東京電力公司/阿里山森林鐵路 為何錯誤會不斷重演？為何沒有吸取教訓？

東京電力公司/阿里山森林鐵路 為何錯誤會不斷重演？為何沒有吸取教訓？

阿里山森林鐵路神木支線小火車27日發生翻覆意外，車廂掉落橋下，現場怵目驚心。阿里山森林鐵路神木支線小火車27日發生翻覆意外，有4節車廂翻覆，至少造成6人死亡，數十人受傷，車廂內血跡斑斑。
這一翻覆意外，7-8年前也發生過一次。

最近又是25 年前的車諾比核爆炸周年。

聯合國秘書長潘基文周二 (26日) 表示，烏克蘭車諾比核災及日本福島核事故突顯出，全球必須「深刻反思」核能的安全性。


問題可能是: 組織不像個人 ，它可能是無法學習的…..

保健食品胡說八道多

Justing 傳給我的

善存(Centrum)---化學的保健食品‏?

我在任何健康演講場合，都會提到電視上那個扛著腳踏車上樓的銀髮壯年營養品廣告，呼籲明智的台灣人不要再吃了，那是100%化學合成的，長久吃下來其實是有害肝腎。但在演講中不能直接說出廠牌，心中也很為難。

今天看到這則新聞，一則高興，二則難過。高興的是我多年的呼籲得到證實，也證明化學合成的營養品不能吃；難過的是很多台灣人還在受此種沒有良心的美商藥廠的化學營養品之害，而不知覺悟。

為了協助大家，在此就把營養品標示的真相寫出，大家以後可以自行檢視：找找＜維他命E＞如果是寫dl-alpha-Tocopheryl Acetate 就是合成的維他命E。
找找＜礦物質＞成分標示，如果是寫：Cupric Oxide 銅氧化物、
Manganese Sulfate硫酸錳、Potassium Chloride 氯化鉀、Sodium Selenate 硒化鈉、、等等型式的，都是化學合成的。

如果＜其他成分＞寫有：Lactose 乳糖、Talcum 滑石粉、Titanium Dioxide 二氧化鈦、Starch 澱粉、食用色素、Sodium Ben zoate 苯甲酸鈉、Potassium Sorbate己二烯酸鉀、 Benzoic acid 安息香酸、 Benzoin Sodium 安息香酸鈉 、、等等的，就是有一大堆添加物及防腐劑的化學合成營養品， 絕對不是天然蔬果原料。

請把家裡的營養品包裝或瓶子拿來看看，就知道你們吃的是什麼樣的營養品了。
2010 年5 月號138 期《康健雜誌》調查發現：不分男女老少全民瘋保健食品，不看標示、產地、認證，聽人家說這不錯，就掏錢，買保健食品像買零食。
朋友們，一般人買零食還會知道怎麼挑，買營養品卻完全不會挑，太扯了吧。
--------------------------------------------

2010 年5 月號138 期《康健雜誌》
聰明吃保健食品 台灣人喜歡吃保健食品，一年消費可蓋半棟101大樓，
但最新研究卻發現，保健食品過量有害健康。怎麼吃才安心？
文．林貞岑 　

一位三、四歲的小女孩因厭食、體重減輕求診。 小女孩雙眼無神，不斷抓癢、肌肉緊繃無力，檢查結果發現輕微血尿，腎臟有0.7公分的結石，是鈣片吃太多造成高鈣血症。 原來小女孩的母親擔心她長不高，半年前開始，每天給她吃五、六顆兒童鈣片（每顆300毫克），小女孩一天吞近肚裡的鈣質高達1800毫克，是孩童建議量的 三倍之多。「幸好及早發現，再晚一點就會影響到生長和智能發育，」林口長庚醫院兒童胃腸肝膽科主任趙舜卿說。

現代人崇尚養生健康，保健食品（包括維生素、礦物質、營養補充劑、草藥及健康食品）幾乎已經成為每日必需品，根據衛生署統計，國內有超過半數以上的人在吃維生素。 現代人愛用保健食品，以為來自天然很安全，於是混用及過量使用。 吃兒茶素、蜂膠導致尿毒升高；老人家喝牛奶加鈣片造成鈣中毒，這些都是很常見的案例。「以毒物學來說，維生素就是藥物，」林口長庚醫院毒物科主任林杰樑認為，民眾應該要慎用保健食品。

近十多年，已有不少大型研究指出，維生素和補充品過量有損健康。 從治病到可能致命譬如刊登在《美國醫學會期刊》，針對9500例心血管疾病和糖尿病人長達七年的研究發現，每天吃維生素E達400IU的人，心衰竭機率增 加13％。 丹麥研究也發現，對於已經罹患心臟病、癌症或是部份健康的人，每天補充β-胡蘿蔔素、維生素A、E，不但無法預防心血管疾病和抗癌，還可能會提高死亡風險。

保健食品的研究結果矛盾衝突不斷，一下可以治病，一下又會致命，身為消費者，倒底該怎麼辦？哪些保健食品比較安全，怎麼吃最安心？

分析多年來的研究報告，維生素A、β-胡蘿蔔素惡名昭彰，對身體造成的危害高居所有維生素榜首，林杰樑認為應該立即停用。維生素A屬於脂溶性，容易沉積體內造成肝臟毒性。每天服用5萬單位的維生素A，就會造成骨頭痠痛和肝臟病變。
在香港，有位媽媽為了要小孩「吃魚肝油補眼睛」，每天讓孩子吞十多顆魚肝油，導致小孩發育受影響，甚至出現肝硬化。 「（吃魚肝油補眼睛）這個說法是錯誤的，」林杰樑指出，國人飲食中並不缺乏維生素A及β-胡蘿蔔素，這些營養素在木瓜和地瓜中含量豐富，不需要額外補充。

此外，抗氧化劑和免疫類保健食品也要小心使用。 抗氧化物可以清除身體自由基，達到預防疾病效果。但新近研究發現，如果吞服抗氧化物過量，反而會加速身體氧化反應，讓自由基增加。且抗氧化物過多時會清除掉一氧化氮，造成血管無法擴張導致心臟病。 且多數抗氧化物如茄紅素、花青素、葡萄籽、芸香素等，並沒有每日建議量，「因為這些並非身體所需，」

台北醫學大學保健營養系主任黃士懿說，每日建議量的意義是「維持生理運作最少量」，如果沒有規範，表示身體沒有需求，也不需特別補充，多吃蔬果 就可以攝取到足夠的抗氧化物。過度提升免疫力，可能導致反效果，免疫類保健食品也不宜亂吃。

對於常見「××可以增強某個免疫細胞功能」的訴求，中華民國癌症醫學會理事長謝瑞坤特別提出澄清說，免疫系統在人體內如同蹺蹺板，是整體平衡作用的，「不是單加強哪一部份，就表示免疫力增強了，」他說。 尤其有些免疫食品需要控制劑量，譬如研究發現低劑量（一天25克）的黃耆提升免疫力，但過量反會促進癌細胞生長，和信醫院藥師姜紹青提到。 有些人長期服用中藥來增強免疫力，譬如把黃耆、枸杞泡茶當水喝，也要小心。不需要每天大量吃某一個中藥材，「會有過量的危險。」

長庚醫院中醫內科部主任楊賢鴻解釋，一來每人體質不同，同樣的配方不見得對每個人都有效；二來長期服用中藥，也可能會有重金屬累積及藥物過量危 險。 過度提升免疫力，反而會使細胞分不清敵我，轉而攻擊自己的細胞，造成發炎反應或紅斑性狼瘡等自體免疫疾病。一位營養師的母親，因肺癌末期全身水腫無法下床，她吃了靈芝後水腫立刻消失，「跟書上寫得一樣神奇，媽媽還很高興下床走動，」營養師回憶說，到了第五天， 母親呼吸變喘，原來是嚴重的心包膜積水，開刀後才解決問題。如果你有自體免疫問題，最好不要使用免疫調節類的保健食品。 至於一般人不需要天天補充，「偶爾身體虛弱時再吃，」

實踐大學食品營養與保健生技學系主任黃惠宇建議。 維生素B、C、綜合維生素、魚油較安全，維生素中較安全的是，維生素B、C、綜合維生素和魚油。 前兩者為水溶性維生素，不會累積在體內造成傷害；綜合維生素和魚油，目前為止對身體造成危害的研究報告不多。但仍要注意，不要超過每日建議使用量。

事實上，專家學者都同意，一般人不需特別補充維生素，營養素最好的來源是天然食物。但如果消費者把保健食品當成維持生命的要素，不吃覺得不放 心，專家並不反對適量補充。

四守則，安心使用保健食品

*有需要再吃
維生素不必天天補充，有需要再吃。 身體對營養素的吸收並非照單全收，有時吃得少，反而會強迫細胞吸收得更好。 每隔兩、三天吃一次，不但減少過量危險，也可以補足身體對營養素的需求。
特殊情況如壓力大、學測考試或經常加班熬夜時，可適量補充維生素。

身兼教學與行政工作，每當黃惠宇教授發現自己被工作壓得喘不過氣，就會吞顆維生素B群補充體力。
此外，如慢性病人也可適量補充維生素B群。 因為慢性病如同處於高壓力狀態中，很容易消耗維生素B群， 林杰樑 醫師提醒。
其他像咀嚼、食物攝取有問題的銀髮族，也可適量補充綜合維生素，輔大營養系副教授曾明淑建議。

但孕婦和幼童，最好不要隨便補充維生素。因為任何外來物質都會影響到胚胎發育，譬如綜合維生素中含維生素A，過量會造成畸胎，因此在懷孕過程中，最好不要服用維生素和補充品。

至於該不該吃葉酸預防寶寶神經管缺陷？建議可先和醫師及藥師討論後再使用。 在美國，政府嚴格把關四歲以下孩童不能任意使用維生素，須由醫生評估使用。 因為寶寶長高長壯需要蛋白質、脂肪和多種營養素，「光吃維生素是不夠的，」

趙舜卿醫師說。 且學齡前是養成孩子良好飲食習慣的黃金期，應該要讓孩子愛上天然食物的美味，而不是給他維生素藥丸應付了事。

*注意藥物交互作用 維生素和保健食品經常與西藥發生交互作用，建議心、肝、腎有問題的人，使用前最好先跟醫療人員討論。

常見藥物交互作用如魚油、大蒜、銀杏和阿斯匹靈併用會產生出血危險。
此外，減肥藥羅氏纖會影響身體吸收脂溶性維生素，因此建議吃藥後3∼4小時，再補充一顆維生素。
纖維類的保健食品如車前草等，會減少止痛藥普拿疼藥效，因此最好先服用西藥，等兩小時藥物吸收完畢後再服用保健食品比較安全。
如果已經在服用某種保健食品和西藥，建議兩者都不要隨便停掉，以免影響藥物療效。

