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Thu, 2011-03-24 12:57 — mdmcdonald
The Environment and Public Health Working Group is focused on minimizing negative health impacts from the Tohoku earthquake and cascading effects.

The mission of the Environment and Public Health Working Group is to minimize negative health impacts from the Tohoku earthquake,tsunami, safety problems with Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant and cascading effects on Japanese society.

Working Group email address:  ***@***.***

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Jason Jackson Kathy Gilbeaux Katie Rast mdmcdonald Patrick Young Yuki Karakawa
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environment-and-public-health@m.resiliencesystem.org

Fukushima Residents Dump Radiated Soil

Fri, 2011-07-22 22:28 — Kathy Gilbeaux

cnbc.com - July 6, 2011

They scoop up soil from their gardens and dump it in holes dug out in parks and nearby forests, scrub their roofs with soap and refuse to let their children play outside.

More than three months after a massive earthquake and tsunami triggered a nuclear meltdown at a nearby power plant, Fukushima residents are scrambling to cope with contamination on their own in the absence of a long-term plan from the government.

"Everything and everyone here is paralyzed and we feel left on our own, unsure whether it's actually safe for us to stay in the city," said Akiko Itoh, 42, with her four-year old son in her lap.

Even though this city of 300,000 lies outside of the 30-km (20 mile) evacuation zone around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant, a recent survey showed radiation levels in several spots exceed 13 millisieverts per year, more than six times natural levels.

Fukushima Children to Receive Radiation Meters

Wed, 2011-07-20 22:02 — Kathy Gilbeaux

cnbc.com - June 28, 2011

TOKYO - Radiation meters will be distributed to about 34,000 children living in the largest city near the tsunami-damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant to monitor their exposure levels, a city official said Tuesday.

The decision to hand out the meters comes amid growing concern over the safety of children as the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima plant drags on, posing potential long-term health risks.

The devices, called dosimeters, will be distributed in September to children between the ages of four and 15 living in Fukushima city, which has recorded relatively high radiation levels since a massive March 11 earthquake and tsunami severely damaged the nuclear plant.

Dosimeters have already been supplied to area schools but not to each student, according to city official Koichi Kato. Other towns in the area have begun similar measures, but Fukushima's plan is the largest to date.

"We intend to continue the program for about three months," Kato said. "We are still considering whether to expand it further to include other residents."

Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Japan Task Force Makes Its Report

Fri, 2011-07-15 19:06 — Kathy Gilbeaux

by Mike Campbell - earthtimes.org - July 13, 2011

San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station - San Clemente, California - Image: © iofoto

On 11th March 2011, northeast Japan was struck by a magnitude 9 earthquake and an ensuing tsunami. The Fukushima nuclear power plant was directly in the path of the tsunami and was also at the epicentre of some aftershocks. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission established a Japan Task Force which was charged with identifying lessons that the USA should learn from the Fukushima incident.

The task force was led by Charles Miller and it came up with a set of twelve recommendations aimed at improving safety at US nuclear power plants (NPP) and re-evaluating the level of public health protection required to meet needs in the 21st century.

Beef Contaminated With Cesium Sold at Market

Wed, 2011-07-13 00:17 — Kathy Gilbeaux

asahi.com - July 13, 2011

Beef from cows from Fukushima Prefecture contaminated with radioactive cesium was sold to restaurants and shoppers in at least five prefectures, according to Tokyo metropolitan government officials.

The officials said July 11 that contaminated beef from six cows raised at a ranch in Minami-Soma was sold in Hokkaido, Chiba, Aichi, Tokushima and Kochi prefectures.

The rancher on July 10 admitted ignoring a prefectural order not to use potentially contaminated feed stored outdoors after explosions at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, Fukushima prefectural officials said.

Wholesalers in Tokyo sold the beef to dealers in Tokyo as well as Kanagawa, Shizuoka, Osaka and Ehime prefectures before the meat reached those prefectures, the Tokyo officials said.

The revelations come after Tokyo officials discovered radioactive cesium at levels up to 3,200 becquerels per kilogram, or 6.4 times the national safety limit of 500 becquerels per kilogram, in meat from 11 cows from the same ranch earlier this month. However, beef from the cows did not make it to market.

The beef that did make it to market and consumers' tables was from six cows shipped before the cesium contamination was discovered.

