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UNSCEAR falsified estimations of medical effects of Fukushima radiation

U.N. cover-up of Fukushima exposed on TV — Medical Doctor: There’s now many more cancer cases than we expected from Fukushima, UNSCEAR report has falsified estimations (VIDEO) http://enenews.com/tv-investigation-details-u-n-cover-up-of-fukushima-medical-doctor-theres-now-many-more-cancer-cases-than-we-expected-from-fukushima-unscear-report-has-falsified-estimations-video

Title: Medical experts criticize UNSCEAR report for playing down consequences of Fukushima nuclear accident

Source: 3sat (German language public TV network)
Captions: World Network For Saving Children From Radiation
Date Published: Nov. 5, 2013


Dr. Alex Rosen, Medical Doctor and radiation specialist: There is now a much higher number of thyroid cancer cases than we expected. […]

Narrator: According to Dr. Alex Rosen, there are various falsified estimations in the UNSCEAR [United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation] report. […]

Professor Wolfgang Hoffman, professor of epidemiology at Geifswald University: It is certain that we will have an elevated level of cancer. […]

Marc Molitor, journalist with Belgisher TV (Belgium): A certain member within UNSCEAR told me that the report was written to play down the consequences of the Fukushima nuclear accident. Moreover, he also said that the members pretend not to learn the lesson from Chernobyl.  There was seemingly a discussion on it.

[UNSCEAR Report:t: “No discernible increased incidence of radiation-related health effects are expected among exposed members of the public or their descendants. The most important health effect is on mental and social well-being”]

November 7, 2013 Posted by | Fukushima 2013, health, Japan, Resources -audiovicual | 1 Comment

The health price paid by Fukushima clean-up workers

Fukushima: Japan’s Cut-Price Nuclear Cleanup: Human Error, Plummeting Morale and Worker Exodus 福島は割引清掃 By Global Research News Global Research, November 04, 2013 The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 11, Issue 43, No. 2, October 28, 2013. “……….Shigemura is most concerned about the 70 percent of Tepco workers at Fukushima Daiichi who were also forced to evacuate their homes by the meltdown. They have yet to come to terms with the loss of their homes, and many are living apart from their families in makeshift accommodation near the plant.

“They were traumatized by the tsunami and the reactor explosions, and had no idea how much they had been irradiated,” Shigemura says. “That was the acute effect, but now they are suffering from the chronic effects, such as depression, loss of motivation and issues with alcohol.”

Men such as Watanabe Kai(30), who was forced to flee his family home in March 2011, have never had psychological counseling and were immediately thrown back into the fight to save the Daiichi plant. Today, he monitors tanks full of highly toxic water for leaks. For a job with potentially serious consequences on his health, he is paid 15,000 yen a day.

Relatively little is known about the people who work at the Daiichi plant. Tepco severely rations interviews with its full-time staff. Contract workers such as Watanabe, employed by one of dozens of subcontractors, rarely talk to journalists because they fear for their jobs. Watanabe insists on a pseudonym for interviews.

Born and raised in the town of Okuma, a few miles from the plant, Watanabe’s family are nuclear refugees. His mother and father left the home he shared with them on March 12th and now live and work in Iwaki, 34 km south of the plant. He doesn’t believe they will ever return. Like Pripyat, the Ukrainian town evacuated after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, Okuma is a nuclear ghost town.

Watanabe labored through the disaster at the Daiichi plant until he reached his annual limit for radiation exposure. He then cycled through the remaining jobs for nuclear workers in Fukushima, ending up with a decontamination crew, cleaning up the radiation that poisoned his home. The irony wasn’t lost on him but he says he bears no grudges. “We have to fix the mess we made.”…….http://www.globalresearch.ca/fukushima-japans-cut-price-nuclear-cleanup/5356796

November 7, 2013 Posted by | Japan, social effects | Leave a comment

UN inspectors in Japan to monitor Fukushima radiation leaks

UN nuclear inspectors in Japan as China demands ‘accurate’ information on radiation Voice of Russia, 6 November 2013, Inspectors from the UN’s nuclear watchdog arrived in Tokyo Wednesday to monitor marine pollution near Fukushima as China demanded Japan provide “accurate” information on how it is handling the crisis.

