(UPDATED) #Fukushima I NPP: Source of Neutron Detected on March 13-15, 2011 May Be Plutonium and Uranium Released by Core Melt

(UPDATED with clarification on the neutron dose rates in the translation, and information on the monitoring car at the bottom.)

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that then somehow escaped from the Reactor Pressure Vessel, Containment Vessel, and finally Reactor Building, according to TEPCO.

TEPCO just released the latest reports of its on-going data analysis and simulation of the nuclear accident at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant that they've been doing since 2011. I'm reading the report, but for now I quickly share a short snippet that piqued my interest.

In sum, TEPCO now thinks the source of neutrons detected right after the start of the accident in March 2011 was the actinide species including plutonium and uranium that somehow escaped the reactors as the reactor core melted (which more or less coincided with the rise in pressure inside the reactors), and neutrons were emitted by spontaneous fission of plutonium and curium.

Neutron detection on March 13 is attributed to the core melt of Reactor 3, and detection on March 14/15 to the core melt of Reactor 2.

Just how did those actinide species escape the pressure vessels and containment vessels? TEPCO only says continued investigation is needed to understand the mechanism and to secure the safety of workers at the plant.

From one of TEPCO's reports titled "Relationship between the neutrons detected at the time of the accident and the core melt" (original in Japanese, quick translation is by me, subject to change later; part):

(Background)

モニタリングカーは、3 月 13 日早朝、及び、3 月 14 日夜から 3 月 15 日未明にかけての二つの期間に中性子を検出した。検出された中性子の線量率は、中性子検出器の検出限度の 0.01μSv/h、および、その 2 倍の 0.02μSv/h と非常に小さい値である。測定場所は正門近辺であり原子炉建屋からかなり距離が離れた場所であることから、原子炉から直接飛来した中性子を検出したものではないと考えられるが、放射性物質が放出され発電所内のガンマ線の線量率が上昇したタイミングで中性子が検知されたという状況でもないため、これまで中性子の検出の原因については不明としてきた。また、発電所内の土壌から、ウランやプルトニウム等が検出されているが、その漏えいタイミング、経路についても不明としてきている。 ここでは、これまでに明らかになった福島第一原子力発電所 1～3 号機の事故進展挙動から、中性子検出についての説明を試みる。

Our monitoring car detected neutrons in two periods - in the early morning of March 13, and from the evening of March 14 to the early hours of March 15. The dose rates measured were extremely low: 0.01μSv/h (detection limit of the neutron detector) and 0.02μSv/h. The location where neutrons were detected was near the main gate of the plant, far away from the reactor building; thus it is considered that the neutrons detected did not come directly from the reactors. At the same time, the neutron detection didn't coincide with the rise in gamma ray dose rates as radioactive materials were released. So far, the reason why neutrons were detected has been deemed unknown. Uranium and plutonium have been detected in the soil inside the plant, but the timing of the leak and the leak process have also been undetermined. In this paper, we will attempt to explain the detection of neutrons based on the accident development behavior of Reactors 1 through 3 at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant which has been revealed so far.

(Detection of neutrons on March 13, 2011)

表１に 3 月 13 日に中性子が検出された時刻を示す。図 5 は正門付近での線量率（ガンマ線）の時間変化を示したものに、中性子の線量率が 0.01μSv/h となった時刻のプロットを青、中性子の線量率が 0.02μSv/h となった時刻のプロットを赤としたものである。中性子が検出された 3 月 13 日の午前は、9 時頃の原子炉減圧とそれに伴う S/C からのベントの影響で線量が上昇しているが、中性子検出とガンマ線線量率の変化に相関関係は見られない。すなわち、中性子検出は、ガンマ線線量率の上昇の原因となった放射性物質放出とは、関係しない現象によって引き起こされたものと考えられる。

Table 1 shows the time when neutrons were detected on March 13. Chart 5 shows the change of the dose rate (gamma ray) at different times near the main gate, with times when the neutron dose rate was 0.01μSv/h marked in blue and with times when the neutron dose rate was 0.02μSv/h marked in red. In the morning of March 13, the dose rate rose due to reduction of pressure in the reactor and vent from the suppression chamber. However, no correlation can be observed between the detection of neutrons and the change in gamma-ray dose rate. In other words, the phenomenon that caused the neutron detection was not related to the release of radioactive materials that caused the rise in the gamma-ray dose rate.

(Table 1)

(Chart 5)

一方で、厳密には一致しないが、原子炉水位の変化から予想される、3 号機で燃料溶融が発生したと推定される時間帯を考慮すると、中性子検出と燃料溶融の関連が示唆される。すなわち、燃料溶融により一部気中に放出されたウランやプルトニウムなどのアクチニド核種が、ガンマ線線量率の上昇を引き起こした放射性物質放出とは異なる経路で原子炉建屋外に漏えいし、これらに含まれるプルトニウムやキュリウム等の自発核分裂により放出された中性子が検出された可能性がある。実際、過去の核実験時のフォールアウトによって蓄積したプルトニウムと同程度ではあるものの、プルトニウムの同位体組成から、明らかに福島第一原子力発電所での事故起因と考えられるプルトニウムが、発電所構内の土壌中から 検出されている。

On the other hand, although it is not an exact match, when we consider the time period when the core melt started in Reactor 3, as estimated from the change in water levels in the reactor, there may be a relationship between the detection of neutrons and the core melt. In other words, some actinide species such as uranium and plutonium were generated because of the core melt, and leaked outside the reactor building through a different route than the one in which the release of radioactive materials that resulted in the rise in the gamma-ray dose rate took place. In fact, plutonium has been detected in the soil inside the plant; even though it is about the same level as plutonium accumulated in the soil from the past atmospheric nuclear testing, it is clearly originated in the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident as determined by the isotopic composition.

なお、中性子が検出された正門付近は、図 6 に示すとおり約 1km 距離が離れていることから、原子炉からの中性子を検出したものである可能性は小さい。

The main gate where neutrons were detected is about 1 kilometer away from the reactors as shown in the Chart 6, and the possibility is small that neutrons from the reactor were detected.

