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Fukui governor accepts utility’s nuclear fuel plan, comes under fire

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN, October 13, 2023  https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15028320

FUKUI–Fukui Governor Tatsuji Sugimoto on Oct. 13 approved Kansai Electric Power Co.’s revised plan on storing spent nuclear fuel, drawing outrage from prefectural assembly members.

The governor’s approval means that three aging reactors operated by the utility in the prefecture can continue to run.

The continued operation of the old reactors was contingent on Kansai Electric finding a site outside Fukui Prefecture to store the spent fuel from its nuclear plants.

Sugimoto, who met with industry minister Yasutoshi Nishimura and Kansai Electric President Nozomu Mori on Oct. 13, approved the plan even though the utility has not picked a storage site.

“The plan is a pie in the sky as no candidate site for the interim storage facility has been presented,” a prefectural assembly member said.

Under the approved plan, operations will start at an interim storage facility outside the prefecture around 2030 for spent nuclear fuel accumulating at Kansai Electric’s nuclear power plants in Fukui Prefecture.

The spent fuel will remain there until it can be transferred to a reprocessing plant.

But that brings up another problem.


The central government has long been promoting a nuclear fuel recycling program that reprocesses spent nuclear fuel.

However, the reprocessing plant in the village of Rokkasho in Aomori Prefecture, the key facility in the recycling program, has suffered a series of problems, and its completion has been delayed for more than 25 years.

Spent nuclear fuel is currently placed in storage pools at the nuclear plants in Fukui Prefecture.

The prefectural government has been urging Kansai Electric to build an interim storage facility outside the prefecture because space is running out for the fuel.

The utility had promised to find a candidate site for the storage facility by the end of this year.

It said if it could not find a site, it would halt the No. 1 and No. 2 reactors at the Takahama nuclear plant and the No. 3 reactor at the Mihama nuclear plant. These three reactors have each been in operation for more than 40 years.

In June, Kansai Electric presented a plan to ship about 200 tons of spent nuclear fuel from the Takahama nuclear power plant to France, claiming “we fulfilled our promise.”

But the prefectural government opposed this plan, saying that volume was only a fraction of the total amount.

On Oct. 10, the utility proposed a revised plan, including increasing the amount to be shipped to France and setting up dry storage facilities within the compounds of nuclear plants in Fukui Prefecture that are separate from the existing storage pools.

Kansai Electric also said the storage capacity within the nuclear plants would not increase, in principle.

Another prefectural assembly member criticized this plan.

“Since no duration was specified for the dry storage facilities, they might end up effectively serving as the final disposal site,” the assembly member said.

(This article was written by Kenji Oda and Tsunetaka Sato.) #nuclear #antinuclear #NuclearFree #NoNukes #NuclearPlants

October 16, 2023 Posted by | Japan, wastes | Leave a comment

Fukushima Up Close, 13 Years Later

After thirteen years, the declaration of a State of Emergency for Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant still cannot be lifted because of many unknowns, as well as ubiquitous deadly radiation levels.

The spent fuel rods at the Fukushima nuclear reactor site are stored in pools of water on the top floor of compromised reactor buildings 100 feet above ground level………  “Continual storage in spent fuel pools is the most unsafe thing you could do.”

Fukushima Daichi Nuclear Power Plant will remain a high-risk explosive scenario for decades ahead. 

CounterPunch BY ROBERT HUNZIKER 13 Oct 23

The world is turning to nuclear power as a solution to global warming, but it is postulated herein that it is a huge mistake that endangers society. One nuclear meltdown causes as much damage over the long-term as a major war. Moreover, according to Dr. Paul Dorfman, chair of the Nuclear Consulting Group, former secretary to the UK Scientific Advisory Committee on Internal Radiation: “It’s important to understand that nuclear is very likely to be a significant climate casualty.”

Also, of interest: France’s Global Warming Predicament discusses nuclear energy’s vulnerability in a global warming world.

Beyond Nuclear International recently published an article about the status of Fukushima as well as an exposé of how the nuclear industry gets away with responsibility for radiation-caused (1) deaths (2) chronic conditions like cancer (3) genetic deformities: A Strategy of Concealment, September 24, 2023, by Kolin Kobayashi, who is a Tokyo-born France-based anti-nuclear activist journalist also serving as president of Echo-Exchange. Kobayashi’s work was posted by CounterPunch under the title: How Agencies That Promote Nuclear Power Are Quietly Managing Its Disaster Narrative.

The following synopsis, including editorial license that adds important death details which defy the nuclear industry’s bogus claims about nuclear safety, opens closed pathways to what’s really going on.

After thirteen years, the declaration of a State of Emergency for Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant still cannot be lifted because of many unknowns, as well as ubiquitous deadly radiation levels. The destroyed reactors are tinderboxes of highly radioactive spent fuel rods that contain more cesium-137 than eighty-five (85) Chernobyls. Cesium-137 in or near a human body erupts into a series of maladies, one after another in short order, depending upon level of exposure: (1) nausea (2) vomiting (3) diarrhea (4) bleeding (5) coma leading to death.

The spent fuel rods at the Fukushima nuclear reactor site are stored in pools of water on the top floor of compromised reactor buildings 100 feet above ground level, except for Unit 3 which completed removal of its spent fuel rods in 2019, an extremely slow, laborious process that’s highly dangerous.

Stored spent fuel rods in open pools of water are the epitome of high-risk. “If the 440 tonne vessel collapses, it could hit the storage pool next to it. If this pool is damaged, even partially, another major disaster could occur.” (Kobayashi) In that regard, there’s significant risk of collapse in the event of a strong earthquake. And Japan is one of the most earthquake prone countries in the world. “The city (Tokyo) government’s experts reckon there is a 70% chance of a magnitude 7, or higher, quake hitting the capital within the next 30 years.” (Source: Japan is Preparing for a Massive Earthquake, The Economist, August 31, 2023)

If exposed to open air, spent fuel rods erupt into a sizzling zirconium fire followed by massive radiation bursts of the most toxic material on the planet. It can upend an entire countryside and force evacuation of major cities. According to the widely recognized nuclear expert Paul Blanch: “Continual storage in spent fuel pools is the most unsafe thing you could do.” Paul Blanch, registered professional engineer, US Navy Reactor Operator & Instructor with 55 years of experience with nuclear engineering and regulatory agencies, is widely recognized as one of America’s leading experts on nuclear power.

