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AyearaftertheWallStreetJournalreport,TEPCO
announcedthattheDaiichiplant'smeltdownhadreleased
2.5timesmoreradiationintotheatmospherethaninitially
estimated.
Theutilitycitedbrokenradiationsensorswithintheplant
asthemainreasonforthisdeficitand,claimedthat99
percentofthetotalradiationreleasedfromtheDaiichi
plantoccurredduringthelastthreeweeksofMarch2011.
Ayearlater,inJune2013,TEPCOadmittedthatalmost
80,000gallonsofcontaminatedwaterhadbeenleaking
intothePacificOceaneverydaysincethemeltdown.
InFebruary2014,TEPCOrevealedthatgroundwater
sourcesneartheDaiichiplantand80feetfromthePacific
Oceancontained20millionbecquerelsoftheharmful
radioactiveelementStrontium90pergallon(one
becquerelequalsoneemissionofradiationpersecond).
Eventhoughtheinternationallyacceptedlimitfor
Strontium90contaminationinwaterhoversaround120
becquerelspergallon,thesemeasurementswerehidden
fromJapan'sNuclearRegulationAuthorityfornearly
fourmonths.
Andlastmonth,TEPCOtoldreportersthat14different
ricepaddiesoutsideFukushima'sexclusionzonewere
contaminatedinAugust2013
meaningalmostayearhadpassedsinceemissionshad
beguntoaccumulateatdangerouslevelsinJapan'smost
sacredfood.
Whyhasacrisisthatisgainingtractionastheworstcase
ofnuclearpollutioninhistoryworse,emissionwise,
thanHiroshima,Nagasaki,orChernobylbeing
smotheredwithinternalcensorship?
"Japanproducespartsfornuclearreactors,likereactor
containmentvessels,"shesaidinaninterviewwithVICE.
"They'reheavilyinvestedinnuclearpower,eventhough
theyactuallyhaveaccesstoninetimesmorerenewable
energythanGermany."
WhatseparatesFukushimafromChernobylisthe
continuousleakageofradioactivematerial
"TheJapanesegovernmenttookthreemonthstotellthe
worldthattherehadbeenthreemeltdowns,eventhough
themeltdownshadtakenplaceinthefirstthreedays,"
"They'renottestingthefoodroutinely.Infact,they're
growingfoodinhighlyradioactiveareas,andthereare
storiesthatthemostradioactivefoodisbeingcannedand
soldtothirdworldcountries."
Latelastmonth,alongtermvicepresidentoftheKansai
ElectricPowerCompany(KEPCO),whichsourced
nearly50percentofitselectricityfromnuclearpower
sourceslikeFukushimabeforethe2011accident,
revealedtoJapanesereportersthatthecompany's
presidentdonatedapproximately$3.6milliontoseven
differentJapaneseprimeministersandotherpolitical
figuresbetween1970and1990.Theamountofficials
receivedwasbasedonhowmuchtheirincumbency
profitedthenuclearandelectricenergysectors.
Andifit'snotmoneythatliesbeneaththesemultifaceted
attemptsatobscuringinformationaboutFukushima,it's
thefearofmasshysteria.
itwasrevealedthattheUnitedNationsaffiliatedpro
nucleargroupInternationalAtomicEnergyAssociation
madeadealwithlocalgovernmentofficialsinFukushima
toclassifyinformationthatmightstokepublicconcern
(like,observersspeculate,cancerratesandradiation
levels),civilianfearsofacoverupcampaigncreptoutof
themischiefassociatedwithconspiracyandintothe
gravityofasituationthatfeelsmoreandmoresurreal.
TEPCOtheTokyoelectricalpowercompanythatowns
thefukishimaplants
Despitetheseefforts,plentyhascometolight.Asof
August2014,weknowthatradiationlevelsaroundthe
Fukushimaareacontinuetorise,evenafterthreeyearsof
containmentattempts.Weknowthatdoctorshavefound
89casesofthyroidcancerinastudyoflessthan300,000
childrenfromtheFukushimaareaeventhoughthe
normalincidencerateofthisdiseaseamongyouthsisone
ortwoforeverymillion.WeknowthatJapanese
scientistsarestillreluctanttopublicizetheirfindingson
Fukushimaduetoafearofgettingstigmatizedbythe
nationalgovernment.
