Scientist: Whale deaths off Alaska island remains mystery
« Other test results also are pending, however. A muscle-tissue sample is being tested for the possibility of radionuclides from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. Scientists also have looked at other possibilities, including sonar and seismic exploration. »
In this June 8, 2015 photo, provided by the University of Alaska Fairbanks Gulf Apex Predator Prey project, a fin whale lies dead on Kodiak Island, Alaska. Researchers may never solve the recent deaths of 18 endangered whales whose carcasses were found floating near Alaska’s Kodiak Island, a scientist working on the case said Monday, July 27. (Bree Witteveen/University of Alaska Fairbanks via AP)
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — Researchers may never solve the recent deaths of 18 endangered whales whose carcasses were found floating near Alaska’s Kodiak Island, a scientist working on the case said Monday.
Samples taken from one of the 10 fin whales were at least a week old, which could throw off test results, said Kate Wynne, a marine mammal specialist for the University of Alaska Sea Grant Program. The carcasses of eight humpback whales also were found.
The carcasses of the marine mammals were discovered between Memorial Day weekend and early July. Most of the animals were too decomposed for sampling.
Both species of whales feed close together, and scientists speculate the animals might have eaten something toxic in waters that were significantly warmer than average at the time. One test came back negative for one toxin that would be present in harmful algal blooms, and another test is still pending, Wynne said.
“That’s my leading hypothesis,” Wynne said of an environmental toxin as a cause. “The carcasses unfortunately are getting older and less sample-able. So we never will find out what killed those whales, in my mind.”
Other test results also are pending, however. A muscle-tissue sample is being tested for the possibility of radionuclides from the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. Scientists also have looked at other possibilities, including sonar and seismic exploration.
The deaths are an unusual occurrence, Wynne said. She said she’s never heard of anything similar occurring among large baleen whales in the U.S.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also is looking into the deaths of a slightly larger number of whales over a larger area. NOAA is requesting the deaths to be designated nationally as an unusual mortality event, which would free of federal funding for further studying the deaths, NOAA spokeswoman Julie Speegle said.
Along with the dead whales, dead birds including murres and shearwaters were reported earlier in the investigation. Tests showed the shearwaters had a high parasite count and were starving, Wynne said. The murres were not sampled, but Wynne said those deaths could be part of a die-off that occurs periodically.
Source: Tucson.com, Arizona Daily Star
Construction of seawall begins in Naraha
Construction of a new seawall has begun in a town near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, as authorities prepare to lift an evacuation order covering the area in September.
The seawall in Naraha Town was seriously damaged by the March 2011 tsunami. Construction of a new one had been delayed as radiation from the nuclear accident restricted entry to the town for about a year and a half.
Local government officials took part in a groundbreaking ceremony in the town on Monday ahead of the construction. Three trucks unloaded soil at the site after the ceremony.
The new seawall will be about 1.8 kilometers long. It will be built more inland than the previous one.
Its height will be 8.7 meters above sea level. That’s 2.5 meters higher than the previous one.
The construction will cost about 67 million dollars, and will be completed by March 2018.
The town of Naraha has a population of about 7,400. The evacuation order, covering almost the entire town, is scheduled to be lifted on September 5th.
Town Mayor Yukiei Matsumoto says some residents still suffer from memories of the tsunami, but he expects the construction to give them relief about returning home.
Source : NHK
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150727_27.html
“Only Just Beginning…” – Arnie Gundersen & Paul Gunter on Fukushima’s Nuclear Crisis.
These two YouTube videos give a basic overview of the severity of the current situation in the ongoing Fukushima Nuclear Catastrophe. Recommended:
Paul Gunter of Beyond Nuclear, Fukushima June 2015:
See also: http://www.beyondnuclear.org/
Arnie Gunderson, July 2015:
See also: http://www.fairewinds.org/
“What means living in Fukushima”
Poem : “What means living in Fukushima”
Sometimes it annoys me when I hear:
“Do not eat Fukushima Fukushima”.
Sometimes it disgusts me when I hear:
“How do you want people in Tokyo to eat Fukushima products when Fukushima people do not eat them themselves there? “
I trembled with rage when I heard:
“You are like a murderer if you keep children in Fukushima.”
Who would keep his children here with the intention of murdering them?
