3100 Bq/kg of #Radioactive Cesium from Wild Mice in Kawauchi-mura, Fukushima

Kawauchi-mura is inside the former evacuation zones where the volunteers including small children planted rice over the weekend. The location where the mice were caught is 6 to 7 kilometers south of the rice farm.

NHK reports (5/14/2012):

東京電力福島第一原子力発電所からおよそ３０キロの山林で捕獲した野生のネズミから３１００ベクレルの放射性セシウムが検出され、専門家は野生生物に対する影響を継続的に調べる必要があるとしています。

3100 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium was detected from wild mice caught in the mountains about 30 kilometers from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. The experts say it will be necessary to continuously monitor the effect [of radiation] in wild animals.

茨城県つくば市にある独立行政法人の森林総合研究所は、福島第一原発からおよそ３０キロの福島県川内村三ッ石地区と、７０キロの茨城県北茨城市関本町小川地区のいずれも集落から離れた山林でそれぞれ去年１０月と１２月に野生のアカネズミを捕獲しました。

In October and December last year, the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, an independent administrative corporation [under the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries] caught wild Japanese mice in Mitsuishi District of Kawauchi-mura in Fukushima Prefecture, about 30 kilometers from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, and in Ogawa District in Sekimoto-cho, Kita-Ibaraki City in Ibaraki Prefecture, about 70 kilometers from the plant. The mountains where the mice were caught are away from the residential areas.

そして、合わせて１２匹の体内に蓄積した放射性セシウムの濃度を調べた結果、１キログラム当たりの平均で、川内村で捕獲したネズミからは３１００ベクレル、北茨城市で捕獲したネズミからは７９０ベクレル検出されました。

The researchers measured the radioactive cesium density in 12 mice. From the mice caught in Kawauchi-mura, average 3100 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium was detected, while average 790 becquerels/kg was detected from mice caught in Kita-Ibaraki City.

捕獲場所の空気中の放射線量は、川内村が１時間当たり３．１１マイクロシーベルト、北茨城市が０．２マイクロシーベルトで、放射線量が高い場所ではネズミの放射性物質の濃度も高くなる傾向にありました。

Air radiation levels of the locations where the mice were caught were 3.11 microsieverts/hour in Kawauchi-mura and 0.2 microsievert/hour in Kita-Ibaraki City. The higher the air radiation levels were, the higher the density of radioactive materials in the mice.

調査結果について、放射線の動物への影響を研究する放射線医学総合研究所の久保田善久サブリーダーは「ネズミは人間と同じ程度、放射線への感受性が高い。野生生物に対する放射性物質の影響を継続的に調べる必要がある」と話しています。

Commenting on the result, Yoshihisa Kubota of the National Institute of Radiological Sciences, who studies the effect of radiation on animals, says, "Mice have about the same sensitivity to radiation as humans. We need to continuously monitor the effect of radioactive materials on wild animals."

The Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute also did the measurement of radioactive cesium in earthworms in Kawauchi-mura. The result was released in February this year, and they found 19,500 bq/kg of radioactive cesium in earthworms in the same Mitsuishi District of Kawauchi-mura where the layer of dead leaves was found with 319,000 Bq/kg of radioactive cesium and the soil (taken from the surface to 5 centimeter deep) was found with 20,900 Bq/kg of radioactive cesium.

20,900 Bq/kg of radioactive cesium from soil taken from the surface to 5 centimeters deep would translate to 1,358,500 Bq/m2. But the only area in Kawauchi-mura where the human habitation is still restricted (though entering the area is not prohibited) is inside the 20-kilometer radius. So, this location in Mitsuishi District is, as with the rest of Kawauchi-mura, in the areas newly designated as "getting ready for the return of the residents".

1,358,500 Bq/m2, or half that considering only cesium-137, would be a "permanent control zone" in Chernobyl. But in the post-Fukushima Japan, the annual cumulative external radiation of 20 millisieverts is "safe", and the national government is "decontaminating" so that the residents can return to the former evacuation zones in Fukushima. Sooner or later the residents will have little choice but return, as the government doesn't intend to keep paying the compensation now that it's set to effectively take over TEPCO.

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#Radioactive Japan: Volunteers Including Small Children Plant Rice Just Outside 20-Km Radius in Fukushima Prefecture

From the photograph by Mainichi Shinbun, both the small girl and the mother (I think) are planting rice with bare hands and bare feet. The location is Kawauchi-mura, Fukushima Prefecture, just outside the 20-kilometer "no-entry" zone and inside the former "evacuation-ready zone" which was abolished in September last year.

Why is this happening? Mainichi Shinbun (5/13/2012; emphasis is mine) reports:

東京電力福島第１原発事故で昨年、政府がコメの作付けを全域で制限した福島県川内村で１３日、試験田への作付けが始まった。村商工会などが呼びかけ、首都圏から訪れた家族連れのボランティアら約５０人が泥に足をとられながら、昔ながらの手植えを楽しんだ。

In the wake of the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident last year, the national government restricted the planting of rice in Kawauchi-mura in Fukushima Prefecture. On May 13, the experimental planting of rice started in Kawauchi-mura. The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the village planned the event, and about 50 volunteers including families from the Tokyo Metropolitan region enjoyed rice planting the old-fashioned way - by hand, in the mud.

　今年も村は独自判断で作付けを自粛。試験栽培の結果を踏まえて来年以降の本格的な作付け再開を目指す。試験ほ場で計３０枚の水田に１０アールずつ順次作付けし、放射性物質を吸着する鉱物の散布量や耕す深さを変えて栽培。収穫後のコメは流通させず放射性セシウムを検出するかを調べる。

This year, the village has decided to refrain from planting rice on a commercial scale, but plans to resume planting next year based on the experimental cultivation. In the experimental plot using 30 rice paddies, rice will be planted in 10 ares with differing amounts of minerals that absorb radioactive materials and different tilling depths. The harvested rice won't be sold in the market, but will be used to study whether radioactive cesium is detected.

