For people who have been claiming the fuel racks and the fuel bundles inside the Spent Fuel Pool of Reactor 4 are broken, sorry. As far as the camera shows, there is no evidence of that.
Water is murky.
From TEPCO's handout for the press on February 10, 2012:
(UPDATE: The worker was right. I posted the TEPCO's video of the Reactor 4 SFP in my new post.)
===================================
For now, it's nothing but "hearsay" from the worker who tweets from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. But it looks TEPCO is going to let us see the what the Spent Fuel Pool of Reactor 4 is like under the water pretty soon.
The worker who tweets from Fuku I says TEPCO just did a survey of water clarity in the Reactor 4 SFP, and is getting ready to video the pool with the underwater camera.
今日は4号機で東電がSFPの透明感調査したみたい。ホントは先週やるはずだったんだけどね。
It seems TEPCO measured the clarity of water in the Reactor 4 Spent Fuel Pool today. They were supposed to do it last week.
今回の調査データを基に水中遊泳カメラで見れる日も近いでし。プール内は冷却注水を止めてしばらくすれば、うっすら燃料を目視で見れるんだけどね。ﾌﾛｰﾄ養生する前にプール内を見たときは、思ってたほど瓦礫はなかったよいな気がする。
Based on today's data, soon we'll be able to see the pool with the underwater camera. In fact, you can vaguely discern the fuel rods with naked eyes after the water injection to the pool is stopped. When I looked at the pool before we installed the floats to protect the pool, I don't think I saw as much debris as I had expected.
手摺とかは落ちてたけど…。燃料もﾗｯｸに納まってたし燃料ﾗｯｸも倒れてなかったよ。いずれにしても近い内にはっきりするでし。あとマスコミ視察もｵﾍﾟﾌﾛまではわかんないけど、4号機の間近まではいけるかもでし。
I did see some hand rails... The fuel rods were in the fuel rack, and the rack was standing. Anyway, we'll find out soon. When the media comes for another tour, they may be able to go near Reactor 4, if not on the operation floor.
So much has been speculated about Reactor 4, in particular outside Japan where some experts and some bloggers have been saying anything from "Reactor 4 is leaning like the Tower of Pisa" to "Reactor 4 building is falling apart"; some with what they say as "proof" (statements from an insider expert in Japan), some with nothing but fantasy from looking at the photographs showing controlled removal of debris. Some still insist that there is fuel core in the RPV, though I simply don't know how it is possible when you see the lid of the Containment Vessel having neatly set aside on the operation floor, with all the equipment that was to go inside the RPV is submerged in the DS Pool.
It will be nice to at least see the spent fuel (and fuel core removed from the RPV) actually in the rack, undisturbed, as the worker claims. Load-bearing walls falling down and taking the SFP down is another matter.
The last image of the Reactor 4 SFP is from May 2011, which you can view on my post here.
70.6 degrees Celsius at 5AM on February 9, 67.9 degrees Celsius twelve hours later at 5PM.
TEPCO's thinking on this: It will go down eventually, someday. (Seriously.)
From TEPCO's reference data sheet on Reactor 2 RPV temperatures as of February 9, from February 8:
Let's review the recent events on Reactor 2, a Boiling Water Reactor with Mark 1 containment designed by GE.
In October last year, Quince the robot was sent on a mission to survey the radiation levels in the reactor building. After going all the way to the top floor and measuring 250 millisieverts/hour, it started the descent, and was stuck somewhere between the 5th floor and the 2nd floor after the communication cable was either severed or disconnected. Now, Quince is on a solo mission somewhere in Reactor 2 building to monitor the effect of radiation on electronic equipment.
On January 14, 2012, out of nowhere the temperature at CRD (control rod) Housing spiked to 142 degrees Celsius, only to be plunged to -197 degrees Celsius 5 days later on January 19. TEPCO announced it was an instrument failure. The temperature there spiked above 130 degrees Celsius again in late January, and since then has been dropping down. As of February 9, it is back down to 70s.
On January 19, TEPCO conducted an endoscopy using the industrial endoscope by Olympus to peek inside the structure called Containment Vessel, inside the reactor building. Dozens of carbon-based workers, having trained on Reactor 5, drilled a hole on the CV, inserted the endoscope, and manipulated the endoscope to get the glimpse of the interior of the CV which still contains the Reactor Pressure Vessel (RPV). TEPCO was hoping to find water at about O.P. (Onahama Peil) 6000, which is about the level of the first floor, 5.3 meters from the bottom of the CV. There was no water at that level. Another peek is not scheduled in the near future.
Needless to say, the thermometers at the bottom of the RPV have not been measuring the temperature of water for a very long time, as everybody knows.
Then in February TEPCO announced that the temperature at the bottom of the RPV had been rising since February 2. TEPCO responded by increasing the amount of water injection to the RPV by 50% (from 9 tonnes/hour to 13.5 tonnes/hour) and adding boric acid. Probably as the result of this 50% increase in water, the Reactor 2 sub-drain pit overflowed.
It's not that hard to imagine the decent increase in the amount of contaminated water to be treated.
Sure. Iwate Prefecture is Japan alright. Since the company who packaged the dried shiitake claims it has mixed shiitake harvested in different parts of Japan (never mind that they did say the shiitake are mostly from Iwate Prefecture), the label can claim "made in Japan".
The photo is from the press release from Yokohama City. (Click to enlarge.)
From Sankei Shinbun Kanto local version (2/9/2012):
セシウム基準値４倍超え乾燥シイタケ、横浜のスーパーで７袋販売
7 packets of dried shiitake mushrooms with radioactive cesium 4 times the provisional safety standard sold in Yokohama supermarket
横浜市は９日、港北区内のスーパーで販売されていた袋入り乾燥シイタケから、食品衛生法の定める暫定基準値１キロ当たり５００ベクレルの４倍を超える同２０７７ベクレルの放射性セシウムを検出したと発表した。すでに７袋が販売されており、市は出荷した加工業者のある静岡県に通報、販売したスーパーに回収を指示した。
Yokohama City announced on February 9 that 2,077 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium was detected from dried mushrooms sold at a supermarket in Kohoku-ku in the city. The provisional safety limit is 500 becquerels/kg. 7 packets have already been sold. The city notified Shizuoka Prefecture where the packaging company is located, and ordered the supermarket to recall the packets.
