JAPANESE AND French leaders have strongly defended the use of nuclear power amid further reports that the crippled Fukushima plant is spewing increasing quantities of radiation into the sea and surrounding land.
Japan’s nuclear safety agency revealed yesterday that radioactive iodine in seawater about 300m (1,000ft) off the shore of the complex has been clocked at 4,385 times the legal standard. More than 500-times safe levels cesium-137, which has a half-life of 30 years, were also detected.
Radiation experts are viewing the figures with increasing alarm. But French president Nicolas Sarkozy, on a trip to Tokyo, said there was no viable alternative to nuclear power.
“Everyone is trying to cut CO2” said the French president, standing beside Japanese prime minister Naoto Kan. “The advanced countries don’t have much choice right now.”
An exhausted-looking Mr Kan said Japan would continue to use nuclear power but would work for higher global standards. “The situation is not under control yet but when it is we must inspect all nuclear plants and think about how to make them safer.”
Mr Sarkozy’s visit, the first by a head of state since the earthquake and tsunami, has been overshadowed by the twin disaster which has left 27,500 people dead or missing and the unfolding crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant.
The UN’s economic watchdog yesterday asked Japan to “carefully assess” its 30km exclusion zone around the complex after it found radiation levels twice its recommended level about 40km away.
Experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency found Iodine 131 and Cesium 137 in soil in the village of Iitate in Fukushima Prefecture, which has not been evacuated. Agency officials visited Iidate this week. A spokesman for the village said they are waiting to hear from the government. “We can’t move till we do. But of course our citizens are worried.”
Japan’s top government spokesman, Yukio Edano, said it accepted that radiation levels were “higher than recommended” but said there were no plans yet to widen the exclusion zone. “We are closely watching the possibility of long-term cumulative effects of the contamination. If the situation continues there could be health risks, and we will take necessary measures.”
Japan and France are two of the world’s leading nuclear powers, with expanding export industries aimed mainly at developing countries. Japan has 55 operating reactors, supplying nearly one-third of the country’s demand for electricity and another 11 in construction or planned – including the world’s largest.
Before the Fukushima crisis, Toshiba, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Hitachi were preparing to fight for a share in the contracts for 150 nuclear plants mooted for construction worldwide over the next 20 years, adding to the roughly 435 commercial reactors already in operation. France is the world’s most nuclear-dependent state. It generates about 78 per cent of its electricity from 58 reactors.
Japan has postponed the construction of two major plants since March 11th. But Mr Kan gave no hint of a rethink on the nation’s energy policies. Mr Sarkozy said scientists were working on alternatives to nuclear power. “But no matter how hard they work, nuclear power plants cannot be replaced now so we must strengthen safety standards.”
The first signs of the disaster’s impact on Japan’s powerhouse economy has emerged after manufacturing figures in March suffered their biggest month-on-month decline on record. Some economists are estimating the cost of rebuilding the country’s shattered northeast at $300 billion, (€211 billion) but the nuclear crisis is adding to concerns that the long-term costs could mount. Radiation fears are damaging Japan’s food and tourism industries, though many scientists and experts say the fears are exaggerated.
The head of the nation’s nuclear safety agency, Hidehiko Nishiyama, said most of the seawater radiation was likely to be diluted over time. “Even if people eat seafood, the amount of iodine will be considerably lower by the time they consume it.”