Japan halts shipment of black rockfish caught off Fukushima over radiation
February 8, 2022
TOKYO, Feb 8 (Reuters) – Japan’s health ministry said on Tuesday it had ordered the suspension of shipments of black rockfish caught off Fukushima prefecture after radiation exceeding an upper limit was detected in a catch late last month.
The development comes on the heels of an announcement by Taiwan that it would relax a ban on food imports from Japan put in place after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.
The suspension means the targetted fish would not be shipped, regardless of the destination, a ministry official said.
Criminal case of the three TEPCO former executives in appeal
A trial in which three former executives of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) were forcibly prosecuted by a resolution of the Public Prosecutors Examination Council for failing to prevent the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
This is a detailed record of the second trial.
The second trial of TEPCO’s forced prosecution began, with the former management once again claiming innocence.
The second trial of the three former executives of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), who were forcibly prosecuted over the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and acquitted in the first trial, began, with the former executives once again claiming their innocence.
Tsunehisa Katsumata, 81, former chairman of TEPCO, Ichiro Takekuro, 75, former vice president of TEPCO, and Sakae Mutoh, 71, former vice president of TEPCO, were indicted for involuntary manslaughter by a resolution of the Public Prosecutors Examination Council for causing the deaths of 44 people, including hospitalized patients in Fukushima Prefecture, during the evacuation process from the nuclear power plant accident.
The Tokyo District Court in the first trial acquitted all three defendants in September 2019, saying that there was no way they could have foreseen the huge tsunami.
The second trial began at the Tokyo High Court on April 2, 2021, and the designated lawyer stated that the first trial decision was wrong because it forcibly denied the reliability of the “long-term assessment,” which is the basic premise of the national government’s view on tsunamis, and argued that the three had a duty to build a seawall and take measures to prevent flooding of buildings.
On the other hand, the lawyer for the former management team reiterated their not guilty plea, saying, “The measures to prevent a huge tsunami were massive and took a long time, and even if they had started before the nuclear accident, they would not have been ready in time.
The next hearing will be held in February 2022, and it will be decided whether or not the judge will conduct an on-site inspection of the plant, as requested by the designated lawyer.
A representative of the victims and their families said, “The focus is on whether the court will conduct an on-site inspection of the plant.
Yuichi Kaito, a lawyer who represented the victims and their families at the hearing, held a press conference and said, “The biggest focus of the second trial is whether the court will conduct an on-site inspection of the plant. Although the court did not make a decision today, I hope that this is an indication of the court’s attitude that it wants to carefully consider the issue. If they do, I think it will increase the possibility that the not guilty verdict of the first trial will be reviewed.
Survivors: “Not guilty is impossible
The father of Hisao Sato, 62, of Fukushima Prefecture, was unable to evacuate from Futaba Hospital in Okuma Town, where he had been hospitalized, after the nuclear accident, and remained there with medical staff and died three days later.
Regarding the fact that the three former executives of TEPCO have once again claimed their innocence, Mr. Sato said, “I couldn’t go and pick up the people who were left behind even if I wanted to because the nuclear power plant exploded. There were tears around the eyes of his father, and I believe he suffered and died. Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) is absolutely responsible, and there is no way they are innocent.
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/special/toudensaiban/?fbclid=IwAR19G_iZOeA8x_1s-x6bDhzeGxz3jsDC-Y90iDjpB0zPEoaIT8QCPahEP-0
Fukushima Unit 1: First internal investigation in 5 years
2022/02/08
The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) began an internal investigation of the containment vessel at the Unit 1 reactor of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on February 8. An underwater robot was used to collect information on the sediment accumulating at the bottom of the vessel and the molten nuclear fuel (debris) underneath. This is the first time in about five years since March 2017.
According to the images taken by the camera mounted on the robot, the bottom of the containment vessel was bumpy, as if something had accumulated there. A TEPCO official said, “We don’t know yet whether it is a deposit or not, and we will proceed with the investigation.
The investigation was scheduled to start on January 12, but was postponed due to problems during the preparation work. TEPCO is now reconsidering the process, which was set to last until August.
https://www.minpo.jp/globalnews/moredetail/2022020801001260?fbclid=IwAR0YiLHqKhJNuprOuxehkLnPzsAYBMFHgQ_0hcLHnWwpllUn9CFD2zSjR10
Criminal trial of Fukushima nuclear power plant to reach climax at high court on Feb. 9; adoption or rejection of on-site inspection and other measures key
Feb. 7, 2022
The trial to hold former executives of Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) criminally responsible for the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant is reaching a climax in the appeals court. The second trial, to be held at the Tokyo High Court on February 9 at 2:00 p.m., is expected to determine the future course of the trial, according to the designated lawyer acting as the prosecutor and a criminal litigation support group. The reason is that the presiding judge, Keisuke Hosoda, will decide whether to accept or reject (1) the on-site inspection at the nuclear power plant site and (2) the examination of three experts.