WealsoknowthatUSsailorswhoplottedareliefeffort
inFukushimaimmediatelyafterthedisasterhave
reportedlybeenexperiencingawellupofdifferent
cancers,thatmonkeyslivingoutsideFukushima's
restrictedzonehavelowerbloodcellcountsthanthose
livinginotherpartsofnorthernJapan
OthersbelievethatJapanneedstolooknorthwest,
towardstheKremlin.ChernobylgaveRussiaandUkraine
alevelofexperienceinhandlingnuclearfailuresthat
standsapartfrommostoftheworld.
ButeventhoughtheecologicaleffectsofFukushima
continuetobehotlydebatedbyscientificorganizations
andthepublic,Dr.Kleinwantstotakeastepbackfrom
theconversationinordertomovetowardstheendgame.
"I'dliketoseeacompletelysafeoperation.It's
complicated,"heconcedes,"butweneedtohelpsupport
theJapanesecleanupeffortswheneverwecan."
When power was cut off during the tsunami, these pumps
were lost. So, ever since, groundwater runs down from
the higher land behind the reactors, through the
basements and contaminated groundwater around the
tanks, and, this newly highly contaminated water, then
runs straight into the Pacific Ocean.
In efforts to refill the fuel pools and cool the plant, TEPCO
workers poured thousands of tonnes of water onto the
reactors. This water then became radioactive and
needed to be stored until it was decontaminated. TEPCO
now has 1,000 tanks and other containers, holding
370,000 tonnes of highly contaminated water on site.
Strontium-90 (a radioactive by product that is easily
absorbed by the human body and causes bone cancer)
has been found at 70 times higher than legal limits.
The tanks continue to leak.
Beaches surrounding the area have been closed and all
fishing has stopped in this former fishing region. But
concerns are that the contamination is being carried well
beyond the exclusion zone, making it into the drinking
water and food being consumed in Japan by rain water.
Radiation has been found in waters off Alaska and the
West coast of the US, having spread over 2000 miles
across the Pacific.
The Next Chernobyl?
Nuclearcrises:Howdo
FukushimaandChernobyl
compare?
Japanhasraisedtheseveritylevelofitsnuclearcrisis
fromfivetothemaximumseven,puttingtheemergency
attheFukushimaDaiichipowerplantonaparwiththat
atChernobylin1986.MarkTranlooksatthedifferences
betweenthetwodisasters
Whatistheseveritylevel?
TheInternationalAtomicEnergyAgency's(IAEA)international
nuclearandradiologicaleventscaleranksnuclearand
radiologicalaccidentsandincidentsbyseverityfromoneto
seven.Untilnow,the1986Chernobylaccidentwastheonly
nuclearaccidenttohavebeenratedalevelsevenevent,which
theIAEAdescribesas"amajorreleaseofradioactivematerial
withwidespreadhealthandenvironmentaleffectsrequiring
implementationofplannedandextendedcountermeasures".
OfficialsfromJapan'snuclearandindustrialsafetyagency
(Nisa)estimatethattheamountofradioactivematerialreleased
totheatmospherefromFukushimaismuchlessthanChernobyl.
AspokesmanforNisasaidthenewrankingdidnotmeanthe
Japaneseplantposedthesamethreattopublichealthor
involvedsimilarlybigreleasesofradiationastheChernobyl
disaster.
Whatisthemaindifferencebetweenthetwo
accidents?
AtChernobyl,explosionsdestroyedareactor,releasingacloud
ofradiationthatcontaminatedlargeareasofEurope.At
Fukushima,whichwasdamagedbyanearthquake,thereactors
stillhavemostlyintactcontainmentvesselssurroundingtheir
nuclearcores.JapaneseofficialspointoutthatatChernobyl,the
reactoritselfexplodedwhilestillactive.AtFukushima,the
magnitudenineearthquakeandtsunamicrippledtheplant's
coolingsystem,leadingtoapartialmeltdownofthereactor.
