Radionuclides Released into the Air from Fukushima I Nuke Plant, by NISA

as announced by Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) on June 6, 2011 (on page 13 of the PDF file). Click on the image below to view it in a separate window:

What's interesting about the numbers in the chart is:

1. Radioactive strontium came more from Reactor 2 and Reactor 3, 1 to 2-digit higher.

2. More plutonium came out from Reactor 2, 2-digit higher, not from Reactor 3 with MOX-fuel.

Strontium-89 (in becquerels)
Reactor 1： 8.2 x 10^13 (or 82 terabecquerels)
Reactor 2: 6.8 x 10^14 (or 680 terabecquerels)
Reactor 3: 1.2 x 10 ^15 (or 1,200 terabequerels)
Total: 2.0 x 10^15 (or 2,000 terabequerels)

Strontium-90 (in becquerels)
Reractor 1: 6.1 x 10^12 (or 6.1 terabecquerels)
Reactor 2: 4.8 x 10^13 (or 48 terabecquerels)
Reactor 3: 8.5 x 10^13 (or 85 terabecquerels)
Total: 1.4 x 10^14 (or 140 terabecquerels)

Plutonium-241 (in becquerels)
Reactor 1: 3.5 x 10^10 (or 35 billion becquerels)
Reactor 2: 1.2 x 10^12 (or 1.2 terabequerel)
Reactor 3: 1.6 x 10^10 (or 16 billion becquerels)
Total: 1.2 x 10^12 (or 1.2 terabequerel)

Neptunium-239, which decays to plutonium-239, was estimated at 7.6 x 10^13 becquerels, or 76 terabequerels, adding to 3.2 x 10^9 becquerels of plutonium-239 that came out. Again, most neptunium-239 came out of Reactor 2, whose reactor building is more or less intact and whose Suppression Chamber is said to have been damaged on March 15 morning.

In the PDF file linked above, NISA estimated 770,000 to 850,000 terabecquerels of radioactive materials have been released into the atmosphere from Fukushima I Nuke Plant (although they are now trying to lower that number), and additional 720,000 terabecquerels of radioactive materials are in the contaminated water at the plant.

(Thank you "Kyotoresident" for reminding me to put this up, which I did for my Japanese blog long time ago and forgot to do for this blog.)

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Ministry of Environment Sets Radiation Standard for Ocean Water for Beach-Goers

The amount of iodine-131 in the seawater is to be less than 30 becquerels/liter, and radioactive cesium is to be less than 50 becquerels/liter (I assume it is the total of cesium-134 and -137) in order for the local municipalities to open their beaches.

The Ministry felt, no doubt, that it could set the limits very low because the tests done by the local governments showed there was no radioactive materials detected in the ocean water at the beaches, except one in Fukushima that detected 13 becquerels/liter of radioactive cesium.

These limits are lower than the legal density limits for radioactive materials in the exhaust water out of a nuclear power plant in a normal operation:

• Iodine-131: 40 becquerels/liter
• Cesium-134: 60 becquerels/liter
• Cesium-137: 90 becquerels/liter

They are also lower than the provisional limit for drinking water and milk for babies. By the way, did you know that the provisional standards for radioactive materials in water and milk for babies are HIGHER than those for the exhaust water from a nuclear plant?:

• Iodine-131: 100 becquerels/liter
• Cesium total: 100 becquerels/liter

Not to mention they are much lower than the provisional limits for drinking water and milk for the rest of the population:

• Iodine-131: 300 becquerels/liter
• Cesium (total): 200 becquerels/liter

The reasoning? Read the article I translated below, and be puzzled.

From Fukui Shinbun (6/23/2011):

環境省は２３日、全国の海水浴場など海や湖沼、河川にある遊泳場所（水浴場）を安全に利用できる目安とし て、放射性セシウム濃度は水１リットル当たり５０ベクレル以下、放射性ヨウ素は３０ベクレル以下とする指針値を策定した。適用は今夏限り。２４日に全都道 府県に通知する。

The Ministry of the Environment announced its guideline on June 23 regarding the safe use of bathing facilities at the ocean, lakes and rivers in Japan, setting the limits of radioactive materials in the water at 50 becquerels/liter for radioactive cesium and 30 becquerels/liter for radioactive iodine. This guidance will apply to this summer only. The Ministry will formally notify the prefectural governments on June 24.

...指針値は、放射性セシウムで１リットル当たり２００ベクレルという飲料水の暫定基準値より厳しい設定とな る。理由について環境省は「日常生活に不可欠な飲料水などと違い、海水浴などのレジャーは余暇を楽しむ選択的行為だから、被ばくは可能な限り小さく抑える のが望ましい」と説明している。

The guideline numbers are lower than the provisional safety limits on drinking water. The Ministry of the Environment explained the reasoning as "Unlike drinking water which is indispensable for daily life, the ocean bathing is a recreational activity that people choose to do. So, it is desirable to make the radiation exposure as small as possible."

　同省は水浴場開設の判断を自治体に委ねる考えだが、岩手、宮城両県は今夏、県内すべての水浴場開設を見送り、福島県は勿来を含め海水浴場を開設しない方針という。

The Ministry will leave the decision of whether to open the beaches to the local municipalities. Already, Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures have decided not to open any beaches at all within the prefectures, and Fukushima Prefecture is not going to open any ocean beaches.

