While awaiting review of Vermont Yankee by the PSB, and beaching of the waste field from Fukushima on U.S. shores, we who are not constrained from discussing issues of safety can consider  this little nugget from Enformable.

It seems that Tokyo is not without its own fallout issues from Fukushima.  Despite early efforts by industry regulators to downplay both the scope and severity of contamination,

“The nuclear accident in Japan has resulted in widespread deposition of radioactive contamination throughout the northern part of Japan, including the metropolitan Tokyo area. Surface contamination levels in this entire region would be required to be posted as radiological area if they were at a U.S. licensed facility or DOE site.

This “widespread deposition” has implications for the U.S. that go beyond the path of the plume and ocean-born waste.  According to Enformable, an April 2011 teleconference involving U.S. and Japanese officials delved into concerns about what might be entering the U.S. through conventional import channels:

Any materials leaving Japan have the potential for low levels of radioactive contamination. Thus, the discussion about materials in DOD possession is indicative of similar materials that are entering commerce from Japan. In the DC and IPC meetings earlier this week, it was agreed that the limit of 4 Bq/cm2 for commerce was going to be acceptable and posed no health risk.”

Apparently there was some discussion as to whether the Department of Defense should become involved in licensing and disposal of the contaminated material that would be inadvertently imported under this scenario, but the DOD was reluctant to become involved. Their preference was that the contaminated material simply be returned to Japan, but that was impractical under the circumstances.  The teleconference appears to have been inconclusive:

The regulatory provisions cited by members discussed the regulatory aspects of normal commerce in radioactive materials. It is not clear that these provisions would apply to widely scattered accident fallout that has placed low level contaminated material in the hands of many unregulated people and on material that will be entering commerce throughout the world.

To round out that cosmic head-scratcher, here is a video recorded on the first anniversary of the accident, which features Arnie Gundersen of Vermont’s Fairewinds Associates speaking with “Democracy Now” about some of the “Lessons from Fukushima” and the fact that the NRC has so far shown little indication of a willingness to learn from them.  

Gundersen: Fukushima Meltdown Could Result in One Million Cases of Cancer from Fairewinds Energy Education on Vimeo.