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UPDATE, Noon, Wednesday, Tokyo Broadcasting System has set up a live webcam at Fukushima Daiichi. Radioactive steam can be seen constantly emitted from Units 3 and 4.
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Major new report from Robert Alvarez at Institute for Policy Studies for the first time spells out the estimated amount of radioactivity in spent fuel at each U.S. reactors site, and what should be done to reduce the unacceptable hazard of high-density spent fuel pools.
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Eight European Union countries (Austria, Greece, Ireland, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta and Portugal) have created a new anti-nuclear bloc within the EU. Initial declaration here.
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In the meantime, radiation releases continue. The IAEA reports that Cesium-137 deposition continued in 13 prefectures from April 22-May 3, with levels ranging from 1.3 Bq/m2 to 92 Bq/m2. Gamma radiation above background was measured in only two nearby refectures—Fukushima and Ibaraki. Levels in northeast Fukushima, more than 30 kilometers from the Daiichi site, were measured as high as 19.7 MicroSieverts/hour. Radiation levels closer to the reactor site are much higher.
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UPDATE, 12:30 pm, Friday, Toshiso Kosako, a University of Tokyo professor and radiation expert, resigned as a special nuclear advisor to Japan’s Prime Minister Naoto Kan today, in protest over the government’s handling of the Fukushima crisis. Kosako was appointed as an advisor on March 16. He told a news conference—apparently holding back tears– that ”The prime minister’s office and administrative organizations have made impromptu policy decisions, like playing a whack-a-mole game, ignoring proper procedures.” Kosako specifically pointed to the government’s decision to increase allowable exposures to workers from 100 to 250 MilliSieverts/year (from 10 to 25 rems/year; U.S. allowable level for workers is 5 rems/year) and to the decision to allow schoolchildren in Fukushima Prefecture to be exposed to 20 MilliSieverts/year (2 rems/year; 20 times higher than international standards).
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UPDATE, 11 am, Wednesday, Bloomberg News reports today that 2 robots entered the Unit 1 reactor building and took radiation readings inside of 1120 MilliSieverts/hour (about 112 rems/hour)—among the highest readings measured since the onset of the accident. A worker would receive a maximum annual dose (by Japanese standards) in less than 15 minutes; in the U.S. a worker could stay less than three minutes before receiving the maximum allowable dose (a member of the public could be exposed to that level for only about a second…).
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UPDATE, 4 pm, Monday, Japanese activists are alarmed about a government decision to allow children in Fukushima Prefecture to attend schools where radiation readings indicate they could be exposed to 20 MilliSieverts/year (2 rems/year)—20 times the U.S. allowable standard for the public. This decision appears not to be based on risk (and children are more susceptible to radiation than adults), since the government also is relocating people in five villages outside the previous evacuation zone because people in them could be exposed to 20 MilliSieverts/year. Rather, the decision appears to be based on the reality that many schools in Fukushima Prefecture are experiencing high levels of contamination, and the government apparently does not want to require children to go to schools further away, nor further expand the exclusion zone.
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Protests, rallies and other actions slated to occur in at least 16 states to commemorate 25th anniversary of Chernobyl catastrophe as well as ongoing Fukushima disaster. NIRS press release
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UPDATE, Noon, Thursday, As expected, the Japanese government has now turned the 20 kilometer “evacuation” zone into an exclusion zone. People entering the zone can be fined up to $1200 or jailed up to 30 days for entering the zone. Streams of people entered the zone earlier today before the new law went into effect to gather their possessions and check on their homes. The government will now allow a single visit per household, lasting no more than two hours, for people to gather their possessions. People returning from these visits will have to be screened for radiation. It is not clear what will happen to possessions found to be radioactive.
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NRC Licensing Board issues show cause order to UniStar/NRC staff; says UniStar ineligible to apply for license, implies Board likely to rule in favor of NIRS.
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