Employees of the Fukushima nuclear plant demonstrated outside the headquarters of the operator Tepco Tokyo March 14, 2014 (Photo Toru Yamanaka. AFP)
Workers Fukushima accident have expressed their anger after the death on Friday of one of them, blaming the lack of rescue services to come to the aid of injured.
One of them, who calls himself TS-san, got angry on the internet as soon as he learned of the death of his colleague at the nuclear plant site.
“This is unbearable, how many times will this have to happen?” He has written.
“What is most tragic, it is not as expensive as decommissioning, the work hardly advances, there is contaminated water, no, what is the most tragic, ” is that we do not try harder to save the lives of those who work there””he added.
A worker died Friday afternoon at Fukushima Daiichi after the fall of earth and concrete into the hole to a depth of two meters in which he was to build the foundations of a building.
“He was taken unconscious to hospital where his death was confirmed,” said Tepco.
But for TS-san and others, rescue vehicles that are supplied are insufficient. And they need to have the use of a medical helicopter.
During the accident on Friday, the wounded, in his fifties, was transported by ambulance to a hospital more than 40 miles from the secluded nuclear disaster plant. It took over an hour to drive to the facility where his death was then confirmed. It had then been over three hours since the accident.
“When this kind of fatal accident happens, what to say? Sadness, anger, depression “, as evidenced by Happy, a veteran who worked in Fukushima since before the tsunami of March 11, 2011.
Other workers deaths had occurred before, but not necessarily on the site and not because of issues related to their activity during this time.
Some 3,000 people from hundreds of companies working every day at the Fukushima Daiichi ravaged March 11, 2011 by a massive tsunami.
Working conditions are often harsh, especially because of the compulsory wearing of masks and suits and because of the deplorable state of the destroyed site.
See also;
Japanese government covers up TEPCO workers deaths and intimidates journalists who speak out! – Mako Oshidori
The death of many Fukushima workers who die from radiation exposure is covered-up by Fukushima Daiichi power plant operator TEPCO and the Japanese government, said a Japanese journalist who investigated the unreported deaths, adding that she found a TEPCO memo instructing officials to “cut her questions short appropriately”, and that police is following her around in an intimidating manner.
TEPCO -Workers deaths are not reported 報道されない原発作業員の死亡について
…“She said that there have been so many workers dead without being reported. Some died during the 2 days break, some didn’t turn up the next morning and were found dead…. Those who died haven’t been measured for how much exposure they got. Tepco doesn’t count and report the dead unless they die during their work hours.” …
Thomas Pilkinton was a five-year old boy in Ely, NV, when the first nuclear test took place in the Nevada desert. Like many who lived in the small town nestled in the Nevada mountains, he gave little thought to the tests that would ultimately turn him, and the majority of his family, into what became known as Downwinders. While Pilkinton would not feel the effects of Downwinder Syndrome for many years, the devastating results of the testing on his relatives were almost immediate. Thomas Henry “Daddy Tom” O’Neil, Pilkinton’s great-grandfather and namesake, had always been known for his bad temper and robust health, but suddenly became ill in March 1952. On April 22 of that same year, Daddy Tom died of a rare, aggressive form of cancer. Pilkinton’s grandmother, Ethel Fields, died less than a month later, at 52, from an unknown blood infection. Prior to their deaths, Daddy Tom’s wife, Alice “Mumsey” O’Neil, lost her battle with “black lung,” now known as emphysema, in 1951.
While some may argue that the deaths of these three may not be related to the nuclear testing, the fact remains that none of the three was ever seriously ill until that testing took place.
Soon, more evidence of Downwinder Syndrome began to materialize in Pilkinton’s family and friends. His mother, Evelyn Pilkinton, became seriously ill with a thyroid disorder, another common manifestation of the syndrome, which required lifelong medication. His father, Ray Pilkinton, suffered from emphysema and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). Ray died in 1991, and Evelyn died in 1996; neither lived to see 72. Pilkinton’s sister, Gail Pilkinton, died from lung cancer in 2005, at age 55.
