evacuation is ordered by the government, they don't get compensated for their inconvenience. It's not about money but children's health, many would say. These parents, mostly, know that, but not all of them can afford to do so without assistance.

And this is the government who wants to tax the money that TEPCO has given to people for their suffering because of the plant accident as "income".

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

A truly depressing article. Once a nation gives up on its children, we have given up everything.

Thanks for your work.

Anonymous said...

Indeed. At the best, the population is "accomplice".

They don't want to know. It's a classic japanese "theme" (asian I should say).

The truth is discomforting... therefore better to put it on the side and to bend reality.

Too bad for them. But you can't help such a society, against its own will.

Like you said : when a society is not willing to protect its own children, then this society doesn't deserve any respect.

doitujin said...

but when there is the data of this greenpeace survey now, shouldn't that be sufficient to get the government's support or something then?

arevamirpal::laprimavera said...

@Anon at 10:40PM, that society trusted that decent people would do what was right for other decent people. Turns out that trust was totally unwarranted. Many ordinary people are in shock that the people they thought were decent enough to do the right thing turned out to be not decent at all.

BTW, I posted long time ago that Fukushima I Nuke Plant had a mascot pet, and it was an ostrich. Talk about head in the sand.
http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2011/04/ot-fukushima-i-nuke-plant-symbol-bird.html

arevamirpal::laprimavera said...

@doitujin, probably not. Remember Iitate-mura. Greenpeace went there and measured an extremely high radiation. The government laughed at it. Then IAEA did the same thing. The government laughed at it. The government did the measuring on their own, and little by little started to change the story, but it took a very, very long time.

For Fukushima City's citizens to get any support from the government, the measurement will have to be done by the government and then the government will have to order the evacuation. At least Fukushima City government seems to have started measuring radiation on its own.

Anonymous said...

it;s time for greenpeace to come to Tokyo

Lora Morgan said...

"These parents, mostly, know that, but not all of them can afford to do so without assistance.

And this is the government who wants to tax the money that TEPCO has given to people for their suffering because of the plant accident as "income"."

I'M SHOCKED, I'M MOTHER MYSELF....what assistance ? What income ? It is matter of health and life for your child ! Just move, move to Kyushu, any other place, save your child...

I also relate to anonymous: "A truly depressing article. Once a nation gives up on its children, we have given up everything."

Anonymous said...

I imagine the good people living in Fukushima City and elsewhere in the zone of all this are in a state of complete and utter shock.

The cognitive dissonance must be massive, since they have been told all their lives this is a stable technology, and now they find out, in the worst possible way - the threat to their children's well-being - that it is not. And the lies continue, daily, from the industry. How does one unpick all that?

How to relocate? One presumably can't sell land/property/home now, since no one will buy it, so unless blessed with savings, plus network of helpful contacts to find new job, new home, new school, one is truly stuck.

Does one just remove one's children from school, and go to Tokyo, hoping it will be safer?

It certainly is an argument for renting, rather than buying a home, if one lives anywhere in the world near to one of these reactors. (Which is a lot of us in the northern hemisphere.)

Anonymous said...

cobalt-60 is highly penetrating, one of the worst nuclides going

Anonymous said...

I would be very interested to know how many Japanese corporate CEO's and members of the Japanese elite are actually living in Japan at the moment. These guys tend to have access to sensitive information via political connections.

I suspect a proportion of them may have 'relocated' to other countries many thousands of miles away. If it isn't happening already, it's something to keep an eye on as an indicator of the severity of the situation.

Keep up the blog, Ex-SKF - good work and essential for those outside Japan who care.

Anonymous said...

ok, really, I'm no expert... but if they dig up the top soil, and then burn it int he same area, doesn't that just spread the contaminate particles further around the same area? I don't know if we should be relying on experts if this is the type of ideas they come up with. a non-expert with some common-sense can do just as well or better.

Anonymous said...

Some idiot in the Government actually believes that because they raised the limit from 1 to 20, everyone should be alright with that? Ass!
Find out who the loser(s)that authorized this travesty....it's time to start getting physical here!

Your kids and you are going to get cancers that have NEVER been seen before! Your children's, children will be physically defective. But, you did keep TEPCO's profits high by staying quiet and in the city of death!

Anonymous said...

Unfortunately best analysis is that 1/2 of Japan population will perish because of radiation related sicknesses. Japan economy will collapse also. Just like Chernobyl, which assisted in the collapse of USSR. From Chernobyl 1986 to the collapse about 1993 it took 7 years. Similar fate is in for Japan and 7 years would be about 2018. Fortunately because of USSR land mass and their oil resources the recovery was assured. From Chernobyl 25 years ago parts of Europe and even England still can not be farmed because of contamination. Japan does not have the landmass or resources to recover. Unfortunate for the rest of World we all will be affected by the ripple effect.

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