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Japan – no blackouts despite nuclear power almost completely shut down

No summer blackouts: nuclear scaremongering in Japan proven false  http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/news/Blogs/nuclear-reaction/no-summer-blackouts-nuclear-scaremongering-in/blog/42057/ 
 by Justin McKeating – September 10, 2012 Despite the dire warnings from the nuclear industry and its backers, Japan’s hot summer has passed with no power blackouts or shortages even though just two out of its 50 nuclear reactors were in operation.  Continue reading →

September 12, 2012 Posted by | Japan, politics | Leave a comment

Nuclear industry says it will take 40 years to decommission Fukushima nuclear reactors

It will take 40 years, the nuclear industry says, to decommission the reactors. (Not the 6 months the industry claimed would be required to bring the “slightly damaged” reactors back online.)

Slow progress containing problems at Fukushima, new ones arise   http://nuclearhistory.wordpress.com/2012/09/11/slow-progress-containing-problems-at-fukushima-new-ones-arise/  September 11, 2012 The Asahi Shimbun Japan By TAKASHI SUGIMOTO/ Staff Writer The operator is having difficulty pumping water into destroyed reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 plant, tanks are rapidly filling with radioactive water, and hundreds of potentially volatile uranium fuel assemblies remain in a precarious storage pool that some warn could collapse in another strong earthquake. Continue reading →

September 12, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012, Reference, safety | Leave a comment

Cesium found in deep subsea mud along West coast of Japan

Asahi: “Significant quantity” of cesium detected along West Coast of Japan — Concentrations rise as it gets deeper http://enenews.com/asahi-significant-quantity-of-cesium-detected-along-west-coast-of-japan-concentrations-rise-as-it-gets-deeper 
 September 11th, 2012  By ENENews 
Title: Radioactive fallout detected far from Fukushima 
Source: Asahi Shimbun
Author: NOBUTARO KAJI
Date: September 11, 2012
A significant quantity of radioactive cesium, likely from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, has turned up in subsea mud about 200 kilometers away, near the mouth of the Shinanogawa River on Japan’s northwestern coast.
Scientists said samples taken in 2011 at Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, contained concentrations of up to 460 becquerels per kilogram of dry mud

[…]

The highest concentration was 2-3 cm below the mud surface at a water depth of 30 m. That reading of 460 becquerels per kg compares to samples of over 400 becquerels around the mouth of the Arakawa river in Tokyo Bay in August 2011.

Both readings are dozens of times higher than contamination detected after past atmospheric nuclear tests.

At a depth of 20 m the maximum concentration was 318 becquerels per kg, while at 15 m it was 255 becquerels.

[…]

September 12, 2012 Posted by | Japan, oceans | Leave a comment

Radiation load on Fukushima cleanup workers

Tepco admits it will run out of workers in 5 years unless a way is found to reduce radiation exposure (VIDEO) http://enenews.com/nhk-tepco-says-it-will-run-out-of-help-in-5-years-unless-it-finds-a-way-to-reduce-workers-radiation-exposure-video 
September 11th, 2012  By ENENews 
Title: One and half years after Fukushima accident
Source: NHK WORLD English
Date: Sep. 10, 2012

“Tepco managers have had a tough time attracting workers. They say they will run out of help in 5 years unless they can find a way to reduce workers’ exposure to radiation.” -NHK Transcript

One and a half years have passed since the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Tokyo Electric Power Company has many problems to overcome before achieving its promise to decommission the crippled plant in about 40 years.

[…]

TEPCO also wonders if it can secure enough workers for the next 5 years. It said it will see a shortage of workers unless it finds ways for them to avoid exposure to radiation.

September 12, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012 | Leave a comment

Cesium increasing in Tochigi environment

Cesium from incineration ash of normal garbage is not decreasing in Tochigi, Fukushima Diary  by Mochizuki   September 10th, 2012 ·   It has been 16 months since 311, but still high level of cesium is found in incineration ash of normal garbage. It means a certain amount of cesium is still coming from Fukushima. Other nuclides are not analyzed.

From the beginning of 2012, cesium from incineration ash is not decreasing in Ashikaga city, Tochigi. (185km from Fukushima) As the whole ecosystem, cesium is being accumulated in the environment.

On 8/30/2012, Ashikaga city government published the data of cesium detected from incineration ash. The incineration ash is not from disaster debris, only from normal garbage.

