東京電力福島第１原発事故で帰還困難区域になっている福島県浪江、双葉両町の山林で起きた火災で、地元の対策本部は発生から８日目の６日、ほぼ火が消える鎮圧状態になったと発表した。７日早朝からヘリで現場を確認し、鎮火に向けて消火活動を続ける。
県などによると、焼失面積は５０ヘクタール以上とみられる。けが人はおらず、周辺の放射線量に大きな変動はないという。
陸上自衛隊や消防は６日、煙や温度上昇が確認された十数カ所を重点に、ヘリコプターなどで消火活動を継続。火や煙が消え、燃え広がる可能性が低くなったとして、浪江、双葉両町の合同災害対策本部は同日午後６時１０分、鎮圧したと判断した。
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The Los Alamos of the 1950s was far different than the city on the mesa of today. And the precautions and safety measures of the ’50s were far different than any modern work site.
Lynne Loss was a little girl during that era living in Los Alamos when her father worked as an engineer in the lab and mother worked on site buying nuclear supplies.
[…]
In 1957, her family moved to Colorado, but she fears the damage was already done by then. Her father Henry Davis was frequently exposed to radiation and beryllium, a lightweight metal used in weapons.
“And then he would come home with it on his clothes and we would have to wash his clothes with ours and sit on the furniture, eat dinner, and whatever you do when you’re a family,” Loss said.
Davis suffered for 40 years from beryllium disease and radiation exposure, finally dying in 1994. Soon after, Loss learned she had colon cancer.
[…]
Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., is sponsoring amendments to the act.
“That’s an issue that we’ve been working on a lot over time,” Udall said. “And I think if a family member can show they have significant exposure, then there is a good argument they should be included.”
Udall admits at this point, family members of employees aren’t covered under the act, but it may be in the works.
[…]
It would help children of lab employees like Loss. Her cancer has hurt her physically and financially.
“Oh my god, David and I lost all of our retirement money, $300,000 paying my medical,” she said. “My deductibles went up. My premiums went up. Everything went up sky high.”
Thousands of men and women helped to make the country safer and stronger by lending their brains and hands to research that could eventually cost them their lives and now the lives of their children. Lynne Loss hopes her country won’t forget about her.
Every person on Earth got the equivalent of an extra x-ray from the Fukushima nuclear disaster, a new study claims.
Researchers have carried out the first global survey of radiation exposure caused by the meltdown of three nuclear reactors at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant in Japan after a tsunami struck in 2011.
They concluded that people need not panic about the dosage.
‘We don’t need to worry,’ Nikolaos Evangeliou at the Norwegian Institute for Air Research, whose team conducted the tests, told the annual meeting of the European Geosciences Union in Vienna, Austria, last month, according to New Scientist.
‘More than 80 per cent of the radiation was deposited in the ocean and poles, so I think the global population got the least exposure.’
The researchers estimated the dose that most individuals received to be 0.1 millisievert.
[…]
However, a typical CT scan delivers 15 millisieverts, for example, while it takes 1000 millisieverts to cause radiation sickness.
Bird numbers have dramatically declined in Fukushima, seperate research has revealed.
Scientists analysed 57 species in the region and found that the majority of populations had diminished as a result of the nuclear accident.
They found that one breed in particular had plummeted from several hundred before the 2011 disaster to just a few dozen today.
The research, published in the Journal of Ornithology, was carried out by scientists at the University of South Carolina including biologist Dr Tim Mousseau.
They showed that the situation has steadily worsened since the disaster on 11 March 2011.
[…]
And while background radiation has declined in the region in recent years, the negative effects of the accident on birds are actually increasing.
‘The relationship between radiation and numbers started off negative the first summer, but the strength of the relationship has actually increased each year,’ Dr Mousseau said.
‘So now we see this really striking drop-off in numbers of birds as well as numbers of species of birds.
‘So both the biodiversity and the abundance are showing dramatic impacts in these areas with higher radiation levels, even as the levels are declining.’
