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Comparison of radiation levels before and after Fukushima nuclear catastrophe

when the accident struck, Konayashi and his colleagues were in a good position to measure exactly how things changed.

Japanese Physicist Publishes Fukushima Radiation Records, Technology Review, 14 Nov 11 The readings at the Fukushima Medical University, close to the damaged nuclear power plant, make for grim reading.

Today, an insight into the conditions in the region surrounding the Fukushima Nuclear Power plant soon after the magnitude 9 earthquake and resultant tsunami which caused the reactors to explode. Continue reading →

November 15, 2011 Posted by | Japan, Reference, technology | Leave a comment

Radiation checks being done in Tokyo schools

Tokyo schools checked for radiation, ABC News, By North Asia correspondent,  November 14, 2011 Fears of nuclear fallout from the Fukushima disaster are increasing in
Japan, where local councils in Tokyo have begun checking schools and parks for radioactive contamination.

Tokyo’s metropolitan government has also announced spot checks of fresh and processed foods. In the playground of the Meguro Honcho Nursery School, young children
play in the dirt as officials test it for radiation from Fukushima. “There is no solution here,” said principal Michiko Ikeda, who has been hovering over a Geiger counter writing down readings. “We cannot say this is absolutely safe. Parents are worried about radiation, our staff too. “By taking these radiation measurements, we want to show that we care
for the children.”
Hiroshi Sato, from the local Meguro council, is also at the school to help test for radiation.
“Recently it became clear that radiation came further south than we thought, all the way to Tokyo,” he said. “So we are now checking dozens of schools in the Meguro area.”
In Tokyo, protesters marched past the offices of Fukushima’s owners TEPCO to demand protection for their children…. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-14/tokyo-schools-checked-for-radiation/3664228/?site=newcastle

November 15, 2011 Posted by | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

Fukushima rescue squad volunteer dies from internal radiation

Dr. Sakiyama cunningly switched the subject to the Fukushima plant workers, but the issue here is not the plant workers. It’s the rescue squad members, it’s the volunteers, it’s the residents, who have been exposed, willing or not, to radiation that could kill over time, and who are without any shred of safeguard for their health. If they die, it is because of “stress”. 

Fukushima rescuer dies from internal radiation, 13 NOVEMBER 2011, THE CANADIAN A woman in a public forum asked a question to the two panelists: Why did my friend die? The event was held in Sapporo City on November 6, 2011.

VIDEO Transcript  On October 26, a friend of mine in Osaka passed away. He was a rescue squad member and had been sent to work in disaster-affected areas for a long time, such as Iwate or Fukushima.
In July, he was found to have been internally exposed to radiation. All his team members had been, too. But their mission didn’t end. Rescue people are those who went through very hard training and have a strong will to do something for the sake of others. So they continued to carry out their mission, even though they knew they had been exposed to radiation.

Continue reading →

November 14, 2011 Posted by | health, Japan, Resources -audiovicual | Leave a comment

Radiation standards for children made stricter in Japan

Japan to Tighten Radiation Exposure Standard for Minors NTI Global Security Newswire, Nov. 11, 2011 Japan on Friday backed plans to cut by August 2013 the maximum, yearly quantity of radiation minors are allowed to receive in regions impacted by contaminants from the Fukushima Daiichi atomic facility, Kyodo News reported (see GSN, Nov. 9). Continue reading →

November 13, 2011 Posted by | health, Japan | Leave a comment

Scene inside wrecked nuclear reactor in Japan

Scene of devastation inside Japan reactor SMH, 12 Nov 11Media allowed into Japan’s tsunami-damaged nuclear power plant for the first time on Saturday saw a striking scene of devastation: twisted and overturned trucks, crumbling reactor buildings and piles of rubble virtually untouched since the wave struck more than eight months ago.

Representatives of the Japanese and international media, including The Associated Press, were allowed into the plant with the government’s chief official in charge of the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986. The tour was intended to demonstrate how much the situation at the plant has stabilised since the March 11 tsunami, though reporters had to wear full-body protective gear and submit to radiation scans afterward.

