#Radioactive Strontium Was Detected in Monthly Fallout As Late As November Last Year in Chiba, Ibaraki, Ministry of Education's Data Shows

But the Ministry of Education (MEXT) doesn't think the strontium-90 fallout after May last year was of Fukushima origin.

Following up on the post about strontium-90 fallout last year that MEXT (Ministry of Education and Science) announced on July 24 this year, I found some interesting data in the Japan Chemical Analysis Center where I created the chart plotting the Sr-90 fallout for the past 50 years or so in Japan (reproduced here).

The 2011 monthly fallout data for strontium-90 at the Japan Chemical Analysis Center is easier to see than the MEXT PDF file pages (they are the same data). As I was browsing through the search result, I started to wonder:

When was the last month that strontium-90 was detected in the fallout for these ten prefectures?

So here it is, from the search result at the Japan Chemical Analysis Center's website, the last date when strontium-90 was detected in the monthly fallout in the cities/prefectures in Tohoku and Kanto in 2011:

Aomori City, Aomori: March 31
Morioka City, Iwate: September 10
Akita City, Akita: July 1
Yamagata City, Yamagata: July 1
Hitachinaka City, Ibaraki: November 1
Utsunomiya City, Tochigi: August 1
Maebashi City, Gunma: June 1
Saitama City (Sakura-ku), Saitama: August 1
Ichihara City, Chiba: November 1
Chiba City (Inage-ku), Chiba: November 1
Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo: August 1
Chigasaki City, Kanagawa: June 30

Of these results, MEXT doesn't seem to think the detection in Aomori had anything to do with the Fukushima nuclear accident, as the prefecture is excluded from the list by MEXT in the press release (see my previous post for the MEXT list). In addition, MEXT seems to think the fallout after the first two to three months of the accident (March through May, 2011) is due not to the Fukushima accident but to the past atmospheric nuclear testing because the measured amount did not exceed the amount prior to the Fukushima accident.

Outside Kanto and Tohoku regions, there are occasional detection of strontium-90 in:

Niigata City (Nishi-ku), Niigata: May 2
Imizu City, Toyama: April 1
Kakamigahara City, Gifu: July 1
Shizuoka City (Aoi-ku), Shizuoka: August 1
Yokkaichi City, Mie: May 2
Kyoto City (Fushimi-ku), Kyoto: April 1
Wakayama City, Wakayama: November 1
Okayama City (Minami-ku), Okayama: April 1
Ishii-cho (Myozai-gun), Tokushima: April 1
Takamatsu City, Kagawa: April 1
Matsuyama City, Ehime: April 1
Kochi City, Kochi: April 1

Likewise, none of the detections above is considered by MEXT as the result of the Fukushima accident.

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Now They Tell Us: Ministry of Education Says Strontium-90 of #Fukushima Origin Found in 10 Prefectures

It took about 15 to 16 months for the Ministry of Education and Science or MEXT (the very name is a joke at this point) to announce radioactive strontium (Sr-90) was widely dispersed from the broken reactors at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant last year in 10 prefectures in Kanto and Tohoku, to the levels last seen in the Chernobyl accident.

Caveat is that it excludes Fukushima and Miyagi, probably the two most contaminated with radioactive fallout from the Fukushima accident. MEXT's excuse is that the stations in these prefectures have been damaged by the earthquake/tsunami.

From the press release by Ministry of Education and Science on July 24, 2012, "Analysis of Strontium-90 in the monthly environmental radioactivity levels (fallout)" (in Japanese; labels added by me):

Asahi Shinbun has a chart that tries to put these numbers in perspective. The bump this time looks slightly bigger than the one after the Chernobyl accident. But Asahi, either in its scientific illiteracy or on purpose to minimize the latest bump, uses the normal scale on the Y-axis instead of a log scale which would make it easier to discern the fluctuations in smaller numbers:

Looking for a historical chart on a log scale, I went to the site maintained by the Japan Chemical Analysis Center. I searched the database, and the 2011 data is already in the database. Here's the chart I created using the graph function at the site. I added the thin red line later to compare the 2011 level with that after the Chernobyl accident. It does look it is ever so slightly higher. The chart is a log scale, and the data is from all prefectures:

I wonder what the levels would be if Fukushima and Miyagi's data were to be added. Back to the level during the atmospheric nuclear testing? Or would it exceed that level?

