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Nuclear industry corruption is global – not just Japanese

safety culture” is not undermined by Japanese culture so much as it is by the more international culture of corruption born of the incestuous relationship between industry and regulators. 

Made in Japan? Fukushima Crisis Is Nuclear, Not Cultural TruthOut, 14 July 2012  By Gregg Levine, Capitoilette | News Analysis  Since the release of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Committee’s official report last week, much has been made of how it implicates Japanese culture as one of the root causes of the crisis.  ……..

…………What replaces the cultural critique in the Japanese edition and in the body of the English summary is a ringing indictment of the cozy relationship between the Japanese nuclear industry and the government agencies that were supposed to regulate it. This “regulatory capture,” as the report details, is certainly central to the committee’s findings and crucial to understanding how the Fukushima disaster is a manmade catastrophe, but it is not unique to the culture of Japan.
Indeed, observers of the United States will recognize this lax regulatory construct as part-and-parcel of problems that threaten the safety and health of its citizenry, be it in the nuclear sector, the energy sector as a whole, or across a wide variety of officially regulated industries.

No protection

The Japanese Diet’s Fukushima report includes a healthy dose of displeasure with the close ties between government regulators and the nuclear industry they were supposed to monitor. The closed, insular nature of nuclear oversight that might be attributed to Japanese culture by a superficial read is, in fact, a product of the universally familiar “revolving door” that sees industry insiders taking turns as government bureaucrats, and regulatory staff “graduating” to well-compensated positions in the private sector.

Mariko Oi, a reporter at the BBC’s Tokyo bureau, described the situation this way when discussing the Fukushima report on the World Service:

When there was a whistleblower, the first call that the government or the ministry made was to TEPCO, saying, “Hey, you’ve got a whistleblower,” instead of “Hey, you’ve got a problem at the nuclear reactor.” Continue reading →

July 16, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

High radiation level at Fukushima school, even after ‘decontamination’

1,000,000 Bq/kg of cesium detected at Fukushima school… after being ‘decontaminated’ — “It’s obvious they will just leave it” – Local Official y 13th, 2012   By ENENews  July 11, 2012 post by Koichi Oyama, Minamisoma city council member, translated by Dissensus Japan:

1.000.000 Bq detected in a school after a decontamination conducted!

A University’s research team collected lichen at the entrance of the gymnastic hall of a school that restarted after a decontamination operation, and the sample measured the Cesium radiation level, 989.000 Bq/Kg.

It’s obvious they will just leave it. I told them my ideas at least, but I’m not sure if this inspired them to do anything. No one makes decision to get rid of dangers.
I want to believe that at least “school principal” won’t leave the danger at the place where students walk by. I would go there tomorrow to make sure.   Read the report here

July 14, 2012 Posted by | environment, Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Cyberwar developing instead of nuclear war?

Cyber war on Iran has only just begun INQUIRER, By: Dan De Luce Agence France-Presse, July 13th, 2012 WASHINGTON – A US cyber war against Iran’s nuclear program may have only just begun and could escalate with explosions triggered by digital sabotage, experts say.

Although the Iranian regime remains vulnerable to more cyber attacks in the aftermath of the “Stuxnet” worm that disrupted its uranium enrichment work, Tehran may be receiving help from Russian proxies for its digital security, some analysts say. Continue reading →

July 13, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Tunisia joins in call to investigate possible polonium poisoning of Arafat

Palestinian call for Arafat death probe backed by Tunisia http://www.brecorder.com/world/middle-east/65869-palestinian-call-for-arafat-death-probe-backed-by-tunis-.html , 05 JULY 2012 RAMALLAH: A Palestinian call for an international probe into Yasser
Arafat’s death won official backing from Tunisia on Thursday, after a report showed the leader may have been poisoned.

Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki told the official Voice of Palestine radio on Thursday that such an enquiry could finally “close the file” on Arafat’s mysterious death.

And Tunisia called for the Arab League to convene.

“We call for an urgent meeting of Arab League foreign ministers and the creation of an international committee to investigate the circumstances surrounding the death” of Arafat, Foreign Minister Rafik Abdessalem told private radio station Mosaique FM. Continue reading →

July 12, 2012 Posted by | AFRICA, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Secrecy surrounding laser uranium enrichment technology, with its risks of nuclear weapons spread

Commercialization of the SILEX technology has sparked concerns of nuclear proliferation. Arms control advocates fear that commercialization could lead other countries to follow suit, raising concerns about the technology falling into the wrong hands.

Uranium enrichment plant meeting to be closed to public Star News, By Wayne Faulkner  July 10, 2012  The last major review before a revolutionary laser uranium enrichment plant could be built in Castle Hayne will take place behind closed doors.

The unusual step in closing the hearing Wednesday is because the discussions will include non-public information about GE Hitachi Global Laser Enrichment but also the sensitive technology that would be used at the plant, said David McIntyre, spokesman for the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission.

