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Fukushima’s radioactive trash pools are the REAL danger

spent-fuel-rods

Top scientists and government officials say that Tepco should be removed from all efforts to stabilize Fukushima.   An international team of the smartest engineers and scientists should handle this difficult “surgery”.

The stakes are high 

The REAL Fukushima Danger: Failure of Fuel Pools Could Trigger Worldwide Nuclear Radiation By Washington’s Blog Global Research, September 14, 2013
“…… the real problem is that the idiots who caused this mess are probably about to cause a much bigger problem.

Specifically, the greatest short-term threat to humanity is from the fuel pools at Fukushima.

If one of the pools collapsed or caught fire, it could have severe adverse impacts not only on Japan … but the rest of the world, including the United States.   Indeed, a Senator called it a national security concern for the U.S.:

The radiation caused by the failure of the spent fuel pools in the event of another earthquake could reach the West Coast within days. That absolutely makes the safe containment and protection of this spent fuel a security issue for the United States.

Nuclear expert Arnie Gundersen and physician Helen Caldicott have both said that people should evacuate the Northern Hemisphere if one of the Fukushima fuel pools collapses. Gundersen said:

Move south of the equator if that ever happened, I think that’s probably the lesson there.

Former U.N. adviser Akio Matsumura calls removing the radioactive materials from the Fukushima fuel pools “an issue of human survival”.

So the stakes in decommissioning the fuel pools are high, indeed.

But in 2 months, Tepco – the knuckleheads who caused the accident – are going to start doing this very difficult operation on their own. Continue reading →

September 16, 2013 Posted by | Fukushima 2013, Japan, safety | 5 Comments

Japan’s Prime Minister Abe losing credibility over his statements about Fukushima radiation

Abe,-Shinzo-nukeJapan PM’s Fukushima remark backfires  HERALD SUN, MARI YAMAGUCHI AAP SEPTEMBER 15, 2013 JAPANESE Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s reassurance to the International Olympic Committee that contaminated water leaks from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant are “under control” has backfired at home

Just hours before Tokyo was chosen September 7 to host the 2020 Olympics, Abe gave an emphatic speech declaring that radioactive contaminants from the leakage had no impact to waters outside the bay near the plant and “will never do any damage to Tokyo”.

The Japanese media and opposition lawmakers have suggested that Abe’s comments were overkill.

“Contaminated water ‘control’ running astray,” the nationwide Asahi newspaper said in its front-page top story on Saturday.

“Credibility of prime minister’s message to overseas is shaking.”……….In a meeting with opposition Democratic Party of Japan lawmakers on Friday, senior TEPCO official Kazuhiko Yamashita said the water situation was “not under control,” contradicting Abe.

DPJ leaders said they will demand Abe clarify his IOC speech……….http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/japan-pms-fukushima-remark-backfires/story-fni0xqll-1226719338622

September 16, 2013 Posted by | Japan, politics | Leave a comment

Japan’s big electricity companies put obstacles in the way of renewable energy

Since there are no regulations defining grid access, the restrictions can be imposed at will by the major utilities. 

In a survey by the Japan Renewable Energy Foundation, in Tokyo, as many as 60 solar power providers said they had given up selling power because of the grid access problems.

 a major stumbling block for renewable energy,

Renewable energy push blunted as ad-hoc rules stymie private upstarts, Japan Times,  KYODO SEP 15, 2013 Ever since Japan kicked off a system to encourage the use of renewable energy for electricity in July 2012, businesses, civic organizations and even local government bodies have been trying to break into the tightly held power market.

Under the so-called feed-in tariff system, utilities are required purchase any generated electricity derived from five types of renewable energy for a fixed price and a set time.

But the momentum seems to be slowing. Several potential power suppliers are dropping their bids after coming face to face with restrictions that make it difficult for them to link to the power grids run by the utilities, which are essentially monopolies. Continue reading →

September 16, 2013 Posted by | business and costs, Japan, renewable | 1 Comment

South Korea may sue Japan over Fukushima radiation leaks

justiceLaw Professor: Damage from Fukushima radiation may be “much larger” than we expect http://enenews.com/law-professor-damage-from-fukushima-radiation-may-be-much-larger-than-we-expect
Title: Korea may sue Japan for mishandling leakss
Source: Korea Times
Author: Kim Tae-jong
Date: Sept. 14, 2013

The government will be able to take legal action against Japanese authorities if the latter continues to leak radioactive water into the ocean which could affect marine life in Korean seas, experts said, Tuesday. […]

“Our government can demand Japan provide us with timely and detailed information about water leaks from the nuclear power plant, and also to stop leaking radioactive water,” said Kim Young-sok, a law school professor at Ewha Womans University. “It is necessary to take every possible precautionary action, as radiation damage can be irreversible and may be much larger than we expect.” […]

“This can be the violation of International Maritime Law (IML),” he said. “Even merchants at local fish markets who have seen a drastic drop in sales due to the perceived health risks from fishery products can be compensated if they can prove they have been affected.” […]

It is obvious that Korea will be affected by the water leak from the tsunami-hit power plant, although there are disputes on the level of the health risk.

The Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology, affiliated with the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, has recently announced that the radioactive water could affect marine life in Korean seas as early as next year.

See also: Korea Times: Quarter-billion liters of Fukushima contaminated water flowed into Pacific — Japan cover-up could violate international law — Hid global issue of environmental concern?

September 16, 2013 Posted by | Japan, Legal, South Korea | 1 Comment

TEPCO has been lying for 2 years, about radiation levels at Fukushima

text-nuclear-uranium-liesTepco admits to reporting false radiation levels for nearly 2 years at Fukushima http://enenews.com/tepco-admits-to-reporting-false-radiation-levels-for-past-2-years-at-fukushima
 KBS, Sept. 14, 2013: Japanese media say the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) reported lower than actual levels of radioactivity in waters around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant for nearly two years. […] TEPCO said the inaccurate measurements were taken from July 2011 until May this year, resulting in concentration levels of radioactive cesium being reported some becquerels lower than the actual level. It said the measurements were taken one-point-three kilometers south of the nuclear plant. […]

NHK, Sept 14, 2013: TEPCO under-reported cesium measurements […] After being notified of the error by the Nuclear Regulation Authority, TEPCO discovered that its previous per-liter measurements were several becquerels lower than actual figures. TEPCO says the error was due to the wrong assessment of the impact of radiation in the surrounding area. […] Experts at the meeting criticized what they called an elementary mistake. They also said the matter should not be left to TEPCO alone and called for the Authority’s involvement.

See also: Professor: Fukushima disaster “beyond a cover-up” — Japan gov’t thinks they can get away with tricking masses about extent of problem — Officials and Tepco cannot be trusted, they are lying to the camera

September 16, 2013 Posted by | Fukushima 2013 | Leave a comment

The perilous state of Fukushima nuclear buildings Nos 1 to 4

Endless Fukushima catastrophe: 2020 Olympics under contamination threat Dr Helen Caldicott  RT.com: September 15, 2013“…….The levels of radiation in buildings 1, 2 and 3 are now so high that no human can enter or get close to the molten cores. It will therefore be impossible to remove these cores for hundreds of years if ever

Buildings 1, 2 & 3

If one of these buildings collapses, the targeted flow of cooling water to the pools and cores would cease, the cores would become red hot and possibly ignite releasing massive amounts of radiation into the air and water and the fuel in the cooling pools could ignite. It is strange that neither the US government in particular nor the global community seem to be concerned about these imminent possibilities and exhibit no urge to avert catastrophe.

Similarly the global media is strangely disconnected with the ongoing crisis. Most importantly, the Japanese government until very recently has obstinately refused to invite and collaborate with foreign experts from nuclear engineering companies and/or governments.

Building 4

This structure was severely damaged during the initial quake, its walls are bulging, and it sank 31 inches (79cm) into the ground. On the roof sits a cooling pool containing about 250 tons of hot fuel rods, most of which had just been removed from the reactor core days before the earthquake struck. This particular core did not melt because TEPCO was able maintain a continuous flow of cooling water, so the rods and their holding racks are still intact, but geometrically deformed due to the force of the hydrogen explosion.

The cooling pool contains 8,800 pounds of plutonium plus over 100 other highly radioactive isotopes. Instead of this core melting into a larval mass like the other three cores, it sits exposed to the air atop the shaky building. A large earthquake could disrupt the integrity of the building, causing it to collapse and taking the hot fuel rods with it. The cooling water would evaporate and the intrinsic heat of the radioactive rods would ignite a fire as the zirconium cladding reacted with air, releasing the radioactive equivalent of 14,000 Hiroshima-sized bombs and 10 times more cesium than Chernobyl……..http://rt.com/op-edge/fukushima-catastrophe-nuclear-olympics-883/

September 16, 2013 Posted by | Fukushima 2013, Japan, Reference, safety | 1 Comment

Costly clean-up not likely to make Fukushima area habitable again

text ionisingReturn to the radiation zone: Fukushima clean-up operation mired in fear and misinformation Two years after Japan’s nuclear power plant disaster nobody knows for certain how dangerous the contamination flag-japanis THE INDEPENDENT DAVID MCNEILL Author Biography , MIGUEL QUINTANA FUKUSHIMA WEDNESDAY 11 SEPTEMBER 2013″……..Nobody knows for certain how dangerous the radiation is. Japan’s central government refined its policy in December 2011, defining evacuation zones as “areas where cumulative dose levels might reach 20 millisieverts per year [20 mSv/yr],” the typical worldwide limit for nuclear power plant engineers and other radiation workers.

