#Radiation in Japan: Cesium from Milk in Niigata Prefecture

(UPDATE) From TEPCO's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuke Plant website (in Japanese only), I've learned that they test radiations in soil, water, food, etc. once every quarter in the area within 5 kilometers from the plant. The latest measurement data on the website is from 2009.

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It is a minute amount, but at least TEPCO's Matsumoto, who announced the news of the detection, didn't say "there is no effect on health" like its regulatory agency in the government or the government's cabinet secretary.

The milk samples were taken on May 12.

Niigata Prefecture is on the Japan Sea side. Kashiwazaki City, where radioactive cesium was detected from the milk, has Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant, but TEPCO says cesium was from Fukushima I Nuke Plant.

Well, the prevailing wind has switched, and now the plume from Fukushima I is often going inland, and sometimes all the way across to the Japan Sea. It is no surprise that radioactive cesium has been detected in Niigata. There is no escaping the radioactive particles.

(Picture shows the Nagatori railroad station. Nagatori is one of the two locations where cesium was detected from milk.)

From Mainichi Shinbun Japanese (9:10PM JST 6/14/2011):

東京電力は１４日、新潟県柏崎市内で採取した牛乳から微量の放射性セシウムを検出したと発表した。検出量は原乳１リットルあたり最大０．０４６ベク レルで、内閣府原子力安全委員会の指針が定める摂取制限の約４０００分の１の値という。柏崎刈羽原発からは放射性物質の漏えいはなく、東電は福島第１原発 から飛散したものとみている。

TEPCO announced on June 14 that a minute amount of radioactive cesium was detected in the raw milk produced in Kashiwazaki City in Niigata Prefecture. The amount was maximum 0.046 becquerel/liter, about 1/4000 of the limit set by the Nuclear Safety Commission. There has been no radioactive materials leak from Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant, and TEPCO believes cesium came airborne from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant.

　５月１２日に柏崎市長鳥と同市北条の２カ所で採取した牛乳を測定したところ、セシウム１３４が１リットル当たり０～０．０２５ベクレル、セシウム １３７が同０．０２１～０．０２５ベクレル検出された。東電は柏崎刈羽原発の周辺自治体との安全協定に基づき、定期的に放射性物質の調査を実施している。

The milk samples taken in Nagatori and Kitajo districts of Kashiwazaki City on May 12 were tested. Cesium-134 was detected at 0 to 0.025 becquerel/liter, and cesium-137 was detected at 0.021 to 0.025 becquerel/liter. TEPCO conducts regular surveys of radioactive materials in the area around Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant, according to the agreement with the local municipalities.

　東電の松本純一原子力・立地本部長代理は「改めて事故の大きさを認識している。他の農作物や福島県内でも測定を検討したい」としている。

TEPCO's Junichi Matsumoto said, "We again recognize the enormity of this accident. We will consider testing the other agricultural crops [in Niigata?] and testing [the milk?] in Fukushima Prefecture."

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#Fukushima I Nuke Accident: Dairy Farmer Commits Suicide in Soma City, Fukushima

He left a note, which said "If only there was no nuke plant..."

The dairy farmer lived outside the evacuation zones (mandatory and planned). Part of his despair was that he wouldn't get compensated for his loss and hardship by the government because he lived outside the government-ordered evacuation zones. He was probably, and sadly, right.

Soma City is about 43 kilometers from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant.

Yomiuri Shinbun (3:09AM JST 6/14/2011) reports:

　福島第一原発の事故で、牛を処分して廃業した福島県相馬市の酪農家男性（５０歳代）が「原発さえなければ」と書き残して自殺していたことが１３日、わかった。

It was revealed on June 13 that a dairy farmer in his 50s had committed suicide, leaving a note saying "if only there was no nuke plant". He had already killed his cows and given up on his dairy farming.

　関係者によると、男性は今月１１日、小屋で首をつった状態で見つかった。小屋の壁に白チョークで「仕事する気力をなくしました」「残った酪農家は原発にまけないで」と記していた。

According to people who knew him, the farmer's body was found in the barn on June 11. He had written on the wall of the barn with a piece of white chalk, "I don't feel like working any more," and "for those of you still in dairy farming, don't let the nuke plant get you down."

　男性が住む地区は当初、加工前牛乳が出荷停止となり、男性は乳を搾っては捨てていた。今月初旬までに約３０頭を処分した。男性は親の代から酪農を続けており、姉は本紙の取材に「（弟の死は）子どもたちのことを思えば話したくない。しかし、原発の件は訴えたい」と語った。

The farmer lived in the area where the shipment of raw milk was initially halted, and he was dumping all the milk he milked from his cows. By the beginning of June, he had disposed about 30 cows. He had succeeded his parents in dairy farming. His elder sister told the Yomiuri reporter that she was reluctant to talk about his brother's death for the sake of his children, but she wanted to tell people about the nuke plant [and how it destroyed his brother].

　酪農家仲間だった男性（５１）は「避難区域ではないため、補償はないだろうと繰り返していた」といい、農業男性（５３）は「連絡をとるたびに『原発ですべてを失った』と悩んでいた」と話した。

One of the fellow dairy farmers, a 51-year-old man, said "He kept saying there would be no compensation [from the government] because he was not in the evacuation zones." A 53-year-old farmer who knew him said, "Every time I contacted him, he was distressed that he had lost everything, thanks to the nuke plant."

More about → #Fukushima I Nuke Accident: Dairy Farmer Commits Suicide in Soma City, Fukushima