Right now, Colin Russell, from Australia, is facing three more months in a Russian jail. 29 of the Arctic 30 have now been granted bail, following two long months in prison, but not Colin.
We must not leave Colin behind.
So far, six national governments and the UN have acted to free the Arctic 30. Every other nationality has been granted bail. Australia’s Prime Minister must call President Putin to ensure Colin joins them.
The decision about Colin’s appeal will be made early next week. Australia’s Prime Minister must use his influence to help a climate hero and a fellow Australian.
Colin Russell, 59, from Tasmania, Australia, is the marine radio operator for the Arctic Sunrise. Despite being the only one denied bail, Colin’s calm and determined Aussie spirit is an inspiration. He looked strong in court, and his words were beautiful. Click here to watch his message to the world. or here..
…The Health Department has test albacore tuna caught in the waters off the Pacific coast, one from before the Fukushima disaster and one caught after. In addition, the department has tested one salmon, one steelhead…
In response to questions from diggers, the state said that in tests done to date, no fish or shellfish off the Pacific coast have radioactive contamination that would pose a risk to people who eat them.
Dan Ayres, the coastal shellfish manager for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, said he has heard from people that razor clams might be contaminated with radioactive material from the damaged nuclear power plant in Fukushima, Japan.
In a message sent to people on a razor clam email list, Ayres said the state Department of Health has tested a limited amount of fish and shellfish to look for radioactivity from nuclear power plant that was damaged in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
・・・・・
～Ｆｒｏｍ ｍｉｋｏ～
You have my consent to translate [my story] into English.
I try to limit myself to describing what I personally saw,
experienced, or what I talked about with another person.
So it’s rather low-keyed.
Honestly, I can go on forever about the kind of
health issues that require medical treatment.
For example, the cousin of my acquaintance had a baby
several months after the earthquake
— this baby was born with a hole in the heart.
Or that an acquaintance, my sister and her husband,
and another relative were all diagnosed with cancer
and had to undergo surgery.
And there were nearly 20 cases of “Nii-bon” last year.
(*The first summer “Bon” service held after death.)
There are similar episodes to share,
but I omit them on purpose — or else people will treat me
like I’ve been ‘mentally affected’ by radiation.
I can’t talk about them even if I wanted to.
That’s the tragedy of Fukushima.
Miko Tsukamoto
“Miko”, evacuee from Iwaki City, Fukushima:
I evacuated voluntarily from my hometown Iwaki City to Kitakyushu City last January because of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant disaster on March 11.
Today I’d like to talk about what I saw, experienced and felt during the 9 months up to my move to Kitakyushu, as well as my current situation. I lived in Iwaki City, 42 kilometers from Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
I taught piano lessons and my husband worked as a municipal employee. With our 2 children and my students, we were living happily.
In this episode of Going Underground, Afshin Rattansi talks to blogger Scriptonite on the new ASBO bill which could restrict protests around the country. The new law grants local authorities, police and even private security firms sweeping powers to bar citizens from assembling lawfully in public spaces. Afshin also looks at Britain’s plans to train Myanmar’s army on human rights and fact that not all UK citizens know Britain’s already in the the EU.
As the National Union of Journalists encourages members whose work brings them into contact with the police to challenge their inclusion on the national ‘domestic extremist’ database, NetPol is urging activists and campaigners to do the same.
Using the Data Protection Act, activists can submit Subject Access requests to the Metropolitan Police to check what information is held about them by the National Domestic Extremism Unit (NDEU). NetPol wants to see all secret police databases shut down, because there is every reason to believe that data gathered in secret, with no checks and balances and no effective accountability, is not only unnecessary and intrusive but also riddled with gossip and rumour.
The results of a Subject Access Request remain private – nobody has any obligation to share personal data. However, if you discover inaccuracies or trivial information in any data that the police hold, we would like to work with you, in confidence, to expose this.