Fukushima Daichi Nuclear Power Plant will remain a high-risk explosive scenario for decades ahead. After all, a program for future decommissioning is unclear and overall radiation guesstimates are formidable. All the structures where decommissioning will take place are highly radioactive and as such nearly impossible for the dangers to worker exposure.

TEPCO (Tokyo Electric Power Company) does not yet know the true extent of damage nor the complete dispersion of corium (molten magma from melted nuclear fuel rods in the core of the reactors). ……………………………………………………………………………..

Radiation Risks to Society

According to the World Nuclear Association, there were no fatalities due to radiation exposure at Fukushima. And as recently as 2021, Forbes magazine reported No one Died From Radiation At Fukushima: IAEA Boss. It is believed this is a lie and part of a massive coverup.

a lie and part of a massive coverup.

According to Green Cross (founded in 1993 by Mikhail Gorbachev, who repeatedly spoke out about interrelated threats humanity and our Earth confront from nuclear arms, chemical weapons, unsustainable development, and the human-induced decimation of the planet’s ecology): “Approximately 32 million people in Japan are affected by the radioactive fallout from the nuclear disaster in Fukushima… This includes people who were exposed to radiation and other stress factors resulting from the accident and who are consequently at potential risk from both long and short-term consequences… As with the Chernobyl nuclear accident, which impacted 10 million people, Japan is expected to see increased cancer risk and neuropsychological long-term health consequences.”

With nuclear radiation, the damage to humans shows up years later as cancer and/or deformity of newborns second/third generation. For example, only recently, the truth has come to surface about Chernobyl-related deaths, child deformities, and cancer 30+ years after the event. ………………………………………………………………

According to an article in USA Today d/d February 24, 2022, What Happened at Chernobyl? What to Know About Nuclear Disaster: “At least 28 people were killed by the disaster, but thousands more have died from cancer as a result of radiation that spread after the explosion and fire. The effects of radiation on the environment and humans is still being studied.”

According to Chernobyl Children International, 6,000 newborns are born every year in Ukraine with congenital heart defects called “Chernobyl Heart.”

…………………………………. The Fukushima Report was prepared under the direction of Prof. Jonathan M. Samet, Director of the Institute for Global Health at the University of Southern California (USC), as a Green Cross initiative. Green Cross International: GCI is an independent non-profit and nongovernmental organization founded in 1993 by Nobel Peace Laureate Mikhail Gorbachev.

Over time, Japan is expected to see increased cancer risks and neuropsychological long-term health consequences. “The lives of approximately 42 million people have been permanently affected by radioactive contamination caused by the accidents in the Chernobyl and Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plants. Continued exposure to low-level radiation, entering the human body on a daily basis through food intake, is of particular consequence,”

Fukushima Deaths

The cocksure pro-nuclear crowd has trumpeted Fukushima as an example of Mother Nature taking lives because of an earthquake and tsunami; whereas the power plant accident proves nuclear power can withstand the worst without unnecessary death and illness. According to nuclear industry reports, all the deaths (16,000) were the fault of Mother Nature, not radiation.

But people in the streets and on the ground in Japan tell a different story about the risks of radiation. They talk about illnesses and death.  TEPCO itself has reported few radiation illnesses and no radiation-caused deaths but what if it’s not their responsibility in the first instance, as layers of contractors and subcontractors employ workers to cleanup the toxic mess. If “subcontractor workers die” from radiation exposure, so what? It’s not TEPCO’s responsibility to report worker deaths of subcontractors, and the subcontractors are not motivated to report deaths, which are not reported.

According to credible sources in Japan, death is in the air, to wit: “The ashes of half a dozen unidentified laborers ended up at a Buddhist temple in this town just north of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant. Some of the dead men had no papers, others left no emergency contacts. Their names could not be confirmed, and no family members had been tracked down to claim their remains. They were simply labeled ‘decontamination troops’ — unknown soldiers in Japan’s massive cleanup campaign to make Fukushima livable again five years after radiation poisoned the fertile countryside… Hideaki Kinoshita, a Buddhist monk… keeps the unidentified laborers’ ashes at his temple, in wooden boxes and wrapped in white cloth.” (Source: Mari Yamaguchi, Fukushima ‘Decontamination Troops’ Often Exploited, Shunned, AP & ABC News, Minamisoma, Japan, Mar 10, 2016)

……………………………………………………………………………………….Alas, two hundred U.S. sailors of the USS Ronald Reagan filed a lawsuit against TEPCO, claiming that they experienced leukemia, ulcers, gall bladder removals, brain cancer, brain tumors, testicular cancer, dysfunctional uterine bleeding, thyroid illness, stomach ailments and other complaints extremely unusual in such young adults. One sailor died from radiation complications. Among the plaintiffs was a sailor who was pregnant during the mission. Her baby was born with multiple genetic mutations.

The sailors that filed the suit participated in “Operation Tomodachi,” providing humanitarian relief after the March 11th, 2011 Fukushima disaster based upon assurances that radiation levels were okay. But that was a lie.

Ultimately, and unsurprisingly, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the sailors’ appeal.

In summation, the final word is left to Kolin Kobaryashi: “The international nuclear lobby, which represents only a minority, has the influence and money to dominate the world’s population with immense power and has now united the world’s minority nuclear community into one big galaxy.

Many of the citizens who have experienced the world’s three most serious civil nuclear accidents have clearly realized that nuclear energy is too dangerous. These citizens are so divided and conflicted that they feel like a helpless minority.”…………………….

