A former Japanese House legislator, Hiroshi Kawauchi, told the press that the "Earth is in peril" because of the Fukushima disaster. The havoc wrought on the environment has not been fully acknowledged by the government, either said Kawuchi. The plant emitted airborne cesium radiation in excess of Hiroshima by 168 times. Waste water radiation levels are now too high to dump the water into the Pacific. Tritium radiation above the limit of 1700 Bq was discovered in one of twelve wells on Monday. Last week TEPCo reported the highest radiation levels in seawater near the plant following a previous admission that groundwater radiation levels also reached record levels. Seawater sampled was found to contain 840 Bq of strontium-90, which causes bone cancer, up from the previous high of 540Bq. Hey, don't worry, be happy!
The Japanese government has given the go ahead to build an "ice wall" around the damaged reactors to prevent ground water from reaching the flooded, contaminated buildings. The 1.5km frozen soil wall is being funded by the government at the expected cost of ¥32bn. TEPCo has dismissed concerns that the frozen soil barrier could cause the reactor buildings to sink enough to destabilize them further. The technology has been used before to stabilize soil during tunneling operations, but never used on such a scale for so long a period of time. In another move to restart the nation's nuclear reactor facilities, the Abe administration told lawmakers it will replace two members of the nuclear regulatory agency. One of the regulators to be replaced is Kunihiko Shimizu, a geologist, who has been criticized by the nuclear industry for his reluctance to restart nuclear power plants shut down since the Fukushima disaster. Shimizu has declared two plants are sited on top of active geologic faults, a position that will probably lead to their expensive decommissioning. The other regulator is Kenzo Oshima, a former under-secretary at the United Nations who will be replaced by a nuclear power engineer.
On the other side of the Pacific, University of Southern California's Institute for Environmental Studies will begin collecting and monitoring kelp in the waters of Catalina Island. The effort is part of a scientific project to evaluate radioactive contamination coming from the triple meltdown at Fukushima. The first scientific indication that radioisotopes from Fukushim reached US coastal waters came from a 2011 study by two Cal State Long Beach biologists. Their study published in the journal Environmental Science and Technology found a significant impact on the kelp forest ecosystem. Concentrations of radioactive isotopes arriving from Japan are expected to be low, but the effect of even low levels of radiation on the coastal ecosystem is unknown. Samples of giant and bull kelp from Catalina's Big Fisherman's Cove will be processed and sent to Berkeley Lawrence National Laboratory for detailed analysis.