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Radioactive Strontium Found in Central Tokyo

(UPDATE-2) Asahi Shinbun carried the news:



(UPDATE) So far, it is dead silence from the Japanese MSMs; even the critical papers like Tokyo Shinbun is mum on strontium in Tokyo.

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A citizen group did the soil survey of three locations in central Tokyo, and had the soil samples tested for radioactive cesium and strontium. All three had both.

Summary of reporting by Yasumi Iwakami, independent journalist:

Locations and amounts of radioactive materials:

Kiyosumi Shirakawa Station, Koto-ku:
Radioactive cesium (134 and 137 combined): 19,126 Bq/kg
Radioactive strontium (89 and 90 combined): 44 Bq/kg

Yurakucho Station, Chiyoda-ku:
Radioactive cesium (134 and 137 combined): 20,955 Bq/kg
Radioactive strontium (89 and 90 combined): 51 Bq/kg

Front of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, Chiyoda-ku:
Radioactive cesium (134 and 137 combined): 48,176 Bq/kg
Radioactive strontium (89 and 90 combined): 48 Bq/kg

It's a poetic justice that the amount of radioactive cesium is the highest at METI. I hear TEPCO's headquarter building in Tokyo also enjoys rather high radiation.

Iwakami cautions that radioactive strontium may be confirmed to have come from Fukushima only after the detailed analysis at a laboratory that can separately measure strontium-89 and strontium-90. The presence of cesium-134 seems to prove that at least radioactive cesium found in the soil samples is of Fukushima origin.

I believe there is only one or two laboratories in Japan that does that; one of them is the laboratory that TEPCO uses for the radionuclide analysis (Japan Chemical Analysis Center).

It looks like the national government may make a comment or two on this discovery later, some people are hoping that the government does. What would the government say? Let me guess... How about "No immediate effect on health", and "We should only worry about cesium, forget the rest".

By the way, you may recall the discovery of radioactive strontium on the rooftop of an apartment building in Kohoku-ku in Yokohama City in October. There has been no response from the city to the citizen who measured it, and no action from the city whatsoever on removing the highly radioactive sediment from the rooftop or decontaminating.

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Strontium in Yokohama: Citizen Threatened for Breaking the News

He took down his blog overnight which had a ton of useful visual information regarding radiation contamination, and restricted access to tweets after he and his family were anonymously "threatened" after the disclosure of strontium discovery in Yokohama City.

He says, "The whole purpose of my studying the radiation and radiation contamination and sharing information has been to protect my family, especially our young daughter. There is no point in doing so if my family's safety is threatened because of it. Please understand."

Yes, it's so "yesterday's news", isn't it, when a citizen is threatened for breaking the news that part of his city has been heavily contaminated by the radioactive fallout from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant? Time to move on. If you don't see, don't say, don't hear anything, it doesn't exist.

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(UPDATED) Strontium in Yokohama: City Still Hides (But Information Wants to Be Free...)

(UPDATE: Iwakami just disclosed the number that Yokohama City wanted to hide in the press conference last night.

From the apartment building rooftop sediment:

• Radioactive cesium (previously measured): 105,600 becquerels/kg

• Radioactive strontium (89 and 90 combined): 236 becquerels/kg

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The City of Yokohama did have a press conference late at night on October 14, but the officials only disclosed the data of strontium (89 and 90 combined) from the samples taken from the public locations - side of the road and at the fountain in a public park in Kohoku-ku in Yokohama.

It kept mum on the rooftop sediment in an apartment building that had over 100,000 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium, citing some sort of agreement with the person who provided the sample. (That person says, "What are they talking about?", by the way.)

The results of the testing done by Yokohama City, as provided by Yasumi Iwakami on twitter:

From the sample taken from the side drain of the road in Kohoku-ku:

• Radioactive cesium (measured previously): 39,012 becquerels/kg

• Radioactive strontium (-89 and -90): 129 becquerels/kg

From the sample taken at the fountain in Shin Yokohama:

• Radioactive cesium (measured previously): 31,570 becquerels/kg

• Radioactive strontium (-89 and -90): 59 becquerels/kg

The city considers strontium to have come from from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, and will ask the national government to test for strontium outside the 100-kilometer radius from the nuke plant. Yokohama is about 250 kilometers away from the plant.