台北醫學大學藥學系講師王莉萱就發現，不少慢性病人情況控制不好，原來是保健食品一天吃一天不吃，影響藥物濃度。 建議慢性病人使用保健食品最好先跟醫師、藥師討論，並隨時觀察自己是否有異常症狀。譬如，發癢表示可能是藥物過敏。如果心血管病人發現早上刷牙會流血，或身上有瘀青，表示有出血現象，最好回醫院診治。
保肝類保健食品，如菇類等，會啟動身體解藥基因，讓藥物失效，因此最好與西藥間隔3∼4小時再用，黃惠宇教授提醒。

*不要超過每日建議量
細胞不是鐵打的，保健食品濃度過高也會出問題。 即使安全性高的水溶性維生素B和C，也可能因為排尿少造成累積過量，如維生素B6太多會產生周邊神經病變，維生素C太多，則會出現腎結石及頭痛，「吃維生 素時記得要多補充水分，」林杰樑提醒。 且無論是天然或合成，吃過量都會對身體造成毒性和增加代謝負擔。
有人把一天吃三次的維骨力改成一天吃五、六次，結果造成胃痛、低血糖。 維生素及礦物質攝取，最好在每日建議範圍之內。且選擇綜合維生素會比單單一補充劑安全。目前衛生署的規定是維生素含量可以是建議量的1.5倍，若加上日常飲食，其實已經很足夠。

如何辨識所吃維生素是否過量？可以看營養標示中的每日營養素建議攝取量（RDA），美國為USRDA，標示為100％表示完全符合。 如果是100％×66，表示為建議量的66倍之多，劑量太高會有危險，不建議選用，高雄醫學大學營養部主任黃孟娟說。

此外，要小心mega為開頭的維生素加強錠或是高單位維生素。 專家警告，這類維生素劑量太高，很容易影響藥物或治療，甚或造成肝臟代謝負擔，且一旦停用，身體反而會產生缺乏症症狀，最好不要輕易嘗試，藥師王麗萱提醒。

*選擇小包裝最好
吃營養品也要分散風險，至少每兩個月更換不同品牌，不但增加身體利用率，也可避免產生抗藥性， 黃士懿教授提到。
此外，因為用量不多，選擇小包裝較較新鮮。
選擇天然、多元化的食物種類
維生素和保健食品，過度簡化了營養成分，天然食物有多種成分相輔相成，是萃取單一成分的保健食品無法取代的。「一碗青菜的營養 素，是綜合維生素沒法給的，」林杰樑說，以毒物學角度來看，未經純化的天然食物最安全。新近的研究也發現，食物種類愈多樣對身體愈好。

美國伊利諾大學研究證實，番茄和芥蘭可以延緩前列腺癌發生，但兩者合吃效果更好。且食物中富含多種植物性化學物，如酚（茶、丁香）、異黃酮（大 豆）、兒茶素、薑黃素（薑黃）、白蔾蘆醇（葡萄、花生）、植酸（豆類）等，可抑制腫瘤血管新生，有效控制癌症。「這麼多的營養素，如果光靠藥丸去補充是吞不完的，」

馬偕醫院營養課課長趙強肯定地說。 而且，萃取的藥丸濃度太高，可能會強化血管新生抑制作用，影響血液供給到其他器官如心臟及腦，造成缺氧問題。 來自天然的蔬果濃度雖低但很安全，只要飲食均衡及多樣化，一樣可以達到相同效果。

然而，很多人質疑，這麼多種營養素，一天怎麼可能都攝取到？ 輔仁大學營養系副教授曾明淑認為不需擔心，營養素交給營養專家去煩惱，一般人只要看看自己每天六大類食物是不是攝取足夠就好。

有些小技巧，幫助你吃得更健康 -
- 先吃菜再吃肉
現代人蛋白質攝取過量，可以試著整飲食順序，青菜、五穀根莖類先吃，最後再吃肉類或蛋白質，且最好選擇優質蛋白質，如魚等。 吃素的人可由奶、蛋或五穀、黃豆類來補充， 黃士懿教授說。

- 外食儘量不挑油炸品，多點份青菜，把水果當成午晚餐點心。
曾明淑教授喜歡把蘋果擺在辦公室裡，蘋果不須冷藏，耐放又有淡淡香氣，隨時拿起啃一口，無論視覺、嗅覺和味覺都得到很好的滿足。

- 多帶便當
自己做便當可以掌控食物來源與烹調，吃得安心健康。 平日工作繁忙，曾明淑會利用週末假日上市場，並準備一桌好菜，豐盛的菜餚正好可以分裝成2∼3個便當。 林杰樑醫師也讓孩子從小帶便當，他的孩子不吃漢堡、薯條，全家一起到速食店，也只點健康的優格。養成健康的飲食習慣，才是給孩子最大的財富。
審稿專家：輔仁大學營養系副教授曾明淑

杜邦特殊化學事業部的 SHE（安全、健康和環保）

2010年11月初，我們一群朋友在台北舉辦Russell Ackoff的逝世紀念研討會。我說；「我2009年準備多介紹他的「理想系統設計」。又將他在 Bell Lab 當過顧問的故事（收入合著的《理想系統設計》前言）翻譯出來，詳本書「美國通信系統昨天被摧毀了」一文。

我讀過他寫的兩個個案（cases）-- 杜邦特殊化學事業部的 SHE（安全、健康和環保） （收入其《公司的再開創》（Re-Creating the Corporation: a design for 21th century）的附錄 B：An Application of Interactive Planning, pp.295-315）和 某企管學院之設計（收入 《民主型公司》 的 “An Idealized Design of a Business School”，pp.212-38）---原想比較後者與紐約 Fordham 大學的 「企業管理碩士」（戴明學者MBA）課程，不過因資料不夠而放棄。不過，他的商學院系統之設計，諸如「所有的老師都只用一職稱（title）：”Professor”：都沒有終生職（tenure），而聘期採用先為 1年，其次2年，再聘4年，8年，16年到退休。」的確很有創意，

取材: 鍾漢請等 系統與變異: 淵博知識與理想設計法 (2010)

Radiation,ftershocks could slow Fukushima stabilization

2011/04/20

An image photographed on April 18 by a remote-controlled robot in the No. 2 reactor building of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant (Tokyo Electric Power Co.)The interior of No. 3 reactor building of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant on April 17. The containment vessel is on the right and a carry-in entrance in the background was left open after the explosion that occurred on March 14. (Tokyo Electric Power Co.)

Editor's note: We will update our earthquake news as frequently as possible on AJW's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/AJW.Asahi. Please check the latest developments in this disaster. From Toshio Jo, managing editor, International Division, The Asahi Shimbun.

* * *

High levels of radiation discovered at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant could disrupt Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s timeline for a cold shutdown of the crippled facility, TEPCO officials acknowledged.

On April 18 unexpectedly high levels of radiation were detected in water in the storage pool containing spent fuel rods in the No. 2 reactor, the officials said.

TEPCO officials believe the radiation may have been triggered by damage to the spent fuel rods. One possibility being looked at is the damage was caused by debris falling into the pool when the Great East Japan Earthquake struck on March 11.

An analysis of water samples taken from the storage pool on April 16 found cesium-134 at 160,000 becquerels per cubic centimeter, cesium-137 at 150,000 becquerels and iodine-131 at 4,100 becquerels.

Ordinarily, the level of radioactivity in the pools is much lower.

Another problem area is the building housing the No. 1 reactor. TEPCO officials used a U.S.-made robot on April 16 to measure radiation levels and detected radiation of 270 millisieverts per hour in the No. 1 reactor building.

That level of radiation means a worker could spend less than an hour in the area before exceeding the allowable dosage.

The exposure would be so high workers could not re-enter the area for several years, officials said. If radiation levels remain at high levels, TEPCO's experienced workforce would all quickly reach maximum radiation exposure levels, severely slowing the effort to stabilize the plant.

Radiation measurements were also taken at another entrance to the No. 1 reactor building and found levels of 49 millisieverts per hour. Radiation at an entrance to the No. 3 reactor building was also measured at 57 millisieverts per hour.

Those are still high levels and workers who remain in that environment for five hours will reach the maximum amount of radiation exposure allowed.

Huge volumes of water contaminated with radiation are also expected to slow work to bring the Fukushima reactors under control.

Officials of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) said April 18 that a pool of water about five meters deep had been found in the basement of the building housing the No. 4 reactor.

Radiation levels as high as 100 millisieverts per hour were detected on the water's surface.

About 54,000 tons of radiation-contaminated water also sits in the basements of the turbine buildings for the No. 1 to No. 3 reactors.

The radiation level in the basement of the turbine building for the No. 2 reactor is especially high.

Finding storage space for the contaminated water is a pressing issue, as is what to do with the rubble on the plant grounds that is also contaminated with radiation.

NISA official Hidehiko Nishiyama said, "The situation is very serious. It is desirable to lower the level of radiation workers are exposed to by using anything that will shield the radiation as well as by decontaminating the workers. We will have to think of ways to carry that out from now."

TEPCO officials have plans to fill the core containment vessels at the No. 1 and No. 3 reactors with water to submerge the pressure containers that hold the fuel rods.

To achieve TEPCO's road map objective of a cold shutdown of the reactors after six to nine months, officials are seeking to restore the cooling system rather than depend on pumping in water to the reactor cores.

However, the main equipment and piping used in the continuous cooling system are all located within the reactor buildings. Workers will have to work in those buildings to inspect and repair the equipment and piping.

As a contingency plan in the event the cooling system cannot be restored, preparations are being made to install heat exchangers that use cool air rather than water. That installation work will also require workers to enter the reactor buildings.

At the No. 2 reactor, holes have opened in the suppression pool connected to the containment vessel so repairs will be needed before the No. 2 reactor can be submerged. However, there is the possibility that radiation levels of several dozens of sieverts are present near the suppression pool. Such levels would lead to immediate health problems for workers.

Plans are being considered to use robots for inspection and simple tasks to reduce radiation exposure among workers.

Another factor that has slowed work at the Fukushima plant is the frequent aftershocks. Some have led to tsunami watches that have meant workers have had to be evacuated.

An aftershock measuring an intensity of lower 6 on the Japanese scale of 7 hit Fukushima Prefecture on April 11. That caused a power outage that stopped the pumping in of water for about 50 minutes.

