Fukushima, the Hidden Side of the Story
“The Fukushima Disaster, The Hidden Side of the Story,” is a just-released film documentary, a powerful, moving, information-full film that is superbly made. Directed and edited by Philippe Carillo, it is among the strongest ever made on the deadly dangers of nuclear technology.
It begins with the words in 1961 of U.S. President John F. Kennedy: “Every man, woman and child lives under a nuclear sword of Damocles, hanging by the slenderest of threads, capable of being cut at any moment by an accident, or miscalculation or by madness.”
It then goes to the March 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Daichi nuclear power plants in Japan after they were struck by a tsunami. Their back-up diesel generators were kicked in but “did not run for long,” notes the documentary. That led to three of the six plants exploding—and there’s video of this—“releasing an unpreceded amount of nuclear radiation into the air.”
“Fukushima is the world’s largest ever industrial catastrophe,” says Professor John Keane of the University of Sydney in Australia. He says there was no emergency plan and, as to the owner of Fukushima, Tokyo Electric Power Company, with the accident its CEO “for five nights and days…locked himself inside his office.”
Meanwhile, from TEPCO, there was “only good news” with two Japanese government agencies also “involved in the cover-up”—the Nuclear Industry Safety Agency and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
“Japanese media was ordered to censor information. The Japanese government failed to protect its people,” the documentary relates.
Yumi Kikuchi of Fukushima, since a leader of the Fukushima Kids Project, recalls: “On TV, they said that ‘it’s under control’ and they kept saying that for two months. The nuclear power plant had already melted and even exploded but they never admitted the meltdown until May. So, people in Fukushima during that time were severely exposed to radiation.”
Arnie Gundersen, a nuclear engineer and now a principal of Fairewinds Energy Education in Burlington, Vermont, speaks of being told by Naoto Kan, the prime minister of Japan at the time of the accident, that “our existence as a sovereign nation was at stake because of the disaster at Fukushima Daichi.”
Kan then appears in documentary and speaks of “manmade” links to the disaster.
The documentary tells how Kan, following the accident, became “an advocate against nuclear power….ordered all nuclear power plants in Japan to shut down for safety” and for the nation “to move into renewable energy.”
But, subsequently, “a nuclear advocate,” Shinzo Abe, became Japan’s prime minister.
Yoichi Shimatsu, a former Japan Times journalist, appears in the film and speaks of “the cruelty, the cynicism of this government.” He speaks of how in the accident’s aftermath, “nearly every member of Parliament and leaders of the major political parties” along with corporate executives, “moved their relatives out of Japan”
He says “Shanghai is the largest Japanese community outside Japan now…while these same people” had been “telling the people of Fukushima go home, 10 kilometers from Fukushima, go home it’s safe, while their families are overseas in Los Angeles, in Paris, in London and in Shanghai.”
“If it’s safe, why they left?” asks Kikuchi. “They tell us it’s safe to live in Fukushima, and to eat Fukushima food to support Fukushima people. There’s a campaign by Japanese government…and people believe it.”
Gundersen says: “At Fukushima Daichi, the world is already seeing deaths from cancer related to the disaster…There’ll be many more over time.” He adds that there’s been a “huge increase in thyroid cancer in the surrounding population.”
“Unfortunately,” he goes on, “the Japanese government is not telling us al the evidence. There’s a lot of pressure on the scientists and the medical community to distort the evidence so there’s no blowback against nuclear power.”
There is a section in the documentary on the impacts of radioactivity which includes Dr. Helen Caldicott, former president of Physician for Social Responsibility, discussing the impacts of radiation on the body and how it causes cancer. She states: “There is no safe level of radiation. I repeat, there is no safe level of radiation. Each dose of radiation is cumulative and adds to your risk of getting cancer and that’s absolutely documented in the medical literature.”
“The nuclear industry says, well,” Dr. Caldicott, continues, “there are ‘safe doses’ of radiation and even says a little bit of radiation is good for you and that is called the theory of hormesis. They lie and they lie and they lie.”
Maggie Gundersen, who was a reporter and then a public relations representative for the nuclear industry and, like her husband Arnie became an opponent of nuclear power, speaks of how nuclear power derives from the World War II Manhattan Project program to develop atomic weapons and post-war so-called “Atoms for Peace” push.
Gundersen says in becoming a nuclear industry spokesperson, “the things I was taught weren’t true.” The notion, for example, that what is called a containment at a nuclear plant is untrue because radioactivity “escapes every day as a nuclear power plant operates” and in a “calamity” is released massively.
As to economics, she cited the claim decades ago that nuclear power would be “too cheap to meter.” The president of Fairewinds Energy Education, she says: “Atomic power is now the most expensive power there is on the planet. It is not feasible. It never has been.” Regarding the radioactive waste produced by nuclear power, she says “there is literally no technology to do that…It does not exist.”
As to international oversight, the documentary presents the final version of a “Report of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation” issued in 2014 which finds that the radiation doses from Fukushima “to the general public during the first year and estimated for their lifetimes are generally low or very low….The most important effect is on mental and social well-being.”
Shimatsu says it is not only in Japan but on an international level that the consequences of radioactive exposure have been completely minimized or denied. “We are all seeing a global political agreement centered in the UN organizations, tie IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency], the World Health Organization…All the international agencies are whitewashing what is happening in Fukushima. We take dosimeters and Geiger counters in there, we see a much different story,” he says.