Well, WHAT ABOUT THE BEACH SAND? Has anyone measured the beach sand, with the equipment that can measure alpha, beta and gamma rays? People will sit on the beach, lie down on the beach for sun bathing. Bare feet and near-naked bodies. Hello? AND OCEAN SOIL?

Maybe it is safe to swim, but I wouldn't sun-bathe on the beach unless I hear someone actually tested the sand.

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#TEPCO Opened the Double Door to Reactor 1, 500 Million Becquerels of Radioactive Materials Released (Estimate)

And that's nothing, says Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency. It not only has close to zero effect on the environment (I suppose NISA is talking only about the environment around the plant, which is already very, very bad) but the amount is nothing, the agency says (if I paraphrase..): "Compared to the much bigger release when we let TEPCO dump the "low-contamination" water into the Pacific, it's nothing! This time the amount of radioactive materials (we're talking only iodine and cesium, mind you, don't ask us about strontium and plutonium) was only 1/300th of that dump."

(Oh by the way, NISA's spokesman Nishiyama's daughter works for TEPCO, allegedly.)

Kyodo News (12:34AM JST 5/9/2011):

　経済産業省原子力安全・保安院は８日、福島第１原発１号機の原子炉建屋とタービン建屋をつなぐ二重扉の開放により、総量５億ベクレルの放射性物質が外部に放出されるとの推計を明らかにした。

METI's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency disclosed on May 8 that opening the double door between the reactor building and the turbine building of the Reactor 1 at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant will release the total of 500 million becquerels of radioactive materials into the environment.

　大気への放出とは形が異なるが、４月に海に意図的に放出した比較的低濃度の汚染水約１万トンに含まれる量の３００分の１で「環境への影響はない」としている。

The amount of radioactive materials this time would be 1/300th of the amount released into the ocean when 10,000 tons of water with comparatively low-level contamination was intentionally released; there is no effect on the environment, according to NISA.

　東京電力は、今回の放出により第１原発敷地内で浴びる放射線量は、最大０・４４マイクロシーベルトと推計。一方 で保安院は、緊急時迅速放射能影響予測ネットワークシステム（ＳＰＥＥＤＩ）を使い、海から内陸に向け秒速１メートルの東風が吹く場合、０・７７マイクロ シーベルトになるとした。いずれも一般人の年間被ばく線量限度である１ミリシーベルト（千マイクロシーベルト）の千分の１を下回る値。

TEPCO estimates the added radiation because of the operation will be 0.44 microsieverts maximum within Fukushima I Nuke Plant. NISA, using SPEEDI, estimates 0.77 microsieverts of added radiation if the wind is from the east at 1 meter/second. Both numbers are lower than 1/1000th of 1 millisievert (1,000 microsieverts) which is the annual allowable radiation limit for the general public.

　保安院によると、５億ベクレルという総放出量は、放射性のヨウ素１３１とセシウム１３４、１３７の合計値。東電 が７日に測定した原子炉建屋内の放射性物質の濃度に、建屋の容積約２万５千立方メートルを掛けて総量を算出した。屋根が壊れている原子炉建屋上部の高さ約 ２９メートルの位置から、８時間かけて放出されると想定した。

According to NISA, 500 million becquerels is the total of radioactive iodine-131, cesium-134 and cesium 137. The number was calculated by multiplying the amount of radioactive materials inside the reactor building that TEPCO measured on May 7 by 25,000 cubic meters (volume of the building). NISA assumed the radioactive materials to be released from the height of 29 meters (upper part of the reactor building) for 8 hours.

Since the pressure inside the reactor building is lower than the outside by design, when TEPCO opened the double door the cooler outside air got sucked in, and the radioactive air that was inside the building was pushed up and out of the building through the roof that had collapsed by the explosion on March 12.

And they chose to open the door at night, when the outside air was even colder. So the whole point of this exercise was to release as much radioactive air as possible out of the reactor building, it seems. They could have chosen to do it during the day when the outside air was warmer, but that wouldn't have pushed out as much radioactive hot air as they would have liked.

Meanwhile, Asahi Shinbun says the radiation level even after the air-filtering system had supposedly reduced it to a safer level still measured several 10s of millisieverts/hr up to 700 millisieverts/hr, and the workers were exposed to as much as 10.56 millisieverts radiation for the work that lasted 29 minutes from 4:18AM JST on May 9.

Seven TEPCO employees and two from NISA entered the reactor building to measure the radiation levels at various spots inside the building.

That doesn't sound low to me. But Asahi reports that TEPCO is going to remove the air-filtering system they just installed, and continue to have human workers work inside the reactor building to install the water cooling system

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#Fukushima Crisis? What Crisis? EPA Stops Special Monitoring of Radiation in the US

Now, you get to know how radioactive your water and milk is once every quarter, like the good old pre-Fukushima times.

They don't even test fish. I'm sure they are so ready when the highly contaminated water from Fukushima reach California as early as next year.

From EPA's announcement on May 5, 2011 (emphasis is mine):

Last updated on Thursday, May 05, 2011 at 2:45:37 PM.

Due to the consistent decrease in radiation levels across the country associated with the Japanese nuclear incident, EPA will update the daily data summary page only when new data are posted. Historical daily data summaries will continue to be accessible from this webpage.

After a thorough data review showing declining radiation levels related to the Japanese nuclear incident, EPA has returned to the routine RadNet sampling and analysis process for precipitation, drinking water and milk.

