Junichiro Koizumi, politician in harmony with Japan’s anti nuclear mood
“There is nothing more costly than nuclear power,” Koizumi said, marking a stunning reversal for an LDP stalwart…….
Koizumi siding with the anti-nuclear movement is important for two reasons. One, he’s an extraordinarily perceptive politician with a unique ability to read the public mood and sell sweeping change to the masses. Two, he’s calling for a kind of Manhattan Project in reverse
A Quake Revives Japan’s Nuclear Nightmare Bloomberg, By William Pesek Oct 28, 2013 As Tokyo shook early Saturday morning and loud shrieks from mobile-phone earthquake-warning alarms filled bedrooms around the city, one word immediately sprung to mind:Fukushima.
Those who don’t reside 135 miles away from the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl won’t understand this reaction. But the first thing most of Tokyo’s 13 million residents do once things stop wobbling is check if all’s well at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant still leaking radiation into the atmosphere and the Pacific Ocean…… Continue reading
Irradiated horses cared for by compassionate Japanese horse breeder
As Iitate’s population plummeted in the spring of 2011, Hosokawa managed to find new homes for more than 80 of his horses. Then, in January this year, he noticed that several among the 30 that remained, mainly foals, had become unsteady on their feet.
Within weeks, 16 had died in mysterious circumstances. Autopsies on four of the horses found no evidence of disease and tests revealed caesium levels at 200 becquerels per kilo – twice as high as the government-set safety limit for agricultural produce,
Fukushima horse breeder braves high radiation levels to care for animals Despite the departure of all his neighbours and the unexplained deaths of some of his stock, Tokue Hosokawa refuses to budge Justin McCurry in Iitate theguardian.com, Monday 28 October 2013 Until March 2011, Tokue Hosokawa had only to peer through the window of his home in Iitate village to confirm that all was well with his 100-year-old family business.
The 130 or so horses that once roamed this sprawling farm in Fukushimaprefecture have sustained three generations of Hosokawa’s family. Some were sold for their meat – a local delicacy – but his animals were better known for their appearances in commercials, period TV dramas and films, and local festivals celebrating the region’s samurai heritage.
For decades, the 62-year-old horse breeder barely registered that his farm was just 25 miles north-west of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear powerplant. But the rural idyll was shattered on the afternoon of 11 March 2011, when the facility was hit by a towering tsunami that caused meltdowns in three of its reactors…….
two and half years after the accident, Iitate has become a nuclear ghost town. When Hosokawa looks out of his window these days, it is at empty, irradiated fields. Continue reading
Japan’s nuclear regulator is in an unwinnable position
Nuclear regulators can’t win, Japan Times , 27 Oct 13 THE NUCLEAR REGULATION AUTHORITY – , which observed the first anniversary of its creation on Sept. 19, faces two diametrically opposed criticisms. Proponents of nuclear power generation criticize the NRA as the root cause of the delay in the government’s policy to promote nuclear power, while “no-nuke” groups brand the body as a mouthpiece of the “nuclear power village” (the strong network of public organizations and power companies that work toward expansion of nuclear power).
These bitter criticisms coming from both ends of a spectrum seem to summarize the contradictions of Japan’s nuclear power policy. The NRA has become a skewed organization because the idea behind creating it was to satisfy both proponents and opponents of nuclear power. That has resulted in the lack of capabilities to execute its missions, thus making nuclear power plants in Japan even more dangerous than before. Continue reading
Japan’s Prime Minister off to Turkey to push sales of nuclear technology
apan PM heads to Turkey to push nuclear exports, Yahoo 7 News, 28 Oct 13 Japan’s prime minister headed to Turkey Monday to cement nuclear contracts and push the export of more reactors as the industry tries to emerge from the shadow of the Fukushima atomic crisis……
During Abe’s previous visit a Japanese-French consortium won a $22 billion deal to build Turkey’s second nuclear plant on the Black Sea coast, a milestone for the Japanese nuclear industry as it tries to get back on its feet after the 2011 Fukushima crisis.
He and Erdogan also penned an agreement that allows Japanese manufacturers to build nuclear power plants in Turkey.
Abe has travelled the globe since coming to power in December last year selling Japan’s infrastructure as part of his bid to dramatically hike exports and light a fire under the country’s long-slumbering economy.
His drive comes even as all nuclear reactors at home remain offline amid continuing nervousness about atomic power in post-Fukushima Japan…… http://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/japan-pm-heads-turkey-push-083205105.html
Niigata Prefecture Governor not ready to allow Tepco to restart world’s biggest nuclear plant
Tepco can’t yet be trusted to restart world’s biggest nuclear plant: governor (Reuters) 28 Oct 13,– Tokyo Electric Power Co must give a fuller account of the Fukushima disaster and address its “institutionalized lying” before it can expect to restart another nuclear station, the world’s largest, said a local government official who holds an effective veto over the utility’s revival plan.