We have no way to leave this place without the evacuation right together with compensation.
The brown rice of Mr. Nakamura which measures 3 becquerels
Radiation was not detected after removal of its husk.
I ate it.
Radioactivity in a public garden after its decontamination is 0,05μSv / h.
I have let my kid play there.
But not at the river banks because the radioactivity is still high there.
After playing outside, wash hands and gargle.
Do not lick. You’ll be irradiated.
But instead
In summer, I’ll take you to the island of Sado * for you to play outside as much as you like.
We repeat endlessly.
“To measure radiation, to understand, to think and to decide.”
This is living in Fukushima.
The radiation measured results have dropped.
But when compared with the radiation measured levels before the accident or with those in western Japan, they are still high. There is a limit to their reduction.
This is why we live taking health holidays,
taking care and paying attention.
Now, they say,
That “there is no problem up to 20 mSv / year.”
That “we stop housing assistance in 2017”
That “we help those returning **”.
Those who caused the accident do not fulfill their responsibility,
and they decide to stop helping, abandoning us.
With risk or without risk, it is not to the state or to TEPCO to dictate.
It’s up to me to judge and to decide myself.
Notes
* Sado is an island that is located in the West side of Japan, in the Sea of Japan
** There will be only help for evacuees who accept to return to their former places of residence before the evacuation, as part of the return policy.
__
Posted on July 18, 2015 on Facebook by Hisao Seki,
living in the city of Nihonmatsu, Fukushima Prefecture
Via Nos Voisins Lointains 3.11_Les paroles des sinistrés nucléaires
Translated Japanese to French By Kurumi Sugita
& French to English by Hervé Courtois
●詩の投稿「福島で暮らす、ということは」
１７日、１８日と東京に行ってきました。１７日はまず、「告訴団」が検察審議会に対して原発事故の責任を明確にするよう起訴するための「激励行動」に 行ったものです。２００人ほどの人が全国から集まりました。その後は参議院で院内集会。引き続き「子ども被災者支援法」を改定するという復興庁の説 明会に向けて赤坂でアピールと浜田副大臣を交えての説明会、そして国会前の行動に行ってきました。支援法を改定するとは、要するに支援法の中身をきちんと 実施しないまま、４年が過ぎて線量が下がったからこれに見合った支援の形を取っていくための法整備ですが、２０１７年には自主避難者の借り上げの家賃補助 を廃止、除染も終了、２０１８年にはADRを含むすべての賠償を停止するというものです。東京で一回、福島でやってあとはパブコメを集めて意見を聞いて終 了というものです。これは、戦争法を強行採決した安倍政権の方針と同じ路線のもので、「福島を見殺しにして戦争にひた走るアベ政治」と言えるものです。国 会前ではアベ政治に抗議する多くの人たちが集まっていました。１８日は澤地久江さんが呼びかけた一斉行動で１時に「アベ政治を許さない」を全国で展開しま した。私もこれからは車に「アベ政治を許さない」を貼って宣伝しようとっています。
「 福島で暮らすってことは 」
２０１５年７月１８日
ときどき イラッとする
福島産 食べちゃいけないって 言葉に
ときどき ムカッとする
福島のひとが 福島産 食べないで
どうして 東京のひとが 食べますかって 言葉に
ふるえるほど 腹が立った
「福島に 子どもを置くことは ヒトゴロシと一緒だ」 の言葉
だれが わが子 殺したくて ここに 置く
避難の権利 補償なかったら 出るに 出られねえべ
ナカムラさんの玄米 ３ベクレル
精米すれば 不検出 だから おれは食べた
除染した 公園の線量０，０５ だから遊ばせた
土手はダメ まだ高いから 終わったら 手 洗って うがいして
なめたらダメ ヒバクすっから そのかわり
夏は佐渡で 思いっきり 外遊び させっからない
「はかる わかる 考え 決める」の くりかえし
福島で暮らすって そういうことなんだよ
線量も 下がったけんど 西日本とかの
もともとと 比べたら やっぱし 高いのさ 限界あるのさ
だから 保養 行ったり 手当てしたり 気い使って 暮らしてんのさ
それをな 「２０ミリシーベルトで問題ありません」とか
「２０１７年で住宅支援打ち切り」 「帰還者には支援」とか
事故起こしたもんが 責任も 取らねえで
きめる 打ち切る 放り出す
安全か どうかは 国や東電が決めるんでは ねえ
おれが 自分で 判断することなんだぞい
Nuclear expert tasked with leading Fukushima decommissioning
Toru Ogawa, a 64-year-old nuclear research expert, has been entrusted with probably the most challenging task facing Japan — leading the decommissioning process at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
This April, Ogawa, a professor at Nagaoka University of Technology in Niigata Prefecture, was installed as the first chief in the Collaborative Laboratories for Advanced Decommissioning Science, a government-funded research center supporting the decommissioning.