The worst radiation is supposed to be confined to the 20km exclusion zone, but it spread unevenly: less than 5km north of the Daiichi plant, our Geiger counter shows less than 5 millisieverts a year; 40km north west, in parts of Iitate village, it is well over 120 millisieverts. Those 160,000 refugees have not returned and are scattered throughout Japan. The nuclear diaspora is swelled by thousands of voluntary refugees who, unlike the Saitos, have not returned. Local governments are spending millions of dollars to persuade them back. Continue reading →

September 14, 2013 Posted by | environment, Japan, Reference | Leave a comment

Formal complaint from Japan, over French cartoons about Tokyo Olympic Games

flag-japanJapan voices anger over French cartoons that use Fukushima disaster to mock Olympics decision ABC News, By North Asia correspondent Mark Willacy, wires  12 Sep 2013 ,Japan says it will lodge a formal complaint with France over newspaper cartoons that poked fun at the decision to award the 2020 Olympics to Tokyo despite the ongoing Fukushima nuclear crisis.

Satirical weekly Le Canard Enchaine has published a cartoon depicting two sumo wrestlers, each with an extra leg or arm, facing off with the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant in the background.

In the foreground an announcer says: “Thanks to Fukushima, sumo is now an Olympic sport.”

Another cartoon shows two people standing in front of a pool of water while wearing nuclear protection suits and holding a Geiger counter, saying water sport facilities had already been built at Fukushima………

“This kind of journalism gives the wrong impression about the waste water problem.” [ -Japanese government spokesman Yoshihide Suga]

The government has repeatedly claimed the accident and its waste water problem are under control and should not affect the Olympics.

Mr Suga says Japan will formally complain to the French embassy in Tokyo……….. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-12/japan-protests-french-fukushima-cartoons/4954462

September 13, 2013 Posted by | France, Japan, media | Leave a comment

Appeal to United Nations to awaken the world to the Fukushima nuclear crisis

Help Educate Decision Makers About Fukushima Risks! http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/568/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=10780

Dear Mr. Secretary-General,   I am extremely worried about the lack of the sense of crisis in Japan and abroad,as regards the worsening situation at the Fukushima Daiichi.

The international community is required to prevent the Fukushima accident from developing into the ultimate catastrophe of the world, a possibility the collapse of the Unit 4 by a mega earthquake could turn into a reality.  It could happen at any moment! Faced with this unprecedented crisis, the mobilization of human wisdom is required on the widest possible scale. The full assumption of responsibilities by the Japanese Government is urgently needed.

The present abnormal lack of the sense of crisis is due to the fact that inconvenient truth is not disclosed. The international community has the duty, for example, to grasp correctly the precise volume of the continuous release of radiation from Fukushima.

In this connection, the official numbers published by Tepco, 10milliom BQ/H, unchanged for the last year and half, could hardly be trusted. They remain unchanged even after the revelation by Tepco that, since the accident in 2011, 400 tons of contaminated water daily leaked into the sea. Now the Government admits that 300 tons daily [60,000 gallons] flow into the sea.

The situation is worsening. And no solution in sight !

The so called international strategy to consider that Fukushima accident did not happen, as some papers writes, is doomed to failure. This strategy is evidenced by the continued promotion of nuclear reactors worldwide, and their restarting and exporting by Japan..Even if it succeeds to hide the head, it cannot hide the tail that is the contamination of the ocean on a planetary scale.

Conscientious citizens are now calling for the withdrawal of the invitation for Olympic games by Japan. Allow me to count on your understanding and support.Yours truly,

Mitsuhei Murata
Former Japanese Ambassador to Switzerland

September 12, 2013 Posted by | Fukushima 2013 | Leave a comment

Japan desperate to sell nuclear reactors overseas

Abe,-Shinzo-nuke-1Reactor makers look abroad as home market fizzles , Japan Times,  BY KAZUAKI NAGATA 10 Sept 13,  The Fukushima meltdowns and the continuing radiation crisis may have turned the public off of atomic energy at home, but it’s full steam ahead for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Japan’s heavy industries when it comes to exporting that technology to power-hungry economies abroad.