Mr. Iwakami reports that during the press conference the city was heavily criticized for not disclosing the number for the sediment on the rooftop of the apartment. The city didn't have a convincing argument as to why they were not disclosing, Iwakami says.

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Just In: Yokohama City Just Confirmed Strontium-90 Existence in Rooftop Sediment

(UPDATE: for more details, see my new post.)

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The city was testing on its own, using the sample that had over 100,000 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium.

195 becquerels/kg of strontium-90 has been detected from the sample that had over 63,000 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium. Both samples were taken from the same rooftop of an apartment building in Kohoku-ku in Yokohama City.

Details to be announced later in a press conference, according to a Yokohama Assemblywoman (Ms. Sakura Inoue). Right now the city is holding an emergency meeting of the radiation countermeasures staff.

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Test Result on Strontium-90 Detection in Yokohama

Here's the image of the test report by Isotope Research Institute in Yokohama City:

Strontium-90: 195 becquerels/kg

From the same sample, cesium-134 and cesium-137 were also detected earlier.

Cesium-134: 29,775 becquerels/kg
Cesium-137: 33,659 becquerels/kg
Total cesium: 63,434 becquerels/kg

Isotope Research Institute didn't start testing for radioactive strontium until August 20, according to the Institute's website. Thus the time lag.

At the Institute, it costs 65,000 yen (US$847) (pre-tax) to test one sample for strontium-90 (no separate testing for strontium-89), and it takes one week. No volume discount, the webpage says.

The ratio of strontium-90 to cesium-137 in this case is about 0.58%. In comparison, the same ratio from the samples taken in Fukushima Prefecture was between slightly less than 0.1% to 8.2%. In other words, the ratio varies too much to discern any pattern.

Yokohama City has said it is testing for strontium in the sample taken from the same apartment rooftop but with much higher cesium density (105,600Bq/kg total cesium). But remember there was no official announcement about this high cesium detection because "the apartment building is a private property", according to the city. We'll see if Yokohama will announce anything about strontium-90.

The Yokohama Mayor is having her regular Wednesday press conference, but she has refused to let independent journalists including Yasumi Iwakami, who broke the news, attend the press conference. She only wants to deal with the "press club" members.

For my recent posts on strontium-90 in Yokohama City, go here and here.

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"I Knew That" Was the Reaction From a Yokohama City Assemblyman to Strontium Discovery in Yokohama

Concerned residents of Yokohama City tweeted their City Assemblymen about the discovery of radioactive strontium in Yokohama, the news broken by independent journalist Yasumi Iwakami. (Read my posts here and here for more.)

One assemblyman, Yutaro Yokoyama, gave an interesting answer to the strontium question. He said on his tweets:

(1st tweet)

『9月初旬から事実として扱っています。私たちの会派にとってSrは過去の事です。9/13常任委員会でも私自身が触れています。Srは水溶性が高いという特性がありますので。但し、降り注いだのか、ボランティア等（人・車）が媒体になったのかは不明。』

I knew that [discovery of radioactive strontium in Yokohama] since early September. For our political faction, strontium is a thing of the past. I myself touched on the [subject, I hope, not strontium] on the standing committee on September 13, as strontium is highly water-soluble. However, it's not known whether it fell from the sky or was carried by a volunteer (in person or by car).

(2nd)

『放射性物質、、福島に行けばどこでも手にいる物です。人為的に持ち込む事も可能です。人為的に持ち込まれたとしたら、市会議員はそれを追及する事は仕事ではないと思っていますので、私はしません。』

Radioactive materials can be easily obtained anywhere in Fukushima. It is possible to carry them by artificial means [as opposed to naturally falling from the sky, I guess]. If radioactive strontium came by artificial means, I don't think it is a job of a City Assemblyman to pursue how it got here, so I won't.

He is insinuating that water-soluble radioactive strontium was carried intentionally by a volunteer or by a car driven by a volunteer and released on top of an apartment building, as any radioactive material is readily available anywhere in Fukushima Prefecture. And it's none of his business as a City Assemblyman to figure out how it got there.

Best of luck, citizens of Yokohama.

In the meantime, one major MSM newspaper carried the story, and more to follow I hear.

