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TEPCO claims that radioactive substances now responsibility of landowners, not TEPCO

TEPCO: Radioactive substances belong to landowners, not us, By TOMOHIRO IWATA / Asahi Shimbun Weekly AERA, 24 Nov During court proceedings concerning a radioactive golf course, Tokyo Electric Power Co. stunned lawyers by saying the utility was not responsible for decontamination because it no longer “owned” the radioactive substances.

“Radioactive materials (such as cesium) that scattered and fell from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant belong to individual landowners there, not TEPCO,” the utility said. Continue reading →

December 3, 2011 Posted by | Japan, Legal | 1 Comment

High radioactive cesium levels in Abukumagawa river, Japan

Cesium levels hit tens of billions of becquerels at river mouth, The Asahi Shimbun November 25, 2011, By EISUKE SASAKI Researchers have sounded the alarm over river water containing cesium levels at tens of billions of becquerels a day flowing into the sea near Fukushima Prefecture, site of the crippled nuclear power plant.

A joint study by Kyoto University and the University of Tsukuba, among other entities, estimated that water at the mouth of the Abukumagawa river running through the prefecture was contaminated with cesium levels of about 50 billion becquerels a day. Continue reading →

December 3, 2011 Posted by | environment, Japan | Leave a comment

All Japan’s nuclear reactors could be shut down by May 2012

Shutdown schedule for 9 active nuclear reactors, Reuters, 1 Dec 11“……..Kyushu Electric Power Co, one of the country’s most highly nuclear reliant regional power firms, on Thursday started regular maintenance on the No.1 unit at its sole Genkai nuclear plant, as planned, leaving only nine reactors online.

A total of 54 nuclear reactors had been available for commercial use before the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disabled cooling systems at Fukushima Daiichi, run by Tokyo Electric Power Co, triggering meltdowns and causing the world’s worst radioactive material leakage in 25 years.

No reactor shut for regular maintenance has restarted since the March 11 disaster amid public concerns over atomic energy and the government’s reassessment of safety regulations…… Without approval for restarts, all of Japan’s reactors could be shut by next May, …..

Following are the locations of nuclear power plants still in operation and the companies’ schedules for shutdowns. If the utility has not given a schedule, the dates by which each reactor has to be taken offline for maintenance are listed, according to Reuters calculations.:……. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/02/us-nuclear-japan-active-idUSTRE7B104B20111202

December 3, 2011 Posted by | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

Japan sets radiation level limit for childrens’ school meals

First radiation limit set for school mealsThreshold set at 40 becquerels for food, drinks in 17 prefectures, Japan Times, Dec. 2, 2011 Kyodo The government has instructed the boards of education of 17 eastern and northeastern prefectures to set the upper limit on radioactive substance exposure for food and drink served in school meals at 40 becquerels per kilogram, officials said Thursday.

The threshold is one-fifth of the current provisional limit on radioactive cesium for items of general consumption — 200 becquerels per kilogram for drinking water, milk and dairy products. The maximum allowable amount for rice, vegetables, meat and fish is set at 500 becquerels per kilogram.

The officials of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology said they newly set the criteria for school meals as the government plans to lower the upper limit of annual internal exposure to radioactive cesium through food and drink consumption to 1 millisievert from the current provisional threshold of 5 millisieverts. The 17 prefectures include Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, Ibaraki, Tokyo, Niigata, Yamanashi, Nagano and Shizuoka.

The ministry has earmarked about ¥100 million in the third extra budget for the current fiscal year to cover part of the cost to purchase dosimeters to detect radiation amounts in meals at schools in the 17 prefectures, according to the officials.

Under the directive, municipal governments are requested to buy equipment that can detect radiation levels in food and drink below 40 becquerels and to stop serving items with radioactive substances that exceed the upper limit, the officials said. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20111202a1.htm

December 3, 2011 Posted by | health, Japan | Leave a comment

Japan trying out a giant washing machine for radioactive cleanup

Japan looks to giant washer to clean Fukushima debris, MY sinchew.com,TOKYO, December 2, 2011 (AFP) – Japan is looking to launder tsunami debris in a giant washing machine to get rid of radiation from the Fukushima nuclear accident, a researcher said Friday.