Another tsunami triggered by an aftershock could also flood the plant site, damage equipment and lead to the leaking of highly contaminated water.

Meanwhile, NISA officials on April 18 for the first time publicly admitted that some of the fuel rods in the No. 1 to No. 3 reactor cores had melted in the wake of the March 11 quake and tsunami.

NISA officials gave a report to the government's Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan.

NISA officials had alluded to the possibility of a melting of the fuel rods, especially after hydrogen explosions rocked the No. 1 to No. 3 reactors. However, no NISA official had actually stated that some of the fuel rods had melted until April 18.

NISA officials said that based on an analysis of the radioactive material collected and their radiation concentration, there has likely occurred a melting of the fuel pellets contained within the fuel rods.

葉克膜「ECMO」吃垮健保?

蘋論：吃垮健保 2011年 04月18日 台大公衛學院的葉克膜急救權威柯文哲醫師說，生命末期的病人進行無效治療的花費龐大，正在吃垮健保大餅。他指出，使用葉克膜平均每救活一個病人花費近500萬元，去年台灣光是葉克膜耗材花費就高達億元，還不包括醫師費、藥材費和其他費用。


加強臨終倫理教育 家屬害怕不孝的罪名及良心壓力；醫師擔 憂遭家屬控告和醫療糾紛，明知救不活，也全力卯上，於是健保損失很重，家屬經濟耗盡，身心俱疲，病人插管硬治，生不如死，形成3輸的後果。趙可式博士提倡 安寧病房的臨終醫學觀念，仍沒受到民間和醫師的重視。希望醫院對社會多做這類文宣，醫學院也加強臨終倫理的教育，讓病人在安詳、舒適、自然的情況下，在自己家中度完人生最後的時刻。死在家中是人類上百萬年來最自然舒適的結束方式，而不是渾身插管死在陌生的醫院裡。

葉克膜
「葉克膜」並不是醫師名字，而是一套冷冰冰的醫療儀器，全名是Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenator，中文翻譯為「體外膜氧合」，又名「體外維生系統」，英文縮寫「ECMO」，直接音譯就是「葉克膜」。

葉 克膜是一種體外循環的醫療輔助器，也就是人工心臟和人工肺臟的組合體。適合用於心臟手術後心衰竭、急性心肌炎、急性肺栓塞、急性心肌梗塞、心因性休克、呼 吸窘迫症等急重症病患為主。但癌症末期、惡性腫瘤、後天免疫缺乏症，或合併多器官衰竭的病人並不適用。因為葉克膜裝機後，關鍵在於讓心、肺臟可以部分或完 全休息，降低心臟負荷，靜待心肺功能自行修復，或器官移植的機會。換言之，「葉克膜」只能維持住病患生命跡象，等病情有起色時，不需依賴「葉克膜」維持， 即可予以拔除，但無法治癒疾病。

1972年美國密西根州立大學教授勞勃巴列(Robert H.Bartlett)是全球第一個使用葉克膜的醫師。台灣雖遲至1994年才跟進，至今也迅速累積上千名案例，高居全球第二。由於台灣的操作技術自成體 系，研發出不少臨床專業的療法，勞勃巴列也曾特地來台交換心得。

葉克膜一炮而紅後，更多家屬要求醫院裝置葉克膜為親人救命，而技術已超越國 際水準的台灣，成功存活率也只占三、四成。由此可見葉克膜並非萬能，儘管其「任勞任怨」，仍有其侷限性。雖有裝機長達半年的案例，但不可否認，裝機時間愈 長，出現併發症機率愈高，癒後也愈不利；甚至有併發氣胸、血栓等風險，不少急重症病患裝機後宣告不治，仍占多數比例。

葉克膜常使用在急救、搶救生命這種時間限制下，往往醫療團隊在一瞬間得決定裝機與否，葉克膜就像在「扮演上帝的角色」，而醫療團隊就像是「向上帝買時間」 、 「與死神拔河」，為醫療團隊爭取更多時間，作進一步診斷和治療。

台 大醫院外科醫師柯文哲表示：「該不該裝葉克膜？目前仍很兩難。」因此，台灣健保制度定義出葉克膜裝機原則，就是評估個案心肺功能需為可恢復者，或是「急性 心肺衰竭」的急重症病患，暫時取代其心、肺功能而爭取搶救時間者，優先裝機；反之，若已確立病情屬不可恢復、即使裝機後仍無法存活，或將來不適合接受心肺 移植者，即不適予裝機。

國軍桃園總醫院心臟外科主任劉光益表示:「葉克膜裝機後，心肺功能什麼時候會恢復？如同爬山，要爬上去才看得到！能 否完全恢復？任誰也不敢保證。」所以，與其說葉克膜是「高科技」，還不如說是「高經濟」，健保承擔了費用支出，才使台灣人民有機會使用這種昂貴的醫療儀 器。本院心臟血管外科成立發展已屆三年，開心手術已達百台以上，心臟輔助裝置如葉克膜，治療水準亦相對進步。未來可能要再做科學性探討與分析，評估哪些病 人有用或沒用，進而予ECMO知識標準化、明文化，以造福更多急性心肺衰竭的病人，重獲生命。

「下意上達」で安全意識徹底 脱線事故６年

６年前的一次火車變成 ""脱線事故每年的檢討


----

ＪＲ西社長、「下意上達」で安全意識徹底　脱線事故６年

2011年4月18日6時21分

インタビューに答えるＪＲ西日本の佐々木隆之社長＝大阪市北区のＪＲ西日本本社、筋野健太撮影

　ＪＲ西日本の佐々木隆之社長（６４）は、ＪＲ宝塚線（福知山線）脱線事故から２５日で６年を迎えるのを前に朝日新聞のインタビューに応じた。後を絶たな い事故、不祥事について「お客様の命を預かるＪＲ西の一員という意識が低い」と謝罪。安全意識の徹底に向け、現場の声を経営に反映させる「下意上達」の組 織編成に取り組む姿勢を見せた。

　再発防止策として、班単位の組織がなかった百数十人規模の運転士の電車区、車掌区に今年度から「チーム制」を導入することを明らかにした。１チーム１０ 人前後で編成し、定期的に安全対策を話し合う。単独勤務で仲間意識が薄くなりがちな乗務員同士の意思疎通を促し、現場のアイデアをくみ上げる。

　また、安全対策を提言し、実施状況を検証する第三者機関を今年度中に設ける。宝塚線事故の遺族、負傷者にも参加を求める。

　賠償交渉は負傷者の８割強と示談が成立。遺族との交渉は具体的な数字を示さなかったが、「着実に進んでいる」と話した。

　昨年１２月に始まった山崎正夫前社長の刑事裁判については「審理での指摘を真摯（しんし）に受け止めたい」と述べた。

　ＪＲ西は２００８年度から５年間で計４３００億円を投資する安全対策を実施。今年度からの２年間で残り１４００億円を投じる。衝突時の衝撃を吸収する構造の新型車両を約１２０両（計約１７０億円）導入する。

　　　　　◇

　主な一問一答は次の通り。

　――「上意下達」「風通しが悪い」と指摘された企業風土は変わったか

　「『下意上達』の考えで本社から支社、現場に予算執行など権限の一部を委ねているところだ。ホームや踏切の安全対策に自主的に取り組むなど、全体に現場が元気になってきた」

――チーム制の導入のきっかけは

　「百数十人の現場で先輩と口をきいたことがないという社員がいる。同じ職場なんだから、互いにコミュニケーションできると思っていたが、そうでもない。それなら、そういう場を作ってあげようと考えた」

　「従来のような点呼や掲示物による上司から部下への一方的な業務連絡では、社員が納得ずくで安全意識を培うことはできない。お客さまの尊い命を預かって いることを毎日唱和しているが、議論して納得する機会を増やしたい。時間はかかるだろうが、不祥事の再発防止にはこれしかない」

　――賠償交渉の現状は

　「一歩一歩、着実に進んでいる。今後も誠心誠意、対応させていただく」

　――山崎前社長の裁判を経営にどう生かすか

　「審理で企業再生や風土改革の指摘も出てくるだろう。真摯（しんし）に受け止めたい」

　――安全投資は計画通り進めるのか

　「東日本大震災などの影響で経営的に苦しいが、投資は堅持していく」（小河雅臣）

air traffic controllers suspended

Another air traffic controller suspended

CNN - Mike Ahlers - ‎4 hours ago‎

Washington (CNN) -- The Federal Aviation Administration suspended Saturday yet another air traffic controller for sleeping on the job, the seventh apparent incident this year the agency has disclosed.

Forest Stewardship Certification/FSC-CoC认证

日本大型木质建材厂商朝日WOODTEC公司开发出了森林认证胶合板“生态地板” （Eco-Floor）。原料来自被证明可进行持续管理的森林，以彰显保护热带雨林的姿态。但这类林材数量有限。因此还需要有胶粘合不同种类木材并实现必要强度的技术实力。

　　要使用原产物丰富的热带雨林的木材，就需要时刻考虑对环境的影响。朝日WOODTEC从2007年开始销售使用热带木材并考虑生物多样性的地板材料 “生态地板”。目前供货量占所有地板材料的4成左右。该公司商品部长大野智史称：“注重环保的住宅公司和高级公寓开发商等都很感兴趣，计划2011年度内 将所有供货地板材料变为生态地板。”

　　在生态地板的开发中，该公司首先着手获得FSC认证。FSC认证是一种木材产品相关认证制度，证明原料产自进行合理管理的森林。

　　接受认证时，还需考虑到生物多样性问题。该公司2008年8月获得了木材加工工序的FSC认证（FSC-CoC认证）。

　　该公司采购木材的FSC认证林有三个。其中最大的柳桉林位于印度尼西亚中加里曼丹省西部，面积约为14.7万公顷。与该公司合作30年以上的印度尼西亚当地企业负责管理森林，两公司一同制定了可持续及维持生物多样性的森林管理方法。

图：用于地板材料的柳桉木（左）。利用红色标签分别对每棵树木进行管理，采伐后也可进行信息追踪（右）

Stewardship / Forest Stewardship Certification

FOR seasoned shoppers, "buyer's remorse" is a familiar feeling. "Seller's remorse" may also become common soon, as ever more governments order manufacturers to assume the cost of disposing of their products after consumers are done with them. Until recently, most laws on "extended producer responsibility" (EPR) or "product stewardship" applied only to specific types of goods, such as car tyres or electronics. But in late March Maine, following the lead of several Canadian provinces, became the first American state to enact a blanket EPR law, which could in principle cover any product.

extended/ cradle-to-cradle/ buyer's remorse

It is generally agreed that voluntary carbon offset projects must also prove additionality in order to ensure the legitimacy of the environmental stewardship claims resulting from the retirement of the carbon credit (offset). According the World Resources Institute/World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WRI/WBCSD) additionality

steward

[名]

1 （客船・列車・飛行機・バスの）乗客係, スチュワード, ボーイ. ⇒STEWARDESS

2 （大家の財産・家事などを取りしきる）家令, 執事；財産管理人.

