24 July 2007 - Kashiwazaki,
Japan — After last week's earthquake rocked
the world's largest nuclear plant, we were
hearing conflicting information from the industry.
Quickly, we put together a team to help our
Japan office make sure the radiation leak
was not worse than official reports were saying.
Here's the diary updates from two members
of our team:
Jan - Nuclear issue expert from the Czech
Republic
Rianne - Radiation expert from the Netherlands
with a PhD in physical chemistry.
Jan - After the earthquake, TEPCO, the utility
that operates seven large reactors on the
site, first said that there was only a fire
at one transformer, and that no radioactivity
had escaped. Later that day, they said that
about 1.5 liters of contaminated water had
escaped into the ocean. A few hours later
it was revealed the volume of water was actually
a thousand times larger.
At this point it became clear that the whole
thing was worth active investigation. Next
night, I set my alarm clock to 3am so I could
make some phone calls to Japan over seven
time zones. I spoke to several organizations
and grassroots contacts in the region. The
basic input from their side was that they
were also missing information, but they were
very concerned because the strength of the
6.8 quake was two or three times bigger than
what the reactors were projected to withstand.
Second thing was that local people were very
nervous. They did not trust the official statements,
and were worried about the possibility of
a serious radioactive spill. They had no means
to get any data. The information from the
official monitoring network disappeared from
the TEPCO website, and no other independent
institution had stepped in to make checks.
(TEPCO later said that lack of data on the
website was due to a damaged server, but this
was not exactly reassuring.)
What then followed was an example of the
best qualities Greenpeace has: Gathering experienced
and dedicated experts and preparing special
measuring equipment took only few hours.
Earthquake damage in the nearby town.
Enlarge Image Rianne - Monday morning, 9 am:
Dutch television shows a fire at a nuclear
power plant in Japan caused by a serious earthquake.
Thirty-six hours later I sit on a plane to
Tokyo, accompanied by my colleague Jan from
Greenpeace International and my favourite
radiation 'toys' (measuring equipment). An
11-hour flight and 6-hour drive bring us to
Kashiwazaki, ten kilometres from the shaken
nuclear reactors. Our team with a total of
ten colleagues from Japan, UK, Czech Republic,
Australia and the Netherlands gather for their
first meeting. My first rapid 'rapid response'
Greenpeace expedition has started.
People around the nuclear facility are terribly
worried, and no wonder! I am here to answer
their urgent question: Are there radiation
risks in the immediate vicinity of the plant?
Jan - Our office in Tokyo, in the same short
time, hired additional hardware and provided
people to translate, drive us to the location
and document the story - including arrangements
to operate in a region where most of the infrastructure
was still not working and movement on roads
was limited both by damage and police.
The Japan office even managed to find us
accommodation directly in the city of Kashiwazaki,
some 10 kilometers from the plant, in a hotel
that had no water supply but provided a slow
but functioning internet connection.
Long stories can be told about the damaged
city, demolished houses that we passed on
the way to the nuclear site, and big cracks
on bridges and roads were we drove.
Rianne - So three days after the earthquake
I take my favourite radiation toy, the Exploranium
gammaspectrometer, for a stroll on the beach.
The Exploranium is the Rolls Royce of radiation
monitors: it not only detects if there is
radioactive contamination, it also tries to
identify which radioactive isotopes are there.
Heaven for radiation geeks like me!
Greenpeace Netherlands bought this expensive
piece of equipment last February, and it has
since identified americium-241, cobalt-60
and cesium-137 near a nuclear facility in
Belgium, and measured dose rates near the
uranium enrichment plant in The Netherlands.
This is its first job overseas.
Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) visitor
centre at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power
plant.
Enlarge Image Jan - While our experts were
checking the field, I took the opportunity
to make an official visit to the TEPCO propaganda
center next to the entrance to the site (nobody
was allowed to get really inside the plant
itself). Outside strange smiling 'atom-dwarfs',
inside chaos including a scene with large
broken aquarium. After few minutes we were
asked to go out because it was not safe to
stay in the building.