As always, EPA's RadNet system of more than 100 stationary monitors will continue to provide EPA scientists near-real-time data on the slightest fluctuations in background radiation levels. Due to the consistently decreasing radiation levels, EPA is evaluating the need to continue operating the additional air monitors deployed in response to the Japan nuclear incident. EPA will continue to analyze air filters and cartridges from all air monitors as they arrive at the laboratory and will post the data as available.

In accordance with normal RadNet protocol, EPA will be analyzing milk and drinking water samples on a quarterly basis and precipitation samples as part of a monthly composite. The next round of milk and drinking water sampling will take place in approximately three months.

It is important to note that all of the radiation levels detected by RadNet monitors and sampling have been very low, are well below any level of public health concern, and continue to decrease over time. EPA continues to work with federal partners to monitor the situation in Japan and stands prepared to accelerate radiation sampling and analysis if the need arises. Data will continue to be available on EPA's public website.

This blog has a post about the RadNet monitoring in California, where EPA relies on volunteers to collect filters because it fits their lifestyle. And their "near real-time" data is probably 1 week turnaround time, as the filters get mailed to Alabama.

(One commenter to my blog, Robbie 001, says the RadNet was out of service during the initial plume. EPA's special radiation monitoring, sure enough, didn't start until March 17.)

Now, there's another US government agency that has gone very quiet on Fukushima I Nuke Plant accident: the NRC. What are they up to?

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#Fukushima Prefectural Government Didn't Tell Residents About SPEEDI Radioactive Fallout Forecast After Reactor 1 Explosion

Just a headline now at Kyodo News Japanese (5/8/2011):

【ニュース速報…福島第１原発事故】福島県、爆発翌日公表せず　国の拡散予測図

This just in... Fukushima I Nuke Plant Accident: Fukushima Prefectural Government didn't make the SPEEDI forecast of the spread of radioactive materials public the day after the explosion.

We know that SPEEDI forecasts were done even before anything blew up at Fukushima I Nuke Plant. Now we are going to find that Fukushima Prefectural Government may have sat on the forecast even if it could have made it public and alert the residents of the danger.

Governments of all levels kill.

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#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: May 8 Release of Large Amount of Radioactive Materials?

That's what Taro Kono, Representative of Japan's Lower House, says on his May 5 blog post. Referring to an email he received from a bureaucrat at Japan's Agency for Natural Resources and Energy, he quotes from one of the email attachment - minutes of the general meeting on May 1 of the government-TEPCO consolidated headquarters to deal with Fukushima I Nuke Plant accident.

From his May 5 blog post :

5月1日の政府・東電統合本部全体会合の議事録。

Minutes of the general meeting on May 1 of the government-TEPCO consolidated headquarters [to deal with Fukushima I Nuke Plant accident]

『このままいくと8日にも高濃度の放出が行われる。』

"At the rate things are going, a large amount [of radioactive materials] will be released on May 8."

『細野補佐官から，本件は熱交換機の設置といった次のステップに進む上で非常に重要である，また，（今後，放射性物質が外に排出され得るという点で，）汚染水排出の際の失敗を繰り返さないよう，関係者は情報共有を密に行い，高い感度を持って取り組んで欲しい，とする発言があった。』

"This [not clear what "this" is, without context] is a very important step to install the heat exchanger, said the PM assistant Hosono. He also said (regarding the possibility of radioactive materials released [outside the reactor building] from now on) that the people involved should share information with each other thoroughly, and be sensitive so as not to repeat the mistakes when the contaminated water was released into the ocean."

Well, who do you think are the "people involved"?

My guess? The government people - chiefs and deputy chiefs at ministries and agencies, and maybe the governor of Fukushima, and TEPCO. When the contaminated water was dumped into the ocean, the Minister of Agriculture and Fishery was upset not because he thought dumping radioactive water was bad but because no one had told him beforehand.

The "people involved" don't seem to include the residents of Fukushima or Japan. Maybe not even the plant workers.

Aside from Mr. Kono's blog post, there is no announcement from any government ministry or agency warning the residents of the potential danger of release of radioactive materials on May 8, when TEPCO is planning to open the double door to the Reactor 1's reactor building to start the work of installing a cooling system that uses a heat exchanger inside the reactor building.

That TEPCO will start the work on May 8 is in the mainstream news, but no word on a large amount of release of radioactive materials possibly as part of the work. Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says the amount will be very small. (Uh huh.)

There are some who speculates that the cooling of the Reactor 1 by the "water entombment" is not what it seems. This journalist (link is in Japanese) says one of his friends who used to work at Fukushima I Nuke Plant as an engineer thinks the main purpose of filling the Containment Vessel with water is "wet vent". If the release of radioactive materials in large amount is expected on May 8, the reason why TEPCO is pouring more water into the Containment Vessel is to do the "wet vent" that will reduce the amount of radioactive materials coming out of the Pressure Vessel by having them go through water.

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More than 1,000 Times the Normal Level of Radioactive Cesium on the Ocean Floor Off the Coast of #Fukushima I Nuke Plant

Radioactive iodine is also 100 times the normal level.

