TEPCO leaves Fukushima to unskilled workers, pours resources into Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant
- Destitute Left to Clean up Fukushima, The Age March 19, 2014 Hiroko Tabuchi Naraha, Japan: “Out of work? Nowhere to live? Nowhere to go? Nothing to eat?” the online ad reads. “Come to Fukushima.”
That grim posting is one of the starkest indications yet of an increasingly troubled search for workers willing to carry out the hazardous decommissioning at the Fukushima No.1 nuclear plant.
The plant’s operator, the Tokyo Electric Power Co., known as TEPCO, has been shifting its attention away, leaving the complex clean-up to an often badly managed, poorly trained, demoralised and sometimes unskilled work force. At the same time, the company is pouring its resources into another plant, Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, that it hopes to restart this year as part of the government’s push to return to nuclear energy three years after the disaster.
Regulators, contractors and more than 20 current and former workers interviewed in recent months say the deteriorating labour conditions are a prime cause of a string of large leaks of contaminated water and other embarrassing errors that have already damaged the environment and, in some cases, put workers in danger. Continue reading
China’s concern over Japan’s plutonium and enriched uranium
Japan and China’s Dispute Goes Nuclear, The Diplomat, Japan and China’s bitter PR campaign has now entered the nuclear realm. By Zachary Keck March 18, 2014 Japan and China appear to be trading nuclear barbs with one another.
For some weeks now, China has been raising concerns about the amount of enriched uranium and weapons-grade plutonium Japan currently stockpiles. “We continue to urge the Japanese government to take a responsible attitude and explain itself to international community,” a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said at the end of last month.
The following week, the same spokesperson asked: “Has Japan kept an excessive amount of sensitive nuclear material that is beyond its actual needs? Does one need so much sensitive nuclear material for peaceful use? Should one keep excessive weapons-grade nuclear material?” He added: “More importantly, does Japan have higher-enriched and weapons-grade uranium, and how much does it have? What are those used for? How can Japan ensure a balance between the demand and supply of nuclear materials? These are the real concerns and questions of the international community.”
Japan has one of the most advanced civilian nuclear programs of any country without nuclear weapons.According to NBC News, Tokyo has 9 tons of plutonium stockpiled in different places throughout Japan, while 35 tons of Japanese plutonium is stockpiled in different countries in Europe. Only about 5 to 10 kilograms is needed to produce a nuclear weapon. Japan also has an additional 1.2 tons of enriched uranium. It is also building a fast-breeder plutonium reactor in Rokkasho that will produce 8 tons of plutonium annually.
Many experts believe that Japan could produce nuclear weapons within 6 months of deciding to do so, and some believe that Tokyo is pursuing a “nuclear hedging” strategy. Japan has done little to mollify these concerns. In fact, it has often encouraged them, with a Japanese official recently saying off the record that “Japan already has the technical capability [to build a nuclear bomb], and has had it since the 1980s.”
Having a “bomb in the basement” largely suits Japan’s interests in its competition with China. …….http://thediplomat.com/2014/03/japan-and-chinas-dispute-goes-nuclear/
Censorship of scientific findings on Fukushima radiation
NYTimes: Gov’t scientist not allowed to publish findings that Fukushima cesium-137 levels could be 10,000 times higher than after Chernobyl in Pacific surface waters — Japan researchers pressured to downplay disaster’s impact — Professors obstructed when data might cause public concern http://enenews.com/nytimes-govt-scientist-allowed-publish-findings-fukushima-cesium-137-could-be-10000-times-higher-pacific-surface-waters-after-chernobyl-japan-researchers-pressure-downplay-disasters-impact-profe?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ENENews+%28Energy+News%29
New York Times,, Mar. 16, 2014: […] As a senior scientist at the Japanese government’s Meteorological Research Institute, [Michio Aoyama] said levels of radioactive cesium 137 in the surface water of the Pacific Ocean could be 10,000 times as high as contamination after Chernobyl […] as Mr. Aoyama prepared to publish his findings […] the director general of the institute called with an unusual demand — that Mr. Aoyama remove his own name from the paper. Continue reading
The censorship of research on Fukushima’s radiation releases
Squelching Efforts to Measure Fukushima Meltdown By DAVID MCNEILL | THE CHRONICLE OF HIGHER EDUCATIONMARCH 16, 2014 TOKYO — In the chaotic, fearful weeks after the Fukushima nuclear crisis began, in March 2011, researchers 
struggled to measure the radioactive fallout unleashed on the public. Michio Aoyama’s initial findings were more startling than most. As a senior scientist at the Japanese government’s Meteorological Research Institute, he said levels of radioactive cesium 137 in the surface water of the Pacific Ocean could be 10,000 times as high as contamination after Chernobyl, the world’s worst nuclear accident.