In Germany, says Maggie Gunderson, “the politicians chose” to do a study to “substantiate” that no health impacts “happened around nuclear power plants….But what they found was the radiation releases cause significant numbers of childhood leukemia.” A summary of that 2008 study comes on the screen. The U.S. followed up on that research, she says, but recently “the [U.S.] Nuclear Regulatory Commission said it was not going to do that study,” that “it doesn’t have enough funding; it had to shut it down.” She said the real reason was that it was producing “data they don’t want to make public.”
Beyond the airborne releases of radiation after the Fukushima accident, now, says the documentary, there is the growing threat of radioactivity through water that has and still is leaking from the plants as well as more than a million tons of radioactive water stored in a thousand tanks built at the plant site. After the accident, TEPCO released 300,000 tons of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean. Now there is no land for more tanks, so the Japanese government, the documentary relates, has decided that starting this year to dump massive amounts of radioactive water over a 30-year period into the Pacific.
Arnie Gundersen speaks of the cliché that “the solution to pollution is dilution,” but with the radiation from Fukushima being sent into the Pacific, there will be “bio-accumulation”—with vegetation absorbing radiation, little fish eating that vegetation and intensifying it and bigger fish eating the smaller fish and further bio-accumulating the radioactivity. Already, tuna off California have been found with radiation traced to Fukushima. With this planned further, and yet greater dispersal, thousands of people “in the Pacific basin will die from radiation,” he says.
Andrew Napuat, a member of the Parliament of the nation of Vanuatu, an 83 island archipelago in the Pacific, says in the documentary: “We have the right to say no to the Japan solution. We can’t let them jeopardize our sustenance and livelihood.” Vanuatu along with 13 other countries has signed and ratified the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty.
As the documentary nears its end, Arnie Gundersen says that considering the meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania in 1979, the meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine in 1986, and now the three Fukushima meltdowns in 2011, there has been “a meltdown every seven years roughly.” He says: “Essentially, once every decade the world needs to know that there might be an atomic meltdown somewhere.” And, he adds, the “nuclear industry is saying they want would like to build as many as 5,000 new nuclear power plants.” (There are 440 in the world today.)
Meanwhile, he says, “renewable power is no longer alternative power. It’s on our doorstep. It’s here now and it works and it’s cheaper than nuclear.” The cost of producing energy from wind, he says, is three cents a kilowatt hour, for solar five cents, and for new nuclear power plants 15 cents. Nuclear “makes no nuclear economic sense.”
Maggie Gundersen says, with tears in her eyes: “I’m a woman and I feel it’s inherent for us as women to protect our children our grandchildren, and it’s our job now to raise our voices and have this madness stop.”
Philippe Carillo, from France, who worked for 14 years in Hollywood and who since 2017 has lived in Vanuatu, has worked on several major TV documentary projects for the BBC, 20th Century Fox and French National TV as well as doing independent productions. He says he made “The Fukushima Disaster, The Hidden Side of the Story” to “expose the nuclear industry and its lies.” His previous award-winning documentary, “Inside the Garbage of the World,” has made changes regarding the use of plastic.
“The Fukushima Disaster, The Hidden Side of the Story” can be viewed at Amazon, Apple TV, iTunes, Google Play and Vimeo on demand. Links are: iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/the-fukushima-disaster/id1672643918?ls=1 Apple TV: https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/the-fukushima-disaster/umc.cmc.3rfome5kj2hfpo2q9fwx5u0y0 Amazon UK: www.amazon.co.uk/placeholder_title/dp/B0B8TLPZ9K/ref=sr_1_1Amazon USA: https://www.amazon.com/Fukushima-Disaster-Yoichi-Shimatsu/dp/B0B8TLSRN4/ref=sr_1_1 Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/movies/details?id=vehqb5ex-L8.P&sticky_source_country=US&gl=US&hl=en&pli=1 Video on demand: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/thefukushimadisaster
Also, extra footage and interviews not in the film are at www.exposurefilmstrust.com
Karl Grossman, professor of journalism at State University of New York/College at Old Westbury, and is the author of the book, The Wrong Stuff: The Space’s Program’s Nuclear Threat to Our Planet, and the Beyond Nuclear handbook, The U.S. Space Force and the dangers of nuclear power and nuclear war in space. Grossman is an associate of the media watch group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR). He is a contributor to Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion.
Nuclear Contaminated Water Dumping: IAEA Concludes ‘Absolute Safety of Nuclear Contaminated Water’ with Japanese Government Money?
Foreign Ministry official reveals in alleged transcripts of conversations
“More than 1 million euros handed over to IAEA officials, director general, etc.”
“IAEA report conclusion of nuclear contaminated water was ‘absolutely safe’ from the beginning”
Adopting an investigation method that detects only easy-to-detect elements129 etc.
South Korea’s Kim Hong-seok and others “IAEA experts are just decorations”
A memo from a senior official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ 1
A document has surfaced in Japan that raises suspicions that the Japanese government is paying IAEA officials large sums of money to work with each other and “collude” in the dumping of Fukushima nuclear contaminated water into the ocean.
