Japan remembers the Bikini Atoll test, Saturday March 1, 201 4 Nearly 2,000 people have marched in a Japanese city to mark the 60th anniversary of a US hydrogen bomb test at Bikini Atoll, amid heightened anti-nuclear sentiment in the country after the Fukushima crisis. The 1954 test exposed residents on Marshall Islands to radiation, with the fallout also contaminating the Japanese tuna fishing boat Daigo Fukuryu Maru (Lucky Dragon V), which was near the atoll when the test occurred.
The ship’s chief radioman Aikichi Kuboyama died of acute organ malfunction nearly seven months later at the age of 40, while 15 others among the boat’s 23 crew members died of cancer and other causes later.
While the precise cause of Kuboyama’s death has been disputed, the incident sparked an anti-nuclear movement in Japan nine years after the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki that occurred in the closing days of World War II.
Some 1800 people marched on Saturday to Kuboyama’s grave in the port city of Yaizu, 170 kilometres southwest of Tokyo…….http://www.skynews.com.au/world/article.aspx?id=954594Sk News
Carried by U.S. and NATO nuclear-capable bombers and fighter jets, the B61-12 is an upgraded version of the B61, which was designed in 1963. The thermonuclear bomb is guided by an Internal Guidance System and can glide to its target. The B61-12 version has four selectable yields — 0.3, 5, 10 and 50 kilotons — according to the Federation of American Scientists
The U.S. has started an expensive program to upgrade the B61 that Air Force leaders have been spent years requesting from Congress. The upgrades will cost about $10 billion for 400–500 bombs.
Along with stockpiles in the U.S., the Air Force has B61s deployed across Europe in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Turkey. The B61-12s will replace the 200 older versions currently in those countries.
At least one nuclear weapons analyst is questioning whether the upgrades to the B61 may be in violation of the 2010 Nuclear Posture Review that states the life extension programs for nuclear munitions can “not support new military missions or provide for new military capabilities.”
Hans Kristensen, a fellow with the Federation of American Scientists, said the new tail kit and lower yield capabilities would allow the U.S. military to employ the bomb in new mission sets. In January, Kristensen asked former Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz at a Washington D.C. defense conference if the B61-12 upgrade would allow the Air Force to use it against new target sets and offer new capabilities. http://defensetech.org/2014/02/28/nuclear-bomb-upgrade-could-violate-key-treaty/#ixzz2uvfAPvAo
This Table Detects Breast Cancer Using Sound Waves, Not X-Rays http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2014/01/this-table-detects-breast-cancer-using-sound-waves-not-x-rays/ 3 March 14
ANDREW LISZEWSKI 20 JANUARY 2014 Traditional mammography machines — besides being uncomfortable — rely on ionizing radiation to image a patient’s breasts. And as all we all know, radiation ironically increases the risk of cancer developing. So a company called Delphinus Medical Technologies has developed a safer alternative called the SoftVue that instead uses ultrasonic sound waves bouncing around inside a large water tank.
The risk of developing cancer from the procedure itself is all but eliminated, and the exam appears to be considerably more comfortable for the patient. Instead of a mechanism that’s designed to compress the breast flat for better imaging, the patient lies face down on a table sitting atop a tank of warm water, and then places their breast into a sealed opening that’s surrounded by a transducer sensor ring.
An ultrasonic signal is then blasted through the tank, and the echoed signals bouncing around and through the breast are captured. Delphinus claims that cancerous tissue has a distinct signature when it interacts with sound waves, which the SoftVue can detect and highlight, making it easier to spot.
The exam itself takes just two minutes per breast to complete, and thanks to a camera inside the tank, it’s easy to precisely position the breast to ensure accurate imaging. In fact, the SoftVue machine apparently doesn’t even required a skilled or experienced technician to operate, it’s designed to be completely user-friendly.
Delphinus originally planned to market the SoftVue as a diagnostic tool that could be used for follow-ups to traditional mammograms. But the system has just been approved by the FDA, which means it can now be offered as a safer and more comfortable alternative to existing methods. [Delphinus Medical Technologies viaMedgadget]
“Perhaps because everyone believes people telling them on television that everything is fine, they don’t seem so worried,” 281 Antinuke told Reuters.“I hope by leaving my art I can remind people that we’re not safe at all … and that they will do something to protect themselves.”
“We don’t know what will happen in the future, whether children will get cancer or leukemia,” he said. “So I want to keep making noise and making a fuss.”
