Pacific island nations express concern over Fukushima water release
Japan Times, AVARUA, COOK ISLANDS – 11 Nov 23
Leaders of Pacific island nations expressed strong concerns over the release of treated radioactive water from Japan’s wrecked Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant into the Pacific Ocean during a regional summit, according to Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown.
Brown, who currently chairs the Pacific Islands Forum, said Thursday there were “strong concerns” raised by “our forum leaders for the significance of potential threats of contamination to the health and security of the blue Pacific.”
The bloc’s 18 members have expressed differing views on the treated wastewater discharge from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, which began in late August, after extensive dialogue between the member states and Japan………………………………………………….
The leaders’ meeting began in the Cook Islands Monday, with the main talks taking place Wednesday and Thursday on Rarotonga, the country’s most populous island, and Aitutaki.
The Pacific Islands Forum comprises Australia, the Cook Islands, Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2023/11/11/japan/politics/japan-pacific-island-nations-fukushima-water-release/
China’s Misunderstood Nuclear Expansion
How U.S. Strategy Is Fueling Beijing’s Growing Arsenal
Foreign Affairs, By M. Taylor Fravel, Henrik Stålhane Hiim, and Magnus Langset Trøan, November 10, 2023
Among the many issues surrounding China’s ongoing military modernization, perhaps none has been more dramatic than its nuclear weapons program. For decades, the Chinese government was content to maintain a comparatively small nuclear force. As recently as 2020, China’s arsenal was little changed from previous decades and amounted to some 220 weapons, around five to six percent of either the U.S. or Russian stockpiles of deployed and reserve warheads.
Since then, however, China has been rapidly expanding and modernizing its arsenal. In 2020, it began constructing three silo fields to house more than 300 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). A year later, it successfully tested a hypersonic glide vehicle that traveled 21,600 miles, a test that likely demonstrated China’s ability to field weapons that can orbit the earth before striking targets, known as a “fractional orbital bombardment system.” Simultaneously, the Chinese government has accelerated its pursuit of a complete nuclear triad—encompassing land-, sea-, and air-launched nuclear weapons—including by developing new submarine- and air-launched ballistic missiles. By 2030, according to U.S. Defense Department estimates, China will probably have more than 1,000 operational nuclear warheads—a more than fourfold increase from just a decade earlier…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
writings and analysis since 2015 suggest that China’s nuclear expansion is less a shift in Chinese intentions than a response to what Beijing perceives as threatening changes in U.S. nuclear strategy, reflecting an acute security dilemma. Chinese analysts are worried that the United States has lowered its threshold for nuclear use—including allowing for limited first use in a Taiwan conflict—and that the U.S. military is acquiring new capabilities that could be used to destroy or significantly degrade China’s nuclear forces. Thus, many Chinese experts have concluded that China needs a more robust arsenal.
Given Chinese and U.S. fears about each other’s nuclear programs, increased communication may help to break the spiral. Based on Chinese fears, the United States should understand how changes in its nuclear capabilities and doctrine play a critical role in shaping China’s threat perceptions and perceived force requirements. Going forward, China will continue to respond to U.S. advances that are viewed as weakening China’s nuclear deterrent.
Similarly, Beijing should understand that the lack of transparency surrounding its rapid nuclear expansion has fueled worst-case assessments by the United States. Continued lack of transparency will lead to even greater U.S. suspicion—and feed an intensifying arms race between the two countries……………………………………………………………………………….
the 2018 review increased Chinese fears that the United States might engage in limited nuclear first use during a conventional conflict with China, most likely over Taiwan. According to Chinese arms control expert Li Bin, the document suggested that “the United States would use its nuclear weapons to respond to nonnuclear Chinese aggressions.”………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. more https://www.foreignaffairs.com/china/chinas-misunderstood-nuclear-expansion
Accident proves Japan’s toxic water plan dubious
By LI YANG 2023-11-06 https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202311/06/WS65483427a31090682a5ec88b.html
Despite the strong opposition at home and abroad, Tokyo Electric Power Company, the owner of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant which was damaged in the 2011 earthquake-generated tsunami, started the third release of the radioactive water from the plant into the sea on Nov 2.