“Five former Japanese prime ministers issued declarations that Japan should break with nuclear power generation on March 11, the 10th anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami that triggered a nuclear disaster in Fukushima Prefecture  (Source: Ex-Prime Ministers Koizumi and Kan Demand EU Choose Zero Nuclear Power Path, The Japan Times, Jan. 27, 2022)………………………………………..more https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/10/13/fukushima-up-close-13-years-later/

October 15, 2023 Posted by | Fukushima continuing | 1 Comment

How safe is the release of treated radioactive water from Fukushima plant

#nuclear #antinuclear #nuclear-free #NoNukes

5 Oct 2023Japan begins second discharge of treated nuclear water from Fukushima Japan has begun discharging a second batch of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima plant into the ocean. It’s happening amid protest from countries like China, Russia and South Korea who are all concerned about the risks. Robert Jacobs from the Hiroshima Peace Institute explains with these worries are founded.

October 9, 2023 Posted by | Fukushima continuing, oceans | Leave a comment

Repeated malfunctions reveal safety issues in Fukushima discharge

CGTN 6 Oct 23 #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclear-free #NoNukes

Japan started the second discharge of nuclear-contaminated wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean on Thursday, despite strong opposition from local fishermen as well as neighboring and Pacific island countries.

The plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), said it plans to carry out the release over 17 days to discharge 7,800 tons of the radioactive wastewater, about the same amount as the first discharge which ended on September 11.

Currently, more than 1.3 million tons of nuclear-contaminated wastewater has been accumulated in storage tanks at Fukushima.

The company’s key facility for nuclear-contaminated water treatment, the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS), is a multi-filter system that can remove radioactive materials through a series of chemical reactions. The international community has had doubts about the safety, effectiveness and sustainability of the system, due to its treatment capacity and incidents of malfunction.  

When the amount of nuclear-contaminated water is too large, the chances to replace the filters are limited and the performance of the ALPS is significantly degraded, said Ryota Koyama, a professor at Fukushima University in Japan.

“If nuclear-contaminated water is discharged, I think there must be a problem. If the Japanese government or the TEPCO really wants to discharge the contaminated water into the sea, they need to explain in more detail,” Koyama told China Media Group (CMG) in an interview……………………………..

The ALPS has failed to remove isotopes adequately, with the adsorbents used to remove radioactive isotopes being replaced less often than they were supposed to be. As a result, 70 percent of the water in the storage tanks still contains non-tritium radionuclides at a concentration that exceeds the regulatory standards applicable for discharge into the environment.

Since its trial operation in 2013, the ALPS has frequently experienced malfunctions. Just before the first discharge in August, TEPCO found leaks in a hose used to transfer nuclear-contaminated water, according to Japanese broadcaster NHK………………..

In June, the government of Republic of Korea said that there have been eight confirmed cases of malfunction with the ALPS between 2013 and 2022, which concerned corrosion of facilities and issues with filters, after its experts conducted an on-site inspection, said the country’s public broadcaster KBS.

According to previous reports, TEPCO found that there were at least 10 breakages on the ALPS’ filters used to absorb nuclides in August 2021. In the process of replacing the broken filters, the company discovered that 24 filters were damaged. A month later, TEPCO announced that five more filters in the ALPS were found to have been damaged, and radioactive contamination had been detected near some of the filters.

Hikaru Amano, senior researcher of the Nuclear Science Research Institute, Japan Atomic Energy Agency, told CMG that another problem with the ALPS is that there is little room to store used filters.

Amid concerns of Japan’s discharge of nuclear-contaminated wastewater, the Republic of Korea (ROK) plans to raise the number of testing spots to nearly 250 next year, increasing from the 75 coastal locations where emergency radiation tests were conducted about a month ahead of Japan’s first release in August, Seoul-based Yonhap News reported……………  https://news.cgtn.com/news/2023-10-06/Repeated-malfunctions-reveal-safety-issues-in-Fukushima-discharge-1nFOJHDPdgQ/index.html

October 9, 2023 Posted by | Fukushima continuing, safety | Leave a comment

As Japan releases more Fukushima water, what about the rest of the plant?

A second batch of treated water is being released into the Pacific, but the entire decommissioning process will be far more complex.

all that will need to take place in an environment where the level of radiation is so high, it is nearly impossible for workers to get inside.

Japan has not yet worked out where all the waste will go

Aljazeera, By Hanako Montgomery, 5 Oct 2023 #nuclear #anti-nuclear #nuclear-free #NoNukes

“…………………………………………………………………………………………Japan has promised to decommission the power station as part of its recovery plan for Namie town and the rest of Fukushima prefecture. The plant’s six reactors suffered catastrophic damage, after the tsunami smashed into the complex, crippling the plant’s cooling systems. As radioactive material leaked from the site, 470,000 people were forced to evacuate.

But while the plant had been rendered useless, progress towards its decommissioning has been slow.

Complex challenge

According to Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the plant operator, that is partly because of the accumulation of 1.3 billion tonnes of treated radioactive wastewater that was used to cool the three reactors that were in operation at the time of the disaster.

The 1,000 or so blue and white tanks to store the water have taken up space needed for decommissioning, according to TEPCO, which has had to contend with strong criticism from local fishing communities and neighbouring countries like China, which have continued to protest against Japan’s plan to discharge the water into the ocean.

………………………………………………………………… According to TEPCO, the entire decommissioning process will take between 30 and 40 years. That is at least six times longer than it typically takes to decommission a plant under normal circumstances, Brent Heuser, a nuclear engineering professor from the University of Illinois in the United States, told Al Jazeera.

“Decommissioning involves removing fuel stored in structured arrangements. Japan, however, is facing unique challenges such as widely dispersed fuel, requiring both human and robotic efforts for detection,” he told Al Jazeera.

Japan has not yet worked out where all the waste will go.

TEPCO is planning to reduce some of it through incineration or recycling onsite, but that does not include the waste that will be produced from the dismantling of reactor buildings, and there is no estimate for how much radioactive waste there will be as the process moves forward.