The hearing, before a panel of administrative judges at the NRC’s headquarters in Maryland, is being conducted by the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, which then would make recommendations to the NRC for possible approval of a 40-year license to operate the plant….
The NRC on Feb. 29 approved the plant’s environmental-impact statement.

There will be no more public comment about the plant or technology, McIntyre said.

The facility on GE’s Castle Hayne campus near the intersection of Interstate 140 and Castle Hayne Road would be the nation’s first laser-based commercial uranium enrichment operation, using an Australian technology called SILEX, or Separation of Isotopes by Laser
Excitation. Continue reading →

July 11, 2012 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

Further tests to investigate possible radioactive polonium murder of Yassa Arafat

Swiss experts asked to test Arafat’s remains for radiation poisoning, Scotsman.com  10 July 2012  Swiss radiation physicists who recently investigated the death in 2004 of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat are being invited to a West Bank mausoleum to take samples from his actual remains for further tests.

The invitation to specialists from the Switzerland Institute of Radiation Physics came as the Palestinian Authority received permission for the autopsy from family members. Mr Arafat’s nephew, former UN ambassador Nasser al-Qidwa, who was initially cool to the idea, made it clear yesterday he would not object.

In an investigation commissioned by the Qatar-based al-Jazeera television and broadcast last week, researchers from the Swiss institute found elevated levels of the radioactive substance polonium on belongings used by Mr Arafat during his final days in a French military hospital that they had been given by his widow, Suha.

The researchers said the high levels may have been the result of poisoning, but stressed they would need to exhume the remains to confirm this. Senior Palestinian officials said Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas was determined that the tests take place….

..  because polonium decays rapidly, experts are divided over whether testing the remains
can bring such closure and will produce a clue eight years after the event. Polonium was used to kill Russian former spy Alexander Litvinenko in London six years ago.

Talal Awkal, a columnist for the al-Ayyam newspaper, predicted that Israel would try to prevent the Swiss team from carrying out its mission. But Yigal Palmor, an Israeli foreign ministry spokesman, said: “Israel is not going to influence in any way any measure the
authority wants to take to investigate Mr Arafat’s death.”
http://www.scotsman.com/news/international/swiss-experts-asked-to-test-arafat-s-remains-for-radiation-poisoning-1-2401668

July 10, 2012 Posted by | MIDDLE EAST, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Tamil Nadu officials lie – pretense of an emergency drill near Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP)

‘Kudankulam nuclear plant faked emergency drill’ Chennai:  IBN Live, Tamil Nadu | Jul 08, 2012  The official claim of having conducted a mandatory three-stage emergency drill at Nakkaneri hamlet, situated within 7 km from the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant (KKNPP) in Tirunelveli district, on June 9 was termed ‘a blatant lie’ by the People’s Union of Civil Liberties (PUCL), which sent a fact-finding team to the place on June 13 and 20, after the villagers denied the version of the authorities.

No drill was conducted and the people of Nakkaneri were surprised to read about it in the newspapers the next day, the PUCL said, and accused the district administration of spreading falsehood through the media.
Announcing the findings in Chennai on Saturday, the team members said that they spoke to 22 people, including senior citizens and panchayat officials, and learnt that on June 9, a team of about 40 policemen had landed at the village, blocking the roads and checking a few vehicles before dispersing in the evening.
The next day, a press note was released saying an offsite emergency drill was held successfully in Nakkaneri. PUCL national secretary P Suresh said that the offsite emergency preparedness exercise was mandatory to get clearance from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB) to load fuel into the reactor….
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/kudankulam-plant-faked-emergency-drill/270033-62-128.html

July 9, 2012 Posted by | India, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Irresponsible dumping of hospitals’ radioactive wastes

Toxic health dumping scandal, SMH, July 8, 2012 Natalie O’Brien The dangerous disposal of hazardous substances including liquid uranium and contaminated objects, the dumping of the confidential records of patients and the mishandling of asbestos have exposed a culture of mismanagement in Sydney hospitals. : http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/toxic-health-dumping-scandal-20120707-21nqp.html#ixzz204LVGURR

July 9, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

“Regulatory Capture” by the global nuclear industry, not just Japan

 in the Japanese original of Thursday’s report…it explains the disaster in terms of “regulatory capture” – that is, that the relationship between the regulators and the regulated was much too close, enabling the regulated to subject the regulators to undue pressure and influence.

he supposedly Japanese qualities that the report outlines, such as obedience, reluctance to question authority, “sticking with the programme” and insularity, are not at all unique to Japan, but are universal qualities in all societies.

The Fukushima report hides behind the cultural curtain By claiming the disaster was ‘made in Japan’, an official report reinforces, yet does not explain, unhelpful stereotypes Naoko Shimazu guardian.co.uk, 6 July 2012 More than a year after a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami struck Japan on 11 March 2011, the Fukushima nuclear accident independent investigation commission released an 88-page report this week delivering the indictment that Fukushima could not be considered a natural disaster but a “profoundly man-made disaster”.