‘Foreign Ministry Executive A Memo’, 1 million euros to IAEA
According to the document, which was obtained by citizen journalist Mindle on Nov. 21, the final report of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) safety inspection, which is expected to be released later this month, has already concluded that the plant is “absolutely safe,” as demanded by Japan. To this end, the Japanese government has paid more than 1 million euros in “political contributions” to IAEA officials, so there is “no need to worry” about opposition from South Korea and China to the dumping of contaminated water into the ocean, which will begin as early as mid to late July, according to “Foreign Ministry official A” in the document.
A even says that “if the relationship with the IAEA Secretariat is good, the experts are just a decoration.” Thus, the criticism that the Korean inspection team’s visit to Fukushima was nothing more than a bridesmaid to support Japan’s “safety” claims can be found here.
Like the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s “Handling Caution” report, which was obtained and reported by the citizen media Dandelion on the 8th of this month (“Fukushima Contaminated Water Already Declared “Harmless” During Korean Inspection Team’s Visit?”), this document does not reveal its source or how it was written, but its contents are very specific and in line with the actual situation, so there is a lot of room for insiders to leak confidential documents.
‘Memo A from a Foreign Ministry official’ 2
‘Recovered from the meeting table’ external secret (社外秘)
The three-page document exposed this time is titled “Memo of Foreign Ministry Executive A,” and is written in the form of a conversation with a foreign ministry executive named A (hereinafter referred to as A) in which the “person in charge” Asakawa asks questions and A answers. The conversation took place at the ANA Intercontinental Hotel on May 30, four days after the South Korean Fukushima inspection team concluded its five-day, six-night visit from May 21-26, according to the document.
Just as the document reported on May 8, which summarized a conversation between Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Company President Akira Ono and a Nuclear Regulatory Commission official, was marked with a red confidential document classification of “handling with caution,” this document is also marked with a red lettering of “seat recall,” and the words “private secret” in pale large letters are stamped at an angle throughout the document.
The IAEA’s methodology and conclusions were dictated by Japan
In the document, A states that the contaminated water filtered by the ALPS, which the Japanese government and TEPCO claim is “treated water,” is “safe” because the methodology and conclusions of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which will make the final determination, are in accordance with the Japanese government’s requirements. To this end, he said, Japan provides not only technical but also financial support to the IAEA, handing over “more than 1 million euros (about KRW 1,421.5 million)” to “Mr. Freeman” and “Mr. Grossi” as “political contributions”.
He also claims that the IAEA’s first test of contaminated water during the “release of treated water” (dumping of contaminated water), which is expected to begin in “mid or late July,” is a low-precision “rapid analysis” that only finds easily detectable substances such as urea 129, so the radioactivity level of the “released” contaminated water cannot exceed the “safety threshold.” Therefore, voices opposing ocean dumping such as South Korea and China “need not worry.
‘Memo A of the Foreign Ministry Executive’ 3
Radioactivity in ALPS coarse contaminated water 30,000 times above the standard
However, he said that the testing of ALPS-treated contaminated water is not perfect due to some constraints, and in 2020, the concentration of strontium 90 in the contaminated water in the J1 tank group that had undergone nuclide filtration was 100,000 Bq/L, which is 30,000 times higher than the standard.
Perhaps more importantly, he said, they still don’t know why it happened. That’s why the IAEA uses rapid analysis, he said, because they don’t know the cause. In Mr. A’s words, the Japanese government and the IAEA are “colluding” not to find and fix the faulty ALPS operation and its cause, but to cover it up with other tricks and present it as safe. The process and results of IAEA final inspections are reported to Japanese officials before IAEA headquarters. One cannot help but suspect that this is also a conspiracy to hide and mislead and, if necessary, to pay off.
“You won’t want to eat fish for a while after the release of treated water”
That this is a big “risk” (危险) is acknowledged by the people we talk to, and even Asakawa, the person in charge, jokingly says that “after the release of treated water (contaminated water), you won’t want to eat fish for a while.
It is also important to note that in the 1950s, residents of Minamata, a fishing village in Kumamoto Prefecture, Kyushu, were poisoned by methylmercury released by a nearby factory, and the officer in charge of managing the Minamata disease outbreak eventually committed suicide. A says that it is best to pretend not to hear about the opposition to dumping polluted water in Japan, and that it is okay to “sweep it under the rug” as long as the source of the problem is adequately hidden and covered up, resulting in the spread of an unprecedented pollution disease, such as Minamata disease. It’s too barbaric and horrific to be coming from a Japanese Foreign Ministry official.
Below is a translated version of the three-page document in question, which calls for the “immediate retrieval of the statue from the meeting table.
Foreign Ministry Executive A Memo
1.
(Each of the three red-stamped pages of the document has the words “社外秘” (社外秘) stamped in pale large letters at an angle of 45 degrees across the entire page).
“Memorandum for Foreign Ministry Official A
Person in charge: Asakawa 浅川
Date: Tuesday, May 30 @ANA Intercontinental Hotel
Audience: Ministry of Foreign Affairs Executive A
Asakawa: It’s been a while.
A: Yes, I’ve been very busy lately, so I haven’t had a chance to talk to you.
Asakawa: Thank you for your time. So this is the last hurdle to discharge the treated water.
A: That’s right, we’ve been delayed, so now we have to hurry.
Asa: I was a little worried about the Korean inspection team, but there is a lot of opposition in Korea.
A: You don’t have to worry about that.
Asa: And we don’t have to worry about the IAEA’s final inspection?
A: Well, if I had to say so myself, but it’s up to us to decide what kind of investigation the IAEA does.