(Chart 6)

(Detection of neutrons on March 14/15, 2011)

一方で、図 7 に中性子の検出時間と 2 号機の原子炉・格納容器圧力の関係を示すが、中性子は原子炉圧力の上昇が始まった後に検出されている。前述の通り、この原子炉圧力上昇は、消防車による注水が炉心部に到達し蒸気が発生したことによると考えられ、また、この際には水-ジルコニウム反応が発生して大量にエネルギーが放出され燃料が溶融したと考えられる。すなわち、原子炉圧力の上昇のあった時間帯に発生した燃料溶融によりウランやプルトニウムなどのアクチニド原子が一部気中に放出され、ガンマ線線量率の上昇を引き起こした放射性物質放出とは異なる経路で原子炉建屋外に漏えいし、これらに含まれるプルトニウムやキュリウム等の自発核分裂により放出された中性子が検出された可能性がある。

Chart 7 shows the time when neutrons were detected and the pressure inside Reactor 2's reactor/containment vessel. Neutrons were detected after the pressure inside the reactor started to rise. As we said before, this rise in pressure in the reactor is considered to have occurred when the water injected from the fire engine reached the reactor core and generated steam. This also caused the water-zirconium reaction which released a large amount of energy, causing the fuel to melt. In other words, our hypothesis is that core melt took place during the time period when the reactor pressure rose, releasing part of the actinide atoms such as uranium and plutonium. These actinide atoms then leaked outside the reactor building through a different route than the one in which the release of radioactive materials that resulted in the rise in the gamma-ray dose rate took place. Then the spontaneous fission of plutonium and curium released neutrons, which were detected.

(Chart 7)

I'll try a separate post on the mechanism of Reactor 2's core melt, which was accelerated, or so TEPCO thinks, by water injection by the fire engines.

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As far as I remember, there was one monitoring car at the time of the accident at Fukushima I NPP. I'll try to verify, but I do recall wondering aloud why there wasn't any more monitoring car at the plant. There was no electricity at the plant during the time period this TEPCO's paper covers, and the plant's regular monitoring stations were not working (as they operate on electricity). Power to the plant wasn't restored until early April, 2011.

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US Department of Energy Releases Update on Radiation Leak at Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in New Mexico, Container with Broken Lid Identified

(UPDATE 5/20/2014) Possible culprit: kitty litter. See my new post.

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And it was a container from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).

The first report of radiation leak (plutonium) from the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) that necessitated the evacuation of workers and plant shutdown was in February this year.

From Department of Energy WIPP Update (5/16/2014):

New Information Provided About Possible Contributor to the WIPP Radiological Event

The Department of Energy issued the following statement today regarding new information generated during the May 15 entry into WIPP:

Since the February 14 radiological release, the Department and its Waste Isolation Pilot Plant have been working deliberately to safely determine the cause of the release. The team that entered the underground facility yesterday was able to get additional visual evidence that shows a damaged waste container, identified as one from Los Alamos National Laboratory.

In the new pictures, the LANL container has a cracked lid and shows evidence of heat damage. Workers will continue investigating to determine what caused the container breach and if any other containers were involved or damaged,” said a DOE spokesperson.

Community Meetings Scheduled

May 20 – A WIPP Recovery update will be provided at the Economic Development Corporation of Lea County Annual Meeting. The update, which will be provided by a member of the NWP Communications team, is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Location: Hobbs Country Club, 5001 W. Carlsbad Highway.

May 22– The City of Carlsbad and DOE will co-host its weekly meeting featuring updates on WIPP recovery activities. The meeting is scheduled today at 5:30 p.m. Location: Carlsbad City Council Chambers, 101 N. Halagueno Street. Live streaming of the weekly meetings can be seen at http://new.livestream.com/rrv/.

"Evidence of Damaged Drum in Panel 7, Room 7" from DOE WIPP "Photo and Video" section (more photos at the link):

"The May 15 entry into Panel 7, Room 7 produced this photo of a waste container (left) with its lid unsealed and apparent heat discoloration."

There is a video of re-entry to WIPP on May 15, 2014.

According to Japan's NHK reporting on the DOE update, it may take at least three years before the facility resumes operation.

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Chinese Government Demands Japan to Return Weapon-Grade Plutonium to the US as President Obama Has Requested

"G2" in complete agreement in this case. See my post in January this year for the demand from the other G2 nation.

From Xinhua (2/19/2014; emphasis is mine):

China calls on Japan to return plutonium to U.S.

BEIJING, Feb. 19 (Xinhuanet) -- China has voiced serious concern over Japan’s possession of weapons-grade nuclear material. The US has been calling for the return of over 300 kilos of weapons-grade plutonium, which it loaned to Japan for research during the Cold War.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry is pressing Tokyo to return the plutonium to the US as soon as possible. At a routine news conference on Monday, Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, Hua Chunying, said Japan’s large stockpile of plutonium poses serious nuclear security and non-proliferation risks.

China is calling on Japan to settle the imbalance between its supply and demand of nuclear materials, in accordance with International Atomic Energy Agency rules.

"China has been paying great attention to nuclear proliferation, the safety of nuclear material, and its potential threat to regional security. According to the rules of the International Atomic Energy Agency, each country should ensure a balance of supply and demand when it comes to nuclear material. Japan storing large amounts of weapons-grade material violates such rules. It is obvious that only the peaceful use of nuclear energy can guarantee no security issues will arise. China urges Japan to give a concrete explanation, and take responsibility for the safety of international society, comply with its obligations, and return the materials to the US as soon as possible.” Hua said.

"A complete explanation" is simple enough - the US gave Japan 300 kg of weapons-grade plutonium. (The understanding in Japan is that this plutonium is not "loaned" but gifted. )

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Possible Leak of Alpha and Beta Radiation Emitters at Transuranic Radioactive Waste Underground Storage Facility in New Mexico, DOE Official Doesn't Quantify the Leak

The facility, Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), takes plutonium-contaminated waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory and other federal nuclear projects.

According to wiki,

The Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, or WIPP, is the world's third deep geological repository (after closure of Germany's Repository for radioactive waste Morsleben and the Schacht Asse II Salt Mine) licensed to permanently dispose of transuranic radioactive waste for 10,000 years that is left from the research and production of nuclear weapons.

