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Japan’s Science Ministry may have “doctored” Fukushima radiation readings

Group: Ministry may have manipulated Fukushima radiation readings October 06, 2012 THE ASAHI SHIMBUN Citizens and scientists have raised concerns that the science ministry manipulated its measurement of radiation levels in Fukushima Prefecture to show figures lower than they really were.

The Association for Citizens and Scientists Concerned About Internal Radiation Exposures said on Oct. 5 that its survey this year of airborne dose levels found an average 10-30 percent higher than the ministry’s numbers, and in certain areas, the discrepancy was even
greater….. http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201210060041

October 8, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012 | Leave a comment

Boss of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at Japan’s Nuclear-Free Forum

Japan forum to discuss nuclear-free energy future, 06 October 2012  Muhammad Iqbal TOKYO: Japanese and European officials are to discuss future energy solutions at a forum in Kyoto this weekend in the wake of Japan’s plans to eliminate atomic power from the country’s energy mix by 2040.

Officials at the annual Science and Technology in Society (STS) forum Sunday will discuss the experience of removing nuclear power from a country’s energy mix, and what independent institutions can advise on the process.

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s administration in September declared its aim to eliminate atomic power over the next 30 years, as the cabinet declared a three-pronged strategy leading up to the halt, with tougher safety standards, the shuttering of reactors 40-years-old and a ban on the building of new units.

Since the tsunami-sparked meltdowns at the Fukushima plant last year there has been a grounds well of public opposition to nuclear power, which once provided a third of energy-hungry Japan’s electricity.

Genevieve Fioraso, France’s minister of higher education and research, told reporters Saturday ahead of the forum that Japan fared well despite its energy problems but said development of renewable energy solutions was “difficult”.

Among officials attending the forum Sunday are Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), UK government chief scientific adviser John Beddington, and members of the Fukushima inquiry commission…..http://www.brecorder.com/world/southeast-asia/84115-japan-forum-to-discuss-nuclear-free-energy-future.html

October 8, 2012 Posted by | Japan, politics | 1 Comment

Japan’s proposed nuclear waste dump, close to cultural icon

Fukushima  Nuclear Crisis Update for October 2nd to October 4th, 2012 Greenpeace International,  by Christine McCann – October 5, 2012 “…Waste Removal and Storage Joining the chorus of voices opposing the government’s recent decision to build a nuclear waste depository in a national forest in Ibaraki Prefecture, the Tokugawa Museum is protesting the location choice, which is only 3 km from a forest it owns. That forest is home to a mountain villa built in 1886 by the 11th lord of the Mito domain and the brother of the last Tokugawa shogun. The museum plans to have it designated as a national important cultural asset. “We’re worried about all sorts of rumors [about radioactivity] ahead of our plan to have the villa designated an important cultural asset. We’ll strongly oppose construction.” http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/nuclear-reaction/fukushima-nuclear-crisis-update-for-october-2/blog/42456/

October 6, 2012 Posted by | Japan, wastes | Leave a comment

Japanese government secrecy tightening, over Fukushima health effects

Officials from Fukushima Prefecture have admitted that they conducted secret meetings with 19 health experts and government officials, discussing the impact of radiation on human health, in the wake of the Fukushima disaster. The meetings were held before official meetings, and participants were instructed not to tell anyone that they had
participated. Meeting materials were collected after the meeting so that they could not be removed from the room, and no minutes were kept.

Fukushima  Nuclear Crisis Update for October 2nd to October 4th, 2012 Greenpeace International,  by Christine McCann – October 5, 2012 “…..As duties are transferred from the now defunct Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC) to the newly-created Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA), the Nuclear Energy Library, which gave the public access to over 40,000 documents relating to nuclear power, will close.

