Radiation spreads throughout Japan – Government to survey half of nation for soil contamination – National lifetime radiation exposure limit raised to 100 mSv
By arevamirpal::laprimavera
27 July 2011 Afraid of a “chaos” in the harvest season, perhaps? After more than 4 months since the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident started, the Japanese government must be feeling it safe to admit to a far wider contamination by radioactive fallout. The Ministry of Education and Science announced that it will conduct the aerial survey of 23 prefectures (out of total 47) to determine the level of soil contamination. For some reason, Hokkaido is excluded, but every prefecture from Aomori to Shiga, which is located about in the middle of the Honshu Island will be surveyed. It’s all of Tohoku, Kanto, Chubu-Hokuriku. […] If I were the official at the Ministry, I would test Hokkaido, too. I have seen too many radioactive plumes sweeping the island of Hokkaido in the simulation animations by several European meteorological institutions. (For the latest from the German Weather Bureau, go here. But even they will stop publishing the dispersion map on July 29… ) […]
Radiation in Japan: Government to Survey Half of Japan for Soil Contamination
By arevamirpal::laprimavera
27 July 2011 From the press release by Akita prefectural government on July 25:A resident in Akita Prefecture alerted the authorities when the bag of leaf compost that he purchased from a local garden/home center measured high in radiation with his portable survey meter. The authorities tested the content of the bag, and it had 11,000 becquerels/kg of cesium. At the garden/home center (2 locations) the air radiation 1 meter from the pile of the leaf compost bags measured as high as 0.48 microsievert/hr.
The press release is somewhat misleading, as it says the air radiation 1 meter from one bag of the leaf compost is 0.06 microsievert/hr. If you measure in front of the pile of the same bags, the radiation is as high as 0.48 microsievert/hr. Akita’s air radiation level (which the prefectural government measures only at 2 locations) is between 0.04 and 0.06 microsievert/hr. According to Yomiuri Shinbun (7/27/2011), these bags were packed in Tochigi Prefecture, and 20,000 bags have already been sold in Akita Prefecture alone. Shimotsuke Shinbun (local Tochigi paper; 7/27/2011) reports that Tochigi Prefecture tested the leaves that went into the leaf compost bags, and they found 72,000 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium. The leaves were collected in the northern Tochigi in April, and was sold outside the prefecture from mid June to early July. The Tochigi prefectural government ordered the two sellers of leaf compost in Tochigi to recall what’s been sold and refrain from shipping “voluntarily” (i.e. at the sellers’ own cost, with no support from the government). […]
Radioactive Compost Has Already Spread Wide
By arevamirpal::laprimavera
27 July 2011 From TV Asahi’s “Hodo Station” on July 26, in the segment that discusses the lifetime limit of 100 millisieverts radiation. A chicken farmer in Kawamata-machi in Fukushima Prefecture has brought his eggs to a volunteer testing station in Fukushima City. After 20 minutes of testing, 60 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium is detected from the eggs. Disappointed, the farmer says, “I don’t know what to say to my customers. It’s much lower than the provisional safety limit in Japan, but if I compare the number to the safety limit in Ukraine it is extraordinary. …” The reporter asks the farmer, “What is the safety limit in Ukraine?” 6 becquerels/kg, he tells the reporter. The man who runs the station says, “For these farmers, the provisional safety limit in Japan is just too loose.” Kawamata-machi is 47 kilometers northwest of Fukushima I Nuke Plant. The Japanese government’s mishandling and concealing the radioactive fallout information has resulted in radioactive water, vegetables, fish, mushroom, beef, hay, pork, manure, compost, and now eggs. And the farmers like this chicken farmer who clearly wants to sell only “safe” eggs to his customers are at a loss. To the chicken farmer, 60 becquerels/kg was just too high to sell his eggs in good conscience. […]
Radiation in Japan: 60 Becquerels/Kg Cesium from Eggs in Fukushima (Video-clip added)
By arevamirpal::laprimavera
25 July 2011 The Tochigi prefectural government announced the number on July 25. 106,000 becquerels/kg of cesium in the hay is the highest level so far found outside Fukushima Prefecture. If reconstituted, it would be 24,246 becquerels/kg. The safety limit for the cattle feed is 300 becquerels/kg. The rice hay was collected in a dairy farm in Nasu Shiobara (more than 100 kilometers southwest of Fukushima I Nuke Plant) and sold to the cattle farm in the same City. Something doesn’t quite add up to the story of the both sides, though. According to Asahi Shinbun (7/24/2011): […]