Since mid-January, a group of residents who have sued and accused TEPCO executives, criminal lawsuit supporters, and lawyers have held a series of press conferences and meetings to explain the current status of the trial, and on January 21, they submitted a list of signatures in front of the Tokyo High Court demanding a fair trial.
There are about 30 class-action lawsuits across the country seeking damages from TEPCO and the government as civil liability for the Fukushima nuclear accident, with more than 12,000 plaintiffs in total. The total number of plaintiffs is over 12,000. Including individual lawsuits, there are more than 400 cases, but this is the only case in which criminal liability has been sought.
In June 2012, the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Complaint Group filed a complaint against TEPCO executives and government officials. In June 2012, a group of Fukushima nuclear power plant complainants filed a complaint against TEPCO executives and government officials, and prosecutors repeatedly dropped the case. After the prosecutors’ panel twice voted that the case was worth prosecuting, former TEPCO chairman Tsunehisa Katsumata and former vice presidents Ichiro Takekuro and Sakae Mutoh were indicted for manslaughter, and their trial has been ongoing since June 2005. The prosecution alleged that the defendants failed to take protective measures and shut down the reactors when they could have foreseen the possibility of flooding of the buildings, loss of power supply, and explosion due to a tsunami exceeding 10 meters in height, which is the height of the site of the plant.
The Tokyo District Court (presiding Judge Kenichi Nagabuchi) acquitted all three defendants in September 2007, but Yuichi Kaito, a lawyer with the Criminal Litigation Support Lawyers Association, and others pointed out the “biggest and most fundamental error” in the original verdict. The lawyers for the criminal case, including Yuichi Kaido, claimed that the “biggest and most fundamental error” in the original ruling was that the government’s Headquarters for Earthquake Research Promotion (SUIBON) stated that “there was no foreseeable possibility of a tsunami exceeding 10 meters” without properly judging the reliability of the “long-term assessment” released in July 2002. In response to the long-term assessment, which predicted that a tsunami earthquake of magnitude 8.2 could occur anywhere along the Japan Trench from off the coast of Sanriku to off the coast of Boso, the court only ruled whether the plant should be shut down, and did not examine the “foreseeability appropriate for imposing the obligation to avoid the consequences of building seawalls and making facilities watertight. The report criticizes the government for not examining the “foreseeability that is appropriate for imposing the obligation to avoid the consequences of building seawalls and making facilities watertight.
The designated attorneys reiterated the necessity of on-site inspections in the appeals court. It is obvious at the site that the facilities of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant were built on the ground where a high quay was dug into the sea, and it is easy to understand where a tsunami barrier should have been installed and where watertight construction should have been carried out. It should be.
Three witnesses have been called: Atsuo Watanabe, a former nuclear power plant design engineer at Toshiba Corporation, to provide additional evidence on the specifics of the measures taken to avoid the consequences of submerging the facility and their feasibility; Nobuo Hamada, a former director of the Earthquake and Volcano Division at the Japan Meteorological Agency, and Kunihiko Shimazaki, chairman of the Long-Term Assessment Department at SUIMOTO, to prove the reliability of the long-term assessment.
Takashi Soeda, a science journalist, said, “There are many things that would have been buried in the dark without the criminal trial. (1) Based on surveys of past tsunami deposits, it was possible to predict a tsunami as large as the 869 Teikan earthquake, and Tohoku Electric Power Co. and other companies besides TEPCO had been working on tsunami countermeasures. (2) TEPCO and its employees agreed that a 15.7-meter tsunami was inevitable, but senior management prioritized avoiding management risk over avoiding accident risk and delayed tsunami countermeasures (3) In order to delay countermeasures, Sakae Muto asked the Japan Society of Civil Engineers (3) Mr. Sakae Muto had instructed the Japan Society of Civil Engineers to delay the countermeasures by stalling for time and laying the groundwork for experts to discuss the matter.