The release will continue until Nov 20, with TEPCO planning to dump about 7,800 tons of the nuclear-contaminated water into the sea this time. The company claims the wastewater to be discharged has limited concentration of radioactive tritium. But the radioactive waste sputtering accident that happened last week raises doubts on the credibility of TEPCO’s claim.
As TEPCO itself said, five workers “accidentally” came in contact with the radioactive “fluid” while cleaning the pipelines used to “detoxify “the nuclear-contaminated water at the Fukushima plant on Oct 25, and two of them, after being “decontaminated” for treatment, will be kept under medical observation.
Although, according to the company, a doctor said the possibility of both men sustaining burns due to radiation exposure was low, the radiation levels in the bodies of the two men did not fall below the standard threshold of 4 becquerels per square centimeter despite the initial treatment at the plant.
The accident exposes the ineffectiveness of the so-called Advanced Liquid Processing System the company uses to treat the radioactive water accumulated at the plant. Also, TEPCO has not explained why and how “the hose used to drain waste liquid containing radioactive substances into a tank became detached” while the workers “were washing (the processing facilities) by pouring nitric acid into the piping”.
The Japanese government claims the ALPS is reliable, and the water obtained after being treated using the ALPS is safe enough to “drink”.So it should explain how only about 100 milliliters of the “fluid” was enough to cause such a serious accident.
It also needs to answer the public’s query that since four of the five workers “were wearing protective gear and full-face masks, which prevented ingestion of the fluid”, how could the “fluid” splash and burn the “lower body and both arms” of one of them, and why the other worker whose “entire body was found to be exposed”, was allowed to do the dangerous work without wearing any protective gear?
The accident shows Japan’s claim of the radioactive water being “safe” to be released into the sea is questionable, and the risks associated with the disposal process of the radioactive water should not be underestimated. #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclearfree #NoNukes
China calls for a long-term international monitoring mechanism for Fukushima nuclear-contaminated wastewater
Minister Huang urges Japan on nuclear-contaminated water
By JIANG XUEQING in NAGOYA, JAPAN | chinadaily.com.cn 2023-11-05 https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202311/05/WS65476d92a31090682a5ec7c3.html
Chinese Minister of Ecology and Environment Huang Runqiu urged Japan to engage in full consultations with stakeholders in handling the release of nuclear-contaminated water from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in a responsible manner.
“We also called for the prompt establishment of a long-term international monitoring mechanism with the participation of Japan, neighboring countries, and other relevant stakeholders to effectively protect the global marine environment,” Huang said at the 24th Tripartite Environment Ministers Meeting among Japan, South Korea, and China. The two-day meeting closed on Saturday in Nagoya, Japan. #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclearfree #NoNukes
300 scientists call for finding safe site to store nuclear waste
By EISUKE SASAKI/ Senior Staff Writer, October 31, 2023 https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15044716
Earth science specialists hold a news conference on Oct. 30 to express their opposition to a plan to bury spent nuclear fuel as a final storage method. (Eisuke Sasaki)
About 300 earth science specialists have released a statement calling for a fundamental review of the Japanese government’s plan for storing spent nuclear fuel.
The process for finding a final storage site in Japan has been proceeding “while keeping a lid on scientific discussions,” said Junji Akai, a professor emeritus of earth science at Niigata University, who signed the statement, at an Oct. 30 news conference.
The current plan is to bury the highly radioactive waste deep underground.
But the statement about 300 scientists signed, including a number of former chairmen of the Geological Society of Japan, said there was no place in Japan where such waste could be kept safe for the 100,000 years or so needed for the radiation to dissipate.
A law passed in 2000 regarding the final handling of nuclear waste stated that the spent nuclear fuel should be buried deep underground.
But the statement released on Oct. 30 noted that several tectonic plates converge on the Japanese archipelago, a mobile belt with active volcanoes and frequent earthquakes.
It went on to say that under the current circumstances, it would be “impossible” to choose a location that would not be affected by such tectonic activity for 100,000 years.
The statement called for abolishing the law on the final storage of nuclear waste and setting up a third-party organization to reconsider how such waste should be stored, including temporarily storing it aboveground.
