Japan Plant Radioactivity Emission Exceeds Prior Calculations: Analysis
The company in charge of Japan's Fukushima Daiichi atomic energy
facility on Thursday said the site has discharged a larger quantity of
radioactive contaminants than indicated by the Japanese government, the Wall Street Journal reported (see GSN, Feb. 27).
Still, the new calculation does not mean a major alteration in assessed hazards from the six-reactor facility that was severely damaged by the earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011, according to specialists in health and atomic risk avoidance. The natural disasters left more than 20,000 people missing or dead in the island nation.
They also caused radiation releases from the facility on a level not seen since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster; contaminants forced the evacuation of about 80,000 residents from the 12-mile exclusion area surrounding the site in Fukushima prefecture, according to prior reporting.
The Journal reported the total number of evacuees at roughly 150,000.
The plant has released 900,000 terrabecquerels of contaminants, Tokyo Electric Power said in an analysis. By contrast, Tokyo on Feb. 16 indicated only 480,000 terrabecquerels of radioactive material had escaped from the site.
The latest assessment does not equate to significantly greater levels of contamination threat to those who lived near the plant, according to Shunichi Tanaka, who previously served on Japan's Atomic Energy Commission.
"The important question is how much exposure people received, more than how much radiation was released," according to Kyoto University nuclear engineering professor Ken Nakajima. "From ordinary people's point of view, having the figures jump up and down like this inspires distrust" (Mitsuru Obe, Wall Street Journal, May 24).
Still, the new calculation does not mean a major alteration in assessed hazards from the six-reactor facility that was severely damaged by the earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011, according to specialists in health and atomic risk avoidance. The natural disasters left more than 20,000 people missing or dead in the island nation.
They also caused radiation releases from the facility on a level not seen since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster; contaminants forced the evacuation of about 80,000 residents from the 12-mile exclusion area surrounding the site in Fukushima prefecture, according to prior reporting.
The Journal reported the total number of evacuees at roughly 150,000.
The plant has released 900,000 terrabecquerels of contaminants, Tokyo Electric Power said in an analysis. By contrast, Tokyo on Feb. 16 indicated only 480,000 terrabecquerels of radioactive material had escaped from the site.
The latest assessment does not equate to significantly greater levels of contamination threat to those who lived near the plant, according to Shunichi Tanaka, who previously served on Japan's Atomic Energy Commission.
"The important question is how much exposure people received, more than how much radiation was released," according to Kyoto University nuclear engineering professor Ken Nakajima. "From ordinary people's point of view, having the figures jump up and down like this inspires distrust" (Mitsuru Obe, Wall Street Journal, May 24).
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