10/6/2011 Gov't panel mulls interim goals on radiation dose

Source: NHK World 
Date: Thursday, October 06, 2011 15:39 +0900 (JST)
by: Yuko Fukushima


A government panel is calling for Japan's one-millisievert annual radiation limit to be eased for the interim, saying it will be difficult to restrict exposure in some areas near the troubled Fukushima nuclear plant.

The environment is contaminated by radioactive substances in areas hit by fallout from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, causing concern that residents may be exposed to radiation for long periods.

The panel on radiation believes it will be difficult to keep their dose below the one-millisievert limit set by the government for normal times and proposed on Thursday to set an interim exposure target.

It says the target should be set between one and 20 millisieverts in line with recommendations by the International Commission for Radiological Protection.

The panel says the target should be lowered in steps as decontamination progresses.

It adds that targets could differ by region and that residents should have a voice in setting the targets.

The panel will wrap up its proposal at its next meeting, but its plan to ease the radiation exposure limit is expected to arouse controversy.

Editor's Note: Although it is true that the ICRP (International Commission for Radiological Protection) does give discretion for setting the maximum yearly safe limit, it seems like common sense that instead of arbitrarily raising the safe dosage to match current conditions, it would be better to move people further away from hot spots so that they can meet the lowest yearly radiation dose limit possible. 

What they are actually doing is sending people back in to previously evacuated areas, rather than expanding the exclusion zone and evacuating more people from known hotspot areas. Excerpts from ICRP Publication 103 concerning the guidelines for yearly radiation exposure thresholds can be found here. Page 165 and 166 of the Full text PDF file which contains the excerpted pages from Publication 103 is where the 1 millisieverts/year and 20 millisieverts/year thresholds appear. Another useful reference is ICRP Publication 111 which gives guidelines for protection of people living in long-term contaminated areas. From skimming through this document 1 millisievert/year is a key exposure level. If I understand correctly, if you are getting over 1 millisievert/year you are under normal circumstances considered to be working in a "planned exposure" situation (e.g. you work with radiological materials in healthcare or as a nuclear plant worker etc.). 

Note that 20 millisieverts per year is the maximum allowable dosage for nuclear workers worldwide in most places (averaged over 5 years) as per World Nuclear Association. So basically what the Japanese government is proposing is to potentially up the maximum allowable dosage for an average Japanese citizen to the same level as for nuclear workers!

10/6/2011 Rice market turned upside down by radiation fears

Source: The Japan Times: Yen for Living
Date: October 6th, 2011
by: Philip Brasor & Masako Tsubuku

Japan’s rice harvest season started at the end of August, and is presently centered on the Tohoku region; or, at least it would be centered there if so much of the crop hadn’t been neutralized by the Mar. 11 tsunami and then what was left wasn’t contaminated by fallout from the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear reactor. Japanese people prize rice grown in the northeastern part of the country more than rice grown anywhere else, and they prefer new rice (shinmai), the newer the better. This is a cultural thing, since in some countries — India and Italy, for instance — older rice is considered something of a delicacy.
...
Read full article here

10/6/2011 Japan Test Reactor Was Shaken Beyond Design Limit in March Quake

Source: Bloomberg
Date: October 06, 2011, 1:06 AM EDT
by: Tsuyoshi Inajima

Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- A research reactor operated by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency was shaken beyond its design limits during the earthquake that struck in March and another of the agency’s nuclear facilities was likely damaged in the disaster.

The Japan Research Reactor No. 3 in Tokai village, 115 kilometers (71 miles) northeast of Tokyo, was shaken as much as 5.7 times more than its design allowed, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology said in a statement.

Parts of the roof of the experimental Japan Materials Testing Reactor building in the agency’s research center in Oarari, 60 kilometers from Tokyo, was damaged, possibly by the quake, the ministry said. No radiation leaks were found at either site, according to the ministry.

The magnitude-9 quake and subsequent tsunami on March 11 knocked out power and cooling at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant, causing the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl 25 years ago.