The Library was created in 1997 to create transparency after a leak and subsequent cover-up at the Monju fast-breeder. It was heavily visited in the period following the Fukushima nuclear disaster; many documents there are not available online. Experts are criticizing the decision. Continue reading →

October 6, 2012 Posted by | health, Japan, Reference, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Japanese government ‘cooking the books’ on Fukushima health effects

Mainichi: Gov’t “choreographed” event on Fukushima health effects http://enenews.com/mainichi-govt-choreographed-event-fukushima-health-effects/comment-page-1#comment-293237  October 5th, 2012    Title: Fukushima Prefecture prepared proceedings for nuke radiation meeting Source: Mainichi Date: Oct 5, 2012 The Fukushima Prefectural Government drew up proceedings for a health research panel prior to a formal July 2011 meeting on nuclear radiation, deciding in advance what members should say, the Mainichi has learned.

The drafted proceedings included concluding remarks about the results of the research on the health of Fukushima Prefecture residents […]

When contacted by the Mainichi Shimbun about the choreographed proceedings, a prefectural government official in charge said the Fukushima government “may have produced” a chart of proceedings but declined to make further comment. […]

[The chart] ended with the prearranged conclusion that internal exposure to cesium 134 and cesium 137 was less than 1 millisievert in total and extremely low […]

A prefectural government official said the chart may have been prepared for the panel chairman, Shunichi Yamashita, vice president of Fukushima Medical University. […]

See also: Gov’t held secret meetings about human health impacts from Fukushima crisis

More on Yamashita: Head of Fukushima health study: 100 mSv/yr OK for pregnant moms — “Effects of radiation do not come to people that are happy… They come to people that are weak-spirited”

October 6, 2012 Posted by | Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

First case of compensation for cancer in Fukushima worker

Fukushima workers started having cancer
http://fukushima-diary.com/2012/10/fukushima-workers-started-having-cancer/ by Mochizuki   October 5th, 2012 In September, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare admitted a Fukushima worker applied for workmen’s compensation insurance. It isfor gastric cancer, esophageal cancer or colon cancer.
This is the first case of the application of workmen’s compensation insurance. The occupational disease department of MHLW is concealing the profile and the integral dose of the worker.

Another nuclear worker commented like this below, Continue reading →

October 6, 2012 Posted by | health, Japan | Leave a comment

Politics in Japan, as government muddles over Fukushima crisis

Fukushima  Nuclear Crisis Update for October 2nd to October 4th, 2012 Greenpeace International,  by Christine McCann – October 5, 2012   Nuclear Regulation Authority Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) has released new guidelines for nuclear disasters, including expanding the evacuation zone around nuclear reactors from 10 to 30 km. The move will have a significant impact on local communities, which now need to craft complicated evacuation plans. Previously, only 45 municipalities in 15 prefectures were required to have nuclear emergency plans; now 135 municipalities in 21 prefectures are required to submit them by March 2013. Iodine tablets will also be distributed to anyone living within 50 km of a nuclear reactor. Local officials are complaining that the central government has not shared radiation diffusion simulation data, which makes it impossible to determine where to send people if a nuclear accident occurs. Continue reading →

October 5, 2012 Posted by | Japan, politics | Leave a comment

Yamaguchi Prefecture kills project for new nuclear plant

Yamaguchi rejects Chugoku Electric’s license for new nuclear plant http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201210050069 5 Oct 12,  THE ASAHI SHIMBUN YAMAGUCHI–Yamaguchi Governor Shigetaro Yamamoto has rejected a license extension to Chugoku Electric Co. to reclaim land for a new nuclear power plant in Kaminoseki, Yamaguchi Prefecture effectively killing the project.

“We cannot grant permission at this moment. The decision has been made
not to grant the license,” Yamamoto told the news media on Oct. 5. The
license is set to expire Oct. 6. Continue reading →

October 5, 2012 Posted by | Japan, politics | Leave a comment

Other Nuclear Politics in Japan

Fukushima  Nuclear Crisis Update for October 2nd to October 4th, 2012 Greenpeace International,  by Christine McCann – October 5, 2012 “….Other Nuclear Politics in Japan Municipal leaders and residents in towns surrounding Electric Power Development Company’s (known in Japan as J-Power) proposed Ohma nuclear power plant are protesting resumption of construction there, citing concerns about their safety in the event of a nuclear disaster.  Continue reading →

October 5, 2012 Posted by | Japan, politics | Leave a comment

Fukushima residents treated with discrimination, like the hibakusha

 the same sort of discrimination is happening to people who were exposed to radiation in Fukushima.