NetPol has produced a guide and sample request and follow-up letters to help you make a Subject Access Request. If you are submitting one, please let us know about any delays, other obstacles you experience and what you discover at info@netpol.org
Please share this post on Twitter and Facebook using the hashtag #ScrapNDEU
…President Obama has said any interim agreement would see the bulk of international and US sanctions remain, but that Iran would get sanctions relief worth between $6bn and $7bn.
The essence of the deal would involve Iran making no more advances in its nuclear program and agreeing to “more vigorous inspections”, he said….
James Reynolds: “The decision-makers have been in the room”
Iran and six world powers meeting in Geneva have reached a deal on Tehran’s nuclear programme, foreign ministers say.
No details have been released about the agreement, which has been reached after five days of negotiations.
Negotiators from the UK, US, Russia, China, France and Germany want Iran to stop enriching uranium in return for a loosening of sanctions.
Iran had earlier said it insisted on a “right to enrichment” in any deal.
This deal may be the most significant agreement between the world powers and Iran for a decade, says the BBC’s Iran correspondent, James Reynolds, who is at the talks in Geneva.
Iranian and western negotiators are expected to speak at a news conference shortly.
US President Barack Obama will give a statement at 03:15 GMT.
Tehran denies repeated claims by Western governments that it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons, and insists it must be allowed to enrich uranium for power stations.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius also confirmed the deal.
Minutes earlier, Michael Mann, spokesman for the EU foreign policy chief Baroness Catherine Ashton, who is leading the conference, quoted her as saying: “We have reached agreement between E3+3 and Iran.”
No details have been released. The White House says the US president, Barack Obama – who is in Washington – is preparing to make a statement about the deal.
…Six people linked to Tokuda, including his two sisters, were arrested last November 12 on suspicion of giving out bonus rewards to 563 campaigners who worked on his general election campaign. The “volunteers” were also Tokushukai employees and they received a combined amount of 147.5 million yen ($1.45 million) as a reward, which violates the public offices election law…
Tokyo Governor Naoki Inose says he borrowed 50 million yen (approx. US$494,000) from the Tokushukai hospital group, which is at the center of an election fraud case involving lawmaker Takeshi Tokuda, his father and his campaigners. Inose insists he returned the money once prosecutors started investigating the group this September.
Inose admits he asked for a loan before the gubernatorial elections in December 2012, which afterwards saw him win the race. He said he borrowed it in his personal capacity and when he learned that the hospital group is being investigated, he asked his secretary to return it to the wife of Torao Tokuda, the father of Takeshi and former chief of Tokushukai. An official from the hospital group has not yet confirmed if the 50 million yen was indeed returned. But Inose may be facing charges as he did not declare this amount when he filed the report on his election campaign last December. The report indicates 30 million yen ($297,000) of his own funds and 500,000 yen ($5,000) from his support group. If found to have filed a false report with the electoral management committee, he can be imprisoned up to three years and fined up to 500,000 yen for violating the public offices election law.
…Areva’s Trekkopje project, Valencia, Bannerman and Deep Yellow, were forced to redefine their resources, restructure operations, and retrench workers. The projects have basically been ‘moth-balled’.
Existing mines such as Rio Tinto’s Rössing and Paladin’s Langer Heinrich have also been forced to downscale operations through restructuring and lay-offs….
… the turn of the century when prices spiked and led to the ‘uranium rush’. At one time there were over 40 exploration companies at work…
THE Namibian Uranium Association (NUA) was launched in Swakopmund on Tuesday.
NUA chairman Deon Garbers said the association aims to be the strategic management centre that will coordinate uranium activities and share ideas and facilities.
“NUA is the advocacy body that represents the uranium industry exclusively. It argues for policy change that will let uranium compete on its merits as an energy source appropriate for the needs of the 21st century through research, factual information and advocacy,” he explained.
The association will also enable senior executives in Namibia’s uranium’s industry to shape the context in which the industry operates. Therefore, NUA’s first board members all hold executive management positions at each of the existing and developing uranium projects.
The association’s membership, likewise, includes all the local uranium mining operations and most of Namibia’s leading exploration companies and associated contractors.