3 （クラブ・レストランなどの）給仕長；（大学・病院などの）用度係.

4 （各種団体の）支配人, 事務長；((英))（会合・催し物の）世話役, 幹事.

5 《米国海軍》主計士官.

━━[動](他)(自)（…の）stewardを務める.

［古英語stīweard （stig家, ホール＋weard守る人＝ホールの管理人）. △LORD, STY¹］

stew・ard・shìp

[名][U]執事職.

Forest Stewardship Certification

维基百科，自由的百科全书

森林管理協議会（しんりんかんりきょうぎかい、FSC:Forest Stewardship Council）とは、国際的な森林管理の認証を行う協議会のこと。1993年10月にカナダで創設されたNGO。生産を行う森林や製品、流通過程の評価、認定、監督を行う。機関の構成員は、世界各国の環境保護団体、林業経営者、木材業者、先住民族、森林組合など。 現在の国際本部はドイツのボンにある。

森林管理委員會（英文：Forest Stewardship Council）縮寫FSC，是一個非政府、非營利組織。它成立於1993年，其發起者為國際上一些希望阻止森林遭到不斷破壞的非政府機構、環保人士、木材貿易組織及具有社會責任感的消費者等。

FSC通過制訂森林良好經營的標準和木材加工的產銷監管鏈標準，來追蹤木製品從森林到消費者的整個過程，從而可以控制木材的合法及可持續來源。

FSC希望通過市場機制，使林區的作業結構和經營能夠更加合理，確保經營者在獲取利潤的同時，卻不以犧牲森林資源、生態系統或影響社區為代價。

在 林業領域，FSC的標準對社會和環境的要求是最高的，它的可行性在各大洲、不同森林類型、面積和產權制度下已經得到證實。遵循了FSC原則與標準 的要求獲得認證的產品能夠貼FSC的商標，貼有FSC標籤的產品向消費者保證了它們來自於能夠滿足當代人和後代人的社會、經濟和生態需求的森林。森林管理 委員會的認證是由獨立的第三方認證機構來開展的，這就保證了認證的透明度和可信性。

FSC要求森林經營者制訂適合的經營方案並定期對其 更新，這個方案必須與FSC的森林管理原則相符合。FSC認證標準要求森林經營者在追求經濟效益 的同時也要考慮到對環境的影響和對林區周邊社區利益的顧及。FSC對於將天然林轉化為人工林的規定非常嚴格，為了保護天然林不被採伐，1994年11月以 後在天然林地上營造的人工林一般不具備認證條件。FSC對林區作業中工人使用的個人防護用品也有嚴格的規定。

隨著國際上對FSC認證產 品的需求增加，2007年，貼有FSC標籤的產品銷售額超過了200億美元。FSC也成為了世界上增長最快的森林認證體 系，全球超過7%的用材林是由FSC認證的。FSC已被納入到許多國家的綠色採購政策中，這就提高了國際上對來自於中國的FSC認證木質品的出口需求。

FSC認證在中國增長迅速，截止到2008年11月，已有超過110萬公頃的森林通過了認證，800多家企業獲得了產銷監管鏈證書，他們從中國和世界各地採購FSC認證的木材。

[編輯] 參考資料

1. Forest Stewardship Council（英文）
2. 森林管理委員會（中文）

奧巴馬總統現在應當立即提出“碳稅（環境稅）”的標準

《綠色革命》作者：向“東京人”學習而不是爭做“美國人”
2011/04/08


21世紀的城市應該如何建造，這是一個決定人類與地球命運的選擇。通過《世界是平的》、《綠色革命》等著作向世界發出警告的國際著名評論員托馬斯·弗里德曼從地球的角度對城市進行了評述。

在思考今後的城市模式、人類生活模式時，有一件事情是絕對忽視不了的，這就是世界上有太多的“美國人”，已經超過了地球的容量。

不能再做“美國人”了

“美國人”這一說法，表達了對包括我在內的全體美國人的提醒與警告。指的是美國人住著很大的房子、到處是寬廣的道路、開著很大的車、吃著巨無霸漢堡、到處亂丟垃圾。

中國、印度、巴西、俄羅斯的人們顯然也都想過上“美國人”那樣的豪華生活，如果真的實現的話，這將是一項很偉大的成就。

但上帝在創造小小的地球時，大概沒想到會出現這麼多的“美國人”吧。如果地球上的人全都成了“美國人”，地球將會燒光一切、呼吸困難、吃光一切、到處充滿煙霧，要比阿爾·戈爾先生（環境活動家、原美國副總統）的預測嚴重得多。 《綠色革命》原來題目所講的“炎熱、平坦、擁擠”的世界裡，這才是問題的關鍵所在。

現在還有許多人不承認地球變暖、氣候變化這樣的事實。那好，你用橡皮擦把炎熱給我們消除了吧。即便如此，還存在著平坦與擁擠的問題。這是一個無可爭辯的事實。世界人口在激增，如果許多人都變了“美國人”，到底會是什麼樣子呢？

現在世界上約有68億人，到2050年將增長到92億左右。其中25億人都想過上“美國人”的生活，如果真的這樣的話，無論是能源還是糧食都將短缺。這顯然是一件不可持續的事情。

不停地開發城市的郊區，建造更大的房子，如果沒有汽車就哪兒也去不了，這樣的生活方式已經不合時宜了。人類現在必須聚集到城市里居住。而在城市裡面，樓越蓋越高，沒有汽車就無法享受舒適的生活。崇尚這種生活方式的觀念必須從根本上進行轉變了。

日本可謂是智能城市的先驅。為克服土地面積狹小的問題而不得不想盡各種辦法，從而使日本在這一領域裡走到了世界的前面。

東京公寓的確很狹小，但是卻非常實用。日本生產的電器產品在日式房間裡發揮出了最好的效果。以這樣的居住環境為前提，日本形成了高效而準時的公共交通系統。日本應當把這樣的城市居住環境模式原封不動地打包出口到全世界。全世界的人都應當像“東京人”那樣選擇緊湊的居住空間，而不是像“美國人”那樣鋪張浪費。


金融危機與環境危機同源

金融危機與環境危機同時發生，這並非巧合，其根源是相同的，不論是面對市場還是大自然，都是用不可持續的、無節制的手段來謀求不斷增長。對眼前的風險不當回事，把利益變成個人財產，損失卻由整個社會來承擔，對此還不以為然。

在金融市場上，對於美國次級債務（面向個人的低信用度住房貸款）及由此組成的債券，對風險的評估太低，大家卻都默認了。對於將利益轉化成私人財產也都視而不見。一旦造假事情被揭穿，承擔這一損失的卻不是貪婪的當事人，而是全體納稅人。

環境危機也是如此。無視排放溫室效應氣體的危險，誰都可以盡情地使用廉價的石油、天然氣、煤，將這一便利變成私人財產。儘管為這些買單的不是我們，但我們的子孫後代卻要面對嚴峻的後果。

金融危機與環境危機正如硬幣的正反兩面，都是由我們自身的原因造成的。儘管不斷有人警告市場與大自然“下一步將會心髒病發作而死去，原因沒有別的，就在你自身”，但許多人到現在也沒把這個警告當回事。

最根本原因的就是“與我無關”的自私自利思想，站在可持續發展的對立面。要是想到可持續發展，就少不了“我經常在那裡”、“經常與大家聯繫”的意識。這樣的話就肯定不會把不良債權賣給明天或後天還能碰面的客戶，也不會向自己孩子居住的地方排放溫室效應氣體了。

可悲的奧巴馬與共和黨

然而遺憾的是，我們美國人製造了大量消費型生活方式，但是卻絲毫不想去改變。其原因有以下幾點：

第一是圍繞環境能源法案進行的爭論，貝拉克·奧巴馬總統要對此負責。由於經濟衰退，無論是在政治上還是經濟上都已無力對全球變暖採取對策。而氣候門事件（氣候變化研究人員的電子郵件洩露，使人們懷疑氣候數據被人為操縱的事件）也進一步助長了懷疑論者的氣焰。

由此導致“氣體變化”的說法成了一個誰都不願意碰的禁區。共和黨批評環境能源法案是一個“增稅法案”，而奧巴馬總統甚至連反駁的勇氣都沒有了。

第二是在野的共和黨沒有能力做出負責任的判斷。能源法案是收回落入中東產油國口袋裡的錢，作為發展新產業的啟動資金。對於美國的安全保障來說，再沒有比這更重要的了。但共和黨只是不斷地“反對增稅”，成了一個不負責任的政黨。

第三是深受經濟危機重創的美國民眾，已經失去了對環境問題的關注。


在發射航天飛機時，先是引擎與火箭進行強烈噴射，然後推動機身上升。但火箭裡面出現裂縫，昂貴的燃料正在不斷洩漏。而駕駛艙裡，機長與副駕駛正圍繞飛行計劃進行激烈爭吵。

美國本想繼信息技術（IT）之後，在能源技術（ET）領域也領先世界，但一直沒有高度的提升，只是漫無目地漂流。遺憾的是，當前美國的政治就處於這樣一種狀態。

再回過頭來看，即便是不相信全球變暖，但這樣依靠嘩嘩不停地使用化石燃料的經濟發展模式，也支撐不住全球人口的爆發式增長。

首先釋放出價格信號

儘管如此，面對二氧化碳這麼一個看不見摸不著的敵人，要人們懷著危機感與之戰鬥，總覺得無從下手。 “請穿更小一些的襯衣”、“請更善良一些”、“請生活得更有效率一些”——這樣話即便給“美國人”講上一萬遍，也別指望有什麼大的變化。

奧巴馬總統現在應當立即提出“碳稅（環境稅）”的標準，給國民和產業界發出一個價格信號。要提高汽油價格，要提高化石燃料的價格，要提高電費，等等，發出這樣的明確信號。只有這樣，消費者才會從我做起，行動起來，減少二氧化碳的排放。

需要燃效更高的汽車；坐公交車與電車來代替開車；購買更節能的電器產品；建造隔熱效果好的房屋——如果能激發消費者這樣的主動意識，就能創造出具有永久性的新市場，推動新產業的興起。

