Surge in cancers among young in Fukushima, but experts divided on cause
… but it remained to be proven that the radioactive iodine came from the nuclear disaster instead of the normal environment…
Monday, 23 December, 2013
Fifty-nine young people in Fukushima prefecture have been diagnosed with or are suspected of having thyroid cancer, but experts are divided about whether their illness is caused by nuclear radiation.
All of them were younger than 18 at the time of the nuclear meltdown in the area in March 2011. They were identified in tests by the prefectural government, which covered 239,000 people by the end of September.
At a meeting hosted by Japan’s Environmental Ministry and the prefectural government on Saturday, most experts were not convinced radiation leaks from the Fukushima nuclear plant could trigger thyroid cancer in children so soon, the Asahi Shimbun reported yesterday.
Among those who voiced alarm was Toshihide Tsuda, a professor of epidemiology at Okayama University. He called upon the government to prepare for a possible increase in cases in the future.
“The rate at which children in Fukushima prefecture have developed thyroid cancer can be called frequent, because it is several times to several tens of times higher,” the newspaper quoted him as saying.
He compared the figures in Fukushima with cancer registration statistics throughout Japan from 1975 to 2008 that showed an annual average of five to 11 people in their late teens to early 20s developing cancer for every 1 million people.
Tetsuya Ohira, a professor of epidemiology at Fukushima Medical University, disagreed. It was not scientific to compare the Fukushima tests with cancer registry statistics, he argued.
In November, prefectural officials deemed it unlikely that the increase in suspected and confirmed cases of cancer was linked to radiation exposure.
In the Chernobyl disaster of 1986, it was not until four or five years after the accident that thyroid cancer cases surged.
“It is known that radioactive iodine is linked to thyroid cancer. Through the intake of food, people may absorb and accumulate it inside glands,” said Dr Choi Kin, a former president of the Hong Kong Medical Association.
Why you shouldn’t care if the IAEA praises Fukushima decommissioning efforts
On Friday the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) sent a cohort to the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant, and headlines trumpeted what seemed to be the first good news emerging from the smoldering wreck since the crisis began: praise for the decommissioning efforts.
But everyone missed the big question: When it comes to issues of nuclear safety, who cares what the IAEA has to say?
It’s about as disingenuous as hearing Smith & Wesson argue that gun manufacturing is inherently safe because none of the assault weapons used in (insert the last American school-yard massacre or shopping mall shoot-out) jammed or misfired.
The IAEA is the world’s biggest pro-bono shill operation for the nuclear industry. It is no more in the business of protecting the public from radiation and reactor meltdowns than the Missouri Bullet Company is in the business of protecting innocent bystanders from a drive-by shooting.
On the contrary, the IAEA has a vested PR interest in standing behind the mistakes, lies, venality, and incompetence ground out by Fukushima’s operator, the Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco), something that plays well with the passage of Japan’s new official secrecy laws.
The IAEA’s praise that “Japan has achieved good progress in improving its strategy and in allocating necessary resources to conduct a safe decommissioning of the Fukushima nuclear power station” did come with some predictable caveats that the situation remains “complex” and that there are “very challenging issues that must be solved for the plant’s long-term stability,” as Juan Carlos Lentijo, leader of the IAEA team, was quoted as saying by the BBC and everyone else.
But the issue remains that the IAEA is, despite popular opinion, and by its own adminssion, one of the least qualified organizations in the world to ensure nuclear power plant safety, and, thus, to draw any conclusions about the progress that Tepco is making toward safely decommissioning Fukushima.
The perception of the IAEA, and its affiliations with the United Nations, is that of the world’s nuclear regulator, the biggest stick on the block, created with the intention of keeping errant nuclear power operators in line.
The IAEA is not here for your safety
IAEA Director General and Japanese national Yukiya Amano – in the direct aftermath of the triple meltdown at Fukushima, occasioned by March 11, 2011’s 11-meter tsunami and 9.0 magnitude earthquake – immediately laid that perception to rest.