Disasters - 45 Percent of Children in Fukushima Exposed to Thyroid Radiation

Thu, 2011-07-07 22:44 — Kathy Gilbeaux

submitted by Luis Kun

A survey revealed that 45 percent of children living near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have been exposed to thyroid radiation; following the nuclear disaster and the revelation that radiation was leaking from reactor no. 1, researchers tested more than 1,000 children from newborns to age fifteen in the Fukushima Prefecture; children were found to have been exposed to 0.04 microsievert per hour or less in most cases.

The fingerprint of thyroid radiation exposure // Source: cancertreatment365.com

A survey revealed that 45 percent of children living near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have been   exposed to thyroid radiation.

Special Report: Japan's "Throwaway" Nuclear Workers

Sat, 2011-06-25 00:38 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Workers engaged in operations to stabilize the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power plant take a rest on the floor of a gymnasium inside the grounds of the Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Plant, about 10km away from the crippled Daiichi plant in Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan, in this photo taken May 7, 2011 and released June 2, 2011 by industrial medical doctor Takeshi Tanigawa, who examined the workers.
REUTERS/Takeshi Tanigawa/Handout/Files

Reuters - By Kevin Krolicki and Chisa Fujioka - June 24, 2011

A decade and a half before it blew apart in a hydrogen blast that punctuated the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl, the No. 3 reactor at the Fukushima nuclear power plant was the scene of an earlier safety crisis.

Then, as now, a small army of transient workers was put to work to try to stem the damage at the oldest nuclear reactor run by Japan's largest utility.

Tepco Restarts Water Clean-up Operation

Sat, 2011-06-25 00:09 — Kathy Gilbeaux

The Financial Times - By Jonathan Soble in Tokyo - June 23, 2011

Nuclear technicians in Japan have restarted a problem-plagued water purification system at Fukushima Daiichi atomic power station, as they race to prevent radiation-contaminated water from overflowing into the sea.

About 110,000 tonnes of highly contaminated water have accumulated in basements and service tunnels under the plant’s four crippled reactors, a result of three months’ worth of emergency cooling efforts since the March 11 tsunami. The onset of Japan’s early-summer rainy season has made the situation more critical by adding to the build-up.

Tepco Water Treatment Hopes Elude

Sat, 2011-06-25 00:01 — Kathy Gilbeaux

The Japan Times - June 21, 2011

Tokyo Electric Power Co. continued struggling Monday to restart a newly installed water treatment system at its crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, aiming to resume full operations Tuesday.

The treatment system is designed to remove highly radioactive materials from the massive amounts of water accumulating at the plant, thus its full operation is vital for efforts to contain the three-month-old nuclear crisis, because Tepco hopes to eventually recycle the water to cool the plant's damaged reactors.

But the new system was halted at 12:54 a.m. Saturday, after becoming fully operational at 8 p.m. Friday, because the radiation level of a component to absorb cesium had reached its limit and required replacement much earlier than expected, Tepco officials said.

Tepco has been trying to ascertain why the component didn't work as hoped and is probing ways to solve the problem, company officials said.

Tepco meanwhile said Monday it fully opened the doors of the reactor 2 building to lower the humidity inside so workers can enter the site, and denied this would have a negative impact on the environment.

Video - Inside Fukushima Daiichi

Fri, 2011-06-17 15:09 — Kathy Gilbeaux

The IAEA's Fact-Finding Mission in Japan visited the damaged Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on 27 May 2011, the final site visit of the team's programme to identify lessons from the Japanese nuclear accident that could help improve global nuclear safety. The team's international experts from 12 nations held discussions with top plant operating officials and toured the six-reactor facility.

http://www.iaea.org/

Japan Nuclear Crisis: IAEA Report Finds Country Underestimated Tsunami Risk For Nuclear Plants

Wed, 2011-06-01 11:49 — Kathy Gilbeaux

In this May 27, 2011 photo released by the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, members of the IAEA fact-finding team in Japan visit the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Okuma, Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan. (AP Photo/IAEA)

Reuters - June 1, 2011

TOKYO, June 1 (Reuters) - Japan underestimated the risk of tsunamis and needs to closely monitor public and workers' health after the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, a team of international safety inspectors said in a preliminary review of the world's worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.

The report, from an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team led by Britain's top nuclear safety official Mike Weightman, highlighted some of the well-documented weaknesses that contributed to the crisis at Fukushima when the plant, 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo, was hit by a massive earthquake and then a tsunami in quick succession on March 11.

Those start with a failure to plan for a tsunami that would overrun the 5.7-metre (19 ft) break wall at Fukushima and knock out back-up electric generators to four reactors, despite multiple forecasts from a government agency and operator Tokyo Electric Power Co's own scientists that such a risk was looming.

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