Here's from Asahi Shinbun (3:32AM JST 10/12/2011):

横浜市港北区のマンション屋上の堆積（たいせき）物から、１９５ベクレル（１キロあたり）のストロンチウムを、民間の分析機関が検出した。東京電力福島第一原発事故で放出されたとみられ、結果の報告を受けた横浜市は、再検査を始めた。

195 becquerels/kg of radioactive strontium has been detected from the sediment on the rooftop of an apartment building in Kohoku-ku in Yokohama City. A private laboratory did the testing. It is considered to have been released from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant after the accident. On receiving the result, Yokohama City has doing its own testing.

　検出されたのはストロンチウム９０（半減期約３０年）。文部科学省の調査では福島県内や宮城県南部など福島第一原発から１００キロ圏内で検出されているが、約２５０キロ離れた横浜市内では初めて。

It was strontium-90 (half life of about 30 years) that was detected. The nuclide has been detected within 100 kilometers from Fukushima I Nuke Plant in Fukushima Prefecture and the southern Miyagi Prefecture according to the survey by the Ministry of Education and Science. However, this is the first detection in Yokohama City, about 250 kilometers from the plant.

　場所は築７年の５階建てマンション屋上。７月、溝にたまった堆積物を住民が採取し、横浜市鶴見区の分析機関「同位体研究所」で測定した。放射性物質が蓄積しやすい条件とみられるため単純に比較できないが、４～５月に福島市内の土壌から検出された７７ベクレルと比べても高い値だ。

Strontium-90 was detected on the rooftop of a 5-story apartment building which was built 7 years ago. A resident of the apartment building took the sediment in the drain and had it tested at Isotope Research Institute in Tsurumi-ku in Yokohama City. The result may not be easily comparable to the results in Fukushima, as radioactive materials may be concentrated in locations like this one. Nonetheless, it is higher than 77 becquerels/kg of radioactive strontium detected in Fukushima City in April and May.

　同じ堆積物からは６万３４３４ベクレル（１キロあたり）のセシウムも検出。私有地であることを理由に公表していないが、市衛生研究所でのセシウムの再検査でも、同じ堆積物から１０万５６００ベクレルが検出された。

From the same sediment, 63,434 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium has been detected. The city hasn't publicly released the data as the building is a private property, but when the city did its own testing of the same sediment at Yokohama City Institute of Health, 105,600 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium was detected.

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Update on Strontium-90 in Yokohama City

Additional information to what I posted on Sunday, as information is very slowly filtering through to the Internet.

195 becquerels/kg of strontium-90 was detected from the sludge on top of the apartment building in Kohoku-ku, Yokohama City, where the very high level of radioactive cesium was also detected back in mid August, though the news did not break until mid September. (See my post here.)

So in the same sludge sample, there were:

• Cesium-134: 29,775 becquerels/kg

• Cesium-137: 33,659 becquerels/kg

• Strontium-90: 195 becquerels/kg

Yokohama City is supposedly conducting its own testing of the different sample from the same rooftop using the same laboratory, and the result may be announced this week.

The ratio of strontium-90 to cesium-137 in the soil samples within 80-kilometer radius from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant varies widely from less than 0.1% to over 8% - in other words, as the Ministry of Education and Science said in its report on strontium and plutonium, there is no telling if strontium is there if there is cesium.

There is an unconfirmed piece of information on a blog by a Yokohama citizen that the city knew about radioactive strontium in the sludge as early as mid September and dismissed it because the city's radiation advisor said it was impossible to find radioactive strontium of Fukushima origin in Yokohama.

The reality seems more like this, though: Since strontium was not supposed to fly far from Fukushima, so the city bureaucrats didn't know what to do or how to respond. (from communication with the person who ordered the testing)

Yasumi Iwakami, independent journalist who broke the news yesterday, asked the Minister of Education and Science in the press conference on October 11 (in Japan) and asked about strontium in Yokohama. The minister said "Thank you for your information. We may do the testing in wider area if necessary." Other people who was watching the press conference live in USTREAM said the Minister answered "There is no report to me yet."

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(UPDATED) Strontium-90 Discovered in Yokohama City, 245 km from Fukushima I Nuke Plant

Details in the mail magazine by the independent journalist Yasumi Iwakami (paid subscription). I'm asking if I could translate and post it here.

The number is 195 becquerels/kg, more than 150 times more than the background (1.2 becquerels/kg).

This is probably the lower of the two samples; the other sample is currently being analyzed.

