On Thursday, 2 June 2011, the IAEA provided the following information on the status of nuclear safety in Japan:

Overall, the situation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant remains very serious.

The IAEA receives information from various official sources in Japan through the Japanese national competent authority, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA). This Update Brief is based on information issued by the IAEA Incident and Emergency Centre up to 16:00 UTC on 31 May 2011.

On 13 May TEPCO commenced the preparatory work for the installation of a cover for the reactor building of Unit 1. The reactor building cover will be installed as an emergency measure to prevent the dispersion of radioactive substances until mid- to long term measures, including radiation shielding, are implemented.

TEPCO has reported that information obtained after calibration of the reactor water level gauges of Unit 1 shows that the actual water level in the Unit 1 reactor pressure vessel was lower than was indicated, showing that the fuel was completely uncovered. The results of provisional analysis show that fuel pellets melted and fell to the bottom of reactor pressure vessel at a relatively early stage in the accident.

TEPCO reported that “most part of the fuel is considered to be submerged in the bottom of reactor pressure vessel and some part exposed.” TEPCO also reported that leakage of cooling water from the reactor pressure vessel is likely to have occurred. However, TEPCO considers that the actual damage to the reactor pressure vessel is limited, on the basis of the temperatures now being measured around the reactor pressure vessel.

The results of the analysis are provisional; TEPCO will continue to conduct investigations. Similar analyses will be conducted for Units 2 and 3 when radiation levels allow calibration of the instrumentation.

The daily monitoring of the deposition of caesium and iodine radionuclides for 47 prefectures is continuing. Since 17 May, deposition of I-131 has not been observed. Low levels of Cs-137 deposition were reported in a few prefectures on a few days since 18 May; the reported values range of from 2.2 to 91 Bq/ m2 for Cs-137.

Gamma dose rates values for all 47 prefectures are reported daily by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan. On 31 May the gamma dose rate reported for Fukushima prefecture was 1.5 µSv/h. In all other prefectures, reported gamma dose rates were below 0.1 µSv/h; with a general decreasing trend. Meanwhile, the decrease of the gamma dose rate has slowed down, since the short-lived radionuclides have decayed away.

Gamma dose rates reported specifically for the monitoring points in the eastern part of Fukushima prefecture, for distances of more than 30 km from the Fukushima Daiichi plant, showed a general decreasing trend, ranging from 0.1 µSv/h to 17 µSv/h, as reported for 31 May.

On-site measurements at the west gate of the Fukushima Daiichi plant indicate the presence of I-131 and Cs-137 in the air in the close vicinity of the plant (within approximately 1 km). The concentrations in air reported for 29 May were about 3 Bq/m3 for I-131 and about 9 Bq/m3 for Cs-137. The values observed in the previous days show daily fluctuations with an overall decreasing tendency.

NEW YORK – hunger in the Horn of Africa is still expanding and will soon spread to a further six regions in Somalia, said Valerie Amos, head of humanitarian operations the United Nations.

She said that the assistance is urgently needed by 12.4 million people in Kenya, Ethiopia, Somalia and Djibouti, and explained that the situation is constantly deteriorating.

UN declared a state of hunger in the two regions in southern Somalia, where 3.7 million people affected. Residents of Somalia are coming to the north of Kenya, mainly to take refuge from violence in recent months and to find food.

“Today we issue a warning that hunger will extend for another five or six regions, if the humanitarian response does not become significantly more massive,” said Amos.

She pointed out that tens of thousands of Somalis have died and that hundreds of thousands are hungry, which may have consequences for the entire region. Amos said it is urgent to collect 1.4 billion dollars to save lives.

She recalled that the African soil was hit by the biggest drought in 60 years, given the amount of rainfall, number of affected people and countries, and the number of dead cattle.