Tweet
Japan Held Nuclear Data, Leaving Evacuees in Peril
By NORIMITSU ONISHI and MARTIN FACKLER
FUKUSHIMA, Japan — The day after a giant tsunami set off the continuing disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, thousands of residents at the nearby town of Namie gathered to evacuate.
Given no guidance from Tokyo, town officials led the residents north, believing that winter winds would be blowing south and carrying away any radioactive emissions. For three nights, while hydrogen explosions at four of the reactors spewed radiation into the air, they stayed in a district called Tsushima where the children played outside and some parents used water from a mountain stream to prepare rice.
The winds, in fact, had been blowing directly toward Tsushima — and town officials would learn two months later that a government computer system designed to predict the spread of radioactive releases had been showing just that.
But the forecasts were left unpublicized by bureaucrats in Tokyo, operating in a culture that sought to avoid responsibility and, above all, criticism. Japan’s political leaders at first did not know about the system and later played down the data, apparently fearful of having to significantly enlarge the evacuation zone — and acknowledge the accident’s severity.
“From the 12th to the 15th we were in a location with one of the highest levels of radiation,” said Tamotsu Baba, the mayor of Namie, which is about five miles from the nuclear plant. He and thousands from Namie now live in temporary housing in another town, Nihonmatsu. “We are extremely worried about internal exposure to radiation.”
The computer forecasts were among many pieces of information the authorities initially withheld from the public.
Meltdowns at three of Fukushima Daiichi’s six reactors went officially unacknowledged for months. In one of the most damning admissions, nuclear regulators said in early June that inspectors had found tellurium 132, which experts call telltale evidence of reactor meltdowns, a day after the tsunami — but did not tell the public for nearly three months. For months after the disaster, the government flip-flopped on the level of radiation permissible on school grounds, causing continuing confusion and anguish about the safety of schoolchildren here in Fukushima.
About 45 percent of 1,080 children in three Fukushima communities surveyed in late March tested positive for thyroid exposure to radiation, according to a recent announcement by the government, which added that the levels were too low to warrant further examination. Many experts both in and outside Japan are questioning the government’s assessment, pointing out that in Chernobyl, most of those who went on to suffer from thyroid cancer were children living near that plant at the time of the accident.
Contaminated soil at a school in Koriyama, Japan.
FUKUSHIMA, Japan — The day after a giant tsunami set off the continuing disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, thousands of residents at the nearby town of Namie gathered to evacuate.
Given no guidance from Tokyo, town officials led the residents north, believing that winter winds would be blowing south and carrying away any radioactive emissions. For three nights, while hydrogen explosions at four of the reactors spewed radiation into the air, they stayed in a district called Tsushima where the children played outside and some parents used water from a mountain stream to prepare rice.
The winds, in fact, had been blowing directly toward Tsushima — and town officials would learn two months later that a government computer system designed to predict the spread of radioactive releases had been showing just that.
But the forecasts were left unpublicized by bureaucrats in Tokyo, operating in a culture that sought to avoid responsibility and, above all, criticism. Japan’s political leaders at first did not know about the system and later played down the data, apparently fearful of having to significantly enlarge the evacuation zone — and acknowledge the accident’s severity.
“From the 12th to the 15th we were in a location with one of the highest levels of radiation,” said Tamotsu Baba, the mayor of Namie, which is about five miles from the nuclear plant. He and thousands from Namie now live in temporary housing in another town, Nihonmatsu. “We are extremely worried about internal exposure to radiation.”
The computer forecasts were among many pieces of information the authorities initially withheld from the public.
Meltdowns at three of Fukushima Daiichi’s six reactors went officially unacknowledged for months. In one of the most damning admissions, nuclear regulators said in early June that inspectors had found tellurium 132, which experts call telltale evidence of reactor meltdowns, a day after the tsunami — but did not tell the public for nearly three months. For months after the disaster, the government flip-flopped on the level of radiation permissible on school grounds, causing continuing confusion and anguish about the safety of schoolchildren here in Fukushima.