独自に調査した市民からの通報を受け市が９日に検査した。高濃度のセシウムが検出されたのはスーパーチェーン「ビッグヨーサン」の綱島樽町店が販売していた賞味期限が来年１月１０日の乾燥シイタケの袋詰め「小粒どんこ」。静岡県藤枝市の「大塚フード」が８０グラムずつ袋詰めして出荷した同スーパーの専売品。加工業者によると、乾燥シイタケの産地は主に岩手県という。
After being notified by a citizen who measured the radioactivity [of this dried shiitake] on his own, the city conducted its testing on February 9. The Tsunashima-Tarumachi store of a supermarket chain "Big Yosun" sold these mushrooms with effective date of 1/10/2013. Otsuka Food located in Fujieda City in Shizuoka Prefecture packaged the mushrooms in 80 gram packets, which was sold exclusively at the supermarket chain. According to the packaging company, the mushrooms are mostly from Iwate Prefecture.スーパーによると、綱島樽町店では２０袋を入荷し、うち７袋を販売。ほか２店でも店頭に並んだが、購入者はいないという。
According to the supermarket chain, their Tsunashima-Tarumachi store had purchased 20 packets, and sold 7 packets. 2 other stores also had the packets but none of them have been sold, according to the chain.
市によると、この乾燥シイタケをそのまま８０グラム食べた場合の人体への被曝（ひばく）線量は、最も大きい０歳で０・００３８３３ミリシーベルト。１３歳以上では０・００２５７２４ミリシーベルトと推計され、水で戻した場合の放射性セシウム濃度は、おおむね１０分の１になるとみられる。
According to the city, if one eats 80 grams of this dried shiitake the internal radiation for 0-year-old would be 0.003833 millisievert, and 0.0025724 millisievert for people 13 years old and older. It is considered that if you re-hydrate the shiitake, the density of radioactive cesium would drop to about one-tenth.
厚生労働省が来年度の施行に向けてまとめた食品中の放射性物質に関する新たな基準値案では、食品による内部被曝線量の限度を年間１ミリシーベルト以下としている。
According to the new safety standard guidelines that the Ministry of Health and Labour has compiled to take effect in the new fiscal year [starting on April Fool's Day], the internal radiation exposure limit is 1 millisievert per year or less.
As if 80 grams of dried shiitake from Iwate with radioactive cesium is all you eat the whole year.
Two new reactors by Westinghouse (Toshiba) are to be added to the Vogtle Nuclear Plant's existing two reactors in Waynesboro, Georgia, population of about 5,800.
Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Nuclear Safety, welcomed the approval, and added, "Nuclear energy has helped curb our reliance on dirty fossil fuels and has helped reduce harmful air pollution that damages health and causes climate change."
Hahahaha.
Dirty fossil fuels? Senator, just take a look at those bags being piled up in Okuma-machi in 130 microsieverts/hour radiation, thanks to your "clean" nuclear energy gone bust.
From LA Times (2/9/2012):
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday approved construction of the first new nuclear reactors to be built in the United States since 1978. The commission’s board approved the decision by a 4-1 vote, with its chairman Gregory B. Jaczko casting the dissenting vote.
The new reactors will be added to the Vogtle plant outside of Waynesboro, Ga., and operated by Southern Co. The reactors will use light water technology developed by Westinghouse. The new reactors could be in full operation by 2016, according to Southern. The reactors will together generate 2,200 MW, enough to power almost 1.8 million homes.
Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Nuclear Safety, welcomed the approval.
"These new reactors will employ cutting-edge technology that requires fewer components than our current nuclear fleet, thereby increasing safety by providing fewer opportunities for things to go wrong during an emergency,” he said in a public statement.
He added: "Nuclear energy has helped curb our reliance on dirty fossil fuels and has helped reduce harmful air pollution that damages health and causes climate change.”
The plan to expand the plant has faced opposition from Congressman Edward Markey (D-Mass.) and environmental groups including Friends of the Earth, which questioned the safety of the reactor design in the wake of the damage caused to nuclear power plants in Fukushima, Japan, by an earthquake last year.
“Today, the NRC abdicated its duty to protect public health and safety just to make construction faster and cheaper for the nuclear industry,” Markey said in a statement.
The Department of Energy is expected to provide $8.3 billion in conditional loan guarantees for the construction of the reactors.The last reactor granted approval by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission came shortly before the Three Mile Island nuclear incident in 1979.
It will be Westinghouse's AP1000 pressure-water reactors, untested in the real world anywhere. The local community of Waynesboro, Georgia is very excited about the new construction, because it creates jobs for the community and double the tax revenue. (It's the same anywhere in the world, how these things are sold.)
Here's a USA Today article from March 18, 2011, after Reactors 1, 3, 4, 2 had explosive events at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. The comment from the mayor of Waynesboro can be from any mayors around any nuclear power plant in Japan - in the plant operator we trust, the giver of shining new town halls, schools, recreation centers:
A nuclear plant disaster in Japan has done little to change the thinking about nuclear energy in Waynesboro, Ga., where the USA's first nuclear power plant construction in decades is planned.
Mayor George DeLoach, 70, says people in Waynesboro trust Southern Co., which is expanding its Alvin W. Vogtle Electric Generating Plant from two nuclear reactors to four.
"We have a lot of confidence in the Southern Co.," says DeLoach, who is in his 16th year as mayor. "The plant is over 20 years old. It's been operating since the late '80s and we haven't had a serious accident or complaint out there. They do a great job."
.....
Plant Vogtle is a source of considerable largesse in Waynesboro, which bills itself as the Bird Dog Capital of the World for the Georgia Field Trials held there since 1901. Vogtle is the county's largest employer and generates about $25 million annually in utilities taxes — 70% of the local tax base. That is expected to double to between $50 million and $60 million with the new reactors, which will generate 3,000 construction jobs and 800 to 900 new permanent positions, the mayor says.
"We have five new schools, a new hospital, a new library and one of the best rural emergency management systems in the state," he says. "The nuclear plant in Japan was built in 1971. That's 40 years. We've had a lot of new technology that's come out since that plant was built in Japan."
The last bit sounds just like Japanese. Oh we have new technology now, we're not Japan.
That's what the Japanese have said all along. We have new technology now, we're not America (referring to TMI), we're not Russia (Chernobyl). In fact, they still say that regarding the state-of-the-art decontamination technologies of bags and screw drivers.
I'm sure Chinese and Indians are saying it too. We have new technology now, we're not Japan, the US, or Russia.
And so it goes.
What is the point here?
Contract workers pile up plastic bags containing highly contaminated soil on the ground in one of the most contaminated area in the entire Fukushima Prefecture. (Photo from Yomiuri)
This particular location, Ottozawa District of Okuma-machi (where Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant is located), regularly measures well over 100 microsieverts/hour in air radiation 1 meter off the ground.
Just 6 days ago (2/3/2012 in Japan), the air radiation was 130 microsieverts/hour in Ottozawa District, according to Fukushima Minyu. The newspaper says the levels of radiation haven't changed much.
At 130 microsieverts/hour, if one stands there 24/7 for a year, it will be 1138.8 millisieverts, or 1.138 sievert, per year. (Only Professor Wade Allison may say it is safe.)