Kyodo News Japanese (5/3/2011):

　福島第１原発事故で東京電力は３日、原発近郊の深さ２０～３０メートルの海底の土から、通常の１００～千倍の濃 度の放射性物質を検出したと発表した。東電が海底の土を分析したのは事故後初めてで「高い濃度だ。環境への影響は、魚介類を採取して分析、評価したい」と している。

TEPCO announced on May 3 that the radioactive materials were found in high concentration from the ocean soil [on the ocean floor] at 20 to 30 meters deep near Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. The concentration was 100 to 1000 times the normal level. It was the first time since the accident that TEPCO collected the soil samples from the ocean floor. TEPCO said the numbers were high, and it would conduct further environmental impact analysis by catching fish [and other seafood] and test them.

　土を採取したのは、第１原発の北約１５キロの福島県南相馬市と、南約２０キロの同県楢葉町の沖合３キロで、４月 ２９日に実施。放射性ヨウ素が１キログラム当たり９８～１９０ベクレル、セシウムは１キログラム当たり１２００～１４００ベクレルだった。通常はいずれも １キログラム当たり数ベクレルか、検出限界以下。

The locations where the ocean soil was taken are 3 kilometers off the coast of Minami-Soma City, 15 kilometers north of Fukushima I Nuke Plant, and Naraha-machi, 20 kilometers south of the Plant. The sample collection was done on April 29. Radioactive iodine was 98 to 190 becquerels/kilogram, and radioactive cesium was 1200 to 1400 becquerels/kilogram. Normally, they are detected at only a few becquerels/kilogram or ND (below detectable level).

　東電は、放射性物質は空気中に放出されたものが海に落ちたか、汚染水として流れて海底に沈んだとみている。今後、濃度が上昇しないか監視するとしている。

TEPCO thinks the radioactive materials fell from the air into the ocean, or they settled on the ocean floor after they were released in the contaminated water from the Plant. TEPCO will monitor to see if the levels go up.

　一方、文部科学省は第１原発の南約５０キロ地点の沖合約１０キロ、深さ１１７メートルの海底から４月２９日に土を採取して分析。放射性物質は検出されなかったと発表した。

Ministry of Education and Science announced its sampling data of the ocean soil taken on April 29 at 117 meter deep, 10 kilometers off the coast of a location 50 kilometers south of Fukushima I Nuke Plant; no radioactive materials were detected, according to the Ministry.

TEPCO's press release says it is still analyzing for other nuclides. Hopefully they are looking for strontium, plutonium, uranium, and a host of other nuclides we've become familiar with in the past month and a half. Don't hold your breath that the result will be announced anytime soon, though. TEPCO is disorganized, and the government wants to censor.

Here's the actual numbers from TEPCO's press release on May 3:

Location 1 (3 km off the coast of Odaka Ward, Minami-Soma)

• Iodine-131 (half life 8 days): 190 becquerels/kilogram

• Cesium-134 (half life 2 years): 1,300 becquerels/kilogram

• Cesium-137 (half life 30 years): 1,400 becquerels/kilogram

Location 2 (3 km off the coast of Iwasawa Beach, Naraha-machi)

• Iodine-131 (half life 8 days): 98 becquerels/kilogram

• Cesium-134 (half life 2 years): 1,200 becquerels/kilogram

• Cesium-137 (half life 30 years): 1,200 becquerels/kilogram

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#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: Charts Showing Release of Radioactive Iodine and Cesium into Air May Be Going Up Again

Found them @Physics Forums, posted by clancy688 today. The poster doesn't link to the original site where the charts came from. Labels are in German, so they could be from DWD (Deutscher Wetterdienst), as CTBTO does not have a mandate to disclose the data.

CTBTO stands for "Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization", and "38" is their Takasaki Station in Gunma Prefecture in Japan.

It looks as if something had happened around April 18, and both cesium 137 and iodine-131 are on the rise again in a volatile fashion in Japan. The US West Coast is following suit.

I do not know and do not guarantee the authenticity of the charts.

Unit is becquerels in cubic meter, and the red dotted line indicates the highest daily amount in Germany (May 1, 1986 in Bavarian Forest) during the Chernobyl accident.

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#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: Reactor 4 Turbine Bldg Basement Contaminated Water Rising Rapidly, Cesium Increased 250-Fold from 1 Month Ago

From Yomiuri Shinbun (10:57PM JST 4/25/2011) reporting on the first "joint" press conference of Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, Nuclear Safety Commission, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology and Tokyo Electric Power Company including Mr. Hosono, Secretary General of the Unification headquarters of measures for Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant accident, which apparently went on and on and on for hours.

"Unification headquarters" - their words and their English translation, not mine. Doesn't that sound awful?

Here's Yomiuri Shinbun, no doubt the reporter jotting down information in the presser as best as he/she could, fighting fatigue:

　福島第一原子力発電所の４号機タービン建屋地下の汚染水について、東京電力は２５日、約１か月前に比べ、放射性セシウムで２５０倍の高濃度になっていることを、事故対策統合本部の記者会見で公表した。

TEPCO announced on April 25 press conference of the Unification headquarters for the Fukushima I Nuclear Plant accident that the water in the Reactor 4 turbine building basement at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant has 250 times more radioactive cesium than a month ago.

　３号機タービン建屋から流入している可能性がある。水位も上昇しつつあり、原子炉の安定冷却に向けた工程に影響を及ぼす恐れがある。

It is possible that the water is leaking from the Reactor 3 turbine building [the two turbine buildings share a wall]. The water level is also rising. This may affect the process [outlined in TEPCO's roadmap] to cool the reactors at the Plant in a stable manner.

