Japan lawmaker breaks taboo, gives letter to emperor over nuclear health fears
Tokyo — Reuters
Elaine Lies
Published Thursday, Oct. 31 2013,
A Japanese lawmaker handed Emperor Akihito a letter on Thursday expressing fear about the health impact of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, breaking a taboo by trying to involve the emperor in politics.
Taro Yamamoto, who is also an anti-nuclear activist, gave Akihito the letter during a garden party, setting off a storm of protest on the Internet from critics shocked at his action.
“I wanted to directly tell the emperor of the current situation,” Yamamoto told reporters, referring to the crisis at the Fukushima nuclear plant north of Tokyo, which has been leaking radioactivity since it was battered by an earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011.
“I wanted him to know about the children who have been contaminated by radiation. If this goes on, there will be serious health impacts.”
Akihito inclined his head as he took the letter in his hand, but then handed it to a nearby chamberlain. Yamamoto said he made no comment.
About 150,000 people were moved from around the plant, which suffered a series of explosions and meltdowns. A large area of surrounding land is off-limits due to high radiation.
United Nations scientists said this year that the evacuation helped prevent rising cancer rates and other health problems. Traces of radioactive contamination have been found in rice and far out in the Pacific Ocean.
Akihito, who turns 80 in December, fills a purely ceremonial role and remains above the political fray.
He has striven to draw the imperial family closer to the people. Conservative Japanese revere him, while many others feel a fond affection toward him. Some Japanese see the family as irrelevant.
Some Internet critics called on Yamamoto to resign from parliament. “This was really low,” one critic wrote in a Web forum.
Chief cabinet secretary Yasuhide Suga also expressed disapproval, telling a news conference: “There is a line for appropriate behavior at such an occasion.”
Mayumi Oda: On Energy of Change, Feminization, and New Birth of Japan
http://tenthousandthingsfromkyoto.blogspot.co.uk/
…The people who can really make a choice will win, get out and start a new life somewhere in the country, or in other cities. Especially if they have parents in the countryside, they should go back, and start a new life…
Thursday, October 31, 2013
“Earth Ship” by Mayumi Oda (Image: Safe Energy Handbook)
You were interviewed previously for Kyoto Journal following the Tokaimura nuclear accident in the summer of 1999, when you lived in California. You said that you had come to Japan to help empower people, especially women, in response to the government’s negligence in handling the issue. Then, at the turn of the millennium, you moved from California to Hawai’i. That seems to have marked a turning point in your life…
Until 1999 I had really tried to focus my work to let people know the dangers of having nuclear [power plants] on earthquake faults. I couldn’t convince them. I already saw the possibilities of disaster. I thought it would be in Tokai, or Hamaoka, near Tokyo. I was terribly, terribly worried. I had worked nearly nine years in the antinuclear movement. I was very discouraged that Japan was not really responding to the danger.
I was just very tired, and I felt like I had to rebuild a new life. So I chose Hawai’i to do sustainable living, making a farm, to show people that there’s another way to live. I felt like somebody had to be doing this — not just thinking about the possibility, but practicing it. Hawai’i taught me to live with aloha, within an island. In 2000 I bought the farm [Ginger Hill Farm and Retreat, in Kealakekua, meaning the Path of God], and for eleven years I have worked on it. I have probably educated about two hundred young people, just to live hopefully sustainably through farming, through eating the right things, making medicines, cleansing, healing oneself with herbs and the things that we grow.
I just finished painting a six-panel screen of mostly women marching towards Amaterasu the Sun Goddess — I painted about forty women, with a few men. They are all practitioners of my Goddess Academy, marching from the life they lived, to a more nature-based life, symbolized by Amaterasu — marching from an oil-based economy towards a solar-based economy…
…I painted a Sotatsu screen of the Gods of Wind and Thunder turned into females to bring more of the feminine into culture, especially Japanese culture, which really needs more feminine. Traditional culture has it, but somehow this modern culture in Japan became so Westernized that we gave up a lot of that stuff.