“Our research and development must be flexible based on our analysis of the (March 2011) accident and information collected by robotic probes (in the reactor buildings),” Ogawa said during a recent interview.
The center started out with a workforce of 80 within the Japan Atomic Energy Agency based in Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture, as a research base for decommissioning the plant, which is plagued by increasing amounts of contaminated water.
Looking back on the disaster, which was triggered by the powerful Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, Ogawa said, “The government and the agency should have envisioned the worst-case scenario, in which all multiple layers of defense are destroyed.”
When the plant lost nearly all of its power sources and consequently the ability to cool the reactors and spent fuel pools, units 1, 2 and 3 suffered core meltdowns, while hydrogen explosions damaged the buildings housing reactors 1, 3 and 4.
“We will certainly need technological support from abroad,” Ogawa said.
He added that “we can’t carry out the decommissioning task” unless the center receives support and expertise from the United States, which experienced a meltdown at its Three Mile Island power plant in 1979, and other countries that have disposed of military nuclear waste.
Ogawa said he wants to increase the total workforce at the center to some 150 by inviting around 10 Japanese and foreign experts each year.
The center will be moved closer to Fukushima No. 1 during fiscal 2016, which begins next April 1.
A native of Yokohama, Ogawa studied nuclear engineering at Tohoku University in Sendai.
The focus of his research was on high-temperature gas reactors — the next generation reactor known to have a lower risk of core meltdowns, rather than commercial light-water reactors like the ones at Fukushima No. 1.
In researching what will be needed to complete the decommissioning project, which will take several decades, he is currently assessing the state of the melted fuel in reactors 1, 2 and 3, putting together a puzzle with small scraps of information obtained by robotic probes in the reactor buildings.
Source: Japan Times
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/07/27/national/nuclear-expert-tasked-with-leading-fukushima-decommissioning/#.VbYRmRNViko
Tepco to start removing the largest debris from Reactor 3 pool / Worker “The most dangerous process”
On 7/25/2015, the former Fukushima worker “Happy11311″ posted on Twitter that Tepco is going to start removing the largest debris from SFP 3 (Spent Fuel Pool of Reactor 3) on 2nd August. “Joint communications” published the news followed by other mass media but Tepco has made no official announcement on their website.
Joint communications reported that the debris to be removed weighs 20 t, but “Happy11311″ commented on Twitter that it is the 35 t of fuel handling machine. He added this is one of the most risky processes in decommissioning of Fukushima plant as fuel removal from SFP 4 (Spent Fuel Pool of Reactor 4).
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The latest challenge at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is to remove a 20-ton piece of debris from a pool holding over 500 spent fuel rods.
More than four years after the plant was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami, Fukushima Daiichi’s operator Tokyo Electric Power said it would start work on the critical task this week using a specially designed crane.
“The debris will be pulled out using two cranes, but we had to create a specially designed hook with a unique shape for it to securely hold on to the object,” a Tepco spokesman told Japan Real Time on Monday.
The object is what remains of a fuel handling machine originally located above the surface of the water. The debris is preventing Tepco from removing the spent fuel rods to a safer location. It is the largest object requiring removal inside the power plant’s reactor No. 3, according to the company.
The removal will be conducted at the slowest possible speed to ensure safety. The pool’s water level, as well as any signs of a jump in radiation levels, will be monitored closely with multiple cameras during the procedure. The debris must be lifted so that it won’t swing or cause damage to the spent fuel pool’s gates.
While it is unlikely that any water from the pool will leak even if the object comes into contact with the gate, Tepco said it will be ready to add water in case of a drawdown. Reduced water levels or exposure to air could cause the radioactive fuel rods to heat up.
