After 3 years of taint-free rice, Fukushima mulls review of checks
February 16, 2018
A harvested rice bag is certified as having passed a radiation level inspection in Naraha, Fukushima Prefecture, on Oct. 5, 2016.
FUKUSHIMA–Authorities are weighing random checks instead of blanket radiation testing of rice grown in the prefecture as three years have passed without incident.
There has not been a single case during that time of tainted rice exceeding the national safety standard, officials explained.
Blanket checks were introduced in 2012 in response to the triple meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant the year before and consumer concerns about food safety.
Harvested rice is checked bag by bag for certification before shipment. The safety threshold is set by the government at 100 becquerels per kilogram.
But some farmers’ groups and other parties remain wary of a switch to random inspections due to lingering suspicions that rice from Fukushima Prefecture remains hazardous.
Since blanket checks began, prefectural officials have inspected 60 million or so bags of rice totaling 2.1 million tons. Not a single instance of tainted rice has emerged since 2015.
Given that exhaustive steps have been taken to reduce the absorption in crops of radioactive substances and that the inspection process places a burden on farmers and related parties, officials are trying to find the best timing to implement a review of the testing method.
Fukushima Prefecture announced plans in January to review the process, but for the time being will keep blanket checks in place.
Discussions are being held to introduce random inspections in as early as three years. A decision will be announced in fiscal 2018.
Authorities also plan a publicity blitz to put lingering safety concerns to rest about grain from Fukushima.
Other agricultural products from the prefecture are subject to random testing.
Agricultural experts and others have no qualms about switching to random testing, but the Japan Agricultural Cooperative in Fukushima is calling for discussions to first elaborate on what random inspections will entail to help alleviate safety concerns and restore the reputation of rice grown in the prefecture.
In 2010, before the nuclear disaster unfolded, Fukushima Prefecture ranked fourth in terms of rice production with annual output at around 445,000 tons.
Even after the disaster, it has ranked within the top 10.
However, the wholesale price of Fukushima rice has not returned to pre-disaster levels in spite of the blanket inspections.
A survey by a consumer affairs group in the prefecture in 2017 found that 66.2 percent of 1,550 respondents favor continued blanket testing.
Although the figure was 6.9 points lower than a survey the previous year, it still shows that food safety concerns remains a major issue.
Fukushima town of Namie to launch radioactive decontamination work around May
February 16, 2018
Around May, decontamination work will begin in the town of Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, to make some of its most radioactive areas habitable again, the government said.
Namie was hit hard by the Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent tsunami and nuclear disaster in 2011, and entry is effectively prohibited for about 80 percent of it.
By March 2023, the government hopes to lift the evacuation order for three parts consisting of 660 hectares. The areas scheduled for decontamination cover about 3.7 percent of the town.
To rebuild areas tainted by the triple core meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power, the government approved a plan submitted by Namie on Dec. 22.
Similar efforts got underway in neighboring Futaba in December and more are scheduled to start in the town of Okuma in March. The two towns cohost the crippled plant. The first round in Namie will cover about 30 hectares.
On March 11, 2011, tsunami inundated the six-reactor plant and knocked out its power supply. This crippled the reactors’ cooling systems, leading to core meltdowns in reactors 1 to 3. It is the world’s worst nuclear catastrophe since Chernobyl in 1986.
Mysterious and ‘HIGHLY UNUSUAL’ radioactive substance detected in Alaska
Feb 15, 2018
SCIENTISTS have discovered an atmospheric aerosol particle enriched with uranium in Alaska which is used in nuclear fuel and bombs – and no-one can explain why the substance is there or how it arrived.
Experts from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said they have found a “highly unusual aerosol particle containing a very small amount of enriched uranium” .
The substance with the uranium-235 have been found for the first time in 20 years of searches, say experts.
This particle can fuel nuclear reactions, are used in nuclear power plants, can damage organic material and cause mutations that lead to cancer.
The scientists said: “The bulk of the particle probably came from combustion of heavy fuel oil.
“The particle was encountered when we were making no special attempt to sample radioactive material.
“We don’t know the source for this particle. It may indicate a novel source where enriched uranium was dispersed.”
They believe the particle could have come from across Asia and was brought to the spot by the winds.
The researchers say the the sample was “definitely not from a natural source” but could have come from burnt nuclear fuel.