Again, it could be debatable whether their deaths were directly related to Downwinders; both of the senior Pilkintons had been smokers, although neither had smoked for nearly 20 years prior to their deaths. They had both worked as welders in the shipyards during World War II. Pilkinton’s sister had fought a lifelong battle with drug and alcohol addiction, and she did not die from the lung cancer, but from a massive drug overdose.
However, in his early 60s, Pilkinton began to suffer from severe lethargy and unexplained weight gain, which began a downhill slide. This was a man who had never smoked, never done anything that would be considered a cancer risk. He was a Vietnam War veteran and successful businessman who enjoyed a wide range of friendships and travels. He lived his life and raised his niece, whom he had adopted, and then later became a surrogate grandfather to his grand nieces. Unlike his parents and sister, the reasons behind his health issues were not readily apparent, nor easily explained.
He began to suffer debilitating headaches, which led to the discovery of a brain aneurysm. But this did not explain the weight gain. His thyroid was tested, and found to be defective, which meant a regimen of medicine similar to that of his mother’s. However, no amount of maintenance or lifestyle changes could alter his ballooning weight or blood pressure, and his health steadily declined. In 2009, a bout of swine flu triggered an autoimmune disorder called Guillain Barre Syndrome. It took a CAT scan to determine the cause of the continuing weakness after the diagnosis of Guillain Barre that led to another disheartening discovery: thyroid cancer. Pilkinton had surgery to remove the right lobe of his thyroid in 2010, but almost died from that surgery due to a sudden upshot in his blood pressure. His health would not allow for further treatment beyond the surgery. When cancer was discovered in the left lobe, it was determined nothing more could be done. He died in July 2011, with his partner of 16 years, Frank Dominguez, by his side. His fight ended just 20 days after his 66th birthday.
Air Force scandal: More than 90 nuclear missile launch officers cheated on a proficiency test that required perfect scores for advancement. Now, nine Air Force officers have been demoted and one has resigned.
The Air Force will spend $19 million this fiscal year to refurbish the launch control center and repair infrastructure across the missile wing, James said. Another $3 million will go for “quality of life requirements” at the missile bases, which are in remote areas of the country where weather is often harsh.
By David Alexander and Phil Stewart, Reuters / March 29, 2014
Washington
The head of the nuclear missile wing at a base in Montana resigned on Thursday and nine officers were removed from their jobs over a test-cheating scandal that involved 91 missile launch officers, the Air Force said.
Lieutenant General Stephen Wilson, head of the Air Force’s Global Strike Command, said Colonel Robert Stanley, commander of the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom Air Force Base, had resigned on Thursday and would retire from the service.
The nine other officers, mainly colonels and lieutenant colonels, were removed from their positions of command at the Montana base that is home to a third of the nation’s nearly 450 intercontinental ballistic missiles. They will be reassigned to staff jobs and face administrative punishment, such as formal reprimands or letters of counseling.
Wilson said the root of the problem was the emphasis on perfection in the nuclear mission at the Montana base and throughout the missile force, which led to cheating on exams in an effort to achieve the sort of perfect scores perceived to be required for advancement and promotion.
The exams were classroom tests to check staff knowledge of how to carry out the nuclear mission and security procedures.
“Leadership’s focus on perfection led commanders to micro-manage their people. They sought to ensure that the zero defect standard was met by personally monitoring and directing daily operations, imposing unrelenting testing and inspections with the goal of eliminating all human error,” Wilson told a Pentagon news conference.
He and Air Force Secretary Deborah James said the evaluation and assessment of missile launch officers would be radically overhauled in an effort to change the culture and behavior that has developed in the missile wing.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has apologised for upsetting local residents by detonating 23 loud blasts at the UK nuclear bomb store at Coulport in Argyll last week.
People living in Ardentinny, a small village on the opposite shore of Loch Long a mile from Coulport, say they have been “traumatised” by the continual explosions, which made it feel like they were living in a “war zone”. They are furious that the MoD failed to forewarn them.
The MoD says the blasts were part of a staff training exercise, but has refused to elaborate. It told residents that they were “nothing to worry about”.
The Argyll and Bute MSP, Michael Russell, who is also the Scottish government’s education minister, yesterday wrote to the UK defence secretary, Philip Hammond, after being contacted by residents. “Coulport has been a bad neighbour and it needs to apologise and mend its ways,” he told the Sunday Herald.