“Since the accident, I have tried to address some widespread misconceptions in the media about the IAEA’s role in nuclear safety,” he told his anxious countrymen 10 days after the catastrophe.
“I explained that we are not a ‘nuclear safety watchdog’ and that responsibility for nuclear safety lies with our Member States,” Amano said. And aside from sending a few expert contingents to review progress on cleaning up the world’s most impossible mess, Amano has stuck to his guns.
That’s a tough line for Amano to toe when over 200,00 people from his native country are on the run from radioactive fallout in Fukushima, and another 15,000 lie dead as a result of the tsunami and earthquake.
But given the statutes of the IAEA, it’s also a fair enough dose of tough love to dole out.
The statutes, adopted in New York on October 26, 1956, clearly define the mandate of the IAEA as the world’s official cheerleader for nuclear power.
According to the statutes: “The Agency shall seek to accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity throughout the world.”
So, what credibility does the IAEA have to say anything about “progress” in the decommissioning process at Fukushima?
Costs and Consequences of the Fukushima Daiichi Disaster
….Most have received only a small compensation to cover their costs of living as evacuees. Many are forced to make mortgage payments on the homes they left inside the exclusion zones. They have not been told that their homes will never again be habitable…
22 December 2013
The destruction of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in March 2011, caused by an earthquake and subsequent tsunami, resulted in massive radioactive contamination of the Japanese mainland. In November 2011, the Japanese Science Ministry reported that long-lived radioactive cesium had contaminated 11,580 square miles (30,000 sq km) of the land surface of Japan.[i] Some 4,500 square miles – an area almost the size of Connecticut – was found to have radiation levels that exceeded Japan’s allowable exposure rate of 1 mSV (millisievert) per year.
About a month after the disaster, on April 19, 2011, Japan chose to drastically increase its official “safe” radiation exposure levels[ii] from 1 mSv to 20 mSv per year – 20 times higher than the US exposure limit. This allowed the Japanese government to downplay the dangers of the fallout and avoid evacuation of many badly contaminated areas.
However, all of the land within 12 miles (20 km) of the destroyed nuclear power plant, encompassing an area of about 230 square miles (600 sq km), and an additional 80 square miles (200 sq km) located northwest of the plant, were declared too radioactive for human habitation.[iii] All persons living in these areas were evacuated and the regions were declared to be permanent “exclusion” zones.
The precise value of the abandoned cities, towns, agricultural lands, businesses, homes and property located within the roughly 310 sq miles (800 sq km) of the exclusion zones has not been established.
Estimates of the total economic loss range from $250[iv]-$500[v] billion US. As for the human costs, in September 2012, Fukushima officials stated that 159,128 people had been evicted from the exclusion zones, losing their homes and virtually all their possessions.
Most have received only a small compensation to cover their costs of living as evacuees. Many are forced to make mortgage payments on the homes they left inside the exclusion zones. They have not been told that their homes will never again be habitable.
More psr.org
U.S. nuclear weapon plans to cost $355 billion over a decade: CBO report
….He said while it is true U.S. nuclear forces require some modernization, the current size of the U.S. arsenal is a Cold War holdover “that is increasingly irrelevant to today’s security threats, costs billions of dollars to maintain and sucks funding from higher priority programs.”The Union of Concerned Scientists said in a report in October that some of administration’s plans to modernize the weapons were misguided and violated the spirit of its pledge not to develop new nuclear arms…..
Sunday 22 December 2013
(Reporting by David Alexander; Editing by Leslie Adler)
(Reuters) – The Obama administration’s plans for the U.S. nuclear weapons complex, including modernization of bombs, delivery systems and laboratories, will cost the country about $355 billion over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office said on Friday.
That is nearly $150 billion more than administration’s $208.5 billion estimate in a report to Congress last year, an analyst at an arms control group said, and since the modernization effort is just beginning, costs are expected to greatly increase after 2023.