The scientists made the findings when their research plane was flying over the Aleutian Islands in 2016 and detected the uranium floating about four miles above Alaska’s far-western island chain.
Leader of the study, Dan Murphy, said to Gizmodo: “It’s not a significant amount of radioactive debris by itself. “But it’s the implication that there’s some very small source of uranium that we don’t understand.
One of the main motivations of this paper is to see if somebody who knows more about uranium than any of us would understand the source of the particle.”
The full findings have been published in the Journal of Environmental Radioactivity.
After the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in 2011 in Japan, experts became concerned about radiation impacts in Alaska as three reactors melted down. However, as the particle was found in 2016, the two are unlikely to be linked.
Photo collection shot inside Fukushima nuke plant to be released in March
The building housing reactor No. 3 of the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant still shows stark signs of the disaster in September 2016
Photographer Joe Nishizawa will offer a rare look inside the Fukushima nuclear plant damaged in the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster with the release this March of a photo book recording of decommissioning work over a 3 1/2-year period.
Published by Misuzu Shobo, “Decommissioning Fukushima: A Photographer’s Journey into the Depths of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant” will present roughly 150 photos of workers in protective gear and restorative efforts, arranged to show the passage of time. “I want to convey the scene exactly as it is,” the Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture-based photographer explains.
For the last 15 years, Nishizawa has taken photos of steel work factories, expressways and other construction scenes to cover Japan at various work sites. After the nuclear disaster occurred on March 11, 2011, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) released photos but they were blurred and difficult to make out. Nishizawa said he felt the need to document the state of the reactor for future generations. After negotiating with TEPCO, the photographer was granted access to the plant roughly once a month.
Wearing a mask and a protective suit covering his entire body, he first stepped foot on the grounds of the nuclear plant in July 2014. At the time, there was still debris on the premises scattered along the coastline and the destruction from the accident was still starkly evident. Once, a worker at whom he pointed his camera glared back and asked, “Just what are you photographing?”
Still, he continued to document the equipment used to purify water contaminated by radioactive materials, as well as the construction site filled with tanks of processed water. Along with the flow of time, Nishizawa also sensed the gradual progress of decommissioning efforts. Still, radiation levels around the reactor buildings are high, and the difficult labor conditions continue to this day.
“The decommissioning won’t end with this generation,” says Nishizawa. “We can’t afford to let the accident fade into the past, so I will continue taking photographs.”
Japan to start nuclear cleanup of Fukushima town, Namie, around May
In this July 27, 2017 file photo, contaminated water storage tanks are seen on the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant grounds, in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture.
TOKYO (Kyodo) — Nuclear decontamination work using state funds will begin around May in Namie, a town in northeastern Japan hit hard by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, to make some of its most-contaminated areas habitable again, the government said Thursday.
The government is seeking to lift an evacuation order for three areas in the town, covering about 660 hectares, by March 2023.
The order currently covers about 80 percent of Namie in Fukushima Prefecture, and the areas to be decontaminated make up some 3.7 percent of it where entry is prohibited in principle.
On Dec. 22, the government approved a plan submitted by the town to rebuild the areas affected by meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Similar rebuilding efforts have been underway in the neighboring town of Futaba since December and are also scheduled to begin in the town of Okuma in March.
For Namie, the first round of work covers some 30 hectares of land.
On March 11, 2011, a tsunami inundated the six-reactor plant located in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, and flooded the power supply facilities.
Reactor cooling systems were crippled and the Nos. 1 to 3 reactors suffered fuel meltdowns in the world’s worst nuclear catastrophe since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.
How did the Fukushima disaster affect air pollution?
February 14, 2018
In March 2011, a post-earthquake tsunami triggered nuclear meltdowns, hydrogen-air explosions and the release of radioactive materials from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. The Fukushima disaster has been called the most significant nuclear incident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. Professor Rodney C. Ewing, Frank Stanton Professor in Nuclear Security and co-director at the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) in the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies (FSI), as a member of a team of Japanese researchers, today published a report on the details of what exactly — at the particle level — was released into the air after the disaster.
In the discussion that follows, Ewing explains the team’s findings and why they are important for health and environmental safety.
Why did you decide to study the Fukushima disaster?