In a scheme they hope will result in finally being able to dispose of contaminated waste left by the waves that crushed towns on the country’s northeast coast, a cleaning plant will be built near the Fukushima Daiichi power station. Shredded waste — including the remains of houses and cars destroyed by the tsunami — will be put inside a huge water-filled drum where steel attachments will scrub away radioactive particles, the researcher told AFP.

The plan is a joint scheme between Tokyo-based construction company Toda Corp. and the Japan Atomic Energy Agency…..Government planners have said radiation-contaminated debris could be stored in a facility in Fukushima prefecture for at least 30 years until its final destination is determined. http://www.mysinchew.com/node/67283

December 3, 2011 Posted by | Japan, wastes | Leave a comment

Governor calls for scrapping of all of Fukushima’s 10 nuclear reactors

Scrap all 10 Fukushima nuclear reactors: Governor, Straits Times, Nov 30, 2011,TOKYO (AFP) – The governor of Japan’s Fukushima prefecture called on Wednesday for all 10 of the area’s reactors to be scrapped as it attempts to recover from an ongoing nuclear crisis.

Yuhei Sato said he would include the demand in the prefecture’s reconstruction plan to be compiled by the end of this year following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that sparked the nuclear disaster.

The Fukushima prefectural assembly has already adopted a petition to seek the decommissioning of the 10 reactors housed at Fukushima’s Daiichi and Daini plants, both run by Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco).

‘I decided to stipulate the reactor decommissioning in the reconstruction plan so that young people can live here without worries,’ Mr Sato told a news conference. http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Asia/Story/STIStory_739689.html

December 1, 2011 Posted by | Japan, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

TEPCO admits complete meltdown of nuclear fuel rods in Fukushima reactor No.1

Tepco Details Nuclear Fuel Damage, WSJ, By MITSURU OBE, 30 Nov 11 TOKYO—The stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear-power plant came a lot closer to a full “China Syndrome” meltdown than previous company analyses had indicated, though there is no danger of further damage now, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Wednesday.

The nuclear-fuel rods in reactor No. 1 likely melted completely, Tepco and the Japanese government said for the first time—burning a hole through one surrounding vessel and eating through up to three-quarters of the concrete base at the bottom of a second containment vessel meant as a last barrier between the radioactive core and the outside
world. Continue reading →

December 1, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Political opposition to nuclear power in Japan

Nuclear Conflict: Utility, Mayor Face Off in Japan WSJ, By MARI IWATA, 29 Nov 11 TOKYO—Kansai Electric Power Co. is likely to come under more pressure to reduce its use of nuclear power under new Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto.
Mr. Hashimoto won Sunday’s election after a campaign in which he pledged to lower the use of nuclear power Continue reading →

November 30, 2011 Posted by | Japan, politics | Leave a comment

Japanese government underestimates radiation risks

Fukushima Radiation Risks “Severely Underestimated“: Greenpeace, November 29, 2011 Tokyo- (PanOrient News) Greenpeace today renewed its demand for the Japanese government to keep its nuclear reactors offline as simulation maps of potential accidents at Japan’s nuclear plants – used in the development of nuclear emergency response efforts – “are completely inadequate, and have not been updated since the Fukushima disaster.” Continue reading →

November 30, 2011 Posted by | environment, Japan | 1 Comment

Illness of Fukushima nuclear plant director – could be radiation caused?

Fukushima nuclear power plant director steps down suddenly due to ‘illness’ The director of Japan’s damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant is stepping down due to illness, with officials refusing to confirm whether his condition is radiation related. The Telegraph By Danielle Demetriou in Tokyo 28 Nov 2011 Masao Yoshida, 56, has been hospitalised for “treatment of illness” and will relinquish his director post at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in northeast Japan from Thursday.