The cesium (Cs-134/137) amount in the total of fly ash and incineration ash is like below…… http://fukushima-diary.com/2012/09/cesium-from-incineration-ash-of-normal-garbage-is-not-decreasing-in-tochigi/#.UE4am9o5ekc.facebook

September 12, 2012 Posted by | environment, Japan | Leave a comment

Kawasaki city serves students radioactive lunches

Kawasaki city mayor, “School serves radioactive lunch for educational
purpose.” http://fukushima-diary.com/2012/09/kawasaki-city-mayor-school-serves-radioactive-lunch-for-educational-purpose/#.UE6PhZVElhg.facebook  by Mochizuki on September 10th, 2012 · Schools keep serving contaminated lunch for the students and they
don’t even solve the problem. (cf. Cesium from finished school lunch in Miyagi) Continue reading →

September 12, 2012 Posted by | Japan, Religion and ethics | Leave a comment

Children living with radioactive contamination

FRCSR: “Inhumane, inexcusable act” as many children and adults under observation while living with radioactive contamination  http://enenews.com/frcsr-inhumane-inexcusable-act-many-people-observation-living-radioactive-contamination-physician-unexpectedly-early-rapid-increase-thyroid-cancer-young-after-chernobyl-downplays-fukushima-tests-sh
 September 8th, 2012  
By ENENews
Fukushima Voice, the website of Fukushima Radioactive Contamination Symptoms Research or (FRCSR), examines the August 29, 2012 press conference in Tokyo by members of the International Physicians for Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW):
Q: What do you think about the high number of thyroid abnormalities found in Fukushima children? Continue reading →

September 10, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012 | Leave a comment

Cesium contamination in 85% of Fukushima rockfish

85% of Fukushima rockfish exceeds safety limit in cesium, cesium measured from all samples since 311 http://fukushima-diary.com/2012/09/85-of-fukushima-rockfish-exceeds-safety-limit-in-cesium/#.UEzuJoRzoNU.facebook  by Mochizuki  September 9th, 2012 ·   Fukushima prefecture is trying to start selling fishery products but the actual contamination situation is not widely known. (cf. Fukushima will test-fish 7 more kinds of fishery products)

Even US keeps importing fishery products from Japan. (cf. US keeps importing fishery food from Japan even after 311)

White rockfish (Shiromebaru) is the type of fish living in shallow reef or seaweed bed, diet is crustacean and small fish.

According to the measurement data of Fukushima prefecture [Link], they measure cesium higher than the safety limit (100Bq/Kg) from 84.85% of all the white rockfish samples from offshore Fukushima.

They started measuring Fukushima white rockfish as of 6/21/2011. Until the latest measurement of 8/30/2012, they tested 99 samples.

Cesium (>100Bq/Kg) was detected from 84 of them. Also, cesium was measured from all of the samples.

The historical highest amount was 3,200 Bq/Kg fished on 7/4/2011. 1,730 Bq/Kg of cesium was detected from the sample fished on 8/26/2012 as well.

The measurement result is represented in the graph [provided n this article]. It shows the radiation level is still not decreasing even in 2012.

September 10, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012 | Leave a comment

Fukushima nuclear reactor No 4: spent fuel pool still a high danger

Japan Times: Unit 4 fuel pool continues to alarm scientists and gov’t officials around the world — ‘Intense criticism’ from some senior US officials  http://enenews.com/japan-times-unit-4-fuel-pool-continues-to-alarm-scientists-and-govt-officials-around-the-world-intense-criticism-from-some-senior-us-officials
By ENENews 
Title:   Global help urged to avert reactor 4 pool fire | The Online 
Source: Japan Times 
Author: ERIC JOHNSTON
Date: Sep. 8, 2012
The risk of a fire starting in reactor 4′s spent-fuel pool at the Fukushima No. 1 plant continues to alarm scientists and government officials around the world, prompting a leading U.S. nuclear expert to urge Japan to tap global expertise to avert a catastrophe.
[…]

During a trip to Japan in late August and early September, [Arnie Gundersen of Fairewinds Energy Education nonprofit organization] met with Diet members, lawyers and citizens’ groups to discuss conditions at the wrecked power station and told an audience in Kyoto on Monday that fears over the spent-fuel pool in reactor 4 remain high.

[…]

concerns persist among experts worldwide that reactor 4′s pool is still at risk of boiling dry. If this were to occur, it would necessitate a massive and immediate evacuation of the surrounding area.

[…]

But the state of the fuel pool and the lack of preparations to deal with a possible fire has drawn intense criticism not just from experts like Gundersen but also from some senior officials in the U.S…

September 10, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012 | Leave a comment

Japan’s nuclear lobby trying to keep nuclear power off the election topics

Japanese Professor: All the nuclear interests want to do is avoid making nuclear power a central election issue — Gundersen: Gov’t trying to frighten public  http://enenews.com/japanese-professor-all-the-nuclear-interests-want-to-do-is-avoid-making-nuclear-power-a-central-election-issue-gundersen-govt-trying-to-frighten-public 
 September 6th, 2012 
By ENENews Title: Japan stresses cost of ending nuclear power as decision loomsSource: REUTERSAuthors: Linda Sieg and Aaron Sheldrick; Additional reporting by Risa Maeda, Kentao Hamada and Tetsushi Kajimoto; Editing by Robert Birsel

…..a forecast [by Japan’s government said] that household energy bills would by 2030 rise by nearly double 2010 levels if Japan abandoned nuclear power.