The Fukishima Daiichi event surprised me. I now teach a freshman seminar on this event. I am particularly interested to understand why the accident occurred and what the long-term impact will be on the environment. This research paper reflects my interest in answering these questions.
We’ve heard lots about possible health effects from contaminated water after the Fukushima disaster, but less about particulates in the air. What did you find?
During the core melt-down events at Fukushima Daiichi, radioactivity was released as fine particulates that traveled in the air, sometime for distances of tens of kilometers, and settled onto the surrounding countryside.
In order to understand the health risk, it is very important to understand the form and chemistry of these particulates.
Recently, in a previous paper we have described a new type of particulate that is Cs-rich (some Cs isotopes are highly radioactive). The highly radioactive Cs-rich particles formed in the reactor by condensation from a silica-rich vapor, formed from the melting of core and concrete structures. In this paper, we describe the first identification of fragments of the melted core that were entrapped by the Cs-particles and transported away from the reactor site, some 4 kilometers. This is an important discovery because this provides us with samples of the fuel and melted core.
This is a special contribution because it uses very advanced electron microscopy techniques that allow for imaging of individual atoms or clusters of atoms. This advanced technique is required because the particles are so small — nanometers in size.
How did you come to work with your collaborators in Japan?
I have had long standing collaborations with Japanese scientists for decades. The lead researcher for the group, Professor Satoshi Utusunomiya, was once a member of my research group when I was at the University of Michigan. We have always collaborated on topics that involve radioactive materials and the use of electron microscopy. This collaboration is an entirely natural outgrowth of previous collaborations.
What, if any, policy recommendations would you suggest based on your findings?
The most direct result would be to design monitoring systems so that we have a good record of released particulates. Also, we need to push the development of advanced analytical techniques so that these particulates can be quickly identified and characterized.
Japan Ships First Seaweed, Farmed 6 Miles from Fukushima Meltdowns, for Human Consumption
February 14, 2018
Fukushima Prefecture, Japan — On February 5, 2018, a mere seven years after a disastrous triple nuclear meltdown, Japan’s Fukushima Prefecture is once again harvesting and shipping green laver seaweed as a food product. An article in the Japan Times cited “officials” as having said the seaweed had radiation levels far below the safety limit. Local co-op members believe the seaweed is ready to be processed and eaten, but many consumers aren’t so sure.
“Matsukawaura green laver features a good scent,” Yuichi Okamura, a 62-year-old member of a local fishery cooperative told the Japan Times. “It’s as beautiful as before the disaster.”
Approximately 754 kilograms (1659 pounds) of the aqua farmed vegetation was shipped to local processors after being dried to remove pebbles and other objects. It is used primarily for ramen and soy sauce, and in the beginning will only be available locally. The test farming area is about 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the Fukushima meltdown site.
As Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) attempts to decommission the nuclear plant, it has admitted that contaminated water seeping into the ground has caused problems. The Independent reported on February 2, 2018, “the energy firm found eight sieverts per hour of radiation, while 42 units were also detected outside its foundations.”
“Although the radiation levels identified are high, a threat to human health is very unlikely because apart from workers at the site, no one goes there,” Richard Black, Director of the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit, told The Independent.
Not everyone agrees with Black’s assessment of the situation though. Independent energy consultant and lead author of the World Nuclear Industry Status Report Mycle Schneider, told The Independent he sees the possibility of a “global” disaster.
“This can get problematic anytime, if it contaminates the ocean there is no local contamination, the ocean is global, so anything that goes into the ocean goes to everyone,” said Schneider. “It needs to be clear that this problem is not gone, this is not just a local problem. It’s a very major thing.”
Nori Seaweed
In February of 2017, TEPCO reported radiation levels at Fukushima’s Daiichi No. 1 power plant were the highest they had been able to record in the containment vessel of reactor no. 2 since the disaster. TEPCO explained the extraordinary measurement of 530 sieverts an hour came from a specialized robot that focused on one point and was able to get closer to the melted cores than ever before. The measurement dwarfed the previous high of 73 sieverts per hour. A single dose of one sievert would cause radiation sickness and nausea; a person exposed to one dose of 10 sieverts would be dead in a matter of weeks.
In spite of media reports to the contrary, no amount of exposure to ionizing radiation is safe. According to a National Research Council report released in 2005, any exposure could lead to cell damage and subsequent cancer. EnviroNews has repeatedly documented the danger of any radiation exposure and called out other media resources, which have repeated false assertions that low-level ionizing radiation is safe.
No Fukui evac plan needed for simultaneous nuclear accidents: Cabinet documents
Government officials see no need to draft a new evacuation plan for the possibility of simultaneous nuclear accidents taking place at the Takahama (above) and Oi nuclear power plants in Fukui Prefecture.
FUKUI – The central government and the Fukui Prefectural Government have determined there is no need to craft a new evacuation plan in case of a twin nuclear accident there, Cabinet Office documents show.
In a meeting last month, state and prefectural officials confirmed that a simultaneous accidents at the Takahama and Oi nuclear power plants can be dealt with under the plants’ existing evacuation plans, which were compiled separately by each plant, said the documents, which were obtained Sunday.
The meeting involved officials from the Cabinet Office, the Fukui, Shiga and Kyoto prefectural governments, and Kansai Electric Power Co., which runs the atomic plants.
The consensus at the meeting was that simultaneous nuclear accidents can be dealt with under the existing plans because the evacuation sites don’t overlap, a Fukui prefectural official said.
The two nuclear plants are about 13.5 km apart. About 160,000 to 180,000 people live within 30 km from each of the plants.
Fukushima 7th Anniversary Events List
Fukushima 7th Anniversary Events List As of today this is the list of the major events organized in various countries and towns worldwide for the commemoration of the March 11 2011 beginning of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, ongoing for 7 years now:
JAPAN
In Koriyama – March 11 3・11 Fukushima Anti Nuclear Action ‘ 18 Location : KORIYAMA City Cultural Center , Big Hall Starts at 13:00 After the rally we have demonstration to Koriyama Station http://fukushimaaction.blog.fc2.com/blog-entry-361.html
In Tokyo — March 9 http://www.foejapan.org/energy/evt/180309.html
In Osaka – March 17 https://www.facebook.com/events/1955332334716083/
In Kyoto – March 11 https://www.facebook.com/events/1599975136756649/
SOUTH KOREA
In Seoul March 10 from 13:00~17:00.
Place: Gwanghwamun Square, King Sejong the Great, + Gwanghwamun march
https://www.facebook.com/311fukushimaparade/
USA
In New York – March 10 https://www.facebook.com/events/802843189916923/
In San Francisco – March 11 The 68th Every 11th of Month No Nukes Rally in San Francisco, in front of the S.F. Japanese Consulate
In Richmond, Virginia – March 11 at 11 AM – 12 PM Remembering Fukushima
https://www.facebook.com/events/786967918175803/
UNITED KINGDOM
In London – March 9 – March 11 – March 14 https://www.facebook.com/events/336322393516248/
FRANCE
In Paris – March 11 http://www.sortirdunucleaire.org/11-mars-2018-grand-rassemblement-pour-la-sortie
In Flamanville – March 15 https://leblogdejeudi.fr/tag/cano/
In Grenoble – March 17 at 6pm Conferences Meeting with three families evacuated from Fukushima Mothers’ tour to protect children from radiation after the Fukushima accident. Bibliothèque Centre-Ville 10 Rue de la République 38000 GRENOBLE
Mail : voisins311@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/events/1986157938311149/
In Valence – March 19 at 8:30pm Conferences Meeting with three families evacuated from Fukushima Mothers’ tour to protect children from radiation after the Fukushima accident. Maison pour Tous Petit Charran 30 Rue Henri Dunant 26000 VALENCE
Mail : voisins311@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/events/1986157938311149/
In Lyon – March 20 at 7pm Conferences Meeting with three families evacuated from Fukushima Mothers’ tour to protect children from radiation after the Fukushima accident. Hôtel Novotel Lyon Confluence 3 Rue Paul Montrochet 69002 LYON
Mail : voisins311@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/events/1986157938311149/
SWITZERLAND
In Geneva – March 16 Conferences Meeting with three families evacuated from Fukushima Mothers’ tour to protect children from radiation after the Fukushima accident.
Mail : voisins311@gmail.com
BELGIUM
In Namur – March 8 https://www.quefaire.be/tu-n-as-rien-vu-a-fukushima-843749.shtml
RUSSIA
In Saint Petersburg – March 11 https://www.facebook.com/events/1882949795348632/
GERMANY
In Berlin – March 10 https://www.facebook.com/events/204920653395925/
In Regensburg – April 26 https://www.facebook.com/events/169657723642015/
AUSTRALIA
In New South Wales – March 11 https://www.facebook.com/events/343840736130676/permalink/343966142784802/
J-Village soccer center in Fukushima to partially reopen in July
Feb 13, 2018
The president of the J Village is Governor of Fukushima.
A vice-president is Tepco’ member.
A vice-president is Tepco’ member.
Construction work continues at J-Village, a national soccer training center that was used by workers dealing with the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis, in this photo taken in March last year. The facility is set to be partially reopened in July.
FUKUSHIMA – The J-Village national soccer training center in Fukushima Prefecture will partially reopen on July 28, more than seven years after the facility was forced to close due to the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster, its operator said Tuesday.
After the reopening, six soccer grounds — five with natural grass and one with synthetic turf — will be available, as well as a lecture hall with a capacity of some 300 people. The capacity of accommodation facilities will be increased to 200 rooms, about twice the pre-disaster level.
J-Village, located in the Fukushima towns of Naraha and Hirono, was used by thousands of workers dealing with the aftermath of the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and meltdowns at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
“We’ll make efforts so that J-Village will become a place that attracts many people with the power of sports again and serves as a symbol of reconstruction in Fukushima,” Eiji Ueda, vice president of the operator, Japan Football Village Co., said at a news conference.
J-Village is expected to fully reopen in the spring of 2019
Drone to probe Fukushima N-plant interior
February 10, 2018
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. plans to use a small unmanned aerial vehicle to closely inspect conditions inside the No. 3 reactor building of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant as early as this month.
TEPCO will use the drone to examine the location of scattered debris and the level of radiation inside the reactor building, among other things.
It will be the first drone-based research conducted inside the plant’s Nos. 1, 2 and 3 reactor buildings, in which nuclear meltdowns occurred.
The drone, called Riser, was developed by a British company. It measures 83 centimeters by 93 centimeters and weighs about four kilograms.
Riser is equipped with cameras and a dosimeter that can measure up to 2.5 sieverts of radiation per hour.
Even in indoor spaces inaccessible to GPS signals, the drone is capable of determining its position and avoiding obstacles using lasers.
The same model was used for decommissioning work at the Sellafield nuclear facility in Britain.
TEPCO’s plan is for the drone to enter the No. 3 reactor building through a bay for large cargo on the first floor, then fly upward through a series of openings from the first to the fifth floor.
The drone will check areas including the building’s third floor, which has not been sufficiently monitored because radiation levels are too high.
According to TEPCO, key equipment such as that used to cool spent nuclear fuel pools are located on the third floor.
Confirming the location of possible obstacles and the level of radiation is necessary before decommissioning work can progress.
Riser also has a mapping function that enables it to produce three-dimensional graphic images of its surroundings using lasers.
Combining these images with measurements of radiation levels allows for the production of maps outlining contamination levels inside the reactor buildings. TEPCO will consider making this kind of distribution map in the future.
A hydrogen explosion inside the No. 3 reactor building on March 14, 2011, destroyed the building’s upper structures.
Work is currently under way to construct a dome-shaped roof over the building to facilitate the removal of fuel that remains in the spent fuel storage pools.
Small fire breaks out at Fukushima No. 2 nuke plant
The Fukushima No. 2 nuclear plant is seen on Sept. 4, 2017
FUKUSHIMA — A minor fire set off an alarm in a building at the Fukushima No. 2 Nuclear Power Plant on Feb. 8, sparking an investigation.
At about 9 a.m. on Feb. 8, an alarm went off in a building handling the processing of waste from reactor Nos. 1 and 2 at the plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings Inc. (TEPCO). A worker from a cooperating company noticed smoke coming from a room for cooling equipment and rushed to put out the fire, which was confirmed extinguished about 40 minutes later.
The Futaba Fire Department is investigating the cause of the fire. Officials said a monitoring post on the perimeter of the nuclear plant grounds showed no change in airborne radiation levels.
The six-story building where the fire started is made of reinforced concrete. In addition to handling the processing of waste liquid containing radioactive materials from the plant’s No. 1 and 2 reactors, it has a laundry facility for workers’ clothes. The cooling equipment room is in a radiation control area, and is outfitted with air conditioning and other equipment.