Neither of the Japan Atomic reactors were running when the quake hit, said Kunimi Yoshida, an official involved in nuclear power regulation at the science ministry.

Tokai village was the site of an accident in 1999 at a nuclear plant operated by Sumitomo Metal Mining Co.’s unit JCO Co. Two workers were killed by radiation after pouring uranium from a bucket into a processing tank, leading to a chain reaction.

--Editors: Aaron Sheldrick, Baldave Singh
To contact the reporters on this story: Tsuyoshi Inajima in Tokyo at tinajima@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Amit Prakash in Singapore at aprakash1@bloomberg.net

10/5/2011 Yakuza possibly involved in TEPCO sub-contracting of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear workers

Both ENENEWS and EX-SKF Blog had recent articles pertaining to the "pointy guy" or "camera guy" (Takeuchi) who has famously stood in front of the TEPCO webcam at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in radiation protective gear and pointed his finger directly at the camera.


So why was he pointing?  "I would like to request that TEPCO and the government improve in a tangible way how they contract work to subcontractors and how they monitor the employment situation.", says pointy guy as quoted from EX-SKF Blog.  Also according to EX-SKF Blog "pointy guy" believes the Yakuza are gathering sub-contractors for TEPCO for the dangerous Fukushima Daiichi nuclear work:

[...]
As has been much reported, some workers have been forced to work here by the outlaw element [i.e. "yakuza" or the Japanese mafia]. Such workers are disguised as being employed by legitimate contractors but have to accept an unfair or severe employment conditions. Sometimes even the legitimate contractors who post recruitment information at employment Offices don't know who their workers' true contractors are. The excessive multi-layered subcontracting leads to various problems such as lower wages, no insurance, and no contract document, as has been reported.
[...]

The "pointy guy" or "camera guy" (Takeuchi) apparently showed up at a recent TEPCO press conference and said the following according to ENENEWS:

[...] I was working for a sub-contract company at Fukushima in August. [...]
Media is banned to go into the plant site. Is it because media might see and report Yakuza people are working there ?
I actually saw people with Yakuza tatoo [sic] in the backroom. Is it not to let the media report the truth in the plant ?

Matsumoto, spokesman of TEPCO stumbled in his response as per ENENEWS:

Well, um, ah regarding of the Fukushima nuclear plant, eh [...]
The reason why we don’t disclose the actual situation inside is [...]
One of them is, um, because it’s in the caution zone and [...] From our point of view, now, um, [...] we are trying our best, so, ah [...] um, well, there is also the problem of exposure of the reporters. [...]
In that meaning, for now, discussing with the government and um.. [...] we can not disclose the actual situation inside of the plant.

Apparently this is not a new phenomenon in Japan.  There is an old 1995 documentary titled Nuclear Ginza which details how the Yakuza have recruited homeless and poor people from off the streets for high risk nuclear worker jobs in the past.

Nuclear Ginza: Japan's secret at-risk labor force Part 1/2


Nuclear Ginza: Japan's secret at-risk labor force Part 2/2

10/4/2011 Japan to work with IAEA decontamination experts

Source: NHK World
Date: Wednesday, October 05, 2011 05:34 +0900 (JST)
by: Catherine Kobayashi


The Japanese government says it is ready to work with the International Atomic Energy Agency in removing radioactive materials around the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

The government's chief spokesman, Osamu Fujimura, made the remark on Tuesday ahead of a visit by a team of IAEA experts who will arrive in Japan on Friday.

Fujimura said Japan will cooperate with and learn from international experts in decontamination. He said he hopes their visit will help the process to move faster and more efficiently.

The government says it also hopes to establish the best way to clean up radioactive substances so it can be shared by other nations.

The 12-member team is to make the 9-day visit at the request of Japan's nuclear crisis minister, Goshi Hosono.

The team will travel to Fukushima Prefecture to watch the decontamination process and give advice before compiling a report.