“The nuclear accident allowed us to realize that Japan had hidden a lot of things,” he said. “I want to make images that express doubts about what’s going on in politics – like a label that says ‘This is happening, pay attention’!” http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/11/30/1259294/-Masked-Artist-Forces-Japanese-to-Think-About-Fukushima
Mari is facing charges stemming from speaking out on radiation in Japan and advocacy for families relocating children out of the areas contaminated by radioactivity from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi reactor site, operated by TEPCO. Radioactivity continues to leave that site. It is well established that while lower levels of exposure to radioactivity lowers risk, the greatest hazard from radiation comes when children are exposed, raising the risk of cancer manifold over their entire lives.
The group ETHOS in Japan supports the decision by some to stay and live in contaminated areas. Sadly, some of these families feel they have no choice due to economics and other factors. Certainly young children have no choice. ETHOS advocates monitoring radioactivity, but well established science supports Mari’s views that there is no safe dose of radiation and that children need to be protected. We support open discussion, access to information and free choice. We ask the Prosecutor to agree that writing and speaking about these issues are not a crime.
Please Stand With Mari as she stands for precaution, protection and the rights of children to a healthy future. THANK YOU.
“Hiroshi Hoshi and Leo Hoshi were arrested on January 28th 2013 and are still in custody at the Futaba Police station. They are under arrest for “allegedly” breaking laws. We believe that that they are being targeted and unjustly detained due to their animal rescue of Fukushima animals. They have actively rescued, cared for, vetted and adopted out over 200 animals left to die inside the Nuclear Zone by the Government of Japan.” Source 2013
https://nuclear-news.net/2013/05/07/fukushima-exclusion-zone-a-short-story-about-cows-video/
Letter extract May 7, 2013
The Hachiko Animal Federation was formed to honor your national treasure and our mascot, Hachiko, the loyal Akita dog. Our mission was and remains to assist animal shelters in Japan as well as animal rescue groups and volunteers who received little or no aid from the Japanese government. Our group will continue to assist Fukushima animals and animals around the world.
Asahi Shimbun, Feb. 25, 2014: CAPTION: Radioactive cesium of mind-boggling 370,000 becquerels per kilogram of soil has been detected in the mud of the Myotoishi reservoir in Motomiya, Fukushima Prefecture [55 km from Fukushima Daiichi]. The reservoir is ringed by homes and a community center. – Very high levels of accumulated radioactive cesium have been detected in the mud of hundreds of reservoirs used to irrigate farmland in Fukushima Prefecture […] 576 reservoirs [of 1,939 surveyed]. […] many of which are located in residential areas […] and still supplying water to rice paddies and other farmland. […] Environment Ministry says it has no plans to dredge the reservoirs to remove the contaminated mud. […] Kiyoshi Ishii, 71 […] was unable to hide his anger.
Japan Times, Mar. 1, 2014: […] despite the government and [Tepco’s] claims that things are under control, the disaster continues to threaten the lives and well-being of people […] much of the problem stems from the government’s poor handling of the after-effects of the disaster and Tepco’s continuing inept handling of the cleanup at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant. […] the health ministry is in denial about the existence of problems […]
Interview with Setsuko Kuroda, from documentary ‘Women of Fukushima’, Yoshihiro Kaneda, Feb. 25, 2014: Fukushima seems to be suppressed by the skillful manipulation. They force us to forget everything like the accident never happened. […] they can influence a lot of people […] If the person has a good title or is famous, people want to hear him or her. They give you a solution that you will be safe if you care about radiation. It happens everywhere […] Q: Is a manipulator the national, prefectural, or city government? A: All. There are many ways to do it. For example, they use citizens’ groups and individuals. The public information in the Koriyama City is terrible because their evidences of the radiation levels in the city are complete fictions. They announce it proudly with using tax. Their way to do that is from experiences of Chernobyl and they repeat in Japan. […] The mass media is the biggest criminal. (She stared at me fixedly.) They don’t say truth. No media is good. The media is worse than TEPCO […] exception is Tokyo Shinbun. But we cannot buy a copy in Fukushima. Who can allow this children’s environment and the situation of workers for Fukushima Daiichi? […]
Full interview with Kuroda here
Image source:http://www.banklawyersblog.com/.a/6a00d8341c652b53ef0147e06689da970b-popup
2 March 2014
After three years of bad news, investors in loss-making uranium miner Paladin Energy have witnessed a number of developments over the past six weeks to give them hope the company can survive.