這樣一來，首先需要製訂一個系統的綜合性長期計劃。新的城市規劃也許就會融入到其中去吧。

墨西哥灣原油洩漏事故使美國民眾強烈感受到“現在正是從石油中毒中脫身的時候”，是改變人們生活模式的絕好機會。但奧巴馬總統卻沒這樣做。坦白地說，這非常令人失望。

我相信美國還具有成為世界發展典範的實力，相信能鼓舞許多不同的國家。這並非傲慢的意思，而是希望通過美國的變化，成為世界各國努力的大方向，從而改變世界。美國肩負的責任非常重大。

現在正是開展“拯救地球競爭”的時代

但事實上僅靠美國也起不到什麼作用。世界各國不僅要通力合作，還要相互競爭。這一點讓我們想起了​​冷戰初期美蘇兩國的太空競賽。當時能參與競爭的只有美國與原蘇聯兩個國家，但經過激烈的競爭，美國第一個登上了月球，開創了人類歷史上的一項偉業。

現在需要世界上各種各樣的國家都加入到“拯救地球競爭”中來。為了人類今後能繼續在這個星球上生存下去，讓我們一起開展清潔電力技術開發的相互競爭、沒有環境負擔的城市建設競爭、可持續的21世紀型生活模式與價值觀的相互競爭吧。

不要輕易降低目標。限制要越來越嚴。讓全世界都為了超越這一目標而展開競爭吧。

現在正是需要日本的高技術之際。讓我們共同關注韓國與阿聯酋（UAE）在馬斯達的新城市建設試驗吧。不僅是中國與印度等新興國家，美國與日本、歐洲也當仁不讓地成為競爭的舞台。

這項競爭的勝者將會是誰呢？答案是永遠生活在這個星球上的子孫後代們。 （《日經商務》記者：瀧本大輔、山根小雪、北爪匡、紐約支局水野博泰、倫敦支局大竹剛）

《绿色革命》作者：向“东京人”学习而不是争做“美国人”

2011/04/08

21世纪的城市应该如何建造，这是一个决定人类与地球命运的选择。通过《世界是平的》、《绿色革命》等著作向世界发出警告的国际著名评论员托马斯·弗里德曼从地球的角度对城市进行了评述。

在思考今后的城市模式、人类生活模式时，有一件事情是绝对忽视不了的，这就是世界上有太多的“美国人”，已经超过了地球的容量。

不能再做“美国人”了

“美国人”这一说法，表达了对包括我在内的全体美国人的提醒与警告。指的是美国人住着很大的房子、到处是宽广的道路、开着很大的车、吃着巨无霸汉堡、到处乱丢垃圾。

中国、印度、巴西、俄罗斯的人们显然也都想过上“美国人”那样的豪华生活，如果真的实现的话，这将是一项很伟大的成就。

但上帝在创造小小的地球时，大概没想到会出现这么多的“美国人”吧。如果地球上的人全都成了“美国人”，地球将会烧光一切、呼吸困难、吃 光一切、到处充满烟雾，要比阿尔·戈尔先生（环境活动家、原美国副总统）的预测严重得多。《绿色革命》原来题目所讲的“炎热、平坦、拥挤”的世界里，这才 是问题的关键所在。

现在还有许多人不承认地球变暖、气候变化这样的事实。那好，你用橡皮擦把炎热给我们消除了吧。即便如此，还存在着平坦与拥挤的问题。这是一个无可争辩的事实。世界人口在激增，如果许多人都变了“美国人”，到底会是什么样子呢？

现在世界上约有68亿人，到2050年将增长到92亿左右。其中25亿人都想过上“美国人”的生活，如果真的这样的话，无论是能源还是粮食都将短缺。这显然是一件不可持续的事情。

不停地开发城市的郊区，建造更大的房子，如果没有汽车就哪儿也去不了，这样的生活方式已经不合时宜了。人类现在必须聚集到城市里居住。而在城市里面，楼越盖越高，没有汽车就无法享受舒适的生活。崇尚这种生活方式的观念必须从根本上进行转变了。

日本可谓是智能城市的先驱。为克服土地面积狭小的问题而不得不想尽各种办法，从而使日本在这一领域里走到了世界的前面。

东京公寓的确很狭小，但是却非常实用。日本生产的电器产品在日式房间里发挥出了最好的效果。以这样的居住环境为前提，日本形成了高效而准 时的公共交通系统。日本应当把这样的城市居住环境模式原封不动地打包出口到全世界。全世界的人都应当像“东京人”那样选择紧凑的居住空间，而不是像“美国 人”那样铺张浪费。


金融危机与环境危机同源

金融危机与环境危机同时发生，这并非巧合，其根源是相同的，不论是面对市场还是大自然，都是用不可持续的、无节制的手段来谋求不断增长。对眼前的风险不当回事，把利益变成个人财产，损失却由整个社会来承担，对此还不以为然。

在金融市场上，对于美国次级债务（面向个人的低信用度住房贷款）及由此组成的债券，对风险的评估太低，大家却都默认了。对于将利益转化成私人财产也都视而不见。一旦造假事情被揭穿，承担这一损失的却不是贪婪的当事人，而是全体纳税人。

环境危机也是如此。无视排放温室效应气体的危险，谁都可以尽情地使用廉价的石油、天然气、煤，将这一便利变成私人财产。尽管为这些买单的不是我们，但我们的子孙后代却要面对严峻的后果。

金融危机与环境危机正如硬币的正反两面，都是由我们自身的原因造成的。尽管不断有人警告市场与大自然“下一步将会心脏病发作而死去，原因没有别的，就在你自身”，但许多人到现在也没把这个警告当回事。

最根本原因的就是“与我无关”的自私自利思想，站在可持续发展的对立面。要是想到可持续发展，就少不了“我经常在那里”、“经常与大家联 系”的意识。这样的话就肯定不会把不良债权卖给明天或后天还能碰面的客户，也不会向自己孩子居住的地方排放温室效应气体了。

可悲的奥巴马与共和党

然而遗憾的是，我们美国人制造了大量消费型生活方式，但是却丝毫不想去改变。其原因有以下几点：

第一是围绕环境能源法案进行的争论，贝拉克·奥巴马总统要对此负责。由于经济衰退，无论是在政治上还是经济上都已无力对全球变暖采取对 策。而气候门事件（气候变化研究人员的电子邮件泄露，使人们怀疑气候数据被人为操纵的事件）也进一步助长了怀疑论者的气焰。

由此导致“气体变化”的说法成了一个谁都不愿意碰的禁区。共和党批评环境能源法案是一个“增税法案”，而奥巴马总统甚至连反驳的勇气都没有了。

第二是在野的共和党没有能力做出负责任的判断。能源法案是收回落入中东产油国口袋里的钱，作为发展新产业的启动资金。对于美国的安全保障来说，再没有比这更重要的了。但共和党只是不断地“反对增税”，成了一个不负责任的政党。

第三是深受经济危机重创的美国民众，已经失去了对环境问题的关注。


在发射航天飞机时，先是引擎与火箭进行强烈喷射，然后推动机身上升。但火箭里面出现裂缝，昂贵的燃料正在不断泄漏。而驾驶舱里，机长与副驾驶正围绕飞行计划进行激烈争吵。

美国本想继信息技术（IT）之后，在能源技术（ET）领域也领先世界，但一直没有高度的提升，只是漫无目地漂流。遗憾的是，当前美国的政治就处于这样一种状态。





再回过头来看，即便是不相信全球变暖，但这样依靠哗哗不停地使用化石燃料的经济发展模式，也支撑不住全球人口的爆发式增长。



首先释放出价格信号

尽管如此，面对二氧化碳这么一个看不见摸不着的敌人，要人们怀着危机感与之战斗，总觉得无从下手。“请穿更小一些的衬衣”、“请更善良一些”、“请生活得更有效率一些”——这样话即便给“美国人”讲上一万遍，也别指望有什么大的变化。

奥巴马总统现在应当立即提出“碳税（环境税）”的标准，给国民和产业界发出一个价格信号。要提高汽油价格，要提高化石燃料的价格，要提高电费，等等，发出这样的明确信号。只有这样，消费者才会从我做起，行动起来，减少二氧化碳的排放。

需要燃效更高的汽车；坐公交车与电车来代替开车；购买更节能的电器产品；建造隔热效果好的房屋——如果能激发消费者这样的主动意识，就能创造出具有永久性的新市场，推动新产业的兴起。

这样一来，首先需要制订一个系统的综合性长期计划。新的城市规划也许就会融入到其中去吧。

墨西哥湾原油泄漏事故使美国民众强烈感受到“现在正是从石油中毒中脱身的时候”，是改变人们生活模式的绝好机会。但奥巴马总统却没这样做。坦白地说，这非常令人失望。

我相信美国还具有成为世界发展典范的实力，相信能鼓舞许多不同的国家。这并非傲慢的意思，而是希望通过美国的变化，成为世界各国努力的大方向，从而改变世界。美国肩负的责任非常重大。

现在正是开展“拯救地球竞争”的时代

但事实上仅靠美国也起不到什么作用。世界各国不仅要通力合作，还要相互竞争。这一点让我们想起了冷战初期美苏两国的太空竞赛。当时能参与竞争的只有美国与原苏联两个国家，但经过激烈的竞争，美国第一个登上了月球，开创了人类历史上的一项伟业。

现在需要世界上各种各样的国家都加入到“拯救地球竞争”中来。为了人类今后能继续在这个星球上生存下去，让我们一起开展清洁电力技术开发的相互竞争、没有环境负担的城市建设竞争、可持续的21世纪型生活模式与价值观的相互竞争吧。

不要轻易降低目标。限制要越来越严。让全世界都为了超越这一目标而展开竞争吧。

现在正是需要日本的高技术之际。让我们共同关注韩国与阿联酋（UAE）在马斯达的新城市建设试验吧。不仅是中国与印度等新兴国家，美国与日本、欧洲也当仁不让地成为竞争的舞台。

这项竞争的胜者将会是谁呢？答案是永远生活在这个星球上的子孙后代们。（《日经商务》记者：泷本大辅、山根小雪、北爪匡、纽约支局 水野博泰、伦敦支局 大竹刚）



■日文原文：『グリーン革命』の著者が語る！「スマートシティは東京モデルで！」

■关键词

生态城/智能城市 低碳/节能

From Safe Distance, U.S.-Japanese Team Draws Up Plan to Demolish Reactors

By KEN BELSON

Published: April 7, 2011

TOKYO — Hydrogen explosions. High levels of radiation. Thousands of gallons of contaminated water dumped into the sea. With the drumbeat of bad news, including another powerful aftershock on Thursday, it will take months, if not years, to stabilize the reactors and spent fuel pools that were damaged in last month’s earthquake and tsunami at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

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Toshiba

Members of Toshiba, Babcock & Wilcox, and Westinghouse responded to the Fukushima Daiichi reactor damage.