To decommission the Daiichi plant, TEPCO must first remove the spent fuel and the fuel debris that is stuck inside the damaged units. Experts will then place the collected debris in storage containers before they can transport it to a new facility that will be built onsite.

The reactor buildings must also be dismantled.

Later this year, TEPCO will carry out a trial removal of melted debris from Unit 2. The retrieval will be expanded in stages if successful.

By 2027, plant operators hope to be able to turn their attention to Unit 1, the most seriously damaged of the reactors, which they plan to enclose with a large cover.

By 2031, they will focus on removing the melted debris.

But all that will need to take place in an environment where the level of radiation is so high, it is nearly impossible for workers to get inside.

“The doses they would receive would go way beyond any allowable limit, so that certainly is playing a role in the extended timeline for the decommission process,” Heuser said, suggesting more staff may be needed given the short period of time they will be able to remain on site.

“They’re spreading the worker dose exposure over a much larger body of people.”

Help from robots

The level of radiation means Japan is also yet to understand the full extent of the damage inside the corroded reactors.

TEPCO has used robotic probes to try and get a sense of the destruction. Equipped with 3D scanners, sensors, and cameras, robots have mapped the terrain, measured radiation levels, and searched for the elusive missing fuel.

Although some headway has been made in assessing the condition of the reactors, the data is far from reassuring.

Since 2022, TEPCO has dispatched a robotic probe into Unit 1.

The probe’s findings revealed the core had largely melted and settled at the bottom of the containment chamber – which serves as a vital safeguard against the release of radioactive material – and possibly Unit 1’s concrete basement. Furthermore, it suggested significant damage to the pedestal, the primary support structure directly beneath Unit 1’s core.

Financial considerations also loom large in Japan’s struggle with decommissioning

Ordinarily, the decommissioning of a standard nuclear plant would cost between $300m to $400m, according to the US nuclear regulator.

But given the extensive damage, compensation paid to local residents and the specialised equipment required for managing one of the world’s worst nuclear disasters, the Japanese government predicts the final bill could come to about 21.5 trillion yen ($141bn).

Akira Ono, who leads TEPCO’s decommissioning unit, has admitted the work is “challenging”. Earlier this year, a remotely-operated vehicle managed to collect only a tiny sample from Unit 1’s reactor, which is thought to contain some 880 tonnes of melted fuel debris -10 times the amount removed during the cleanup of Three Mile Island in the northeastern United States in 1979………………………………………………………………………….. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/5/as-japan-releases-fukushima-water-into-the-sea-what-about-everything-else

October 6, 2023 Posted by | Fukushima continuing, wastes | Leave a comment

Low-Dose Radiation Affects Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Human Aortic Endothelial Cells by Altering Gene Expression under Normal and Diabetic Conditions.

#nuclear #Nuclear-free #anti-nuclear #NoNukes

by Soo-Ho Lee 1,†, Ye Ji Jeong 1,†, Jeongwoo Park 1,2, Hyun-Yong Kim 1, Yeonghoon Son 1, Kwang Seok Kim 1,* and Hae-June Lee 1,*

Divisions of Radiation Biomedical Research, Korea Institute of Radiological and Medical Sciences, Seoul 01812, Korea

2 New Drug Development Center, Daegu Gyeongbuk Medical Innovation Foundation, Daegu 41061, Korea

*Authors to whom correspondence should be addressed.

†These authors contributed equally to this work.

 2 August 2022 (This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Radiation Toxicity)

Abstract

High doses of ionizing radiation can cause cardiovascular diseases (CVDs); however, the effects of <100 mGy radiation on CVD remain underreported. Endothelial cells (ECs) play major roles in cardiovascular health and disease, and their function is reduced by stimuli such as chronic disease, metabolic disorders, and smoking. However, whether exposure to low-dose radiation results in the disruption of similar molecular mechanisms in ECs under diabetic and non-diabetic states remains largely unknown; we aimed to address this gap in knowledge through the molecular and functional characterization of primary human aortic endothelial cells (HAECs) derived from patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D-HAECs) and normal HAECs in response to low-dose radiation. To address these limitations, we performed RNA sequencing on HAECs and T2D-HAECs following exposure to 100 mGy of ionizing radiation and examined the transcriptome changes associated with the low-dose radiation. Compared with that in the non-irradiation group, low-dose irradiation induced 243 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) (133 down-regulated and 110 up-regulated) in HAECs and 378 DEGs (195 down-regulated and 183 up-regulated) in T2D-HAECs. We also discovered a significant association between the DEGs and the interferon (IFN)-I signaling pathway, which is associated with CVD by Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathway analysis, protein–protein network analysis, and module analysis. Our findings demonstrate the potential impact of low-dose radiation on EC functions that are related to the risk of CVD.

Keywords:  low-dose radiation; endothelial cells; diabetes mellitus; gene profiling; cardiovascular disease …………………………………………………………………………….more https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/23/15/8577

October 5, 2023 Posted by | Japan, radiation | Leave a comment

Fukushima Study Links Low-Dose Radiation to Diabetes

Mirage, 3 Oct 23

New research to be presented at this year’s Annual Meeting of The European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), Hamburg (2-6 Oct), suggests that exposure to low doses of radiation may contribute to an increased risk of diabetes.

The study by Dr Huan Hu and Dr Toshiteru Ohkubo from the Japanese National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health involved more than 6,000 out of around 20,000 emergency workers who responded to the radiation accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, which was hit by a huge tsunami in March 2011.

Substantial amounts of radioactive materials were released into the environment following explosions at the nuclear plant.

In 2014, the Epidemiological Study of Health Effects in Fukushima Emergency Workers (NEWS) was established to clarify the long-term health effects of radiation among emergency workers.

Few human studies have examined the impact of radiation exposure on diabetes development, particularly at low doses. To find out more, researchers examined the association between low-dose radiation exposure and risk of diabetes in 5,326 male emergency workers (average age 46 years) taking part in the NEWS study.

Between March and December 2011, individual emergency worker’s radiation exposure was measured using a pocket alarm dosemeter for external exposure and a whole-body counter for internal exposure.