“Many residents were very worried by the blasts which were at times intense enough to shake houses. The fact that no warning was given and that there has still been no adequate explanation makes the situation even worse – and there is a fear that explosions may start again at any time.”
The blasts started on Monday without any warning. On Wednesday, after being asked by residents, the MoD said they were finished for the week but then let off a further 11 explosions on Thursday and Friday.
“We have been told that further exercises may take place next Tuesday or Wednesday, however we have no way of knowing if this is correct,” said David McDowall from the community website ardentinny.org.
“Most people would be surprised to know that even a very small regional nuclear war on the other side of the planet could disrupt global climate for at least a decade and wipe out the ozone layer for a decade,”
Even a relatively small regional nuclear war could trigger global cooling, damage the ozone layer and cause droughts for more than a decade, researchers say.
These findings should further spur the elimination of the more than 17,000 nuclear weapons that exist today, scientists added.
During the Cold War, a nuclear exchange between superpowers was feared for years. One potential consequence of such a global nuclear war was “nuclear winter,” wherein nuclear explosions sparked huge fires whose smoke, dust and ash blotted out the sun, resulting in a “twilight at noon” for weeks. Much of humanity might eventually die from the resulting crop failures and starvation. [Doomsday: 9 Real Ways the Earth Could End]
Today, with the United States the only standing superpower, nuclear winter might seem a distant threat. Still, nuclear war remains a very real threat; for instance, between developing-world nuclear powers such as India and Pakistan.
To see what effects such a regional nuclear conflict might have on climate, scientists modeled a war between India and Pakistan involving 100 Hiroshima-level bombs, each packing the equivalent of 15,000 tons of TNT — just a small fraction of the world’s current nuclear arsenal. They simulated interactions within and between the atmosphere, ocean, land and sea ice components of the Earth’s climate system.
Scientists found the effects of such a war could be catastrophic.
The future of the world remains hostage not merely to one act of terrorism but to a larger degree, to one accident or one strategic miscalculation. In that sense, nuclear dangers abound on many fronts. All told, there are currently nuclear weapons materials in more than 40 countries, some “secured by nothing more than a chain-link fence”.
[…]
No wonder, the Seoul Summit communiqué could not go beyond reiterating a joint call to “secure all vulnerable nuclear material in four years” and backing the IAEA’s “essential role” in “facilitating international cooperation”. There was nothing binding other than “baskets” of voluntary commitments. Now the outcome at The Hague Summit 2014 seems to have further shrunk to just anodyne statements of participants’ “commitment” to nuclear disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation and the use of nuclear energy only for peaceful purposes. Again, there were no binding joint commitments, other than in a separate joint initiative of the US, the Netherlands and South Korea, signed only by 35 out of 53 participating states.
At the Third Nuclear Security Summit (NSS) in The Hague earlier this week, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif made a strong case for Pakistan’s non-discriminatory access to nuclear technology for peaceful uses, including nuclear power generation, to meet our growing civilian programme – the lynchpin of its strategy to overcome chronic energy shortages. His predecessor Yousaf Raza Gilani, too, had made similar presentations at the last two summits held in Washington, DC (2010) and Seoul (2012).
In presenting Pakistan’s case at three consecutive summits, Pakistani leaders spared no effort in seeking to alleviate the unfounded fears about Pakistan’s nuclear security by citing its decades-long experience of safe and secure operations of nuclear power plants, a highly trained manpower and a well-established safety and security culture.
They also apprised the world leaders of the measures Pakistan had taken like any other nuclear weapons-state to strengthen the safety and security of its nuclear installations and materials.
Nawaz Sharif further reinforced the case by informing the conference of Pakistan’s five pillar-nuclear security regime encompassing a strong command and control system; an integrated intelligence system; a rigorous regulatory regime; a comprehensive export control regime; and active international cooperation. Pakistan’s nuclear security regime covers physical protection, material control and accounting, border controls and radiological emergencies. By all objective yardsticks, Pakistan meets every criteria-based benchmark to become a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) and other export control regimes on a non-discriminatory basis.
But this reality is not what the world’s nuclear arbiters holding the reins of the newly instituted NSS process are interested in.
nuclear-news 