China told the UN General Assembly it was worried about radioactive water leaks from the Japanese plant, which went into meltdown after being hit by a tsunami in March 2011.

“China follows closely the countermeasures to be adopted by Japan,” China’s deputy UN ambassador Wang Min told a debate on the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

“We urge the Japanese side to spare no effort in minimising the subsequent impact of the accident and provide timely, comprehensive and accurate information to the international community,” Wang added……..

Fukushima “continues to be a source of serious concern, especially to adjacent countries, because of the spillage of contaminated water into the sea,” said South Korea’s deputy UN ambassador Sul Kyung-Hoon………

The first batch of IAEA experts arrived in Japan on Wednesday at the invitation of the Japanese government as it looks to bolster its credibility.

The two researchers from the Environment Laboratories in Monaco are planning to analyse sea water near Fukushima, the agency said.

Their analysis will contribute to the IAEA-led international peer review of Tokyo’s roadmap towards decommissioning the destroyed reactors, it said.

“One of the focuses of the mission is the contaminated water issue,” the agency said.

The experts are David Osborn, director of Environment Laboratories in Monaco, and Hartmut Nies, head of the Radiometrics Laboratory, it said…..: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2013_11_06/UN-nuclear-inspectors-in-Japan-as-China-demands-accurate-information-on-radiation-0357/

 

November 7, 2013 Posted by | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

Low morale amongst Fukushima’s cut price nuclear clean-up workers

Fukushima: Japan’s Cut-Price Nuclear Cleanup: Human Error, Plummeting Morale and Worker Exodus 福島は割引清掃 By Global Research News Global Research, November 04, 2013
The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 11, Issue 43, No. 2, October 28, 2013
.   TEPCO woes continue amid human error, plummeting morale and worker exodus By Justin McCurry and David McNeill reporting from Fukushima

During a visit to Fukushima Daiichi in September, Abe Shinzo told workers: “the future of Japan rests on your shoulders. I am counting on you.”

The prime minister’s exhortation was directed at almost 6,000 technicians and engineers, truck drivers and builders who, almost three years after the plant suffered a triple meltdown, remain on the frontline of the world’s most hazardous industrial cleanup.

Yet as the challenges facing Fukushima Daiichi become clearer with every new radiation leak and mishap, the men responsible for cleaning up the plant are suffering from plummeting morale, health problems and deep anxiety about the future. Even now, at the start of a decommissioning operation that is expected to last four decades, the plant faces a shortage of workers qualified to manage the dangerous work that lies ahead, according to people with firsthand knowledge of the situation inside the facility. Continue reading →

November 7, 2013 Posted by | employment, Fukushima 2013, Japan | Leave a comment

Japan postpones the perilous start to removing nuclear fuel rods from Fukushima reactor no.4

Postponed: Fuel removal attempt at Fukushima Unit 4 delayed, possibly for weeks — Gov’t safety agency wants tests conducted, as another ~M5 quake hits Eastern Japan http://enenews.com/postponed-fuel-removal-attempt-at-fukushima-unit-4-delayed-possibly-for-weeks-govt-safety-agency-wants-tests-conducted

The Japan Times, Nov 4, 2013: Tepco to conduct fuel removal test at reactor 4 […] Tokyo Electric Power Co. will conduct a fuel removal test at the No. 4 reactor building of the stricken Fukushima No. 1 power plant, delaying the start of the actual operation by up to two weeks, sources close to the matter said Monday. […]