Is the World Health Organisation manipulating its own data to appease the nuclear industry?
It is shocking to see this report declare “no clear evidence” for any abnormality in rates of “spontaneous abortions”, “stillbirths”, or “congenital birth defects” anywhere in Iraq.
from ”damning evidence” to “no clear evidence” – extensive data manipulation must have taken place. How and why the data was manipulated to render such drastically different results remains unknown to us.
The ultimate question to be answered is, how can this analysis, these results, and these conclusions be believed? In March, the same MoH reported ”damning evidence” of a rise in Iraq birth defects. Now in September, this new report must be viewed with extreme caution if not with suspicion and disbelief.
‘No clear evidence’ for rise in Iraqi birth defects http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2013/09/2013915141726303111.html A March finding of ‘damning evidence’ in the increase in cancers and other health issues was reversed by a new report. Mozhgan Savabieasfahani 16 Oct 13,
This joint investigation was initiated following widespread public alarm over unusual increases in poor reproductive and birth outcomes in Iraq after the US-led invasion. Across Iraq, increasing numbers of birth defects appear to be surfacing, including in Mosul, Al-Ramadi, Najaf, Fallujah, Basra, Hawijah, and Baghdad. In some provinces, cancers also are rising. Sterility, repeated miscarriages, stillbirths and severe birth defects – some not found in any medical books – are reported widely.
This explains why many public health scientists awaited the release of the WHO/MoH report on birth defects in Iraq.
‘Damning evidence’ In a BBC documentary which aired in March 2013, “Born under a bad sign”, a senior official of the MoH speaking on camera, said, “All studies done by the Ministry of Health prove with damning evidence that there has been a rise in birth defects and cancers” in Iraq.
During the same interview, two other MoH researchers confirmed that the situation with cancers and birth defects constitute a “big crisis” for the “next generation” of Iraqi children. In fact one researcher, pointing to a colour bar chart, said that cancers and birth defects are increasing simultaneously in three areas. As she pointed to the peaks in the figure, she named these areas “Nineveh, Anbar and Najaf”. Continue reading
Fukushima radiation alerting world to nuclear radiation danger in oceans
“In terms of the ocean, this is definitely an environmental catastrophe, and it’s still ongoing,”
”though contamination in the most seriously affected areas has been worse than a lot of things that have gone in the past, conscientious testing of seafood can help prevent it from becoming a human health disaster as well.”
“It also shows us that we have to redouble our efforts to fully understand the health consequences of the testing period, because that will help us prepare for the future consequences of Fukushima.”
Christina Macpherson’s websites & blogs
This article has a misleading title. The author does not “downplay” Fukushima radiation hazards. On the contrary, he is pointing out the seriousness of radioactive matter in the oceans, and how this has been ignored in the past
Scientists downplay Fukushima radiation hazards DW 25.10.2013 Julian Ryall, Tokyo Experts agree that the radiation from the Fukushima nuclear plant is an “environmental catastrophe,” but it is only a fraction of the fallout from atmospheric nuclear tests carried out in the 1950s and 1960s, they say…….
Tokyo Electric Power Co. confirmed Tuesday that radioactive cesium had again been detected about one kilometer offshore from the Fukushima nuclear plant, crippled in March 2011 by the Great East Japan Earthquake and the tsunami that it triggered……
People forget that the world we live in already has a lot of cesium-137 in the environment,” Dr. Mitsuo Aoyama, senior scientist in the Oceanography and Geochemistry Department of the Japan Meteorological Research Institute, told DW…….
