[ RadSafe ] [Nuclear News] Spin-offs from radiation studies, by K.S. PARTHASARATHY

Sandy Perle sandyfl at cox.net
Fri Aug 10 10:03:00 CDT 2007


Index:

Spin-offs from radiation studies 
Radiation-monitoring device installed in town
KI pills offered to inhibit radiation
Steel Workers Unite
Tourism the casualty in Japan's radiation leak city
Japanese plant 'shut for months'  
IAEA To Present Draft Report On Quake-hit Nuclear Plan
Nuclear power warning - Greece
----------------------------------------------

Spin-offs from radiation studies 

BY: K.S. PARTHASARATHY, FORMER SECRETARY, AERB

(The Hindu) Aug 9 - Hiroshima and Nagasaki became the targets of 
atomic bombings on 6th and 9th August 1945 respectively. On November 
18, 1946, the U.S. President Harry Truman authorised the National 
Research Council to set up an organisation "to undertake a long 
range, continuing study of the biological and medical effects of 
atomic bomb on man."

The Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC), the organisation 
established for the purpose and its predecessor, Radiation Effects 
Research Foundation (RERF), carried out and is carrying out priceless 
research on biomedical effects of radiation from June 1947 to date. 

Studies pioneered by RERF at Hiroshima are making their impact on 
epidemiology, molecular and cellular biology, genetics, immunology 
and a range of other health sciences. From the 280,000 survivors in 
the two cities, the RERF researchers established fixed cohorts or sub-
cohorts to provide epidemiological and clinical data on the health 
status and mortality of survivors and their children.

RERF researchers found that grip strength is a simple but useful 
measure to predict subsequent health of Japanese adults. Dr Hideo 
Sasaki, an expert panel member of RERF and other researchers followed 
up for 25 years, the survival status of 5,000 Adult Health Study 
participants (ages ranged from 35 to 74 years) who underwent grip 
strength testing between 1970 and 1972. 

Low mortality 

Total disease mortality was low among those with high grip strength. 
>From 2002, RERF is focussing on the study of life-style related 
diseases such as hypertension, diabetes mellitus, myocardial 
infarction, stroke etc., that are not observable at birth but start 
to appear after middle age. On February 28 this year, RERF stated 
thus: "when multi-factorial disease in children were combined, no 
evidence suggesting increased risk associated with parental radiation 
exposure was observed." In males, the study revealed that the 
prevalence rate of multi-factorial diseases decreased when paternal 
dose increased. "... Careful interpretation of this finding is 
necessary" RERF cautioned (RERF, February 2007) 

Cancer incidence 

Since 1950, RERF followed up the mortality of about 120,000 members 
of the Life Span Study cohort and carried out the cancer incidence 
studies since 1958.

Radiation-associated cancer risk increased significantly for oral 
cavity, stomach, colon, liver, lung, skin, breast, ovary, bladder 
system and thyroid. Rectum, gall bladder, pancreas, prostate or 
kidney did not indicate statistically significant increase in cancer 
risk. For the first time, the researchers found that the risk of 
cancer of the oesophagus was significant and radiation exposure at 
ages less than 20 years might increase the risk of uterus cancer. 
(Radiation Research, Ju ly 2007). 

Physicians appointed by the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission, examined 
76,626 infants conceived and born in Hiroshima and Nagasaki over a 
period of six years starting from 1948.

Preliminary study did not reveal any discernible birth defect with 
radiation exposure. Follow up study on mortality, serum proteins and 
chromosome abnormalities did not reveal any radiation effect. 

RERF continues with the study of a group of 3,600 persons through 
their middle and old age. Atomic bombing exposed them to radiation as 
they were then in their mothers´ wombs. One of the inputs to 
prescribe radiological protection standards emerged from the 
unparalleled epidemiological study at Hiroshima. Radiation protection 
specialists review the results periodically. They confirmed the 
robustness of these standards. 
-------------------

Radiation-monitoring device installed in town

(Havasu News) Aug 10 - The Arizona Radiation Regulatory Agency has 
designated Lake Havasu City as a collection site for a statewide 
effort to gather data on environmental radiation.