The nervous men with TEPCO badges were handing
me colored brochures explaining how safe and
nice the reactors are. I guess they were still
suffering post shock trauma, and tried to
follow old patterns of their public relations
without actually realizing how bizarre it
was.
Rianne - Together with Stan, Pete, Ryo and
Toru and protected by our personal electronic
dosimeters that emit a seriously annoying
sound when radioactivity is detected, we do
a rough survey of the beach areas near the
fence north and south of the nuclear plant.
At first glance, we don't detect any alarming
levels of radiation.
We, on the other hand, are detected by TEPCO's
security service, and are kindly requested
to increase the distance between the fence
and ourselves. We obediently follow their
orders, after finishing a five-minute measurement
next to the fence.
Jan - The first booklet has an English motto
on the front saying, "Covered with many
green plants and flowers". The second
is even more interesting. Printed back in
1992, it illustratively educates reader 'that
there is no risk of a big earthquake in the
area because detailed research was done both
from historical evidence and of geological
faults'. It also says (in a very 'scientific'
tone) that the biggest earthquake that which
could theoretically hit the site is a 6.5
scale one, which the reactors are designed
to withstand. Oh, but, oops... this week they
were hit with a 6.8. And it is a logarithmic
scale, which therefore means about three times
stronger trembling; and yet, it could have
been worse!
Surveying for radioactivity with the Exploranium
GR-135 (radioactive isotope identification
device).
Enlarge Image Rianne - Of course, time is
of the essence in a situation like this. Naturally,
people want some answers sooner rather than
later. But a survey of the area takes time,
and sometimes interpretation of the measurements
involves some serious thinking.
What we are trying to find is an increase
of radiation levels relative to the background.
Alarming sounds on our radiation monitors
would instantly reveal a dangerous situation.
But much more time is needed to be able to
say that there is no immediate health risk.
Jan - Apart from that surrealistic visit
of TEPCO, second unforgettable moment for
me came when we met with Takemoto-san, a man
who lives in the village of Kariwa literally
above the hill from reactors. He showed us
that his part of the village has highest percentage
of collapsed houses, more than half of them
fell down or were seriously damaged and most
of families had to leave. Following governmental
inspections door to door, his own house got
status of "limited access" which
means that he cannot stay or sleep there but
can at least use it as a storage of his belongings.
Mr. Takemoto, a long time critic of the plant,
concluded that earthquake was strongest at
this location and therefore hit the reactors
with full force.
Rianne - It takes us two days and many hours
in the field to state that there is no immediate
radiation risk for the people living near
the damaged nuclear reactors. We found some
places with slightly increased radiation levels,
but our equipment identifies thorium and radium,
both natural isotopes. No iodine, chromium
or cobalt, which TEPCO admitted were discharged
into the air.
For a nuclear expert, finding radiation is
part of the fun, and I'll admit that a part
of me would have been excited to find something
more. But mostly I am relieved that I can
ease the local people's minds.
Jan - Now we are on the way back home, after
finding out that most places that we checked
around the plant did not indicate increased
radioactivity. (Sometimes the radiation level
doubled against natural background, but our
gamma spectrometer showed it was caused only
by natural isotopes of thorium and radium.)
I was more than happy to explain to local
people that there is no immediate radiation
danger, they can for the moment relax and
focus their efforts to rebuilding their households.
However, there is an obvious need for more
systematic and deeper monitoring. The damaged
structures at the plant could leak more radioactivity
in coming weeks and months.
We must also hope that the reactors will
never be restarted. That would obviously be
like playing Russian roulette with future
earthquakes.
Afterword: On 22 July, the government of
Japan agrees to allow the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) to inspect the Kashiwazaki
reactors.
IAEA's role as a promoter of nuclear power
compromises it somewhat as a watchdog institute.
However, they are the best international institution
to conduct a thorough inspection of the plant.