One of the victims, Ruiko Muto, a resident of Tamura City, Fukushima Prefecture, said, “If the district court’s decision is confirmed as it is, it would be extremely unjust. Ten years have passed since the accident, and in Fukushima there is no justice at all. We must not leave this kind of society to future generations. I hope the court will show justice.
http://www.kinyobi.co.jp/kinyobinews/2022/02/07/antena-1067/?fbclid=IwAR1x4Hq2ILZ432ZlOn6MVRjkDvOKbjq7QFw9PGIB48Jcg6PlB8X_wTHfyGA
11 Years after the Nuclear Accident, Tomioka Town, Fukushima: A “Reconstruction Base” in a Place Where No One Can Live
February 7, 2022
On January 26, restrictions on entry were lifted in a part of the difficult-to-return area designated in Tomioka Town, Fukushima Prefecture, following the accident at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. The town and the government aim to lift the evacuation order for the reconstruction center in the spring of 2023.
The town and the government are aiming to lift the evacuation order in the spring of 2023. This spring, for the first time in 11 years since the nuclear accident, people will be able to walk under cherry blossoms in full bloom in Tomioka Town, Fukushima Prefecture, on January 26, 2022.
On January 26, I walked around the area with a dosimeter in hand to assess the situation of radioactive contamination. The air radiation levels shown in the photo were measured at a height of one meter from the ground. The government’s long-term target for decontamination is 0.23 microsieverts per hour. The average natural radiation level in Japan is estimated to be 0.05 microsieverts per hour.
Houses being dismantled by heavy machinery. The same kind of work was going on here and there in the reconstruction center (The figure is the hourly radiation level near the location where the photo was taken. The unit is microsieverts.)
(3) Along the rows of cherry blossom trees, there were many empty lots after the demolition of houses. (The figure is the radiation level per hour near the location where the photo was taken; the unit is microsievert.)
(4) The remains of a TEPCO employee dormitory. 4) The site of a TEPCO employee dormitory, where bags containing garbage from decontamination were lined up (The figure shows the hourly radiation level near the location where the photo was taken. Unit: microsievert)
The area that is now off-limits is about 390 hectares, mainly in the Yonomori district east of Yonomori Station on the Joban Line. The area used to be a residential area with a famous cherry blossom viewing spot, but now it has become nothing but vacant lots and is in a state of disrepair. Close to the station and surrounding a large park, there were many apartments as well as single-family houses, and there was also a dormitory for TEPCO employees.
There was also a dormitory for TEPCO employees. 5) A light passenger car with a flat tire was abandoned at the site of a former supermarket. (The figures are the hourly radiation levels near the location of the photo shoot, in microsieverts.)
(6) At the Night Forest Tsutsumi Park, the pond had dried up and weeds were growing thickly. Unit: microsievert)
(7) Bicycles and trash from decontamination were placed in front of a house with broken windows (The figure shows the hourly radiation level near the shooting location. Unit: microsievert)
(⑧) At a car dealership along Route 6, the glass was broken and the ceiling had fallen in (The figure shows the hourly radiation level near the location where the photo was taken. Unit: microsievert)
The number of registered residents as of January 1 was 2,729. The town will start a “preparatory lodging” program during the major holidays this spring, allowing residents to sleep in their homes in the reconstruction center. (Kenta Onozawa)
(9) At the temporary storage site for decontaminated garbage, the dismantling of the sandbags that covered the perimeter of the garbage to shield it from radiation was in progress. Unit: microsievert)
10) The boundary between the reconstruction center and the difficult-to-return area. The area at the back of the photo has not yet been decontaminated and there is no prospect of lifting the evacuation order (The figure shows the hourly radiation level near the location where the photo was taken. Unit: microsievert)
The area was designated by the government after the accident at TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant as a “difficult-to-return area” with high radiation levels, and is being developed so that residents can live there after priority decontamination.
https://www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/158755?fbclid=IwAR24oLt_xTtnf9fAkfsVdDbNU132uvlGYswOXuiSTyXa4I01HNl38W4Qq5I
IAEA team to visit Fukushima next week to review water release plan
February 7, 2022
TOKYO (Kyodo) — A team of International Atomic Energy Agency experts will visit the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant next week to review Japan’s plan to discharge treated radioactive water into the sea, the government said Monday.
During their stay in the country from Feb. 14 to 18, the experts will evaluate the safety of releasing the treated water, with their visit to the Fukushima plant slated for Feb. 15, according to Japan’s foreign and industry ministries.
The planned release, slated to begin in the spring of 2023, has been opposed by China and South Korea, as well as local fishing communities.