All other procedures at Fukushima Daiichi will be halted while the debris is being removed, according to the company.
Sources:
https://twitter. com/Happy11311/status/624896752231952384
https://twitter. com/Happy11311/status/625636958941810689
https://twitter. com/Happy11311/status/625638084642668552
Crucial emergency test begins at Sendai nuclear plant ahead of upcoming restart on August 10, 2015
An emergency drill to contain a severe accident like the Fukushima nuclear disaster started at the Sendai nuclear power plant on July 27, a final hurdle the operator must clear before a planned restart next month.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority, the nation’s nuclear watchdog, inspected the site to see if plant workers followed Kyushu Electric Power Co.’s revamped procedures for responding to a crisis. The steps were approved by the NRA in May.
The No. 1 reactor of the plant in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture, is expected to be the nation’s first to go back online under the new regulations set by the NRA for nuclear power plants after the 2011 Fukushima accident.
Kyushu Electric plans to restart the reactor as early as Aug. 10.
On the first day of the four-day drill, the exercise began at 10 a.m. under a scenario that the plant lost the ability to cool its No. 1 reactor due to the loss of power, just like the 2011 accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co.
The scenario also envisages that the nuclear fuel rods begin melting 19 minutes after the water level in the reactor began dropping.
During the drill, Kyushu Electric employees are expected to confirm steps to prevent a rupture of the reactor’s containment vessel to avert the release of a huge amount of radioactive materials into the atmosphere.
At the central control room, utility employees worked to secure power from large-scale, mobile power generators via remote control.
The backup devices were installed on the plant’s premises in line with the new regulations.
The employees also simulated the operation of equipment that lowers the concentration of hydrogen in the containment vessel to reduce the possibility of a hydrogen explosion.
As part of efforts to bolster its ability to deal with a serious accident, Kyushu Electric increased the number of night staff on duty at the plant to 52 from 12 prior to the Fukushima disaster.
Source: Asahi Shimbun
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201507270069
JAPC Applies for Permission to Bury Tokai-1 Waste on Plant Premises
The Japan Atomic Power Co. (JAPC), under the terms of a local nuclear safety agreement, submitted a plan to Ibaraki Prefecture and Tokai Village to bury extremely low-level radioactive waste (Level III or L3) generated by the current decommissioning of its Tokai-1 Nuclear Power Plant (GCR, 166 MWe), located in the village. At the same time, JAPC also filed an application with the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) for approval to bury the waste.
The waste burial is to take place on the premises of the nuclear power plant, which is the country’s first commercial reactor to be decommissioned. This is also the first time in Japan that a commercial NPP operator has submitted an application for an L3 burial plan connected with a reactor’s decommissioning.
The plan calls for the creation of a trench on the Tokai-1 premises that will be 100m long, 80m wide and 4m deep. The L3 waste will be first put in flexible container (flecon) bags and then buried in the trench, where it will remain under control for three to five decades as it becomes less radioactive. The trench will be capable of accommodating about 26,400 cubic meters of waste, with the total amount of waste to be buried expected to be some 16,000 tons. After considering the plan, which includes both management methods and safety measures, both the prefecture and village will decide whether to give their consent, and the NRA will also determine whether to approve it or not. Once the NRA does give it the green light, JAPC will begin work on constructing the trench, targeting FY18 (April 2018 to March 2019) for the onset of operation.
Source: Japan Atomic Industry Forum
http://www.jaif.or.jp/en/japc-applies-for-permission-to-bury-tokai-1-waste-on-plant-premises/
Reconstruction plans drawn up for no-go municipalities near Fukushima plant
On Saturday a panel at the Reconstruction Agency produced a final draft of proposals to help 12 municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture recover from the March 2011 nuclear accident.
The proposals include improving medical services to help the evacuees being forced to return home, developing new industries to create jobs, and beefing up administrative services by getting municipalities to cooperate with each other more closely. The draft declares a goal of completing reconstruction plans by 2020. The municipalities are all located close to the Fukushima nuclear plant, the site of the disaster.
The central government says they will work to secure funding. The central government has also pledged to lift evacuation orders for the 12 municipalities, by March 2017, although areas with “persistently high radiation levels” are excluded from the target.