The global uranium industry suffered a major blow in 2011 when a tsunami destroyed the Fukushima reactor in Japan, resulting in a price crash. This was aggravated by the selling of vast quantities of weapons-grade nuclear material from the ex-Soviet Union; the global economic slowdown and the natural gas developments in the United States.
These poor conditions, with a uranium oxide price of about US$35 per pound, have led to Namibia’s industry also experiencing a slump.
…Talks in Geneva on Iran’s nuclear programme ‘have reached the final moment’, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency quoted foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei as saying on Saturday…
The six world powers (five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany) and Iran agreed on the text of a treaty by 98 percent and are debating the issue of uranium enrichment, a source in the Iranian delegation told reporters.
“I can say that we have agreed on the text by 98 percent,” he noted. “We continue the talks on problematic issues, particularly uranium enrichment,” he said.
The source noted that the parties to the talks may complete the talks in Geneva within next two hours. He did not give the direct answer to the question whether Iran and the six world powers will sign an agreement. “We will not go out as long as we obtain the signing of a document,” the source said.
Nuclear talks could go into fifth day – Iranian envoy
Six world powers and Iran might have to extend their talks to a fifth day on Sunday, as some differences over an agreement on mutual concessions still have not been bridged, Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said.
“We still have considerable differences about the balance of steps that we are to take and those that the 5+1 want to take,” he said, referring to the five permanent UN Security Council countries and Germany.
After exchanging remarks about local weather, Foreign Minister Lavrov and international Syria envoy Lakhdar Brahimi have gone into head-to-head talks at Geneva’s Intercontinental Hotel, which is also hosting consultations between the Security Council’s Permanent Five plus Germany and Iran.Mr Lavrov has already held separate talks with his American and French counterparts, John Kerry and Laurent Fabius.
According to a source in the Russian delegation, talks involving Lavrov, Kerry and Brahimi are likely to be held.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and US Secretary of State John Kerry have discussed the nuclear energy programme of Iran at a 30-minute meeting in Geneva.Emerging from the talks, they exchanged long handshakes and thanks.
Later today, the two men are expected to discuss matters with UN and Arab League Syria envoy Lakhdar Brahimi.
Lavrov and Kerry begin meeting in Geneva
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the US Secretary of State John Kerry have begun a meeting in Geneva
Lavrov arrived in Geneva on Friday afternoon, and Kerry’s plane landed on Saturday morning.
Russia’s Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton, on Friday evening in Geneva discussed ways to achieve a mutually acceptable agreement between the Sextet and Iran, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Saturday.
“They discussed the situation at the Sextet’s Geneva talks between international mediators and Iranian representatives on settling the situation surrounding the Iranian nuclear programme. They focused on ways to achieve mutually acceptable agreements between the Sextet and Iran,” the foreign ministry reported.
The Russian foreign minister arrived in Switzerland on Friday and headed immediately for the Intercontinental Hotel, to continue various contacts in the framework of negotiations between Tehran and the Sextet (five permanent UN’ Security Council members plus Germany). Besides talks with Catherine Ashton, Lavrov met with Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif, details were not made available.
Russia sees ‘real opportunity’ for Iran nuclear deal
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov sees a “real opportunity” for the six-party talks with Iran to reach a deal on Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme, the foreign ministry said Saturday.
In a statement released after Lavrov spoke with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Jarad Zarif in Geneva on Friday evening, the Russian ministry called the meeting “a comprehensive and interested exchange of opinions” about how to end disagreements in the negotiations.
“For the first time in many years, the ‘5+1’ and Iran have a real opportunity to come to agreement,” the statement quoted Lavrov as saying at the meeting.
Atomic Mafia? Yakuza cleans up Fukushima, neglects basic worker
RT News, , Nov. 20, 2013: Homeless men employed cleaning up the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, including those brought in by Japan’s yakuza gangsters, were not aware of the health risks they were taking and say their bosses treated them like “disposable people.” […] While some workers voluntarily agreed to take jobs on the nuclear clean-up project, many others simply didn’t have a choice […] many of the workers were brought into the nuclear plant by Japan’s organized crime syndicates, the yakuza. […] Although a special task force to keep organized crime out of the nuclear clean-up project has been set up, investigators say they need first-hand reports from those forced to work by the yakuza […] Anonymous former Fukushima worker: We were given no insurance for health risks, no radiation meters even. We were treated like nothing, like disposable people — promised things, and then kicked us out when we received a large radiation dose.