Voices of the “Explosion Covered People”    http://www.npr.org/blogs/pictureshow/2012/09/25/161755636/voices-of-the-explosion-covered-people  More than 65 years after atom bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, there are still thousands of people suffering. In addition to experiencing lingering effects from the radiation, many are also considered social outcasts.

The term hibakusha  in Japanese means “explosion-covered people” and applies to anyone who came within 2 kilometers (approximately 1.25 miles) of the hypocenter  of the bomb — within two weeks of the explosion. Thought to be diseased and contagious, many people hid their experience from friends, family and society at large to avoid being shunned. Continue reading →

October 5, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012, Japan, social effects | Leave a comment

State of the Fukushima Reactors

Fukushima  Nuclear Crisis Update for October 2nd to October 4th, 2012 Greenpeace International,  by Christine McCann – October 5, 2012 “…State of the Fukushima Reactors TEPCO has finally installed a new thermometer in the crippled #2 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. The reactor experienced a meltdown in the days following the Fukushima nuclear disaster; since then, five out of six thermometers in the reactor have broken. If the final thermometer broke, the utility would have no way of knowing if the reactor was overheating and in danger of further meltdown. Although they cannot see inside the reactors, workers believe that the new thermometer is near the bottom of the pressure vessel.

The NRA will declare the Fukushima Daiichi plant a “special nuclear facility” in order to oversee stabilization of the plant, as well as its decommissioning. Currently, the agency has no authority over TEPCO’s plans there. NRA Chair Shunichi Tanaka said this week that the Fukushima plant is still unstable, contradicting earlier government reports that operations there had been stabilized.

This week, TEPCO began removing 764 spent fuel rods from reactor #4 at its Fukushima Daini power plant. The Daini plant is located approximately 11 km from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant, where a triple meltdown occurred after power was lost there after last year’s massive earthquake and tsunami. Although a nuclear emergency was also declared at the Daini plant, workers were able to recover cooling systems and avoid meltdowns at the reactors. The utility is moving the rods to a storage pool on upper floors of the building, and eventually plans to follow suit with reactors #1, #2, and #3, a process that will continue through the end of 2014. (Source: NHK) http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/nuclear-reaction/fukushima-nuclear-crisis-update-for-october-2/blog/42456/

 

October 5, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012 | Leave a comment

Human Rights request to Fukushima Prefecture

Human Rights Now (3 September 2012)【Statement】Request for the Radical Reform of the Health Check System including Thyroid Examination for the Affected People by the Nuclear Power Plant Accident  “…..HRN requests to Fukushima prefecture to:

 1. Conduct the thyroid examination for children at least once a year for the “early identification” and “early treatment.” Especially when the thyroid nodules or cysts are recognized, establish and implement the system quickly;

 2. Expand the thyroid examination to adults, and also conduct the blood and urine examinations;

 3. Provide information of the thyroid examination and others (such as blood examination and thyroid sonogram) conducted by the prefecture to first-person or their parents, and provide explanation if requested;

 4. Store the result of the thyroid examination over a long period of time for the future follow-up and comparison, and disclose the information of the examination result when requested by the examinees or their parents, without asking the information disclose procedure. Also, take necessary measures so that other municipalities and medical institutes that will provide the health examinations can share the data.