Are the people of Japan, especially the children, OK?
Gundersen: Fukushima will be bleeding into Pacific for next 100 years — Such a worldwide catastrophe — Molten cores being released into groundwater and moving off site — ‘Radioactive lake’ developing beneath reactors — New Yorker: “Human disaster that may never end” (VIDEO) http://enenews.com/gundersen-fukushima-wil-lbe-bleeding-into-pacific-for-next-100-years-such-a-worldwide-catastrophe-molten-cores-being-released-into-groundwater-and-moving-off-site-radioactive-lake-develo?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ENENews+%28Energy+News%29
Fairewinds Energy Education, Mar. 12, 2014:
Arnie Gumdersen, Fairewinds chief engineer (at 0:45 in): Is most of the cleanup complete? Are the people of Japan, especially the children, OK? Are the Japanese evacuees returning home? And, are the oceans OK? Sadly the answers are no.
Gundersen (at 5:15 in): The aftermath of this catastrophe remains as hazardous as ever. The power plant site itself, entire sections of the surrounding Fukushima Prefecture and the Pacific Ocean are contaminated in ways that humans never imagined, so no method of mitigation exists. The Fukushima catastrophe will continue to be life-threatening and continue to cause extreme hardship for Tepco employees and cleanup workers,the former Fukushima residents, who and the Pacific ocean — its habitats and its on the ecosystem […] The reactors continue to release the radioactive remnants from the molten cores into the surrounding groundwater that’s migrating off site. […] Tokyo Electric appears to have little control over the deteriorating environment, and it behaves like the victim, rather than the perpetrator of the greatest industrial mishap of all time. What will the future bring? The Fukushima Daiichi site will continue to bleed radiation into the Pacific Ocean for 100 years. As contaminated water beneath the site slowly evolves into a radioactive lake. […] Most likely the cleanup of the entire site is at least a century away, if ever. How has this calamity evolved into such a worldwide catastrophe? It happened because the Japanese government chose to protect Tepco, its financial interest and the goals of the nuclear power industry.
The New Yorker, Mar. 11, 2014: “A story of human disaster that may never end.” Seattle Weekly, Mar. 11, 2014: “The 3/11 snowfall was the beginning of Japan’s nuclear winter.”
In Fukushima region, people are radiation guinea pigs
Official: Japan will be ruined if public doesn’t realize they’re being exposed to Fukushima radiation — “99.99% of the people are being sacrificed” — Rest of world will be taken down too (AUDIO) http://enenews.com/lawmaker-if-japanese-cant-face-truth-thattheir-exposure-could-be-ruined-by-fukushima-radiation-will-take-rest-of-world-down-with-it-99-99-of-the-people-are-being-sacrificed-audio?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=em
Forum with Michael Krasny on KQED, Mar. 10, 2014 — Kenji Kushida, Stanford University (at 43:00 in): This crisis doesn’t stop, it keeps on going, there’s no easy solution in sight. […] This current situation is basically unprecedented.
Message from Arao Shunsuke, Fukushima resident, , Mar. 10, 2014: […] Fukushima Daiichi is nowhere near under control, there are still massive problems […] we must be prepared for a long term battle which will go beyond the present generation. […] in Nakadori and other places in Fukushima, a million people are being forced to live exposed […] Many citizens of Fukushima mutter “we are guinea pigs.” […] Meanwhile TEPCO has not taken any responsibility for spreading radiation not just throughout Fukushima, but throughout the world. […] From the point of view of disposal of the radioactive waste also, people are realizing that we are nearing the point of collapse. […] We are continuing our journey on this small but beautiful planet, through the limitless universe. All of us must join our strength so that this delicate vehicle, which we are riding, which we have borrowed from our children and grandchildren, can be protected and handed over to them intact.