Dr. Aoyama’s studies show that by 1970, an estimated 290 petabecquerels – an alarming 29 followed by 15 zeroes – of cesium fallout was in the north Pacific ocean from atmospheric weapons tests……
an ongoing study by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, based in Massachusetts, shows that in 1990 the rate in the Black Sea stood at 52 becquerels per cubic meter, at 55 in the Irish Sea – a legacy of problems at Britain’s Sellafield nuclear plant – and at 125 in the Baltic. Continue reading
Japan’s nuclear regulator OKs removal of fuel rods from Unit 4 Fukushima
Japan OKs fuel removal from pool at nuclear plant Mail.com, TOKYO (AP) October 30, 2013 — Japanese regulators on Wednesday formally approved the removal of fuel rods from an uncontained cooling pool at a damaged reactor building considered the highest risk at a crippled nuclear plant.Removing the fuel rods from the Unit 4 cooling pool is the first major step in a decommissioning process that is expected to last decades at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant, where three reactors melted down after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The Nuclear Regulation Authority said at its weekly meeting that the proposal by the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., is appropriate and that the removal can start in November as planned, following an on-site inspection by regulators. Japanese public broadcaster NHK said the removal would start as early as Nov. 8, but TEPCO said it may not announce the date in advance, citing security reasons…… TEPCO has reinforced the structure around the pool and says the Unit 4 building can survive a major earthquake, but the unenclosed pool on the unit’s top floor, which contains 1,533 fuel rods, has caused international concern. About 200 of the rods that are unused and safer are expected to be the first to be removed……. it would be a disaster if fuel rods are pulled forcibly and are damaged or break open when dropped from the pool, located about 30 meters (100 feet) above ground, releasing highly radioactive material. “I’m much more worried about this than contaminated water,” Tanaka said.
TEPCO has prepared a massive steel structure that comes with a remote-controlled crane to remove the fuel rods, which will be placed into a protective cask and transferred to a joint cooling pool inside a nearby building. To make room for the Unit 4 fuel rods, the company has been moving those already in the joint pool to safer storage in dry casks at a separate plant location.
The utility plans to empty the Unit 4 pool by end of 2014, and remove fuel rods from other pools at three other wrecked reactors over several years before digging into their melted cores around 2020. The Fukushima plant has had a series of mishaps in recent months, including radioactive contaminated water leaks from storage tanks, adding to concerns about TEPCO’s ability to safely close down the plant. http://www.mail.com/news/world/2427376-japan-oks-fuel-removal-pool-nuclear-plant.html
UK’s subsidy to nuclear providers will hit British consumers hard
With the guaranteed price already well above what solar and wind power cost (and their costs continuously declining), the taxpayer commitment for this power plant is so crazily high that it seems this story should be coming from The Onion rather than reality.
The UK’s move to subsidize nuclear power to such an insane degree is simply astonishing.
Hinkley C Nuclear Power Plant To Get Twice The Rate As Solar PV From UK Government Clean Technica 30 Oct 13, In a demonstration of how out of touch the UK government is with public opinion, it intends to pay approximately twice as much for electricity from the proposed Hinkley C nuclear power plant near Bristol than is paid for electricity from solar power in Europe. With high public support for solar PV and low support for nuclear, that’s quite absurd. It’s also very absurd from an economic standpoint.
Dr David Toke of the University of Aberdeen writes: “Looming large over the UK Government’s EU state aid application for Hinkley C is the charge that this deal will distort the EU’s internal market, in particular to undercut solar pv arrays in Germany over 10 MW in size. Such arrays are no longer eligible to receive premium prices under the German feed-in tariff system. Such plant will only receive the wholesale electricity price, which is less than half the rates to be paid to Hinkley C.” Continue reading
Radiation Levels Will Concentrate in Pockets at Certain North American West Coast Locations
“Fukushima Is Here”: Nuclear Radiation On the West Coast, from California to Alaska. http://www.globalresearch.ca/fukushima-is-here-nuclear-radiation-on-the-west-coast-from-california-to-alaska/5355851 Excellent graphics. You really need to go to this link to see those.