The marketing push being led by Abe and his Liberal Democratic Party, which brought Japan into the nuclear age, has angered nuclear protest groups, which, like many members of the public, blame the party’s cozy ties with big business for setting the stage for the Fukushima meltdown debacle.

Here are some questions and answers about Japan’s nuclear technology exports: How does the process of exporting nuclear plants work? Continue reading →

September 10, 2013 Posted by | Japan, marketing | Leave a comment

Hilariously, Tokyo’s Olympic Games are being billed the “Safe Games” of 2020.

Japan-Olympics-fearAs Fukushima radiation rages, Tokyo awarded bid to host 2020 Summer Olympics, hilariously named the ‘Safe Games’  September 08, 2013 by Mike Adams (NaturalNews) Despite the fact that Fukushima is already the worst radiological disaster in human history — and worsening by the day — Japan has been chosen as the host nation for the 2020 Summer Olympics.

Hilariously, the event is being billed the “Safe Games” of 2020.

How, exactly, is it safe to host the Olympics in a nation which absolutely no workable evacuation routes from a nuclear facility on the verge of collapsing into another deadly radiation release? The answer to that question is provided by Japan’s Prime Minister Abe. He claims that Fukushima is no problem whatsoever, that no one has ever been harmed by it, and that it is fully under control! (A trifecta, he thinks…)……..

Japan cannot be evacuated

The fact that the Olympic committee chose Japan even while Fukushima rages on, just one earthquake away from a catastrophic collapse and unprecedented release of deadly radiation, tells you just how incredibly stupid the Olympics decision makers really are. (Or how paid off they are, as bribes and corruption have been well documented throughout the history of the Olympics).

Do these people not grasp even the most fundamental concepts of physics? Why would any sane organization vote to host a global event that brings hundreds of thousands of people to a location just a short distance away from a collapsing nuclear power plant that is utterly and completely out of control with no end in sight?

Furthermore, Japan has no workable evacuation plan if Fukushima’s reactor #4 does experience a structural collapse followed by a catastrophic release of radiation. There is no evacuation plan because Japan cannot be evacuated, period. Thus, the strategy of the Japanese government has become one of D-E-N-I-A-L instead of problem solving.

Let’s all pretend radiation is no longer a problem, shall we? Japan is pretending. The U.S. is pretending, and now the Olympic committee is pretending, too.

As long as they’re pretending, why not host the Olympics at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power facility? It’s available, after all. And the rent is dirt cheap.

Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/041964_Olympics_Tokyo_Fukushima_radiation.html#ixzz2eQZtdf5O

 

 

September 9, 2013 Posted by | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

Things at Fukushima are going badly – it’s a war-like situation

exclamation-water-tanks-FukushimaJapan Media: “Things are going badly” — Fukushima “the same as war” says military officer in charge of forces at plant — Concern “workers on-site do not consent to join battle” — Crime skyrocketing, “people were held hostage” — Unprecedented ocean contamination and leaks are out of control http://enenews.com/japan-media-things-are-going-badly-fukushima-same-as-war-says-military-officer-in-charge-of-forces-at-plant-concern-workers-on-site-do-not-consent-to-join-battle-crime-skyrocketi

Jiji Press, , Sept. 6, 2013: Crime up among No. 1 plant staff […] In the first eight months of this year, 74 such workers were charged with crimes such as theft and fights resulting in injury. The figure is already close to three times the 2012 total of 26. The police reported only one such suspect in 2011 […] They were mostly suspected of theft […]  or of harming others during brawls in their lodgings or bars. In one extreme case, people were held hostage as a result of a disagreement over hiring practices. […]
Mainichi, Sept. 2, 2013: Things are going badly. There’s radioactive water leaking, and it can’t be controlled. […] if the workers on-site do not consent to join battle, if they cannot muster the courage to keep up the fight, then we cannot expect real progress. At least, that’s the impression I got after talking with one of those workers […] I cannot write the worker’s name, or age, or job description here. But I can say that he is not an agitator […] he is a completely average employee [… “]we’re not getting any extra staff. The management says ‘do this’ and ‘do that,’ but I don’t think they really consider the workers’ radiation exposure doses at all. “Recently, some government minister came here (to the plant) and ran his mouth, right? When I see stuff like that, I think, ‘Gimme a break! What the hell do you know about anything?’” […] I’ve heard the officer in charge of the Self-Defense Forces efforts at the Fukushima plant describe the situation as being “the same as war.” […] The workers at the Fukushima plant deeply distrust those in Tokyo […] The waters next to the plant have been subject to unprecedented nuclear contamination […] After so much continuous failure, we must repair the damage done to Japan’s international reputation.