‘Nuclear Hotseat’ hosted by Libbe HaLevy,, Mar. 10, 2014 (at 49:30 in) — Taro Yamamoto, celebrity and lawmaker elected in 2013 to represent the Tokyo district in Japan’s Upper House: “Idiotic ideas — like restarting the nuclear plants — are being considered here in Japan. It really boils down to exposure to radiation. Why is nuclear dangerous? Because it exposes people to radiation […] in Japan you can talk about nuclear energy, but the subject off radiation is taboo. You almost never here the subject discussed on TV or the mass media. In various places the true situation about radiation exposure is being hidden. If Japanese people can’t face up to this problem then this country will be ruined. It will take the rest of the world down with it. […] I think it is wrong that people’s lives are being sacrificed because of money and the company profits. […] 99.99% of the people are being sacrificed.”
Plutonium rush in Japan, as ‘Nuclear Village’ still in control
Plutonium fever blossoms in Japan Cronyism, influence-buying and a stifling of dissenting voices have kept the Japanese nuclear industry going strong after the Fukushima disaster, 
critics say Center for Public Integrity By Douglas Birch
R. Jeffrey SmithJake Adelstein 12 Mar TOKYO — When Taro Kono was growing up as the son of a major Japanese political party leader, he had what he calls a “fever for the atom.” 
Like many of his countrymen, he regarded nuclear power plants as his country’s ticket to postwar prosperity, a modern, economical way to meet huge energy needs on an island with few natural resources. pro-nuclear sentiment led Japan to build the world’s third largest fleet of nuclear reactors. Its officials spent more than two decades and $22 billion building a factory to create plutonium-based nuclear reactor fuel, the largest ever to be subject to international monitoring. The facility is slated for completion in October at Rokkasho on Japan’s northeast coast, 
kicking off a new phase in the country’s long-term plan to increase energy independence.
The government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who leads Kono’s party, announced in February its support for restarting some reactors and possibly building new ones, designed specifically to burn plutonium-based fuel.
Abe did so with apparent confidence that he has the enduring support — if not of the public — of the so-called “nuclear power village,” a tightly-woven network of regulators, utility industry executives, engineers, labor leaders and local politicians who have become dependent on nuclear power for jobs, income, and prestige.
Kono, a fluent English-speaker who received his undergraduate degree from Georgetown University, said in an interview that he has been talking about nuclear power “for the last 16 to 17 years,” but “no one really paid attention, right?”
Kono was unable to defeat the plutonium fuel program, he said, because its powerful constituency includes not only members of the ruling party, but bureaucrats, media leaders, bankers and academics. They were, he wrote in a 2011 book, “all scrambling for a place at the table” where nuclear-related funds are distributed. The louder he complained, the more these elites turned their backs on him. Just 60 legislators out of 722 in the parliament’s lower and upper chambers have joined the anti-nuclear caucus he helped organize………http://www.publicintegrity.org/2014/03/12/14394/plutonium-fever-blossoms-japan
No future for most of Japan’s nuclear reactors
THREE YEARS AFTER: Majority of Japan’s nuclear reactors face bleak future THE ASAHI SHIMBUN 12 Mar 13 Due to stricter government safety regulations, 30 of Japan’s idled 48 nuclear reactors have no immediate prospects of restarting operations, at least in the near future, according to an Asahi Shimbun survey of utilities.Thirteen of those, mainly due to their age, are having particular difficulty in complying with the new standards, according to the survey, and are likely to be decommissioned……..
The new restrictions ban electric power companies from locating reactor facilities directly on top of active fault lines. The state also revised the Law on the Regulation of Nuclear Source Material, Nuclear Fuel Material and Reactors to limit, in principle, the operational life of reactors to 40 years.
“No matter how much money and time we spend, it would be impossible (for some reactors to clear certain hurdles),” said an official with an electric power company, referring to the two requirements.
The two restrictions are the main obstacles the utilities face in their efforts to restart idle reactors. The 13 likely to be decommissioned are the Tokai No. 2 plant in Ibaraki Prefecture; the three reactors at the Mihama plant in Fukui Prefecture; the two reactors each at the Oi, Takahama and Tsuruga plants, all in Fukui Prefecture; the No. 1 reactor at the Shimane plant; the No. 1 reactor at the Ikata plant in Ehime Prefecture; and the No. 1 reactor of the Genkai plant in Saga Prefecture.
Of these reactors, the Tsuruga plant’s No. 1 reactor and the Mihama plant’s No. 1 and No. 2 reactors have exceeded the 40-year limit.
The Shimane plant’s No. 1 reactor will mark its 40th anniversary of operation at the end of this month, while the Takahama plant’s No. 1 reactor will pass the four decade mark in November. Furthermore, an investigation by the Nuclear Regulation Authority has concluded that there is an active fault line beneath the Tsuruga plant’s No. 2 reactor building. A slip of an active fault directly under a reactor is highly likely to lead to its destruction.