　神奈川県藤沢市の大学４年生、小宮明子さん（２２）は「風評被害が広まる中、現地で自分の目で見て、安全を信じたい。前を向いて頑張る人を応援したい」と話した。昨年も作付けを行ったコメ農家、秋元美誉（よしたか）さん（６９）は「試験田でも農業再生の第一歩。すぐ売れなくても、地道に消費者に理解される活動を続けたい」と語った。

Akiko Komiya (age 22), college senior from Fujisawa City in Kanagawa said, "As baseless rumors spread, I wanted to see things for myself. I want to believe in safety, and want to support people doing their best in a positive manner." Yoshitaka Akimoto (age 69), the farmer who planted the rice last year, said, "Even if this is only an experiment, it is the first step toward the agricultural renewal. Even if it cannot be sold right away, I want to continue to slowly persuade the consumers."

With a college senior like Ms. Komiya, the future for Japan is as bright as in the past 20 years or so.

Fukushima's local paper Fukushima Minpo (5/13/2012) reports on the same news, and says this experiment is part of the project to develop new sales routes for the rice grown in Kawauchi-mura. The project is called "Revival of Rice Project (復活の米プロジェクト)", and is hosted by Mr. Akimoto. The paper quote him as saying:

コメ作りが始まると考えると、気分が高揚する。消費者と交流の輪を広げながら、一歩ずつ前進していきたい

I'm excited to think that rice growing is just about to start. One step at a time, as I interact with more consumers.

As Mainichi article says, Mr. Akimoto planted and harvested rice last year, too, despite the ban. The harvest rice is supposed to have been tested and discarded. I haven't found the result of the test, if it was ever done. Looking at the photo at Fukushima Minpo, he looks like he means well.

The Ministry of Education and Science's cesium deposition map of Kawauchi-mura, and the map roughly indicating where Mr. Akimoto's rice farm is located (from Kobe Shinbun last year):

Contamination in most of Kawauchi-mura seems less than areas in Fukushima City or Date City, 50 kilometers or more from the nuclear plant. Still, the MEXT map shows Mr. Akimoto's farm to have soil with 100K to 300K Bq/m2 of radioactive cesium. It doesn't seem like the "safe" enough level for a mother to let her small daughter go bare feet and hands to play in the mud.

Kawauchi-mura's Tourism Bureau informs us as of April 25, 2012 that the public building (museum) right near Mr. Akimoto's farm remains closed, and no decontamination work has been done.

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Donation via German Red Cross Used to Build Library, Nursery School for Evacuees in Koriyama City in Fukushima

I'm not really sure that's how German people who donated to the German Red Cross for the disaster relief for the March 11 earthquake/tsunami wanted the money to be spent.

The library and the nursery school are for people evacuated from Kawauchi-mura in a planned evacuation zone to Koriyama City. Koriyama City is in high-radiation "nakadori" (middle third) of Fukushima Prefecture, where pre-schoolers were found with 0.11 millisievert external radiation in one month in November 2011, with the maximum 0.66 millisievert. Certainly not a place where any nursery school should be.

But the donation from Germany was used to build a facility to keep the villagers from Kawauchi-mura in Koriyama City together.

(The photo is the German embassy official Claus Eilrich with Kawauchi-mura's village chief in the tape-cutting ceremony.)

From Kyodo News (1/6/2012):

原発事故を受け全村避難している福島県川内村の住民が身を寄せる同県郡山市の仮設住宅に、図書室や保育所などを備えた交流施設が６日、オープンした。ドイツの赤十字社に寄せられた義援金約４千万円を使い建てられた。

A facility with the library room and the nursery school opened on January 6 in the temporary housing in Koriyama City in Fukushima Prefecture where the residents from Kawauchi-mura lives after having evacuated from their home after the nuclear accident. The facility was built with the money of about 40 million yen (about 408,000 euro, US$520,000) donated via the German Red Cross.

　住民同士の交流の場を作ってほしいとの村側の希望と、義援金で日独友好の記念にもなる支援をしたいというドイツ側の要望が一致し実現した。

The village wanted a place where the residents could mix, and the Germany side wanted to provide a support that could symbolize the friendship between Japan and Germany.

　施設は広さ約２６５平方メートルの木造平屋建て。村の教育委員会が管理し、村営の保育所や学習塾のほか、住民の健康相談などに使われる。住民が村に帰還する際には、分解して川内村に移設する予定。

The facility is a single-story wooden building of about 265 square meters. It will be managed by the village's Board of Education, and will be used as the nursery school, the tutoring school, and a place for health consultation for the residents. When the villagers go back to Kawauchi-mura, the facility will be dismantled and brought to the village.

The happy result that satisfied both the village people and the German Red Cross was to build a "box" (hakomono in Japanese, a construction project) that will be managed, of all entities, by the Board of Education.

Ever since the nuclear accident started in March 11, 2011, the Board of Education in many cities and prefectures in Japan has done everything in their power to expose children to radiation - having them eat beef and drink milk with radioactive cesium, making them harvest green tea in the rain, making them gargle with green tea, making them clean the yard of dead leaves and sludge, taking them to summer schools in the high radiation areas in northern Kanto.

Of nuclear experts, only Professor Kunihiko Takeda of Chubu University spoke against these school "traditions" mindlessly carried out all over Japan.

The night is deep.

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