Two small municipalities in Hokkaido are in the first of a three-stage process to determine their suitability as a site for the final storage of nuclear waste. #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclearfree #NoNuke
Taiwan Cabinet officials clarify that nuclear power is not “green”
BY GIORGIO LEALI, OCTOBER 31, 2023 https://en.rti.org.tw/news/view/id/2010213
A Cabinet spokesperson on Wednesday said that nuclear power does not qualify as “green energy”, despite recent comments made by Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁). Cabinet Spokesperson Lin Tze-luen (林子倫) was responding to Chen’s comments in the legislature the previous day.
During questions from legislators on Tuesday, Chen said that nuclear energy is green energy, but that the issue of nuclear waste disposal must also be taken into account. Lin says that several people including Chen himself and Economic Minister Wang Mei-hua (王美花) have all made clarifying comments. Wang in her comments said that although nuclear power generates very few emissions, that does not necessarily define it as “green”. She says that is why international environmental organizations such as RE100 do not list nuclear energy as green.
Lin says that some media reports did not faithfully report the full context of the premier’s comments, which could be misleading. He adds a nuclear-free Taiwan remains the national consensus and that the government’s position has not changed. He says the government continues to move ahead with its four goals of reducing coal, increasing gas, developing green energy, and denuclearizing. He adds that the government will also continue working toward the goal of net-zero carbon emissions by the year 2050. #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclearfree #NoNukes
Two more Japanese nuclear reactors granted 20-year extensions
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20231101_21/
Japan’s nuclear watchdog has approved extending the operation of two aging nuclear reactors in southwestern Japan for another 20 years.
The operational lifespan of Japanese reactors has been limited to 40 years in principle since the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant accident in 2011. But it can be extended by up to 20 years if the reactors pass screening by the Nuclear Regulation Authority.
At a meeting on Wednesday, the NRA granted extension approval to the No.1 and 2 reactors at the Sendai nuclear power plant in Kagoshima Prefecture, which is operated by the Kyushu Electric Power Company.
The No.1 reactor will turn 40 next July and the No.2 will reach that age in November 2025.
Discussed at the meeting were the results of special inspections of the reactors conducted by Kyushu Electric and an assessment that showed the reactors can be used for another 20 years.
The members of the meeting unanimously approved the extensions.
This decision brings the number of Japanese reactors whose operations have been extended beyond 40 years to six. The other four are the No.1 and No.2 reactors at the Takahama nuclear power plant and the No.3 reactor at the Mihama plant — all in Fukui Prefecture — as well as the Tokai No.2 plant’s reactor in Ibaraki Prefecture. #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclearfree #NoNukes
China agrees to nuclear arms-control talks with US -WSJ
Reuters, November 2, 2023
China and the United States will discuss nuclear arms control next week, the first such talks since the Obama administration, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
China’s Foreign Ministry said on Monday after a visit by Foreign Minister Wang Yi to Washington that the two countries would hold “consultations on arms control and non-proliferation” in the coming days, as well as separate talks on maritime affairs and other issues.
Those arms talks would be led on Monday by Mallory Stewart, a senior State Department official, and Sun Xiaobo, the head of the arms-control department at China’s Foreign Ministry, the Wall Street Journal report said.
The U.S. State Department and China’s embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests by Reuters for comment on the timing or format of the talks.
U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said in 2021 that the Chinese and U.S. presidents had agreed to “look to begin to carry forward discussion on strategic stability”, a reference to Washington’s concerns about Beijing’s nuclear weapons build-up.
But the White House was quick to say at the time that the discussions would not resemble formal arms reduction talks, like those the U.S. has had with Russia.
Since then, U.S. officials had expressed frustration that China showed little interest in discussing steps to reduce nuclear weapons risks.
China has more than 500 operational nuclear warheads in its arsenal and will probably have over 1,000 warheads by 2030, the Pentagon said in October. But Beijing has long argued that the U.S. already has a much larger arsenal. The arms talks would occur before a likely meeting between U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in San Francisco in November, although a senior Biden administration official said on Tuesday important details have yet to be hammered out…………………………………more https://www.reuters.com/world/china-agrees-nuclear-arms-control-talks-with-us-wsj-2023-11-01/ #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclearfree #NoNukes
3-day evacuation drill at Niigata nuclear plant called ‘useless’
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN, October 30, 2023
Residents said their safety concerns have still not been addressed following a three-day government-led drill simulating a serious accident at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture.