Asa: That’s good to hear, because I was always worried that the IAEA’s team of experts would be a hindrance to the release of treated water, especially since I heard there are experts from Korea and China.
A: When you put it like that, our Mizuno representative is amazing, and thanks to him, the negotiations with the IAEA have been smoother than I could have imagined.
Asa: That’s great.
A: That’s right, the normal flow is to submit the materials to the IAEA first, but the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Ministry of the Environment actually saw them first, which is probably too much for the average person.
Asa: You mean the ALPS treated water review mission?
A: Yes, that was delivered in March or April of this year.
Asa: You mean the final inspection, which has already started.
A: Yes, as you mentioned.
Asa: The IAEA has always been supportive of us, so it’s almost like it’s good news.
A: That’s on the surface, but there are differences of opinion.
Asa: There’s also the behind-the-scenes stuff, so to speak.
A: Absolutely. The IAEA needs financial support, not just technical support.
Asa: South Korea and China also pay the IAEA to accomplish their goals.
A: But we have a better personal relationship with them. We have made a significant effort to have frank communication with Mr. Freeman.
Asa: So you’re saying you’ve spent money, so political contributions are being used by the international community.
A: Yes, it is.
2.
Asakawa: The exact amount.
A: All I can say is that it is at least one million euros.
Asakawa: In addition to Mr. Freeman, you also have Mr. Grossi’s share, so what did you get in return?
A: Of course, the return (quid pro quo) is big. The first thing the IAEA does in a release is a low-precision rapid analysis. That way, the water is not above the threshold.
Asa: Low precision rapid analysis.
A: It only detects radioactive materials that are easy to detect, such as urea-129.
Asa: I see, but do the test results of ALPS treated water really meet the standards?
A: In most cases, no, but that’s the problem. The results are limited by several factors. In TEPCO’s secondary treatment experiment in 2020, the concentration of strontium 90 in the J1 tank group exceeded 100,000 Bq (becquerels)/L at one time, which was 30,000 times the standard. We don’t know the cause, so it’s rapid annihilation.
Asa: That’s a big risk, too.
A: It doesn’t mean anything. Most of the ALPS treated water is fine, diluted with seawater, and safe.
Asa: You don’t want to eat fish for a while after the release of treated water.
A: (laughs)
Asa: So when do you expect to release the final report?
A: By the end of June. We agreed to stay on schedule for the summer. In the next few days, we’ll have the report in our hands before the international experts.
Asa: So the report will be fine?
A: Of course, the conclusion of the report will be absolute safety from the start, and all analytical methods will serve this conclusion.
Asa: Is South Korea’s Kim Hong-Seok now convinced, no way….
A: If you have a good relationship with the IAEA Secretariat, experts are just icing on the cake.
Asa: Won’t there be other opinions (異論)?
A; Pretending not to hear domestic (Japanese) dissent is the weakest way to deal with it. Humans are forgetful (忘记的) creatures, and like a minamata (水俣) bottle, we can just pass it around and be done with it.
Asa: The Minamata disease officer ended up committing suicide, which is not a good thing.
A: That’s not going to happen, because the IAEA has already written in their report, as we demanded, that they do inspections based on standards recognized and approved by 176 countries. So if South Korea, China, the Pacific Islands, etc. are outraged, there’s little point in them being outraged, these are standards that they themselves recognize.
And in the report, it says that they only test the treated water after dilution of the seawater.
Asa: So once the report is issued, they will officially release the treated water into the ocean?
3.
A: If all goes well, it will be mid to late July.
Asa: After that, there will be diplomatic and public opinion responses.
A: I won’t go into too much detail, but I’ve heard that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and TEPCO will hold briefings for third-country media.
Asa: Thank you for sharing this important information with us. If there’s anything we can do to help, please don’t hesitate to tell us.
A: I’m sharing this with you because we’re old friends. Please don’t take notes or I’ll bother you.
Asa: No worries.
Will this whistleblower be heard by anyone?
RELEASES INTERNAL IAEA DOCUMENT PROVING COLLUSION WITH JAPAN OVER FUKUSHIMA RADIOACTIVE WATER RELEASE
A whistleblower-released document created by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on June 1, 2023, shows that “the fix is in” – IAEA is not only is planning to approve the release of 1.3 million tons of radioactive water from Fukushima but to manipulate their communication to the world in support Japan’s position despite facts showing otherwise, eliminating anything that might “be viewed negatively by the public.”
This is outrageous and dangerous for the entire world. Japan, with the IAEA’s support – NOT protection – is planning to commit its own nuclear assault on the world through this radioactive water release.
We’ve suspected and accused the IAEA and Japan of working together in the past, and now we have the proof.
Please, do what you can to get this word out – not just to our echo chamber, but to media.
*********************************************
Few days ago a well-intentioned whistleblower has sent me an internal document of the IAEA.
In this IAEA’s internal document the IAEA is seen coaching TEPCO about what to tell and what not tell to the public regarding the « treated » water to be soon discharged into the Pacific Ocean.
One thing that can be drawn from that document’s content is that the IAEA and TEPCO have no intention to be fully transparent about the radioactive contamination of the said « treated water », only the one to cushion insidiously the real facts to the public eyes.
« Treated water » is quite an euphemism as it is public knowledge that in 12 years the TEPCO’s ALPs filtering system has never been capable to fully remove all the 64 radionuclides present in that radioactive water. Not even to mention the radioactive mud which has accumulated at the bottom of all those water tanks. For them to mention in their press releases only the tritium as being present in that “treated” water is their habitual lying by omission.
