240 Children in 3 Nursery Schools in Yamagata Prefecture Ate Cesium Beef

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Tuesday, July 19, 2011

240 Children in 3 Nursery Schools in Yamagata Prefecture Ate Cesium Beef

This must be the first confirmed case of small children having been fed with the beef contaminated with radioactive cesium.

These small children ate beef from a meat cow in Asakawa-machi in Fukushima Prefecture, and the cow had been fed with the rice hay that contained the maximum 97,000 becuerels/kg of radioactive cesium.



Yamagata Shinbun (7/20/2011) reports:

Concerning the beef from the cows from Asakawa-machi in Fukushima Prefecture that were fed with the rice hay that contained the high level of radioactive cesium, Sakata City (in Yamagata Prefecture) announced on July 19 that 3 nursery schools in the city purchased the beef in late April, and total 290 children and teachers ate the meat in school lunches.

According to Sakata City, the three nursery schools purchased the meat from the same food grocer in the city. The meat was cooked into "hashed beef" dish and served as lunch. 240 children and 50 teachers and administrators ate 20 to 40 grams per person.

The food grocer alerted the nursery schools . Sakata City traced the history of the meat, and confirmed that the meat that was delivered to the three nursery schools came from the Yokohama City Central Wholesale Meat Market, and the cow had come from Asakawa-machi in Fukushima Prefecture.

The city notified the parents of children at these nursery schools on July 19, and decided not to use beef in school lunches until the safety is assured.

http://www.yamagata-np.jp/news/201107/20/kj_2011072001907.php




Rain increases contaminated water at plant

Heavy rain brought by a tropical storm has increased the level of radioactive contaminated water at the basements of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Typhoon Ma-on moved east off the southern coast of Japan's main island of Honshu. 115 millimeters of precipitation was recorded in Namie Town, north of the plant, between Tuesday and Thursday.

Rain has been gathering in the buildings housing the reactors because the roofs were severely damaged by hydrogen explosions that occurred after the initial March 11th disaster.

Tokyo Electric Power Company or TEPCO, the plant's operator, says that at 7 AM local time on Thursday, the level of contaminated water pooled at the basement of the building of the No. 1 reactor was 44 centimeters up from the previous day...

Thursday, July 21, 2011 16:17 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/21_19.html





Wednesday, July 20, 2011


ANALYSIS

Tepco seen staying vague to satisfy goals Cold shutdown high hurdle

By KAZUAKI NAGATA

Staff writer


The government and Tokyo Electric Power Co. are boasting success in achieving the first stage in the road map to stabilize the reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant, but experts are skeptical whether success will likewise come in the next phase, which is to carry out a cold shutdown in three to six months.

In the newly updated plan, released Tuesday, the two sides defined cold shutdown as bringing the temperature at the bottom of the pressure vessels in the stricken reactors to below 110 degrees. They also plan to largely reduce the amount of radioactive materials being released by mid-January, which may enable some evacuees to return home.

"It will depend on radiation levels in the various areas, but I think we can achieve some specific results even for the evacuation area (within 20 km of the plant)," said Goshi Hosono, state minister in charge of the crisis.

To substantially reduce the amount of radioactive materials released from the plant, Tepco needs to get to the bottom of the problem: plugging holes or cracks in the reactors' containment vessels that are allowing contaminated water to flood on-site facilities, including the reactor buildings and turbine buildings...

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/rss/nn20110720x2.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+japantimes_news+%28The+Japan+Times+Headline+News+-+News+%26+Business%29




High levels of radioactivity found extensively

Japan's science ministry says air above the ground about 150 kilometers from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is as radioactive as areas 50 kilometers from the source of radioactivity.

The ministry on Wednesday released a map showing radiation levels at locations one meter above the ground in Miyagi Prefecture, north of Fukushima, based on the results of an aerial survey from June 22nd through 30th.

Radioactivity levels are highlighted in different colors. Some parts of Kurihara City, about 150 kilometers north of the plant are light blue, indicating that the air there was 0.2 to 0.5 microsieverts per hour.

That's similar to areas close to the crippled plant, such as Iwaki City in Fukushima Prefecture, about 50 kilometers from the radioactive source...

Thursday, July 21, 2011 07:31 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/21_06.html