Read more at The Fukushima nuclear disaster gave everyone on the PLANET an X-ray’s worth of radiation
福島第一原発事故による帰還困難区域の山林火災は発生から７日めとなった５日も燃えている。
福島県浪江町井手の国有林では消防、自衛隊による消火活動が続けられている。４日には自衛隊ヘリコプターなど１２機が空から消火剤をまき、地上でも消防、自衛隊のおよそ２４０人が放射性物質からの防護服を着用して消火にあたったが、鎮火のめどはたっていない。
チェルノブイリの森林火災の消火にあたったグリーンピースロシアの消防士、アントン・ベネスラフスキー氏は、次のように断言する。
「火災中、セシウム137やストロンチウム90、プルトニウムのような放射性核種が空中に上がり、風によって運ばれる。これは動揺を掻き立てずにはいられない。それは、この不安定な原子を人々が吸い込み、内部被爆を被るためだ。」
発生から１週間となった福島県浪江町の山林火災は、東京電力福島第１原発事故の被災地での災害対応の難しさを浮き彫りにした。現場は立ち入りが厳しく制限される帰還困難区域とあって消防団を投入できず、高い空間線量も消火活動の足かせとなった。
延焼場所は最寄りの公道から徒歩で１時間半程度かかる山間部。住民の避難が６年以上続いていることもあり、山道は手入れが行き届かない。当初は倒木が消防隊の行く手を阻んだ。
周囲には福島県内でも比較的、空間線量が高い地域が広がる。地元消防や自衛隊は火勢だけでなく、放射線防護にも注意しながらの活動を強いられた。
隊員はそれぞれ、通常の活動服の下に白い防護服を着用。放射性物質の吸入を防ぐためのマスクは息苦しく、疲労感を増幅させる。下山後には、休憩前に被ばく線量を計測する列に並ばねばならなかった。近隣から駆け付けた消防ヘリも特殊な装備で臨んだ。航空隊を派遣した仙台市消防局は「空間線量、個人の被ばく線量の計測器を携行させた」と話す。
態勢にも制約が生じた。消火活動の主力を担うはずの消防団は今回、装備不足などから投入が見送られた。地元消防本部の大和田仁消防長は「機動力とマンパワーに優れているのが消防団。連携できないのは痛手」と嘆いた。
関連記事：
再生可能エネルギーをテーマにしたドキュメンタリー映画「日本と再生～光と風のギガワット作戦～」の上映会は５日までに、福島市のフォーラム福島で開かれ、世界の自然エネルギーの実情を伝えた。
ふくしま自然エネルギー基金（福島市、代表理事・佐藤弥右衛門会津電力社長）が県内１３カ所、宮城県２カ所で上映する。
同作品は、映画「日本と原発」の監督を務めた河合弘之弁護士が脱原発後のエネルギー政策の可能性を見いだそうと製作した。
電力輸出が増大するドイツをはじめ、太陽光発電や水力発電など自然エネルギーの活用を推進する欧州各国や米国、中国など世界を巡り、ビジネスとして成功する例を取材した。
（略）
１３日からは会津若松市文化センターなどで上映する。チケットは千円（学生無料）。
問い合わせは同基金（電話０２４・５２５・８１５５）へ。
More than 100 people showed up to a public meeting at Oceanside City Hall Thursday night that aimed to enroll more citizens in a legal battle to prevent nuclear waste from being buried 100 feet from the ocean at San Onofre.
San Onofre is 20 miles north of Oceanside.
Southern California Edison, along with SDG&E, owns the San Onofre nuclear power plant. Edison plans to start moving fuel rods from cooling ponds into buried canisters on site next to the beach early next year.
Meanwhile, a bill before congress could create what is called “consolidated interim storage” sites in Texas and New Mexico.
[…]
Ray Lutz is with Citizens Oversight Project, a group that has sued to overturn a permit granted by the California Coastal Commission in 2015 to bury the waste on-site. Lutz said public input will be included in settlement talks that are ongoing with Edison to negotiate alternative options.
“Interim storage is fine, but that’s years down the road and we need to move this now,” Lutz said. “Once this thing goes in the ground, it’s going to be very, very difficult to move.”
Lutz said transporting the waste to the Palo Verde nuclear power plant site in the desert west of Phoenix would be a better solution than storing it on the beach, feet from rising seas, in an earthquake-prone area, surrounded by several million people.
[…]
Lutz said the decision of where to store the waste until long-term storage is found should not be left to Southern California Edison.
“No one is forcing them to do anything that makes sense, and they’re doing only things that make sense for the bottom line of these for-profit corporations,” he said. “We have to lay down the law here folks and say ‘no’ to this, and force them to move it to a different location. It can’t go in here.”