The ocean will dilute Fukushima radiation By Washington’s Blog Global Research, October 28, 2013
Radiation Levels Will Concentrate in Pockets at Certain West Coast Locations
An ocean current called the North Pacific Gyre is bringing Japanese radiation to the West Coast of North America: While many people assume that the ocean will dilute the Fukushima radiation, a previously-secret 1955 U.S. government report concluded that the ocean may not adequately dilute radiation from nuclear accidents, and there could be “pockets” and “streams” of highly-concentrated radiation.
Physicians for Social Responsibility notes: Continue reading
Media denial in Tokyo, about health effects of Fukushima radiation
Tokyo Mother: “Total media blackout” in Japan of lots and lots of people developing symptoms related to Fukushima disaster (VIDEO) — “Many cases of sickness and death among young generations” not reported http://enenews.com/tokyo-mother-total-media-blackout-in-japan-lots-and-lots-of-people-developing-symptoms-related-to-fukushima-disaster-many-cases-of-sickness-and-death-among-young-generations-not-reported
World Network For Saving Children From Radiation, Oct. 26, 2013: […] A case like this is just a tip of iceburg […] Continue reading
Russian boys play with their nuclear toys
Moscow Conducts Large-Scale Nuclear Attack Drill Four long-range missiles launched in war games The Washington Free Beacon, BY: Bill Gertz October 30, 2013 Russian strategic forces carried out a large-scale surprise military drill on Wednesday, launching four nuclear missiles that were closely monitored by U.S. intelligence agencies, U.S. officials said.
The drill began around 9:00 am ET and included the test launch of two land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and two submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs).
The test firings were unusual because of the number of missiles fired at one time, said officials who discussed some details of the drill on condition of anonymity.
State Department spokeswoman Alexandra F. Bell confirmed the tests and said the long-range missile firings were “conducted consistent with the requirements of the New START Treaty.”
At the Pentagon, spokeswoman Cynthia O. Smith said: ”With regard to Russia’s recent testing of its strategic forces missiles, the United States received the proper notifications prior to the launches.”…… http://freebeacon.com/moscow-conducts-large-scale-nuclear-attack-drill/
Nov 27 kicks off Uranium Film Festival in USA
International Uranium Film Festival coming to Navajo Nation http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/international-uranium-film-festival.html International Uranium Film Festival coming to Southwest: Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Window Rock By International Uranium Film Festival Censored News The International Uranium Film Festival is the world’s only traveling festival devoted to the entire Nuclear Fuel Chain, from uranium mining to nuclear power plants and the use of uranium bullets, from Hiroshima to Fukushima and Fallujah. Now the International Uranium Film Festival is coming to the birthplace of the nuclear age. Continue reading
African bank backs renewable energy
Africa must look at renewable energy Standard Bank Wed, 2013/10/30 – Power is key to economic growth and competitiveness in Africa. The continent has massive potential to use renewable energy sources as it seeks to address an electricity shortage that has left more than half of the continent’s one billion people without access to power. Ntlai Mosiah, who heads up the Power, Infrastructure 
& TMT (Technology, Media, Telecoms) team at Standard Bank Group, looks at the opportunities and costs of untapping this resource.
Questions have been raised about whether renewable energy might be too expensive for Africa given the abundance of cheap coal, but it is now clear that this has changed as the cost of renewable technology is steadily falling while the capital expenditure costs of coal-fired power stations are rising Continue reading
Focus shifts to investing in renewable energy – German power provider RWE
RWE’s “business of renewable energy will provide stable value contributions and remain the only area for growth investments”
Germany’s RWE looks for renewable energy push Eco News, 30 Oct 13 Germany’s major power producer RWE recently surprised by revealing it was departing from its traditional business model and would “create value by leading the transition to the future energy world”.
Now, RWE is looking for new ways to boost its renewable power business, including partnerships with investors, according to an internal document seen by Reuters Newsagency.
In the past Germany’s largest power producer, has traditionally based its business model based on large-scale thermal power production.
European media reports say the new strategy was decided on at a meeting of RWE’s Supervisory Board in the Polish capital, Warsaw, in September and will be revealed publicly soon.