They said the drill, which concluded on Oct. 29, showed that there are no measures in place to ensure a smooth evacuation in heavy snow or to prevent traffic congestion caused by radiation checks.
Around 1,400 residents joined the drill, which assumed a magnitude-7.6 earthquake off the prefecture caused a loss of cooling functions at reactors of the plant, which is operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co.
This was the first government-run drill at the seven-reactor Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant since the 2011 disaster at TEPCO’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant caused by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.
At the end of last year, main evacuation routes, including in Kashiwazaki, where the plant is located, were closed for up to 52 hours due to heavy snowfall…………………………………………………………….. more https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/15042691— #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclearfree #NoNukes
Fukushima nuclear plant workers sent to hospital after being splashed with tainted water
Guardian, 27 Oct 23
The operator Tepco says the workers came in contact with the wastewater when a hose came off accidentally and have been taken to hospital as a precaution
Four workers at the Fukushima nuclear plant were splashed with water containing radioactive materials, with two of them taken to hospital as a precaution, according to the plant operator.
The incident, which took place on Wednesday, highlights the dangers Japan still faces in decommissioning the plant. The reactor was knocked out by an immense tsunami in 2011 in the world’s worst atomic disaster since Chornobyl in 1986.
Five workers were cleaning pipes at the system filtering wastewater for release into the sea when two were splashed after a hose came off accidentally, according to a spokesperson for operator Tepco.
Two others were contaminated when they were cleaning up the spill, the spokesperson added………
Tepco said that both would stay in hospital for “about two weeks” for follow-up examinations and that the company was analysing how the accident had occurred while reviewing measures to prevent a repeat of it………………………
more https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/oct/27/fukushima-nuclear-plant-workers-hospitalised-after-being-splashed-with-tainted-water #nuclear #antinuclear #NoNukes #radiation
The World’s Only Muslim Nuclear Power Warns Israel’s War in Gaza Must Stop
NewsWeek, Oct 27, 2023
Pakistan’s permanent representative to the United Nations has outlined to Newsweek his country’s position on the ongoing war between Israel and Palestinian factions led by Hamas, expressing the need for a ceasefire and warning of regional instability if an already devastating conflict deepens further.
“This is an obligation that devolves on all member states to prevent an escalation of the conflict,” Ambassador Munir Akram told Newsweek. “We would have hoped that the conflict had not taken place, but it has, and now we have to stop it, to halt the fighting and to avoid the suffering that is happening and is likely to happen if this conflict goes on.”
While the Islamic Republic he represents, one of the world’s most populous countries and the only Muslim-majority nation to possess nuclear weapons, may be thousands of miles away from the frontlines of the Gaza Strip, Akram identified a direct connection between Pakistan and the Palestinian cause. This link was made all the more tangible by parallels he drew between the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Indian-Pakistani dispute over the divided territory of Kashmir, to which Pakistanis commemorate a “Black Day” on Friday.
With local health officials in Hamas-run Gaza now counting deaths in excess of 7,000 as a result of Israeli airstrikes since an unprecedented Hamas-led October 7 assault on Israel in which authorities said 1,400 people were killed, Akram argued that “this is not something that should be acceptable to any civilized nation or people and we oppose it, therefore we hope it would stop.”
He added: “There is an additional layer of obligation on us as an Islamic country.”
“We feel that we have an obligation, an emotional commitment to Palestine and to the freedom of the Palestinian people,” Akram said. “It is a principle to which we are committed politically because of Kashmir. We are heavily invested in that principle, and we would like to see the triumph of that principle of self-determination.”
Common History
The Israeli-Palestinian and Kashmir conflicts are linked by history as well, both having been born out of the collapse of British colonial rule three-quarters of a century ago in the years immediately following World War II.