According to the news, Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director general of IAEA, will visit Japan on 4 July. The IAEA’s final report will be published soon and the nuclear water will be discharged into the ocean after the report.
This internal document is quite certainly making us question their future transparency, and their intention to protect truly the marine life and the health of the people. Cheap expediency, lying by omission when not just plain lying, are part of their usual modus operandi.
This whistleblower, who wishes to remain anonymous for his own protection, took a real risk leaking this document out, ascting out of his conscience as he knows from the inside the dangers of such radioactive marine pollution. Will it be enough to wake up the consciences and stop such dumping of radioactive polllution into our ocean?
Time is crucial in this matter, as for sure soon after the visit of the director general of the AIEA TEPCO will start discharging that water, and then it will be impossible to have them to stop.
I am just a blogger blogging on this little blog, I am sending this message in a bottle out to the world in the hope that someone, some journalists will take up this information and use it to influence the various governments to pressure Japan to not use our Pacific ocean as its personal trash backyard. The Asian countries neighboring Japan and the Pacific nations should protect their population from such marine radioactive pollution.
With all my prayerful wishes, asking for your help. Please share this article widely so that document will be of some use.
Many thanks to the anonymous whistleblower who did his part, now it is our turn to do ours.
Key moments of aborted Wagner revolt in Russia
https://www.rt.com/russia/578650-recap-failed-coup-wagner/ 25 June 23
RT breaks down how the private military company’s attempted rebellion unfolded
The Wagner private military company led by Evgeny Prigozhin launched an insurrection in Russia that began on Friday evening and lasted through Saturday.
The armed contractors managed to seize an army headquarters in the southern part of the country.
However, they failed to rally other units and eventually aborted their advance towards Moscow after a deal was reached with the authorities.
The agreement, which includes an amnesty for Prigozhin, was brokered by Belarusian leader, Aleksandr Lukashenko.
Simmering Wagner-MOD tensions
The private military company Wagner Group was founded by restaurateur and catering tycoon Evgeny Prigozhin. The group’s members fought alongside regular Russian troops and distinguished themselves in the bloody battle for the Donbass city of Artyomovsk, known to Ukrainians as Bakhmut.
Prigozhin is a vocal critic of the country’s top military brass. He has publicly accused Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and General Valery Gerasimov, the Chief of the General Staff, of mishandling the military operation in Ukraine. Prigozhin has also refused to sign an official contract with the Russian Defense Ministry.
Prigozhin begins ‘march on Moscow’
Late on Friday, Prigozhin accused the Russian military of striking Wagner’s field camps. The MOD quickly rejected his claim as “informational provocation.” Nevertheless, Prigozhin announced that his forces were beginning a “march for justice” with a plan to reach Moscow.
In the early hours of Saturday, an armored Wagner convoy, which included tanks, rolled into the southern city of Rostov-on-Don. In the city, Wagner members took control of the headquarters of the Southern Military District without a fight. Several gunshots were heard in Rostov later during the day, but no casualties were reported.
Putin condemns revolt
Shortly after Prigozhin declared his “march,” the Federal Security Service accused the Wagner boss of inciting an armed rebellion and opened a criminal case against him. In a video address on Saturday morning, President Vladimir Putin said Wagner’s actions were tantamount to treason, describing them as the “backstabbing of our country and our people.” He called for unity and stated that all necessary steps were being taken to restore order.
Meanwhile, counter-terrorism measures were enacted in Moscow and the surrounding Moscow Region. All public events were canceled in several cities, and traffic along major highways leading to Moscow was suspended.
Meanwhile, Prigozhin’s endeavor failed to attract support from other military units. On the contrary, several high-profile commanders and officials called on Wagner to lay down their arms.
Mutinous unit turns back after deal reached
On Saturday evening, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko, who had spoken to Prigozhin on Putin’s behalf, said the Wagner boss agreed to end his attempted insurrection in exchange for security guarantees. Prigozhin stated hours later that the Wagner convoys were halting their advance towards Moscow and returning to their bases. After some time, the regional authorities confirmed that Wagner fighters had left Rostov-on-Don.
The Kremlin said that, in order to avoid bloodshed, the case against Prigozhin would be dropped, and that he would “leave for Belarus.” Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov added that Wagner members would not be prosecuted due to “their achievements on the frontline” in Ukraine.
By excluding Russia from markets in Europe, USA ‘s nuclear industry plans to sell its small and large nuclear reactors to Poland,Romania, Slovakia, Estonia, the Czech Republic and Ukraine
in April, the U.S. announced financing of up to $4bn to deploy U.S. small modular reactors (SMRs) in Poland.
the Export–Import Bank of the United States and the Development Finance Corporation) should take on more financial risk
Domestic market stagnation requires US nuclear companies to explore the growing export market.
1 Can the U.S. export its Nuclear plants to Europe, starting with Poland?
June 23, 2023 by Matt Bowen and Sagatom Saha
The exclusion of Russia from Europe’s energy future opens a door for the U.S. to export its nuclear plants, explain Matt Bowen and Sagatom Saha at the Center on Global Energy Policy. That’s why, in April, the U.S. announced financing of up to $4bn to deploy U.S. small modular reactors (SMRs) in Poland. A successful deployment there could lead to the same in Romania, Slovakia, Estonia, the Czech Republic and Ukraine,..