　東電は２１日に、４号機タービン建屋地下の汚染水を採取し、放射性物質の濃度を測定した。通常運転時の炉水の１０倍の濃度の放射性ヨウ素や、ヨウ 素濃度を上回る放射性セシウムなどを検出。３月２４日に同じ場所で採取した汚染水と比べると、長期にわたり高い放射線を出すセシウム１３４が７８００ベク レル、同１３７も８１００ベクレルで、それぞれ約２５０倍に濃度が上昇していた。また放射性ヨウ素１３１も約１２倍だった。

TEPCO took the sample of water in the Reactor 4 turbine building basement on April 21 to measure the amount of radioactive materials. Radioactive iodine was found 10 times the amount found in the cooling water in the Pressure Vessel during the normal operation; radioactive cesium was found in greater concentration than radioactive iodine. 7,800 becquerels [per cubic centimeter?] cesium-134 and 8,100 becquerels cesium-137 were found, each 250 times the amount found in the sample taken on March 24 at the same place. Iodine-131 was found to be 12 times the amount of the March 24 sample.

　建屋地下の水位は徐々に上昇しており、４月２５日午前１１時で、床から最大１・１５メートルの水深が計測されるなど、前日に比べて５センチ上昇。１週間前に比べて１５センチも増えるなど、水量全体も増加しつつあるという。

The water level in the basement is steadily rising. As of 11:00AM on April 25, the water depth was 1.15 meters from the basement floor at the deepest part. It was an increase of 5 centimeters from the previous day, and an increase of 15 centimeters from a week ago.

　また、３号機タービン建屋地下の高濃度汚染水についても、改めて２か所で濃度を調べ直したところ、１か月前に比べて１・５～２倍以上になっていた。

Water samples were taken at two places in the Reactor 3 turbine building basement that has the highly contaminated water, and the radioactive materials detected in the samples were 1.5 to 2 times as much as one month ago.

Neither TEPCO nor Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency has the data posted on their sites, and this Unification HQ doesn't have a website, nor does it release the minutes of the meetings they have had.

Asahi Shinbun says the water in the Reactor 3 turbine building basement is 200 times more contaminated as the water in the Reactor 4 turbine building basement. I suppose Asahi is talking about the amount of cesium, but the article doesn't specifically say. All reporters, MSM and freelance alike, must have been very tired.

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#Radiation in Japan: Government "Notice" to Scrub Vegetables Before Testing for Radiation

Professor Kunihiko Takeda of Chubu University says in his April 19 blog post that:

after the Fukushima I Nuke Plant accident the government suddenly changed the procedure to measure the radiation level in vegetables, and issued a notice that "the vegetables to be analyzed for radioactive materials should be taken out of the boxes, washed carefully under running water, and then analyzed."

Professor Takeda continues (my quick translation, not necessarily literal):

That caused the total loss of confidence in the safety of the vegetables.

The reason? It is easy to remove the radioactive materials on the vegetables when they are about to be shipped, soon after having been harvested. By the time they reach the consumers, it would be difficult to remove the radioactive materials as they stick fast on the surface or have penetrated inside the vegetables.

You can't trust the radiation level numbers on vegetables and other farm produce announced by the government.

There are people from Fukushima near the nuke plant coming to Tokyo and sell their vegetables saying "see how fresh they look!" That contributes to further loss of confidence.

Why? Because vegetables contaminated with radioactive materials can be very fresh, but being fresh doesn't mean being safe. In the case of mercury poisoning in Minamata, the contaminated fish were consumed as "fresh".

Municipalities are issuing a "declaration of safety" on certain farm produce like vegetables after they scrub them clean. Don't trust the farm produce from the municipalities that have issued such a "declaration".

I receive emails from conscientious farmers who have grown vegetables that people can consume without safety worries but are now at a loss how to find out whether their produce is safe.

It's a serious business for both producers and consumers.

It is the government who's creating and spreading the "baseless rumors" by issuing the guidance "to wash vegetables under running water before analyzing".

Professor Takeda's blog continues, and I will post as I finish translating.

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#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: Nuclear Safety Commission Sitting on Over 2,000 Radiation Dispersion Estimates

From Kyodo News English (4/18/2011):

The Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan has released only two computer-simulated estimates of radioactive substance dispersal since the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, although more than 2,000 of them were made, sources familiar with the matter said Monday.

The estimates were made using the Nuclear Safety Technology Center's networked computer system known as SPEEDI, or system sor prediction of environmental emergency dose information, developed and operated with a budget of about 12.8 billion yen.

The government commission released the two estimates on March 23 and April 11, including accumulated exposure to a radiation dose of more than 1 millisievert even outside a radius of 30 kilometers from the Fukushima plant that was crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

The same news in Kyodo Japanese gives a bit more details:

The Nuclear Safety Technology Center in Tokyo, who runs SPEEDI, says it has been running the simulations taking into consideration the wind directions, rain, and amount of radioactive materials released. The Center has been making the 3-hour dispersion predictions ever since the accident happened. There are over 2,000 dispersion simulation charts drawn up so far.

The reason why the Nuclear Safety Commission hasn't disclosed the simulation results is that there's not enough data on the amount of radioactive materials released. "Simulations are different from the actual dispersions, and that would lead to misunderstanding," says the Commission. However, some of the simulation charts were similar to the actual dispersions.