Tomohiko Suzuki, journalist who worked at Fukushima plant: The government called Tepco to take urgent action, Tepco relayed it to subcontractors — and they, eventually, as they had a shortage of available workers, called the Yakuza for help. […] They were given very general information about radiation and most were not even given radiation meters. They could have exposed themselves to large doses without even knowing it. Even the so-called Fukushima 50 […] at least three of them were enrolled by the yakuza.
Aleksey Yaroshevsky, RT: : There are 25% more openings for jobs at Fukushima plant than applicants, according to government data. Gaps filled, says Suzuki, by the homeless, the desperately unemployed and even those with mental disabilities. Watch the broadcast here
TEPCO eyes restarting 4 reactors by 2015 November 23, 2013 THE ASAHI SHIMBUN by Mari Fujisaki and Takashi Ebuchi.) Tokyo Electric Power Co. hopes to have four nuclear reactors in Niigata Prefecture back online by 2015, including two planned for next summer, despite the crisis at its hobbled Fukushima nuclear plant.
The company intends to reactivate the No. 1 and No. 5 reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant during the first half of 2015 after restarting the No. 6 and No. 7 reactors as early as July 2014, sources said. Both plans will be included in the utility’s rehabilitation program when it is revised toward the end of this year.
The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant has seven reactors. TEPCO estimates that for each reactor restart its annual profit will increase by about 100 billion yen ($1 billion)……
it remains unclear whether TEPCO can restart the reactors under its proposed time frame. NRA screenings could drag on if regulators demand detailed investigations to confirm that no active faults run immediately under the reactors.
Consent of local communities is also essential, but Niigata Governor Hirohiko Izumida remains cautious. He has criticized plans to restart the two reactors next summer as a pipe dream.
Hot on nuclear. Secretary Moniz says that advanced reactors could furnish clean industrial heat. He also backs President Obama’s point that new and safer nuclear improves energy security and reduces proliferation risks. The Y12 sign in the background reminds us of the proliferation connection. Y12 is a defense related unit at DOE’s Oak Ridge facility, where Moniz spoke in this June photo.
IRVINE, CALIF. – The notion that nuclear reactors could provide clean, CO2-free heat for industrial process – and thus expand nuclear power’s role beyond electricity generation – got a big boost here when U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz endorsed the idea.
Speaking via a video link last Friday to a nuclear power and medicine conference, Moniz said that reactors currently under development – often called “advanced” or “fourth generation” reactors and typically small in size – could safely operate at much higher temperatures than conventional models and would be key to broadening nuclear’s role.
“Small modular reactors, especially high temperature ones, may have a particular role there essentially as heat sources,” Moniz told delegates at the Future of Advanced Nuclear Technologies gathering organized by the National Academy of Sciences and the Keck Futures Initiative. He outlined a number of possible applications, including “process heat, water desalination, hydrogen production, petroleum production and refining.”
At the moment, the U.S. lags behind at least one country, China, in supporting the development of advanced reactors such as molten salt and pebble bed reactors. Jiang Mianheng, who heads the development of molten salt reactors (MSRs) in China (Jiang is the son of China’s former president Jiang Zemin), has stated that China plans to use them for hydrogen production, gasifying coal, methanol manufacturing and other purposes. China recently released revised timelines for two of its high temperature reactors. It hopes to build a 2-megawatt pilot pebble bed by around 2015, and a 100-megawatt pebble bed demonstrator by 2024, among others.
SMALL HANDOUTS
Moniz’s remarks came as the U.S. Department of Energy prepares to select a winner for the second tranche of its total $452 million funding award for small modular reactors (SMRs). SMRs represent potential cost savings over large conventional reactors because manufacturers could build them in more of an assembly line fashion, and users could purchase modules in increments and thus reduce upfront capital costs.