Study participants underwent regular health examinations involving more than 70 components, including blood sugar, lipids, urine tests, inflammation biomarkers, thyroid function tests, and eye examinations.

Between 2012 and 2021, 392 participants developed diabetes—defined as a fast plasma glucose level of at least 126 mg/dL, an HbA1c level of at least 6.5%, or self-reported diagnosis of diabetes.

The researchers assessed the association between incident diabetes and cumulative radiation exposure after adjusting for a wide range of potential confounders including age, body mass index, smoking, alcohol consumption, leisure-time physical activity, employment at the nuclear power plant, dyslipidaemia (abnormally high levels of fats in the blood), and high blood pressure.

The analysis found that compared with the lowest cumulative low-dose radiation exposure (0-4 millisieverts [mSv]), the risk of developing diabetes was 6% higher for workers exposed to 5-9 mSv, and 47% and 33% greater for those exposed to 10-19 mSv and 20-49 mSv, respectively.

However, no elevated risk was detected in those exposed to radiation doses of 50 mSv or higher, likely due to the small sample size in this group.

“Our findings suggest an increased risk of diabetes among nuclear emergency workers from low levels of radiation. While the potential mechanisms remain somewhat unclear, reports suggest that radiation can adversely affect pancreatic cells responsible for insulin production, potentially contributing to diabetes. Additionally, there is an association between radiation exposure and heightened inflammation, a well-known factor in insulin resistance and the development of diabetes”, explains lead author Dr Hu.

He adds, “Ongoing follow-up of NEWS participants will provide an even clearer picture of diabetes risk at low radiation doses. As more diabetes cases emerge within our study group, our expanded dataset will enable more robust analyses, allowing researchers to better assess the link between radiation exposure and diabetes risk.”……………………………………………………………………………………………………….. more https://www.miragenews.com/fukushima-study-links-low-dose-radiation-to-1095852/

October 4, 2023 Posted by | health, Japan | Leave a comment

 Editorial: Japan city’s rejection of nuclear waste site probe casts doubt on gov’t stance.

Tsushima Mayor Naoki Hitakatsu announced on Sept. 27 that
the Nagasaki Prefecture city will not accept a reference material-based
preliminary survey for the construction of a final disposal facility for
nuclear waste, going against the local assembly’s initial adoption of a
petition calling for the survey’s approval.

The Japanese government must accept the reality that the search for a candidate site to dispose ofhighly radioactive nuclear waste, which will continue to accumulate as long
as nuclear power plants are in operation, is proving difficult.

 Mainichi 30th Sept 2023

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20230930/p2a/00m/0op/009000c

October 2, 2023 Posted by | Japan, wastes | Leave a comment

Japan city forgoes applying for government survey on nuclear waste site

27 Sept 23,  https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2023/09/e4f767956477-japan-city-forgoes-applying-for-govt-survey-on-nuclear-waste-site.html

The mayor of Tsushima in southwestern Japan said Wednesday he has decided
against applying to the state for a preliminary survey to gauge the island
city’s suitability to host an underground disposal site for highly
radioactive waste from nuclear power generation. The decision comes in
contrast with the local assembly’s approval earlier this month of a request
filed by proponents urging the city to accept the survey.

“There is insufficient consensus among the public,” Mayor Naoki Hitakatsu said at a city assembly session, with some fearing the potential impact on tourism and primary industries such as fisheries.

He later told reporters he also has concerns about reputational damage that may arise from conducting the survey.

The preliminary survey is the first step in a three-stage process spanning two decades to select a permanent disposal site for nuclear waste. Struggling to find one, the central government is looking for municipalities willing to accept the survey, but only two municipalities in Hokkaido have so far done so.

Tsushima, on a remote island in Nagasaki Prefecture, was identified as a potential disposal site on a map of such locations released by the central government in 2017.

Hitakatsu has raised worries about hosting such a site, saying, “The risks that may arise from unperceived factors cannot be ruled out.”

Opponents of the plan have also said it would not be appropriate for the city to host a disposal site for nuclear waste given the history of the U.S. atomic bombing of Nagasaki city in 1945.

Local construction groups and other proponents argued that state subsidies of 2 billion yen ($13.4 million) for accepting the survey could be used for measures to rev up the shrinking city’s economy and support child-rearing.

The mayor, who may seek a third four-year term after his current term expires in March, told a press conference that the reputational damage that may arise from carrying out the survey “cannot be covered by a subsidy of 2 billion yen.”

He also said he “judged it would become difficult to reject” the subsequent geological research if the preliminary survey showed that the city is suited as a site for the final disposal of nuclear waste.

The surveys, conducted by the Nuclear Waste Management Organization, a quasi-government body in Tokyo, involve checking land conditions and volcanic activity based on published geological sources.

Following Tsushima’s decision, the central government said it will continue efforts to find more areas to carry out preliminary surveys.

“We are very grateful that Tsushima showed interest and had considered” accepting the survey, said Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno at a press conference.

Fast-aging Tsushima, where the number of residents fell below 30,000 in 2020, depends on squid fishing and pearl farming but is struggling to find young people to carry on the running of its industries.

It is located closer to the South Korean port city of Busan, 50 kilometers away, than any major Japanese cities.

High-level radioactive waste, produced when extracting uranium and plutonium from spent fuel, must be stored in bedrock at least 300 meters underground for tens of thousands of years until the radioactivity declines to levels that pose no harm to human health or the environment.

Japan, like many other countries with nuclear plants, is struggling to find a site for such disposal.

Kyodo News 27th Sept 2023

https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2023/09/e4f767956477-japan-city-forgoes-applying-for-govt-survey-on-nuclear-waste-site.html

October 1, 2023 Posted by | Japan, wastes | Leave a comment

Japan to release second batch of wastewater from Fukushima nuclear plant next week

UN-approved release to go ahead despite China’s ban on all Japanese sea imports following first batch

Japan will begin releasing a second batch of wastewater from the crippled
Fukushima nuclear plant from next week, its operator has said, an exercise
that angered China and others when it began in August.