Agency staff installed a radiation-monitoring device Thursday at the 
city's Public Works Department maintenance facility on London Bridge 
Road. Similar devices were installed at Bullhead City and near Bill 
Williams National Wildlife Refuge.

"We're not looking for anybody or anything (in particular). We mostly 
want to know what the natural background radiation is in the area," 
said Kim Bohannon of the ARRA.

That will give the agency a baseline that will help it determine 
whether radiation levels go above what is considered normal.

"What they're looking for is what's known as beta radiation," said 
Doyle Wilson, Lake Havasu City's water resources coordinator. "That 
can be fallout from nuclear testing, radon from the ground or 
radiation that comes from mines."

Wilson said the ARRA didn't have any particular reason to put the 
station here other than "it's a place to put it. It's part of a 
network."

The only active mines in the area are gravel pits, Wilson said. Those 
could potentially be a source of radon gas, but studies done at 
Mohave Community College in the past have not found that to be a 
concern, he said.

The ARRA also has placed monitors at Wickenburg, Littlefield, Page, 
Claypool, Douglas, Organ Pipe National Monument and Yuma.

"Basically we've got the whole state," Bohannon said.

The agency hopes to collect data at each location for two years 
before rotating the equipment to different sites in the state.

The monitoring program came out of an initiative from Gov. Janet 
Napolitano's office for the state to take a proactive role in 
monitoring radiation that could result from global events, such as 
nuclear testing, Bohannon said.

"That way we  won't be dependent on the federal government to tell 
us what's going on," she said.

The monitoring devices are sensitive enough to detect radiation that 
has been released into the atmosphere anywhere on the globe, Bohannon 
said.

City workers will maintain the device by changing out a small filter 
every week and sending it to the ARRA. The agency uses the filters to 
determine radiation levels in the air.
------------------

KI pills offered to inhibit radiation

Aug 9 (The Patriot-News) - Pills that protect the thyroid from some 
forms of radiation will be distributed free today to Dauphin County 
residents who live within 10 miles of the Three Mile Island nuclear 
station in Londonderry Twp. 

The pills are from a stock of 1.9 million doses provided to the state 
by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the agency that licenses and 
oversees commercial nuclear power plants like TMI. 

During an accident, radioactive iodine can be released into the air. 
If inhaled, radiation can accumulate in the thyroid gland, where it 
can cause cancer and other ailments. Children under 18 are especially 
vulnerable, officials said. 

 
The pills are a salt compound that contains iodine. They protect the 
thyroid by saturating it with non-radioactive iodine. 

The thyroid gland is the only part of the body that is protected by 
KI . 

The NRC recommends the pills be provided to residents living within 
10 miles of nuclear plants as a precaution. 

The state Department of Health distributed KI pills in 2004 around 
the state's five nuclear stations. Though the department is not 
sponsoring today's distribution, spokesman Dan Miller said KI pills 
are always available at all state health centers and regional 
offices. 

THYROID PROTECTION 

Dauphin County will distribute potassium iodide, or KI pills, today. 
The pills prevent the thyroid from absorbing radiation and are meant 
to be used in a nuclear event. The county will make the pills 
available free of charge at: 

State Department of Health's Southcentral Office, 30 Kline Plaza, 
Harrisburg, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. 
Lower Swatara Twp. Municipal Building, 1499 Spring Garden Drive, from 
3 to 7 p.m. KI pills are also available at the following state Health 
Centers free of charge: CUMBERLAND COUNTY 
425 E. North St., Carlisle, 243-5151. DAUPHIN COUNTY 
Visiting Nurse Association of Harrisburg Inc., 3315 Derry St., 
Harrisburg, 233-1035. LEBANON 
9-11 N. Ninth St., Lebanon: 272-2044 YORK COUNTY 
1750 N. George St., York, 771-4505. 
York residents: York City Bureau of Health, One Market Way West, 3rd 
floor, York, 849-2252. 
-----------------

Steel Workers Unite

(KBKW News) Aug 9 - Workers from the old Bethlehem Steel plant are 
still fighting a decades long battle for money after being exposed to 
radiation. It all happened between 1948 and 1952. A federal program 
exposed workers to radioactive uranium without their knowledge or 
proper protection. Many of those workers got diseases, cancer, and 
even died. A government made them eligible for $150,000 each in 
compensation, but so far only 450 have been awarded any money. 
Thursday they came together to talk about their progress. 
-------------------

Tourism the casualty in Japan's radiation leak city

Aug 7 - Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power 
plant, 18 July. The company said radiation from leaks caused by an 
earthquake was far below levels people would naturally breathe in 
through the air. But authorities have accused the media of 
exaggerating the risks, tainting the city's image. 
  