Read more at Public Meeting Focuses On Storage Plans For San Onofre’s Nuclear Waste
放射性物質を体内に投与し、その放射線でがんを治療する「内用療法」が海外に比べて立ち遅れている。専用設備での厳重な管理が負担となり、近年、不採算とみて取りやめる病院が出ているためだ。学会や患者らが規制の見直しなどを求めた運動を始めた。
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福島県立医科大学は1月、内用療法に使う専用の病室を稼働した。9床あるのは国内最大規模になる。政府の東日本大震災の復興予算で建設した。織内昇教授は「支援無しで自前で設置するのは難しかった」と話す。
内用療法は放射性物質をがん周辺に送り込み、その放射線でがん細胞などを倒す治療法だ。放射性物質にはがんに集まる工夫がしてあり、飲んだり注射したりすると患部で働く。がんの種類によって使う放射性物質は異なり、多くは外来で治療できる。
甲状腺がんの治療に使われることが多い。甲状腺を全て摘出する手術を受け、転移もあるといった条件のときに欠かせない治療法だ。放射性物質のヨウ素をたくさん飲む治療を受ける場合には、入院が必要になる。年間約3000例の実績がある。
福島県立医科大の新病室も甲状腺がんの治療に使う。病室は厳重で、病室の出入り口には前室があり、扉や壁には放射線を通さない鉛が入っている。ヨウ素は体内にとりこまれ、しばらく患者から放射線が出るためだ。その放射線が弱まるまでの数日間、隔離しなければならない。排気や排水でも放射性物質が漏れない構造になっている。
運用も厳しく、退出時には専用装置で手や衣服の線量を測る。患者が入院中でも家族は中に入れず、モニターを使って会話する。ちり紙など患者が出したゴミは特別に処理する。被ばく防止のために、退院後1週間は空室にする必要がある。
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■独 ベッド数多く 米 規制緩やか
内用療法を外来で受ける場合の放射性物質の制限は国によって異なる。日本は治療後に帰宅できる基準を1110メガ（メガは100万）ベクレル以下としているが、米国は5倍の5550メガベクレルまで外来で治療可能だ。転移のある患者もほぼ外来で治療できて、専用病室はほぼ必要ない。
ドイツは日本よりも厳しく250メガベクレルだ。それでも入院できる施設が120以上もあるため人口8万人あたり1床という比率だ。日本は2015年の調査で、入院できる専用病室を持つ機関は52施設、人口94万人あたり1床と少ない。
国内の過去の調査をもとに専門家の中には「3700メガベクレルまでは外来で投与しても安全」という声もある。日本核医学会は3700メガベクレルまでの緩和を目指した研究を計画している。病床数についても340床以上を目標として掲げており、フランスと同程度の35万人あたり1床にしようと働きかけている。
ペットボトルに詰めて販売されている、福島市の水道水「ふくしまの水」が、国際品評会「モンドセレクション」（本部・ベルギー）で最高賞にあたる「最高金賞」を受賞した。
同市の水道水は、２０１５年から同品評会へ出品しており、１５年、１６年は金賞だった。今年初めて金賞の上にあたる、最高賞の「最高金賞」を受賞した。
同品評会は、食品や飲料、化粧品などの品目に分かれ、専門家が品質や味、ラベルのデザインなどについて審査する。
市水道局によると、出品料や輸送費、英訳費用などを合わせて、経費は約５０万円だったという。
With communities refusing to come forward to host the by-product of Japan’s nuclear energy industry, the Japanese government is drawing up a map of the most suitable locations for underground repositories.
[…]
The original proposal for a repository for the waste from the nation’s nuclear energy sector was first put forward in 2002, but even then there were few communities that were willing to be associated with the dump. Fifteen years later, and with a number of Japan’s nuclear reactors closed down for good in the wake of the Fukushima accident, the need for a permanent storage site is more pressing than ever.
The disaster at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant is still fresh in the memory of the Japanese public
Radioactivity release
The disaster, in which a 13-meter tsunami triggered by an off-shore earthquake crippled four reactors at the plant and caused massive amounts of radioactivity to escape into the atmosphere, also underlined just how seismically unstable the Japanese archipelago is and the need for the repository to be completely safe for 100,000 years.
Aileen Mioko-Smith, an anti-nuclear campaigner with Kyoto-based Green Action Japan, does not believe the government can deliver that guarantee.
“You only have to look at what happened in 2011 to realize that nowhere in Japan is safe from this sort of natural disaster and it is crazy to think otherwise,” she told DW.
Given the degree of public hostility, Mioko-Smith believes that the government will fall back on the tried-and-trusted tactic of offering ever-increasing amounts of money until a community gives in.
[…]
The security requirements of the facility will be exacting, the government has stated, and the site will need to be at least 300 meters beneath the surface in a part of the country that is not subject to seismic activity from active faults or volcanoes. It must also be safe from the effects of erosion and away from oil and coal fields. Another consideration is access and sites within 20 km of the coast are preferred.
High-level waste
The facility will need to be able to hold 25,000 canisters of vitrified high-level waste, while more waste will be produced as the nation’s nuclear reactors are slowly brought back online after being mothballed since 2011 for extensive assessments of their safety and ability to withstand a natural disaster on the same scale as the magnitude-9 earthquake that struck Fukushima.
[…]
When it is released, the government’s list is likely to include places in Tohoku and Hokkaido as among the most suitable sites, because both are relatively less populated than central areas of the country and are in need of revitalization efforts. Parts of Tohoku close to the Fukushima plant may eventually be chosen because they are still heavily contaminated with radiation from the accident.
Read more at Japan seeks final resting place for highly radioactive nuclear waste
A nuclear power plant in Byron, Illinois. Taken by photographer Joseph Pobereskin (http://pobereskin.com).