風向、降雨といった気象や放射性物質の放出量など、さまざまな 仮定の条件に基づいた試算を繰り返している。ほかにも事故直後から１時間ごとに、その時点で放射性物質が１ベクレル放出されたと仮定して３時間後の拡散を 予測。これまでに作成した拡散試算図は、２千枚以上になるという。

　安全委は、試算図を公表しない理由について「放射性物質の放出量データが乏しい。試算図は実際の拡散状況と異なり、誤解を招きかねない」と説明するが、未公表の試算図の中には、実際の拡散と近似した傾向を示すものもあった。

Shoot these people. They are more keen on covering their behind and staying in good grace with their benefactor the government than warning their fellow citizens.

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#Radiation in Japan: Mix and Match

Despite the media campaign to buy, consume, enjoy the Fukushima vegetables to support the farmers there, suppose you want to be selfish for yourself and your family and buy vegetables grown in areas as far away from the Fukushima I Nuke Plant as possible, and you want to avoid vegetables grown in areas under constant plumes of radioactive iodine and cesium (Ibaraki, Chiba for example). Can you do it?

No you can't.

One of my contacts in Tokyo says you can't always buy vegetables of a single origin. The sign says the vegetable was grown and harvested in "either Hokkaido or Chiba", or "either Kanagawa or Chiba". If you're lucky, you get the vegetables grown in the safe areas like Hokkaido. If you're sort of lucky, you get the vegetables grown in the relatively safe areas like Kanagawa. Otherwise, trust your government and be happy.

Scanning the tweets in Japanese, another trick that JA (Japan Agricultural Cooperative Association) apparently does is to label the vegetables as grown and harvested in "Hokkaido and other locations", "Kagoshima and other locations", etc. "Other locations" can be anywhere.

Vegetables grown west of Aichi Prefecture are still hard to buy in parts of Tokyo.

My contact is avoiding any leafy vegetables but she says there is no other choice but to buy root vegetables harvested in Chiba.

People in Japan, particularly in Tohoku and Kanto, weren't told of the huge release of radioactive materials on March 12 after the Reactor 1 building exploded. They weren't told of the even bigger release of radioactive materials with explosions on March 14 and 15. They were told about them after one month, when it was just way too late for any preventive action that they could have taken.

And now they're given hardly any choice in not consuming food that is potentially contaminated with radioactive materials. They are told that they are harming the farmers by listening to the baseless rumors and not buying the vegetables.

As if the radioactive materials were baseless rumors.

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#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: Radioactive Materials in Air on the Up-Swing Again

From TEPCO's press release on April 15, 2011:

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#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: Higher Amount of Radioactive Materials in Reactor 1 Sub-Drain Pit

After the high radioactive water was found in the turbine buildings at Fukushima I Nuke Plant, TEPCO has been testing ground water by testing the water from the Reactors' sub-drain pits.

Radioactive materials measured in the sub-drain pit and which TEPCO is ALLOWED (by Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency) TO DISCLOSE (iodine-131, cesium-134, -137) have risen materially in the Reactor 1 since April 6, particularly cesium. The result for the Reactor 2's sub-drain pit is also high.

Expect an announcement a month from now that they also found a host of other radioactive materials (like plutonium and strontium).

From TEPCO's press release on April 8 for the tests done on April 6 (top table), and TEPCO's press release on April 14 for the tests done on April 13 (bottom table):

This map shows the locations of the sub-drain pits for each reactors (marked in yellow) and the location of the deep well (blue arrow) (the column in the far right in the tables). The radioactive materials in the Reactor 1 sub-drain pit may have come from the Reactor 2.

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#Radiation in Japan: Strontium-90 Has Been Found in Fukushima

Here we go. And it's safe, I'm sure.

Yomiuri Shinbun (2:06AM JST 4/13/2011):

Ministry of Education and Science announced on April 12 that a minute amount of radioactive strontium has been found in the soils and weeds of 6 cities, towns and villages in Fukushima Prefecture including Iitate-mura, and Namie-machi.

Strontium-90 tends to accumulate in the bones as its chemical structure is similar to that of calcium. However, according to the Ministry, the amount detected this time was very minute and there is no ill-effect on humans. This is the first time that strontium was detected since the Fukushima I Nuke Plant accident started.

Iitate-mura had the highest level of strontium-90 at 32 becquerels per 1 kilogram of soil.

　文部科学省は１２日、福島県飯舘村、浪江町など６市町村の土壌、雑草から微量の放射性ストロンチウムが検出されたと発表した。

　カルシウムに化学的な性質が似ているストロンチウム９０は骨などにたまりやすく、長期の内部被曝(ひばく)の危険があるが、今回検出された量はいずれも微量で、人体への影響はないという。ストロンチウムが見つかったのは、福島第一原発事故後、初めて。

　このうち最も数値が高かったのが飯舘村で、ストロンチウム９０が、土１キロ・グラムあたり３２ベクレル検出された。

Yomiuri says "it's the first time that strontium was detected". Hmmm. It may be more like it's the first time that the Ministry thought about testing it.

Strontium-90 (Sr-90) is not easy to detect. You have to look for yttrium (Y) and deduce the amount of strontium, and it takes about a week to do the analysis and calculation.