First batch of fuel from Fukushima reactor 4 pool now in different storage site, Japan Times, KYODO NOV 22, 2013Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Friday that it has finished transferring the first batch of fuel rod assemblies from the Fukushima No. 1 plants reactor 4 spent fuel pool to another building with more stable storage conditions.
“All of the fuel assemblies have been placed in the storage rack (inside the common pool), meaning the first fuel transfer work effectively ended,” Tepco official Noriyuki Imaizumi told a press conference.
Common Pool Fukushima Daiichi Unloading Unit 4 Fuel Unloading
After reviewing the work flow that started Monday, the utility will move on to retrieve the next batch of fuel assemblies from the spent fuel pool of the damaged reactor 4 building.
The pool contains over 1,000 fuel assemblies and the process is expected to continue through the end of next year. To get used to the operation, workers commenced with the removal of unused fuel assemblies, but they will also have to take out spent fuel, which is more difficult to handle because it is highly radioactive and emits heat as radioactive elements in the fuel decay.
The process starts with the transfer of fuel assemblies inside the water-filled spent fuel pool one by one into a transport container also placed inside the pool.
Fukushima land grab eyed State wants to purchase 15-sq.-km track around No. 1 plant for waste storage sites JAPAN TIMES, KYODO NOV 23, 2013 The state plans to buy 15 sq. km of land around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant to build facilities to store radioactive soil and other waste generated by decontamination operations, government sources said….. (registered readers only)http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/11/23/national/fukushima-land-grab-eyed/#.UpJz29Jwo7p
Omens good for Iran nuclear deal at second bite Foreign ministers ready to fly to Geneva as diplomats make further progress on draft agreement over uranium enrichment Guardian, Julian Borger and Saeed Kamali Dehghan in Geneva 21 Nov 13 Foreign ministers from six major powers are poised to fly to Geneva by the end of the week if nuclear talks with Iran lead to an agreement, western officials said on Wednesday night.
A new round of negotiations over the future of Iran’s nuclear programme got under way on Wednesday, bringing together the Iranian foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, the EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, and top diplomats from the US, UK, France, Germany, Russia and China.
Officials involved in the talks – the third session since the election of a reformist Iranian president, Hassan Rouhani – said they were going well, overcoming the disappointment of the previous round, attended by US secretary of state, John Kerry, the British foreign secretary, William Hague, their French counterpart, Laurent Fabius, and other foreign ministers.
Talks With Iran on Nuclear Deal Hang in Balance NYT, By MICHAEL R. GORDON November 23, 2013 GENEVA — As Secretary of State John Kerry and top diplomats from five other world powers swept into Geneva this weekend for the second time in two weeks, they struggled to complete a groundbreaking agreement with Iran that would temporarily freeze Tehran’s nuclear program and lay the foundation for a more comprehensive accord…….
The interim accord the United States and its negotiating partners are seeking would allow Iran to continue enriching uranium to 3.5 percent and would not require it to dismantle its existing centrifuges. But it seeks to constrain the Iranian program by requiring Iran to transform its stockpile of uranium that has been enriched to 20 percent, a short hop from weapons grade, to a form that is less usable for military purposes.
It also establishes a cap on Iran’s stockpile of uranium enriched to 3.5 percent, precludes new centrifuges from being installed and is expected to involve more intensive monitoring of the Iranian program, among other measures.
As to what Iran considers its “right to enrich,” American officials signaled a possible workaround last week, saying that they were open to a compromise in which the two sides would essentially agree to disagree, while Tehran continued to enrich.
The accord would last six months, allowing negotiators that period of time to work on a more comprehensive and lasting agreement.
In return for the temporary freeze, Iran would receive between $6 billion and $7 billion worth of sanctions relief, American officials say, including providing Iran with access to frozen assets. The limited relief could be accomplished by executive action, allowing the Obama administration to make the deal without having to appeal to Congress, where there is strong criticism of any agreement that does not dismantle Iran’s nuclear program……..
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