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Japanese parents sceptical over lack of action on radiation levels in schools

School radiation cleanup slammed, The Japan Times Online, 3 June 11 Parents flunk ministry over soil-removal policy shift Kyodo Despite the education ministry’s recent move to set a new nonbinding target to reduce the radiation children in Fukushima Prefecture are exposed to at schools, experts, local educators and parents don’t feel reassured. Continue reading →

June 3, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Radiation worries keep opera stars out of Japan tour

Met Opera Stars Drop Out of Japan Tour On Radiation Fears — WSJ* May 31, 2011,     “…….“She (Ms. Netrebko) explained that she lived in Russia during Chernobyl and that many of her friends and relatives had contracted cancer and that she felt this was leaning very heavily on her,” said Mr. Gelb about the soprano’s reasoning at a news conference in Japan on Tuesday, referencing the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident. “When she actually thought about coming here, when it came down to the wire of getting on a plane she just couldn’t face making that decision.”
Met Opera Stars Drop Out of Japan Tour On Raditation Fears – Speakeasy – WSJ

June 3, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Images of Fukushima – fatigue of nuclear workers

PhotoBlog – Doctor describes fatigue of workers at Fukushima nuclear plan, PhotoBlog, David R Arnott 3 June 11, Newly released photographs taken by a doctor who has examined workers at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant show the difficult living conditions they have endured while battling to bring the situation under control.
ased June 2 by industrial medical doctor Takeshi Tanigawa, who examined the workers. The Japan Times reported that Ehime University professor Takeshi Tanigawa had visited the workers twice since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that triggered a series of meltdowns at the plant. He warned that there was an increased risk of accidents because the workers had suffered from chronic sleep deprivation and fatigue, the paper said.

Tanigawa also warned that workers were at risk of developing PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) due to what they had been through in the early days of the disaster, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. See more images of the disaster in our slideshow and more pictures related to Fukushima on PhotoBlog. PhotoBlog – Doctor describes fatigue of workers at Fukushima nuclear plant

June 3, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, Resources -audiovicual | Leave a comment

Radiation gradually accumulating in marine life beyond Fukushima

More radiation worries for Japan’s fishing industry – Fishupdate.com, 31 may 11, MORE trouble appears to be on the horizon for Japan’s beleaguered fishing industry, following the country’s disastrous earthquake two months ago.

Greenpeace has said that the radioactive leaks are continuing to seriously affect fish and other marine life.  According to fresh information released by the environmental group high levels of contamination have been found in fish, shellfish, and seaweed from samples taken 12 miles off the coast of the Fukushima plant.

Analysis by laboratories in France and Belgium found high levels of radioactive iodine and radioactive cesium in seafood, according to Greenpeace. Contamination levels were highest in seaweed samples, which contained radiation 50 times higher than official limits…..Greenpeace Radiation spokesman Jan Van Putte said: “Our data shows that significant amounts of contamination continue to spread over great distances from the Fukushima nuclear plant.  Radioactive hazards are not decreasing through dilution or dispersion, but the radioactivity is instead accumulating in marine life.”… More radiation worries for Japan’s fishing industry – Fishupdate.com

May 31, 2011 Posted by | environment, Japan | Leave a comment

How Japanese communities have become nuclear addicts

In a process that critics have likened to drug addiction, the flow of easy money and higher-paying jobs quickly replaces the communities’ original economic basis, usually farming or fishing….the subsidies encourage not only acceptance of a plant but also, over time, its expansion. That is because subsidies ….the system of subsidies and dependency Japan created to expand nuclear power makes it difficult for the country to reverse course.

In Japan, a Culture That Promotes Nuclear Dependency – NYTimes.com,By and May 30, 2011 “…….Tokyo has been able to essentially buy the support, or at least the silent acquiescence, of local communities by showering them with generous subsidies, payouts and higher-paying jobs. In 2009 alone, Tokyo gave $1.15 billion for public works projects to communities that have electric plants, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Experts say the majority of that money goes to communities near nuclear plants. Continue reading →

May 31, 2011 Posted by | Japan, politics | Leave a comment

Japanese actor punished for his anti nuclear stance

“I received an email from my manager today. ‘Your planned role in a July 8 drama has gone away because of your statements regarding nuclear power plants.’”…

It’s Not Easy Being Antinuclear – Japan Real Time – WSJ* May 30, 2011, By Yoree Koh It’s a difficult time to trumpet the virtues of nuclear energy in Japan, but it appears naysayers are finding that speaking out can have negative consequences. Continue reading →

May 31, 2011 Posted by | civil liberties, Japan | Leave a comment

Works suspended at Fukushima because of stormy weather

Storm suspends work at Japan Fukushima nuclear plant BBC News 30 May 2011 The operator of Japan’s crippled nuclear plant has suspended some of its outdoor work due to a tropical storm, just days after it admitted it was not prepared for harsh weather.

Heavy rain and strong winds are hitting north-east Japan, which was devastated in the 11 March earthquake and tsunami. Continue reading →

May 31, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Cores of 3 Fukushima reactors are leaking radioactive water

that’s just the start of the bad news because the reactors themselves appear to be leaking as well. TEPCO initially hoped that the leaks were largely coming from pipes that could be repaired, but they now concede that both the reactors’ pressure vessels and primary containment vessels, which are designed to contain an accident, are probably leaking water.