“If they don’t do what needs to be done, if they keep skimping on costs and manipulating information, they can never be trusted,” Niigata Prefecture Governor Hirohiko Izumida told Reuters in an interview on Monday.
Izumida must approve the embattled utility’s plans
to restart the reactors at Kashiwazaki Kariwa, the world’s biggest nuclear complex on the Japan Sea coast some 300 kms (180 miles) northwest of Tokyo.
A former economy and trade ministry bureaucrat who has emerged as a leading critic of Tokyo Electric, or Tepco, Izumida said he would launch his own commission to investigate the causes and handling of the Fukushima crisis and whether strengthened regulatory safeguards were sufficient to prevent a similar disaster.
Izumida, 51, declined to provide a timetable for completing that review – a process that could force the utility to scrap or abandon one of the key assumptions behind its turnaround plan…….http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/10/28/us-japan-nuclear-tepco-idUSBRE99R0KR20131028
Potentially ‘Apocalyptic’ consequences in removing Fukushima nuclear reactor’s spent fuel rods
Fuel Removal From Fukushima’s Reactor 4 Threatens ‘Apocalyptic’ Scenario. Radiation Fuel Rods Matches Fallout of 14,000 Hiroshima Bombs By Common Dreams Global Research, October 25, 2013 by Andrea Germanos
An operation with potentially “apocalyptic” consequences is expected to begin in a little over two weeks from now – “as early as November 8″ – at Fukushima’s damaged and sinking Reactor 4, when plant operator TEPCO will attempt to remove over 1300 spent fuel rods holding the radiation equivalent of 14,000 Hiroshima bombs from a spent fuel storage tank perched on the reactor’s upper floor……
The potential radiation releases in this situation can only be described as apocalyptic. Continue reading
“Nuclear Gypsies” work in Japan’s $150-billion Fukushima radiation clean-up
Radiation, desperation and gangsters: Inside the hidden tragedy of Fukushima The Globe and Mail , 25 Oct 13 ANTONI SLODKOWSKI AND MARI SAITO IWAKI — Reuters , Oct. 25 2013 Tetsuya Hayashi went to Fukushima to take a job at ground zero of the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. He lasted less than two weeks.
Hayashi, 41, says he was recruited for a job monitoring the radiation exposure of workers leaving the plant in the summer of 2012. Instead, when he turned up for work, he was handed off through a web of contractors and assigned, to his surprise, to one of Fukushima’s hottest radiation zones.
He was told he would have to wear an oxygen tank and a double-layer protective suit. Even then, his handlers told him, the radiation would be so high it could burn through his annual exposure limit in just under an hour.
“I felt cheated and entrapped,” Hayashi said. “I had not agreed to any of this.” Continue reading
Poor working conditions in Japan’s nuclear industry
At Fukushima, ‘nuclear gypsies’ struggle with low wages and steep risks The Verge, By Katie Drummond on October 25, 2013 “….. the process of cleaning up that mess has become something of a disaster itself: an estimated 50,000 “nuclear gypsies” employed by the project are now grappling with poor wages, risky working conditions, and rampant labor violations. In a sweeping investigation, Reuters reports that a combination of factors like lax governmental regulations, sketchy contractors, and poor oversight is to blame for the fiasco. Some workers complain of having their wages skimmed by illegal labor rackets, while others say they were hired to do one job before being forced into a much more dangerous one. Unfortunately, the investigation notes that the Fukushima cleanup merely highlights problems that have long plagued the industry. “Working conditions in the nuclear industry have always been bad,” Saburo Murata, deputy director of Osaka’s Hannan Chuo Hospital, told Reuters. “Problems with money, outsourced recruitment, lack of proper health insurance — these have existed for decades.” http://www.theverge.com/2013/10/25/5028568/fukushima-nuclear-cleanup-low-wages-high-risks
Japan’s government moves to gag press freedom
Fuk-‘hush’-ima: Japan’s new state secrets law gags whistleblowers, raises press freed.om fears Rt.com. October 25, 2013 Many issues of national importance to Japan, probably including the state of the Fukushima power plant, may be designated state secrets under a new draft law. Once signed, it could see whistleblowers jailed for up to 10 years……. Under the new legislation a ministry may classify information for a five-year term with a possibility of prolongation to up to 30 years. After that a cabinet ruling would be needed for the secret to be treated as such, but there is no limit for how long information may be kept under a lid.
“Basically, this bill raises the possibility that the kind of information about which the public should be informed is kept secret eternally,” Tadaaki Muto, a lawyer and member of a task force on the bill at the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, told Reuters.