As far as the Ministry of Education is concerned, the southern most detection of strontium-90 was in Shirakawa City, 79 kilometers from the plant. The Ministry doesn't have a plan to test for strontium or plutonium outside the 80 kilometer radius.

On September 30, a government radiation expert appeared on NHK News to tell the viewers that strontium had not flown to the Tokyo Metropolitan area, and the only radionuclides people had to worry about were cesium-134 and cesium-137. In the video clip, the expert looks nervous, so does the male NHK announcer trying to wrap up his remarks.

September 30 was the day when the Ministry of Education and Science released the map of plutonium and strontium in the 80-kilometer radius from the plant. It was also the day when the Japanese government abolished the "evacuation-ready zone" in the area between 20 and 30 kilometers from the plant.

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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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Radioactive Strontium in Firefly Squid Off Fukushima Coast, Says China

plus cesium-134 (half-life of about 2 years) and silver-110m (half life about 250 days). Strontium-90's half life is about 30 years.

From Jiji Tsushin (8/24/2011):

中国国家海洋局は24日までに、福島県沖でサンプルとして採取したホタルイカから中国沿海生物の29倍に当たる放射性物質ストロンチウム90を検出したと発表した。中国沿海生物では通常検出されないセシウム134や、ガンマ線を放出する銀110mも検出された。

China's State Oceanic Administration announced on August 24 that strontium-90 was detected in the firefly squid caught off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture in the amount that was 29 times as high as the marine organisms along the coast of China. Cesium-134, which is normally never detected in the marine organisms along the coast of China, and silver-110m, a gamma-ray emitter, were also detected.

　同局は「福島県の東から東南方向の西太平洋は明らかに原発事故の影響を受けている」として、この海域の水産物に対する放射性物質の検査を強化するよう関係部門に求めた。　

The State Oceanic Administration considers that "the western Pacific Ocean to the east and southeast of Fukushima Prefecture has been clearly affected by the nuclear plant accident" and has ordered the related agencies to strengthen the inspection of the marine products off the coast of Fukushima for radioactive materials.

On August 15, China's State Oceanic Administration announced that the evidence their survey ship had collected off the coast of Fukushima indicated a much wider contamination of the Pacific Ocean than the Japanese government had admitted so far. If the firefly squid was caught in this survey, they are talking about the Pacific Ocean 800 kilometers east of the Fukushima coast.

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#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: Radioactive Strontium from Ocean Soil Off the Plant

Strontium-89 and strontium-90 have been detected in soil and ocean water, but for the first time they have been detected in ocean soil 3 kilometers off the coast where Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant is located. The samples from 2 locations were taken on June 2.

The Ministry of Education and Science have announced the detection of radioactive cesium from the ocean soil, but has been silent about strontium.

Strontium-89 (half-life 51 days) was detected at 140 becquerels/kg at one location (off Minami-Soma City), 42 becquerels/kg at the other (off Naraha-machi). Strontium-90 (half-life 29 year) was detected at 44 becquerels/kg at one location, 10 becquerels/kg at the other.

There is no safety standard set for radioactive strontium. The amount detected in regular sampling surveys from 1999 to 2008 at Fukushima II (not I) was ND (not detected) to 0.17 becquerel/kg.

The survey also detected a minute amount of plutonium-239+plutonium-240.

Clearly, no one cares any more in Japan. No major news outlet carried the news, not at least on line. The only paper that carried this news was the Japan Communist Party's newspaper, Akahata (red flag).

Here's TEPCO's press release on June 25, 2011:

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#Radioactive Strontium from Groundwater at Fukushima I Nuke Plant for the First Time

Radioactive strontium (strontium-89 and -90) was detected from the sub-drain pits at the Reactor 1 turbine building and the Reactor 2 turbine building. The samples were taken on May 18.

It is the first time that radioactive strontium was detected from the groundwater at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant.

The sub-drain pits are located outside the turbine buildings to collect groundwater so that the basements don't get flooded.

From TEPCO's press release on June 12, English labels added by me (measurement unit: becquerel/cubic centimeter):

In addition, strontium-89 and -90 were detected from the seawater samples taken on May 16 at 3 locations: at the water intake canals for the Reactors 1 through 4, inside the silt screen for the Reactor 2, and inside the silt screen for the Reactor 3.