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Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Multimedia

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Assessing the Radiation Danger, Near and Far

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Status of the Nuclear Reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant

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Problems With Radioactive Water at the Plant

Related

• Powerful Aftershock Complicates Japan’s Nuclear Efforts (April 8, 2011)

• Japanese City’s Cry Resonates Around the World (April 7, 2011)

• Bank of Japan Pledges Aid for Rebuilding From Quake (April 8, 2011)

Yet it is not too soon for a team of engineers from Japan and the United States to begin working on the thorny task of how to dismantle the reactors, four of which are so badly damaged that the plant’s operator has said they will be scrapped.

Already, dozens of engineers from Toshiba, which helped build four of the Fukushima Daiichi reactors, have been joined by experts from the United States to prepare for the decommissioning work, a job so big that the planning needs to start even now, in parallel with the efforts to contain the crisis.

The team includes experts from Westinghouse, whose majority owner is Toshiba; the Shaw Power Group, a civil engineering firm; and the Babcock & Wilcox Company, an energy technology and services company, one of whose specialties is the disposal of hazardous materials.

The plans to take apart the reactors are complicated not only by the volatility of the situation but also by the uncertainty about the reactors’ condition once they finally cool. No one has ever decommissioned four damaged reactors at one power plant, let alone reactors rocked by a powerful earthquake and swamped by a tsunami.

In fact, no Japanese nuclear power plant has ever been entirely decommissioned, which is one reason Westinghouse and Babcock & Wilcox — companies that helped shut down the damaged reactor at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania after the accident there in 1979 — have joined the effort.

Among myriad problems, the engineers must find ways to dispose of the fuel, remove reactors, demolish buildings, and clean up nearby land and water.

“Each of these problems is solvable and have been solved before,” said Hiroshi Sakamoto, a senior vice president at Toshiba America Nuclear Energy Corporation, who returned to Japan to lead the team. (It has dubbed itself “Mt. Fuji,” short for Management Support for Fukushima U.S. and Japan Initiative.)

“The situation is really the complexity and combination of factors,” he said.

While the team makes plans, 800 of Toshiba’s engineers are helping the Tokyo Electric Power Company, which operates the Fukushima Daiichi plant, with the more pressing problem of cooling the reactors and reducing the radioactivity there. About 250 engineers are stationed in Fukushima, and an additional 500 are working at Toshiba’s nuclear engineering center in Yokohama, Japan.

They are helping to re-establish electrical power to pumps and motors and to install power panels; draining contaminated water; and acquiring desalination equipment, underwater pumps and air purifiers to filter radioactive dust. Westinghouse has provided Tokyo Electric with boron, fuel, spare pumps and other supplies.

“We are taking a two-tier approach for Fukushima,” said Kiyoshi Okamura, chief of Toshiba’s nuclear business. “These efforts are mutually complementary.”

Because of the emergency, Toshiba’s engineers — those who are helping Tokyo Electric and those planning the decommissioning — are working without a formal contract. But the Japanese-American team submitted a proposal to Tokyo Electric on April 4 that lays out a long-term plan to remove and transfer spent fuel as part of a larger project.

Toshiba has not been told when a decision will be made on the proposal, which might ultimately be worth billions of dollars.

Westinghouse, Shaw and Babcock & Wilcox were eager to help when it became apparent early on that the Fukushima reactors might have to be scrapped. But the crisis made it difficult for Tokyo Electric to respond. By joining hands with Toshiba, the American companies won instant credibility and found a conduit to reach the utility.

“It was chaos at the beginning, so it helps to have Toshiba” as a partner, said Jack Allen, the president of Westinghouse in Asia.

Two weeks ago, engineers from the American companies started arriving in Japan, where they were briefed about the situation. They moved into a war room at Toshiba’s headquarters that includes offices in a secure part of the building. The rooms are stuffed with desks, computers, whiteboards and dozens of engineers slumped over laptops.

One door is covered with business cards and a sheet that includes photographs of the engineers so that names can be more easily matched to faces. On the walls are aerial photographs and schematics of the Fukushima reactors, as well as charts and photographs from decommissioned reactors at Three Mile Island and the Maine Yankee nuclear power plant in Wiscasset, Me., which took eight years to shut down. Graphic illustrations of cranes and other equipment are taped to the walls.

A well-used coffee cart sits in the hallway. Soda cans and snacks share desk space with laptops. A mixture of Japanese and English fills the air.

Though it is still in its early days, the “Mt. Fuji” team has proposed installing devices around the Fukushima Daiichi plant to monitor radioactivity. It is weighing what machinery is needed, based on various scenarios, and will soon open an office in New York so that engineers there can take over when the team in Tokyo is asleep.

Most of all, the team is waiting for the engineers at Fukushima Daiichi to cool the reactors so it can begin work. “All things hinge,” said David J. Richardson, a president at Babcock & Wilcox, “on having safe access.”

現場大口吃下鯖魚、秋刀魚、鯊魚等國產魚，農委會主委陳武雄今天以行動掛保證，國產魚貨安全無虞。針對日本輻射危機，農委會祭出每週抽驗農漁產品的措施，並重申目前市面上的秋刀魚都是去年捕獲存貨，「和福島輻射無關」，希望消費者安心享用。

日本福島核災輻射擴大，提起魚貨人心惶惶。陳武雄今對此表示，將繼續擴大定期辦理農漁畜產品採樣送驗，定期發布檢測結果，直到沒有輻射危機為止。

5月中也將派試驗船到秋刀魚漁場採樣，確認沒有輻射污染再出海；魚季時也將定期抽檢魚體和水。他強調，檢測結果會馬上公布，絕不會封閉消息，若漁場受污染，將強制休漁。

針對民眾擔心受輻射污染的魚或輻射海水流向台灣沿近海，國立台灣海洋大學環境生物與漁業科學系主任廖正信解釋，黑潮往東北流，因此日本輻射海水主要影響南韓、俄羅斯等國，依洋流回到台灣要250天，再者台日魚類種類不大相同，民眾不必過度擔心。

日本東北部正是秋刀魚魚場，秋刀魚到底能不能吃？農委會說，現在市面上的秋刀魚是去年的存貨，國產秋刀魚為遠洋捕撈，和日本近海捕撈的品系 不同，彼此不會互相洄游，而且我國秋刀魚魚船作業漁期要從6月底才開始，而漁場海域離福島核災範圍有400海浬之遠，請民眾放心享用。

農委會將持續針對國產魚貨、農糧產品、和乳品檢測輻射，已分別於3月24日、4月1日採樣抽檢，檢測結果全數符合規定。

---

台湾、魚が売れない　放射性物質は未検出

2011年4月7日16時40分

６日の記者会見で「台湾の魚は安全」と強調する陳武雄・農業委員会主任委員（中央）と漁業関係者＝台北、村上写す

魚市場ではふだんより客足が３割ほど減っている＝台湾・基隆、村上写す

　福島第一原発の事故が台湾での魚介類の売れ行きに影響を与えている。今のところ放射性物質は検出されていないが、当局は懸命に「安心」を強調している。

　台湾で日本に最も近い北端に位置する基隆市の碧砂漁港に一般客向けの魚市場がある。近海でとれたアジ、サバなどが並んでいるが、ここ２週間は客が３割減った。特に大ぶりな魚は日本寄りの遠洋産と疑われ、全く売れない。

　「怖がっているよりも新鮮な魚を食べる方が体にいいのに」。市場で店を構えて２０年になる洪阿珠さん（５９）が笑った。「何か問題が見つかったわけじゃない。落ち着くべきだ」

　市場では数日おきに６００グラム分の魚を抜き取り、検査に送っている。「他国で起きたことが波及するのは仕方がない。いずれ解決すると信じたい」と市場の劉文河主任は話した。

　行政院農業委員会の漁業署は「震災前後で価格や取引量に大きな変化はない」と言うが、台湾メディアは、各地で魚の販売が落ち込んだと伝えている。行政院 農業委員会の陳武雄主任委員は６日の記者会見で「黒潮が南から北へ流れるため日本の影響は受けない。台湾の水産物は絶対安全」と強調した。

　台湾の漁船は６月からのサンマ漁で福島から７２０キロ沖以東の太平洋に出るため、漁業署は５月中に漁場を調査して安全確認をすることにしている。（台北＝村上太輝夫）

Fukushima No. 1 plant designed on 'trial-and-error' basis

2011/04/07

An aerial view of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant taken Tuesday from a helicopter flying at about 7,300 meters and about 38 kilometers to the west. (Eiji Hori)

While changes improved safety at the Fukushima No. 2 nuclear power plant, overconfidence, complacency and high costs stymied such action at the now-crippled Fukushima No. 1 plant, according to people familiar with the situation.

The difference in the safety designs was the main reason why the crisis continues to unfold at the Fukushima No. 1 plant--one of the oldest in Japan--while the No. 2 plant a few kilometers south remains relatively unscathed by the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.

Officials at another Tokyo Electric Power Co. nuclear plant in Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, Niigata Prefecture, analyzed the differences in safety designs at the two Fukushima plants.

According to their analysis and TEPCO sources, there are clear differences in safety levels between the two plants concerning power source equipment, such as emergency diesel generators and transformers at the reactor cores, and pumps used to bring in seawater to remove residual heat from the cores.

TEPCO documents show that the emergency diesel generators located in the turbine buildings at the Fukushima No. 1 plant were flooded by the tsunami and rendered inoperable, except for the one at the No. 6 reactor. This effectively disabled the cooling mechanisms.

After the No. 1 plant lost its power sources, the reactor cores became much more difficult to control, leading to serious problems, including hydrogen explosions that damaged the housing of the reactors.

Radioactive materials have also been emitted from the damaged reactors.

No such problems have been encountered at the No. 2 plant.

The emergency generators at the No. 2 plant were in buildings housing the reactor cores. Because the reactor buildings are much more airtight, the generators at the No. 2 plant continued to function after the tsunami struck.

Emergency generators are also located within the airtight reactor core buildings at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, which has similar design features to the Fukushima No. 2 plant.

When asked about the differences in the safety designs between the No. 1 and No. 2 plants, an official at TEPCO headquarters said: "This does not mean we have admitted that a problem exists. We will conduct further detailed studies to identify the problems."