(FYI, transuranic elements: the chemical elements with atomic numbers greater than 92 (the atomic number of uranium))

From Salon, quoting AP (2/16/2014; emphasis is mine):

Crews monitor NM nuclear repository for radiation

CARLSBAD, N.M. (AP) — Officials checking the presence of airborne radiation at an underground site in southeastern New Mexico where the U.S. government seals away low-grade nuclear waste say surface tests have detected no contamination.

Samples were taken at several sites around the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant after an air monitor found radiation on the underground levels of the facility around 11:30 p.m. Friday, the U.S. Department of Energy said in a news release.

No workers were underground at the time and no injuries or damages have been reported. A fire at the site earlier this month prompted an evacuation.

“Monitors at the WIPP boundary have confirmed there is no danger to human health or the environment,” the department said late Saturday night. “No contamination has been found on any equipment, personnel, or facilities.”

Energy Department spokesman Roger Nelson said that the 139 workers aboveground at the site near Carlsbad were told Saturday to stay where they were as a precaution. None of them tested positive for contamination, and all non-essential personnel were released, Nelson said.

The surface samples show no contamination has been detected, implying the leak was “not significant,” he said.

Nelson says the cause of the leak is not known yet. The devices that continuously monitor the air underground reached a threshold level that automatically switches the ventilation system into a filtered mode. He couldn’t quantify the level it takes to trigger the monitors, but says they’re sensitive. He says the monitors have been triggered in the past by radon fluctuations.

WIPP stores waste that emits alpha and beta radiation, which is in particulate form, so the risk is of inhalation not penetration, he said.

No one has been underground, and Nelson said he didn’t know when that would happen.

“We are going to take measurements and make sure we understand it” before sending in a team, he said.

U.S. Rep. Steve Pearce issued a statement saying, “WIPP has acted quickly and cautiously to ensure the safety of personnel and the local community.”

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The incident comes 10 days after an underground truck fire at the plant prompted an evacuation. Six people were treated for smoke inhalation on Feb. 5.

Nelson said the fire was in a different part of the site, about 1,000 feet away, from where the radiation was found.

Asked if the incidents were related, he said, “I just can’t think of a scenario where there would be a relationship.”

WIPP is the nation’s first and only deep geological nuclear waste repository. It takes plutonium-contaminated waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory and other federal nuclear projects.

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The Obama Administration Demands Japan to Return 300kg of Weapon-Grade Plutonium the US Sent During Cold War Era

First it was the "disappointment" expressed by Ambassador Caroline Kennedy representing the United States Government that spooked Japanese. It was over the Yasukuni Shrine visit by the prime minister of Japan.

Then it was the United States Government's official stance as expressed also by Ambassador Kennedy that she and her government oppose a particular traditional way of fishing dolphins and whales in Japan. It delighted non-Japanese, pleased some Japanese, angered some more, puzzled many who wondered aloud, "Isn't there a more pressing issue between the US and Japan than a method of fishing?"

Now comes this, tad more relevant and contemporary than both from the US government, perhaps.

From Business Standard, quoting Kyodo News (1/27/2014):

US presses Japan to hand back 300 kg of plutonium

Japan's key ally the US has been pressing the country to return more than 300 kg of mostly weapon-grade plutonium that it exported to Japan for research purposes during the Cold War era, media reported.

The plutonium that is stored at a fast critical assembly in Tokaimura in Japan's Ibaraki prefecture could be used to produce 40-50 nuclear weapons, reported Japan's Kyodo News, citing unnamed Japanese and US government officials, according to Xinhua.

Japan has strongly resisted the demand raised by US President Barack Obama's administration, but it finally gave in to repeated demands, Kyodo said.

The two countries since last year have been seriously discussing the issue as the US plans to reach an accord with Japan at the third nuclear security summit in March in the Netherlands, according to the report.

The fast critical assembly belonging to the Japan Atomic Energy Agency is the country's only critical assembly designed to study characteristics of fast reactors.

The Japanese ministry of education, culture, sports, science and technology and other researchers have argued that the plutonium in question is needed for research and vital for producing good data, said Kyodo.

At present, Japan has another estimated 44 tonnes of plutonium, but its quality is not on par with the plutonium used for research purposes, Kyodo quoted a Japanese expert as saying.

In East Asia, China possesses nuclear weapons. So does North Korea, who has restarted its gas-graphite reactor for plutonium production. Instead of doing something about them and their programs first, the Obama administration has been demanding the return of weapon-grade plutonium that the US sent to Japan as part of "Atoms for Peace" initiatives.

The original Kyodo News in Japanese says that "the Obama administration considers 'nuclear security' important". If that's the case, why has that administration who considers 'nuclear security' important allowed the detailed information (such as the amount of plutonium, number of nuclear bombs that could be made) to leak to the media?

Why now? Something doesn't add up. I wonder if the existence in Japan of 300 kilograms of weapon-grade plutonium has served as some kind of deterrent against an aggressive nation or two. Now the cover is blown.

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(Weekend Movie) The Area: A Journey through the Hanford Nuclear Reservation

From the official Youtube channel by Department of Energy Richland Operations Office, uploaded on October 17, 2011. (So don't expect details of the plutonium sludge, leaks, or tanks that may blow up...)

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Political Remarks of the Day from Goshi Hosono, Ichiro Matsui (Governor of Osaka)

The former we've known long enough to not to expect brilliant comments from. The latter teams up with the boy-wonder mayor of Osaka City (who is being set up as the next prime minister - the horror, the horror) and is eager to accept disaster debris to Osaka and burn and bury in the Osaka Bay.

First, Goshi Hosono, Minister of the Environment and Minister in charge of the nuclear accident, from Yomiuri Shinbun (5/12/2012):

福島は核燃料最終処分場の適地でない…細野氏

Fukushima is not suited to become the final disposal site for nuclear fuel, Mr. Hosono says

細野環境相は１２日、福島県郡山市で、東京電力福島第一原子力発電所が立地する同県大熊町からの避難住民を対象に開かれた政府主催説明会に出席した。

On May 12, Minister of the Environment Hosono attended the meeting in Koriyama City in Fukushima Prefecture with the residents who evacuated from Okuma-machi, where Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant is located.