 Staring at the few carefree teenagers frolicking about in the water, 
beach worker Hitoshi Arakawa was full of resentment over a leak at a 
nearby nuclear plant.
.
"They say the exposure level won't harm people's health, but the very 
fact that there was radiation leakage kills businesses like ours," 
Arakawa said furiously, with unsold stocks of corn piled up under his 
table.
.
Arakawa, 42, is one of the seasonal workers who set up food and drink 
booths during the summer on Kujiranami beach, only 10 kilometres (six 
miles) down the seashore from the world's largest nuclear power 
plant.
.
A powerful 6.8 Richter-scale quake hit on July 16, causing smoke to 
billow out from an electrical facility at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa 
plant and leaking radioactive water into the Sea of Japan (East Sea).
.
Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said radioactive 
particles came out of an exhaust pipe filter at the plant, some 250 
kilometres northwest of Tokyo.
.
The company said the radiation from the leaks was far below levels 
people would naturally breathe in through the air. But authorities 
have accused the media of exaggerating the risks, tainting the city's 
image.
.
Kashiwazaki, which prides itself on producing good rice and sake, 
would have otherwise attracted large crowds of summer vacationers for 
fresh seafood and a beautiful coastline.
.
"Compared with last year, we see only 10 percent or fewer customers 
here this year," said Koichi Sato, 59, idly sitting on a plastic 
beach chair.
.
Sato, who has run a beach hotel as a family business over the past 
four decades, said some 80 percent of this summer's reservations were 
cancelled following the reports about the radiation leakage.
.
"When the nuclear plant project was first discussed, opposing voices 
were killed and ignored by those saying the majority of the locality 
backed it," Sato said.
.
"But when something like this happens, it's businesses like ours that 
pick up the damage."
.
Japan, despite its propensity for earthquakes, relies on nuclear 
power for nearly one-third of its needs as it has virtually no 
natural energy resources of its own.
.
Many local residents here are especially spiteful as they feel they 
are put at risk so the mega plant can generate electricity to run 
Tokyo.
.
"I want to see the TEPCO president, the head of the plant and the 
mayor of Kashiwazaki all get in the ocean and tell people it's safe," 
Arakawa said. "Maybe Prime Minister (Shinzo) Abe should do that too."
.
But feelings about the nuclear plant remain mixed even in the tourist 
industry of Kashiwazaki.
.
Chihiro Kinefuchi, 53, the union leader of beach hotel and restaurant 
owners on the Kujiranami beach and vice chairman of Kashiwazaki's 
tourism association, remembers he took the pro-plant side when the 
plan came up 30 years ago.
.
"We considered the positive economic effects like employment that it 
would bring to the city," he said.
.
But over the years, the power company lost local people's confidence 
due to a lack of transparency, he said. It again came under criticism 
following the earthquake for initially underreporting the leakage 
level.
.
To dispel public fears over nuclear safety, the local government 
requested a visit by the UN International Atomic Energy Agency 
(IAEA), which is conducting a four-day inspection this week.
.
While some residents hoped the inspectors would verify safety and 
bring tourists back, Kinefuchi was sceptical that they could.
.
"I can't help wondering how many people out there really understand 
what the IAEA is," he said. - AFP Staring at the few carefree 
teenagers frolicking about in the water, beach worker Hitoshi Arakawa 
was full of resentment over a leak at a nearby nuclear plant.
.
"They say the exposure level won't harm people's health, but the very 
fact that there was radiation leakage kills businesses like ours," 
Arakawa said furiously, with unsold stocks of corn piled up under his 
table.
.
Arakawa, 42, is one of the seasonal workers who set up food and drink 
booths during the summer on Kujiranami beach, only 10 kilometres (six 
miles) down the seashore from the world's largest nuclear power 
plant.
.
A powerful 6.8 Richter-scale quake hit on July 16, causing smoke to 
billow out from an electrical facility at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa 
plant and leaking radioactive water into the Sea of Japan (East Sea).
.
Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said radioactive 
particles came out of an exhaust pipe filter at the plant, some 250 
kilometres northwest of Tokyo.
.
The company said the radiation from the leaks was far below levels 
people would naturally breathe in through the air. But authorities 
have accused the media of exaggerating the risks, tainting the city's 