, the U.S. needs to create the “one stop shop” that Russia has always offered. Financing is a priority, and the authors point at what’s missing right now. In particular, the overseas investment arms (like the Export–Import Bank of the United States and the Development Finance Corporation) should take on more financial risk than they’ve needed to in the past. Coordination, too, between the knowledge bases and expert staff in the various arms will avoid duplication of effort and accelerate project assessments. And it would help if the U.S. deployed more nuclear at home: only two new reactors have connected to the U.S. power grid this century.
United States civil nuclear diplomacy is back on the move. In April, the Export–Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) and the Development Finance Corporation (DFC) announced financing of up to $3 billion and $1 billion, respectively, to deploy US small modular reactors (SMRs) in Poland.[1] SMRs — smaller, more uniform designs intended to be factory-manufactured to lower nuclear energy costs — have benefited from congressional support and interagency interest in the Biden administration. This follows the Trump administration’s reversal of a legacy prohibition on DFC funding of US nuclear energy exports.
The US is exploring the growing export market
Domestic market stagnation (only two new reactors have connected to the US power grid this century) requires US nuclear companies to explore the growing export market.
Russia has dominated the nuclear energy marketplace, but its invasion of Ukraine has damaged its diplomatic standing and widened the opportunity for US companies. However, the window will not remain open indefinitely, and progress will hinge upon US agencies arranging financing packages that turn diplomatic handshakes into cement in the ground in Poland and elsewhere.
The Polish opportunity
With EXIM Bank and DFC having just signed letters of intent to support the deployment of the GE-Hitachi BWRX-300 SMR with Orlen Synthos Green Energy as the most recent example,[3] Poland has been the epicentre of the revival of US commercial nuclear diplomacy.
The 2020 US-Poland Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) on nuclear energy cooperation[4] was a political commitment, and in 2021 the US Trade and Development Agency funded a front-end engineering (FEED) study for potential deployment of a AP1000 nuclear power plant.[5] These developments likely facilitated Poland’s selection of the Westinghouse AP1000 for large reactor builds in 2022.[6]
Separately, Poland-headquartered mining company KGHM announced a plan in 2023 to deploy modular reactors designed by the US company NuScale Power, and in April submitted an application to the Polish Ministry of Climate and Environment to build NuScale SMRs in Poland.[7]
Successfully deploying both large-scale reactors and SMRs in Poland could accelerate progress throughout a region (Romania, Slovakia, Estonia, Czech Republic, and Ukraine)………Poland’s neighbours have, in some cases, handshake agreements to adopt US nuclear technologies. For example, at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, US special presidential envoy for climate John Kerry and Romanian president Klaus Iohannis jointly announced Romania’s intention to build NuScale SMRs. A May 2023 announcement at the G7 Leaders’ Summit included support for the Romanian SMR project of up to $275 million from the United States, Japan, Republic of Korea, and United Arab Emirates, as well as Letters of Interest issued by EXIM and DFC for potential support of up to $3 billion and $1 billion for project deployment – similar to the potential package for Poland.[8] US diplomatic efforts also contributed to the Czech Republic at least excluding Russian and Chinese companies from a tender to build a new reactor that will entail roughly $6.6 billion of investment into the country.[9]
Financing the deal
For all of the announcements, there are no done deals just yet. Part of Russia’s competitive edge in the past has stemmed from the ability of Rosatom, its state-owned enterprise, to offer a “one-stop shop” including favourable financing terms that private sector companies cannot match alone.[10] The United States will ultimately have to grapple with this challenge if it expects to be competitive in international markets.
…needs a “one stop shop” like the Russians have
To date, the US playbook in Poland has consisted of an IGA demonstrating US political commitment and an intent to finance; funding for FEED work from USTDA; and now, letters of intent from EXIM Bank and DFC. The process has been improvised and tactical, but it could be replicated elsewhere as part of a long-term, sustainable approach. The missing piece at the end — US government financing agencies’ ability to quickly finalise deals — could make the difference, especially as the United States competes with Russia and China for reactor supply deals.
The US may be able to improve the efficiency and terms of its reactor export financing offers to other countries through measures such as:
Considering improvements in staffing and interagency coordination at the DFC.………………..
- Exploring DFC equity scoring. Potential customer countries are eager for DFC equity investment in nuclear deals, but according to federal budget rules, the DFC must score its equity investments entirely as a loss with no expectation of returns — essentially as a grant.[11] This may be discouraging the DFC from exercising its ability to make equity investments, especially in capital-intensive nuclear projects.
- Evaluating EXIM Bank’s processes. EXIM Bank is subject to a statutory 2 percent default rate cap, which requires the bank to virtually freeze lending if exceeded.[12] Senior EXIM Bank officials have identified the cap as an impediment to pursuing slightly riskier projects — specifically to compete with China…………………
- Enlisting the DOE Loan Programs Office (LPO). The DOE LPO, with new funding and leadership under the Biden administration, has become an influential player in government energy financing.[14]……………………. https://energypost.eu/can-the-u-s-export-its-nuclear-plants-to-europe-starting-with-poland/
Watchdog group has concerns over nuclear micro-reactor plans
Monday, June 26th 2023, By Nestor Licanto, https://www.kuam.com/story/49121972/watchdog-group-has-concerns-over-nuclear-microreactor-plans
U.S. defense department proposal to use a nuclear micro-reactor as a power backup for the planned missile defense system on Guam is now being considered by Congress.