　同町を含む双葉郡８町村について、参加住民から「日本の核燃料の最終処分場になる可能性があるのではないか」との懸念が出されたが、細野氏は「福島では大きな津波があり、最終処分場の適地ではない」と明確に否定した。

The residents expressed worries to Mr. Hosono that the final disposal site for nuclear fuel in Japan may be built somewhere in the Futaba-gun's 8 municipalities including Okuma-machi. Mr. Hosono definitely denied the possibility, saying "Fukushima was hit by a big tsunami, and therefore it is not suited to become the final disposal site."

Ummm. All of Japan's nuclear reactors are located right on the ocean, and just about the entire Japanese archipelago is full of active faults running through it. There are plate junctions capable of producing large earthquakes and tsunami.

Next, Governor of Osaka Ichiro Matsui tweets, trying to convince people in Osaka that the disaster debris from Tohoku is totally free of plutonium:

瓦礫処理について、誤解されている方が多いようですが、岩手県に福島原発事故による、プルトニウムの飛散はありません。プルトニウムは比重が重く遠距離飛散は確認されていません。

Many people seem to misunderstand about the debris disposal. But plutonium from the Fukushima Nuclear Plant accident didn't reach Iwate. Plutonium's specific gravity is large, and it is not confirmed to have flown a long distance.

Uh... Researchers have found Fukushima-origin plutonium in Lithuania. (Maybe Lithuania is located just south of Fuku I Plant?)

I don't think the Ministry of Education and Science ever tested the soil samples for plutonium outside Fukushima and southern Miyagi. But that shouldn't deter these politicians (or the radiation/nuclear experts for that matter) from declaring one thing or another. If they keep repeating it, sooner or later it will become "true", particularly in the post-Fukushima Japan.

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Iwaki City, #Fukushima Will Start Burning the Contaminated Disaster Debris in the City in April

Not a problem, says the city. The debris from the natural disaster (earthquake, tsunami) was doused with radioactive fallout from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant.

As I wrote earlier today, plutonium isotopes were found in Iwaki City on a metal plate that had been outside since March 11, 2011, and they were of Fukushima I Nuke Plant origin.

But the city will start burning in earnest in April so that the city is debris-free by the end of 2013.

The residents of the city don't seem totally on board, but just like Tokyo's governor and Shimada City's mayor, the Iwaki City's unnamed officials (in the article below) say the city will do it anyway.

Fukushima Minpo (3/22/2012):

震災がれきを本格焼却へ　いわき市「線量、問題なし」と判断　

Iwaki City will burn the disaster debris in earnest, "Radiation level is not a problem"

いわき市は平成２４年度、東日本大震災のがれきの本格焼却を開始する方針を固めた。２月に実施した試験焼却の結果、放射線の値に問題がないと判断した。地区住民の代表らへの説明などをした上で、早ければ４月中に市の北部、南部両清掃センターで焼却を始める。

Iwaki City has decided to start the burning of the disaster debris from the March 11, 2011 earthquake/tsunami in the fiscal 2012 [that starts on April 1]. The city conducted the test burn in February, and decided there was no problem with the radiation level. After explaining to the local residents, the city will start burning the debris in the city's two waste disposal plants in April.

　市によると、焼却処理が必要な災害がれきは約４万トンで、本格焼却が始まれば２５年度内にも処理が完了するという。
　試験焼却は２月１６～２２日まで南部清掃センターで実施。通常の生活ごみに８・８％の割合で災害がれきを混ぜ、計約８６０トンを焼いた。排ガス、飛灰、主灰の放射線量、敷地内や周辺の空間線量を計測した結果、生活ごみだけを燃やした場合と比較して高い値は出なかったという。測定結果は市のホームページで公表している。

Iwaki City has about 40,000 tonnes of disaster debris that needs incineration. If the incineration starts in earnest, the debris will be disposed of completely in the fiscal 2013, according to the city. The test burn was conducted from February 16 to 22 at the Nanbu waste disposal center. Disaster debris was mixed with the regular household garbage at 8.8%, and 860 tonnes of this mixed waste was burned. Radiation levels of exhaust gas, fly ashes, and main ashes were measured, and the air radiation levels inside the compound and in the surrounding levels were measured. The levels were not significantly higher than when only the household garbage was burned. The results of the measurements are published on the city's website.

　これまでは、反対する住民の声があったことなどから、本格焼却には至っていなかった。市の担当者は「焼却しなければ市民生活に支障が出る。（住民から）１００％の同意を得ることは難しいかもしれないが、最終的には行政責任で実施したい」としている。

So far, because of the opposition from the residents, the disaster debris in the city hasn't been burned in earnest. The person in charge at the city government says, "Unless we burn, daily lives of the citizens will be negatively impacted. It may be difficult to obtain the unanimous consent from the residents, but ultimately we will carry out [the burn], and the city will take responsibility."

Well if that's the case, what is your name, Mr. Anonymous at the Iwaki municipal government in charge of contaminated debris burning?

As of February 2012, 8,500 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium was still found in the fly ashes at the incineration plants in the city, and that was just household garbage.

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Low-Level Plutonium of #Fukushima Origin Detected in Iwaki City, 40 Kilometers South of Fukushima I Nuke Plant

It was originally reported on a blog called "Alpha rays and metal plate (α線と鉄板)" on March 18, 2012.

Email from Professor Masayoshi Yamamoto, Institute of Nature and Environmental Technology at Kanazawa University about the analysis of dust off the metal plate that had been left outside since the March 11, 2011 accident, as reported by the blog:

測定結果をお送りします。
Puが検出され、正直なところびっくりしました。

Here's the result of the analysis. Frankly, I am surprised that plutonium was detected.

Puは核実験ですでに広く，低レベルで分布しています。
このPuついて、Pu238/Pu239,240放射能比は0.03程度です。
今回のこの比は0.8で明らかに高く、原発由来のPuを含んでいます。

Plutonium has been spread and deposited at low densities in wide areas because of the atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons . The ratio of plutonium isotopes, Pu238/Pu239+240, of the atmospheric testing origin is about 0.03. But this time [dusts off the metal plate in Iwaki City], this ratio is higher at 0.8, indicating the dusts contain plutonium of the Fukushima I Nuke Plant origin.