From TEPCO's English press release on June 12 (measurement unit: becquerels/liter, or 1000 cubic centimeters):

The amount of strontium-90 in the seawater inside the silt fence for the Reactor 3 was 240 times as high as the legal limit allowed for nuclear plant operations.

Note that the sub-drain water analysis is in becquerels/cubic centimeter, and the seawater analysis is in becquerels/liter (1000 cubic centimeter). Obfuscate, obfuscate. I'll translate the numbers for the sub-drains into liters to compare. (Or if someone can do it for me, I'd much appreciate.)

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("Now They Tell Us" Series) Strontium Was Detected 62 Kilometers from Fukushima I in April and May, Says Ministry of Education

Update, or rather, review: The numbers are much higher than what was found in the area inside the 10-kilometer radius (actually 2 kilometers from the plant, 68 becquerels/kilogram). The number for strontium-90 in Akogi in Namie-machi (250 becquerels/kilogram) is approaching the number found at Fukushima I Nuke Plant (570 becquerels/kilo).

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Does it take that long to analyze the soil samples for strontium? (I know, I know...)

Asahi Shinbun reports that radioactive strontium was detected in soil as far away as 62 kilometers from the plant. The samples were taken between April 10 and May 19.

What's hilarious in the article is the so-called expert's comment, basically saying "Where there's cesium there's strontium. So of course we see strontium in the soil. But don't worry, if you don't eat much cesium, observing the government's provisional limit which may or may not stays the same, you're OK."

Well, he had been awfully quiet about that bit of information until asked by the Asahi reporter who wrote the piece. Disingenuous of Asahi Shinbun also; it is the first time that I remember, that any newspaper has said "where there's cesium, strontium is supposed to be there also." Asahi had a chance to say so from the day one, but didn't bother.

Non-government, non-experts like the rest of the Japanese already suspected it from long ago, particularly when they knew that strontium, plutonium, uranium, even americium, of Fukushima origin had been detected in the US.

From Asahi Shinbun (12:00AM JST 6/9/2011):

　文部科学省は８日、放射性ストロンチウムが東京電力福島第一原子力発電所から６２キロ離れた福島市など、福島県内１１カ所の土壌で新たに検出されたこと を明らかにした。放射性セシウムが検出されたところでは、微量に見つかるとされており、それが証明された形だ。放射性ストロンチウムには半減期が長いもの があって、体に入ると長期間影響を及ぼす可能性があり、監視が必要だ。

The Ministry of Education and Science disclosed on June 8 that radioactive strontium had been detected at 11 locations in Fukushima Prefecture, including Fukushima City which is 62 kilometers away from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. A small amount of strontium is supposed to be found where radioactive cesium is also found, and now it's been proven so. Some strontium radioisotopes have long half-life, and they could affect the body for long time if ingested.

　検出されたのは４月１０日～５月１９日に採取された土壌。福島市では半減期約２９年と長いストロンチウム９０が１キロあたり７７ベクレル、半減期約５０日と短いストロンチウム８９が５４ベクレル検出された。

Radioactive strontium was found from soil samples taken from April 10 to May 19. In Fukushima City, strontium-90 with half-life of 29 years was found in 77 becquerels per kilogram, and strontium-89 with half-life of 50 days was found in 54 becquerels per kilogram.

　最も多かったのは浪江町赤宇木で、それぞれ２５０ベクレルと１５００ベクレル。北西部に３６キロ離れた飯舘村では１２０ベクレルと１１００ベクレルで、 これまでに２０キロ圏内で検出されていた値よりも高かった。ほかに田村市、広野町、川内村、南相馬市、二本松市でもストロンチウムが検出された。文科省は 採取した土壌をさらに細かく分析するという。

The highest numbers come from the Akogi district in Namie-machi, with 250 becquerels/kg strontium-90 and 1,500 becquerels/kg strontium-89. In Iitate-mura, 36 kilometers northwest of the plant, 120 becquerels/kg strontium-90 and 1,100 becquerels/kg strontium-89 were detected; these amounts were even higher than those that had been detected earlier within 20 kilometer radius from the plant. Radioactive strontium was also detected from the soil samples from Tamura City, Hirono-machi, Kawauchi-mura, Minami-Soma City, Nihonmatsu City. The Ministry of Education and Science will further analyze the soil samples.