image.
.
Kashiwazaki, which prides itself on producing good rice and sake, 
would have otherwise attracted large crowds of summer vacationers for 
fresh seafood and a beautiful coastline.
.
"Compared with last year, we see only 10 percent or fewer customers 
here this year," said Koichi Sato, 59, idly sitting on a plastic 
beach chair.
.
Sato, who has run a beach hotel as a family business over the past 
four decades, said some 80 percent of this summer's reservations were 
cancelled following the reports about the radiation leakage.
.
"When the nuclear plant project was first discussed, opposing voices 
were killed and ignored by those saying the majority of the locality 
backed it," Sato said.
.
"But when something like this happens, it's businesses like ours that 
pick up the damage."
.
Japan, despite its propensity for earthquakes, relies on nuclear 
power for nearly one-third of its needs as it has virtually no 
natural energy resources of its own.
.
Many local residents here are especially spiteful as they feel they 
are put at risk so the mega plant can generate electricity to run 
Tokyo.
.
"I want to see the TEPCO president, the head of the plant and the 
mayor of Kashiwazaki all get in the ocean and tell people it's safe," 
Arakawa said. "Maybe Prime Minister (Shinzo) Abe should do that too."
.
But feelings about the nuclear plant remain mixed even in the tourist 
industry of Kashiwazaki.
.
Chihiro Kinefuchi, 53, the union leader of beach hotel and restaurant 
owners on the Kujiranami beach and vice chairman of Kashiwazaki's 
tourism association, remembers he took the pro-plant side when the 
plan came up 30 years ago.
.
"We considered the positive economic effects like employment that it 
would bring to the city," he said.
.
But over the years, the power company lost local people's confidence 
due to a lack of transparency, he said. It again came under criticism 
following the earthquake for initially underreporting the leakage 
level.
.
To dispel public fears over nuclear safety, the local government 
requested a visit by the UN International Atomic Energy Agency 
(IAEA), which is conducting a four-day inspection this week.
.
While some residents hoped the inspectors would verify safety and 
bring tourists back, Kinefuchi was sceptical that they could.
.
"I can't help wondering how many people out there really understand 
what the IAEA is," he said. - AFP Staring at the few carefree 
teenagers frolicking about in the water, beach worker Hitoshi Arakawa 
was full of resentment over a leak at a nearby nuclear plant.
.
"They say the exposure level won't harm people's health, but the very 
fact that there was radiation leakage kills businesses like ours," 
Arakawa said furiously, with unsold stocks of corn piled up under his 
table.
.
Arakawa, 42, is one of the seasonal workers who set up food and drink 
booths during the summer on Kujiranami beach, only 10 kilometres (six 
miles) down the seashore from the world's largest nuclear power 
plant.
.
A powerful 6.8 Richter-scale quake hit on July 16, causing smoke to 
billow out from an electrical facility at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa 
plant and leaking radioactive water into the Sea of Japan (East Sea).
.
Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said radioactive 
particles came out of an exhaust pipe filter at the plant, some 250 
kilometres northwest of Tokyo.
.
The company said the radiation from the leaks was far below levels 
people would naturally breathe in through the air. But authorities 
have accused the media of exaggerating the risks, tainting the city's 
image.
.
Kashiwazaki, which prides itself on producing good rice and sake, 
would have otherwise attracted large crowds of summer vacationers for 
fresh seafood and a beautiful coastline.
.
"Compared with last year, we see only 10 percent or fewer customers 
here this year," said Koichi Sato, 59, idly sitting on a plastic 
beach chair.
.
Sato, who has run a beach hotel as a family business over the past 
four decades, said some 80 percent of this summer's reservations were 
cancelled following the reports about the radiation leakage.
.
"When the nuclear plant project was first discussed, opposing voices 
were killed and ignored by those saying the majority of the locality 
backed it," Sato said.
.
"But when something like this happens, it's businesses like ours that 
pick up the damage."
.
Japan, despite its propensity for earthquakes, relies on nuclear 
power for nearly one-third of its needs as it has virtually no 
natural energy resources of its own.
.
Many local residents here are especially spiteful as they feel they 
are put at risk so the mega plant can generate electricity to run 
Tokyo.
.
"I want to see the TEPCO president, the head of the plant and the 