Guardian 29th Sept 2023

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/sep/29/japan-fukushima-nuclear-powerplant-wastewater-release-second-batch

September 30, 2023 Posted by | Japan, oceans, wastes | Leave a comment

Radioactive material leaks detected at Japan’s plutonium nuclear fuel research facility

New Straits Times By Bernama – September 13, 2023 

TOKYO: The Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) has confirmed the detection of radioactive material leaks in one of its nuclear fuel research facilities but reported no adverse effects on the health of the staff or the surrounding environment, Xinhua quoted local media reports.

The leaks were detected within the Plutonium Fuel Development Room No. 3 at the JAEA’s Nuclear Fuel Cycle Engineering Laboratories, located in Tokai Village, Ibaraki Prefecture, national news agency Kyodo reported, citing the agency.

Last Friday, the Plutonium Fuel Development Room No. 3 identified pollution caused by radioactive materials at four locations within the facility.

The pollution was discovered during a routine inspection of the glovebox equipment, which is designed to be airtight………………………..

At present, the cause of the radioactive material leak is under investigation. Authorities at the laboratories suspected that the radioactive materials may have seeped out of the equipment. –BERNAMA  https://www.nst.com.my/world/world/2023/09/954873/radioactive-material-leaks-detected-japans-nuclear-fuel-research-facility

September 15, 2023 Posted by | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

Japan to start old nuclear reactor checks in October

Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) will begin receiving
applications for nuclear safety inspections of aged reactors from October,
ahead of the country’s new nuclear safety regulations that will take effect
on 6 June 2025.

Under the new rule, all the country’s reactors that will be
operating for or beyond 30 years as of 6 June 2025 will in advance need to
secure approval from the NRA for safety plans by 5 June 2025. Nuclear power
operators will have to obtain such permission every 10 years or less after
their 30-year operating period is over. The NRA will start safety screening
of each old reactor.

But it is still unclear how long the process will
take. If a nuclear power operator fails to secure safety permission by 5
June 2025, the company could shut down the reactor, an official at the NRA
said.

Argus Media 13th Sept 2023

https://www.argusmedia.com/en//news/2488629-japan-to-start-old-nuclear-reactor-checks-in-october

September 15, 2023 Posted by | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

The Discharge of Fukushima’s Radioactive Water could be a Precedent for Similar Actions

Obviously, it would be misleading to rely on the IAEA’s statements suggesting that radioactive wastewater does not pose any risk to global health. This information strengthens the likelihood that the IAEA did not reveal valid and precise radiation data regarding the Chornobyl accident and Zaporizhia nuclear power plant during the ongoing Ukrainian war either.

Pinar Demircan 7 Sept 23  https://www.dianuke.org/the-discharge-of-fukushimas-radioactive-water-could-be-a-precedent-for-similar-actions/

Underlying the disregard for objections from global civil society and transforming the ocean into a nuclear waste dump lies a bigger goal inspired by capitalist practices that arise from its crisis: to achieve another threshold by normalization of cost-cutting measures for the sake of the nuclear industry.

While the climate crisis is rapidly turning forests and habitats of living creatures into coal and ash with a tiny spark of fire in Turkiye, Greece, and Canada, the planet’s seas, already polluted with plastics and waste, are also being recklessly infused with radioactivity, driven by profit and cost-centered policies. On August 24, within the framework of the procedures carried out by the Japanese government and TEPCO, the discharge of 1.34 million tonnes of radioactive water which is accumulated in tanks at the plant site, started.

The installation of a treatment system costing 23 million USD, the discharge of wastewater without an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is being realized by foregoing safer alternatives such as solidification of wastewater into construction materials or long-term storage costing 100 times more that constitutes ecocide. Clearly, this method of release that is expected to be carried out over the next 40 years, indicates a systemic assault on the global ecosystem that is longer and more severe than presently apparent.

The Japanese Government is not telling the truth about ‘purification’

The discharge process of the wastewater resulting from the complete meltdown of three reactor cores at the Fukushima nuclear facility began in 2011 and is at par with the danger level ascribed to the Chornobyl disaster. This also highlights how the Fukushima discharge differs from the regular discharge processes of nuclear power plants and indicates the extent of danger that nuclear power plants pose. Furthermore, the radioactive isotopes treated in the accumulated wastewater is only half of the whole amount according to what was stated on the website of the Japanese Ministry of the Environment.

A detail that has been overlooked till today is that there is no information regarding the amount of discharge during this 40-year time frame for the disposal of radioactive water into the ocean. This might indicate that the discharged amount may even be equivalent to the period of, for example, 100 years despite the declared duration of 40. In addition, since the present objections have been disregarded, it is worth considering the potential impact of future oppositions at the end of the 40 years.

A threshold to be achieved

Apparently, over the next decade, the radioactive water discharged from Fukushima is anticipated to disseminate into multiple seas worldwide, encompassing the Marmara, Mediterranean, Aegean, and Black Sea, which surrounds Turkiye. A recent scientific study [2] suggests that the evaporation in these seas will escalate industrial radioactivity levels in the ecosystem. Given this backdrop, it is important to ask why TEPCO, the Japanese government, and the IAEA continue to disregard the adverse impacts of the discharge, which also makes them responsible for the potential increases in cancer, DNA damage, increased miscarriages, hormone imbalances, and unhealthy future generations worldwide? Underlying the disregard for objections raised by global civil society, and transforming the ocean into a nuclear waste dump, lies a bigger goal inspired by capitalist practices that arise from its crisis: to achieve another threshold of the normalization of cost-cutting measures for the sake of nuclear industry.

How can we be sure of the exact amount to be released?