Mangled trucks, flipped over by the wave, remain along the roads inside the complex. Piles of rubble stand where the walls of the plant’s reactor structures crumbled, and large pools of water still cover parts of the sprawling campus…….

the government has predicted that it will take another 30 years at least to safely remove the nuclear fuel and decommission the plant. It could also be decades before tens of thousands of residents forced to flee the 20km exclusion zone around the plant will be able to return. Some experts say even that estimate is optimistic….   –http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/scene-of-devastation-inside-japan-reactor-20111112-1ncx4.html

November 13, 2011 Posted by | Japan, safety | 1 Comment

Fukushima nuclear disaster: how it was for the workers when it happened

Report Details Initial Chaos at Stricken Nuclear Plant, NYT By MATTHEW L. WALD  November 11, 2011 Fukushima Daiichi Unit 1 was stuck in darkness, and everyone on site feared that the reactor core was damaged. It was the day after a devastating earthquake and a towering tsunami had hit the plant, and the workers knew that they were the only hope for halting an unfolding nuclear disaster. Continue reading →

November 13, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Tokyo now testing radiation in fresh and processed food

Tokyo city starts radiation tests on food in shops Google News, (AFP) – 8 Nov 11 TOKYO — Tokyo city government on Tuesday began radiation tests on samples of food bought in shops to reassure residents amid a contamination scare after a major nuclear accident in northeast Japan.
It is rare that authorities check on products at the point of sale and the the inspection includes processed food as well as fresh produce. The metropolitan government is measuring radiation on vegetables and other fresh food to complement pre-shipment tests at places of
production. Continue reading →

November 10, 2011 Posted by | Japan, safety | Leave a comment

Fukushima elections: 90% of candidates want nuclear power scrapped

90% of Fukushima candidates want N-reactors scrapped The Yomiuri Shimbun, 9 Nov 11 Nearly 90 percent of candidates planning to run in the upcoming Fukushima prefectural assembly election think all the reactors at the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant should be decommissioned, according to a Yomiuri Shimbun survey.

All 87 potential candidates responded to the survey, whose findings suggest radiation decontamination and other nuclear issues will be key points in this campaign–a change from previous prefectural assembly elections.

An official announcement of the election will be made Thursday, and Fukushima Prefecture residents will go to the polls Nov. 20. The election has been postponed due to the March 11 disaster and ensuing nuclear crisis.

According to the survey, 76 candidate, or 87.3 percent, said the Nos. 5 and 6 reactors at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s nuclear plant should be decommissioned. The Nos. 1 to 4 reactors have already been designated for decommissioning.Regarding the Fukushima No. 2 nuclear power plant, the future of which has not been decided, 72 people, or 82.7 percent, said the plant should be decommissioned…..http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T111108005264.htm

November 10, 2011 Posted by | Japan, politics | Leave a comment

Inadequacy of Japan’s radiation cleanup plan

Radiation cleanup plan falls short Experts liken current strategy to letting nature run its course Japan Times, By KAZUAKI NAGATA. 9 Nov 11 “…the government’s plan falls short and efforts should focus in particular on residential areas with more aggressive decontamination measures and goals, including reducing current radiation levels by 90 percent, two radiation experts said when interviewed by The Japan Times. Continue reading →

November 10, 2011 Posted by | environment, Japan | Leave a comment

Accident risk makes nuclear costs even more expensive

 Japan study factors accident risk into nuclear power cost estimates Nov 8 (Reuters) – The cost of generating nuclear power in Japan would rise by up to 1.6 yen per kilowatt hour if the risk of a serious nuclear accident like the one in Fukushima is factored in, a government panel of experts estimated, providing a key element for the government to decide on its post-Fukushima energy policy.

Lawmakers and officials are working to come up with a new energy policy after the Fukushima radiation crisis made it difficult, if not impossible, to build more reactors in the world’s third-biggest generator of nuclear power…..

now that the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant forced its operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co , to pay compensation for residents who have been evacuated and extra costs to decommission the crippled reactors, a new estimate on the cost of nuclear power was needed to include these factors…..

The cost for the risk of an accident could rise further if compensation payments to help evacuees and cover other damages increases from the current estimate, based on actual payments related to the Fukushima Daiichi plant, of 5 trillion yen ($64 billion) for a model reactor, the panel said…. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/08/nuclear-japan-estimate-idUSL4E7M81Q620111108

November 10, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, Japan | Leave a comment

8 months after Fukushima nuclear disaster, dangerous radiation level

Tepco Finds Dangerous Level of Radiation at Fukushima Station, , Bloomberg, By Chris Cooper,  Nov. 6 — Tokyo Electric Power Co. found a dangerous level of radiation at its wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant, eight months after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that caused the worst atomic crisis in 25 years.

Workers at the company usually called Tepco detected 620 millisieverts of radiation an hour on the first floor of Reactor 3 on Nov. 3, the highest level found in that unit, it said.
The level of radiation is more than the 500-millisievert short-term dose recommended as the maximum for emergency workers in live-saving situations, according to the World Nuclear Association. The company and government officials are trying to contain the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in 1986 after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami caused a loss of cooling and the meltdowns of three reactors.