The NRA is also studying the geological structure of the ground beneath the Shika nuclear plant in Ishikawa Prefecture, the Higashidori plant in Aomori Prefecture and the Mihama plant.
The new government standards also require nuclear plant operators to bolster fire prevention measures…….http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201403120057
Tokyo anti nuclear groups organise to promote renewable energy
Nuclear foes rally in U.S. cities on 3/11 anniversary Japan Times KYODO NEW YORK 12 Mar 14,“…..Green association forged KYODO A group of 38 local green power advocacy groups plan to set up a national association by June in an effort to break away from nuclear power generation.
The association will provide a forum for sharing information about members’ experiences in setting up community-based renewable power plants, the founders said Tuesday in Tokyo.
Members also plan to create a system for issuing certificates indicating the origin of electricity ahead of the 2016 liberalization of the retail electricity market, which will allow households to choose suppliers. Noting their wish not to have another nuclear disaster, the founders said they hope to assist companies and individuals to overcome challenges in developing locally driven power plants. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/03/12/national/nuclear-foes-rally-in-u-s-cities-on-311-anniversary/#.UyII_j9dV9U
USA not happy about Japan’s plutonium plan
- Key findings: http://www.publicintegrity.org/2014/03/12/14406/key-findings
Japan’s nuclear industry has taken a beating in public opinion due to cost overruns, technical glitches and accidents like the Fukushima disaster two years ago next week. - Despite this, support for the Rokkasho plant among the country’s leaders remains high because of a tightly-woven network of regulators, utilities, labor leaders and local politicians who are dependent on a continuing stream of funding for nuclear power.
- Japan’s enthusiasm for nuclear power has been nurtured by the utilities, which spent $27 billion on advertising over the past four decades and lavished contributions on members of the leading Japanese political party.
- Although the government’s policy has long ruled out the production or possession of nuclear arms, some Japanese politicians have supported the production of additional plutonium on grounds that it sends a useful signal to potential aggressors about Japan’s capability to make such weapons.
- Eager to block that development, the U.S. has brought a stream of Japanese diplomats and military officers into highly restricted nuclear weapons centers to remind them of the robustness of the U.S. nuclear deterrent. They also have gently urged Japan not to take steps that would add to its existing plutonium stocks. But neither of these steps amounts to firm advice that Rokkasho should not be opened.
‘Atomic Abe’ taking Japan into a dangerous nuclear situation
Nuclear energy costs still rising, three years on from Fukushima, SMH, 11 Mar 14 #……Atomic Abe The arrival of Abe as prime minister in December 2012, gave a boost to the pro-nuclear camp. Cutting energy costs is part of his plan to revitalize the economy.
Abe’s push on nuclear shows how polarizing the issue is in Japan.
At least three former prime ministers have publicly opposed the current premier on reactor restarts, including Junichiro Koizumi, Abe’s mentor and one of Japan’s most-popular postwar leaders. Naoto Kan, prime minister at the time of the 2011 quake, is another.
“The reason I’m against nuclear is that people cannot fully control it,” Kan told reporters in a briefing in December.
Industrial accidents can happen, but nothing on the scale of nuclear, he said. A worst-case scenario for Fukushima would have made a third of Japan’s land uninhabitable, Kan said. Opponents also point to the cost of nuclear accidents. The government has estimated it’ll take 11 trillion yen and 40 years to clean up the Fukushima site.
Japan Inc
The former prime ministers find themselves in an unusual place on the opposite side of the argument from Japan Inc.,……..http://www.smh.com.au/environment/nuclear-energy-costs-still-rising-three-years-on-from-fukushima-20140311-34ii6.html
Japanese Senior Scientist Censored over Radiation Report
Senior Scientist at MIT Event: Japanese scientists censored — Not allowed to publish research that compared Fukushima to Chernobyl — Fukushima ‘arguably’ bigger http://enenews.com/senior-scientist-at-mit-event-japanese-scientists-censored-not-allowed-to-publish-research-that-compared-fukushima-to-chernobyl-fukushima-arguably-bigger
MIT Center for International Studies — Japan’s Continuing Nuclear Nightmare, Oct 24, 2013:
Ken Buesseler, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (at 31:00 in):
I kind of look at these [Chernobyl and Fukushima] and say these are similar in scale, we can argue about which one’s bigger.
It was politically impossible, the first paper I wrote, for Japanese scientists to be co-author because I compared Fukushima to Chernobyl and that was considered not appropriate by his bosses at his institution.