Unlike volatile materials like iodine-131 and cesium-137, "heavier" elements like strontium and plutonium were not supposed to have spread to wider areas. Iitate-mura is about 39 kilometers (24 miles) northwest of Fukushima I Nuke Plant, on a pristine Abukuma Highlands. (Or "was pristine", sadly.)

I'm checking the Ministry of Ed and Science site for the actual numbers and locations..

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#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: "Where is Radioactive Water Coming From?"

Japan's national regulators and TEPCO still can't figure out where the highly radioactive water is coming from that's flooding the basements and trenches and shafts and how it is apparently finding its way into the ground water. Or so they say. And oh by the way that's got nothing to do with the radioactive materials found in the sea water nearby in high concentration, or so they say.

"Extend and Pretend" continues, on a grand scale.

Yomiuri Shinbun (in Japanese; 1:47AM JST 4/2/2011) has a convoluted analysis of where the water may be coming from and then may be not (original Japanese, then my translation, by paragraph):

東京電力福島第一原子力発電所で高濃度の放射性物質を含む汚染水の検出が相次いでいる。

Contaminated water with high concentration of radioactive materials has been found in many places in TEPCO's Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant.

　汚染箇所はタービン建屋の地下、建屋外の作業用トンネル、地下水へと拡大。地下水と海水の高濃度汚染の関連は薄いとの見方が強く、汚染ルートの特定は難航している。

The radioactive water has been found in the basements of the turbine buildings, trenches outside the buildings, and has now been found in the ground water. They [regulators, TEPCO] do not believe the contaminated ground water has anything to do with the contaminated seawater, and they haven't been able to pinpoint how the radioactive materials have found their way into the water.

汚染水に含まれる高い放射性物質は、核燃料棒が一部損傷した原子炉圧力容器内の冷却水が漏れ出したものとみられる。これがどのようなルートで地下 水に紛れ込んだのか。東電は、〈１〉原子炉などに放水・注水して、放射能で汚染された水〈２〉大気中に飛散した放射性物質を含む雨水〈３〉タービン建屋の 地下にたまった汚染水〈４〉建屋の外の作業用トンネル（トレンチ）にたまった汚染水――が地面にしみ込んだ可能性があると見ている。複数のルートが絡んで いる可能性もある

It is understood that the radioactive materials found in high concentration in the contaminated water comes from the cooling water from the Reactor Pressure Vessels, in which the nuclear fuel rod assemblies have been partially damaged. But how has this water seeped into the ground water? TEPCO is mulling four possibilities: (1) water that has been sprayed [on the building to cool the Spent Fuel Pools] and poured into the reactors and got contaminated; (2) rainwater that captured radioactive materials released in the air; (3) contaminated water in the turbine building basement; (4) contaminated water in the trench outside the building. It is possible that there are more than one routes.

Huh? So, the cooling water gets contaminated when the water is pumped into the Reactor Pressure Vessels to keep the fuels inside cool, because the fuel rods are damaged. Why do they (or Yomiuri reporter) have to obfuscate by bringing up rainwater? The (3) and (4) are clearly the same water that comes from (1).

What do they mean exactly by "damaged" fuel rods? From what I've read, it probably means that cladding (cover that wraps around uranium pellets to form a fuel rod) made of zirconium alloy has either expanded and ruptured or has squeezed into uranium pellets (depending on the pressure), and the fuel rods has melted, at least partially, and probably partially fused with the control rods, which contain silver and cadmium among other metals, all the while releasing radioactive materials in high concentration. A meltdown of the fuel rods forms the mass is called "corium".

There are two ways, as far I can figure, for this contaminated water in the RPVs to escape the RPVs.

One way is through the pipes that circulate the contaminated water back to the turbine rooms; either the pipes or valves connected to the RPVs are damaged during the earthquake and started to leak, and the water started to accumulate on the turbine building floor, and then found its way into the trenches and vertical shafts, which, as TEPCO has admitted, may not be leak-proof. And so into the ground water.

However, there has been no news that TEPCO pinpointed the exact leak locations. Partly, at this point, radiation is probably too high in the turbine buildings or reactor buildings for humans to enter and examine.

Another way is through the RPVs themselves, if they are indeed damaged, as indicated already by TEPCO and Nuclear Safety Commission. But if the RPVs are damaged and leaking, they are still housed in the Containment Vessels. Unless the Containment Vessels are also damaged and leaking.

Then the very awkward question would still remain; it's actually so awkward that there's no way I can mention it without being arrested by the Japanese National Police for spreading "false, harmful rumor".

So let me just copy this picture from Yomiuri, and point out something:

The RPV is on the left building, connected to the turbine on the right building. See the dotted green arrow coming from the area where the Spent Fuel Pool is located? The arrow goes from there to the floor of the Reactor building or the passage that connects the two, into the ground. Another green arrow goes directly from the turbine building floor into the ground. A light green oblong blob in the center depicts the ground water.

Now, how would the water go from the floor of the building into the ground? Unless there's a crack in the concrete floor. Is it possible to have a crack in the floor that goes deep enough in a nuclear reactor building?

How is the floor of a reactor building or a turbine building constructed? And how could it crack?

Go read this article in wiki for more on the "corium".

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#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: Radioactive Materials in Reactor 1's Trench

From TEPCO's latest update on the plant status as of 10:00PM JST, March 30, 2011(Japanese; English document contains errors in the names):

On March 29th, we detected niobium, technetium, ruthenium, silver, tellurium, iodine, cesium, and lanthanum in the water collected at the trench of unit 1

Some exotic names. The Reactor 1's trench was supposed to have been filled with tsunami water.