RWE plans to “develop new partnership models with financial investors” to fund renewable projects, according to the document.
Its technological focus has been on wind power, which is better suited to larger utilities due to its plant-sized parks and requires large investments. A steep drop in wholesale power prices and a boom in renewable energy, which has driven conventional power plants into loss-making territory, have hit hard at RWE, along with other German utilities E.ON and EnBW.
RWE, which is scheduled to report nine-month results on November 14, could not immediately be reached for comment.
RWE’s “business of renewable energy will provide stable value contributions and remain the only area for growth investments”, Reuters reports the document saying….. http://econews.com.au/news-to-sustain-our-world/germanys-rwe-looks-for-renewable-energy-push/
West Coast of USA and Canada lead the charge on climate change action
Climate change pact sends a message SF Gate, , October 29, 2013 Climate change may still be a taboo topic in Congress. But the West Coast of the United States – and Canada – is leading the charge to tackle the issue. The landmark climate change pact signed by the governors of California, Oregon and Washington, along with a representative of the premier of the province of British Columbia, may matter more as a political statement than hard policy statement.
But it’s an important statement nonetheless, and it lays the groundwork for the region to create the kind of tough policy that we’ll need to create in order to have an impact on global warming.
Crucially, it also lays the groundwork for regional policy – the kind of coordinated effort in which the U.S. has proved unwilling to join at the global level. This region is no slouch at the global level, either – combined, these three states and British Columbia represent the fifth largest economy in the world, with 53 million people and a combined annual GDP of $2.8 trillion. Under the Pacific Coast Action Plan on Climate and Energy, the four governments have agreed to put a price on carbon dioxide emissions. They’ve also agreed to use similar rules for encouraging the adoption of electric cars and the development of alternative fuels. Sea acidification, another symptom of rising carbon dioxide levels, will also be studied and addressed……… If the region is successful in overcoming political obstacles and making a serious, sustained effort against climate change, that will inspire others to do the same. The impact of this plan would then become exponentially greater. http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/editorials/article/Climate-change-pact-sends-a-message-4937510.php
Anxiety over poor screening of nuclear plant employees
Arrests Call Into Question Nuclear Plant Employee Training, 5 NBC Chicago By Dick Johnson Wednesday, Oct 30, 2013 includes Video Two more Dresden Nuclear Power Plant employees have been arrested in the past month, further calling into question the security screening that all nuclear power plant employees must undergo on a regular basis.
NBC 5 Investigates has learned that Nery Fajardo, 40, and Black Speckman, 24, were in training to become licensed reactor operators at the Dresden plant, located in Morris, Ill., just southwest of Chicago.
But the two were arrested in September at an offsite party. Speckman is accused of tackling an officer, and Fajardo is charged with throwing a beer can at another officer and resisting arrest.
Nuclear safety experts say it’s further proof that there’s a breakdown in how employees are screened and trained at Dresden.
David Lochbaum, one of the nation’s leading independent experts on the subject, says “controls are not as tight as they should be.” The Dresden plant is one of six Illinois nuclear power plants operated by Exelon. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has ordered Exelon to retrain all workers in those plants on proper security procedures, specifically on how to recognize and report suspicious behavior among employees.
It’s the direct result of the activities of Michael Buhrman and Landon Brittain, two former high-ranking Dresden employees who were senior nuclear operators at the plant.
Brittain is awaiting trial in DuPage County Jail, and Buhrman was just returned to the U.S. by federal marshals after being arrested in Venezuela.
Both men fled to the South American country after a wild diversion from their day jobs at Dresden. The NRC confirms Burhman recruited Brittain at the plant and tried to recruit others to help him in a carjacking and bank robbery based on his fascination with the movie “The Town.” Then, the men vanished………: http://www.nbcchicago.com/investigations/Arrests-Call-Into-Question-Nuclear-Plant-Employee-Training-229795161.html#ixzz2jKgRZ5b1
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