When the British Raj was dissolved in 1947, the previously united Indian subcontinent was divided into the new nations of India and Pakistan, with Pakistan also controlling modern-day Bangladesh until 1971. The partition resulted in massive bloodshed, especially between Hindus and Muslims on both sides of the new border. The two new states quickly went to war over the middle ground of Kashmir, which today is divided along what’s known as the Line of Control………………………………………………………………………………….. more https://www.newsweek.com/pakistan-warns-israel-war-gaza-must-stop-munir-akram-1838448 #nuclear #antinuclear #NoNukes #Israel #Palestine
Mechanism for toxic radioactive water release sought
“What I find problematic is that TEPCO, the Japanese government and the IAEA are not addressing the long-term environmental impacts and the accumulation in the environment resulting from individual data. In the case of long-term releases, there is a concern about accumulation in the marine environment and concentration through the ecosystem, but this aspect is not being adequately evaluated.”
By JIANG XUEQING in Tokyo 2023-10-24 https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202310/24/WS65372116a31090682a5ea51d.htmll
Experts urge long-term intl monitoring and participation of all stakeholders
Experts call for the establishment of a long-term international monitoring mechanism with substantive participation from stakeholders, as Japan and the International Atomic Energy Agency are both criticized for not addressing the long-term environmental impacts of the dumping of nuclear-contaminated water into the sea.
The IAEA is sending its team to Japan to continue its safety review of the release from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
Starting Tuesday, the IAEA will conduct a safety review of the activities carried out at the Fukushima plant to make sure these activities are consistent with the international safety standards, said Lydie Evrard, IAEA deputy director-general and head of the agency’s department of nuclear safety and security.
A report on the review is expected to be finalized by the end of 2023, she told a news conference in Tokyo on Monday.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin on Oct 11 said the collection of marine samples near Fukushima, analysis by laboratories and comparison of those samples were carried out by the IAEA Secretariat under its bilateral arrangement with Japan. Therefore, he said, it falls short of an international monitoring arrangement with the full and substantive participation of all stakeholders.
“The international community requires the immediate establishment of an international monitoring arrangement with substantive participation of all stakeholders, including Japan’s neighboring countries, that will stay effective for the long haul,” Wang said, urging the IAEA to play its due role and take the responsibility of providing rigorous supervision on Japan’s discharge.
The key issue is how to establish an international monitoring mechanism for the real-time and long-term effective management of nuclear-contaminated water being discharged, said Zhang Yulai, vice-president of the Japan Institute of Nankai University.
Major challenge
“Information disclosure is a major challenge because the Japanese government and TEPCO share common interests, making genuine monitoring difficult,” he said.
There are also technical challenges, as certain radionuclides that the Advanced Liquid Processing System cannot remove still exist, he said.
Fukushima plant operator TEPCO announced pre-discharge test results on Thursday, showing that the third batch of nuclear-contaminated water to be released during Japan’s next round of ocean discharge contains seven radionuclides, namely tritium, carbon-14, cobalt-60, strontium-90, yttrium-90, iodine-129 and cesium-137. Among them, strontium-90 and yttrium-90 were not detectable before the second round of discharge.
The measured quantity of strontium is relatively low, but given its 29-year half-life, it will persist in the environment to a certain extent. Strontium is a significant radionuclide that tends to accumulate in bones when ingested by fish or humans, said Hideyuki Ban, a renowned Japanese nuclear expert and co-director of the Tokyo-based Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center.
“What concerns me is the lack of information about the measurement times and methods. I believe that rapid measurements may lack precision,” Ban said.
“What I find problematic is that TEPCO, the Japanese government and the IAEA are not addressing the long-term environmental impacts and the accumulation in the environment resulting from individual data. In the case of long-term releases, there is a concern about accumulation in the marine environment and concentration through the ecosystem, but this aspect is not being adequately evaluated.”
Many Japanese said they do not believe the data disclosed by TEPCO and the Japanese government.
Chiyo Oda, co-director of KOREUMI, also known as the Citizens’ Conference to Condemn Further Pollution of the Ocean, said those who have experienced the nuclear disaster have developed distrust in the government and TEPCO.
The promise not to release the water without first understanding the concerns of fishermen and citizens, as stated just before the release, has been disregarded. Though they have announced monitoring results immediately after the release, the data is not trustworthy, Oda said.