“Under the bill, the administrative branch can set the range of information that is kept secret at its own discretion.”
Media watchdogs in Japan fear the bill would allow the government to cover up serious blunders, like the collusion between regulators and utilities, which was a significant factor in the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. …… http://rt.com/news/japan-state-secrets-law-712/
Organised crime syndicates run Fukushima labour rackets
Radiation, desperation and gangsters: Inside the hidden tragedy of Fukushima The Globe and Mail , 25 Oct 13 ANTONI SLODKOWSKI AND MARI SAITO IWAKI — Reuters , Oct. 25 2013 “…….The yakuza connection The complexity of Fukushima contracts and the shortage of workers have played into the hands of the yakuza, Japan’s organized crime syndicates, which have run labour rackets for generations.
Nearly 50 gangs with 1,050 members operate in Fukushima prefecture dominated by three major syndicates – Yamaguchi-gumi, Sumiyoshi-kai and Inagawa-kai, police say. Continue reading
Radiation level in Fukushima water doubles in one day
Radiation level in Fukushima water doubles http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report-radiation-level-in-fukushima-water-doubles-1908226, Oct 24, 2013, : IANS
The water, extracted Wednesday at the channel near the tank that leaked 300 tons of highly toxic water in August, showed a record high 140,000 becquerels per litre of beta radiation emitted by radioactive materials such as strontium-90, compared with the previous day’s reading of 59,000 becquerels, Xinhua reported citing local media as quoting TEPCO.
The operator said the spike may be caused by highly contaminated soil with radioactive substances entering into the drainage channel. TEPCO is struggling to prevent leaks in Japan’s typhoon season as rainwater accumulates inside the leak-protection barriers around the tanks.
Japan can succeed with a zero nuclear energy policy
Japan can reject nuclear energy Channelling money and resources into constructing a recycling society based on natural resources is a better bet than building disposal sites for toxic waste Gulf News, By Junichiro
Koizumi Former prime minister of Japan October 24, 2013 I believe that the Japanese government and the Liberal Democratic Party should adopt a zero nuclear energy policy. Pursuing this policy will unify the people in their effort to transform themselves into a recycling-oriented society that relies on nature as a source of energy, not nuclear power generation. Alternatives to nuclear power as an energy source will certainly be discovered by those with sufficient know-how…….
Political leaders should establish a council that brings together the wisdom of nuclear power experts and intellectuals who support a zero nuclear energy policy. This should be followed by efforts to implement policies proposed by the panel.
Success in advancing this process would help secure the technical experts needed to decommission nuclear reactors, while also coming up with various ideas to help create jobs and develop alternative energy sources…… Continue reading
Critically dangerous removal of spent nuclear fuel from Fukushima reactor no 4
TEPCO prepares for critical removal of spent fuel from Fukushima reactor http://japandailypress.com/tepco-prepares-for-critical-removal-of-spent-fuel-from-fukushima-reactor-2438441/ Oct 24, 2013 John Hofilena Fukushima nuclear power plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co.(TEPCO) is prepping for one of its most critical and dangerous processes to date in its incident-filled cleanup of what has been called the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. Starting in November, the embattled operator will be removing 400 tons of spent nuclear fuel from Fukushima’s reactor no. 4, where even a little mistake may result in a totally new nuclear disaster for Japan. The operation is scheduled to start in the beginning of November and be completed by around the end of 2014.
Under normal circumstances, the operation would take around 100 days. TEPCO had initially planned for this process to take two years, but due to the urgency of the situation – a minor earthquake could trigger an uncontrolled fuel leak – they reduced the schedule to one year. In this process, TEPCO will be removing more than 1,300 used fuel rod assemblies, packing radiation 14,000 times the equivalent of the Hiroshima nuclear bomb, from their cooling pool. Normally, this would be a computer-controlled process, but due to the situation at Fukushima, this time it has to be done completely manually – compounding the danger and risk. “The operation to begin removing fuel from such a severely damaged pool has never been attempted before. The rods are unwieldy and very heavy, each one weighing two-thirds of a ton,” says fallout researcher Christina Consolo.
Should this attempt fail, a mishandled fuel rod could be exposed to air and catch fire, resulting in large quantities of radiation released into the atmosphere. In the worst-case scenario, the cooling pool could crash from its crane to the ground, dumping the rods together into a pile that could fission and cause an explosion many times worse than in March 2011. “The worst-case scenario could play out in death to billions of people. A true apocalypse,” Consolo said. The concern is palpable and real, as TEPCO’s track record these past few months have been less than stellar. Leaks have hounded the cooling process of the molten down reactors, resulting in radioactive waste water freely and daily flowing into the Pacific Ocean.
What will be the effects of strange ‘spheres’ of radioactive material from Fukushima?