Subscription only
http://www.afr.com/p/business/companies/paladin_prospects_improve_on_back_FmEFy8cLJcOEMbUquhWx7H
Image source ; http://cravensworld.wordpress.com/2011/03/17/nuclear-power-safe/
Thomson Reuters March 2, 2014 1:38pm
KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s parliament called for international monitors to help protect its nuclear power plants on Sunday as tension mounted with Russia.
Hryhoriy Nemyria, a member of parliament, said the assembly appealed to the signatories of a 1994 nuclear treaty that guaranteed Ukraine’s safety — including the United States, the United Kingdom and Russia.
(Reporting by Sabina Zawadzki, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
Seattle Times, Feb. 28, 2014 (emphasis added): ‘Serious problem’: 65-foot crack found in Columbia River dam — A massive crack in a major Columbia River dam poses enough of a risk of dam failure that Grant County authorities have activated an emergency-response plan. […] “At this point we already know there’s a serious problem,” said Thomas Stredwick, spokesman for the Grant County Public Utility District (PUD). “We want to make sure the spillway is stable enough that inspectors are safe when inspecting it. […] This is a situation that’s really changing as more information becomes available” […]
Seattle Times, Feb. 28, 2014: There’s no immediate threat to public safety from the crack in the Wanapum Dam […] Stredwick said […] officials analyzed the divers’ data and decided Friday that the failure risk was sufficiently high that they should notify other government agencies […]
Columbia Basin Herald, Mar. 1, 2014: [T]his large of a crack has never been found on a Grant PUD dam. […] engineers noticed something unusual on the water level […] the crack, which spans the entire length of the dam, had formed about 70 feet under water.
Oregon Public Radio: Worst-case scenario is if the spillway was to topple. But Stredwick thinks other sections of the dam would hold on and downstream communities should be safe.
NBC News, Mar. 1, 2014: [NOAA’s] National Weather Service issued a flash flood watch for Grant County through the weekend as the water is drawn down because “the potential exists for a rapid increase in flows from Wanapum Dam.”
Eugene Weekly, Nov. 27, 2013: Dam failure was also examined, [David Swank, assistant VP at Columbia Generating Station] says, using flood maps provided by the Army Corps of Engineers […] “Flood level would not get to the plant,” Swank says, providing nothing has changed in the 30 years since the mapping was done. […] “It’s always tough to say with certainly that a facility is 100 percent prepared for an unknown disaster,” says Geoff Tyree of the Department of Energy. He says the DOE has looked at the possibility of the worst-case scenario where the Grand Coulee Dam partially fails on the Columbia River. He says that flooding could result in the release of radioactive material from portions of Hanford into the water, but he says that same water would dilute the radiation to a very low level off site […]
COLUMBIA GENERATING STATION FINAL SAFETY ANALYSIS REPORT (pdf), Dec. 2011: Grand Coulee Dam is ~250 river miles upstream from the CGS nuclear reactor, while the Wanapum Dam is ~60 river miles from the reactor and ~30 river miles from the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.
The report added: “The strong indications that people have intentionally substituted horsemeat for beef leads us to conclude that British consumers have been cynically and systematically duped in pursuit of profit by elements within the food industry.”
https://nuclear-news.net/2013/02/26/radioactive-horse-meat-dark-dealings-of-europes-cruellest-trade/
If you could close your eyes and let your imagination transport you to anywhere in the world, I bet you wouldn’t chose your local Tesco.
But bear with me a moment and let’s imagine ourselves walking down the tinned tuna aisle. Even though the tins all look pretty similar, there’s a huge difference in what’s inside. So we’re telling Tesco to pull dodgy tuna off their shelves.
If you were walking through this tinned tuna aisle a few years ago, you would have seen a different picture. Back then, we’d just won huge commitments from all major supermarkets on their own-brand tinned tuna. But now it looks like unsustainability is back on the shelves, dressed up in a different coloured can. A new brand called Oriental and Pacific, which is fished with destructive methods that kill turtles, sharks and rays alongside the tuna, has been spotted in Tesco shops all across the UK.
If supermarkets begin to replace sustainable brands on their shelves with cheap, dodgy tuna, then the commitments aren’t worth the paper they’re printed on.
In fact, tonight at 7 pm on Channel 4, the last episode of Fish Fight will expose and confront Tesco over this dodgy tuna. Tune in and share this petition during the show!
It’s vital that we keep a close watch on any slippery supermarkets trying to undermine their promises to help protect the oceans. We know that the big supermarkets lead the way. And as soon as one slips, the rest follow right behind. Tell Tesco to pull Oriental and Pacific off their shelves.