But that has been disputed. Continue reading →

September 10, 2012 Posted by | Japan, politics | Leave a comment

Five years or more before Fukushima nuclear plant safe enough to fully investigate

 Fukushima panel told some details will take five years to learn http://platts.com/RSSFeedDetailedNews/RSSFeed/ElectricPower/7048069   Washington (Platts) -William Freebairn,–7 Sep2012  Key details of how the accident at Japan’s Fukushima I nuclear plant played out have yet to be determined and may not be known for five years or more, when important parts of the plant are safer to enter, officials with the Japanese and US nuclear industries told a US National Academies review committee Thursday. Continue reading →

September 10, 2012 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, Fukushima continuing, safety | Leave a comment

No radiation dose records kept for over 3,000 Fukushima cleanup workers

Over 3,000 workers at Fukushima Daiichi have no dosimetry records
http://enformable.com/2012/09/over-3000-workers-at-fukushima-daiichi-have-no-dosimetry-records/  5 Sept 12, Some 3,077 workers at TEPCO’s crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have no records of the radiation levels that they may have been exposed to during the first 3 weeks of the nuclear disaster.  These workers were dispatched in work groups, with only representatives of the entire group wearing dosimeters.

Earlier this summer, it was discovered that other workers had covered their dosimeters with lead shields to lower their recorded radiation exposures in order to not exceed the national limits. Source: JiJi Press

September 6, 2012 Posted by | Fukushima 2012, health, Japan | Leave a comment

Confusion in Aomori Prefecture about importing radioactive waste

Aomori Pref. mulling rejecting nuclear waste The Yomiuri Shimbun , 6 Sept 12, AOMORI—The Aomori prefectural government is considering refusing to accept highly radioactive waste scheduled to be returned from reprocessing overseas if the central government abolishes its nuclear fuel cycle policy.

The prefectural government was likely prompted to act by recent moves by the central government toward abandoning nuclear power generation.

The village of Rokkasho in the prefecture is home to a spent nuclear fuel reprocessing plant that is considered to be the foundation of the nuclear fuel cycle, in which plutonium and uranium are extracted from spent fuel to be reused.

The plant has yet to begin operating, and spent nuclear fuel from the nation’s nuclear reactors are currently stored at nuclear power plants or at the Rokkasho facility. Some spent nuclear fuel is reprocessed in France and Britain. Vitrified radioactive waste, the highly radioactive waste that is produced in the reprocessing process, has been shipped from Europe to the Vitrified Waste Storage Center at the Rokkasho facility. So far, the plant has received 1,414 containers of vitrified waste, and 28 more are scheduled to be shipped from Britain in October at the earliest. Continue reading →

September 6, 2012 Posted by | - plutonium, Japan, reprocessing | Leave a comment

TEPCO again alters photo of damage at nuclear reactor

Tepco Alters Again: “We replaced photo for physical protection of nuclear materials”   September 5th, 2012 By ENENews  FirstTepco released the badly altered photo, which was deleted and replaced with an alteration of the original alteration. Now Tepco has altered their original statement on the alterations.

Perhaps they will elaborate on what ‘nuclear materials’ are visible in that area around Unit 4, and why the materials need ‘physical protection’.

Title: Results of the Second Soundness Inspection of Unit 4 Reactor Building at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station

Source: TOKYO ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY – Photos and Videos Library
Date: September 4, 2012……  http://enenews.com/tepco-admits-we-replaced-photo-for-physical-protection-of-nuclear-materials

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

Photo tampered with by TEPCO to minimise damage at Fukushima Unit 4

Report: Tepco reveals damage to Unit 4 near ‘photoshopped’ area (PHOTO)  http://enenews.com/report-tepco-reveals-damage-to-area-near-photoshopped-location-at-fukushima-unit-4-photo  September 5th, 2012   By ENENews   Title: TEPCO Soundness Report On Unit 4 Admits Larger Failures  Source: SimplyInfo Date: Sept 5, 2012

TEPCO released two reports in Japanese last week on order of NISA to explain the soundness of unit 4.

[…]

The new reports make some key admissions. The west and south walls are degrading and also may have been worse than TEPCO had previously admitted. Floor damage is also expanded from what was previously reported. Cracks on the inside of the west wall was also reported for the first time. It appears some of this is building degradation and some is new findings as they gain access to more areas of the building for closer inspections.

[…]

The August 2012 report in Japanese shows the west wall […] 4th floor as failed with the entire 3rd floor now failed with half of the 2nd floor now partially failed. In May 2011 the 2nd floor was assumed sound. This newly declared partially damaged area is above the garage door opening TEPCO has attempted to photoshop out of recent images.

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