Tepco will today start taking radiation out of water used to cool spent fuel rods, spokesman Hiroki Kawamata said today by phone…..http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-11-06/tepco-finds-dangerous-level-of-radiation-at-fukushima-station.html

November 7, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

TEPCO nuclear company makes $8 billion loss, gets $11.5 billion in public funds

Japan Approves Billions in Aid to TEPCO, Voice of America, 5 Nov 11 Government agreed Friday to a deal giving $11.5 billion in public funds to the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) to cover costs in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that crippled its Fukushima nuclear power plant.

The government said the funds would help TEPCO with cleanup and dismantling of the plant and compensation payments to residents of the area. The money comes from a fund made up of all Japanese nuclear plant operators and the government. In return, the utility must reduce its operating costs by more than $32 billion over the next 10 years and lay off more than 7,000 workers.

Engineers at Fukushima are still trying to bring the reactors to a stable cold shutdown by the end of this year. News of the bailout came on the same day TEPCO forecast a nearly $8 billion loss for the current fiscal year, ending in March.  http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2011/11/04/japan-approves-billions-in-aid-to-tepco-2/

November 7, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, Japan, politics | Leave a comment

Japanese mothers demand radiation protection, and closure of nuclear power

The women are calling for two things. First, they want to protect children living in highly contaminated areas by giving them the officially sanctioned ‘right to evacuate.’ This would include government compensation and support that would enable children and their families to relocate on a voluntary basis. 

Secondly, they want to close down all nuclear power plants in Japan. “Fukushima women feel very strongly that there is no safe nuclear power,”  “This is the lesson to be learned from Fukushima.”

The women have asked for a response from the state by Nov. 11—exactly eight months after the deadly quake.

Fukushima Women Demand Better Protection for Children Exposed to Radiation,  TIME.com , November 3, 2011 Lucy Birmingham. About 100 women from Fukushima, Japan, have started a week-long sit-in at a government office in Tokyo to demand greater protection for children affected by radiation. “Many children and their families are trapped in Fukushima because they can’t afford to move,” explains Ayako Oga, 38, a housewife living in the prefecture and one of the sit-in organizers. “The government has set the accepted radiation exposure rate too high.” Japan’s standard rate for exposure to radiation is 1 millisievert per year. For Fukushima residents alone the accepted exposure rate is up to 20 millisieverts per year.  The International Commission on Radiological Protection considers this rate the top level and says it should not be exceeded over the long term.

National and prefectural governments have determined that until the 20 millisieverts level they are not obligated to offer financial support to residents, certain businesses or schools wanting to relocate outside the irradiated areas. At the heart of the debate is the question of who has a ‘right to evacuate.’ “At Chernobyl, the right to evacuate, which means government support, was given from 1 to 5 millisieverts. In Japan it’s 20,” Continue reading →

November 4, 2011 Posted by | Japan, politics, women | 2 Comments

What it’s really like to be a cleanup worker at Fukushima

Those on the lower rungs, say labour advocates, are particularly
vulnerable. They often have no corporate health, pension or redundancy
benefits. ….

the hardest work was done by the low-level labourers. They had so much rubble to clear, he says, that they often keeled over in the heat under the weight of their protective gear.
Taken out in ambulances, they would usually be back the following day.

Cleaning up Japan’s nuclear mess, The twilight zone, Its owner fears not just radiation leaking out of the Fukushima plant, but also bad news, The Economist Nov 5th 2011 | IWAKI | IT IS another world beyond the roadblocks stopping unauthorised traffic from entering the 20km (12.5-mile) exclusion zone around the
Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. ….

The air of secrecy is compounded when you try to approach workers involved in the nightmarish task of stabilising the nuclear plant. Many are not salaried Tepco staff but low-paid contract workers lodging in Iwaki, just south of the exclusion zone. Continue reading →

November 4, 2011 Posted by | employment, Japan | Leave a comment

The $64 billion question – 3 reasons why Japan should nationalise TEPCO

Japan’s nuclear conundrum, The $64 billion question, Once the Fukushima nuclear plant is stable, the government should temporarily nationalise its operator The Economist Nov 5th 2011

The government should act fast to nationalise Tepco and hold it temporarily in public ownership as it clears out the old management and oversees the clean-up. Then it should reprivatise a thoroughly reformed utility. Three reasons argue for Tepco to be nationalised. Continue reading →

November 4, 2011 Posted by | Japan, politics | Leave a comment

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