The budget office said President Barack Obama had requested $23.1 billion for U.S. nuclear forces in the 2014 fiscal year, including $18 billion to maintain the weapons and supporting laboratories as well as the submarines, bombers and missiles to deliver the weapons.
In the decade to 2013, the administration’s plans to modernize and maintain submarines, bombers and missiles will cost about $136 billion, the CBO said in a 25-page report.
Weapons labs, weapons and naval reactors will cost $105 billion, and the United States will spend another $56 billion on command and control systems. Adding expected cost growth of $59 billion raises the total to $355 billion over a decade.
The estimates come as the United States is at the start of what Air Force General Robert Kehler, the head of U.S. Strategic Command, has called a “multi-decade effort to recapitalize our nuclear deterrent force and its supporting infrastructure.”
In addition to modernizing 1970s-era weapons, in some case replacing 1960s-model vacuum tubes with current-day electronics, the Pentagon will soon need to replace much of the triad of delivery systems, including a new class of ballistic missile submarines and a new type of long-range bomber.
U.S. nuclear missiles are a force in much distress
December 22, 2013
WASHINGTON — The hundreds of nuclear missiles that have stood war-ready for decades in underground silos along remote stretches of America, silent and unseen, packed with almost unimaginable destructive power, are a force in distress, if not in decline.
The number of intercontinental ballistic missiles is dwindling, their future defense role is in doubt, and missteps and leadership lapses this year have raised questions about how the force is managed.
One missile officer lamented about “rot” inside the force, and an independent assessment for the Air Force found signs of “burnout” among missile launch crews.
Also, four ICBM launch officers were disciplined this year for violating security rules by opening the blast door to their underground command post while one crew member was asleep.
Once called America’s “ace in the hole,” the ICBM is the card never played. None has ever been fired in anger.
Some say that proves its enduring value as a deterrent to war. To others it suggests the weapon is a relic.
Its potential for mass destruction nonetheless demands that it be handled and maintained with enormous care and strict discipline for as long as U.S. leaders keep it on launch-ready status.
Today it is the topic of a debate engaged in by relatively few Americans: What role should ICBMs play in U.S. defense, and at what financial cost, given a security scene dominated by terrorism, cyberthreats and the spread of nuclear technologies to Iran and North Korea?
The Congressional Budget Office on Friday estimated strategic nuclear forces would cost the Pentagon $132 billion over the next 10 years, based on current plans. That would include $20 billion for the ICBM force alone. It does not include an estimated $56 billion for the 10-year cost of communications and other systems needed to command and control the nuclear force.
Pie in the sky? – The UK Government is considering to 75 Gigawatts of nuclear power by 2050
http://nextbigfuture.com/2013/12/the-uk-government-is-considering.html
22 December 2013
The current programme announced by ministers is to build 12 reactors to supply 16 gigawatts at five sites. The higher figure equates to more than 50 new large-scale modern reactors. The committee has been given the task of assessing the number of disposal facilities that might be required for the waste that will be produced by new nuclear power stations. It notes that the 16-gigawatt programme is only the “first tranche” and is “substantially below the 75 gigawatts upper limit being examined in [the Department of Energy and Climate Change]”.
The upper limit echoes a scenario outlined by the energy department in a 2011 report, outlining its vision for a low-carbon future. It suggested 75 gigawatts of nuclear power – enough to provide 86% of UK electricity – could be brought on line by 2050. “Nuclear energy is vital for our energy security and we want it to be part of the energy mix in the future, alongside renewables and clean coal and gas,” a department spokeswoman said. “It’s important to model potential scenarios to plan for our future energy needs, but we haven’t set any targets for the amount of new nuclear to be developed.”
Nuclear survival saga to film in New Zealand
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11176825&ref=rss
Pictures on link
Monday Dec 23, 2013
A star-studded film set in a remote valley which survives a nuclear holocaust will be shot in New Zealand early next year.