政府の放出量見積もりでは3です。
野ざらしの鉄板には核実験のPuが付着していないと考えると、
何故比が低いのかと考えさせられます。
全て3ではなくて0.8の低い比を持つPuが放出された可能性もありますね。

The government estimate of the ratio of these plutonium isotopes is 3. Considering the plutonium of the atmospheric testing origin is not attached to the metal plate, I wonder why the ratio is lower than the government estimate. It is possible that not all plutonium isotopes released had the ratio of 3, and there were plutonium isotopes with the lower ratio (0.8) that were released from the plant.

さらにPu239,240/Cs-137放射能比が9.0E-5で、政府の推定値4.3E-7の200倍になり、Puが多く検出されています．たぶんフラクショネーション（挙動の違い）が存在するためだと思われます。

Further, the ratio of Pu239+240/Cs-137 is 9.0E-5, which is 200 times the government estimate of 4.3E-7, showing more plutonium being detected than the government estimate indicates. It is probably because of fractionation.

(中略)
現在ウラン、出来れば Am-241なども分析できればと考えています。

Right now, I am hoping to test for uranium, and Am-241 if possible.

The report by Professor Yamamoto, from the same blog:

Cesium detection:

Plutonium. Pu-242 is a tracer for chemical yield correction. [-- Don't ask me what it means. I translated as best I can.]


I am asking Professor Yamamoto to confirm that this is his analysis report.

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Idaho National Lab Accident: Plutonium Cladding Went Bad

and plutonium oxidized, turning into power. The cladding was made of stainless steel.

One worker tested positive for americium-241 in the lungs, which is taken as a sure sign that he has inhaled plutonium.

From CBS News (11/10/2011):

......

Early Tuesday afternoon, workers wearing lab coats and gloves but not respiratory gear were recovering the fuel so it could be shipped to a U.S. Department of Energy facility in an undisclosed state. The lab originally reported it was bound for Nevada but later retracted the statement.

Lab officials suspect the stainless steel cladding that surrounded the plutonium was damaged years ago, beginning a slow-but-steady process of plutonium oxidation that led to the exposure. When workers opened an aluminum box that housed the fuel plates and cut away plastic wrapping, they noticed several grains of powder that escaped.

"At that point, the job was suspended. The personnel exited the area," said Phil Breidenbach, nuclear operations director of the Materials and Fuel Complex, where the accident occurred.

"However, as they were exiting, a constant air monitor went off, indicating contamination had gotten into the air," he said. "When they exited the area to their prearranged safe zone, they started surveying the individuals and found contamination."

..... (full article at the link)

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17 Workers Exposed to Radiation from Plutonium in Idaho National Laboratory

No leak of radiation outside the facility, says the lab. Plutonium is from the spent fuel.

From Reuters (11/8/2011):

At least six workers were contaminated by low-level plutonium radiation and 11 others were exposed on Tuesday at a U.S. nuclear research lab in Idaho, but the public was not at risk, the government said.

The accident at the Idaho National Laboratory occurred inside a deactivated reactor housed in a facility used for remotely handling, processing and examining spent nuclear fuel, radioactive waste and other irradiated materials, the lab said in a series of statements.

The so-called Materials and Fuels Complex is located near the edge of the U.S. Energy Department's sprawling 890-square-mile laboratory site in the high desert in eastern Idaho about 38 miles from the city of Idaho Falls.

But lab bulletins on the mishap, believed to be the most serious accident at the site in at least four years, said there was no evidence of a release of radiation outside the facility, and "there is no risk to the public or environment."

A total of 17 technicians, all employees of lab contractor Battelle Energy Alliance, were working inside the decommissioned research reactor when "a container was opened for normal, scheduled work, resulting in low-level worker exposure to plutonium," the statements said.

There were no immediate details from the lab on the precise cause or nature of the radiation release, such as whether it resulted from an equipment malfunction or human error.

Lab spokesman Earl Johnson told Reuters the exposed workers were engaged in an activity and in an area that required no special protective shielding.

"We certainly didn't expect this to happen," he said, adding that radiation-control technicians monitoring the area detected the low-level release.

(The article continues.)

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Three Plutonium Brothers Revisited

Now that the national government has finally owned up to the existence of plutonium and strontium outside Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant (in case of strontium-89, as far as Shirakawa City, 79 kilometers from the plant), it seems like a good time to revisit what the government researchers were saying about "heavy" plutonium that we didn't need to worry about a bit, back in March and April.

Particularly the second guy, Keiichi Nakagawa of Tokyo University, said plutonium was so heavy it wouldn't disperse, and only the workers at the plant needed to worry.

(From my post on 8/8/2011)

Nakagawa: To begin with, this material is very heavy. So, unlike iodine, it won't disperse in the air. Workers at the plant MAY be affected. So, I'd caution them to be careful. But I don't think the public should worry.

My original post has the transcript (translation) of the video, which was captioned by Tokyo Brown Tabby. The Japanese video was compiled by sievert311.

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Ministry of Education Maps of Plutonium and Strontium Show Wide Dispersion of Supposedly Heavy Nuclides

On September 30 the Ministry of Education and Science posted the blurry maps plotting the locations where plutonium and strontium have been detected.

(On the same day, September 30, the national government abolished the evacuation-ready zone between the 20 and 30 kilometer radius from the plant, "allowing" the residents to return.)

The Ministry's 10-page document is in Japanese only for now.

According to the Ministry, the survey for plutonium and strontium was carried out in early June to early July in 100 locations within the 80-kilometer radius from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant by government researchers. One location each in 59 municipalities within the 80-kilometer radius was picked, based on the air radiation level and the high population density. The remaining 41 locations were picked from within the 20-kilometer radius evacuation zones.

The Ministry claims it is the first time plutonium has been detected outside the plant, but all that means is that it is the first time a government ministry has admitted to the existence of plutonium outside the plant. As the readers of this blog already knows, as early as April the researchers were taking soil samples outside the plant and have them tested for plutonium and found it (see here and here).

The Ministry's conclusion is that the amount of plutonium is not that big to cause any alarm, and that they should focus more on the decontamination of cesium-134 and -137.

As for strontium, the Ministry does sound a bit more nervous. It says the ratios of radioactive strontium to cesium-137 in these locations were calculated; the ratios varied too much, indicating there was no correlation between the deposition of radioactive strontium and radioactive cesium. The Ministry will conduct further, more detailed study in locations that had higher strontium ratios.

Plutonium-238 (top number in the map), Plutonium-239+240 (bottom number):

Strontium-89 (top number in the map), -90 (bottom number):

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Ministry of Education Admits to Plutonium in Iitate-mura in Fukushima

35 kilometers northwest of Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant.

Jiji Tsushin (5:42PM JST 9/30/2011):

文部科学省は３０日、福島県双葉町と浪江町、飯舘村の土壌から、福島第１原発事故によるとみられるプルトニウムが検出されたことを明らかにした。同原発の敷地以外で、検出されたのは初めてという。

Ministry of Education and Science disclosed on September 30 that plutonium has been detected from the soil in Futaba-machi, Namie-machi and Iitate-mura in Fukushima Prefecture, which derived from the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident. According to the Ministry, it is the first detection of plutonium outside the plant.

Readers of this blog have been alerted to the existence of neptunium-239 (which decays into plutonium-239) in the soil of Iitate-mura, so it should be no surprise. It is no surprise at all either that it has taken more than 6 months for the Ministry of (Re-)Education to admit.

Neptunium-239 has reportedly been detected in Date City also. That's even further away from the plant (60 kilometers).

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Nikkan SPA Magazine: Researcher Says Large Amount of Neptunium-239 Also in Date City, Fukushima

It's the same researcher who said several thousand becquerels/kg of neptunium-239 was found in the soil in Iitate-mura, about 35 km northwest of Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. It seems it's not just Iitate-mura that got doused with neptunium, which decays into plutonium. Date City, about 25 km northwest from Iitate-mura and 60 km from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, also got a large amount of neptunium.

To recap, uranium-239, whose half life is about 24 minutes, decays into neptunium-239 with a half life of about 2.5 days, which then decays into plutonium-239 whose half life is 24,200 years.

Again, the reason for withholding the information is explained in the article below as "the research paper being peer-reviewed by a foreign scientific journal" - a make-or-break event, apparently, for a young researcher at a prestigious university in Japan - and as precaution against the possible Japanese government action to squash the information. The article was written by the same husband & wife comedian couple who first wrote about neptunium in Iitate-mura on their blog magazine in early August.

I'm sure the nuclear experts who have appeared on TV to soothe the populace ever since the March 11 nuclear accident has the good explanation for neptunium-239 in these locations. They've kept saying "No way plutonium will be found outside the compound, because it is heavy and it doesn't fly". Oh I get it. It's plutonium they were talking about, not neptunium which decays into plutonium. My bad.

From Nikkan SPA September 13 issue (part on Date City only):

メールはこう始まっていた。

The email began thus:

「放射線測定を専門とする大学研究者に直接聞いたのですが、プルトニウムが核変する前のネプツニウムという核種が、少なくとも飯舘村や伊達市まで大量に飛んでいたそうです。今のγ線メインの測定方法ではどんなに頑張ってもセシウムしか検出できないため、本来の危険性が見逃されてしまう。α 線核種を無視した今のやり方を続けていたら、飯舘村はまた“見殺し”にされかねない……」

"I heard it directly from a university researcher whose specialty is radiation measurement. Neptunium, the nuclide that decays into plutonium, flew at least to Iitate-mura and Date City in large quantity. The current survey method focuses only on gamma ray, and all it detects is radioactive cesium. The real danger is alpha-nuclides, which continues to be ignored. Iitate-mura may be being betrayed again..."

The article by the comedian cum independent journalist couple continues and says this person attended a lecture given by this researcher.

It still doesn't make sense to me that the information already freely given at a public lecture has to be withheld because of the peer-review process, but oh well.

Date City by the way has been selected by the national government to conduct "decontamination" experiments. So is Iitate-mura. They are using high-pressure spray washers to blast roofs, sidings and roads, and digging up the soil. Plutonium? What plutonium?

Unlike Iitate-mura, though, almost all residents in Date City still live within the city. Even those who are ordered to move because of high radiation level in their homes have moved to temporary housing that the city has provided, within the city.

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(UPDATED) NISA Mentions "Neptunium-239" in August 29 Press Conference

(UPDATE on 8/30/2011: NISA still hasn't said a word about conversion, but someone in Japan did the calculation based on the NISA's numbers released on June 6. You can view it at this link or in the image below. In plain language, neptunium-239 will decay into plutonium-239, adding 2×10^7 becquerels (20,000,000 becquerels) to the existing plutonium-239. The calculation was done by Tomohiro Endo, a researcher (nuclear physics) at Nagoya University.)

-------------------------------------------
(UPDATE on 8/29/2011: NISA backtracked in the joint conference (TEPCO/government) in the afternoon, and now says it's not sure about the conversion rate of neptunium-239 into plutonium-239.)

----------------------------------
Now this is very curious.

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA)'s daily press conference is ongoing (August 29). The NISA spokesman Moriyama mentions neptunium-239's conversion ratio to plutonium-239 as 1 to 1.

According to the June 6 estimate by the NISA:

Plutonium-239: 3.2×10^9

Neptunium-239: 7.6×10^13

So, now it is:

Plutonium-239: 7.6 x 10^13, or 76,000,000,000,000 or 76 terabecquerels

The amount of plutonium-239 has increased 23,000-fold, according to NISA.

On August 15 I wrote about neptunium-239, half life of about 2 days, having been detected in large quantity in Iitate-mura, 35 kilometers from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. I had to take down the second post on the subject, but the information was correct.

Now, NISA is suddenly mentioning neptunium-239. Admission of wide dispersion of this nuclide and resultant plutonium-239 may be finally forthcoming, after more than 5 months.

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Three Plutonium Brothers of Japan: "They Are So Safe You Can Drink It" (Updated with Transcript)

(UPDATE: Transcript at the bottom for those who'd rather read.)

The original Japanese video was compiled by "sievert311":http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ppon_vEJLCQ&feature=channel_video_title

"sievert311" also has a Dr. Shunichi "100 millisievert is safe" Yamashita's video in three languages (English, Spanish, French). Check it out.

=================================================

Tokyo Brown Tabby's latest captioning is over the collection of video clips of three Japanese nuclear researchers, claiming safety for plutonium on the national TV. The first two appeared on TV after the March 11 accident to assure the public that there was nothing to worry about on plutonium, because it was so safe.

Three Plutonium Brothers are:

(1)Tadashi Narabayashi
Professor in Engineering
at Hokkaido University
(in TV Asahi "Sunday Scramble" on Apr. 3, 2011)

(2)Keiichi Nakagawa
Associate Professor in Radiology
The University of Tokyo Hospital
(in Nippon TV "news every" on Mar. 29, 2011)

(3)Hirotada Ohashi
Professor in System Innovation
University of Tokyo
(at a panel discussion in Saga Pref. on Dec. 25, 2005, regarding using MOX fuel at Genkai Nuke Plant)

Transcript of the video. Spread the word, make them accountable:

Tadashi Narabayashi
Professor in Engineering
Hokkaido University
(in TV Asahi "Sunday Scramble" on Apr. 3, 2011)

Well, half of adult males will die if they ingest 200 grams of salt. With only 200 gram. However, oral lethal dose of plutonium-239 is 32g. So, if you　compare the toxicity, plutonium, when ingested, is not very different from salt. If you inhale it into your lungs, the lethal dose will be about 10　milligram. This is about the same as potassium cyanide. That sounds scary but the point is plutonium is no different from potassium cyanide. Some toxins like botulism bacillus that causes food
poisoning is much more dangerous. Dioxin is even more dangerous. So, unless you turn plutonium into powder and swallow it into your lungs....

MC: "No one would do that."

Besides, plutonium can be stopped by a single sheet of paper. Plutonium is made into nuclear fuels in facilities with good protective measures, so you don't need to worry.


Keiichi Nakagawa
Associate Professor in Radiology
University of Tokyo Hospital
(in Nippon TV "news every" on Mar. 29, 2011)

For example, plutonium will not be absorbed from the skin. Sometimes you ingest it through food, but in that case, most of it will go out in urine or stools. The problem occurs when you inhale it. Inhaling plutonium is said to increase the risk of lung cancer.

MC: "How will that affect our daily lives?"

Nothing.

MC: "Nothing?"

Nothing. To begin with, this material is very heavy. So, unlike iodine, it won't disperse in the air. Workers at the plant MAY be affected. So, I'd caution them to be careful. But I don't think the public should worry. For example, 50 years ago when I was born, the amount of plutonium was 1000 times higher than now.

MC: "Oh, why?"

Because of nuclear testing. So, even if the amount has now increased somewhat, in fact it's still much less than before. However, if it is released into the ocean through exhaust water, that's a problem. Once outside, plutonium hardly decreases.

MC: "It takes 24,000 years before it dicreases to half, doen't it?"

That's right. So, in that sense, plutonium is problematic. But then again, there will be no effect on the public. I think you can rest easy.

MC: "Let me summarize. Plutonium won't be absorbed from the skin. If it's ingested through food, it will go out of the body in urine. If it's inhaled, it may increase the risk of lung cancer. But since it's very heavy, we don't need to worry."


Hirotada Ohashi
Professor in System Innovation
University of Tokyo
(at a panel discussion in Saga Pref. on Dec. 25, 2005, regarding using
MOX fuel at Genkai Nuke Plant)

MC: Dr. Ohashi, please.

I'd like to point out two things. What happens in a [nuclear] accident depends entirely on your assumptions. If you assume everything would break and all the materials inside the reactor would be completely released into the environment, then we would get all kinds of result. But it's like discussing "what if a giant meteorite hit?" You are talking about the probability of an unlikely event.

You may think it's a big problem if an accident occurs at the reactor, but the nuclear experts do not think Containment Vessels will break. But the anti-nuclear people will say, "How do you know that?" Hydrogen explosions will not occur and I agree, but their argument is "how do you know that?"

So, right now in the safety review, we're assuming every technically possible situation. For example, such and such parts would break, plutonium would be released like this, then it would be stopped here...something like that. We set the hurdle high and still assume even the higher-level radiation would be released and make calculations.

This may be very difficult for you to understand this process, but we do. To figure out how far contamination might spread, we analyze based on our assumption of what could occur. However, the public interpret it as something that will occur. Or the anti-nuclear people take it in a wrong way and think we make such an assumption because it will happen. We can't have an argument with such people.

Another thing is the toxicity of plutonium. The toxicity of plutonium is very much exaggerated. Experts dealing with health damage by plutonium call this situation "social toxicity." In reality, there's nothing frightening about plutonium. If, in an extreme case, terrorists may take plutonium and throw it into a reservoir, which supplies the tap water. Then, will tens of thousands of people die? No, they won't. Not a single one will likely die. Plutonium is insoluble in water and will be
expelled quickly from the body even if it's ingested with water.

So, what Dr. Koide is saying is if we take plutonium particles one by one, cut open your lungs and bury the plutonium particles deep in the lungs, then that many people will die. A pure fantasy that would never happen.

He's basically saying we can't drive a car, we can't ride a train, because we don't know what will happen.

MC: "Thank you very much."

Pluto-kun (Little Plutonium Boy)
Mascot Character of Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation (now Japan Atomic Energy Agency)

Let's imagine some bad guys have just thrown me into a reservoir. I'm not only hard to dissolve in water, but also hard to be absorbed from the stomach or intestines, and eventually I will be out of the body. So I can't actually kill people.

But it so often happens that bad guys take a small thing and turn it into a big lie to threaten people.

(caption)
See, we've been duped. Plutonium is not dangerous! We'd better ask these three to drink it up to prove it's not dangerous. Then we will feel safe, won't we? Please doctors, would you do it for us?

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Christopher Busby's Talk in Japan, July 17: From Air Filters, Plutonium in Fukushima, Uranium in Tokyo

It is ongoing right now, netcast live on USTREAM here.

I will watch the recording tomorrow (it's way past midnight here) and report to you in detail, but here's some of the things I caught in the beginning:

Shukan Gendai (Japanese weekly magazine) sent (I think) the air filters of the cars from Japan, one from Fukushima, the other from Tokyo. From the air filter from Fukushima, plutonium-239 was detected. From the air filter from Tokyo, uranium-235, tellurium-129.

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High Level of Plutonium Rumored to Have Been Detected in Rice Paddies 50 Kilomters from Fukushima I Nuke Plant

An old "baseless rumor" (back in May) that no MSM mentioned (not even to refute it), although bloggers cited the passage. But as the rice grows in the rice paddies in Kanto and Tohoku and more and more cows are found radioactive because what they ate was highly radioactive (rice hay), it may be worth keeping it in mind, just in case.