Radioactive Rice Hay in Tochigi: 106,000 Becquerels/Kg Cesium
By arevamirpal::laprimavera
25 July 2011 No surprise to anyone who didn’t trust the Japanese government.
From Asahi Shinbun (11:14PM JST 7/25/2011): […]県によると、今月１９日にサンプルとして採取した小麦から、基準（１キログラムあたり５００ベクレル）を超える同６３０ベクレルの放射性セシウムが検出された。県は農家に出荷自粛を要請した。同県の昨年度の小麦生産量は６５１トンで、全国２５位。 According to the prefectural government, 630 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium was found in a sample taken on July 19. The prefectural government has asked the farm to withhold shipment on a voluntary basis. Fukushima Prefecture ranks No. 25th in wheat production in Japan, with 651 tonnes produced last year. また、同県田村市の農家が収穫したナタネからも、基準を超える同７２０ベクレルの放射性セシウムが検出された。流通はしておらず、県は出荷自粛を要請した。 Also, 720 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium has been detected in the rapeseeds harvested by a farm in Tamura City [41 kilometers west of Fukushima I Nuke Plant] in Fukushima. The rapeseeds haven’t been shipped, and the prefectural government has asked the farm to withhold shipment on a voluntary basis.
Don’t overly count on the statement that these crops haven’t yet been sold in the market. That’s as far as the farmer has told the government, or as far as the government can tell, which may not be much.
By arevamirpal::laprimavera
23 July 2011 The number was 1,697 yesterday, and to that, 944 cows from Miyagi Prefecture alone were added overnight, bringing the total to at least 2,641. Tokyo Shinbun, citing Kyodo News (7/23/2011):宮城県は２３日、原発事故後に集めた稲わらを肉牛に与えていた県内の農家から、新たに汚染の疑いがある９４４頭が東京、山形、宮城、神奈川、千葉、新潟の１都５県に出荷されたと発表した。県の出荷総数は計１１８３頭となった。
Miyagi Prefecture announced on July 23 that additional 944 meat cows from Miyagi Prefecture suspected of being fed with rice hay collected after the Fukushima I Nuke Plant accident had been shipped to 6 prefectures – Tokyo, Yamagata, Miyagi, Kanagawa, Chiba and Niigata. The total number of potentially contaminated cows shipped from Miyagi is now 1,183. 県によると、新たに１７戸の農家が保管していた稲わらから国の暫定基準値を超える放射性セシウムが検出され、うち１６戸が計６２６頭を出荷していた。[…]Miyagi Prefecture has the detailed test results (in Japanese) on its website. The highest radioactive cesium level from the most recent test was 7,822 becquerels/kg in Shiroshi City, located near the prefectural border to Fukushima near the cities that have been found with high radiation areas (Date City, Fukushima City, etc.).
Over 2,600 Meat Cows Suspected of Being Fed with Radioactive Rice Hay
By arevamirpal::laprimavera
21 July 2011 How much more meaningless can it get? The Japanese government is about to set 100 millisieverts as lifetime, cumulative acceptable radiation exposure standard, counting both internal and external radiation exposure, and this is on top of the average 1.5 millisievert/year natural radiation exposure. Up till now, the acceptable radiation exposure has been 1 millisievert per year, in addition to the natural radiation exposure in Japan which is about 1.5 millisievert per year. There has been no standard for lifetime cumulative radiation exposure. I read the following Asahi Shinbun article, translated it, and realized how utterly meaningless the whole exercise was. No one knows how much extra radiation that the Japanese (and the rest of the northern hemisphere) have gotten thanks to the broken reactors and spent fuel pools at Fukushima I Nuke Plant. In parts of Fukushima Prefecture, the cumulative air radiation level already exceeded 100 millisieverts. And how many people, other than the nuke plant workers, have been tested with the whole body counters? Answer: not many. Reasons often cited are: background radiation too high in Fukushima for proper testing; there are not many whole body counters in Japan, 100 at most. Then, I read that a man from Iitate-mura in Fukushima demanded he be tested for radiation using the whole body counter. He finally got his wish several months after the start of the accident, and they refused to tell him the number. He still doesn’t know how much radiation he’s received. So, my conclusion is that this new so-called standard or the article like Asahi that discusses the standard is to imprint the number in people’s mind: “100 millisieverts, 100 millisieverts, it’s safe up to that number.” Yes, they’ll also tell you it’s the lifetime cumulative number, but that doesn’t mean a thing when you don’t know how much of it you have had to spend already since March. Soon, as Dr. Yamashita already said in a slip of a tongue, it will be safe up to 100 millisieverts per year. […]
Radiation in Japan: 100 Millisieverts in Lifetime to Be Set as New Radiation Standard in Japan