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#Japan's Nuclear Safety Committee Chairman: #Radioactive Fallout May Be Severe Enough to Cause Internal Radiation Exposure in Some Locations

"Now they're telling us" Part II. (Part I is my previous post, about Reactor 1 potential meltdown.) Government kills, by not sharing information. I'm sure the Committee kept refining and refining their simulation without telling anyone outside their Committee so when they presented it was neat and perfect. That's how these bureaucrats are.

From Asahi Shinbun (in Japanese, ink added; 11:34PM JST 3/23/2011), reporting the same press conference that Yomiuri Shinbun was reporting on:

Japan's Nuclear Safety Committee announced for the first time its simulation based on the SPEEDI [System for Prediction of Environmental Emergency Dose Information, collected by Japan's Ministry of Education and Science] data as to the radiation level and the radioactive material fallout following the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident. According to the simulation, in the most extreme case where radioactive iodine spreads from the Plant toward northwest and south it is possible to have internal radiation exposure of the thyroid gland exceeding 100 milli-sievert in 12 days, even outside the 30-kilometer evacuation zone.

The Committee calculated the internal radiation exposure of the thyroid gland of a one year old child, considered the most vulnerable to radioactive iodine, under the extreme condition that the child has been outside from 6AM on March 12 till midnight on March 24. The Committee calculated the possible amount of radioactive iodine that has been released, based on the monitoring data from various cities and towns.

According to the calculation, the area where one (a 1-year-old child) would suffer 100 milli-sievert irradiation if stayed outdoors all day everyday for 12 days included Minami-Soma City, Iidate Village, Kawamata-cho (the last two produced vegetables with high radioactive iodine and cesium concentration) which are located northeast from the Plant, and Iwaki City, which is located south. 100 milli-sievert is the level where the decision is made whether potassium iodide should be administered. If indoors, the level would drop to 1/4 to 1/10.

Committee Chairman Haruki Madarame and his officials told the press that they assumed the extreme case in their simulation, and that there was no need for any immediate action.

The committee started to collect SPEEDI data on March 16, and started to do the simulation on March 20 when the wind turned inland.

The red dot in the middle is Fukushima I Nuke Plant. The red dot to the south of the first one is Fukushima II Nuke Plant. The dotted circle indicates the 30-kilometer evacuation zone (20-kilometer evacuation zone, and 20-30 kilometer "stay indoors" zone).

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Radioactive Iodine in Water Plant in Tokyo, Twice the Limit for Use for Babies

From Yomiuri Shinbun (in Japanese; 2:57PM JST 3/23/2011):

Tokyo Municipal government announced that radioactive iodine twice the safety limit for the use for babies was detected at Kanamachi Water Purification Plant in Katsushika-ku in Tokyo.

The municipal government is asking citizens not to feed babies with tap water.

The affected areas are: all 23 wards ("ku") of Tokyo, Musashino City, Machida City, Tama City, Inagi City, and Mitaka City.

Water at Kanamachi Water Purification Plant was sampled at 9:00AM on March 22, and 210 Becquerel radioactive iodine was detected. The limit for the safe use for babies is 100 Becquerel.

The municipal government is advising citizens not to use tap water to make infant formula. However, the guideline is based on the continuous use, and if there is no other source for drinking water it is OK to feed babies with tap water, the government says.

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More Radioactive Vegetables from Fukushima

I wonder how long they (the Japanese government and bureaucrats) can continue to tell the gullible populace that the radiation levels in drinking water, air, sea water are safe, nothing to worry about.

Here come the numbers for vegetables from Fukushima Prefecture, as released by Ministry of Health. (And remember, all they do is to measure; interpretation of the data is to be done by the government experts and announcement to the Japanese people is to be done by the Prime Minister's Office, probably by the prime minister who has to talk "directly" to the Japanese people.)

Asahi Shinbun (in Japanese; 3:29AM JST; 3/23/2011):

Ministry of Heath just announced that the radioactive materials in leafy vegetables and broccoli harvested in Fukushima Prefecture exceeded the provisional safety limit by great margin. The Ministry is advising people not to eat those vegetables from Fukushima.

No. of vegetables found with cesium that exceeds the safety limit: 25
No. of vegetables found with radioactive iodine that exceeds the safety limit: 21

Vegetables with high radioactive materials:

• Kukitachina, from Motomiya City, 60 kilometers from the Fukushima I Nuke Plant: Cesium, 82,000 Becquerel per 1 kilo (164 times the safety limit)

• Spinach, from Tamura City: Cesium, 80 times the safety limit

• Shinobuyuna, from Kawamata-cho: Cesium, 56 times the safety limit; radioactive iodine, 44 times the safety limit

• Broccoli, from Iidate Village: radioactive iodine, 34 times the safety limit.

Ministry of Health warns that continued consumption of these vegetables may result in the radiation exposure that exceeds the safety limit for humans, and advises citizens to not to eat broccoli, leafy vegetables, and cauliflower from Fukushima.

The government committee on nuclear safety will consider halt on shipment and restriction of harvesting of the vegetables in Fukushima.

The article doesn't say which type of cesium or iodine. It does say that cesium-137's half-life is 30 years.

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