mayor of Kashiwazaki all get in the ocean and tell people it's safe," 
Arakawa said. "Maybe Prime Minister (Shinzo) Abe should do that too."
.
But feelings about the nuclear plant remain mixed even in the tourist 
industry of Kashiwazaki.
.
Chihiro Kinefuchi, 53, the union leader of beach hotel and restaurant 
owners on the Kujiranami beach and vice chairman of Kashiwazaki's 
tourism association, remembers he took the pro-plant side when the 
plan came up 30 years ago.
.
"We considered the positive economic effects like employment that it 
would bring to the city," he said.
.
But over the years, the power company lost local people's confidence 
due to a lack of transparency, he said. It again came under criticism 
following the earthquake for initially underreporting the leakage 
level.
.
To dispel public fears over nuclear safety, the local government 
requested a visit by the UN International Atomic Energy Agency 
(IAEA), which is conducting a four-day inspection this week.
.
While some residents hoped the inspectors would verify safety and 
bring tourists back, Kinefuchi was sceptical that they could.
.
"I can't help wondering how many people out there really understand 
what the IAEA is," he said. - AFP Staring at the few carefree 
teenagers frolicking about in the water, beach worker Hitoshi Arakawa 
was full of resentment over a leak at a nearby nuclear plant.
.
"They say the exposure level won't harm people's health, but the very 
fact that there was radiation leakage kills businesses like ours," 
Arakawa said furiously, with unsold stocks of corn piled up under his 
table.
.
Arakawa, 42, is one of the seasonal workers who set up food and drink 
booths during the summer on Kujiranami beach, only 10 kilometres (six 
miles) down the seashore from the world's largest nuclear power 
plant.
.
A powerful 6.8 Richter-scale quake hit on July 16, causing smoke to 
billow out from an electrical facility at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa 
plant and leaking radioactive water into the Sea of Japan (East Sea).
.
Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said radioactive 
particles came out of an exhaust pipe filter at the plant, some 250 
kilometres northwest of Tokyo.
.
The company said the radiation from the leaks was far below levels 
people would naturally breathe in through the air. But authorities 
have accused the media of exaggerating the risks, tainting the city's 
image.
.
Kashiwazaki, which prides itself on producing good rice and sake, 
would have otherwise attracted large crowds of summer vacationers for 
fresh seafood and a beautiful coastline.
.
"Compared with last year, we see only 10 percent or fewer customers 
here this year," said Koichi Sato, 59, idly sitting on a plastic 
beach chair.
.
Sato, who has run a beach hotel as a family business over the past 
four decades, said some 80 percent of this summer's reservations were 
cancelled following the reports about the radiation leakage.
.
"When the nuclear plant project was first discussed, opposing voices 
were killed and ignored by those saying the majority of the locality 
backed it," Sato said.
.
"But when something like this happens, it's businesses like ours that 
pick up the damage."
.
Japan, despite its propensity for earthquakes, relies on nuclear 
power for nearly one-third of its needs as it has virtually no 
natural energy resources of its own.
.
Many local residents here are especially spiteful as they feel they 
are put at risk so the mega plant can generate electricity to run 
Tokyo.
.
"I want to see the TEPCO president, the head of the plant and the 
mayor of Kashiwazaki all get in the ocean and tell people it's safe," 
Arakawa said. "Maybe Prime Minister (Shinzo) Abe should do that too."
.
But feelings about the nuclear plant remain mixed even in the tourist 
industry of Kashiwazaki.
.
Chihiro Kinefuchi, 53, the union leader of beach hotel and restaurant 
owners on the Kujiranami beach and vice chairman of Kashiwazaki's 
tourism association, remembers he took the pro-plant side when the 
plan came up 30 years ago.
.
"We considered the positive economic effects like employment that it 
would bring to the city," he said.
.
But over the years, the power company lost local people's confidence 
due to a lack of transparency, he said. It again came under criticism 
following the earthquake for initially underreporting the leakage 
level.
.
To dispel public fears over nuclear safety, the local government 
requested a visit by the UN International Atomic Energy Agency 
(IAEA), which is conducting a four-day inspection this week.
.
While some residents hoped the inspectors would verify safety and 
bring tourists back, Kinefuchi was sceptical that they could.
.
"I can't help wondering how many people out there really understand 
what the IAEA is," he said. - AFP 
------------------