It is also possible to consider the above statement with the possibility of adding wastewater from the other nuclear power plants across Japan to the already 1 million 340 thousand tonnes of water accumulated over the past 12 years at Fukushima. While nuclear power plants operate under higher costs and have to cope with four times cheaper renewable energy production costs, the ocean dumping of the radioactive wastewater offers an easy solution for the nuclear industry. Crossing this threshold guarantees the capability to manage climate-induced hazards to nuclear facilities since now, societal consent has been obtained for this plan of action. Imagine how beneficial this course of action will be for the nuclear industry, with the IAEA promising its support for the industry – to the 410 reactors operating worldwide, approximately 50 reactors under construction, and 80 reactors [3] in various stages of maintenance, repair, decommissioning, and dismantling.

Take for example, Rosatom of Russia, the owner of the Akkuyu Nuclear Power Plant which reached its final stage of construction for the first reactor in Turkiye. It has a long history of concealing the Mayak nuclear power plant accident, well into the 1990s. Furthermore, from 1948 to 2004, Rosatom discharged nuclear waste into the Techa River, thus reinforcing its already questionable track record, and also points to how the legalization of nuclear discharge might be beneficial for the industry. It is also easy to predict the potential impact of this approach in the Mediterranean region by a nation with an underdeveloped democratic system and institutional dynamics dominated [4] by political power. This is especially important since an exemption made for the Akkuyu NPP in the article which allows for the discharge water from the facilities around the Mediterranean temperature of the plant and allows the sea temperature to reach up to 35 Celsius and poses serious ecological challenges indicating that Turkiye violates Barcelona Agreement.

The Role of the IAEA

The example of Fukushima’s radioactive water discharge presents us a picture of a political power that has adopted the corporate management mentality prioritizing profits and industry interests under the guise of efficiency and profitability. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) plays a vital role in ensuring that nuclear energy generation is conducted safely and within established guidelines. However, a leaked document [5] from the IAEA reveals that the agency, which declared its support for TEPCO and the Japanese government, advised them to refrain from making statements that could portray nuclear power plants negatively and disseminate information that influences the press and public opinion. As this scandal brings to light the deep connections between the IAEA, the Japanese government, and TEPCO, it is important to consider the role of the IAEA as a highly regarded global organization.

It is noteworthy to mention that the IAEA’s involvement in the nuclear industry stems from a confidential agreement WHA 12-40 [6] with the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1959, stating that “whenever either organization proposes to initiate a programme or activity on a subject in which the other organization has or may have a substantial interest, the first party shall consult the other with a view to adjusting the matter by mutual agreement”. Consequently, the IAEA, established to promote the growth of nuclear power plants worldwide, refrained from disclosing any potential health hazards posed by these plants.

Obviously, it would be misleading to rely on the IAEA’s statements suggesting that radioactive wastewater does not pose any risk to global health. This information strengthens the likelihood that the IAEA did not reveal valid and precise radiation data regarding the Chornobyl accident and Zaporizhia nuclear power plant during the ongoing Ukrainian war either.

It is important to inform the global society that the IAEA, which focuses mainly on promoting nuclear power, should not be involved in discussions related to public health in line with the principle of separating responsibilities to avoid conflict of interest. Therefore, it is recommended that civil society should inform the international community about the content of the recently disclosed IAEA document and demand an end to the discharge of radioactive water from Fukushima into the ocean. Accordingly, it should be ensured that all processes involved in disposing radioactive contamination in Fukushima are subject to internal and financial control measures performed by a minimum of two separate units.

At this stage, it is essential to take measures by clarifying the issues emphasized by the non-governmental organizations following the processes, and it should be ensured that realistic solutions can only be produced with the involvement of a consortium of neighbouring countries such as South Korea, China, Taiwan and the Pacific Islands. In this regard, the process management for the construction of the steel dome shelter, which was completed in 2016 with financing by 40 countries that came together in 1997 to protect the exploded fourth reactor of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant from external weather conditions, can be taken as an example. [7]

Undoubtedly, the economic and administrative control mechanisms created for Chornobyl due to Ukraine’s lack of financial resources is not acceptable for the technology-giant Japan, which bears the costs of the disaster on its own. However, since global society has not entirely shown its commitment to changing the system, an in-system solution can prevent adding the radioactive disaster to the climate crisis before the transformation of life on the planet hits its constraints. In other words, claiming efficiency and profitability and institutionalization of the logic of ‘running the state like a business’, which has become the common discourse of political powers will at least help to achieve the rationality of emulated corporate management.

September 14, 2023 Posted by | Fukushima continuing, Reference, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

” The future of nuclear as an alternative energy source relies on the success of the Fukushima release” – Rafael Grossi.

“more broadly, the future of nuclear as an alternative energy source relies on the success of the Fukushima release,” he said. Though there has been heightened public alarm toward nuclear plants recently – for instance, regarding the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia plant in Ukraine – “the problem there is war, the problem is not nuclear energy,” Grossi said.

AEA chief ‘completely convinced’ it’s safe to release treated Fukushima nuclear wastewater .

By Jessie Yeung, Marc Stewart and Emiko Jozuka, Tokyo CNN, 7 July 23

Japan’s plan to release treated radioactive water into the ocean is safe and there is no better option to deal with the massive buildup of wastewater collected since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, the head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog told CNN.

Japan will release the wastewater sometime this summer, a controversial move 12 years after the Fukushima nuclear plant meltdown. Japanese authorities and the IAEA have insisted the plan follows international safety standards – the water will first be treated to remove the most harmful pollutants, and be released gradually over many years in highly diluted quantities.

But public anxiety remains high, including in nearby countries like South Korea, China and the Pacific Islands, which have voiced concern about potential harm to the environment or people’s health. On Friday, Chinese customs officials announced they would maintain a ban on food imports from 10 Japanese prefectures including Fukushima, and strengthen inspections to monitor for “radioactive substances, to ensure the safety of Japanese food imports to China.”……………………..

On Tuesday, Grossi formally presented the IAEA’s safety review to Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. The report found the wastewater release plan will have a “negligible” impact on people and the environment, adding that it was an “independent and transparent review,” not a recommendation or endorsement……………………….

The 2011 disaster caused the plant’s reactor cores to overheat and contaminate water within the facility with highly radioactive material. Since then, new water has been pumped in to cool fuel debris in the reactors. At the same time, ground and rainwater have leaked in, creating more radioactive wastewater that now needs to be stored and treated.