Public pressure works – together let’s demand change that really protects our oceans
https://secure.greenpeace.org.uk/TellTescoPetition
With all my thanks
Victoria and the Greenpeace tuna team
Some extra information here
Georgia Straight, Feb. 15, 2014: First Nations want radiation testing of fish – Caption: Reuben George is one of several First Nations leaders worried about radiation levels in salmon. […] North Shore News has reported that several First Nations leaders—including Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs president Grand Chief Stewart Phillip and Tahlton Central Council president Annita McPhee—want the federal government to conduct systematic tests of radiation levels in fish from the Pacific Ocean. Reuben George, a well-known member of the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, told the paper that he’s personally reluctant to eat fish.
CBS San Francisco, Feb. 12, 2014:
More here;
https://nuclear-news.net/2014/02/22/eu-to-relax-curbs-on-japan-food-imports/
1 march 2014
ADVOCATES, campaigners, journalists and researchers gathered at New Zealand’s AUT University today to honour past campaigns for the Nuclear-Free and Independent Pacific Movement (NFIP) and to strategise for the future. And a forthcoming book on NFIP and the media was announced.
Panel presentations ranged from the US Castle Bravo nuclear test on Bikini Atoll in 1954 – today, March 1, was the 60th anniversary – to the Rongelap Atoll evacuation by Greenpeace in May 1985, the protests against French nuclear testing, the ICAN campaign to abolish all nuclear weapons, the “forgotten struggle” in West Papua, and to the future self-determination vote in Kanaky.
Delegates were also told about a new book being published next month about NFIP issues and journalism – Don’t Spoil My Beautiful Face: Media, Mayhem and Human Rights in the Pacific by Pacific Media Centre director and Café Pacific publisher David Robie.
What commentators say:
David Robie has been committed to developing quality journalism in the Pacific, and especially in developing a “Pacific brand” of journalism.
Kalafi Moala, Pasifika Media Association (PASIMA)
A timely media revisitation of the bloody conflicts and atrocities that have plagued this vulnerable Pacific region. An invaluable resource for journalists and journalism students.
Shailendra Singh, University of the South Pacific
David Robie has been an impassioned chronicler of Pacific currents for decades … from the bloody independence struggles of the 1980s to the attempts to chart a nuclear-free course.
Mark Revington, editor of Te Karaka, the voice of Ngai Tahu
An excellent sweep through the recent history of the Pacific and elsewhere constructed around the story of the author’s life.
Professor Stewart Firth, Australian National University
Don’t Spoil My Beautiful Face introduces readers to reportage of major Asia-Pacific socio-political and environmental issues over three decades by an independent journalist and media educator. It examines contemporary media concepts such as critical development journalism, conflict-sensitive journalism and deliberative journalism.
And it argues for a more comprehensive, reflective and in-depth media response to the region’s challenges from Tahiti Nui and Polynesian nations in the east to Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, the Philippines, Timor-Leste and West Papua in the west.
The author reported on the conflict between France and Kanak activists in New Caledonia that almost ended in civil war. He was harassed by French secret service agents and arrested at gunpoint. He was on board the original Rainbow Warrior on her last voyage that ended with the bombing by state terrorists in 1985.
He has reported on coups in Fiji and the Philippines, and was a media educator in Suva in 2000 when his students provided award-winning coverage of an attempted coup.
Dr David Robie is director of the Pacific Media Centre and professor of journalism in Auckland University of Technology’s School of Communication Studies. He is the author of Eyes of Fire: The Last Voyage of the Rainbow Warrior and Mekim Nius: South Pacific Media, Politics and Education. He is also founding editor of Pacific Journalism Review, convenor of Pacific Media Watch and publishes the media blog Café Pacific.
– See more at: http://thedailyblog.co.nz/2014/03/01/a-pacific-brand-of-journalism-a-forthcoming-media-book-tells-how/#sthash.csw7fsCV.dpuf
“Both the Congress and BJP are in favour of the plant, and if Narendra Modi comes to power, he might even try to crush the protest. This is an attempt to take the anti-nuclear protest to the next level,” he said.
http://www.financialexpress.com/news/koodankulam-nplant-protest-leader-udayakumar-joins-aap/1230391
He is expected to contest from Kanyakumari in the Lok Sabha elections. Two others from among the protesters are expected to contest from nearby constituencies, Thirunelveli and Thoothukudi. The three constituencies have a sizeable population of fishermen.