Film New Zealand confirmed yesterday that filming on Z for Zachariah – based on the 1974 science fiction children’s novel by Robert O’Brien – would begin in Canterbury late next month.
The movie will be produced by Hollywood star Tobey Maguire’s company and will star Chris Pine, Amanda Seyfried and 2014 Golden Globe nominee Chiwetel Ejiofor.
The filmmakers decided to use New Zealand after scouting for locations last month.
Japan to Extend Fukushima Radiation Cleanup work by up to Three Years
http://www.fananews.com/en/?p=191376
2013.12.22
0050 General
Tokyo, December 22 (QNA) – The Japanese government will have to extend its decontamination work following the 2011 crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant by a maximum of three years, government officials said Sunday.
The Environment Ministry will shortly release a new schedule for radiation cleanup work, which was scheduled to be completed by the March 31 end of fiscal 2013 under the initial plan, Japanese news agency (Kyodo) quoted officials as saying.
The government will try to complete the work before reorganizing in fiscal 2017 areas around the crippled plant, currently divided into three zones based on radiation levels.(QNA)
QNA 1651 GMT 2013/12/22
Fukushima I NPP: Radioactive Cesium, All-Beta Detected from Groundwater Sample 25 Meters from the Ground Surface
Saturday, December 21, 2013
http://ex-skf.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/fukushima-i-npp-radioactive-cesium-all.html
The groundwater sample from the observation hole dug 25 meters from the ground surface in between the turbine buildings for Reactor 3 and Reactor 4 (No. H25J7) was found with:
- Cesium-134: 1.6 Bq/Liter
- Cesium-137: 2.8 Bq/L
- All-beta: 67 Bq/L
after dirt particles were filtered out.
So far, radioactive materials (cesium, all-beta, tritium) have been detected from groundwater samples from the shallower, upper permeable layer. This is the first detection of radioactive materials from the groundwater below the level of the in-the-ground impermeable wall made of waterglass that is still being built closer to the plant harbor.
TEPCO says (handout for the press, 12/20/2013) they don’t know whether that means:
- The lower permeable layer (25 meters from the ground surface) is contaminated; or
- Radioactive materials entered the groundwater when the observation hole was dug; or
- The water from the upper permeable layer somehow entered the lower permeable layer; or
- The water got contaminated when it was being sampled.
The handout shows the particular location (observation hole No. H25J7) to be close to the turbine buildings of Reactor 3 and Reactor 4:
As far as I’m aware, it is only TV Asahi who covered this news on December 20:
Japanese net citizens on Twitter and message boards who heard about the news (it doesn’t look to be many) are all doom and gloom, having already come to the conclusion that the lower permeable layer is contaminated (TEPCO’s hypothesis No.1).
Evidence of a cataract epidemic in Miyagi Prefecture after the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
仙台市の病院で白内障手術が急増 ’09年395件,’10年399件,’11年514件,’12年784件 Operation of cataract increased in Sendai hospitals:
395 in 2009,
399 in 2010,
514 in 2011,
784 in 2012.
The data from the official website of the Japan Labour Health and Welfare Organization.
Tohoku hospital in Aoba-ku, Sendaishi-city, Miyagi prefecture
http://www.tohokuh.rofuku.go.jp/
Above graph from here… http://bran7.net/archives/43285
Evidence of soil contamination in Miyagi Prefecture Contamination by Cesium 137 and Cesium 134 from 60 Km to approximately 150 Km north of the Fukushima Daichi disater site..
Radioactive contamination in soil in Izunuma area in Kkurihara-city, Miyagi prefecture
Cs137：2100 Bq/Kg（検出下限minimum limit of detection 40.7）
Cs134：870 Bq/Kg（検出下限minimum limit of detection 10.4）
Total Cesium – Cs合計：2970 Bq/Kg（検出下限minimum limit of detection 51.1）
| Meet Grigorij Nikolaevich Sorikov Pensioner, Bartolomeevka village, Belarus |
“The day after the accident there was an old aeroplane, an E2 I think, flying very low, about 300 metres above ground, to and fro, to and fro. It shot at the clouds and then it rained here. I myself saw how it did it. The plane flew to and fro like a rifleman – to and fro, to and fro. First there was a cloud and then it disappeared. The clouds fell down to earth as rain. The sky cleared.”
Grigorij rolls a cigarette from a piece of torn newspaper and his homemade tobacco, leans back on the wooden bench and looks out over his radioactive garden. He has a glass eye, so he can only see the garden with one eye, which has a cataract. He is a happy man, a born optimist, and despite the lack of electricity in the village he loves living in a beautiful place with green trees. It is peaceful, it costs nothing to live here and there is water in the well nearby.
Many people living permanently in the radioactive areas have this type of eye problem. Shortly after the Chernobyl accident the doctors in the provincial town Gomel had to stop all eye operations in order to avoid bleeding. Grigorij knows nothing about this. He feels healthy and well and sees nothing strange in the fact that he has had problems with his eyes when he was in his fifties. ”I was examined by the doctor and there’s nothing wrong. They came in an ambulance and examined me. They took samples of the vegetables. I haven’t heard from them since, so everything must be OK, ” says Grigorij and invites us inside for a glass of vodka……….
More here
Nuclear Hotseat #130: Friends of the Earth nuclear campaigner Dr. Jim Green
http://www.nuclearhotseat.com/category/podcast/
DOWNLOAD HERE:
http://lhalevy.audioacrobat.com/download/0fe65433-78d8-a1d3-6575-8c521c3f78e2.mp3
INTERVIEW: Dr. Jim Green is Nuclear Campaigner for Friends of the Earth in Australia. What’s that country’s culpability for Fukushima? How does the country function as a “nuclear umbrella” for the US? How racist are Australia’s nuclear mining policies? And was “On the Beach” right, is it really safer from radiation Down Under than in the Northern Hemisphere? All that and more…
See what Australia’s nuclear issues look like at: www.AustralianMap.net
NUMNUTZES OF THE WEEK:
- Scientists propose getting rid of nuclear waste by injecting it into fracking boreholes – two bad energy policies in one!
- TEPCO loses the plant schematics for Fukushima after 3/11/11 — and no one has a duplicate copy!
- EVIL NUMNUTZ: Japan’s National Cancer Institute releases a comic book that tells children that half of them will get cancer but they need to practice “prevention.” Blame the victim much?
PLUS:
- 83-year-old Sister Megan Rice continues her anti-nuclear activism in jail while facing a possible 30-year prison sentence for last year’s civil disobedience against the Oak Ridge Y12 National Security Complex. There’s a call for Pope Francis to acknowledge and champion her.
Sister Megan Rice, flanked by peaceful protesters Michael Walli and Gregory Boertje-Obed
- US Energy Department gives CA company $226 million to build “tiny” nuclear reactors – but how small are they?
- Indian anti-nuclear protesters complete 365 day relay hunger strike against proposed new reactor in Kovvada.
Indian anti-nuclear protesters at Kovvada
- Fukushima refugee Miki testifies about people dying from radiation in Japan:
Fukushima cancer spike and nuclear industry denial – Graham Bates
….Dr Baverstock reports to the British journal Nature about the WHO validating research done in Belarus and Ukraine documenting a 30 fold increase in thyroid cancer in radiation victims, completely discrediting the IAEA report of Dr Fred Mettler Jr.
Despite this, Dr Mettler Jr secured a position with the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP). He was also chosen as the U.S. representative on the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR)…..
5 December 2013
There’s been a spike of thyroid cancer cases in the Fukushima, like there was in Chernobyl after its nuclear disaster. And like Chernobyl, writes Capt. Graham Bates, the nuclear industry is trying to deny the events are related.
ON 11 MARCH 2011, the world witnessed another Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) disaster, this time involving the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan. An earthquake, followed by a tsunami, created the worst nuclear disaster on Earth.