That wastewater now measures 1.32 million metric tons – enough to fill more than 500 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

Japan has previously said there were “no other options” as space runs out – a sentiment Grossi echoed on Friday. When asked whether there were better alternatives to dispose of the wastewater, the IAEA chief answered succinctly: “No.”

It’s not that there are no other methods, he added – Japan had considered five total options, including hydrogen release, underground burial and vapor release, which would have seen wastewater boiled and released into the atmosphere………………………………………

International skepticism

But some critics have cast doubt on the IAEA’s findings, with China recently arguing that the group’s assessment “is not proof of the legality and legitimacy” of the wastewater release.

Many countries have openly opposed the plan; Chinese officials have warned that it could cause “unpredictable harm,” and accused Japan of treating the ocean as a “sewer.” The Secretary General of the Pacific Islands Forum, an inter-governmental group of Pacific island nations that includes Australia and New Zealand, also published an op-ed in January voicing “grave concerns,” saying more data was needed.

And in South Korea, residents have taken to the streets to protest the plan. Many shoppers have stockpiled salt and seafood for fear these products will be contaminated once the wastewater is released – even though Seoul has already banned imports of seafood and food items from the Fukushima region.

International scientists have also expressed concern to CNN that there is insufficient evidence of long-term safety, arguing that the release could cause tritium – a radioactive hydrogen isotope that cannot be removed from the wastewater – to gradually build up in marine ecosystems and food chains, a process called bioaccumulation…………………………………

more broadly, the future of nuclear as an alternative energy source relies on the success of the Fukushima release, he said. Though there has been heightened public alarm toward nuclear plants recently – for instance, regarding the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia plant in Ukraine – “the problem there is war, the problem is not nuclear energy,” Grossi said………..  https://edition.cnn.com/2023/07/06/asia/japan-fukushima-water-iaea-chief-interview-intl-hnk/index.html

September 14, 2023 Posted by | Fukushima continuing, politics international, Reference | Leave a comment

Japan’s Insane Immoral, Illegal Radioactive Dumping

CounterPunch, BY ROBERT HUNZIKER 8 Sept 23

Japan cannot possibly outlive the atrocity of dumping radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean. In fact, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) is an example of how nuclear meltdowns negatively impact the entire world, as its toxic wastewater travels across the world in ocean currents. The dumping of stored toxic wastewater from the meltdown in 2011 officially started on August 24th, 2023. Meanwhile, the country restarts some of the nuclear plants that were shut down when the Fukushima Daichi Nuclear Power Plant exploded.

Fukushima’s broken reactors are an example of why nuclear energy is a trap that can’t handle global warming or extreme natural disasters. Nuclear is an accident waiting to happen, for several reasons, including victimization by forces of global warming.

According to Dr. Paul Dorfman, chair of the Nuclear Consulting Group, former secretary to the UK Scientific Advisory Committee on Internal Radiation, and Visiting Fellow, University of Sussex: “It’s important to understand that nuclear is very likely to be a significant climate casualty. For cooling purposes nuclear reactors need to be situated by large bodies of water, etc. …” Essentially, global warming is nuclear energy’s Waterloo; it has already seriously endangered France’s 56 nuclear reactors with partial shutdowns because of extreme global warming. Nuclear reactors cannot survive global warming. See “the nuclear energy trap” link at the end of this article.

TEPCO’s treacherous act of dumping radioactive water into a wide-open ocean is a deliberate violation of human decency, as it clearly violates essential provisions of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) General Safety Guide No. 8 (GSG-8).

Japan should be forced to stop its diabolical exercise of potentially destroying precious life. Shame on the IAEA and shame on the member countries of the G7 for endorsing this travesty. They’ve christened the ocean an “open sewer.” Hark! Come one, come all, dump your trash, open toxic spigots, bring chemicals, bring fertilizers, bring plastic, bring radioactive waste that’s impossible to dispose… the oceans are open sewers. It’s free! Yes, it’s free but only weak-minded people would allow a broken-down crippled nuclear power plant to dump radioactive waste into the world’s ocean. It is a testament to human frailty, weakness, insipience, not courage.

According to Arjun Makhijani, Ph.D. Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, TEPCO’s ALPS-treated Radioactive Water Dumping Plan Violates Essential Provisions of IAEA’s General Safety Guide No. 8 (GSG-8) and Corresponding Requirements in Other IAEA Documents, June 28, 2023: “The IAEA is an important United Nations institution. Like the rest of the Expert Panel, the author of this paper has been reluctant to criticize the IAEA. Yet, its outright refusal to apply its own guidance documents in full measure is stark. Its constricted view of the dumping plan has allowed it to evade its responsibilities to many countries. Its eagerness to assure the public that harm will be “negligible” has been carried to the point of grossly overstating well-known facts about tritium. The serious lapses of the IAEA in the Fukushima radioactive water matter have made criticism unavoidable.”………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

“At high doses, ionizing radiation can cause immediate damage to a person’s body, including, at very high doses, radiation sickness and death. At lower doses, ionizing radiation can cause health effects such as cardiovascular disease and cataracts, as well as cancer. It causes cancer primarily because it damages DNA, which can lead to cancer-causing gene mutations.” (Source: National Cancer Institute)

How is it possible to justify dumping any amount of radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean? Is the world’s consciousness so low, so lacking a moral compass, that it’s okay to dump the most toxic material on the planet into the oceans?

Stop destroying the oceans!

And please contemplate the dire ramifications of the nuclear energy trap. more https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/09/08/japans-insane-immoral-illegal-radioactive-dumping/?fbclid=IwAR0IaIETBoTgZeDUmJ3caeJAlFFWGPrdCtsqt5oR0A7XP8NEl1fKqLJwu54

Robert Hunziker lives in Los Angeles and can be reached at rlhunziker@gmail.com.

September 12, 2023 Posted by | Japan, oceans, Religion and ethics, wastes | Leave a comment

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