Japanese plant 'shut for months'  
 
(BBC News) Aug 10 - More tests need to be carried out before the 
Japanese nuclear plant damaged in last month's earthquake is 
reopened, UN inspectors say. 
The team from the International Atomic Energy Agency have just 
concluded a four-day inspection of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant. 

Head of the team Philippe Jamet said it could take months or longer 
for the plant to be operational again. 

The plant suffered some 50 malfunctions after the 6.8 magnitude 
quake. 

There was particular alarm after it emerged that leakages of 
radioactive material had been much bigger than initially estimated. 

The plant's operators, The Tokyo Electric Power Company, says there 
is no danger to the public. 

Major clean-up 

Mr Jamet told reporters that further tests were needed to assess the 
full extent of the damage to the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa power station. 

"This is one of the tasks in the following months, year, I don't 
know, to be carried out if this plant is to be restarted," he said, 
following the six-member IAEA team's inspection of the site. 

Clouds of smoke poured from the nuclear power plant on Monday 

The IAEA visit was requested by the regional government in Niigata. 
Tokyo initially said no international inspection was necessary. 

Niigata officials said bringing in outside experts would help to damp 
down rumours that the radiation leaks had been more serious than 
admitted. 

The plant - reported to be the world's largest - supplies around 10% 
of Tokyo Electric Power's output. 

The firm has said contaminated water needs to be cleaned up and 
dozens of other problems need to be fixed before the plant can be 
reopened. 

Ten people were killed and hundreds were injured when the earthquake 
struck in mid-July.
------------------

IAEA To Present Draft Report On Quake-hit Nuclear Plant To Japan 
Friday      

KASHIWAZAKI, Aug 9 (Bernama) -- An International Atomic Energy Agency 
team of experts will present to Japan and Tokyo Electric Power Co. on 
Friday a draft report on its assessment of a Niigata Prefecture 
nuclear power plant that leaked a small amount of radiation following 
a powerful earthquake last month, team leader Philippe Jamet said 
Wednesday.

"We are going to present the report...the draft of the report we 
present on Friday with NISA, NSC and TEPCO," Jamet told Kyodo News, 
referring to the acronym's respectively of the government's Nuclear 
and Industrial Safety Agency, the Nuclear Safety Commission and Tokyo 
Electric, which operates the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power 
station.

Jamet, director of the IAEA's Nuclear Installation Safety Division, 
made the comment on the third day of the group's four-day checkup of 
the plant through Thursday. But he stopped short of touching on an 
outline of the draft report.

He indicated the six-member team will continue talks Thursday with 
NISA and Tokyo Electric for the report, saying, "We have a whole 
day...a long time to discuss tomorrow with TEPCO and NISA, just to 
make sure we understood each other correctly, and we had a good 
understanding of what was presented and said."

After wrapping up the examination, the mission will hold talks Friday 
in Tokyo with NISA officials about the situation at the plant, which 
will remain shuttered until the safety of its seven reactors is fully 
ensured. Nuclear experts believe it will take at least a year to put 
the plant back into operation.