“It is evident that the marine environment will be contaminated over a long period of time, and there is potential for long-term impacts on human health,” she said. #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclearfree #NoNukes
A wall of silence: atom bosses remain tight-lipped over Fukushima whistleblower claims
collaboration between the IAEA and the Japanese Government over the Fukushima radioactive water releases was imperative as the continuation of sea dumping regardless of the adverse impact to the marine environment represents a ‘make or break issue’ for the nuclear industry.
Over seven weeks have passed without an acknowledgement or reply to a letter the UK/Ireland Nuclear Free Local Authorities co-signed which was sent to the UN International Atomic Energy Authority calling for transparency over claims that the organisation collaborated with the Japanese Government to ‘manage the message’ over the ocean dumping of 1.3 million tonnes of radioactive water from the Fukushima nuclear disaster site.
On 28 June, an anonymous whistleblower posted a document, seemingly issued by the Department of Nuclear Safety at the IAEA, to the website/blogsite dunrenard[1]. If genuine, the document, titled ‘IAEA REVISION PROPOSAL FOR THE FINAL REPORT OF HANDLING ALPS TREATED WATER AT TEPCO’S FUKUSHIMA DAIICHI NUCLEAR POWER STATION’, appears to indicate that the international agency has actively sought to downplay the dangers associated with discharging millions of barrels of water which remain contaminated with highly toxic tritium.
The NFLA’s first covered this story and our disquiet at the revelations in a media release dated 3 July:
https://www.nuclearpolicy.info/news/cover-up-did-atom-bosses-collude-to-manage-message-of-japanese-plan-to-poison-pacific/
One of the recipients of the leaked document was Mr Tim Deere-Jones, a graduate in Marine Studies from Cardiff University. Tim, an independent marine pollution researcher and consultant since 1983, is highly regarded by the many international organisations who have engaged him in their campaigns against the damage caused to our oceans and inland waterways by radioactive and other contaminants.
Tim was incensed that the Japanese Government was quick to condemn the claim that Japan had pressurised the IAEA to remove ‘negative information’ about the environmental impact that would result from the radioactive waste discharges from the final report, but also noted that on the claims themselves the IAEA made no comment.
Keen to seek clarification and action on the veracity of the whistleblower’s claims, Tim went right to the top of the IAEA and penned a letter to the head of the management office for the Deputy Director General. Here he explains why:
“To date there has been no detectable independent action to investigate and test the veracity of the whistleblower’s claims against the claim of non-interference made by the Government of Japan.
“I fear that if this is scenario is allowed to continue the whistleblower’s action and disclosure will be historically characterised by the Government of Japan statement, sink into obscurity and be forgotten and the whistleblower’s heroic action will have been wasted, while he/she is still under threat of investigation, identification, and penalty.
“My disclosure request to the IAEA is intended to elicit a direct response from the agency to the claims made by the whistleblower as to date my online media searches have yet to reveal any related statement made by the organisation.
“This creates the impression that the Government of Japan has been acting as the IAEAs mouthpiece in respect of the whistleblower disclosure and that the IAEA would prefer NOT to be associated in anyway with the issue, to the extent that it has not made any public statement”.
Tim’s request for disclosure, submitted by registered post to the IAEA’s Vienna office and by email to the official account on 1 September, was backed by five British anti-nuclear groups and individuals from Europe and the Pacific Ocean, representing commercial fishers, other marine stakeholders, and coastal zone and Pacific Island communities.
Although the registered letter was tracked as received at the Vienna office on 9 September, Tim has yet to receive any response from the agency, and on 16 October sent a reminder:
“I have concluded that the absence of a receipt or response is a clear indication of the IAEA’s resistance to any discussion of the issues raised.
“My reading critique of the IAEAs final report to TEPCO re the issue of the ALPs treated water release certainly supports the drift of the whistleblower statement”.
Amongst the co-signatories to the letter, which is reproduced at the end of this press release, were the NFLAs, which have objected in letters to Japanese Ministers, senior officials at TEPCO (the nuclear operator), and the United Nations to the discharge of radioactive water from Fukushima, and signed a partnership agreement with its counterparts, Mayors for a Nuclear Power Free Japan, to collaborate in opposing the plan.