About 45 percent of 1,080 children in three Fukushima communities surveyed in late March tested positive for thyroid exposure to radiation, according to a recent announcement by the government, which added that the levels were too low to warrant further examination. Many experts both in and outside Japan are questioning the government’s assessment, pointing out that in Chernobyl, most of those who went on to suffer from thyroid cancer were children living near that plant at the time of the accident.
Contaminated soil at a school in Koriyama, Japan.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/09/world/asia/09japan.html?ref=todayspaper
Tokyo Electric Posts $7.4 Billion Loss
By HIROKO TABUCHI
TOKYO — The operator of the ravaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Tokyo Electric Power, said Tuesday that its losses for the latest quarter amounted to ¥572 billion for the costs of cleaning up after the nuclear disaster and of compensating victims.
As part of the quarterly loss, which amounted to $7.4 billion, the utility said in a statement that it had booked a one-time loss of ¥503.2 billion in charges associated with the disaster. In May, the company said it had booked a loss of ¥1.25 trillion for the year through March, the biggest-ever loss for a Japanese company outside of banks and financial institutions.
Analysts have said that Tokyo Electric could ultimately face trillions of yen in claims after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami wreaked havoc at the plant in northeast Japan, leading to meltdowns at three reactors. Radiation leaks have forced more than 100,000 residents to evacuate the area around the site and have affected industry and agriculture over a wide area.
The expected scale of the compensation claims has raised questions about the ability of Tokyo Electric, Japan’s largest utility, to remain a viable company. It is the sole supplier of electricity to almost 20 million homes in and around Tokyo, as well as to businesses in the metropolitan area.
To date, Tokyo Electric has paid ¥70.9 billion in compensation, according to the company.
The company initially suggested that compensation payments might be capped, in line with laws in Japan that can limit claims stemming from accidents caused by natural disasters. But given the public uproar over Tokyo Electric’s handling of the accident, the government has promised that no payout limits will be set.
Instead, the government has pledged to use public money to help keep Tokyo Electric afloat. Last week, Parliament approved the creation of a state-backed fund to pay damages to victims of the disaster at the Fukushima plant. The government will initially put ¥2 trillion into the fund.
Tokyo Electric has also promised to raise at least ¥600 billion by cutting costs and selling assets.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/10/bu...ef=global-home
No per kilowatt cost was released . . .
Tokyo Electric Posts $7.4 Billion Loss
By HIROKO TABUCHI
TOKYO — The operator of the ravaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, Tokyo Electric Power, said Tuesday that its losses for the latest quarter amounted to ¥572 billion for the costs of cleaning up after the nuclear disaster and of compensating victims.
As part of the quarterly loss, which amounted to $7.4 billion, the utility said in a statement that it had booked a one-time loss of ¥503.2 billion in charges associated with the disaster. In May, the company said it had booked a loss of ¥1.25 trillion for the year through March, the biggest-ever loss for a Japanese company outside of banks and financial institutions.
Analysts have said that Tokyo Electric could ultimately face trillions of yen in claims after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami wreaked havoc at the plant in northeast Japan, leading to meltdowns at three reactors. Radiation leaks have forced more than 100,000 residents to evacuate the area around the site and have affected industry and agriculture over a wide area.
The expected scale of the compensation claims has raised questions about the ability of Tokyo Electric, Japan’s largest utility, to remain a viable company. It is the sole supplier of electricity to almost 20 million homes in and around Tokyo, as well as to businesses in the metropolitan area.
To date, Tokyo Electric has paid ¥70.9 billion in compensation, according to the company.
The company initially suggested that compensation payments might be capped, in line with laws in Japan that can limit claims stemming from accidents caused by natural disasters. But given the public uproar over Tokyo Electric’s handling of the accident, the government has promised that no payout limits will be set.
Instead, the government has pledged to use public money to help keep Tokyo Electric afloat. Last week, Parliament approved the creation of a state-backed fund to pay damages to victims of the disaster at the Fukushima plant. The government will initially put ¥2 trillion into the fund.
Tokyo Electric has also promised to raise at least ¥600 billion by cutting costs and selling assets.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/10/bu...ef=global-home
No per kilowatt cost was released . . .