The on-site assessment by the experts led by Gustavo Caruso, director and coordinator of the IAEA’s Department of Nuclear Safety and Security, was initially scheduled for mid-December but postponed due to the rapid spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
The team will also exchange views with the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc., the operator of the Fukushima plant, on cooperation in dealing with the treated water, the industry ministry said, adding the IAEA will hold an online press conference on Feb. 18.
Water pumped in to cool melted fuel at the plant, crippled by the 2011 massive earthquake and tsunami in northeast Japan, has been accumulating at the complex. It has mixed with rain and groundwater at the site, becoming contaminated.
The water is treated using an advanced liquid processing system. The process removes most radioactive material except for tritium, which is said to pose few health risks. Tokyo decided in April last year to release the treated water into the Pacific Ocean.
To improve the transparency of the water discharge project, Japan’s industry ministry and the IAEA have agreed that the international body will compile an interim safety evaluation report in 2022.
Proposed referendum ordinance to question the pros and cons of nuclear power plant restart: Mayor Kamisada submits opposing opinion
February 8, 2022
An extraordinary meeting of the city council of Matsue City was held today to discuss a draft referendum ordinance on the pros and cons of restarting the Unit 2 reactor of the Shimane Nuclear Power Plant.
A citizens’ group in Matsue City collected more than 11,000 signatures to request the enactment of a referendum ordinance on the pros and cons of restarting the Unit 2 reactor of the Shimane Nuclear Power Plant, and on the 31st of last month, they directly requested Mayor Kamisada to enact the ordinance.
On the 8th, an extraordinary meeting of the city council of Matsue City was held, and Mayor Kamisada submitted a draft ordinance with an opposing opinion, stating, “The most appropriate way to restart the nuclear power plant is not through a referendum, but through responsible discussions by the mayor and city council members, who have been entrusted by the citizens.
The extraordinary city council meeting of Matsue City will be held on March 9 to hear opinions from citizens’ groups, and on March 15, the last day of the meeting, the proposed ordinance will be voted on.
Yumiko Okazaki, co-chair of a citizens’ group that attended the council meeting, said, “I think that the lives and safety of citizens should be the top priority when restarting nuclear power plants. As the mayor of a municipality where a nuclear power plant is located, I would like him to make it a prerequisite to face the concerns and anxieties of the citizens.
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/lnews/matsue/20220208/4030011494.html?fbclid=IwAR2eyipGnCls3dHbqJJn0sPcRXz_rui4yXrb-bNo7Rn7p3nz6_vC6aaG8hI
Experts to visit Fukushima plant to check water release plan
By MARI YAMAGUCHI February 7, 2022
TOKYO (AP) — A team of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency will visit Japan’s wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant next week to review plans to begin releasing more than a million tons of treated radioactive water into the sea, a mission the government hopes will assure people of the plans’ safety.
The team of about 15 experts will meet with government and utility officials during their Feb. 14-18 mission, which includes a visit to the Fukushima Daiichi plant, industry ministry officials said Monday.
The government and Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings announced plans last year to begin gradually releasing the still-contaminated water in spring 2023 after further treatment and dilution. The water is being stored in about 1,000 tanks at the plant which need to be removed to allow for the wrecked plant’s decades-long decommissioning. The tanks are expected to reach their capacity of 1.37 million tons later this year.
The plan has been fiercely opposed by fishermen, local residents and Japan’s neighbors, including China and South Korea.
Japan has sought IAEA’s assistance to ensure the release meets international safety standards and gain the understanding of other countries. The team is expected to include several IAEA officials and an expert from each of 11 countries including South Korea and China, officials said.
A massive earthquake and tsunami in 2011 destroyed the Fukushima plant’s cooling systems, triggering the meltdown of three reactors and the release of large amounts of radiation, and causing more than 160,000 people to evacuate. Water used to cool the highly radioactive reactor cores has since leaked extensively, mixing with groundwater seeping into reactor buildings.
Japanese officials say the only realistic option is to slowly release the contaminated water, diluted with sea water, into the ocean. The discharge is expected to take decades to finish.
Officials say all isotopes selected for treatment can be reduced to low levels except for tritium, which is inseparable from the water but is harmless in small amounts.
The IAEA mission was originally scheduled for December but was delayed due to the global surge of the omicron coronavirus variant. Japan’s industry ministry and the IAEA have agreed to compile an interim report on the water discharge plan in 2022.
Officials say it is now safe to live in most areas around the plant except for its immediate surroundings after extensive decontamination work. They blame “reputational damage,” or incorrect information about the impact of radiation, for delaying the recovery of Fukushima’s agricultural and fisheries industries.