 HRN requests to the state to:

1. From the position of protecting the residents’ rights to health around the nuclear power plant accident, as a responsibility of the state, construct the guidelines regarding health checks, examination, and medical treatment promptly. In the course of that, take into account the international perception and the good practice of medical policies, taken by the related countries of the Chernobyl accident;

 2. Publish guidelines about the information disclosure of the result of health examinations including the thyroid examination, and instruct the prefecture;

 3. As a state, commit to the health checks of the prefecture, and request the drastic reform and improvement of the examination system, based on the above mentioned recommendations towards Fukushima prefecture;

 4. Provide a financial support to the municipalities in Fukushima prefecture to enable them to establish the examination systems including the thyroid examination and the internal exposure examination; secure the base hospitals of the health examinations including the thyroid examination in all areas in Japan, and provide a financial support so that the affected people are able to take necessary examinations, such as thyroid and internal exposure examinations, for free at least once a year, regardless of their living place.

 HRN requests to Mr. Shunichi Yamashita (the head of the Exploratory Committee on the “Fukushima Health Management Survey,” the vice-president of the Fukushima Medical University, and the president of theRadiation Medical Science Center for the Fukushima health management survey) to:

 1. Officially withdraw the announcement (dated 16 January 2012) sent to the members of the Japan Thyroid Association.

 These recommendations are all important to protect the right to people’s health (Article 25 of the Constitution, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights), therefore, prompt improvement and implementation are required. http://hrn.or.jp/eng/activity/area/japan/statementrequest-for-the-radical-reform-of-the-health-check-system-including-thyroid-examination-for/

October 5, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012, Reference | Leave a comment

Contamination, Including Human Exposure – Fukushima

Fukushima  Nuclear Crisis Update for October 2nd to October 4th, 2012 Greenpeace International,  by Christine McCann – October 5, 2012 “…Contamination, Including Human Exposure The JAEC has begun monitoring radiation levels in restricted zones of Fukushima Prefecture via unmanned helicopters. The project, which was requested by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT), marks the first time that radiation has been measured from the air in the no-go zone. The agency will compile a report by the end of the month, including radiation maps of hotspots. Meanwhile, another research team is studying radiation levels in forests and rivers there, in order to determine their effect on human habitats and the ocean. The research will continue for the next 20 years. (Source: NHK)

Researchers from the Nippon Veterinary and Life Science University (NVLU) have begun to study the effects of radiation on Japanese macaques, noting that the similarities between primates and humans may help them determine how radiation could eventually affect people. Shin-ichi Hayama, one of the scientists working on the project, said, “This presents an opportunity to study the impact of low-dose radiation on primates, which are so close to humans, over a more than 20-year period. That could help forecast the impact on humans, as well.”http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/nuclear-reaction/fukushima-nuclear-crisis-update-for-october-2/blog/42456/

October 5, 2012 Posted by | environment, Japan | Leave a comment

Evacuation and Repopulation – Fukushima

Fukushima  Nuclear Crisis Update for October 2nd to October 4th, 2012 Greenpeace International,  by Christine McCann – October 5, 2012 “…Evacuation and Repopulation In spite of efforts by the central government to lift evacuation orders and begin repopulating some areas of Fukushima Prefecture located between 20 and 30 km from the site of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, a new survey conducted by the Asahi Shimbun shows that only 11% of those who evacuated the prefecture have returned.  Approximately 58,000 people lived there before the crisis erupted, and 48% evacuated in the months following the nuclear meltdowns. The area includes Minami-Soma, Tamura, Kawauchi, Nahara, and Hirono… http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/nuclear-reaction/fukushima-nuclear-crisis-update-for-october-2/blog/42456/

October 5, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012 | Leave a comment

Massive solar power farm for Japan

SMA Solar Inverters To Be Used In Japan’s Biggest Solar Farm http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3409 5 Oct 12 SMA has been selected as the sole supplier of inverters for Japan’s largest solar power plant.

The 70 megawatt solar panel based project operated by Kagoshima Mega Solar Power Corporation will utilise 140 Sunny Central 500CP–JP inverters. SMA will also supply 1,260 Sunny String Monitors for monitoring the massive solar farm. Continue reading →

October 5, 2012 Posted by | Japan, renewable | Leave a comment

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