Rubble storage at Fukushima plant shown to media
The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has completed a facility to store radioactive rubble from the March 2011 accident.
Tokyo Electric Power Company showed the new storage facility in the compound to the media on Thursday.
The Number 1 to Number 3 reactors suffered meltdowns and the reactor buildings were badly damaged after a quake-triggered tsunami hit the plant on March 11th, 2011.
As part of decommissioning work, rubble scattered after the accident needs to be cleared before spent nuclear fuel can be removed from storage pools in the upper parts of the reactor buildings.
At the Number 1 reactor building, work to clear more than 1,500 tons of rubble began in January. Its pool stores 392 fuel units.
The newly-completed facility is capable of storing more than 60,000 cubic meters of rubble.
Officials say a special vehicle that blocks radiation will take rubble from the Number 1 reactor building to the storage facility, and remote-controlled forklifts will be used to carry the rubble inside it.
The storage facility is 2 stories above ground and 2 below. The more radioactive the debris, the deeper underground it will be stored.
Officials say the facility can block radiation of levels up to 10 sieverts per hour, as it is covered by concrete walls up to 65 centimeters thick.
Kazuteru Ofuchi, a TEPCO official in charge of waste disposal, says the firm will make sure to minimize workers’ exposure to radiation, by working remotely.
Tepco ordered to pay $30,000 each to 318 people of the Minamisoma’s Odaka District class action suit
TEPCO ordered to pay 1.1 billion yen to evacuees in Fukushima
Junichiro Hironaka, lead lawyer for the plaintiffs, right, speaks at a news conference on Feb. 7 after the Tokyo District Court ordered Tokyo Electric Power Co. to pay 3.3 million yen in damages to each plaintiff in a Fukushima nuclear disaster compensation lawsuit.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. has been ordered to pay 3.3 million yen ($30,000) each to 318 people who were forced to flee their hometown in Fukushima Prefecture after the 2011 nuclear disaster.
However, the plaintiffs are unhappy as they sought 10 times that amount.
“We are stripped of our hometown, livelihood and life, and Odaka will not return to what it used to be,” 76-year-old Isao Enei of Minami-Soma said at a news conference after the Feb. 7 verdict at Tokyo District Court. “I am sorry that the judges did not visit and see the situation of Odaka for themselves.”
The plaintiffs are now considering appealing as they had initially sought 33 million yen each in additional damages in the lawsuit.
“It is significant in a way in recognizing ‘damages for the loss of a hometown,’” said Junichiro Hironaka, the plaintiffs’ lead lawyer. “But the amount of compensation ordered does not correspond to the actual damages they suffered.”
In handing down the ruling, Presiding Judge Yuko Mizuno said that the plaintiffs’ “right to a stable life in a place that was the foundation of their livelihood had been breached.”
TEPCO said it will respond to the court decision after studying it in detail.
The plaintiffs lived in Minami-Soma’s Odaka district before the triple meltdown at TEPCO’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in March 2011.
Odaka was located within the 20-kilometer no-entry zone surrounding the plant from which residents were forced to evacuate.
The plaintiffs contended that TEPCO was liable for causing psychological damage as they were displaced and lost their hometown.
The total that TEPCO must pay to the 318 plaintiffs falls a fraction short of 1.1 billion yen, but the court dismissed claims by three plaintiffs on the grounds that they lived overseas at the time of the accident or for other reasons.
The verdict was the fourth that has been handed down in regard to about 30 similar lawsuits that have been brought across the nation.
In the three other suits, the plaintiffs claimed in the district courts that the government and TEPCO had been negligent, but in the latest case the court was only concerned with the amount of compensation.
The plaintiffs argued for compensation for damages stemming from the evacuation, as well as compensation for a loss of various general benefits that they would have enjoyed if they had continued to reside in their hometown.
The power company rejected the plaintiffs’ claim for additional compensation, citing the payment already made of 8.5 million yen per victim of the nuclear disaster in the district based on the government’s “interim guidelines” for compensation.
It insisted that the plaintiffs’ claim that “Odaka has been lost forever” was not proven.
The evacuation order was lifted for most of the district in July 2016.
But the court stated that even after it became possible for residents to return (to Odaka), it “constitutes a serious violation of the plaintiffs’ life if the foundations of their livelihood were considerably changed.”
TEPCO argued that the government’s interim compensation guidelines were reasonable.
