Final report on Fukushima disaster (2)

September 1, 2015

Child thyroid cancer unlikely to rise in Fukushima but extent of radiation exposure unclear: IAEA

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/09/01/national/science-health/iaea-fukushima-linked-child-cancers-unlikely-rise-extent-radiation-exposure-unclear/#.VeVMOpfwmic

Reuters

UNITED NATIONS – An increase in thyroid cancer among children is unlikely after the disaster at the Fukushima No 1 nuclear plant four years ago, but it remains unclear exactly how much radiation children in the vicinity were exposed to, International Atomic Energy Agency said in a new report.

Increased thyroid cancer is generally the leading health concern after exposure to nuclear radiation, but that may not be the case after the three reactor meltdowns at the Tokyo Electric Power Co. plant in March 2011, the Vienna-based watchdog said in the report, which was released Monday.

“Because the reported thyroid doses attributable to the accident were generally low, an increase in childhood thyroid cancer attributable to the accident is unlikely,” the report says.

“However, uncertainties remain concerning the thyroid equivalent doses incurred by children immediately after the accident,” it adds.

Those uncertainties are largely due to a lack of reliable personal radiation monitoring data immediately after the disaster started, when radioactive iodine and other radioactive materials were spewed into the environment, the report says.

The earthquake and following tsunami made emergency response measures difficult, if not impossible, to implement.

Adding to the uncertainty was the fact that the administration of “stable iodine” to protect children’s thyroid glands was not done uniformly at the time, “primarily due to the lack of detailed arrangements,” the report says.

Detailed screening of children’s thyroid glands is being undertaken now in Japan as part of a survey aimed at the early detection and treatment of diseases.

The report highlights areas where improvements are needed in light of the Fukushima catastrophe. The IAEA said more sustainable solutions are needed for the management of highly radioactive water and radioactive waste being collected at the plant, “including the possible resumption of controlled discharge into the sea.”

The reports adds that countries should prepare detailed scenarios and train workers for coping with worst-case natural disasters, including situations where more than one disaster is combined with a nuclear accident. They should also plan for cleanup operations in the wake of such incidents.

The report calls for strengthened international cooperation in the event of such accidents.

U.N. nuclear watchdog makes comprehensive report on Fukushima accident

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150901p2g00m0dm048000c.html

VIENNA (Kyodo) -- The International Atomic Energy Agency on Monday released a comprehensive report on the causes and consequences of the 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, saying that a major factor behind the accident was "the widespread assumption in Japan" that nuclear power plants were safe and an accident of that magnitude unthinkable.

The report, which comes with technical volumes totaling more than 1,000 pages, will be presented to the next annual meeting of the U.N. nuclear watchdog's general conference scheduled to start Sept. 14.

Director General Yukiya Amano said that the safety assumption was accepted by nuclear power plant operators and that regulators and the government did not challenge it. "As a result, Japan was not sufficiently prepared for a severe nuclear accident in March 2011," he said in the report.

The report is a result of a collaboration of some 180 experts from 42 countries. It compiles lessons learned from the accident triggered by a tsunami following a massive earthquake as well as Japan's emergency responses, radiological consequences and post-accident recovery.