His sudden departure without a specific medical explanation is likely to prompt speculation surrounding the possible connection between his medical condition and exposure to high radiation levels at the plant……

Mr Yoshida has been on site at Fukushima Daiichi plant for more than eight months, ever since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami knocked out crucial cooling systems and sparked the ongoing crisis…. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/8919991/Fukushima-nuclear-power-plant-director-steps-down-suddenly-due-to-illness.html

November 29, 2011 Posted by | health, Japan | Leave a comment

Secrecy in Japan’s radiation studies

Will the Government of Japan’s radiation studies on the people exposed to radiation include removing tissue and bone samples after they have died? Will they inform the public or keep it a secret? dedicated to the mystery surrounding the 2 tsunami dogs 26 Nov 11

The citizens that were exposed to radiation from the Fukushima Prefecture have a surprise coming to them.  It won’t matter to them, actually, because this will happen to them after they die.  It is justwhat has been happening with the animals that have been killed andtheir bodies examined for cesium levels.  Don’t think that it won’t happen to the Fukushima citizens that have been exposed to radiation.
Those same scientists that are examining the animals will want to examine the people also.  This is where the Government of Japan will either tell people or keep it a secret and just take the samples and hope that no one will notice.  The scientists that are like vultures
waiting, will want those samples to see what the levels of cesium are in those people.

If they think that their participation of the research being done by the Government of Japan on their exposure to the radiation is limited to just being monitored, it is not. Continue reading →

November 28, 2011 Posted by | Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Japanese anti nuclear activists ignored by media

 activists say they are being ignored by the domestic media and threatened by ultra-nationalist groups. 

“The Japanese newspapers and TV stations all take so much advertising money from the power companies that they won’t report on the strength of the anti-nuclear movement or cover our protests,” 

Anti-nuclear protesters have an unlikely ally in Masayoshi Son, Japan’s richest man.

Japan’s anti-nuclear protesters find the going tough, despite Fukushima disaster Polls show the public turning against nuclear energy after Japan’s Fukushima disaster. But low coverage of protests and powerful business and political interests have complicated efforts to promote change. Christian Science Monitor,  By Gavin Blair, Correspondent / November 23, 2011 Continue reading →

November 28, 2011 Posted by | Japan, media | Leave a comment

Japan’s new nuclear watchdog – an unknown quantity

 “Concrete steps will be taken only after actual health problems have come to light, and if such damage could be recognized as a pollution-caused disease like Minamata disease, the sources said.”

This item is a bit of  a worry.  Nothing in here to say that those made ill from radiation will get any help.  And the suggestion is that it will be hard for them to prove it – so don’t expect any help? – Christina Macpherson 

N-watchdog gets health role / New agency to handle residents’ well-being, not just reactors, The Yomiuri Shimbun, 25 Nov 11 A new nuclear safety agency to be established in April will deal with health problems caused by radioactive materials released from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, it has been learned. Continue reading →

November 28, 2011 Posted by | health, Japan | Leave a comment

How Japan rigged public opinion to support MOX plutonium nuclear reactor

Rigging opinions on nuclear power, Japan Times, , Nov. 28, 2011, EDITORIAL A third-party committee of the Hokkaido government on Wednesday reported that the then chief of the regional government’s nuclear power safety measures section asked Hokkaido Electric Power Co. in July 2008 to collect opinions that favored the use of MOX (mixed oxide) nuclear fuel in the No. 3 reactor of its Tomari nuclear power plant.

 The chief made the request because a majority of opinions collected by the Hokkaido government up to that point had been decidedly against the use of MOX fuel, which contains both plutonium and uranium, the committee said.

This is just the latest revelation of attempts to rig public opinions on nuclear power. Continue reading →

November 28, 2011 Posted by | Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Japanese soldiers to enter Fukushima radiation zone

Once More Into the Breach, TIME  by  , November 25, 2011 TOKYO – Japanese troops are being sent once again into the heart of the Fukushima radiation zone to battle contamination from the stricken nuclear power plant. Specially trained troops will enter the 20-kilometer (12.4 miles) exclusion zone around the plant next month to decontaminate abandoned government buildings and facilities…..

 About 400 troops from the Ground Self Defense Force’s Central Nuclear Biological Chemical Weapon Defense Unit will be sent to Fukushima.  They’ve been there before: Four members of the unit were injured in a hydrogen explosion at the plant on March 12.  Several helicopter pilots and crew received large doses of radiation while dumping seawater on one of the damaged reactors.

The soldiers are expected to finish their work in about a month. No word on when, or if, all the contamination will be gone…… http://battleland.blogs.time.com/2011/11/25/once-more-into-the-breach/#ixzz1eqfdOOoZ

November 27, 2011 Posted by | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

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