Six people recently filed a lawsuit seeking compensation from TEPCO for thyroid cancers that they believe were caused by radiation from the accident. About 300 people who were children at the time have since developed the illness.
On Jan. 27, five former Japanese prime ministers issued a joint statement urging the European Commission to reverse its decision to include nuclear power as an “environmentally sustainable economic activity” under EU taxonomy, noting the Fukushima tragedy and thyroid cancer in many children there.
Government officials have repeatedly denied links between thyroid cancer in Fukushima and the accident and accused the former leaders of spreading “false information and wrongful discrimination and prejudice.”
Taiwan Lifts Ban on Fukushima Food in Push to Join Trade Bloc
Economic priorities put before people’s health priority by politicians!
February 8, 2022
(Bloomberg) — Taiwan lifted its ban on most food imports from areas around the Fukushima nuclear power plant which melted down in 2011, removing an irritant in the bilateral relationship and making it easier for Japan’s government to support Taiwan joining an Asia-Pacific trade deal.
The decade-old ban on most foods imported from Fukushima and four surrounding prefectures will be lifted from Feb. 18, Taiwan’s government said at a briefing Tuesday. Restrictions will remain on certain food items that carry a greater risk of nuclear radiation, such as mushrooms and the meat of wild animals, Cabinet spokesman Lo Ping-cheng said at a briefing in Taipei.
“The lifting of the Fukushima ban sends a clear message to the world that Taiwan is willing to follow international standards in order to participate in economic and trade cooperation,” Taiwan’s chief trade negotiator John Deng said at the briefing. “This will provide a great push for Taiwan’s efforts to join CPTPP as Singapore and other member countries have expressed their willingness to welcome governments that can accept high standards.”
The government vowed to implement scientific inspections which are more stringent than international standards in an effort to reassure the public the imports will be safe.
Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in an emailed statement that the government welcomed the move as a first step, but would continue to press for removal of the remaining restrictions.
Domestic Opposition
Taiwan halted imports of food products from Fukushima and surrounding prefectures in 2011 over concerns of radiation contamination after the nuclear disaster triggered by the devastating earthquake and tsunami that year.
The food ban has become a domestic political issue in Taiwan. A majority of voters in a 2018 referendum agreed that it should be kept in place, a position supported by the opposition Kuomintang, which says the government is unable to provide unequivocal science-based guarantees about the safety of food imported from the area.
China, South Korea and Taiwan were the only governments that still ban some or all food imports from Fukushima and surrounding areas, according to Japan’s government.
The decision to lift the ban now could cost President Tsai valuable political capital before key regional elections scheduled for November. The move mirrors a previous decision by Tsai to remove restrictions on imports of pork containing trace amounts of the feed additive ractopamine.
That ban effectively blocked imports of pork from the U.S., which called it the biggest impediment to a bilateral free trade agreement. However after it was lifted, imports of pork from the U.S. fell 86% in 2021 compared to the previous year, according to data from Taiwan’s Council of Agriculture, as consumers shied away from it.
Push for International Integration
The lifting of the ban is seen as a key step in gaining Japan’s support for Taiwan to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, a move which could help the island reduce its economic reliance on China. Complicating Taiwan’s bid to join is the fact that China has also applied for entry, leaving member nations with a tough decision between admitting one, both or neither.
Cabinet spokesman Lo was quick to play down hopes of immediate progress in Taiwan’s CPTPP bid however, warning that ending the ban does not necessarily guarantee Taiwan will be accepted into the bloc but rather it is a prerequisite condition for membership. He also said Taipei’s move was not intended to earn Japan’s backing for Taiwan’s entry bid.
Both Taiwan and China are members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum and the World Trade Organization, but Beijing has said that this isn’t a precedent that means that Taipei can also join the CPTPP. The government of the People’s Republic of China views Taiwan is part of its territory, a claim the authorities in Taipei reject. The government of President Tsai Ing-wen is looking to cultivate additional overseas markets to reduce the mainland’s economic leverage.
Those tensions mean a long and politicized application process is likely, with the members divided between nations like Japan, Australia and Canada pushing for Taiwan’s accession, and Southeast Asian countries keen to remain in China’s good graces, making them vulnerable to pressure from Beijing to thwart Taipei’s bid. In an interview with Bloomberg Television in November, Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said there are “political complications” surrounding Taiwan’s bid.
https://www.yahoo.com/now/taiwan-set-lift-ban-fukushima-140007509.html
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