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Secrecy and poor radiation monitoring in Japan’s, (and France’s) nuclear industry

Faced with an ongoing radioactivity which is contaminating Japan’s food and water supply, what should be done? The Nuclear Mafia’s ethos is silken sewn into the socio-political Kabuki theater of a post modern Japanese society, which seems helpless to save itself. Maybe Ambassador Matsumura, with his international political connections of good will, and the Skilled Veterans for Fukushima would be good people to turn to for advice. 

The Nuclear Mafia Derails Democracy in Japan Dissident Voice, by Richard Wilcox / August 31st, 2012 “….The Nuclear Workforce French sociologist, Paul Jobin, “began research on Japanese and Taiwanese nuclear plant workers in 2002, mainly at Fukushima Daiichi,” and he did follow up interviews after the Fukushima disaster in 2011.

Jobin notes that:

* Subcontracting labor at nuclear plants in Japan began shortly after their creation, in the mid-1970s. “In France, this trend would develop after 1988, reaching a rate of 80% by 1992.”

* “According to NISA’s data, in 2009, Japan’s nuclear industry recruited more than 80,000 contract workers against 10,000 regular employees.”

* Part time employment is carried out in order to limit labor costs “whether in France or Japan, the nuclear industry nurtures a heavy culture of secrecy concerning the number of irradiated workers.” Continue reading →

September 1, 2012 Posted by | employment, Japan | Leave a comment

Nuclear power plants and weapons sites eminently suitable for terrorists

Rent-a-cops Guarding Nuclear Weapons http://lifeboat.com/blog/2012/08/rent-a-cops-guarding-nuclear-weapons by Gary Michael Church  We spend hundreds of billions of dollars, a truly mind boggling amount of money, on defense.
Yet we guard the most dangerous material on Earth with faulty electronic devices and poorly trained private security guards.

Do we imagine that other nuclear nations are doing a better job than we are? Do we, as citizens of the U.S., realize what would happen if terrorist bombs began destroying our cities?

“Thomas D’Agostino, the administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, the Energy Department branch responsible for U.S. nuclear weapons, said changes were underway after the incident.”

I am surprised he still has his job. If a natural disaster can cause a catastrophe like Fukushima, what could be accomplished intentionally? Nuclear power plants, with their
pools of spent fuel rods, are prime targets for nuclear terrorism.
Destroying a Nuclear power plant with a nuclear weapon would give you two for the price of one. Pick the right day with the wind strong and headed inland and thousands of square miles become uninhabitable.

Several major cities are sited downwind of nuclear power plants.

September 1, 2012 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Activist nun has highlighted poor security at USA nuclear bomb plant

“Troubling ineptitude” in security at nuclear bomb plant  By Roberta Rampton WASHINGTON | Fri Aug 31, 2012   (Reuters) – Guards at a government plant for storing weapons-grade uranium failed to spot activists, including an 82-year-old nun, who cut through its fences until they walked up to an officer’s car and surrendered, an official report said on Friday.

The report from the Energy Department’s inspector general, Gregory Friedman, criticized multiple failures of sophisticated security systems and “troubling displays of ineptitude” at the Y-12 facility in Oak Ridge, Tennessee in July.

Three anti-nuclear activists, including an 82-year-old nun, were not initially spotted or detained as they cut through three perimeter fences on July 28.

They painted slogans and threw what they said was human blood on the outer wall of a building where highly enriched uranium, a key component of nuclear bombs, is stored…. Top nuclear officials from the Energy Department will face scrutiny over the security breach from lawmakers on the House of Representatives’ Energy and Commerce Committee on September …. Friedman’s report said the U.S. government had budgeted about $150 million in taxpayer funds for security at the Y-12 plant for fiscal 2012, yet the officer responding to the alarm did not notice the trespassers until they walked up to his car and “surrendered.”… http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/08/31/us-usa-security-nuclear-idUSBRE87U0WA20120831

September 1, 2012 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Japan’s political problems delay appointment of a new nuclear regulatory agency

Nuclear panel limbo Renewable energy plan sees no nukes Japan Times Sep. 1, 2012 Kyodo, Jiji The Diet may not vote on appointments to the new nuclear regulatory
commission before the legislative session ends Sept. 8.

A vote is unlikely in the current session, a senior Diet affairs official in the ruling Democratic Party of Japan confirmed Thursday.
This is because some DPJ members, including ex-Prime Minister Yukio
Hatoyama, oppose appointing Shunichi Tanaka, former acting chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, as head of the regulatory body, describing him as pronuclear.

There is concern within the DPJ that forcing the votes could cause more lawmakers to quit the party.

Another DPJ executive said holding the votes would be difficult as the opposition parties have boycotted deliberations since the opposition-controlled Upper House passed a censure motion against Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Wednesday.