Source: Japan Times
20 μSv/h still detected in Fukushima city
FULL VIDEO (courtesy of 福島日報ダイジェスト)
It went over scale of the ordinary dosimeter tested by Ministry of the Environment.
A citizen’s group on the look out for hotspots finds over 20 uSv/h spikes in a park, frequented by children and joggers, in Watari, Fukushima shi, by the Abukuma riverbed. 5 years into the crisis, hotspots can be found aplenty.
Putting aside the many hotspots as seen in the following video, the average measurement across the park remains 0.5 uSv/h. That does not deter the nearby High School to send off students for a little run … in areas close to 1 uSv/h.
As the brave residents recorded a nearby hotspot of more than 20 uSv/h, a mother could be seen in the same vicinity, playing in the grass with her small child.
Sources:
５年目のホットスポット 福島市で２０マイクロ超え
Fukushima Diary
http://fukushima-diary.com/2015/07/video-20-%CE%BCsvh-still-detected-in-fukushima-city/
Sendai nuclear plant to restart as early as Aug.10
The operator of the Sendai nuclear power plant in southern Japan submitted an application on Friday to the country’s regulator to get final approval for putting one of its reactors online.
Kyushu Electric Power Company is hoping to turn on the reactor as early as August 10th.
The utility has completed the assembly of the reactor core after loading nearly 160 fuel rod assemblies into the plant’s No.1 reactor in early July.
It has also finished checking a water level gauge system for the containment vessel and confirmed that it is working normally.
Kyushu Electric Power will also conduct a drill starting from Monday to train for a possible severe accident. The exercise is mandated by the government’s new regulations to be performed before a reactor is restarted.
If no problems are found, the No. 1 reactor will go online as early as August 10th.
Last year the plant cleared the government’s new regulations introduced after the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. It was the first nuclear facility in Japan to do so
Source NHK
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150725_15.html
Fukushima baby milk formula seized in central China
Fukushima cattle producer’s beef with TEPCO, government leads to lawsuit
Kazuo Ueno points to a large pile of manure on his ranch in Tamura, Fukushima Prefecture, on July 14.
KORIYAMA, Fukushima Prefecture–A local cattle producer has sued Tokyo Electric Power Co. and the government to recover 500 million yen ($4 million) in losses it says it suffered as a result of the 2011 nuclear disaster.
In the suit filed with the Koriyama branch of the Fukushima District Court on July 16, the plaintiff, Ueno Bokujo, cited a drop in beef cattle prices. It also contends that it has been forced to spend more on the disposal of manure produced by its herds due to declining sales following the accident at TEPCO’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
The company, which raises nearly 2,900 heads of cattle on its ranches in Koriyama and Tamura, is one of the largest such producers in Fukushima Prefecture.
Ueno Bokujo says TEPCO has failed to pay it the 200 million yen that it says it lost due to a drop in beef cattle prices in fiscal 2014.
According to an arrangement made after the accident, TEPCO was to compensate farmers for losses incurred if they made a claim.
The cattle producer estimates it will cost 2 billion yen to dispose of the 17,000 tons of manure that have accumulated on its farms.
The suit is the first to seek compensation for lost sales of compost, according to the Fukushima Prefectural Central Union Agricultural Cooperatives.
“We will respond sincerely after listening carefully to what the plaintiff has to say in court,” a TEPCO official said.
A government official declined to comment, saying a written complaint has not yet been delivered.
Source : Asahi Shimbun
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201507240084
Are Fukushima’s mutant daisies a wonder or a warning?
It is all a question of the quantity of such occuring….But as they also measured the ground around those daisies which was found to be contaminated 0.5 µSv there is a good chance that it is mutation caused indeed by radiation and just NOT fasciation, fact which is omitted in the Christian Science Monitor article but which is mentioned in the original article of Fukushima Diary on July 7, 2015.
http://fukushima-diary.com/2015/07/photo-deformed-shasta-daisy-in-nasushiobara-city-0-5-%CE%BCsvh-at-1m-above-the-ground/
This is the original picture of the Fukushima Diary article
Which was somehow omitted and substituted by the Christian Science monitor for this one
The Christian Monitor Science article:
Flowers near Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant, which suffered a meltdown four years ago, are producing some strangely wonderful blossoms.
