Cracked Crippled Concrete

Tepco workers are scrambling to seal a crack in a containment pit next to the number 2 reactor at Fukushima.  They are said to be using concrete to plug the crack, from which radioactive water is spilling into the ocean, contaiminating it.  The ultimate source of the radioacive water is still not known, but some suspect it may be the reactor itself.

That's the latest news coming from on-site.  Cooling of the reactors is still under control.

Off-site, there was one almighty fuck-up by Tepco management when on March 31st they submitted an application to build two more reactors at the plant.  Their application had been completed before the quake but apparently nobody had thought to pull it out before submitting it.  Needless to say the prefectural government reaction was one of fury, while at the national level the media responded with what could generously be called bemusement.  I would not like to be working with the PR department at Tepco right now.  It's impossible to make predictions about the site, but I would think it almost impossible for at least four of the reactors to ever be used again.  The idea that more reactors should be built there sounds pretty bizarre two week's after the nation's worst nuclear disaster.

Back to normal?

Today for the first time in two weeks the nightly NHK news did not lead with a story from the Fukushima nuclear power plant.  Instead, the first news items were about reconstruction in the tsunami-affected areas: preparing for a new school term, trying to restart industry etc etc.  When the nuclear plant did make an appearance, the focus was on continuing containment, rather than dealing with massive new radiation leaks or explosions.  The main item concerned the water that was being used to cool down the reactors: now contaminated with low levels of radioactivity, authorities are debating what to do with thousands of tonnes of low-level radioactive waste water.  It's a tricky one all right.

One was left with the feeling that, regardless of a lack of official announcement, a crisis had been diverted and all that is left is weeks of difficult and hugely expensive clean up.  Radioactivity levels in water in the sea outside the plant are high but dropping.  A 'synthetic resin' is being sprayed over surfaces to trap radioactive dust.  That's where the emphasis seems to be now: containment and cleaning.

Residents of a town 40 km from the plant got a surprise yesterday when levels of radioactivity, as measured by the International Atomic Energy Agency, were double the agency's criteria for evacuation.  The Japanese government defended their own advice, saying the IAEA's measuring methodology was 'not appropriate'.  There was no mention of the issue on the news tonight, but I'm guessing that there are not many people in that town left to worry, they would all have evacuated.

I probably would too, even though, and it feels weird to suggest this, let alone begin to believe it, that low levels of radiation are good for you.  It is even being used by some as healing medication:

http://nighthawkminerals.com/



There are small differences in day-to-day living now.  Almost all items have returned to the shops, but the brands for rice, milk and tissues/toiletpaper are all different.  All escalators are turned off and the shops are not well-lit as electricity is conserved.  Spinach is strangely cheap as people just avoid it no matter where it comes from.  You just walk over the cracks in the pavement that weren't there last month.  And things just ...aren't as busy as they used to be.  Fewer people out partying on the weekend.  Life is trying to return to normal but in truth people are starting to realise that it will never be the same again.
 
28,000 people dead.  220,000 homeless.  That's something that is not easy to get over.

We are not going to die.

Today the news is dominated by the 'radioactive water' story.  Radioactive water is continuing to leak from reactor number 2, although the exact source is not clear.  Increasingly, it appears the water may be coming from pipes around the reactor itself, due to damage or partial meltdown of the rods.  The immediate focus at the plant is preventing this radioactive water from entering the sea.  In addition, plutonium was detected in soil outside the reactor, which also points to damage of the reactor.

All the reactors are still being cooled however, to various degrees by various means.

It's increasingly hard to be objective about all this: is there genuine danger for people outside the plant or not?  Like everybody, I was concerned when the nuclear accident was first reported on the news.  The very phrase 'meltdown' taps into a vague but colossal fear sourced in the unconscious.  It's almost impossible to be rational when thinking about concepts such as 'radiation' and 'meltdown'.  And what do I know about nuclear power or nuclear reactors?  But information, all the information you want, is available from Wikipedia or other reliable sources.  And when it comes down to it, there is negligible danger for Tokyo residents.  I'm more likely to incur health risk from the McDonald's meal I ate yesterday than from all the radiation reported in Tokyo thus far.  This knowledge, coupled with a healthy skepticism of mainstream media, has led me to believe there is actually...no danger at all.  No danger except, perhaps, for the workers at the plant.  No real reason for 20-50% of foreign residents of Tokyo to have left.  No real reason not to come back.

Yeah, I'm thinking about another McDonald's meal.  That Manhattan burger was pretty good.

So...is it safe or not?

Well, the storm of excrement that is the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant continues.

Today massive amounts of radiation were reported in water around reactor number 2.  This seems to be coming from both the pool containing spent fuel rods and the reactor itself.  Although the risk of meltdown seems to have been averted, as all reactors are now being flushed with fresh or sea water, this new radioactivity is dominating the news.  Nobody seems quite sure where it is coming from or how to deal with it.  Personally, I'm not that surprised that a damaged nuclear reactor is leaking radioactive water: I mean, what else would it do?  But it's becoming a regular shitstorm for the media, especially as yesterday there were conflicting and terrifying radiation reports (one report indicated radiation levels were 10,000,000 times normal) about the water.  Eventually Tepco (Tokyo Electric Power Company) admitted it had screwed up about yesterday's reading, but serious damage was done to its reputation and this has only fed the media feeding frenzy.