The mainstream media has been relatively quiescent about the continuing Fukushima disaster. This is about to change.
Massive amounts of toxic radionuclides and water continue leaking from the reactors and the Spent Fuel Storage Pools (SFSP) into the Pacific Ocean. Scientific studies prove that radiation-induced insect mutations, high radiation levels in fish and alarmingly, rates of human cancers are increasing.
In the aftermath of the Fukushima NPP explosions, the extent of the massive damage is almost beyond belief.
Radioactive isotopes created by fission
Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) operate when the neutron decay of Uranium-238 (238U) and Uranium-235 (235U) undergoes a fission reaction where atoms are split within the fuel rods contained inside the reactor.
Thus begins the fission chain reaction used to create energy ⇒ heat water to steam ⇒ drive turbines ⇒ create electricity ⇒ distribute to the electrical grid:
A single neutron strikes the fissile atom (nucleus), splitting the 235U and 238U atoms into fragments and the fission reaction starts. The fuel type used in Units 1,2,4,5 and 6 at Fukushima was Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) that contains approx 3-4% 235U mixed in with 238U.
Unit 3 was using a blend of mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel with approximately 6% plutonium, 239Pu. The reactor core contents (radionuclides) create 3 different types of radiation. This radiation is dangerous to all living organisms and the only protection from alpha, beta and gamma radiation is achieved as follows:
These materials only offer protection for external radiation. However, when people breathe, drink, eat or wear clothes contaminated with radionuclides there is no protection. The fission fragments end up forming the following common radionuclides:
The most dangerous radionuclides are tritium, caesium, iodine and strontium, because they are absorbed by our bodies.
The absorption of radionuclides is dangerous to us all.
They are immensely dangerous to children due to their rapid growth rates. This significantly increases trace-element uptake. This is where chemistry + physics + biology all interact to absorb reactor meltdown products.
Radionuclides ⇒ dispersed ⇒ air, water and soils ⇒ plants, birds, fish and animals ⇒ food chain ⇒ human absorption ⇒ contamination within organs and tissues ⇒ replacement of trace elements in our anatomy ⇒ effects on physiology ⇒ mutations, cancer and death.
- Tritium (radioactive H-3) — water contaminant: Half-life = 12 years
- Caesium-137 — like potassium, is absorbed by muscles: Half-life = 30 years
- Iodine-131 — is absorbed by the thyroid: Half-life = 8 days
- Strontium-90 — like calcium, absorbed by bones/teeth: Half-life = 29 years
(To calculate the time for a return to safe radiation levels, multiply the half-life by a factor of 10.)
Today at Fukushima, the nuclear fission reaction has escaped containment control. The fission process continues outside the reactors, underground and is producing all of these radioactive products (and more) with unstoppable air and sea plume releases.
Radioactive cesium levels in Miyagi forest soil up since 2011
Kyodo
SENDAI – Levels of radioactive cesium in soil and on the ground of two forests in Miyagi Prefecture have risen since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster started, according to results of a recent survey.
In forests about 60 km and 120 km north of the severely damaged Fukushima No. 1 power plant, cesium is believed to be accumulating in the soil as cesium-contaminated leaves fall to the ground and decompose.
The government of Miyagi Prefecture, which measured cesium density in June 2012 and a year later in the two cedar forests, is worried about the impact on forestry and related industries if the trend persists, an official said.
In a forest in the town of Marumori closer to Fukushima, the average cesium level of 10 samples of fallen quills was 26,684 becquerels per kilogram in June 2012, but rose to 42,759 becquerels a year later. And the level in soil up to 10 cm deep increased from 721 becquerels to 3,225 becquerels, according to the study.
In a forest in Ishinomaki, even farther from the damaged nuclear plant, the level climbed about 50 percent to 3,611 becquerels among fallen quills and by 2.5-fold to 620 becquerels in soil.