Should you be more worried about environmental toxins when your garden’s daisies look like they’ve been run through a trippy Dreamscope inceptionist image filter, or if your tulip trees have stippled leaves?
Residents of Japan’s Nasushiobara City have been posting images of the deformed daisies that some believe may be linked to the 2011 meltdown of the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
Trees and flowers can act as Mother Nature’s version of a canary in a coal mine, an alarm system giving off warnings – ia size, shape, color, splitting, or stacking – that toxins are present in our immediate environment.
Or they could just have a hormone imbalance, says Todd Forrest, the New York Botanical Garden’s vice president for horticulture, says in an interview. The fairly common deformities showing up near Fukushima could easily have been caused by a random mutation, insects, diseases, or even physical injury to the plant, he says.
In other words, doubled flower heads are no reason to call the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), according to Mr. Forrest.
“Fasciation is a relatively common occurrence in the garden world,” he says. Fasciation is the technical term for banding or bundling, and can result in a flower stem that looks flattened, splayed, or fused – ranging from the grotesque to the sublimely interesting.
“Radiation being present in the environment is a plausible explanation,” says Forrest, “but not necessarily the only explanation for the phenomenon.”
Many of the daisy images are coming from& Fukushima Diary, a popular site on Pinterest showing images of doubled daisies, roses and sunflowers.
Sources:
The Christian Science Monitor
Fukushima Diary
[Photo] Deformed “Shasta daisy” in Nasushiobara City / 0.5 μSv/h at 1m above the ground
Fukushima nuclear disaster: ‘Radiation will wash down from mountains, forests into other lands’
It’s impossible to even slightly decontaminate the area damaged by the Fukushima nuclear disaster because of the mountains and dense forests in that region, says Mycle Schneider, independent analyst on energy and nuclear policy.
Tokyo’s preparing to declare some parts of the evacuation zone around the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, a safe place to live. However environmentalists warn many areas still show radiation levels 20 times the globally accepted limit.
RT: Do you think people will take the advice of the Japanese government and move back to the area? Do you personally think its safe?
Mycle Schneider: A number of opinion polls, surveys have shown that the percentage that is decided to go back might be around a fifth of all people evacuated, many people are still undecided and about half decided not to go back. People have to imagine – besides the radiation situation – what are they going back to. We should not forget that many of the homes in Japan are made of wood and they are basically in extremely bad shape and would have to be completely redone. There is not much to go back to and on top of it there is the radiation issue. There is also the issue of going back to their homes but what about their neighbors, what about collectivity, what about the services? So there are all kinds of other social issues besides the pure health issue.
RT: What could be the potential consequences of returning to the area? How long does it take to actually clean the area from nuclear contamination?
MS: I don’t think it is possible to clean up in the real sense of the word, meaning that you take away the added radioactivity that has been contaminating the soil, the roofs, everything. It’s impossible. So what you can do is you can reduce the radioactive contamination in some of the areas. You can take off soil; you can decontaminate what has been done by water sprayed. But keep in mind that 80 percent of Japan is mountains and in this area as well there is a lot of mountains, there is a lot of dense forest, there is absolutely no way even to slightly decontaminate that region. So you will not have a stable situation of contamination but it will move all the time and a new radiation will wash down from the mountains and forests into the other lands.
RT: Why do you think Tokyo wants people back in the area?
MS: It’s not very complicated. According to a partial estimate – there is no total public estimate of the cost of Fukushima disaster so far – but a partial estimate says it’s about $100 billion. Sixty percent of that has been spent for compensation measures. So compensating people for their loss of land and jobs is very expensive to the government and since the government has bailed out the company that ran the Fukushima reactors it’s basically now the government that is liable. So it’s a matter of reducing the overall cost of the disaster.
RT: Are there other cases where people have returned to the region of a nuclear disaster?
MS: Not really. Everybody knows about the Chernobyl disaster and the 30-kilometer exclusion zone remains. There are people that have returned to that zone, but without authorization. So it wasn’t a government measure of massively allowing people to go back. There are other areas that have been touched by nuclear disasters, but there is nothing really comparable of a densely populated area like in Japan.
Source: RT
http://www.rt.com/op-edge/310595-fukushima-nuclear-radiation-area/#.VbFcSy3oBmA.facebook
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