To say Ottozawa District is "inside the 20 kilometer radius no entry zone", as Yomiuri in the article below does, is a severe understatement. Ottozawa is within 3 kilometers from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. Some of the public facilities of Ottozawa District are right up against the plant compound.
From Yomiuri Shinbun (2/10/2012):
政府は９日、東京電力福島第一原発から半径２０キロ・メートル圏の警戒区域にある福島県大熊町夫沢(おっとざわ)地区で、除染モデル事業で出た廃棄物を仮置き場に搬入する様子を報道関係者に初めて公開した。
On February 9, the national government invited the press for the first time to the temporary storage site of the waste from the government's decontamination model project. The storage site is located in Ottozawa District in Okuma-machi in Fukushima Prefecture, inside the 20-kilometer radius "no entry zone".
公開されたのは第一原発から約３キロ・メートルにある町営野球場グラウンドの２か所。この日の夫沢地区の放射線量は高い所で毎時７０マイクロ・シーベルトを超えていた。国の調査地点の中では最高値だ。
Two locations on the town's baseball ground, 3 kilometers from the plant, were shown to the press. The radiation levels in Ottozawa District on February 9 exceeded 70 microsieverts/hour in some locations. The radiation levels [in Ottozawa District] are the highest among the locations regularly monitored by the government.
作業員は防護服にマスク姿の重厚ないでたちで、汚染された土や草などが入った約１トンの袋を次々と積み上げていた。作業員の１人は「防護マスクは息苦しいし、ゴム手袋だから手がかじかんで重労働」と話した。
The workers in protective clothing and face masks were piling up 1-tonne bags of contaminated soil and vegetation. One of the workers said, "The protective mask is suffocating, and my hands are freezing because of the rubber gloves. It's a hard work."
袋を置く地面には遮水シートなどが４層にも敷いてあった。袋を積み上げた後はさらに３層のシートなどで覆い、最後には土をかぶせる予定だ。事業を受託する日本原子力研究開発機構の担当者は、「放射線は９８％遮蔽できる」と説明した。
Four protective layers, including water-shielding sheet, were laid on the ground where the bags were being put. After the bags are piled up, they will be covered with 3 layers of sheet, which they will be covered with dirt. The Japan Atomic Energy Agency who contracted the decontamination work explains, "98% of radiation [coming from the bags] can be shielded."
Well, there is no information in the article what's the radiation coming from the bags that contain extremely contaminated soil right near the nuke plant. The workers, as far as Yomiuri reports, are not concerned about radiation but inconvenience of having to work in the protective gear which does not shield radiation.
There is no information on whether the workers are JAEA employees or the contract workers, but judging from the remark by one of the workers in the article, it is likely to be the latter. I hope they were fully informed of the risks and paid accordingly, but hope is a dirty word.
My uneducated guess is that the radiation coming off the bags can be measured in millisieverts, not in microsieverts.
More on the 2 Russian bombers over Japan from The Voice of Russia (2/9/2012):
Russian "bears" fly over Pacific
Two Russian long-distance aircraft of the TU-95MS class have carried out a routine patrol mission over a neutral area of the Pacific Ocean, a Defense Ministry spokesman has told reporters.
At various stages, the “bear” bombers were accompanied by Su-27 jet fighters and A-50 reconnaissance planes. All the flights were in strict compliance with international regulations on the use of airspace over neutral waters, the spokesman said. Earlier, the Japanese media rang the bell over 5 Russian warplanes spotted near Japan’s border.
(IF)
There was absolutely no mention of jet fighters and reconnaissance planes in Japanese news. I wonder how many Japanese jet fighters they "escorted" this time. (In December 2010, the Russian long-range bombers "escorted" 10 Japanese jet fighters.)
(H/T anon reader)
From Asahi Shinbun (2/8/2012):
東京湾の海底で、放射性セシウムが深さ２０センチ以上の泥まで達していることが近畿大の調査でわかった。地上の土壌では５センチ以内に９割以上とどまるが、海底では逆に深い方が濃くなる場所もあった。
A survey by Kinki University has revealed that radioactive cesium has reached the depth of 20 centimeters of the ocean mud in Tokyo Bay. More than 90% of radioactive cesium stays within 5 centimeters from the soil surface on land, but on the ocean floor there are spots where the deeper soil contains more radioactive cesium.
セシウムを含む海底の泥を食べた生物が、泥の中に排泄（はいせつ）するためとみられる。山崎秀夫教授（環境解析学）は「海洋汚染への影響を考えると、深く埋まるのが早まるのはいいことだ」としている。
It may be because of the feces of the organisms in the mud that eat the mud containing cesium. Professor Hideo Yamazaki (environmental analysis) says, "It is a good thing that radioactive cesium gets buried deep quickly, when we consider the impact on marine contamination."
山崎教授は昨年８月、東京湾の荒川河口付近の４カ所で海底の泥を掘って調べた結果、放射性セシウムが深さ２４～２６センチのところでも確認された。別の場所では１２～１４センチでの濃度が最も高かった。セシウムはいずれも東京電力福島第一原発から出たとみられる。
Professor Yamazaki collected the mud on the ocean floor at 4 location near the mouth of River Arakawa that flows into Tokyo Bay last August. Radioactive cesium was found in the mud 24 to 26 centimeters deep. In other locations, the highest concentration of radioactive cesium was found between 12 to 14 centimeters deep. Cesium is considered to have come from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant.
I'm not sure if it's a good thing.
Asahi's article, since the full version is only available to paid subscribers, doesn't mention the density of radioactive cesium. But Professor Yamazaki was featured in the NHK documentary on marine contamination (aired on 1/15/2012), and in that documentary the mud collected from the mouth of Edogawa River was found with 872 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium. (I'll write about the NHK documentary later.)
(From the mirror video at Tokyo Brown Tabby)
This is a mirrored video from http://youtu.be/uNiOr3odYpw
The original video description: Japan reggae artists MC Rankin and Dub Ainu Band deliver a cautionary message about radioactive material through this song and music video "You Can't See It, and You Can't Smell It Either."
"You can't see it, and you can't smell it either - 誰にも見えない、匂いもない 2011- "
By Rankin Taxi & Dub Ainu Band Words & Music: Rankin Taxi
If you pronounce "Nuclear" like Japanese, nyu-ku-ri-ah, it sort of rhymes with Fukushima, fu-ku-shi-mah
Date City in Fukushima Prefecture is located in the high-radiation "Nakadori" middle third of the prefecture. The farm soil is so contaminated that if the rice farmers are to be prohibited from growing rice in the areas that produced rice that contained more than 100 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium last year, nearly 64% of the rice paddies in Date city cannot be cultivated this year (link goes to Asahi Shinbun Fukushima local version 2/8/2012).