Earlierattemptstocoolthereactorbyhosingwaterfromfire
enginesandhelicoptersleftpoolsofcontaminatedwaterand
floodedbasements,hamperingthecontainmentoperationand
effortstorestartthecoolingpumps.Tomakeroomformore
highlyradioactiveliquid,theplant'soperator,TokyoElectric
pumpedtonnesofcontaminatedwaterintothePacificbut
stoppedafterthemovewascriticisedbySouthKorea.Tokyo
Electricappearstobenoclosertorestoringcoolingsystemsat
thereactors,criticaltoloweringthetemperatureofoverheated
nuclearfuelrods.
Howmuchradioactivematerialhasbeen
releasedatFukushima?
Japan'snuclearsafetycommissionhasestimatedthatthe
Fukushimaplant'sreactorshadreleasedupto10,000
terabecquerelsofradioactiveiodine131perhourintotheairfor
severalhoursaftertheyweredamagedinthe11March
earthquakeandtsunami.Itsaidemissionssincethenhad
droppedtobelowoneterabecquerelperhour,addingthatitwas
examiningthetotalamountofradioactivematerialsreleased.A
terabecquerelequalsatrillionbecquerels,ameasurefor
radiationemissions.ThegovernmentsaystheChernobyl
incidentreleased5.2mterabecquerelsintotheairabout10times
thatoftheFukushimaplant.
WhatweretheeffectsofChernobyl?
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Fiftyemergencyrescueworkersdiedfromacuteradiation
syndromeandrelatedillnesses,4,000childrenandadolescents
contractedthyroidcancer,nineofwhomdied.Morethan
100,000peoplewereimmediatelyevacuated,andthetotal
numberofevacueesfromcontaminatedareaseventuallyreached
350,000.Theexplosionsthatdestroyedtheunitfourreactorcore
releasedacloudofradionuclides,whichcontaminatedlarge
areasofEuropeand,inparticular,Belarus,theRussian
FederationandUkraine,andaffectedlivestockasfarawayas
ScandinaviaandBritain.Hundredsofthousandsofpeoplewere
exposedtosubstantialradiationdoses,includingworkerswho
tookpartineffortstomitigatetheconsequencesoftheaccident.
TheIAEAsaidthesituationhadbeenmadeworsebyconflicting
information,exaggerationinpresscoverageand
pseudoscientificaccountsoftheaccidentreporting,forexample,
fatalitiesinthetensorhundredsofthousands.
Whathavebeentheeffectssofarat
Fukushima?
Thedeathtollfromthetsunamiismorethan13,000,
butnoradiationlinkeddeathshavebeenreportedand
only21plantworkershavebeenaffectedbyminor
radiationsickness,accordingtoJapaneseofficials.
About70,000peoplelivingwithina12mileradiusof
theplanthavebeenevacuated,while130,000living
between12and20milesfromtheplanthavebeen
toldtoleavevoluntarilyorstayindoors.The
government'schiefspokesman,YukioEdano,saidthe
currentevacuationzonewouldbeextendedtofive
othercommunities,includingthevillageofIitate,
whichlies25milesfromtheplant.Someexpertshave
criticisedtheraisingoftheseveritylevel."Ithink
raisingittothelevelofChernobylisexcessive,"said
MurrayJennex,associateprofessoratSanDiegostate
university."It'snowherenearthatlevel.Chernobyl
wasterribleitblewandtheyhadnocontainment
andtheywerestuck.Their[Fukushima]containment
hasbeenholding,theonlythingthathasn'tisthefuel
poolthatcaughtfire."
Category
Fukushima Daiichi
Date of accident
11 March 2011
Accident details
Severity rating
Number of reactors
Type of reactors
Radiation released
Area affected
Evacuation zone
People evacuated
Tens of thousands
Related deaths
thought to be low
Current status