But a local watchdog group is sounding the alarm over the danger of the largely untested technology.
Leland Bettis of the local think tank and research group, pacific center for island security has been tracking the missile defense system plans for Guam and the potential for a nuclear micro-reactor.
“That’s not been disclosed by the MDA yet but we’ve sorta been tracking this. I think what really drew our attention was over the weekend the Senate Armed Services Committee’s executive summary, their NDAA language includes this piece which asks for a briefing for the Senate about the possibility of placing microreactors in Guam. 109
Bettis acknowledges that nuclear power has proven to be safe, and can provide huge cost savings even for private commercial use. [??]
But he believes a red line is crossed if they become targets in a combat situation.
“Just imagine if these reactors are a principal source of power for some of the measures, and counter-measures that the military is operating they’re certainly gonna be a target,” Bettis said. “That means that the environmental impact is not just about how does the nuclear reactor perform in producing power but how might a micro nuclear reactor perform if it’s targeted and hit.”
An article last year in the “Military Times” mentions Guam as a potential site for the mobile nuclear equipment.
It describes a 40-ton reactor that can fit into three to four 20-foot containers and can provide up to 5 megawatts of power.
The army has been considering the use of mobile nuclear power for years in a program called project pele, ironically named after the Hawaiian goddess of fire and volcanoes.
The benefits as a power source in remote, austere locations is clear, but there are drawbacks in battle situations.
If however that reactor is struck during conflict all the troops that are around that will be affected. So I think the concerns that they had about the use of these particular power devices for military people is magnified ten-fold when you think about the possibility that these might be placed in proximity to a civilian community.
And the military has confirmed that the planned 360-degree missile defense system could have as many as twenty different sites scatttered across the island.
Bettis says we need to know now more than ever, what’s going into each of these sites.
The people that I’ve talked to talk about a micro nuclear reactor and say if it hits you need a set-aside that’s at least a mile. That’s gonna be a very different sort of thing then if you had command and control module in your neighborhood, so I think as a community we need better transparency about what is being planned at all these locations.
US navy accused of cover-up over radioactive shipyard waste
The US navy is covering up dangerous levels of radioactive waste on a
40-acre former shipyard parcel in San Francisco’s waterside Hunters Point
neighborhood, public health advocates charge.
The land is slated to be
turned over to the city as early as next year, and could be used for
residential redevelopment. The accusations stem from 2021 navy testing that
found 23 samples from the property showed high levels of strontium-90, a
radioactive isotope that replaces calcium in bones and causes cancer.
The Environmental Protection Agency raised alarm over the levels, but the navy
in 2022 said its testing was inaccurate and produced a new set of data that
showed levels of strontium-90 lower than zero, which was dismissed by
environmental health experts as impossible.
Guardian 25th June 2023
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/jun/25/us-navy-accused-radiocative-shipyard-waste
What is the new ‘returning zone’ to be created in disaster-hit Fukushima?
June 24, 2023 (Mainichi Japan)
The Mainichi Shimbun answers some common questions readers may have about the new residence zones that will be created in parts of Fukushima Prefecture that have become uninhabitable as a result of the 2011 nuclear power plant accident.
Question: I heard that people who were unable to return to their hometowns due to the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster will be able to do so. Is it true?
Answer: Due to the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, parts of seven municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture have been designated as so-called “difficult-to-return zones” where residence is restricted due to high radiation levels. Within these zones, new “specified returning residence zones” will be established to allow those who wish to return to do so.
Q: How will this work?
A: This system is based on the revised Act on Special Measures for the Reconstruction and Revitalization of Fukushima enacted by the Diet on June 2. The new returning residence zones are set to includes homes, roads and meeting places deemed necessary for the daily lives of those who wish to return to the “difficult-to-return” zones. Decontamination will be carried out to reduce radiation levels in these areas, and then the evacuation order over the areas will be lifted………………………………………..
When the Great East Japan Earthquake hit, there were about 16,000 people living in the areas. However, only about 200 people reside there now — an apparent result of many past residents already having shifted their base of livelihood to other locations due to their prolonged displacement.
Q: How far will the scope of the new returning residence zones extend?
A: Reconstruction bases were set up in clusters of private homes and around train stations, but in the case of the new returning residence zones, the setting is likely to be limited to areas around the homes of those who wish to return. Since it remains difficult to live in an area when an evacuation order has only partially been lifted, there is strong demand for unconditional decontamination throughout the entire area.
(Japanese original by Shuji Ozaki, Minamisoma Local Bureau) https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20230623/p2a/00m/0op/028000c
Japan urged to face up to legitimate international concerns on dumping nuclear-contaminated water into ocean
By Global Times Jun 23, 2023
Japan was urged to face up to the legitimate concerns of the international community on dumping nuclear-contaminated water into ocean at the 53rd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council on Thursday. Japan’s moves are passing on the risk of nuclear pollution to all mankind that are seriously endangering the right to health of people of all countries, the Chinese representative to the council said.
The Chinese representative said that Japan’s dumping of nuclear-contaminated water into the sea violated its obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and Japan has so far failed to prove that the dumping of nuclear-contaminated water into the sea is safe and sound. The data released by Japan itself also shows that nearly 70 percent of the treated nuclear-contaminated water still fail to meet the standards.