Scientists: ‘Spheres’ of radioactive material from Fukushima reported for first time — Ball-like particles composed of cesium, iron, zinc — Solid and insoluble in water — Impact on human health needs to be examined (PHOTOS) http://enenews.com/scientists-spheres-radioactive-material-fukushima-reported-first-time-ball-like-particles-composed-cesium-iron-zinc-solid-insoluble-water-impact-human-health-be-examined-photos
Title: Emission of spherical cesium-bearing particles from an early stage of the Fukushima nuclear accident
Source: Scientific Reports (Nature Publishing Group)
Authors: Kouji Adachi, Mizuo Kajino, Yuji Zaizen & Yasuhito Igarashi
:Aug. 30, 2013
The Fukushima nuclear accident released radioactive materials into the environment over the entire Northern Hemisphere […] we still do not know the exact physical and chemical properties of the radioactive materials. This study directly observed spherical Cs-bearing particles emitted during a relatively early stage (March 14-15) of the accident. In contrast to the Cs-bearing radioactive materials that are currently assumed, these particles are larger, contain Fe, Zn, and Cs, and are water insoluble. Our simulation indicates that the spherical Cs-bearing particles mainly fell onto the ground by dry deposition. The finding of the spherical Cs particles will be a key to understand the processes of the accident and to accurately evaluate the health impacts and the residence time in the environment.
[…] Although the accident has global impacts, we still do not know exactly what happened in the reactors during the accident […]
We measured the radioactive materials that were collected in the filter at ground level on March 14-15 […] we counted approximately 100 spots caused by radioactive materials, suggesting a concentration of approximately 10 radioactive particles per m³. […]
This study reports for the first time the presence of spherical radioactive Cs-bearing particles emitted from the FNPP during a relatively early stage (March 14-15) of the accident. The particles coexist with Fe, Zn, and possibly other elements, and their diameters are approximately 2 μm. Because these elements were evenly distributed within the particle, we conclude that they are internally mixed and form an alloy. […] Due to its spherical shape and composition, the particle is likely solid and is largely insoluble in water. […]
The spherical Cs-bearing particles likely have longer retention times on the land surface than those of the water-soluble Cs particles. The retention time of the particles in the soil or other environments needs to be reconsidered.
See also: Journal: Unprecedented phenomenon from using saltwater in Fukushima reactors — Forming new uranium compounds able to travel long distances… “like carbon buckyballs”
Slowly developing radiation disaster in the Pacific Ocean
Washington Post: It’s an environmental disaster, radioactivity levels in ocean hundreds of times above normal — NHK: Countries around Pacific worried about ongoing Fukushima leaks, gov’t wants testing up to 3,000 km offshore (VIDEO)http://enenews.com/washington-post-its-an-environmental-disaster-radioactivity-levels-hundreds-of-times-above-normal-in-pacific-nhk-countries-worried-about-fukushima-leaks-govt-wants-testing-up-to-3000-km-of
NHK WORLD, Oct. 22, 2013: […] Japan’s effort to clean up what remains of the complex is turning into another kind of disaster. […] 400 tons of toxic groundwater is flowing daily into the Pacific Ocean […] the flow of radioactive water amounts to a slow-burning environmental disaster with implications for Japan’s wildlife and its food chain. […] The coastal Fukushima plant is on an old riverbed […] rainfall from across the region would funnel toward the plant […] Both the government and Tepco say the ocean contamination is confined mostly to a man-made harbor around the plant. But some scientists say that assurance plays down significant long-term concerns about marine life and the food chain. Cesium levels are still hundreds of times the pre-accident norm in areas beyond the harbor, said Ken Buesseler, a senior scientist with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution who has monitored waters around the nuclear plant, most recently last month. […] “It’s a serious concern for internal doses. (Radionuclides) are now on the seafloor and could stay in the food chain for years, if not decades.” […]
NHK WORLD, Oct. 21, 2013: [Tepco] has announced plans to monitor offshore radiation around the clock […] many experts have been calling for 24-hour monitoring to allow faster responses to unexpected leaks and provide a clearer idea of how much water has escaped. […] The nuclear regulators have proposed expanding the offshore monitoring from the current 300 kilometers to between 1,000 and 3,000 kilometers. […] the agency will ask the operators of oceangoing vessels to collect data for northern Pacific Rim countries that are worried about radioactive leaks.
NHK Newsline,, Oct. 21, 2013: “Nuclear regulators proposed increasing the distance they’re monitoring from 300 kilometers to up to 3,000 kilometers”
See also: Official Gov’t Documents: Fukushima to endanger NorthPacific marine ecosystem and health of human beings? “Very important to monitor radiation exposure level and assess effects of radioactive substances”
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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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