Though disappointed at the continued wall of silence, Chair Councillor Lawrence O’Neill is unsurprised that the IAEA remains tight-lipped:
“Sadly, the duties of disclosure required of public bodies in the UK through the Freedom of Information Act do not apply to an international agency based in Vienna and the IAEA’s statutes appear to contain no provisions for transparency or external accountability, despite the agency being funded by the member states, and so the taxpayers, of the United Nations.
“Although the organization claims to want to become more open, the lack of a response, or even an acknowledgement, to our legitimate request for information belies the fact that, on controversial issues, a culture of secrecy still prevails.”
Tim believes that collaboration between the IAEA and the Japanese Government over the Fukushima radioactive water releases was imperative as the continuation of sea dumping regardless of the adverse impact to the marine environment represents a ‘make or break issue’ for the nuclear industry. He has produced a short paper explaining his reasoning, which also appears at the end of this media release.
For further information about this media release please contact NFLA Secretary Richard Outram by email to richard.outram@manchester.gov.uk or telephone 07583097793
1. https://dunrenard.wordpress.com/2023/06/28/will-this-whistleblower-be-heard-by-anyone/
Notes to Editors:
The reminder sent to Ms Margaret Doane, Head, Department of Management Office of the Deputy Director General, IAEA, 16 October 2023
#nuclear #antinuclear #nuclearfree #NoNukes
Decontaminating Fukushima: have the billions spent been worth it?
The Conversation, Jim Smith, Professor of Environmental Science, University of Portsmouth, October 24, 2023
The Chernobyl and (to a lesser extent) Fukushima nuclear accidents contaminated large areas of land with low-level radioactivity. After both accidents, huge efforts were taken to decontaminate the affected areas.
But a recent study at Fukushima raises doubts about whether these decontamination efforts were worthwhile. Less than one-third of the population has returned to the evacuated zones and extensive areas of forest in the region remain contaminated.
Following the accident at Fukushima Daiichi in 2011, approximately 1,100 square kilometres were evacuated, resulting in the relocation of more than 100,000 people from their homes. A contaminated area about eight times larger remained inhabited, albeit subject to continuous radiation monitoring.
The dominant source of radiation exposure for people stemmed from gamma rays emitted by contaminated soils, pavements, roads and buildings. The objective of the decontamination operation was to ensure that the general public received an annual dose from Fukushima’s radioactivity of less than 1,000 microsieverts (µSv) above the natural background level. The average natural radiation dose in Japan stands at 2,200 µSv per year.
Radiocaesium, which is the most important long-lived radioactive element emitted by the accident in terms of radiation dose, adheres to soil particles very strongly. Consequently, the decontamination of agricultural land primarily involved removing the top 5cm of soil. In urban areas, decontamination efforts entailed the removal of topsoil from sports fields, as well as sandblasting or pressure washing hard surfaces, and pressure washing drains and gutters.
These efforts reduced doses by about 60% in residential areas and farmland, allowing people to return to their homes in a large part of the evacuated area. This is a far cry from Chernobyl, where extensive decontamination initiatives were ultimately abandoned, leaving huge evacuated areas that remain empty to this day. But was undertaking decontamination in Fukushima worthwhile?
Costs and benefits
Decontaminating the land in Fukushima has cost tens of billions of dollars. The process has, unfortunately, also caused substantial radiation exposure for the workers involved, and has generated huge amounts of radioactive soil waste. But the question of whether to decontaminate land is complex and only partially related to scientific evidence.
On the one hand, decontamination provides reassurance that radiation is being “cleaned up” and that doses are being reduced. But it can also give the impression that low-level radiation is more dangerous than it actually is.
Dose rates were not dangerously high in many areas of Fukushima that were subject to decontamination. In fact, doses were relatively low in the first year following the accident (less than 12,000 µSv), and these levels decreased significantly in subsequent years.
These levels fall within the natural range people are exposed to from radioactivity in rocks, soils, building materials and cosmic radiation worldwide (typically between 1,000 µSv and 10,000 µSv per year, but sometimes higher).
On balance, I think the reassurance that contamination was being cleaned up was valuable in many areas where people remained living. Decontamination also allowed agricultural land to be returned to productive use more quickly. However, the process of removing topsoil had the side effect of damaging soil fertility.