　放射性ストロンチウムはセシウムに比べ、炉心がより高温になってから溶け出し、気化する。それが検出されたことは、炉心が早い段階で溶け出し、その後に放射能の放出につながったことを意味するとみられる。

Radioactive strontium melts at a higher temperature than cesium to be volatilized. The fact that strontium has been detected would mean that the reactor core started to melt from the early stage of the accident, and then radioactive materials were released.

　ストロンチウムは人体に入ると、骨にたまる性質がある。原子力安全委事務局の加藤重治・内閣府審議官は「ストロンチウムはセシウムに対して一定の割合で 存在している。そのため、食べ物からの取り込み分はセシウムの規制値を守っていればストロンチウムについても影響はない。ただ、土壌から体内に取り込まな いよう注意すべきだ」と話している。

Once ingested, strontium tends to accumulate in bones. The Japanese government's Nuclear Safety Commission's spokesman Shigeharu Kato says, "Strontium exists at a certain ratio to cesium. Therefore, as long as the safety limit for cesium in food is observed, there is no ill effect from strontium. But caution is necessary not to ingest it from the soil."

The Nuclear Safety Commission: "We knew that."

I guess they didn't feel like announcing it.

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#Radioactive Strontium from Soil Within 10 Kilometers of #Fukushima I Nuke Plant

A slow dribbling of information on the extent of radiation contamination, so that people in Japan don't connect the dots and figure out that their soil, water, ocean have probably been contaminated beyond repair.

It took the Ministry of Education and Science one month to announce the test result, just like when it announced the result for the locations 30 kilometers away from the plant back in mid April.

Asahi Shinbun (6/1/2011):

文部科学省は３１日、福島第一原発から１０キロ圏内の大熊町、双葉町の４カ所の土壌から、半減期が約２９年と長い放射性物質ストロンチウム９０が検出されたと発表した。

The Ministry of Education and Science announced on May 31 that the radioactive strontium-90 was detected from the soil samples at 4 locations in Okuma-machi and Futaba-machi, the towns located inside the 10-kilometer radius from Fukushima I Nuke Plant.

　土壌は４月２９日～５月１日に採取した。原発から西南西約２キロの大熊町夫沢では、１キロあたり最大で６８ベクレルが検出された。他の３カ所では ２．５～１２ベクレルだった。半減期が約５０日と短いストロンチウム８９も４カ所で出ており、過去の核実験によるものではなく、第一原発から放出されたも のとみられる。ストロンチウムの土壌での基準はないが、体内に入ると骨にたまる傾向がある。

The samples were taken from April 29 to May 1. At Ottozawa district of Okuma-machi, located 2 kilometers west by southwest of the plant, 68 becquerels/kilogram strontium-90 was detected. At the other 3 locations, it was 2.5 to 12 becquerels/kilogram. Strontium-89, whose half life is 50 days, was also detected at all 4 locations. They are thought to have come from Fukushima I Nuke Plant, not from the past nuclear tests. There is no standard on the amount of strontium in the soil. Strontium tends to accumulate in the bones once ingested.

　文科省が３月中旬に浪江町と飯舘村の土壌を採取したときは、最大で１キロあたり３２ベクレルが出た。東京電力が４月中旬に第一原発の敷地内で採取した土からは約５７０ベクレルが検出されている。

When the Ministry tested the samples taken at Namie-machi and Iitate-mura in mid March, the maximum amount of strontium detected was 32 becquerels/kilogram. From the sample that TEPCO took in mid April at Fukushima I Nuke Plant, 570 becquerels/kilogram strontium was detected.

The result of this particular test has been uploaded at the Ministry's site (image is below), but it is not just strontium that they found. They also found:

• Cesium-136 (half-life 13 days);
• Tellurium-129m (half-life 33.6 days)
  
• Uranium-234, -235, -238;
• Plutonium-239 and 240 (at three locations)

The Ministry believes uranium there is naturally occurring, and plutonium is from the past nuclear tests.

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More on #Strontium Discovery in #Fukushima

Here's the announcement by the Ministry of (Re)Education and (Un)Science on strontium found "for the first time" since the Fukushima I Nuke Plant "Level 7" accident. It turns out the samples were taken on March 16, 17, and 19. It took them more than 3 weeks to test? Or did it take them more than 3 weeks to admit?

In the table, the top three are the soil samples; the bottom four are weeds.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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