The government has until Sept. 26 to set up the nuclear regulatory body. If the Diet doesn’t act, Noda has the power to appoint the commission’s members as a stopgap measure.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120901a1.html

September 1, 2012 Posted by | Japan, politics | Leave a comment

Scandalous nuclear worker conditions in nuclear Japan

The Nuclear Mafia Derails Democracy in Japan Dissident Voice, by Richard Wilcox / August 31st, 2012   “…..Nuclear Situation Prime Minister Noda recently rejected protester’s requests to shut down the nuclear reactors. As the Metropolitan Coalition Against Nukes told Noda in a face to face meeting, “[w]e the people do not believe you” regarding his empty promises to phase out nukes in the future. The Nuclear Mafia are restarting reactors even though they are unnecessary for electricity production. An overwhelming majority of people want to abolish nuclear power. Having contaminated the world with quadrillions of becquerels of radiation (petabecquerels), Tepco is under a pseudo nationalization process that funnels tax money into their pockets yet maintains their autonomy.

Worker Shortage A common practice among workers in nuclear plants is to hide their real exposure rate of radiation. Because there are legal limits of radiation exposure, workers will take off their dosimeters, or cover them with lead. In normal times in Japan workers could also migrate from one plant to the other without indicating previous work experience, and work “under the table.” How long it takes to get sick and or die from such a practice is anyone’s guess. Continue reading →

September 1, 2012 Posted by | employment, Japan | Leave a comment

Gregory Jaczko in Japan urging safety in nuclear matters

Former NRC Chairman Jaczko travels to Japan and urges transparency of nuclear regulators http://enformable.com/2012/08/former-nrc-chairman-jaczko-travels-to-japan-and-urges-transparency-of-nuclear-regulators/  Former United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko traveled to Japan this week, meeting Fukushima residents and stressing the importance of open dialogue and full information disclosure from the new nuclear safety agency which will be established in Japan after the March 11th nuclear disaster.

While speaking to Fukushima residents, Jaczko  stated that nuclear power plants should not be operated if the safety laws cannot guarantee that a major accident requiring large-scale evacuations will not occur. Jaczko was also understanding of the recent protests after the restart of the Ohi nuclear reactors, adding that he feels that dialogue is important between the conflicting sides.

During he tenure as the NRC Chairman, Jaczko often pointed out that only through openness could the regulating agency best protect the environment and public safety.

On February 9, 2012 Jaczko cast the lone dissenting vote on plans to build the first new nuclear power plant in more than 30 years when the NRC voted 4-1 to allow Atlanta-based Southern Co to build and operate two new nuclear power reactors at its existing Vogtle nuclear power plant in Georgia. He cited safety concerns stemming from Japan’s 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, saying “I cannot support issuing this license as if Fukushima never happened”.

September 1, 2012 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

USA nuclear power plants should never have been built near earthquake faults

Instead of working toward converting to renewable energy production and energy conservation technology, PG&E is stubbornly holding on to nuclear power until the bitter end. It will spend millions on a seismic survey of the faults around Diablo Canyon
Utilities’ nuclear power plants threaten millions  The OcNUke Daily – #Occupy Nuclear by Ed Oberweiser  Aug 25th, 2012 t’s painfully obvious that nuclear power is harmful and dangerous. France has had 12 nuclear accidents between 1969 and 2012. Japan has had 12 since 1978. There were 46 nuclear accidents in the United States between 1955 and 2011.  Utilities’ nuclear power plants threaten millions

http://noyonews.net  By Ed Oberweiser  Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) and Southern California Edison (SCE) have placed millions of California citizens in danger of a nuclear catastrophe on a par with Fukushima.

They’ve built nuclear power plants near earthquake faults capable of generating earthquakes that could damage the plants and irradiate millions of people.  Continue reading →

September 1, 2012 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

How much is San Onofre nuclear plant going to cost, and who pays?

What it will cost to store waste safely on our coast for who knows how long? There are numerous cost equations that go along with safety and it’s time for the state to start putting all those cards on the table.”

the decommissioning fund does not cover one significant aspect of decommissioning a plant — dealing with spent nuclear fuel.

California’s Public Utilities Commission will hold hearings this fall into whether rate payers should go on paying for the plant, even when it isn’t generating any power. 

Cost Benefit Analysis Underway At San Onofre  KPBS, August 30, 2012 By Alison St John The future of Units 2 and 3 at San Onofre is in limbo as the operator, Southern California Edison, and regulators investigate what to do. The plant has been off line since a small radiation leak in January flagged problems in the newly installed steam generators.  Cost Benefit Analysis Underway At San Onofre Aired 8/30/12

Debate about what to do with San Onofre has been focused on safety issues. But looking ahead, state regulators are focusing on a cost benefit analysis. Continue reading →

September 1, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, USA | Leave a comment

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