Hundreds of trillions of becquerels of radioactive strontium leaked into sea
December 19, 2011
Asahi Shimbun
By NAOYA KON / Staff Writer
At least 462 trillion becquerels of radioactive strontium have leaked to the Pacific Ocean since the March disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, making it one of the world's most severe such cases of marine pollution, according to calculations by The Asahi Shimbun.
The Fisheries Agency is doing its own sampling survey to assess the accumulation of radioactive materials in marine life.
The newspaper based its calculations on data released by the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., and other sources.
With regard to leakages of radioactive-contaminated water from the No. 2 and No. 3 reactor buildings in April and May, respectively, The Asahi Shimbun relied on two sets of figures.
One was the volume of water that leaked from each reactor building. The other concerned the concentration of radioactive strontium in water that accumulated in each reactor building.
By multiplying the volume of leaked water by the concentration of radioactive strontium, the newspaper calculated the total amount of strontium that leaked from the two reactors.
Besides, the volume of strontium apparently contained in treated water used for cooling purposes that was confirmed to have leaked to the ocean on Dec. 4 was added to that from the No. 2 and No. 3 rectors.
In what is regarded as the world's worst case of marine pollution from a nuclear facility, some 500 trillion becquerels of strontium were discharged to the Irish Sea from the Sellafield nuclear fuel reprocessing facility in Cumbria, Britain, per year in the 1970s.
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The volume of strontium that leaked from the Fukushima plant is close to that annual amount.
Strontium accumulates in bones and can cause bone cancer and leukemia.
For this reason, health experts have called for extensive surveys on the amount of leaked strontium so that measures can be drawn up to deal with the problem.
It takes two to three weeks to measure the extent of strontium contamination. Because strontium exists with cesium, and its volume is estimated to be less than 10 percent of that of cesium, few surveys have been done to gauge the volume of strontium in marine life.
The Fisheries Agency has performed surveys only on six kinds of fish through its affiliated organization, the Fisheries Research Agency. The fish, including Pacific cod, were caught in the period from April to July.
The fish were caught about 50 kilometers off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture. According to a Fisheries Agency's announcement on Aug. 30, the amount of strontium detected in Pacific cod came to 0.03 becquerel.
However, a different government survey detected 0.094 becquerel of strontium in fish caught in nearby waters before the disaster at the Fukushima plant.
For this reason, it is unclear whether strontium that had accumulated in the Pacific cod resulted from the crisis in Fukushima.
According to Satoshi Katayama, a professor of marine resources ecology at Tohoku University, detailed studies should be carried out on the accumulation of strontium in fish, such as young Japanese sand lance and white bait, as people generally eat every bit.
"Strontium easily accumulates in creatures, even if its concentration level is low," Katayama said.
EU study: clean energy costs no more in long run
By DON MELVIN
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS December 15, 2011
BRUSSELS
A report issued Thursday says the European Union can cut its emissions of greenhouse gases dramatically by 2050 without spending any more money -- and even, perhaps, saving a bit.
That estimate is based on an assessment that the new plants and equipment needed to switch to the generation of clean energy would cost more than continued reliance on fossil fuels, but that the clean energy itself would cost less.
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"Only a new energy model will make our system secure, competitive and sustainable in the long run," said EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger. The report, called "Energy Roadmap 2050," was produced by the European Commission, the executive branch of the 27-country European Union.
The EU has committed itself to cut emissions of greenhouse gases, which contribute to changing the earth's climate, to 80-90 percent below 1990 levels by the year 2050.
"The energy sector produces the lion's share of man-made greenhouse emissions," the report said, adding that reducing emissions would therefore "put particular pressure on energy systems."
The report analyzed various scenarios, including dramatically increasing energy efficiency with new requirements on appliances and buildings, strong support for renewable sources of energy, and carbon capture and storage. It concluded that the various clean energy scenarios would cost no more -- and perhaps a bit less -- than continuing to generate electricity as is done now.
And the report concluded that the time for change is now. In this decade, it said, "a new investment cycle is taking place, as infrastructure built 30-40 years ago needs to be replaced."
Investing in different ways of generating energy would be cheaper now than later, and would also avoid locking the EU into current methods, the report said.
The EU's current policies would reduce greenhouse gas emissions about 40 percent by 2050, it said.
The report was welcomed by environmentalist groups.
"The Energy Roadmap is an important step forward in helping the EU create a decarbonized economy," said Arne Mogren, of the European Climate Foundation.
The reaction of Greenpeace, too, was generally favorable.
"The roadmap shows that getting clean energy from renewables will cost taxpayers no more than getting dirty and dangerous energy from coal or nuclear power," said Fraule Thies, Greenpeace's EU energy policy director.
Government sponsored research institute recommends move away from nuclear energy
The report refutes a renewed push by the Lee administration to expand nuclear power following a series of nuclear accidents
The Hankyoreh
By Nam Jong-young
Dec.15, 2011
A policy research institute has issued a report recommending the end of both current lifetime extensions for existing nuclear power plants and plans to build new plants, in order to promote sustainable development for future generations.
“It is desirable for future generations that we only use nuclear plants currently in operation until the end of their original limits of use and that we do not build any more new plants,” said Gang Gwang-gyu, head of the Korea Environment Institute’s Environmental Appraisal Center.
“Instead of reconsidering policies to supply more energy using nuclear plants, we should change to an energy policy that makes managing demand, including the promotion of energy saving, a priority.”
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The report is expected to cause controversy because it comes in contrast to the Lee Myung-bak administration’s policy of planning to build more nuclear plants despite the accident that occurred at Fukushima in Japan in March this year.
Before the report came out, unease had been growing regarding the safety of nuclear plants and the balancing of supply of and demand for electricity this winter, due to a series of problems where nuclear plants broke down.
At around 8:36 a.m. on Dec. 14, the 950,000kW No.3 reactor at Gori Nuclear Power Site in Busan came to a standstill and stopped generating electricity.
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. Lt. stated, “Excessive voltage in the turbine generator caused a protective relay to come into operation, ceasing electricity generation. We are investigating the exact cause of the accident.”
This incident took place just over 12 hours after the 1,000,000kW No. 1 reactor at a nuclear plant in Uljin was stopped at around 8 p.m. the previous day. This brings the number of reactors stopped for maintenance or because of breaking down to five out South Korea’s total of 21.