So what does the city do? Force the farmers to till the land, or the land will be considered "abandoned". The city is threatening the farmers who didn't grow last year to till the land this year if they want to remain farmers.
Tokyo Shinbun has the story that I haven't seen anywhere else yet.
From Tokyo Shinbun (2/8/2012):
米から国の基準を上回る放射性物質が検出された福島県伊達市で、土壌汚染や被ばくへの懸念から耕作できなかっ た農家に対し、市農業委員会が田畑を耕作放棄地と扱う通知を出した。「農地として適切に利用されていない」として耕すよう指導。一月中旬に通知を受けた同 市の小野寛さん（５１）は「耕すと放射性物質が土に混ざる」と困惑している。
Radioactive materials exceeding the national provisional standard have been found in rice harvested in Date City in Fukushima Prefecture last year. But the city's Agricultural Committee has sent notices to the farmers who didn't farm last year because of soil contamination and fear of the radiation exposure, and told them their farmland will be considered abandoned. The committee is instructing the farmers to till the farmland, because their land is "not appropriately utilized as farmland". One of the farmers, Hiroshi Ono (age 51) in Date City, is bewildered. "If I till, I'll mix up radioactive materials in the soil."
各自治体の農業委員会は農地法に基づき、年に一度、耕作放棄地を調査。最初の指導通知が届いた時点で耕作放棄地扱いとなり、所有者は原則的に新たな農地取得ができなくなる。同市農業委は今回、二百件ほどの指導通知を出した。
The Agricultural Committees in municipalities conduct the annual survey of the abandoned farmland, in accordance with the Agricultural Land Act. As soon as the farmers receive the notice, their land is considered abandoned, and the owners (farmers) are basically prohibited from acquiring new farmland. This time, Date City's Agricultural Committee has issued about 200 such notices.
小野さんは二千平方メートルの田畑で米と小麦を栽培。主に自家用だが、一部を販売している。米は、秋から育てたライ麦を刈り倒して雑草などを抑える独自の有機栽培をしてきた。
Ono grows rice and wheat on his 2000 square-meter plot. The crops are mostly for own consumption, but he sells part of the crops. He grows organic rice with his own unique method of suppressing weeds by growing rye in fall and cutting it down when the rice season arrives.
昨年三月の原発事故で、田畑は毎時三マイクロシーベルトと高い線量が検出された。単純計算で年間二〇ミリシーベルトを超え、政府が避難を促す基準 を超える値だ。「作っても食べられない」と判断し田植えをやめた。土ぼこりなどを吸って被ばくする懸念があったため、ライ麦と小麦の収穫もせず、田畑はそ のままにしていた。「除染さえできれば耕作するつもりだった。放棄したわけじゃない」。小野さんは農業委員会に通知を取り消すよう求めたが、受け入れられなかった。
After the nuclear plant accident in March last year, his farmland measured high radiation, 3 microsieverts/hour. The annual cumulative radiation would exceed 20 millisieverts, the level at which the national government would prompt evacuation. "Even if I grow, the crops won't be edible." He didn't plant rice last year. Since there was a worry of internal radiation exposure from inhaling dust from the land, he didn't even harvest rye and wheat, and didn't do anything with his farmland. "If decontamination was possible, I was going to grow crops. It's not that I abandoned." Ono asked the Agricultural Committee to rescind the notice, but the committee refused.
農地法には、災害時などは耕作放棄地扱いしないとの規定がある。農林水産省の担当者は「農業委に判断は委ねられるが、一般論として原発事故があった福島なら放射線への懸念は災害にあたるだろう」と説明する。
There is a clause in the Agricultural Land Act that says the farmland is not considered abandoned in a disaster. The people in charge at the Ministry of the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries say, "Ultimately it is up to each Agricultural Committee, but generally speaking, the concern for radiation in Fukushima after the nuclear plant accident should be considered a disaster."
しかし、市農業委は「高線量のホットスポット以外の地域は、放射能への懸念があっても特別扱いはしていない」との見解。一方で、伊達市では農地の除染方法を検討中としてまだ決めていない。
However, Date City's Agricultural Committee's stance is that the committee "will not make any special case for radiation concern unless it is a high-radiation hot spot". Meanwhile, Date City still hasn't come up with the plan to decontaminate the farmland.
小野さんは「耕作すれば放射性物質が混ざり、自然になくなるのを待つしかない。セシウムは半減期が三十年もあるのに、どうすればいいのか」と力なく語る。
Ono sounds helpless when he says, "If I till the land, radioactive materials will be mixed up, and all I can do is to wait for them to disappear naturally. Half life of cesium is 30 years. What am I going to do?"
＜原発事故による耕作規制＞ 農林水産省は昨年、避難区域と土壌調査で１キログラム当たり５０００ベクレルを超える地域の米の作付けを制限。伊達市 は対象外だが、避難区域に近い地域では米から国の暫定規制値（１キログラム当たり５００ベクレル）を超えるセシウムが検出された。規制値は１キログラム当 たり１００ベクレルに引き下げられる見込みで、農水省は今年も作付け制限を検討。除染方法は、表土を地中深くに埋めるなど農水省がいくつか案を示している が、最終的には自治体が方法を決めることになっている。
Restriction of farming due to the nuclear plant accident: Last year, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries restricted the cultivation of rice in the evacuation zones and in areas that were found with 5000 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium in the soil. Cultivation in Date City was not restricted, but in the areas close to the evacuation zones radioactive cesium exceeding the national provisional limit (500 becquerels/kg) was found in rice. The national limit is set to be lowered to 100 becquerels/kg, and the Ministry is considering restricting the cultivation again this year. There are several methods that the Ministry is proposing to decontaminate the farmland, including burying the top soil deep in the ground. But ultimately, it will be up to the municipalities to decide on the decontamination methods.
That's just ridiculous. It is up to the bureaucrats in local governments to decide how to "decontaminate", and who will "decontaminate" (i.e. farmers themselves), and force them to grow crops, threatening the farmers that unless they till the land, their land is considered abandoned, and they cannot acquire new land in the future.
The system is set up to punish the farmers like Mr. Ono, who wisely refrained from disturbing the contaminated land last year and did not grow radioactive rice and other crops like other farmers did.
I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
I don't have any other information on this yet, but this is what appeared in Japan's TBS News (10:38PM 2/8/2012):
防衛省はロシアの爆撃機２機が日本の領空周辺を飛行したと発表しました。
The Ministry of Defense announced that two Russian bombers flew the perimeter of Japan's airspace.
爆撃機はＴＵ－９５型２機で、８日午前９時ごろから午後９時ごろまで島根県沖の日本海側から北上した後、北方領土の上空を通過し、太平洋の房総半島沖まで繰り返し飛行しました。
The two bombers were TU-95. From 9AM to 9PM on February 8, they flew north from off the coast of Shimane Prefecture on the Japan Sea side, past the Northern Territories (the Kurile Islands) and down to Boso Peninsula on the Pacific Ocean; they repeated the pattern a number of times.
航空自衛隊では西部、中部、北部の航空方面隊で戦闘機を緊急発進させて対応したとしています。
The Air Self Defense Force responded by scrambling its fighter aircrafts in the western, central, and northern air defense forces.
That covers about 70% of Japan. It looks as if they were testing the response. Is the Cold War back on again?
Locations already jockeying for the front-runner position to become a "backup" capital include Hokkaido, Osaka, and Fukuoka.
There they go again, looking for another construction boom in the land of earthquakes, tsunamis and nuclear accidents.
From Jiji Tsushin (2/8/2012):
首都機能バックアップ検討へ＝１０日に初会合－民主
Democratic Party of Japan to consider backing up of the capital functions
民主党は、「首都中枢機能バックアップ作業チーム」（座長・馬淵澄夫元国土交通相）の初会合を１０日に開く。東京が直下型地震などで壊滅的な被害に遭った場合に備え、代替策を検討する。首相官邸や中央省庁などの機能を一時的に移す地域を特定するかどうかが焦点。３月中に政府に報告書を提出する。
Democratic Party of Japan will hold the first meeting of "the working group for backing up the core functions of the capital" (headed by Sumio Mabuchi, former Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation) on February 10. It is to prepare for the case of Tokyo devastated by an epicentral earthquake. The focus will be whether the group designates a location to temporarily move the function of the Prime Minister's Official Residence and the central government ministries. The group will submit the report to the government by the end of March.
東日本大震災を受け、国交省の有識者会議は昨年１２月、首都機能のバックアップに関する議論を開始した。同会議は具体的な地域名は決めないとしているが、既に北海道、大阪府、福岡市などが名乗りを上げるなど、誘致合戦が過熱し始めている。
The expert committee at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation started the discussion on backup functions of the capital last December, in light of the March 11, 2011 earthquake/tsunami. The committee says it won't specify the location [to which the functions will be moved], but heated campaigns to become a "backup" capital have already started among locations including Hokkaido, Osaka, and Fukuoka City.
Well, even after the Fukushima I Nuke Plant accident, they still do not (or cannot) say they should consider a potential nuclear disaster when planning a backup capital. If they do consider, there may be nowhere in Japan that's suitable.
after pumping the largest amount of water since March 11, 2011, the temperature at the RPV bottom went from 72.2 degrees Celsius at 5AM on February 7 to 66.7 degrees at 5AM on February 8.
According to TEPCO's handout for the press on February 7, 2012, TEPCO has been injecting the water at the rate of 13.5 cubic meters (or tonnes)/hour in the Reactor 2 Pressure Vessel:
The amount of the core spray system injection water was increased from 3.7 m3/h to 6.7 m3/h at 4:24 am on February 7.
The amount of the continuing feed water system injection is 6.8 m3/h.
On February 1, the total amount of water being injected to the Reactor 2 RPV was 9 cubic meters/hour.
By the way, Mainichi Shinbun reported (2/7/2012) that the margin of error of the thermometers on the RPV may be 20 degrees Celsius:
温度計は事故後、最大２０度の誤差が生じた。東電は冷温停止状態の定義が「圧力容器底部が１００度以下」であることから、誤差を最大に見積もって８０度を超えれば地元自治体に通報すると保安規定で定めている。東電の松本純一原子力・立地本部長代理は６日の記者会見で「炉全体としては十分冷えており、冷温停止状態の判断を見直す必要はない」と話した。
Thermometers exhibited the maximum 20 degrees Celsius error after the March 11, 2011 accident. Since the definition of a cold shutdown state is "to keep the temperature at the bottom of the Reactor Pressure Vessel at 100 degrees Celsius and below", TEPCO's safety regulation specifies that the local municipalities are to be notified when the temperature exceeds 80 degrees Celsius given the maximum margin of error. TEPCO's Matsumoto said in the press conference on February 6, "The reactor is sufficiently cooled, and there is no need to revise the judgment of the cold shutdown state."
So, the current temperature of 66.7 could be as low as 46.7, or as high as 86.7. That's comforting.
The ever-incurious TEPCO and the overseeing agency NISA simply pump more water into the RPV, instead of ever wondering what may be causing the temperature to rise.
Near the end of TEPCO's morning press conference on February 8, TEPCO's PR man mentioned in passing that the water from the Reactor 2 sub-drain pit stored in the temporary pool was found overflowing.
"OK, no more question?... Well then we have one last announcement for you ..."
According to TEPCO:
TEPCO has been conducting the experiment to clean the sub-drain pit water.
The Reactor 2's sub-drain pit water is being pumped into a temporary storage tank which has the device submerged in the tank to decontaminate the water.
At 9:40AM on February 8 the water was found overflowing from the tank.
The pump was stopped, then the overflow stopped.
No information yet on how much water have been spilled, on the density of radioactive materials in the water, or whether the water spilled into the ocean.
More details in the evening press conference.
Radiation's reach is indeed long. Okinawa is as far away as you can get in Japan from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, and there has hardly been any radioactive fallout. Maybe because of that, businesses in Okinawa don't seem to be much concerned about radioactive contamination in goods.
Here's an example of some Okinawa restaurants having bought firewood from (of all places) Fukushima Prefecture via a distributor in Gifu Prefecture who clearly thought it could get away with it; one of the restaurants made the traditional "Okinawa Soba (noodle)" using the ashes from the radioactive firewood, and has already served the noodles to the customers.
As usual, the familiar refrain from the government officials: "There is no effect on health." They might as well add "Just keep on smiling."
From Okinawa Times (2/8/2012):
県は７日、福島県産のまきを本島内の４飲食店がすでに使用し、うち１店舗では未使用のまきからは最大で、国の指標値４０ベクレル（１キログラム当たり）の約１１倍に当たる４６８ベクレルの放射性セシウムを検出したと発表した。別の店では、使用後の灰からも最大で指標値８０００ベクレルの約５倍に当たる３万９９６０ベクレルを検出。県は「消費者、従業員とも健康に影響が出る量ではない」としている。
Okinawa Prefecture announced on February 7 that 4 restaurants in Okinawa have used firewood from Fukushima Prefecture, and in one of the restaurant the maximum 468 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium was detected from the firewood, which is about 11 times the level of the national safety limit for radioactive cesium in firewood (40 becquerels/kg). In another restaurant, 39,960 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium was detected from the ashes after the firewood was burned, which is about 5 times the level of the national safety limit of 8,000 becquerels/kg. The Okinawa prefectural government says, "For both the consumers and the employees at these restaurants, there is no effect on health at these levels."
一方、まきを県内に出荷した岐阜県の流通業者代表は「高圧洗浄し、本巣市の検査も通っているので、大丈夫だと思った」と話し、問題を指摘されたまきは早急に回収するという。
The distributor who sold the firewood to Okinawa says, "We washed the firewood with a high-pressure washer, and it passed the test by Motosu City [in Gifu Prefecture]. So we thought it would be OK." The distributor will recall the firewood in question.
福島県産まきを取り扱っていた飲食店は窯焼きピザを提供するレストラン３店舗と沖縄そば店。レストラン２店舗のまきと使用後の灰から指標値を超えるセシウムが検出された。
The restaurants that used the firewood from Fukushima were 3 restaurants offering kiln-baked pizzas and 1 noodle shop offering "Okinawa Soba" noodles. From the firewood and the ashes at 2 restaurants, radioactive cesium exceeding the safety standards was detected.
一方、沖縄そば店は、セシウムが検出されたレストランから、使用後の灰を譲り受け、麺を製造。一部はすでに客へ提供していた。県の検査では、客へ提供する前の麺から２５８ベクレル（指標値５００ベクレル）、灰１２６０～８０６０ベクレルが検出された。灰を調べた３検体のうち、一つで指標値を超えた。
The noodle shop got the ashes from burning the firewood from the restaurant where radioactive cesium exceeding the safety limit was detected to make noodles. Part of the noodles has already been served to the customers. According to the test by the prefectural government, 258 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium was detected from the noodles (safety standard is 500 becquerels/kg), and 1,260 to 8060 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium was detected from the ashes. Of three samples of ashes, one of them exceeded the safety limit [of 8,000 becquerels/kg].
残りのレストラン１店舗と配送業者は測定中で、２～３日後に検査結果を公表する。
The tests at the remaining 1 restaurant and the shipper are on-going, and the test results will be published in 2 to 3 days.
県は、まきを使用して調理した場合、放射性セシウムが食品に付着する量は２％以下との国の指針を示し、「（まきから検出された）最大値の４６８ベクレルでも、食品には９ベクレル程度しか付着せず、この食品を摂取しても健康被害は出ない」と強調。調理する従業員についても常にまきの側にいるわけでなく、放射線を浴びる時間が短いことなどから影響はないとしている。
The Okinawa prefectural government points to the national guideline that says less than 2% of radioactive cesium in the firewood will be transferred to the food being cooked, and says "Even at the maximum 468 becquerels/kg, only 9 becquerels will be transferred to food, and there is no health effect even if you ingest this food." The prefectural government also says there is no effect on the employees who cook with the firewood, because they won't be at the firewood all the time, and the amount of time they are exposed to radiation is short.
福島県産のまきは、岐阜県の流通業者が昨年１１月に１５・７トンを県内に出荷。８・４トンをレストランに販売した。残り７・３トンは那覇港近くのコンテナに保管している。レストランで保管している未使用のまきは０・７トンで、県内の配送業者が回収し、コンテナで保管している分と合わせて、８日に大阪経由で福島に送り返す。
The distributor in Gifu Prefecture sold 15.7 tonnes of firewood from Fukushima Prefecture in Okinawa. 8.4 tonnes of it have been sold to restaurants. The remaining 7.3 tonnes are stored in a container near the Naha Port. 0.7 tonne of the firewood sold to restaurants is not used, and the shipper in the prefecture will collect them and ship it, along with what remains in the container, back to Fukushima via Osaka on February 8.
"Okinawa Soba" is like ramen noodles, and instead of brine it often uses lye from the ashes.
If you burn firewood with 468 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium, it will result in ashes with 85,176 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium (468 x 182). Even by the lax "standard" of the Ministry of the Environment, you wouldn't be able to bury these ashes in a regular dump, not to mention using it in your garden. You certainly wouldn't want to use them in your noodles, because the transfer rate from the ashes to the noodles seems rather high from the example in the article.
Radioactive beef and radioactive leaf compost have already reached Okinawa, and I hear that Kanto and Tohoku vegetables are freely sold in Okinawa.
Still, the national government, just like last year, is set to do everything to help the producers in Fukushima who have been suffering from "baseless rumors" called radioactive materials.
There was a piece of news about 20,000 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium found in earthworms collected in Kawauchi-mura, Fukushima Prefecture (20 kilometers from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant) in Mainichi Shinbun (2/6/2012).
The article says the researchers at the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, a government institution, found radioactive cesium in earthworms collected at 3 locations in Fukushima. The amounts varied significantly (from 20,000 becquerels/kg to 290 becquerels/kg), and the researchers (or Mainichi Shinbun reporter) attributed to the varying air radiation levels in these 3 locations.
Ummm, earthworms live in the soil, not in the air, I thought. Still, 20,000 becquerels/kg was high, until I read Professor Bin Mori's blog about his own experiment using earthworms.
Professor Mori found over 1.37 million becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium in excrement of earthworms he picked up in Watari District of Fukushima City, where radioactive cesium exceeding the national provisional safety standard (500 becquerels/kg) has been found in rice.
From Professor Mori's blog (2/6/2012):
生きとし生けるものはすべて放射能染してしまったのである（ミミズの銀とセシウムについて）
All God's creatures, great and small, have been contaminated with radiation (About radioactive silver and cesium in earthworms)
福島県を中心に、我々が採取してきた生物を厳密に測定すると、これまで放射性セシウム汚染していない生物はいない。だから、このブログの最後に示す本日の毎日新聞の報道のようにミミズも当然放射性セシウム汚染している。
Our study on the living organisms collected in and around Fukushima Prefecture shows that there is no organism that is not contaminated with radioactive cesium. As the Mainichi Shinbun reported today, earthworms are also contaminated.
小生は、東電福島第一原発から約６０キロ離れた福島市渡利地区で、ミミズはもっとも土壌と接触している（土を丸ごと食べる！）から、強度にセシウム汚染しているに違いないと思って、長さ５センチぐらいのミミズを多数採取した。
I collected a lot of earthworms that are about 5 centimeters in length in Watari District of Fukushima City, about 60 kilometers away from the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. Earthworms were in direct contact with soil, and so I assumed they would be highly contaminated with radioactive cesium.
それを予備的にＮａＩ検出器で一匹一匹調べた。多いものではCs-137が数万ベクレル／Ｋｇあった。すべてのミミズが強く汚染していたが個体毎に非常にばらつきがあったのが不思議であった。
As a preliminary test, I used the NaI scintillation detector over each worm. On the high end, there were several tens of thousands of becquerels/kg of cesium-137. All worms were highly contaminated, but I wondered at why there were wide variations between the worms.
よく観察すると、その理由として、ミミズに呑み込まれた土が体内にまだ残留しているミミズは放射性セシウム値が明らかに高いと思われた。
On closer observation, it seemed that the worm that still had the soil it had eaten remaining in the body tested high in radioactive cesium.
そこで、現場で偶然長さ３０センチにわたる大きなミミズを捕まえていたので、これを、水で十分に洗って室温で放置して２週間にわたって糞を全部吐き出させて、乾燥させた。それをゲルマニウム半導体検出器で測定した。乾燥させた理由は、通常放射性セシウムの測定値を乾物重あたりで表示するためでもある。（写真１）
One of my catch was a large earthworm, 30 centimeters in length. So I washed it carefully with water, and left at room temperature for 2 weeks until it excreted all the castings and was dry. I measured [the worm and the castings] using the germanium semiconductor detector.
そうすると、このミミズの放射性セシウム値は顕著に少なかった（表１）。これは意外であった。
To my surprise, radioactive cesium in this worm was significantly less (Table 1). I didn't expect it to be this low.
Table 1: Radioactivity of earthworm in Watari District in Fukushima City
Radionuclides
Radioactivity （Ｂｑ／ｋｇ）
Ratio
Ｃｓ１３４
360
42
Ｃｓ１３７
480
Ag110m
20
1
さらに意外であったのは、ミミズの糞の放射能が驚くほど高かったことである（表２）。
Even bigger surprise was that the radioactivity in the castings was extremely high (Table 2).
Table 2: Radioactivity of the worm castings
Radionuclides
Radioactivity （Ｂｑ／ｋｇ）
Cs-134
569,032
Cs-137
804,340
Ag-110m
0
念のために、この場所の土壌の放射能も測定した（表３）。
I measured the radioactivity of the soil where I got the worm (Table 3).
Table 3: Radioactivity of the soil
Radionuclides
Radioactivity （Bq/kg）
Ratio
Cs-134
37,629
345
Cs-137
44,031
Ag-110m
237
1
ちなみにこのミミズがいたどぶのヘドロから１センチ離れた表面の放射線線量値は１３．３１マイクロシーベルト／時間という非常に高い値を示した。
The worm was found in the sludge of a ditch. The radiation level at 1 centimeters off the surface of the sludge was extremely high, at 13.31 microsieverts/hour.
計算の結果ミミズは土壌の放射性セシウムを０．０１倍（８４０Bq／８１６６０Bq）しか濃縮していないが、一方では放射性銀を０．０８５倍（２０Bq／２３７Bq）に濃縮していた。
According to my calculation, the worm concentrated radioactive cesium in soil at a ratio of 0.01 (840 Bq/81660 Bq). On the other hand, it concentrated radioactive silver at a ratio of 0.085 (20 Bq/237 Bq).
ミミズの放射性セシウムに対する放射性銀の比は、土壌の放射性セシウムに対する放射性銀の比に対して、８．２倍（３４５／４２）の濃縮率を示していた。つまり、セシウムよりは銀がはるかにミミズでも生物濃縮されやすいことがわかる。
The ratio of radioactive cesium to radioactive silver in the worm was 8.2 times the ratio in soil (345/42). In other words, in earthworms [as well as other living organisms we tested], radioactive silver tends to get concentrated more than radioactive cesium.
また、ミミズの糞は土壌の放射性セシウムを16.8倍（１３７３3７２Bq／８１６６０Bq）に濃縮していることがわかった。糞の放射性銀は検出限界以下であった。
Also, I found that radioactive cesium in the worm castings was 16.8 times as much as that in soil (1,373,372 Bq/81660 Bq). Radioactive silver in the worm castings was below detection level.
ここで詳しくは述べないが、すべての生物において、放射性銀のほうが放射性セシウムよりも生物濃縮されやすい傾向にある。
I won't elaborate here, but there is a tendency in all living organisms [that I tested] that radioactive silver gets more concentrated in the organisms than radioactive cesium.
私見では、下記の記事の森林総研の報道発表は、ミミズを体内に含まれている糞ごと測定している可能性が高い。
In my personal opinion, the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, as reported by Mainichi Shinbun, is likely to have measured the radioactivity of earthworms with the castings that are still inside the worms.
Earthworms are near the bottom of the food chain in the forest. They eat dirt , or rather, eat organic materials already digested by bacteria and other organisms in the dirt. I am very curious to see if anyone has studied the effect of radiation in organisms such as bacteria in the soil.
What we need here is the ecologists who can evaluate the whole forest ecosystem, from the lowest in the food chain such as bacteria that break down the raw materials (such as fallen leaves) up the chain - worms, insects, frogs, lizards, fish, birds, and mammals. There is also another chain of concentration that may go like - bacteria that break down the raw materials, bacteria that feed nutrients from the breakdown of the raw materials to the plant root, worms, insects/lizards/birds that eats part of the plant.
Why study these, instead of human beings? Alternation of generations is much faster in them, so the effect of radiation may be easier to observe, if any.
But alas, only a handful of researchers in Japan seem even interested in studying. Most of those who did study seem to be waiting for their peer-review magazine debut.
Dr. Bin Mori is professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences. His specialty is plant nutrition.
A cold knocked me down this time for two full days. What did I miss, other than Superbowl?
The data is not entered yet in TEPCO's plant parameter page. The last measurement of the location - RPV Bottom Part - is at 11AM on February 5, at 68.6 degrees Celsius (as reported in the previous post).
So it went up 3.1 degrees Celsius in 5 hours, the sharpest rise yet since February 1.
From Jiji Tsushin (8:16PM 2/5/2012):
２号機原子炉、７０度超に上昇＝冷却水増加で対応－福島第１
Reactor 2 RPV temperature at Fukushima I Nuke Plant risen above 70 degrees Celsius, TEPCO increases water injection
東京電力は５日、福島第１原発の２号機原子炉の圧力容器底部にある温度計のうち、状況判断の基準とする西側の１カ所の温度が同日午後４時に７１．７度に上昇したと発表した。１日午後１１時時点の５２．０度から大幅に上昇しているが、同じ高さにある別の２カ所の温度計は４５度程度で安定している。東電は基準温度計の不具合の可能性を検討する一方、冷却水の注入量を毎時１トン増の同９．６トンにして様子を見ている。
TEPCO announced on February 5 that one of the thermometers on the bottom of the Reactor Pressure Vessel of Reactor 2 at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant registered 71.7 degrees Celsius at 4PM. The location is one of several temperatures that [the company uses] to gauge the situation. The temperature there has risen sharply since it registered 52.0 degrees Celsius at 11PM on February 1. However, at two other locations at the same height, the temperatures remain steady around 45 degrees Celsius. TEPCO is considering the possibility of instrument failure, but in the meantime has increased the amount of water injected into the reactor by 1 tonnes, to 9.6 tonnes/hour and see if it makes difference.
事故後の状況を踏まえ、経済産業省原子力安全・保安院が認可した新たな保安規定では、基準温度計の温度が８０度に達するか、冷却水量を１日１トン超増やす場合は「運転上の制限逸脱」となり、地元自治体に通報する。東電は１００度以下の「冷温停止」維持のほか、溶融燃料が再び核分裂連鎖反応を起こす「再臨界」防止のため、炉内ガスの分析も急ぐ方針。
The new safety regulation approved by the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency after the March 11, 2011 accident specifies that it is considered "deviation from operational limit" when the temperature taken at the standard locations reaches 80 degrees Celsius or the amount of injection water is increased by 1 tonnes [per hour?] per day, and the local municipalities have to be notified. TEPCO is planning the analysis of the gas inside the reactor in order to maintain the "cold shutdown state" where the temperature remains 100 degrees Celsius and lower and to prevent "recriticality" where the melted fuel starts nuclear chain reaction.
I wonder if the local municipalities have been notified.
So much for "cold shut down" and "end of the accident". Maybe the reactor didn't like the endoscopy done in January...
From FNN News (2/5/2012):
福島第1原発2号機の原子炉の温度が、2月2日以降、上昇を続けていて、東京電力は5日未明、原子炉への注水量を増やし、温度が低下するか確認することにしている。
Temperature of the Reactor Pressure Vessel of Reactor 2 at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant has been rising since February 2. TEPCO will increase the amount of water being injected into the reactor to see if that lowers the temperature.
2号機の原子炉圧力容器下部の温度は、2月2日におよそ52度だったが、その後、上がり続けていて、5日午前5時の時点で67.4度と、およそ15度上昇している。
The temperature at the bottom of the Reactor Pressure Vessel of Reactor 2 was about 52 degrees Celsius on February 2, but it kept rising. As of 5AM on February 5, it was 67.4 degrees Celsius, 15 degrees increase.
これを受けて、東京電力は5日未明、原子炉への注水量を1時間あたり8.6トンから9.6トンに増やし、温度が低下するか監視するとしている。
On February 5 TEPCO increased the amount of water injected into the reactor from 8.6 tonnes/hour to 9.6 tonnes/hour to see if it lowers the temperature.
原因について東京電力は、現時点で明確にはわからないとしているが、「冷温停止状態」の判断には影響はないとしている。
TEPCO says it doesn't know what is causing the temperature to rise, but says it doesn't affect the decision of "cold shutdown state".
According to the latest plant parameter data from TEPCO, the temperature at the bottom of the RPV of Reactor 2 at 11AM is 68.6 degrees Celsius, up over 1 degrees from 5AM.
By the way, the temperature at the CRD Housing Upper Part, which went up to 142 degrees on January 14, and dropped down to -197 degrees on January 19, is now back up at 124.7 degrees Celsius ("instrument failure", according to TEPCO):
Here's what TEPCO said in the handout for the press on February 4, 2012:
【Unit 2】19:20 on February 3: To improve reliability of water injection to the reactors, the injection line connecting to the reactor injection pump on the hill was replaced with polyethylene pipes and we have been changing the route for reactor injection from feed water system to reactor core spray system in a stepwise manner. After completion of adjusting water flow amount as planned on February 2, tendency of temperature rise at the bottom of PCV was observed. Thus, we changed the injection amount into Unit 2 reactor through feed water system from 2.9 m3/h to 4.9 m3/h and changed that though reactor core spray system from 5.8 m3/h to 3.8 m3/h . As for the temperature rise, the temperature at the upper head of the bottom of PCV has risen to approx. 67.2 ℃ at the highest (as of 4 pm on February 4: reference), but currently, it is approx. 65.1℃*1 (as of 5 pm on February 4). The trend of the temperature seems to be going flat and we will monitor it continuously.
The worker who tweets from Fukushima I Nuke Plant is more worried about Reactor 2 than Reactor 4.
494 leaf tobacco farmers in Fukushima will grow leaf tobacco this year and sell it to Japan Tobacco (JT), a monopoly in Japan (50% of shares owned by the Ministry of Finance) and the 3rd largest tobacco and cigarettes manufacturer in the world, next to British American Tobacco.
Did you know that there is no national safety standard for radioactive materials in leaf tobacco?
From KFB Fukushima Broadcasting Co. (2/5/2012):
原発事故を受け去年、葉タバコの作付けを断念した県たばこ耕作組合は、来年度に県中、県南、会津地方を中心に４９４戸の計４７４ヘクタールで栽培を再開する。
After the nuclear plant accident last year, the tobacco producers' union in Fukushima Prefecture gave up planting the tobacco. In the next growing season [2012], 494 farms in central, southern and Aizu region of Fukushima Prefecture will resume planting on 474 hectares.
同組合と日本たばこ産業（ＪＴ）が４日までに２４年産の売買契約を結んだ。
The union and Japan Tobacco (JT) signed the agreement for the sale and purchase of the 2012 crop by Febuary 4.
葉タバコには国の放射性物質の規準値が適用されないため、ＪＴが暫定規準値（１キロ当たり放射性セシウム５００ベクレル、放射性ヨウ素２０００ベクレル）を設けている。
The national safety limits for radioactive materials do not apply to leaf tobacco. JT has its own provisional safety limits (500 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium, 2000 becquerels/kg of radioactive iodine).
組合によると、警戒区域と計画的避難区域の１６７戸（１３６ヘクタール）と、両区域以外で土壌の放射性物質の値から、栽培すればＪＴの規準値を超える恐れの高い一部地域の１５戸（１２ヘクタール）は引き続き作付けを見合わせる。
According to the union, 167 farmers (136 hectares) in the no-entry zone and the planned evacuation zone will continue to refrain from planting, as well as 15 farmers (12 hectares) in areas with high radioactivity in the soil which may cause the crop to exceed the JT's safety limits.
By the way, JT will start selling the cigarettes made from 2011 crop. Even though farmers in Fukushima did not grow leaf tobacco last year, farmers in other prefectures did, and the harvest was radioactive. JT doesn't care as long as it is below 500 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium. The highest was 217 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium detected from leaves harvested in Ibaraki Prefecture, according to JT's data measuring dried leaves. JT has assured customers that these leaves will be used in JT's cigarettes, because the cesium levels were within the JT's safety limit.
So, for added kick, look for JT-brand cigarettes come April. Make sure you don't exhale though, as people around you may not want to inhale what you exhale.
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