The No. 1 plant was built in the 1960s and 1970s. Improvement work was conducted in the 1970s and 1980s to strengthen its resistance to earthquakes.

A nuclear engineer who used to work for TEPCO and was involved in those improvements said no consideration was paid to the location of the emergency diesel generators or the seawater pumps.

"First of all, there was the judgment that the reactor core buildings were in a safe location in relation to the expected height of any tsunami that might strike the plant," the engineer said. "However, even if they wanted to move the generators, there was no space within the reactor building, so that would have meant a major revision in design.

"At the time, no one considered making such changes," the engineer said.

Both the No. 1 and No. 2 nuclear plants were hit by waves more than 14 meters high, well above the expected limits of 5.7 to 5.2 meters estimated in safety designs.

The tsunami rendered inoperable all of the No. 1 plant's pumps, which were also not located within a sealed structure.

Although the pumps at the No. 2 plant were inside buildings, the tsunami crippled the ones to the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4 reactors. But the pump at the No. 3 reactor continued to cool the reactor core.

Referring to the possibility of installing the seawater pumps inside buildings, the former TEPCO engineer said, "It would have been a major project because various pipes are laid out under the pumps, and so all of that would also have had to be moved."

A midlevel TEPCO official also said money was a big reason why repairs and changes to the No. 1 plant were not made.

"The blueprints for the reactor cores at the No. 1 plant were bought 'as is' by Toshiba Corp. from General Electric Co., so the priority at that time was on constructing the reactors according to those blueprints," the official said.

When the Fukushima No. 1 plant was being built, Japan was importing technology from the United States and learning from a more advanced nuclear power nation.

The No. 1 plant was considered a "learning experience."

A former TEPCO executive said, "The Fukushima No. 1 plant was a practice course for Toshiba and Hitachi Ltd. to learn about GE's design on a trial-and-error basis."

With the exception of the No. 6 reactor, the other five reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 plant are Mark I boiling-water reactors developed by GE.

According to sources, the locations of emergency generators and the seawater pump structure were also based on a GE design.

In contrast, the No. 6 reactor is a Mark II reactor. Moreover, the Fukushima No. 2 plant and Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant, which were constructed from the mid-1970s to the 1990s, used an improved and safer version of the Mark II reactor.

After Toshiba and Hitachi gained experience in constructing nuclear plants, they located emergency generators and seawater pumps within buildings.

Yet those safety improvements were never reflected in changes at the Fukushima No. 1 plant.

Other TEPCO officials said that changing the anti-tsunami design or moving the location of the emergency generators would have been an acknowledgment that previous decisions were insufficient.

Kiyoshi Sakurai, a commentator on technology issues, said that relying on a GE design also put the Fukushima No. 1 plant at a disadvantage because U.S. designers were not as cautious about earthquakes and tsunami as those working in Japan.

】中國石油化學工業開發公司大社廠工作人員一死三傷

中國石油化學工業開發公司大社廠，前天4/5晚間發生化學毒物丙烯←、氰酸外洩，造成工作人員一死三傷。昨天出事故的工場被勒令停工，所幸毒氣沒有向外擴散。

中石化丙烯←第一工場的重煉槽過濾器前晚堵塞，陳姓領班率同黃姓、蔡姓與詹姓操作員拆卸過濾器，準備更換過濾網，疑似儲槽出口閥無法閉鎖，導致丙烯←、氰酸外洩，資深的黃姓操作員送醫不治，另三人情況不樂觀。

勞委會南區勞動檢查所昨天勒令出事故的工場停工，將調查人員是否依標準程序作業、廠方有無疏失。

這起工安意外發生後，也凸顯縣市合併後，權責劃分不清的問題。高雄市長陳菊昨天在議會上指出，高雄縣市合併後，原高雄縣的勞動檢查權仍在勞委會手上不下放，現在出了事要高市府承擔責任，她無法接受。

Boeing 公司說 737 怎這樣早就金 屬疲勞

Boeing Says It Didn’t Expect Cracks in 737s So Soon

By CHRISTOPHER DREW and JAD MOUAWAD

Published: April 5, 2011

Boeing said Tuesday that many of its older 737 jets were prone to metal fatigue much sooner than it had expected, an admission that largely exonerated Southwest Airlines for the five-foot hole that opened in the roof of one of its planes last Friday.

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A Southwest Airlines plane shown landing at Love Field in Dallas last weeek.

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Paul Richter, a senior Boeing engineer, said that the company had thought the jets would not be vulnerable to serious cracks in their skin until “much, much later,” and that it was surprised that its safety projections were so far off the mark.

He said Boeing had expected the aluminum skin and the supporting joints on the planes to last through 60,000 cycles of takeoffs and landings before airlines need to be concerned about cracks. But the Southwest jet had nearly 40,000 cycles, according to federal regulators.

Boeing’s stark admissions underscored how regulators and industry officials were struggling to understand the broader ramifications of the accident.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it would require inspections of at least 175 of the older Boeing planes after every 500 flights until the problems are better understood. And analysts said the problems could eventually lead to more extensive inspections of a wider variety of aging planes. Southwest, meanwhile, said it had found minor subsurface cracks in a total of five other 737s since the accident on Friday forced that jet to make an emergency landing at a military base.

Southwest has been buffeted by questions about how intensely it operates its planes. But in describing how surprised Boeing was by the accident, Mr. Richter came to the defense of the airline, Boeing’s largest customer.

Noting that Southwest operates more 737s than any other airline, Mr. Richter said he thought its involvement in the accident “was just a statistical event far more than anything to do with Southwest and how they operate the aircraft.”

But the new information about how soon the fatigue set in raised concerns among aviation safety experts about how much progress the industry had made on such issues, which burst into view when a large section of the roof of a 737 flown by Aloha Airlines ripped open in 1988 and a flight attendant was sucked out of the plane.

John J. Goglia a member of the National Transportation Safety Board from 1995 to 2004, said the Southwest incident once again highlighted a problem with older aircraft that endured tens of thousands of pressurization cycles.

“We’re talking about the same issues today, and we’re proposing the same fixes,” he said. “We need to take a few of these high-cycle airplanes and run them through a very vigorous inspection program and see where we can identify deficiencies, and see whether there is anything different than what the manufacturer thought there would be. But I don’t see that happening because it is expensive.”

Mr. Richter, the chief engineer for Boeing’s older 737 models, told reporters that Boeing had felt so confident about the joints that it had not planned to tell airlines to inspect that part of the plane until it reached 60,000 cycles.

He also said Boeing had redesigned the joints — where overlapping pieces of the outer skin are riveted together — in 1993 after weaknesses appeared in an earlier version.

After the Aloha accident in 1988, Boeing introduced hundreds of modifications to several of its 737 models. It also recommended that airlines replace joints after 50,000 cycles for the more than 2,000 737s it had already produced.

Mr. Richter said the changes in 1993 were expected to make a row of rivets that fasten the flaps of skin together — also known as lap joints — hold up better against the tensions caused by repeated pressurization and depressurization.

When the joints are stressed by that pressure, “you get a slight rotation of the material that causes a bending in the skin, right at or adjacent to where this row of fasteners is located,” he said. “And it’s a combination of the pressure loads in flight and the bending that promotes fatigue growth at a faster rate.”

Aviation experts said that Boeing might have been too confident about the durability of the new design. “When you model something you make assumptions,” Mr. Goglia said, “and if your assumptions are weak, your outcome is compromised.”

Mr. Richter said that the newest generations of 737s — starting with the 600 series that entered service in 1998 and known as the Next-Generation 737 — incorporated significant design changes intended to reduce the chance of lap joint cracking. These changes reduce the amount of bending.

Large cracks are rare, though they seem to be appearing with more frequency in recent years, including an incident involving a larger Boeing 757 last October in which a 1-foot by 2-foot hole opened up as the plane was flying at 31,000 feet. The F.A.A. issued an airworthiness directive in January mandating that airlines inspect their Boeing 757-200s and 300s, after it received several reports of cracking in the fuselage skin of roof panels.

In July 2009, another Southwest flight between Nashville and Baltimore, also a Boeing 737-300, experienced a rapid decompression when an 18-inch hole opened up while the plane was flying at 35,000 feet. The N.T.S.B., in its report on the incident, said the hole was caused by “continuous fatigue cracks initiated from multiple origins on the inner surface of the skin.” Those occurred near a step formed at the edge of aluminum panels that had been chemically milled.

Mr. Richter said this was fundamentally different from the latest incident on the Southwest flight. In the latest event, the cracks apparently formed inside the holes that fastened two pieces of metal together, he said.

Under an emergency directive issued by the Federal Aviation Administration on Tuesday, all of the planes with more than 35,000 flight cycles must be inspected within five days. Those with 30,000 to 35,000 cycles must be examined within 20 days, and Mr. Richter said that a total of 570 planes, including 737-300s, 400s and 500s built from 1993 and 2000 — could eventually require the inspections as they reached those milestones.

Christine Hauser contributed reporting.

U.S. Sees Array of New Threats at Japan’s Nuclear Plant

By JAMES GLANZ and WILLIAM J. BROAD

Published: April 5, 2011

United States government engineers sent to help with the crisis in Japan are warning that the troubled nuclear plant there is facing a wide array of fresh threats that could persist indefinitely, and that in some cases are expected to increase as a result of the very measures being taken to keep the plant stable, according to a confidential assessment prepared by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

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Workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear station are dealing with new challenges.

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Among the new threats that were cited in the assessment, dated March 26, are the mounting stresses placed on the containment structures as they fill with radioactive cooling water, making them more vulnerable to rupture in one of the aftershocks rattling the site after the earthquake and tsunami of March 11. The document also cites the possibility of explosions inside the containment structures due to the release of hydrogen and oxygen from seawater pumped into the reactors, and offers new details on how semimolten fuel rods and salt buildup are impeding the flow of fresh water meant to cool the nuclear cores.

In recent days, workers have grappled with several side effects of the emergency measures taken to keep nuclear fuel at the plant from overheating, including leaks of radioactive water at the site and radiation burns to workers who step into the water. The assessment, as well as interviews with officials familiar with it, points to a new panoply of complex challenges that water creates for the safety of workers and the recovery and long-term stability of the reactors.

While the assessment does not speculate on the likelihood of new explosions or damage from an aftershock, either could lead to a breach of the containment structures in one or more of the crippled reactors, the last barriers that prevent a much more serious release of radiation from the nuclear core. If the fuel continues to heat and melt because of ineffective cooling, some nuclear experts say, that could also leave a radioactive mass that could stay molten for an extended period.

The document, which was obtained by The New York Times, provides a more detailed technical assessment than Japanese officials have provided of the conundrum facing the Japanese as they struggle to prevent more fuel from melting at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. But it appears to rely largely on data shared with American experts by the Japanese.

Among other problems, the document raises new questions about whether pouring water on nuclear fuel in the absence of functioning cooling systems can be sustained indefinitely. Experts have said the Japanese need to continue to keep the fuel cool for many months until the plant can be stabilized, but there is growing awareness that the risks of pumping water on the fuel present a whole new category of challenges that the nuclear industry is only beginning to comprehend.

The document also suggests that fragments or particles of nuclear fuel from spent fuel pools above the reactors were blown “up to one mile from the units,” and that pieces of highly radioactive material fell between two units and had to be “bulldozed over,” presumably to protect workers at the site. The ejection of nuclear material, which may have occurred during one of the earlier hydrogen explosions, may indicate more extensive damage to the extremely radioactive pools than previously disclosed.

David A. Lochbaum, a nuclear engineer who worked on the kinds of General Electric reactors used in Japan and now directs the nuclear safety project at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said that the welter of problems revealed in the document at three separate reactors made a successful outcome even more uncertain.

“I thought they were, not out of the woods, but at least at the edge of the woods,” said Mr. Lochbaum, who was not involved in preparing the document. “This paints a very different picture, and suggests that things are a lot worse. They could still have more damage in a big way if some of these things don’t work out for them.”

The steps recommended by the nuclear commission include injecting nitrogen, an inert gas, into the containment structures in an attempt to purge them of hydrogen and oxygen, which could combine to produce explosions. The document also recommends that engineers continue adding boron to cooling water to help prevent the cores from restarting the nuclear reaction, a process known as criticality.

Even so, the engineers who prepared the document do not believe that a resumption of criticality is an immediate likelihood, Neil Wilmshurst, vice president of the nuclear sector at the Electric Power Research Institute, said when contacted about the document. “I have seen no data to suggest that there is criticality ongoing,” said Mr. Wilmshurst, who was involved in the assessment.

The document was prepared for the commission’s Reactor Safety Team, which is assisting the Japanese government and the Tokyo Electric Power Company, which owns the plant. It says it is based on the “most recent available data” from numerous Japanese and American organizations, including the electric power company, the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum, the United States Department of Energy, General Electric and the Electric Power Research Institute, an independent, nonprofit group.

The document contains detailed assessments of each of the plant’s six reactors along with recommendations for action. Nuclear experts familiar with the assessment said that it was regularly updated but that over all, the March 26 version closely reflected current thinking.

The assessment provides graphic new detail on the conditions of the damaged cores in reactors 1, 2 and 3. Because slumping fuel and salt from seawater that had been used as a coolant is probably blocking circulation pathways, the water flow in No. 1 “is severely restricted and likely blocked.” Inside the core itself, “there is likely no water level,” the assessment says, adding that as a result, “it is difficult to determine how much cooling is getting to the fuel.” Similar problems exist in No. 2 and No. 3, although the blockage is probably less severe, the assessment says.

Some of the salt may have been washed away in the past week with the switch from seawater to fresh water cooling, nuclear experts said.

A rise in the water level of the containment structures has often been depicted as a possible way to immerse and cool the fuel. The assessment, however, warns that “when flooding containment, consider the implications of water weight on seismic capability of containment.”

Experts in nuclear plant design say that this warning refers to the enormous stress put on the containment structures by the rising water. The more water in the structures, the more easily a large aftershock could rupture one of them.

Margaret Harding, a former reactor designer for General Electric, warned of aftershocks and said, “If I were in the Japanese’s shoes, I’d be very reluctant to have tons and tons of water sitting in a containment whose structural integrity hasn’t been checked since the earthquake.”

The N.R.C. document also expressed concern about the potential for a “hazardous atmosphere” in the concrete-and-steel containment structures because of the release of hydrogen and oxygen from the seawater in a highly radioactive environment.

Hydrogen explosions in the first few days of the disaster heavily damaged several reactor buildings and in one case may have damaged a containment structure. That hydrogen was produced by a mechanism involving the metal cladding of the nuclear fuel. The document urged that Japanese operators restore the ability to purge the structures of these gases and fill them with stable nitrogen gas, a capability lost after the quake and tsunami.

Nuclear experts say that radiation from the core of a reactor can split water molecules in two, releasing hydrogen. Mr. Wilmshurst said that since the March 26 document, engineers had calculated that the amount of hydrogen produced would be small. But Jay A. LaVerne, a physicist at Notre Dame, said that at least near the fuel rods, some hydrogen would in fact be produced, and could react with oxygen. “If so,” Mr. LaVerne said in an interview, “you have an explosive mixture being formed near the fuel rods.”

Nuclear engineers have warned in recent days that the pools outside the containment buildings that hold spent fuel rods could pose an even greater danger than the melted reactor cores. The pools, which sit atop the reactor buildings and are meant to keep spent fuel submerged in water, have lost their cooling systems.

The N.R.C. report suggests that the fuel pool of the No. 4 reactor suffered a hydrogen explosion early in the Japanese crisis and could have shed much radioactive material into the environment, what it calls “a major source term release.”

Experts worry about the fuel pools because explosions have torn away their roofs and exposed their radioactive contents. By contrast, reactors have strong containment vessels that stand a better chance of bottling up radiation from a meltdown of the fuel in the reactor core.

“Even the best juggler in the world can get too many balls up in the air,” Mr. Lochbaum said of the multiplicity of problems at the plant. “They’ve got a lot of nasty things to negotiate in the future, and one missed step could make the situation much, much worse.”

Henry Fountain contributed reporting from New York, and Matthew L. Wald from Washington.

TEPCO starts dumping radioactive water into ocean

2011/04/06

The Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant (Provided by Air Photo Service)

Editor's note: We will update our earthquake news as frequently as possible on AJW's Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/AJW.Asahi. Please check the latest developments in this disaster. From Toshio Jo, managing editor, International Division, The Asahi Shimbun.

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With an apology to the public, Tokyo Electric Power Co. on Monday night began discharging water with low levels of radiation into the ocean from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

"Because the volume of contaminated water is huge and due to time constraints, we chose the option of discharging the water," a TEPCO official told a news conference.

TEPCO officials explained the decision was made to free up storage space within the plant grounds for water contaminated with much higher levels of radiation.

This is the first time TEPCO has knowingly discharged contaminated water into the ocean.

A total of 11,500 tons of contaminated water will be dumped into the ocean over the next few days.

Under the reactor regulation law, contaminated water can be discharged as an "emergency measure." TEPCO officials submitted the water discharge plan to the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency and received its approval.

An NISA official said the TEPCO decision was "unavoidable."

According to TEPCO officials who calculated the effects from the water discharged, even if an individual ate fish and seaweed taken at least 1 kilometer from the Fukushima plant on a daily basis for a year, the amount of radiation ingested would only be one-fourth of the natural radiation exposure over the course of a year of 2.4 millisieverts.

TEPCO officials said 10,000 tons of water would be discharged from the central waste processing facility.

Once the water has been discharged, highly contaminated water at the basement of the turbine building for the No. 2 reactor would be moved to the waste processing facility.

In addition, 1,500 tons of groundwater stored around the No. 5 and No. 6 reactors will also be released into the ocean to prevent the water seeping from the ground from flooding important equipment in those reactors, such as emergency generators.

The contaminated water at the No. 2 reactor turbine building contains radioactive iodine at levels of several million becquerels per cubic centimeter.

In contrast, the water in the central waste processing facility has a radioactivity level of 6.3 becquerels while the water from the No. 5 reactor has a radioactivity level of 1.6 becquerels and the water from the No. 6 reactor 20 becquerels.

While the radiation levels of the water to be discharged into the ocean are similar to contaminated rainfall around the Fukushima plant, they are still 100 times the standard for radiation levels in seawater as defined by the reactor regulation law.

The total amount of radioactivity that will be discharged into the ocean will be 170 billion becquerels.

While that may seem like a lot, the radioactivity level in 10,000 tons of the discharged water is equivalent to about 10 liters of contaminated water accumulated at the basement of the No. 2 reactor.

The highly contaminated water in the No. 2 reactor turbine building is slowing work to restore a cooling mechanism that would be necessary to eventually achieve a cold shutdown of the reactor core.

One idea initially considered was moving the contaminated water into the central waste processing facility, but the facility was flooded by the tsunami following the March 11 Great East Japan Earthquake.

An attempt to move the water in the waste processing facility to another location failed.

The water is believed to have been contaminated from radioactive materials that spread from the Fukushima plant.

The reactor buildings and turbine buildings were also flooded by the tsunami because the buildings were located near the coastline.

Although the contamination levels of the water to be discharged are low, there will inevitably be effects on the environment.

The Hirakata fishing cooperative in Kita-Ibaraki announced Monday that Japanese sand lance caught off the coast contained radioactive iodine at levels of 4,080 becquerels per kilogram.

Because the Food Sanitation Law does not currently contain standards for radioactive iodine in fish and meat, health ministry officials are considering establishing such standards.

Cesium at radioactivity levels of 447 becquerels was also found in the sand lance. The legal standard for cesium is 500 becquerels.

The fishing cooperative caught five types of fish as an experiment before the resumption of fishing.

Health ministry officials advised against eating the sand lance because the radioactive levels were double the standards set for some vegetables.

Ibaraki prefectural government officials said the sand lance would not be available on the market because there was no fishing of it off the coast of Ibaraki.

Masashi Kusakabe of the Marine Ecology Research Institute said: "Although the half-life of iodine is short at eight days, fish that swim in waters that are constantly contaminated with radiation will accumulate a certain level of radiation. A thorough check of the fish is necessary because fish tend to be eaten while fresh."

TEPCO workers are still a long way from stable cooling of three reactors. And water contaminated by high levels of radiation continues to leak from the No. 2 reactor, where its containment vessel is believed to have been damaged.

The No. 1 reactor still requires careful calibration of the water pumped into the core because the relative airtightness of the core has led to fluctuations in core pressure.

The temperature in the No. 1 reactor core reached about 400 degrees on March 23. While the temperature has since fallen, it was still 234 degrees as of 6 a.m. Tuesday.

Pipes to the pressure container of the No. 2 reactor have been damaged, so there is the possibility that core pressure is dropping as a result. That has, in turn, made it easier for water to be pumped in, which likely led to a decrease in the temperature, some experts said.

However, the water that overflows from the reactor is believed to have leaked onto the plant grounds.