In these forests where all cedar tree quills are replaced about every five years, the level of cesium among fallen quills could fall over a longer period, but may also remain in the ecosystem by being absorbed from the soil by trees, the official said.
The results differ from a study the Forestry Agency conducted in 2011 and 2012 in three municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture, which found levels of cesium increasing in soil but declining in fallen foliage.
High levels of Radioactive contamination in soil in Miyagi prefecture north of Fukushima
18 December 2013
http://sokuteikak.exblog.jp/21103494/
Radioactive contamination in soil in Izunuma area in Kkurihara-city, Miyagi prefecture
Cs137：2100 Bq/Kg（検出下限minimum limit of detection 40.7） Cs134：870 Bq/Kg（検出下限minimum limit of detection 10.4） Total Cesium - Cs合計：2970 Bq/Kg（検出下限minimum limit of detection 51.1） 測定時間 time length of measurement：3600秒/1時間 3600 seconds/hour V7容器（85ｍｌ）
http://sokuteikak.exblog.jp/21103494/
Japanese Fisheries Agency seeks to banish fears over radioactive fish with a nice tour of a “facility” and with some soothing words
…There are also doubts about the process of supervision. For example, each province has its own inspection programme. For example, each prefecture has its own survey programme, but there was no clarification regarding unified standards and methods to carry out the tests….
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
The Fisheries Agency of Japan invited the media to tour a research facility in Onjuku, Chiba Prefecture, in an effort to address the concerns of Japanese and foreigners around possible radioactive contamination of fish from the country waters.
These fears are a result of the accident suffered by the Fukushima nuclear plant in March 2011, when an earthquake and tsunami rocked Japan.
The visit attracted foreign journalists and embassy officials, and was aimed at showing the monitoring process that is carried out to ensure that the fish is safe for consumption, reported The Japan Times.
The tests not only are applied to the fish that remain in the area, but also to those who travel long distances, to seasonal species that are popular with consumers and especially groundfish, since radioactive materials tend to settle on the ocean floor.
If fish samples exceed the safety limit, the species caught in the same area are not sent to markets.
However, there is a feeling that this initiative is carried out rather late.
“I was surprised to know that this is the first tour. It’s been almost three years from the nuclear accident,” said Andres Sanchez Braun, a reporter at EFE news agency.
Currently, the central government asks the prefectures of Hokkaido, Aomori, Iwate, Miyagi, Fukushima, Ibaraki and Chiba, to test fish caught in the Pacific and each prefecture draws up a monitoring regimen based on guidelines.
NEI “dismayed” “feeling spurned” – it really wants a nuclear White House climate order, in order!
12/17/2013
http://generationhub.com/2013/12/17/nei-wants-nuclear-in-white-house-climate-order
The Nuclear Energy Institute has expressed its dismay with a recent order from the White House that requires all executive branch agencies to obtain 20 percent of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2020 but neglects to acknowledge the role of nuclear energy in reducing the country’s carbon emissions.
“It is extremely disappointing that the mandate to federal agencies did not include instructions to procure electricity from nuclear power plants as part of the federal government’s initiative to reduce carbon emissions,” NEI President and CEO Marvin Fertel noted in a Dec. 12 letter to President Obama.
Fertel said the nuclear energy industry believes that the Dec. 5 Presidential Memorandum to executive agencies, part of the administration’s climate action plan, should be taken as a broad-based commitment to reduce carbon emissions and not “just a mandate to promote only renewable energy.”
Fertel notes that the administration has already acknowledged the major role that nuclear energy can and must play “in any credible national plan to reduce carbon emissions” and continues to support the development of nuclear technology both domestically and overseas
1 This Month
petition to oppose the rapid increase of space-military industry threatening Jeju Island and the region.
[Petition by April 19th (KST)] Stop the joint military-Hanwha Systems-Jeju Provincial Government Sea Launch!
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/2352741955560
of the week–London Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Tell the Ukrainian Government to Drop Prosecution of Peace Activist Yurii Sheliazhenko
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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