But the court rejected it, saying the district court will not be bound by the government’s guidelines.
Rulings for similar lawsuits are expected in March at the Kyoto District Court and Tokyo District Court.
Fukushima operator Tepco ordered to pay US$10 million in new damages
A Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) employee working near the reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant on Jan 31, 2018
TOKYO (AFP) – A Tokyo court has ordered the operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant to pay US$10 million (S$13.3 million) in fresh damages to residents who fled their homes after the disaster, the plaintiffs’ attorney said Thursday (Feb 8).
Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) was instructed to pay a total of 1.1 billion yen (S$13.3 million) to 318 former residents of the Odaka district in Fukushima, around 20 kilometres from the plant.
The sum is a tenth of what the plaintiffs had demanded, citing the financial hardship and psychological impact they suffered after the March 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukushima that was triggered by a deadly earthquake and tsunami.
Tepco had already agreed to pay each of the plaintiffs 8.5 million yen, but the ruling requires it to pay an additional 3.3 million yen to each of those affected, according to Isamu Oki, one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs.
Residents are technically free to return to Odaka, which the government has certified as decontaminated, but only a few dozen have gone home because of financial and health concerns, Oki told AFP.
“Especially those with small children are worried… while elderly people are unable to come back without any supporting family,” he added.
Junichiro Hironaka, who heads the legal team representing the residents, said Wednesday that the court’s decision showed it recognised “compensation for a lost hometown”.
But he said the additional damages awarded by the court were insufficient, suggesting the plaintiffs might appeal.
Tepco said it was reviewing the ruling before deciding how it would proceed.
Around 12,000 people who fled their homes for fear of radiation have filed dozens of lawsuits against the government and Tepco.
In March 2017, a court in the eastern city of Maebashi ruled that both the government and Tepco were responsible.
A massive undersea earthquake on March 11, 2011 sent a tsunami barrelling into Japan’s northeast coast, leaving more than 18,000 people dead or missing and sparking the Fukushima crisis, the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986.
In June 2017, three former Tepco executives went on trial, the only people ever to face a criminal court in connection with the disaster. The hearing is continuing.
Kansai to start loading fuel at Ohi 3 ahead of restart
The loading of fuel assemblies into the core of unit 3 at the Ohi nuclear power plant in Japan’s Fukui Prefecture will begin tomorrow, Kansai Electric Power Company announced. The utility plans to return both units 3 and 4 at the plant to commercial operation by mid-2018.
Ohi units 3 and 4
Following the shutdown of all of Japan’s reactors after the March 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, Ohi 3 and 4 were given permission to resume operation in August 2012. However, the two 1180 MWe pressurised water reactors (PWRs) were taken offline again for Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) inspections in September 2013.
Under Japan’s reactor restart process, plant operators are required to apply to the NRA for: permission to make changes to the reactor installation; approval of its construction plan to strengthen the plant; and, final safety inspections to ensure the unit meets new safety requirements. Operators are required to add certain safety-enhancing equipment within five years of receiving the NRA’s approval of a reactor engineering work programme.
Kansai submitted its construction plan application for Ohi 3 and 4 in July 2013. The NRA approved the plan for strengthening the units in August last year.
Following pre-operation inspections of the units to confirm that the safety countermeasure equipment complies with the approved construction plan at the plant, Kansai is now set to start loading fuel into unit 3 ahead of its restart. In November, the utility said it expected to restart the reactor around mid-March, with commercial operation scheduled from early-April.
The governor of Japan’s Fukui Prefecture approved the restart of Ohi units 3 and 4 in November. Unit 4 is also expected to be restarted in the coming months. Kansai earlier said it expects to refuel the reactor in mid-April, restart it around mid-May, with commercial operation expected to resume in early June.
In December, Kansai announced that it will not seek permission to restart Ohi units 1 and 2, which have been offline since July 2011 and December 2011, respectively. The company will now apply to decommission the two 1175 MWe PWRs, which are approaching 40 years old.
Of Japan’s 42 operable reactors, five have so far cleared inspections confirming they meet the new regulatory safety standards and have resumed operation. These are: Kyushu’s Sendai units 1 and 2; Shikoku’s Ikata unit 3; and Kansai’s Takahama units 3 and 4. Another 19 reactors have applied to restart.
1 This Month
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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