In a similar vein to my concerns that the Elk River spill will be allowed to fade from public consciousness (and so we can return to the business as usual of making gobs of money while exposing other people we don’t know or care about to health threats), recent news out of Fukushima:

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/AJ201402250071

“Very high levels of accumulated radioactive cesium have been detected in the mud of hundreds of reservoirs used to irrigate farmland in Fukushima Prefecture, where agriculture is a key industry…

A joint survey by the prefectural government and a branch office of the farm ministry found that the levels exceed 8,000 becquerels per kilogram of soil in 576 reservoirs. In 14 of those cases, the level tops 100,000 becquerels…

Officials said 108 of the 576 contaminated reservoirs are in zones where residents were evacuated due to the March 2011 nuclear disaster.

The remaining 468 reservoirs are located outside the evacuation order zones and still supplying water to rice paddies and other farmland. Those areas are mainly located in the central part of the prefecture, including the cities of Fukushima and Date.”

http://www.terradaily.com/reports/100-tonne_radioactive_water_leak_at_Fukushima_TEPCO_999.html

Feb 20, 2014

“A new leak of 100 tonnes of highly radioactive water has been discovered at Fukushima, the plant’s operator said Thursday, after it revealed only one of nine thermometers in a crippled reactor was still working…

The tank, one of hundreds at the site that are used to store water contaminated during the process of cooling broken reactors, sits around 700 metres (2,300 feet) from the shore.

The water it contains is highly radioactive, with a beta radiation reading “at 230 million becquerel per litre”, he said.

That contamination level compares with government limits of 100 becquerels per kilogramme in food and 10 becquerels per litre in drinking water. A becquerel is a unit of radioactivity.

Beta radiation, including from cancer-causing strontium-90, is potentially very harmful to humans and can cause damage to DNA. But it is relatively easy to guard against and cannot penetrate a thin sheet of aluminium.”

Greg, do you feel reassured that strontium-90 can be rebuffed by a thin sheet of aluminum? Or that it is ‘unlikely’ any of the highly contaminated water made it the vast distance of 700 meters to the sea? (Especially since we know so little contaminated water has made it into the open ocean, or the watershed surrounding Fukushima.)

This is the kind of logic only an industry-affiliated nuclear engineer, a moribund government regulator, or a well-paid company flack could love.

I’m confident that, much like the notion that the chemical broth that is the water table in West Virginia is no threat to human health or the environment, our pro-nuclear colleagues will see no evidence of concern in any of this.

It’s amazing what people will convince themselves of when they’re invested– personally, professionally, and particularly financially– in believing something must be true. Like nuclear power plants are basically safe, and always have been. And cesium in agricultural irrigation reservoirs probably isn’t a big deal.

“An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.8 struck Fukushima Prefecture in Japan early Friday morning, Kyodo reported, quoting the Japan Meteorological Agency.

No tsunami warning has been issued, the news agency said.

The focus of the quake was around 20 km (12.4 miles) underground in the prefecture, which hosts Tokyo Electric Power Co Inc’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, Kyodo said.

There was no damage to the nuclear plant, Japanese media quoted Tokyo Electric as saying.”

“Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday ordered the operator of Japan’s crippled nuclear power plant to scrap all six reactors at the site instead of just four scheduled for decommissioning and to concentrate on tackling pressing issues like leaks of radioactive water.”

There are problems with making that comparison, ie the initial nuclear material in the two situations is different, the fallout or byproducts different, the geometry is different, etc. it might be a little like comparing a house dire with a highway accident.

I’d like to know more about the Reactor Building 3 fuel pool collapse scenario that I’ve heard people talk about.

http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/nu/f1-np/camera/