See also:
AP: Fukushima Daiichi workers could try to sabotage plant, warns their doctor

September 9, 2013 Posted by | Fukushima 2013 | 1 Comment

Bribery and corruption in Olympic Games Tokyo choice?

bribery-1logo-Tokyo-OlympicsBoycott The Radioactive  2020 Olympics   . http://www.rense.com/general96/boycott.html    rense.com By Yoichi Shimatsu 9-8-13 It does not take 20/20 vision to realize that the corrupt Japanese government has bribed the International Olympic Committee  to make the suicidal decision to send young athletes into the radioactive fallout from Fukushima. The decision in Buenos Aires to award Tokyo as host city of the 2020 Games did not arise from a lack of choices between Istanbul and Madrid, but was a knowing decision that is incomprehensible except for the factor of bribery. To risk the lives of young people and their supporters is more than an ethical lapse, it is a crime of manslaughter to the cruelest degree.

The bidding for the Games were rigged from the start by a quintet of disreputable character and dubious association, including former capital governor Shintaro Ishihara, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Education Minister Hakubun Shimomura and Japan Olympic Chairman Tsunekazu Takeda, scion and successor to a heinous war criminal. Their industrial partner, is Fujio Cho, honorary chairman of Toyota Motor Company and chief of the Japan Sports Association

During their promotion campaign for the Games of Death, these five Japanese officials spun outright lies claiming that there are zero leaks of radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear plant. Continue reading →

September 9, 2013 Posted by | Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | 3 Comments

Fukushima’s spiking radiation requires international help, not just Japan’s short term fix

text ionisingReadings just above the ground near a set of tanks at the plant showed radiation as high as 2,200 millisieverts (mSv), Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) said Wednesday. The previous high in areas holding the tanks was the 1,800 mSv recorded Saturday.

Both levels would be enough to kill an unprotected person within hours.

The measures do not address the full problem of water management at the plant or the bigger issue of decommissioning.

Critics said the government was mainly trying to cool down international media coverage ahead of the Olympics decision. A more sustainable option, he said, would be to seek global support to confront Fukushima’s unprecedented challenges

Fukushima-water-tanks,-workFukushima radiation readings spike to highest levels Aljazeera  September 4, 2013   The readings have jumped by more than a fifth Radiation readings around tanks holding contaminated water at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant have spiked by more than a fifth to their highest levels, Japan’s nuclear regulator said Wednesday, heightening concerns about the cleanup of the worst atomic disaster in almost three decades.

Radiation hot spots have spread to three holding areas for hundreds of hastily built tanks storing water contaminated by being flushed over three reactors that melted down at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in March 2011.

The rising radiation levels and leaks at the plant further inflamed international alarm, one day after the Japanese government said that it would step in with almost $500 million of funding to fix the growing levels of contaminated water at the plant. Continue reading →

September 9, 2013 Posted by | Fukushima 2013 | Leave a comment

The shady Fukushima deniers behind Tokyo’s Olympic Games bid

logo-Tokyo-OlympicsBoycott The Radioactive  2020 Olympics Of Death    http://www.rense.com/general96/boycott.html   rense.com By Yoichi Shimatsu 9 Sept 13, ……The modern Olympics are dominated openly and secretly by the fraternity of noblemen, who provide camouflage for their financiers from organized crime and the arms industry……….

Contamination and Filth A quick look at each of these Olympic fixers and Fukushima deniers is in order, beginning with former Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara. Long before the wheeling and dealing in Buenos Aires, Tokyo’s bid was tarnished by media allegations that Shintaro Ishihara has siphoned off Olympic-bid donations to finance his boat trips to the disputed Senkaku-Diaoyu islands for planned construction of helipads and a dock for warships. His deep pockets, filled by notorious elements in the Ginza nightlife district (who also provide the manpower for his foreign-policy adventurism) has meant immunity from Tokyo prosecutors, police and fellow politicians. Donations for Olympic, in short, were used by the far right to foment yet another war of aggression by Japan against China.

Second in line is Shinzo Abe, the prime minister who aims to rearm Japan with conventional weapons and nuclear warheads for coming global conflicts Continue reading →

September 9, 2013 Posted by | Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment