Contrary to some media reports, the DOST-PNRI is not recommending the routine screening for radioactivity of travelers from Japan and other countries abroad.
No abnormal amount of radioactivity was found on travelers from Japan who requested scanning from the PNRI.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), travelers returning from Japan who have come from beyond the 20-km evacuation zone surrounding the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and who have undergone proper screening and decontamination procedures in Japan, and travelers from all other areas, do not pose a radioactive health risk to others and do not require screening.
The DOST-PNRI continues to closely monitor the situation at the Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
Japanese recovery operations are continuing and meeting some successes including restoration of grid power to Units 1, 2, 5, and 6. Further large releases of radioactivity remain unlikely to happen.
The Japanese government is considering relevant precautionary measures and instructed four Prefectures around the nuclear power plants namely Ibaraki, Gunma, Tochigi, and Fukushima to refrain from distributing two types of vegetables (spinach and kakina) from these Prefectures and milk from Fukushima.
Radiation levels in major Japanese cities have not changed significantly and remain below those which are dangerous to human health.
Discussion among government agencies headed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), DOST, PNRI, National Dairy Authority (NDA), Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI), and Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has begun in order to address the concern of the public regarding imported food items from Japan. The PNRI will continue to conduct radioactivity measurements in food as needed.
Portal monitors previously installed in the Port of Manila are already scanning container vans for radioactivity.
For the latest information on on-site and off-site radiological situations about the Fukushima accident, please access the following websites:
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) website (www.iaea.org); and
The DOST-PNRI continues to closely monitor the situation at the Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
Unit 1
Some instrumentations have been restored.
Unit 2
Off-site electrical power has been connected to an auxiliary transformer and distribution panels. Work continues toward energizing specific equipment;
White smoke disappeared from Unit 2; and
Workers began pumping seawater into the spent fuel pool.
Unit 3
White smoke emerging from the reactor is less intense; and
Spraying water on spent fuel pool is finished.
Unit 4
Japanese Self Defense Forces began spraying water into the building.
Units 5 and 6
External power restored;
Achieved cold shutdown; and
Spent fuel pool temperatures are now normal.
Overall, the situation at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plants is improving. Radiation levels are within the range that allows workers to continue onsite recovery activities.
Dose rates in Tokyo and other areas outside the 30-kilometre zone remain below levels which would require any protective action. The dose rates in major cities are as follows:
Mito, Ibaraki: 161 nanosieverts per hour
Shinjuku, Tokyo: 46 nanosieverts per hour
Ichihara, Chiba: 33 nanosieverts per hour
Saitama, Saitama: 54 nanosieverts per hour
Utsunomiya, Tochigi: 141 nanosieverts per hour
The above values are not significantly different from background.
Although levels of radioactive iodine and cesium have been reported to be above the allowed levels in some food items in areas near Fukushima, these levels were not detected in other areas in Japan.
The Food and Drugs Administration (DOH) in coordination with the DOST-PNRI is already measuring baseline radioactivity levels in food samples imported from Japan.
For the latest information on on-site and off-site radiological situations about the Fukushima accident, please access the following websites:
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) website (www.iaea.org); and
Latest DOST-PNRI RADIATION LEVEL CHECK at PNRI grounds as of 3:00 PM, March 20, 2011: 95-119 nSv/hr (nanosieverts per hour); in other areas in Metro Manila as of 18 March 2011: 74-114 nSv/hr
The DOST-PNRI continues to closely monitor the situation at the Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. The situation, while unstable, is under control and not worsening.
Power lines from the electric grid have been connected to the reactors with ongoing efforts to start the cooling pumps, which would greatly improve the situation.
Daily modeling studies indicate that the radiological plume is still to the Pacific Coast direction, northeast of Japan, and therefore will not affect the Philippines in the next three (3) days.
DOST-PNRI calculations show that even if the plume reaches the Philippine territory, the dose is still below the allowable limit for the public and is considered safe.
Results of the monitoring team by the IAEA show no traces of radioactive iodine and cesium in Tokyo. The radiation levels measured in Tokyo and in nearby cities remain not harmful to human health.
Current radiation dose rate at the Fukushima site remains around 0.3 mSv/hr. World Health Organization (WHO) authorities have stated that people outside the 30-km zone are safe.
The International Civil Aviation Organization, in consultation with the IAEA and a number of other international organizations, said that international flights and maritime operations can continue normal operations into and out of Japan’s major airports and sea ports and there is no medical basis for imposing additional measures to protect passengers.
Evacuation is kept within the 20-km radius while sheltering remains at 30-km radius from the Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Plants.
The assessment of the accident at the Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Power Plants has been uprated by the Japanese Authorities from Level 4 to Level 5 under the International Nuclear Events Scale (INES). Level 5 is defined as an "accident with wider consequences". Level 5 has the same classification as the Three Mile Island accident, while the Chernobyl accident was at Level 7 and very unlikely to happen in this situation.
For the latest information on on-site and off-site radiological situations about the Fukushima accident, please access the following websites:
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) website (www.iaea.org); and
For reporting of nuclear/radiological emergencies, you may contact the Radiological Impact Assessment Section/Nuclear Response Support Center of the PNRI through (632) 929-6011 to 19 local 285 or 311