fukushima_reactor-4-2013

The test was requested by the Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization. […] It has also urged Tepco to have its work evaluated by a group of Japanese and overseas experts formed by the International Research Institute for Nuclear Decommissioning, a Tokyo-based organization founded by Japanese government agencies, nuclear facility manufacturers and electric power companies.
Kyodo News,, Nov. 4, 2013: TEPCO to conduct test for Fukushima No. 4 unit fuel removal […] The operator of the plant, crippled in the March 2011 quake and tsunami disaster, planned to start removing nuclear fuel from a cooling pool at the reactor building as early as next Friday. The decision comes after a government-affiliated nuclear safety agency called for an initial test operation, including transporting a protective fuel cask from the storage pool to another pool in a different building about 100 meters away for more stable conditions for cooling spent fuel, the sources said. The administrative agency, the Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization, has already inspected equipment to be used in the fuel removal work […]
From last Friday: Removal of Fukushima’s spent fuel on target: U.S. Energy Secretary -Reuters

November 6, 2013 Posted by | Fukushima 2013, Japan, safety | Leave a comment

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant will probably need a concrete tomb

Japan Nuclear Engineer: I don’t think they’ll ever get Fukushima’s melted cores; Will probably start covering reactors in concrete — German Expert: May encase areas in sarcophagus http://enenews.com/japan-nuclear-engineer-dont
November 4th, 2013 
Helmholtz Special, 2012: Dr Walter Tromm is Spokesperson of the […] Nuclear Energy and Safety at the Karlsruhe Insititue of Technology, collaborates on international expert committees on the safety of nuclear reactors: “Debris and scrap metal are to be removed from the plant bit by bit in order to finally dismantle it and/or encase the areas with the highest degree of radioactivity in a sarcophagus.”

diagram-Chernobyl-sarcophag

‘Fukushima‘ by Mark Willacy, book published July 1, 2013 (Excerpt): […] there was much -expert scepticism about whether the government’s 40-year road map would be achievable. ‘I also hope decommissioning can be completed in 40 years,’ said [nuclear-reactor engineer] Hiroaki Koide. ‘But I do not think it is possible.’ […] In an interview with me 20 months after the meltdowns, TEPCO also appeared to be backing away from its four-decade decommissioning road map, admitting that the task in front of the company was unprecedented. ‘We hope to accomplish it in 40 years as per our engineering schedule,’ said Junichi Matsumoto. ‘But we will need to develop manipulators and other jigs and containers to put the bits in.’ […] the gravest challenge would be locating and removing the melted cores inside reactors 1, 2 and 3. ‘I don’t think they can pick up the melted nuclear cores,’ said Koide.

‘Instead, they’ll probably start work to cover the reactors in a concrete sarcophagus. It will take them more than ten years to even begin this work. And then it will take decades to finish each sarcophagus.’

See also: UC Berkeley Nuclear Professor: May be impossible to get Fukushima melted fuel — Work at site to go on for ‘thousands of years’ if not removed (AUDIO)

November 6, 2013 Posted by | Fukushima 2013, Japan, Reference, safety | Leave a comment

Cover-ups and lies about Fukushima radiation amazed Australian reporter

Book-Mark-WillacyReporter in Japan: I’m stunned by brazen cover-up and lies over effects of Fukushima radiation; An epic, unfolding tragedy — Physician: Response has been ‘unthinkable’ (VIDEO) http://enenews.com/reporter-in-japan-im-stunned-by-brazen-cover-up-and-lies-over-effects-of-fukushima-radiation-physician-response-has-been-unthinkable-video
Title: Japan – The Next Wave – Foreign Correspondent – ABC
Source: ABC’s Foreign Correspondent
Date: Nov. 5, 2013

Transcript Excerpts

Mark Willacy, reporter: I’ve been stunned by the brazen and often clumsy efforts to cover-up and lie about the effects and extent of the radiation damage. […] It’s abundantly clear many aspects of this epic, unfolding tragedy are yet to be written — the nuclear fallout will see to that.