Even the pro-nuclear sources on the web are indignant with Tepco, for screwing up radiation levels, exposing their workers to radiation, and not releasing information.  The information vacuum is especially damaging, as it is likely to be filled by the dire imaginings of the press.

Slowly it seems people seem to be trickling back into the Tokyo area.  It's a difficult thing to decide it is safe to return.  On the one hand, it is likely to be some time before the situation in Fukushima is totally resolved.  On the other hand, an objective review of the situation suggests there was little need to leave in the first place.  In that sense, it is not safer or more dangerous in Tokyo than it was ... two weeks ago.

The death toll for the tsunami itself is still rising.  There are 11,000 confirmed dead, and over 15,000 still missing.  26,000 people is a huge blow, a massive disaster.  It's difficult to see how this will impact on Japan in the long term, but impact it certainly will.

The three workers who received high doses of radiation have been released from hospital, according to tonight's news.  As yet, they have shown no symptoms of radiation poisoning, but may experience burns on their legs 'similar to sunburn'.

Soon we will have nothing to Drink! Oh, wait.

Today the government lifted its advisory against babies drinking Tokyo tap water, as today's measured levels of radioactivity were below those considered 'safe'

Tokyo mothers responded by having a 'Let's Give Our Babies Tap Water' party and held parades and danced through the city, guzzling tap water as they swayed through the streets, singing and laughing.

Okay, that party bit was made up.  Why does my version of how the world should be always differ to the reality?  I just can't work it out. 

In any case bottled water was unobtainable today.  If things continue like this, the only thing left to drink will be ... human blood!

Workers up at the plant have connected power to all the reactors and are currently trying to understand what systems are damaged.  Water spraying operations are continuing.  And for the first time, 3 workers were exposed to 'dangerious levels of radiation' when they slipped into radioactive water.  They were taken immediately to hospital for treatment.  They received 170 millisevierts of radiation, which according to The Japan Times is much less than can cause any symptoms.  However NHK news is talking about 'burns' so I am not quite sure what is happening there.

I have also heard an explanation as to why the Japanese are hoarding tissue and toilet paper, though like many Japanese explanations it leaves one feeling somewhat unsatisfied.  Apparently paper products 'require petroleum in their manufacture' and are likely to disappear in times of oil shortage.  This happened during the 'oil shock' of the early seventies.  Hence the locals are stocking up on toilet paper.

Today minute traces of radiation were detected in seawater off the coast of Fukushima.  You can add this to radioactive water in Tokyo, vegetables in Ibaraki and milk from Fukushima.  The Japanese government assures us that none of this really constitutes a problem, as the levels are too low.  You can hardly blame people for having their doubts though.

I suspect we will be in this realm for quite a long time: are trace amounts of radioactivity in food, far below levels reported to be dangerous to health, acceptable?  For example, is it okay to eat broccoli, that, if consumed everyday, would expose you to as much radiation over a year as a tenth of a chest x-ray?  The commonly repeated refrain by many is that 'there is no safe level of radiation' but only a cursory reading of scientific literature will give you doubts about this.  For example, if normal 'background radiation' is not safe, then 'safety' is actually impossible.  In fact, some serious sources (e.g. Wikipedia) even suggest that very low levels of radiation may be good for the body.  It's hard to know what to make of such an idea, as it goes against everything I've been taught, but if I came to believe this it wouldn't be the first time I've been diametrically opposed to popular opinion.

Up at the Fukushima nuclear plant the battle continues.  They now have electricity linked up to all the reactors, and what remains now is to test the cooling systems before turning everything back on.  In the meantime, cooling has continued by vehicle, and now they've brought in these huge machines with 50- meter hoses attached that are designed to spray concrete, and they are using them for precision water spraying.
Some cautious optimism seems appropriate here.

Japanese Self Defence Forces are now combating Radioactive Zombies

A friendly chat

This morning I got a call from a young woman named Jenny.  She was calling from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Japan Crisis Centre in Japan.  Nice lass.  We had a little chat.  She told me that the Australian government was now recommending that Aussies leave Tokyo.  I told her that I wasn't thinking of it at the moment but that I was prepared to follow the lead of Japanese authorities.  She told me that was fine.  She seemed very young, and to know very little about Japan; for example, she didn't seem to have heard of Yokohama and asked me to spell it.

General radiation levels are down slightly at Fukushima but there was also unexplained white smoke coming from reactor building number 3.  Still no detectable radiation levels in Tokyo.

I sent my family to Kagoshima today, mostly because of the nagging from my mother-in-law.  And I learned one thing today.  Even when they are fleeing from nuclear radiation, Japanese women do not neglect to put on their make-up.

T.V. is full of reports from the workers up at the plant and how much radiation they are receiving.  The highest amount so far admitted by the Japanese authorities for workers there at the moment is 27 millisiverts, apparently not a danger to human health.  Contrary to some reports, especially in the foreign media, that the workers at the nuclear plant are basically on a suicide mission, not one as yet has received a high dose of radiation.

These chips were 70% off today, I wonder why.  Taste good but.