However, another senior member of the protest committee, M Pushparayan, has refused to be part of the political fight, though his name was doing the rounds for Thoothukudi. There are indications that he is unhappy about the turn of events.
“It is time for the Department (of Energy) to stop hiding the ball and pretending that the situation at Hanford is being effectively managed,” Sen.
http://www.bayoubuzz.com/us-news/item/619980-concerns-raised-about-nuclear-waste-tanks-at-hanford
Media Sources // Saturday, 01 March 2014 00:31 //
There are “significant construction flaws” in some newer, double-walled storage tanks at Washington state’s Hanford nuclear waste complex, which could lead to additional leaks, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press.
Those tanks hold some of the worst radioactive waste at the nation’s most contaminated nuclear site.
One of the 28 giant underground tanks was found to be leaking in 2012. But subsequent surveys of other double-walled tanks performed for the U.S. Department of Energy by one of its Hanford contractors found at least six shared defects with the leaking tank that could lead to future leaks, the documents said.
“It is time for the Department (of Energy) to stop hiding the ball and pretending that the situation at Hanford is being effectively managed,” Sen.
http://www.menafn.com/1093778868/French-nuclear-entity-Areva-reports-big-2013-net-loss?src=RSS
MENAFN – Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) – 01/03/2014
(MENAFN – Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) French nuclear entity Areva on Thursday reported a net 2013 loss of USD 678 million dollars (Euros 494 million) after heavy provisions for work underway in Finland and renewable energy losses.
In 2012, Areva had reported a net loss of just under USD 135 million, calculated at today’s exchange rates.
The company said in a statement that sales had reached Euros 9.24 billion, up over 6.4 percent on a comparable structure basis over the previous year.
Areva stock plunged by almost 12 percent on the Paris Stock Exchange after the release of the results and shares were trading at 19.56 Euros and heading downward.
At one point, Areva has lost over 17 percent of its value on the Paris Stock Exchange.
Areva said that “despite the uncertain short-term environment” the outlook was good for positive free operating cash-flow this year and it predicted a significant cash-flow increase in 2015-2016.
Areva is a French government-controlled entity, with some minority outside investors on board.
Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) has a 4.8 percent stake in Areva for several years now.
More information here
“In 1986, the KIA’s London based subsidiary, the Kuwait Investment Office (KIO), bought control of Torras Hostench, a Spanish paper maker. Torras subsequently took over a number of other companies to become Grupo Torras in June 1988. KIO invested about $2.5 billion in building up the company and another $1.8 billion to shore it up after the end of Spain’s 1980s economic boom and the annexation of Kuwait by Iraq. However in December 1992 Grupo Torras entered receivership among accusations of fraud, and Kuwait’s investment was a total loss. One of its projects was the Gate of Europe twin towers in Madrid, which was still incomplete when the company collapsed.[4]“
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuwait_Investment_Authority
Saturday, March 1, 2014 8:47 am,
Some 17 per cent of the polled are very negative about nuclear energy, and another 37 per cent are rather negative than positive. One tenth of the respondents said they had no opinion on the issue.
At the same time, 36 per cent of the polled have a positive attitude towards nuclear energy, of which five per cent are very positive about this type of energy and 31 per cent are rather positive than negative. 🙂
Written By: Nazim Ali
|http://www.newsworldplus.com/marshall-islands-want-us-to-resolve-unfinished-nuclear-legacy.htmlMarch 1, 2014
|Posted In:
Compensation provided by Washington “does not provide a fair and just settlement” for the damage caused, he told a ceremony in Majuro marking the 60th anniversary of the devastating hydrogen bomb test at Bikini Atoll which contaminated many islands with radioactive fallout.
“We remain the closest of friends with the United States, but there is unfinished business relating to the nuclear weapons testing that must be addressed.”Loeak said the unfinished business not only affected the four atolls that the United States acknowledged as exposed, but also many other islands throughout the country.
In 1983, 29 years after the March 1, 1954 explosion, a compensation agreement was reached in which Washington provided the Marshall Islands with $150 million to settle all nuclear test claims.
But more than 10 years later, during then president Bill Clinton’s administration, formerly secret documents about the nuclear tests were released and confirmed dozens of islands were exposed to the fallout.
Loeak called this “dramatic new information” that had not been revealed to Marshall Islands negotiators.
“It is abundantly clear that the agreement was not negotiated in good faith and does not provide a fair and just settlement of the damages caused,” he said.
nuclear-news 