As far as I've checked, the report has never been "proven", but never been "disproven" either.

Also, keep in mind the warning of Professor Toshiso Kosako, that there will be "a chaos" in the fall harvest season.

From the report that appeared on Japan Business Press on May 14 (the report was from their free subscription part of the site, written by Satoshi Kawashima, the former editor of Nikkei Business and the founder of Japan Business Press):

また、ある食品メーカーが独自に調査した結果では、福島第一原発から50キロ以上離れた水田の土から、政府が発表している数値よりケタ違いに高い放射線が検出されたという。

According to the private survey by a food company, an extremely high level of radiation, order of magnitude higher than what the government has been reporting, has been detected in the soil in the rice paddy more than 50 kilometers away from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant.

この食品メーカーによると、現時点でその結果を公表するのは影響が大きすぎるため発表は控えているとのことだが、その田んぼの土からは高い濃度のプルトニウムも検出されたそうだ。

The food company says it is withholding the information for now because it may cause panic, but it says the survey has also found a high level of plutonium in the same rice paddy soil.

There has been no follow-up to this report. Back in May, almost all tweets on the subject in Japan were from people who outright dismissed the report as "baseless rumor" and criticized Japan Business Press for fear-mongering. "There's no way plutonium can travel outside the Fukushima plant!" was one typical tweet. (Never mind it did.) "They are manufacturing the story" was another.

Ah. Trust your government.

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Genkai Nuclear Plant with MOX-Fuel "Pluthermal" Reactor To Get Back Online by Early July

The municipal government of Genkai-cho in Saga Prefecture (red in the map) in Kyushu and Kyushu Electric Power Company are ready to re-start the Reactors 3 and 4 at Genkai Nuclear Power Plant.

The Reactor 3 at Genkai Nuclear Power Plant uses MOX fuel in addition to uranium fuel, in what the Japanese call "pluthermal" (plutonium + thermal) nuclear power generation. In fact, it is the first MOX fuel reactor in Japan. (The Fukushima I's Reactor 3 is the third one.)

Japan's MOX fuel comes from France, by the way.

In December 2010, 1 year after they started using MOX fuel in the reactor for commercial power generation, an elevated level of radioactive iodine was detected in the RPV cooling water (4 times the limit). They discovered that there were minute pinholes in one fuel rod (uranium) through which radioactive iodine was leaking (Yomiuri Shinbun Kyushu edition, 12/11/2010, Kyushu Electric press release 2/8/2011, in Japanese). Upon the discovery, the plant shut down the Reactor 3 and started a "regular maintenance" earlier than scheduled.

8 out of 12 town assemblymen in Genkai-cho are in favor of re-starting the reactors, quite satisfied with the beefed-up safety measures at the plant. Problem? What problem? Iodine leaking? What is iodine?

The plant is located in northern Kyushu, in Saga Prefecture. Talk about downwind. Almost entire Japan will be downwind from the plant.

Money talks, and talks loud.

From Tokyo Shinbun, citing Kyodo News but including more info than Kyodo News (02:14AM JST 6/8/2011):

　佐賀県玄海町の岸本英雄町長は７日、定期検査で停止中の九州電力玄海原発２、３号機について、九電に安全対策強化などの条件を提示した上で、７月 初旬までに運転再開への同意を伝える方針を明らかにした。東京電力福島第１原発の事故後、原発が立地する自治体が再稼働を容認するのは初。

Hideo Kishimoto, mayor of Genkai-cho in Saga Prefecture, said on June 7 he would agree to Kyushu Electric Power Company's re-starting the Reactors 2 and 3 at its Genkai Nuclear Power Plant by early July, after showing Kyushu Electric the conditions for the re-start including increased safety measures at the plant. It will be the first time any local government agrees to the re-start of a nuclear power plant in its jurisdiction.

　法的には、定期検査からの原発の再稼働に地元自治体や議会の了解手続きの定めはない。ただ、九電は県と町の「地元同意」を再開の前提としており、今後は慎重姿勢を示している古川康県知事の意向が鍵となる。

There is no law that requires the consent of local municipalities and assemblies to restart reactors after a regular maintenance. However, Kyushu Electric has said the "local consensus" of the prefecture and the town should be in place before the restart. Saga governor Yasushi Furukawa, who has shown

　岸本町長は７月１日前後に九電幹部を呼び、（１）テロや集中豪雨対策を強化する（２）人為的ミスを極力減らす（３）地元で（住民らから）理解を得る活動に努める―などの条件を文書で手渡し、口頭で運転再開への同意を伝えるとした。

Mayor Kishimoto plans to call the executives at Kyushu Electric to his office around July 1, hand them the memorandum that specifies the conditions for the restart which include 1) stronger measures against terrorism and heavy rains; 2) reduction of human errors as much as possible; 3) PR to the local residents for greater understanding, and will verbally give his consent to the re-start.

　 玄海町議会は今月１日の特別委員会で、町議全１２人のうち８人が再開に賛成の意を表明済み。岸本町長は「本来なら国が一定の判断をすべきだが、町議会が賛 成の判断を固め、震災後の緊急安全対策もきちんと実施されていることが確認できた。九州の生活を守るには（運転再開が）必要だ」と理由を説明した。

The Genkai-cho Assembly already gave its approval in a special committee meeting on June 1, with 8 assemblymen out of 12 giving their consent to the re-start. Mayor Kishimoto says, "The national government ought to give the decision, but the town Assembly has approved, and we are able to confirm that the emergency safety measures after the March 11 earthquake have been effectively carried out. In order to protect the way of life in Kyushu, the re-start of the reactors at Genkai is necessary."

　一方、県は９日、経済産業省原子力安全・保安院を呼び、地震対策などについて説明を受ける予定で、引き続き協議する構え

Meanwhile, the Saga prefectural government will call on the METI's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency on June 9, and receive the explanation on earthquake countermeasures. The prefectural government is still in talks with Kyushu Electric over the re-start of the reactors.

The governor of Saga is another elite Tokyo University graduate (law school), and a career government bureaucrat.

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