Tomoko Koike. mother of 2 and 4 year old in Fukushima Precture: We do not know the real situation. We don’t know whats going on. I can’t trust them. […] My children had never contracted influenza before, even without vaccination. But they contracted it last year. Their vulnerability to illness has increased. […]

Willacy: Her children have already been screened and cleared in tests run by the Fukushima local government. But a follow up screening here at the private Hirata hospital revealed cysts on the thyroid gland of 4 year old Saki.

Koike: A couple of cysts were found. I was very shocked. I don’t know whether the examination by the prefecture was sloppy, or that she wasn’t examined properly.

Dr. Minoru Kamata: It was disclosed that the Fuksuhima health investigation committee was having several secret meetings. I feel the response to this issue has been unthinkable for a democratic nation.
Watch the broadcast here

November 6, 2013 Posted by | Fukushima 2013, Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

With Fukushima’s emergency cleanup – it’s no time to be advocating new nuclear power!

nothing short of a full-on global presence will do. The bring-down of the fuel rods from Unit Four is a terrifying unknown. There’s no precedent for an operation of this scope, precision or potential fallout.

At very least it demands fullest possible attention from all the world’s best scientists and engineers. The global media must power through the Abe Administration’s crack-down on the flow of information. And we must all direct our full awareness to what is about to happen at Fukushima.

before anyone advocates MORE nuclear power, they should take a good long look at what’s going at Fukushima. And if they are claiming atomic expertise, maybe they should jump in to help.

globalnukeNOGlobal Warming vs Global Nuclear Radiation: Climate Scientists Dismiss Fukushima, Lobby for Nuclear Energy  Global Research 4 Nov 13 Four climate scientists have made a public statement claiming nuclear power is an answer to global warming.  Before they proceed, they should visit Fukushima, where the Tokyo Electric Power Company has moved definitively toward bringing down the some 1300 hot fuel rods from a pool at Unit Four.

Which makes this a time of global terror.

In response more than 150,000 petition signatures from www.nukefree.org and others will be delivered at the United Nations this Thursday, November 7, asking for a global response to this disaster.

Since March 11, 2011, fuel assemblies weighing some 400 tons, containing more than 1500 extremely radioactive fuel rods, have been suspended 100 feet in the air above Fukushima Daiichi’s Unit Four. “If you calculate the amount of cesium 137 in the pool, the amount is equivalent to 14,000 Hiroshima atomic bombs,” says Hiroaki Koide, assistant professor at Kyoto University Research Reactor Institute. Former US Department of Energy official Robert Alvarez, an expert on fuel pool fires, calculates potential fallout from Unit Four at ten times greater than what came from Chernobyl.

Tokyo Electric Power says it may start moving these fuel rods as early as November 8.  Continue reading →

November 5, 2013 Posted by | Fukushima 2013, Japan, Reference, safety | 1 Comment

For USA help, Japan must first sign up to free USA nuclear equipment providers from accident liabilty

revolving-Moniz-Flag-USAU.S. Says Japan Signing Liability Pact Would Aid Nuclear Cleanup Bloomberg, By Jacob Adelman – Nov 3, 2013 Japan will receive international help with the cleanup at the Fukushima atomic station once it flag-japanjoins an existing treaty that defines liability for accidents at nuclear plants, U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said.

The treaty, known as the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage,assigns accident liability to plant operators rather than equipment and technology vendors,Moniz said in a Nov. 2 interview in Tokyo.  Continue reading →

November 5, 2013 Posted by | Japan, politics international, USA | Leave a comment

Fukushima clean-up an “unprecedented challenge” says shocked USA Energy Secretary Moniz

Moniz,-ErnestUS Energy Secretary “shocked” and “stunned” after being at Fukushima plant — “Unprecedented” and “daunting” task ahead for Japan — America has “direct interest” in Tepco doing things safely (VIDEO) http://enenews.com/energy-secretary-shocked-stunned-after-being-fukushima-plant-unprecedented-daunting-task-ahead-japan-america-direct-interest-tepco-doing-safely-video