Buesseler during a recent radio interview: Fukushima released “100, or 50 to 80 petabecquerels” of cesium-137 in 2011 — Chernobyl total was 70 petabecquerels Watch the presentations here
Record high radiation in 8 locations at at Fukushima Daiichi
Jiji: Highly radioactive groundwater now flowing under Unit 1 — Levels skyrocket since last test, now 1,000s of times higher — 8 locations hit record in recent days at Fukushima Daiichi http://enenews.com/jiji-highly-radioactive-groundwater-now-flowing-under-fukushima-unit-1-levels-skyrocket-since-last-test-now-1000s-of-times-higher-8-locations-hit-record-in-recent-days
Jiji Press, Jan. 24, 2014: Tainted Water May Also Have Leaked from No. 1 Reactor at Fukushima N-Plant — Highly radioactive water accumulated in the basement of the turbine building of the No. 1 reactor […] may have contaminated groundwater, experts said Friday. […] TEPCO has explained that the groundwater may have been contaminated by highly radioactive water in underground cable tunnels of the No. 2 and 3 reactors […] however, 5,600 becquerels of radioactive tritium per liter was detected in groundwater taken on Sunday from an observation well near the turbine building of the No. 1 reactor. No radioactive tritium was detected in water collected in mid-November. […]
8 groundwater locations hit new highs for tritium since January 6 (Bq/liter):
0-2: 4,700 <1/12>
0-3-2: 73,000 <1/16>
0-4: 46,000 <1/12>
1-8: 12,000 <1/6>
1-17: 31,000 <1/16>
2-2: 660 <1/8>
2-7: 1,100 <1/17>
3-5: 170 <1/8>
Japan could restart nuclear reactors with no proper emergency plan
Japanese nuclear power regulation does not require evacuation plan approval as a prerequisite for restarting nuclear power plants
No plan best plan in Kansai nuclear disaster Area leaders paralyzed by lack of answers, state guidance Japan Times, BY ERIC JOHNSTON 26 Jan 14 Ten months after regional governments were required to submit nuclear disaster evacuation plans, a lack of central government guidance and local-level cooperation is generating concern that Kansai will be ill-prepared to respond if any of Fukui Prefecture’s 13 commercial reactors suffers a meltdown.
Questions remain about how fleeing Fukui residents who pass through neighboring Kyoto would be stopped and screened for radiation, and how residents in the rural northern areas closest to the reactors would be gathered and evacuated in a timely manner. Evacuating the elderly, young mothers and the pregnant is also a serious concern.
There is also the question of what to do if Shiga’s Lake Biwa, which supplies drinking water to about 14.5 million people, gets contaminated with radiation.
Citizens’ groups have posed these and other detailed questions to prefectural officials in Kyoto and the Union of Kansai Governments, a loose federation of seven prefectures and four major cities in the region. But Kansai officials reply that, on many issues, there is little they can do because the central government hasn’t drafted specific guidelines…..
Kansai leaders recognize that more monitoring stations, particularly in northern Kyoto and Hyogo, are needed, but without guidance from the central government, as well as funding, there is little they can do.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government has made restarting the nation’s nuclear reactors a primary goal. The discussions have focused mostly on the technical issues related to the plants and whether the fault lines surrounding them, or in some cases under them, are active.
Given the widespread concerns, Smith says such thinking puts the cart before the horse. “It’s a very serious problem that Japanese nuclear power regulation does not require evacuation plan approval as a prerequisite for restarting nuclear power plants,” she said. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/01/26/national/no-plan-best-plan-in-kansai-nuclear-disaster/
Nuclear power destroying democracy in Japan. And Beyond?
“Shock & Outrage”: Japan TV host reveals being told he cannot discuss nuclear power until pivotal Tokyo election ends — “Somebody needs to bring these issues into the media” — #2 in trending news http://enenews.com/shock-outrage-japan-tv-host-reveals-being-told-he-cannot-discuss-nuclear-power-until-pivotal-tokyo-election-ends-somebody-needs-to-bring-these-issues-into-the-media
TokyoReporter’s tweet, Jan. 22, 2014: Radio host Peter Barakan says broadcasters told him to avoid nuclear issues till after poll
1 This Month
PLEASE OPPOSE HR 8255 AND S.3639 – bills would accelerate satellite deployment, with no environmental review or safeguards – https://ncstd5li.quorum.us/campaign/169331/
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