Fukushima nuclear plant is leaking like a sieve –Nature News Blog: May 26, 2011 As more details leak out about the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, it’s become clear that something else is leaking—radioactive water from the cores of three damaged reactors. Continue reading →

May 30, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Full severity of Fukushima nuclear disaster now slowly being revealed

 Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency said Thursday. “The situation continues to be very serious.”.

Fukushima plant probably began spewing radiation within hours of earthquake: data National Post, Peter Goodspeed 21 May 11,  Data released for the first time this week show three of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors probably began spewing radiation within a few hours of Japan’s devastating earthquake and at least one may have gone into a full meltdown within about 15 hours of the tsunami striking the plant and shutting off its cooling systems. Continue reading →

May 30, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, Japan, safety | Leave a comment

Doubts about Fukushima’s full impact cast gloom on nuclear industry

While debates on who or what was at fault will no doubt continue, the nuclear industry has clearly suffered a major blow, with nuclear looking to be unreliable and costly….Nobuo Tanaka, the chief executive of the International Energy Agency, has warned that the role of nuclear power in global energy supply may be less than previously forecast, following the events in Japan. “Building nuclear power or expanding nuclear power may mean more costs or more delay. That means the nuclear option may not play as big a role as we predicted….”

What happened at Fukushima? – environmentalresearchweb, 30 May 11, More information has begun to emerge as to actually what happened at Fukushima, with it now being clear that full fuel melt-down did occur, perhaps even starting before the tsunami hit, although we are still some way off knowing what the longer term impacts will be, Continue reading →

May 30, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Tropical deluge might spread Fukushima nuclear radiation

Deluge could spread Fukushima radiation ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)By North Asia correspondent Mark Willacy  30 may 11, There are fears a tropical storm off the coast of Japan could wash radioactive material from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the air and sea.

Now downgraded to a tropical storm, former Typhoon Songda is still expected to bring strong winds and torrential rain to Tokyo later this morning, with the Fukushima area also forecast to experience a deluge.

The plant’s operator, Tepco, has apologised for not being prepared for the bad weather. The company has been pouring synthetic resins over the facility to stop radioactive material from being swept away, but the job is far from complete. Tepco and the Japanese government both fear contamination could be washed out of the uncovered reactor buildings. Deluge could spread Fukushima radiation – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

May 30, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

TEPCO does not know how long it will take to stabilise Fukushima nuclear plant

“Unless we understand the extent of the damage, we don’t even know how long that work alone would take,” noting the need for one or two months more than previously thought to establish an entirely new cooling system…….”

TEPCO can’t stabilise reactors by year end: report , May 29, 2011,   TOKYO (MarketWatch) — Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501.TO) is coming to the view that it will be impossible to stabilize the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant by the end of this year, possibly affecting the timing for the government to consider the return of evacuees to their homes near the plant, Kyodo News reported, citing senior company officials. Continue reading →

May 30, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Would you trust Japan to lead global nuclear safety discussions?

Japan Seeks Lead Role in Nuclear Safety Guidelines,  WSJ.com, 27 May 11 By GEORGE NISHIYAMA DEAUVILLE, France—Japan wants to host an international meeting to discuss nuclear safety issues next year, as part of its efforts to share lessons learned from the nuclear crisis triggered by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Thursday.

Addressing a lunch session marking the start of the G-8 leaders summit, Mr. Kan also said Japan wanted to contribute to creating an international standard on nuclear safety.

“It is our nation’s obligation to share information and lessons learned from the unprecedented experience we went through, and to achieve the highest possible safety standards for nuclear energy,” Mr. Kan told G-8 leaders after the summit host, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, asked him to make the opening remarks…..Japan Seeks Lead Role in Nuclear Safety – WSJ.com

May 28, 2011 Posted by | Japan, marketing | 3 Comments

300 km of seabed near Fukushima highly polluted with radiation

High radiation found on seabed in 300-km stretch off Fukushima  Japan Today 28th May, TOKYO —Radiation levels up to several hundred times normal have been detected on the Pacific seabed in a 300-kilometer-long area off the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, the science ministry said Friday.

The ministry said high-level radioactive materials were detected on the seabed in a north-south stretch ranging from Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, to Choshi, Chiba Prefecture, and warned the contamination could affect the safety of seafood. The science ministry said it detected iodine and cesium on the seabed at 12 spots 15- to 50-km from the coastline between May 9 and 14…..High radiation found on seabed in 300-km stretch off Fukushima ‹ Japan Today: Japan News and Discussion

May 28, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

Japanese govt makes some concessions to Fukushima parents worried about radiation

An environment ministry spokesman said Friday’s announcement does not mean it is altering the 20 millisieverts dosage standard, rather it is formally stating its aims to reduce radiation dosages. …The ministry will also distribute dosimeters to teachers at schools in the prefecture, where the unstable nuclear power plant is located,

Japan Bows to Parent Pressure Over Radiation Concerns WSJ , May 27, 2011 Education Minister Yoshiaki Takaki for the first time said on Friday the government will seek to reduce the radiation levels on school grounds in Fukushima Prefecture to one-twentieth of the current annual limit amid concern from parents over health risks. Continue reading →

May 28, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011 | Leave a comment

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