Statement from U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz Regarding Fukushima, Nov. 1, 2013 “On Friday, I made my first visit to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station. It is stunning that one can see firsthand the destructive force of the tsunami even more than two and a half years after the tragic events.[…] TEPCO President Hirose, and his dedicated staff […] face a dauntingtask in the cleanup and decommissioning of Fukushima Daiichi, one that will take decades and is being carried out under very challenging conditions. The TEPCO workforce is facing unprecedented challenges and is clearly focused on devising and implementing solutions. […] It appears that spent nuclear fuel will begin to be removed from Unit 4 as scheduled in mid-November. […] As Japan continues […] the cleanup at the Fukushima site […] the United States stands ready to continue assisting our partners in this daunting yet indispensable task […]“

NHK WORLD, (removed from Internet)  Oct. 31, 2013: Ernest Moniz […] in his speech in Tokyo on Thursday […] said the success of the cleanup of areas around the Fukushima plant and decommissioning of reactors have global significance. Moniz said the US has a direct interest in seeing the next steps are done efficiently and safely.

Fukushima to Remove Tritium, IAEA To Send “Help” Update 11/2/13


AP, Nov. 2, 2013: In a speech Thursday in Tokyo, [Moniz] said “the success of the cleanup also has global significance. So we all have a direct interest in seeing that the next steps are taken well, efficiently and safely.”

NHK,, Nov. 2, 2013: Ernest Moniz spoke to NHK on Saturday in Tokyo, one day after visiting the Fukushima Daiichi plant. Moniz said he was shocked to see the scale of the damage that remains more than 2 and half years after the tsunami disaster and the nuclear accident. He said he also sensed how difficult work at the plant is with workers required to wear full face masks and other protective gear.
 Watch the NHK interview here (removed from Internet

November 5, 2013 Posted by | Japan, Resources -audiovicual, safety, USA | Leave a comment

Fukushima area gets another earthquake

Another earthquake: New 4.9 tremor near Fukushima Rt.com : November 04, 2013 A 4.9 magnitude earthquake with an epicenter close to Fukushima Prefecture has struck the eastern coast of Japan, the Japan Meteorological Agency said.

The tremor was registered at a depth of 20 km. There have not been immediate reports of damage or injuries. No tsunami warning has been issued.

It is the second earthquake to hit Fukushima neighboring prefecture in the past two days. A 5.0earthquake was registered on Japan’s east coast, with Sunday’s tremors felt as far away as Tokyo.

The news comes amid preparations for a tough and dangerous cleanup operation to remove fuel rods from Unit 4 at Fukushima Daiichi plant. ……http://rt.com/news/fukushima-japan-earthquake-nuclear-194/

November 5, 2013 Posted by | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

Public and scientists do not believe Shinzo Abe’s statement that Fukushima nuclear radiation is controlled

For former nuclear engineer Michael Friedlander, who describes himself as “an avid supporter of responsible nuclear power,” these comments are damaging to the atomic industry.

“It’s a very Japanese way of handling the situation, the authorities telling everybody that everything’s OK, don’t worry, we’re in control,” Friedlander said in an interview from Hong Kong.

Abe’s comments haven’t persuaded the Japanese public. A Kyodo News poll conducted Oct. 26 and Oct. 27 found that 83 percent of respondents said they didn’t believe his “under control” statement.

The residents of Namie, a town 8 kilometers from the Fukushima nuclear station that was evacuated, said that Abe is making “irresponsible comments.

Abe,-Shinzo-nukeAbe’s stance on Fukushima water fuels skepticism  Claim radioactivity contained scoffed at by public, scientists The Columbian, By Tsuyoshi Inajima and Yuriy Humber, Bloomberg News November 2, 2013, TOKYO — Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says radioactive water flowing into the sea from the crippled Fukushima atomic station is being contained within the plant’s harbor, a view maintained by operator Tokyo Electric Power Co.