But Jamet has hinted the Vienna-based U.N. nuclear watchdog will not 
announce the results of the ongoing survey of the plant -- the 
world's largest in terms of power output capacity -- before the 
delegation leaves Japan on Saturday.

"We first give our conclusion to our Japanese counterparts in Tokyo, 
and then we have to give our conclusion to the director general 
(Mohamed ElBaradei) of the IAEA in Vienna, and then there will be a 
publication, but not before," he said late Tuesday.

Nuclear experts have said the IAEA survey will focus on whether the 
reactors shut down safely with fission products contained at the time 
of the magnitude 6.8 quake on July 16, as was reported by Tokyo 
Electric and NISA.

Tokyo Electric and the agency have said four of the seven reactors in 
operation at the time of the quake automatically shut down and were 
put in a stable condition. The three other reactors were not in 
operation at the time as they were undergoing a periodic checkup.

On Wednesday, Jamet said his team was split into four groups, with 
two members inspecting reactor buildings No. 1 and No. 2, on member 
examining reactor building No. 5 and toppled drums containing low-
level radioactive waste, one member studying the quake, and the other 
two discussing plant operational management with Tokyo Electric and 
NISA officials.

The delegation -- consisting of two IAEA experts and four seismic 
safety specialists -- looked inside four other reactor buildings on 
Tuesday. But Jamet declined to comment on any damage or malfunctions 
in the seven facilities.

The team did not see the vessel of each reactor as they have remained 
closed since the temblor, which rocked Niigata Prefecture and its 
vicinity. The quake killed 11 people and injured about 2,000, 
although none of the deaths were linked to the nuclear plant.

According to Kyodo, the Japanese government had initially been 
reluctant to allow the IAEA to check the plant, but changed its tune 
following petitions from local officials eager for a third-party 
assessment like the IAEA to allay domestic and international concerns 
over the safety of nuclear power plants in Japan, which have drawn 
criticism due to a slew of accidents and coverups.

Japan's 55 reactors supply about 30 percent of its electricity.

Tokyo Electric and nuclear regulators have stressed the amount of 
radioactivity leaked was extremely low and poses no threat to the 
environment and local residents.

Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Akira Amari said last week that 
Japan will ask the IAEA to announce results of the visiting team's 
assessment of the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant "as quickly as possible."

Amari, who is in charge of overseeing the energy industry, said that 
in order to boost safety standards at nuclear facilities, it is 
important for all countries that possess such facilities to share 
information about accidents and other problems, including incidents 
at the quake-hit plant.

"I would like areas that host nuclear facilities around the world to 
treat this as if it were their own case," he told reporters, when 
asked about the IAEA survey of the plant.
-----------------

Nuclear power warning - Greece

(Kathimerini English Edition) Aug 10 - Greece should not follow in 
Turkey's footsteps if the neighboring country decides to revive plans 
to build a nuclear reactor, one of Greece's top nuclear experts told 
Kathimerini yesterday.

Athanassios Geranios, a professor of nuclear physics at the 
University of Athens, said that the Greek government should not use 
Ankara's plans as an «alibi» to build a nuclear power station in 
Greece as well.

«Nuclear energy is not socially acceptable because it is not safe nor 
cheap and has close links with military applications,» the professor 
said. «Polls show that at least 84 percent of Greeks are against 
this.»

Geranios said there are a number of reasons for avoiding the 
production of nuclear energy, including the cost of safely disposing 
of nuclear waste and the dangers of meltdown and contamination of the 
environment.

The recently re-elected government of PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 
Turkey is thought to be looking to move ahead with plans to build 
three nuclear reactors by 2012.

-----------------------------------------
Sander C. Perle
President
Global Dosimetry Solutions, Inc.
2652 McGaw Avenue
Irvine, CA 92614 

Tel: (949) 296-2306 / (888) 437-1714  Extension 2306
Fax:(949) 296-1144

E-Mail: sperle at dosimetry.com
E-Mail: sandyfl at cox.net 

Global Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com/ 




More information about the RadSafe mailing list