The dumping plan is not the only way to deal with the Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water, nor is it the safest and most optimal means of disposal. However, the Japanese side chose to discharge the nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean based on economic cost, and in doing so is passing on the risk of nuclear pollution to all mankind, and is seriously endangering the right to health of people of all countries.
The Chinese representative pointed out that Japan has not followed the principle of consultation on the dumping plan of nuclear-contaminated water, and has repeatedly tried to mislead the international community, trying to cover up the uncertain risks of nuclear-contaminated water dumped into the sea under the disguise of “treated water.”………………………………….
This is not a matter for Japan alone. The Japanese side must face up to the strong opposition voices at home and abroad and the reasonable concerns of the international community, honestly fulfill its international obligations, and dispose of the nuclear-contaminated water in an open, transparent, and safest way, so as not to cause irreversible consequence, the representative noted. https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202306/1293022.shtml
Nuclear Waste Transportation Draws Opposition in West
Concerns are growing in the west about nuclear waste transportation.
On Tuesday, the Snake River Alliance is holding a webinar on these concerns, heightened by the potential of a temporary waste facility opening in New Mexico.
Kevin Kamps is the radioactive waste specialist for Beyond Nuclear. He said these fears are combined with the recent train derailment of toxic waste in Ohio.
He said the federal government and nuclear power industry are rushing to create the New Mexico temporary waste facility.
“These dumps that are proposed are called consolidated interim storage facilities, which means it’s only temporary and the waste will have to move again,” said Kamps. “So it’s really wrongheaded. It’s going to automatically double transportation risks.”
In May, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a license for the temporary waste site in New Mexico.
The Biden administration says nuclear power is a key component for the country’s clean energy future. However, state officials in New Mexico have voiced their opposition to the facility.
Nuclear waste also is a concern in Idaho. Experiments are starting on new nuclear reactor designs such as small modular reactors at the Idaho National Laboratory.
However, Kamps pointed out that recent research found these SMRs generate two to 30 times the amount of radioactive waste as traditional nuclear reactors.
“So another downside of all this SMR talk,” said Kamps, “which unfortunately Idaho is on the cutting edge of.”
Kamps said he believes the country is living on borrowed time when it comes to the potential for disaster from nuclear power.
“We really should be transitioning into a renewable energy economy in this country,” said Kamps, “which is much safer, much more secure and actually much more cost effective than nuclear power.”
Keep nuclear threats off the table
https://wordpress.com/post/nuclear-news.net/235150 24 June 23
The developing events in Russia have not yet featured explicit nuclear threats of any kind. We must hope that no such threats materialise. Yet it would be wrong to completely ignore the implicit nuclear risks embedded in what is happening.
Russia spends the third largest amount on nuclear weapons of any of the nuclear-armed states ($9.6 billion in 2022) and retains the largest declared stockpile of nuclear warheads (close to 6,000) of any such state. Russia’s ‘nuclear doctrine’ is clear that nuclear weapons may be used if there is a threat to the integrity of the state.
Like many other nations Russia has a large number of nuclear power plants: each of these is a potential nuclear disaster in the ‘best of times’ and even more so in conflict situations. Such potential risks are illustrated by ongoing concern over the status of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, which is currently occupied by Russian forces.
There are no ‘right hands’ for nuclear weapons and nuclear technology. Events such as those in Russia demonstrate the stark risks and illustrate one of the reasons why the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament calls for the abolition of nuclear weapons and an end to nuclear power.
What goes for Russia also goes for the rest of the world. For too long, actual nuclear blackmail and the prospect of such blackmail has distorted political relations within and between states. The prospect of nuclear escalation and the threat of nuclear use must end.
Whatever else transpires, CND calls on all sides to keep nuclear threats and nuclear blackmail off the table.
Suffolk campaigners vow to continue fighting Sizewell C
Campaigners have vowed to continue their fight against the “monstrous”
Sizewell C nuclear power station on the Suffolk coast despite losing a
legal challenge against the plans. The High Court announced on Thursday
that the judicial review brought by Together Against Sizewell C (TASC) had
been rejected as being ‘totally without merit’. TASC had launched the
review over the environmental impact of the project, particularly the
disposal of nuclear waste and the provision of a water supply to the
station.
East Anglian Daily Times 23rd June 2023
https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/23608074.suffolk-campaigners-vow-continue-fighting-sizewell-c/
“Brink of catastrophe” should Wagner Group “bandits” get their hands on nuclear weapons.
An ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned the world would
find itself on the “brink of catostrophe” should Wagner Group “bandits” get
their hands on nuclear weapons. Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s Security Council
Deputy Chairman issued the warning as Yevgeny Prigozhin and his mercenaries
marched towards Moscow, prior to their dramatic U-turn in order to “avoid
bloodshed”.
Mirror 25th June 2023
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/world-brink-catastrophe-wagner-gets-30316109
Chinese Boycott Over Fukushima Nuclear Plant Water Release Sinks Japanese Cosmetics
A consumer boycott in China over a planned release of water from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant is threatening to hurt Japanese cosmetics makers.
The viral campaign began earlier this month when largely unproven allegations that water discharges from the plant are hazardous to ……………………………..(subscribers only) https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-06-23/china-boycott-over-fukushima-nuclear-plant-water-release-sinks-japan-cosmetics#xj4y7vzkg
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