Marine scientists, Fukushima residents and Japan’s general public don’t agree. Continue reading →

November 5, 2013 Posted by | Fukushima 2013, Japan, oceans, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Japan’s taxpayers to cop huge expense in fukushima radiation clean-up

flag-japanState to spend over ¥1 trillion of taxpayer money for Fukushima decontamination work http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/11/02/national/state-to-spend-over-%C2%A51-trillion-of-taxpayer-money-for-fukushima-decontamination-work/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=state-to-spend-over-%25c2%25a51-trillion-of-taxpayer-money-for-fukushima-decontamination-work#.Unli23Bwo7o KYODO NOV 2, 2013

In a major policy shift, the government will use more than ¥1 trillion in public funds to clean up contaminated areas around the Fukushima No. 1 plant, according to sources.

The plan revealed Friday to alleviate the financial burden Tokyo Electric Power Co. was supposed to shoulder is in line with a ruling Liberal Democratic Party proposal compiled Thursday on ways to accelerate the sluggish recovery from one of the world’s worst nuclear crises.

Tepco is still expected to stump up to some ¥3 trillion because the government has no intention of exempting it from decontamination payments that have already been planned by the state and local governments.

The central government, for its part, plans to use taxpayers’ money to respond to additional decontamination needs for infrastructure restoration, such as cleaning schools, parks and other public facilities that have been left to go to seed after residents fled from their homes. It will also use public funds to build interim storage facilities to keep radioactive soil and other waste from the cleanup efforts.

The Environment Ministry has earmarked a total of ¥1.5 trillion for radioactive decontamination through fiscal 2013, ending next March, and has asked Tepco to pay back ¥40 billion of the funds it has so far used. But the utility has only returned ¥6.7 billion, citing delays in clerical work and tough business conditions.

Tepco is struggling amid soaring costs for fuel imports to boost thermal power generation to cover the loss of all its nuclear plants. It also needs funds to compensate people and companies affected by the nuclear crisis and to decommission the crippled reactors of the Fukushima No. 1 plant.

November 5, 2013 Posted by | business and costs, Japan, politics | Leave a comment

TEPCO struggles with plans to avoid bankruptcy

Japan’s Fukushima operator mulls overhaul to counter break-up plans http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/11/04/japan-fukushima-tepco-reorganisation-idINL2N0IP09C20131104 By Yoshifumi Takemoto and Kentaro Hamada TOKYO | Mon Nov 4, 2013   (Reuters) – The operator of Japan’s wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant is working on a reorganization plan to fend off more drastic proposals, including possibly dragging the company through bankruptcy in return for a publicly funded clean-up and shutdown of the reactors. Continue reading →

November 5, 2013 Posted by | business and costs, Japan | Leave a comment

Japanese government lags on developing renewable energy

Viewpoint: Japan dawdles on a clear energy policy, The Spec.com Viewpoint: The Japan Times (excerpt), 4 Nov 13 Uncertainties hang over Japan’s energy policy 40 years after the global panic over oil supplies shocked the nation and prodded it to diversify into nuclear power. This reliance on nuclear power came to a halt following the March 2011 triple meltdowns at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. The government has yet to set a new direction.

While dismissing the idea of nuclear power phase-out as unrealistic and “irresponsible,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said his administration will try to “reduce as much as possible” Japan’s reliance on nuclear power. But little progress has been made toward this goal and the prime minister appears to consider nuclear energy to be a key part of his administration’s economic growth strategy.

The government is in the process of crafting a new medium- to long-term energy plan by the end of this year. In working out the plan, it should set a clear timeline to end Japan’s reliance on nuclear power while making serious efforts to expand renewable energy resources as much as possible……..

Diversification of energy supply remains a major challenge. Japan still relies on imports from the Middle East for more than 80 per cent of its oil. Renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power still account for only a tiny portion of Japan’s power needs. Japanese companies must make strenuous efforts to further improve energy-saving technologies and the government should vigorously promote renewable energy sources. These efforts will help create the basis for building a stable economy. http://www.thespec.com/opinion-story/4190255-viewpoint-japan-dawdles-on-a-clear-energy-policy/

November 5, 2013 Posted by | Japan, renewable | Leave a comment