It went on to state that “this was a disaster ‘made in Japan’. Its fundamental causes are to be found in the ingrained conventions of Japanese culture: our reflexive obedience; our reluctance to question authority; our devotion to ‘sticking with the programme’; and our ‘insularity’.”…. Continue reading →

July 9, 2012 Posted by | Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

CIA, France, Germany and some Middle Eastern States accused of murdering Iran’s nuclear scientists

Iran spy chief says CIA had help killing nuclear scientists Accuses French and German intelligence services, after previously blaming U.K. and Israel CBC News, The Associated Press  Jul 6, 2012   Iran’s spy chief on Friday accused French and German intelligence services of co-operating with the CIA to kill Iranian nuclear scientists, an allegation likelyto exacerbate tensions between Tehran and the West over the Islamic Republic’s disputed nuclear program. Heidar Moslehi said that other intelligence services in the region — including that of Iran’s arch foe Israel — also took part in the alleged campaign targeting the scientists. Continue reading →

July 7, 2012 Posted by | Iraq, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Exhumation of Yassa Arafat’s body urged – probability of murder by radiation

That debate was reignited after a Swiss lab said Wednesday it had discovered traces of polonium-210 in clothing and other belongings

Polonium-210 is best known for causing the death of Alexander Litvinenko, a one-time KGB agent turned critic of the Russian government, 

Call to exhume Arafat after radiation find fuels ‘assassination’ theory SMH, July 5, 2012 The discovery of traces of a radioactive agent on a pair of underwear reportedly worn by Yasser Arafat in his final days reignited a cauldron of conspiracy theories Continue reading →

July 5, 2012 Posted by | MIDDLE EAST, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Was Yassa Arafat murdered, by use of radioactive polonium?

French authorities refused to reveal the precise illness or cause of death, which only fuelled the rumours……. Polonium was used to kill Russian former spy turned Kremlin critic Alexander Litvinenko, who died in 2006 after drinking tea laced with the radioactive substance at a London hotel.

Radioactive polonium found in Arafat’s clothes, Radio Australia,  4 July 2012,   New radiation tests on the clothes and belongings of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat have led to speculation he died from poisoning by polonium. Researchers at the Institute of Radiation Physics at Lausanne in Switzerland conducted tests on the clothing Mr Arafat was wearing when he died in 2004, as well as personal belongings, including a toothbrush. Continue reading →

July 5, 2012 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Pro nuclear advocates stack Japan’s committee to plan retreat from nukes!

The subcommittee consists of 25 members, of whom only about eight favor abandoning nuclear energy.

Is this not odd for a group that is supposed to be discussing ways to steer Japan from nuclear power generation?

The Prometheus Trap/ Tug of war over future of nuclear energy, The Asahi Shimbun.  KIYOSHI OKONOGI 29 June 12, “…..The Fundamental Issues Subcommittee of the Advisory Committee for Natural Resources and Energy, which advises the minister of economy, trade and industry, was in session on April 11 at the ministry building in Tokyo’s Kasumigaseki district. The task of this subcommittee was to discuss the policy of the administration of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to wean the nation off nuclear power generation. Continue reading →

July 2, 2012 Posted by | Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Australian govt lying to public about Julian Assange

Foreign Minister Bob Carr… claimed last week that there was “not the remotest evidence” of any US government desire to prosecute the WikiLeaks founder.

Fresh call on Assange ‘espionage’ SMH Philip Dorling July 2, 2012 THE head of the United States Senate’s powerful intelligence oversight committee has renewed calls for Julian Assange to be prosecuted for espionage. The US Justice Department has also confirmed WikiLeaks remains the target of a criminal investigation, calling into question Australian government claims the US has no interest in extraditing Mr Assange. Continue reading →

July 2, 2012 Posted by | AUSTRALIA, secrets,lies and civil liberties, Wikileaks | Leave a comment

No protection for whistleblowers at San Onofre nuclear power station

Paul Diaz is not protected by California’s whistle-blower laws – among the strongest in the nation — because San Onofre sits on federal land ceded to Southern California Edison back in the 1960s. “What’s unusual here is that if Mr. Diaz was working off the actual four corners of the San Onofre property and reported the same acts, he would be protected,” Seversen said. “But because he happens to set foot on the federal enclave, those protections are not available.”

San Onofre Workers Lack State Whistleblower Protections Safety Complaints High At Crippled Plant June 28, 2012 KPBS, By Amita Sharma  For the past four years, San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station has had the highest number of safety complaints of any nuclear plant in the country.

“That’s not the list you want to be on top of,” said nuclear power expert David Lockbaum of theUnion of Concerned Scientists.

“I don’t think there is any doubt whatsoever that right now the workforce at San Onofre doesn’t trust management and when they have safety concerns they’re either not raising them at all or they’re raising them to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as the only option they have available,” he added. “That’s not the way it’s supposed to work. The workers are basically the canaries in the coal mine. They’re the first ones who see the problems. Their voices need to be heard, not ignored.” Continue reading →

June 29, 2012 Posted by | civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

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