Accidental rewilding
In the evacuated zone where dose rates were around ten times higher, it’s less clear that decontamination was beneficial. Only 30% of people have returned to their homes in the decontaminated part of this area and much of the land in the most contaminated so-called “difficult to return zone” remains abandoned.
A better option may have been to declare most of this zone a nature reserve and allow managed rewilding of the area. Rewilding is happening to a large extent anyway, as it has at Chernobyl. It would also have avoided decontamination workers being exposed to radiation and allowed more financial support to help people relocate.
But this is a complex decision that needs to consider the views of many stakeholders, not least the evacuated people themselves.
Fukushima’s contaminated forests
The land in and around the region’s towns and villages has generally been decontaminated effectively. However, much of the Fukushima Prefecture (71%) is covered by forest. Most of this forest remains contaminated.
The persistence of radiocaesium in ecosystems, particularly in forests, has been known for many decades. Globally, radiocaesium levels in wild foodstuffs such as mushrooms, edible plants, game animals and freshwater fish tend to be higher than those found in agricultural systems.
Wild boar in certain regions of Germany, for instance, still exhibit radicaesium levels exceeding consumption limits as a consequence of both Chernobyl and historical nuclear weapons testing. Restrictions on the consumption of forest products have lasted for decades following the Chernobyl incident. And they are expected to persist in many forested areas of Fukushima too.
Radiocaesium lingers in forests due to the prevalence of organic soils and the absence of fertiliser application. Low nutrient levels facilitate the absorption of radiocaesium by plants. This is mainly attributed to radiocaesium’s chemical similarity to potassium, a crucial plant nutrient.
Forests do pose a wildfire risk. There have been many forest fires in the vicinity of Chernobyl since the accident. But radiation doses from smoke inhalation are extremely low, even for firefighters, and the fires have not significantly redistributed radioactivity.
There are no easy answers regarding clean up after a nuclear accident. Japan has made huge and often successful efforts to reduce radiation doses and reassure people living in or returning to the affected areas. But low-level radiation remains everywhere, particularly in forests……….. https://theconversation.com/decontaminating-fukushima-have-the-billions-spent-been-worth-it-215836 #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclearfree #NoNukes.
China-Russia in a nuclear sub counter to AUKUS
China’s Type 096 nuclear submarine draws on Russian tech and expertise and once operational will bring US mainland into closer missile range
Asia Times, By GABRIEL HONRADA, OCTOBER 23, 2023
China is making new quiet nuclear submarines with Russia’s expert assistance, an answer to the AUKUS alliance and the latest sign of the two powers’ converging strategic interests against the United States and its Pacific allies
The project could make it harder for the US and its allies to track China’s submarines in crucial theaters including the South China Sea and represents a direct challenge to US undersea dominance in the Pacific.
This month, Reuters reported that China is producing a new generation of nuclear-armed submarines, citing evidence that its Type 096 nuclear ballistic missile (SSBN) submarine will be operational before the end of the decade. The report said that breakthroughs in the submarine’s quietness have been aided partly by Russian technology……………………………………..more https://asiatimes.com/2023/10/china-russia-in-a-nuclear-sub-counter-to-aukus/ #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclearfree #NoNukes
1 This Month
of the week– Nuclear Reactor Information Task Force
14 May – online event From Bombs to Data Centres: the Face of Nuclear Colonialism
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
-
Archives
- May 2026 (102)
- April 2026 (356)
- March 2026 (251)
- February 2026 (268)
- January 2026 (308)
- December 2025 (358)
- November 2025 (359)
- October 2025 (376)
- September 2025 (257)
- August 2025 (319)
- July 2025 (230)
- June 2025 (348)
-
Categories
- 1
- 1 NUCLEAR ISSUES
- business and costs
- climate change
- culture and arts
- ENERGY
- environment
- health
- history
- indigenous issues
- Legal
- marketing of nuclear
- media
- opposition to nuclear
- PERSONAL STORIES
- politics
- politics international
- Religion and ethics
- safety
- secrets,lies and civil liberties
- spinbuster
- technology
- Uranium
- wastes
- weapons and war
- Women
- 2 WORLD
- ACTION
- AFRICA
- Atrocities
- AUSTRALIA
- Christina's notes
- Christina's themes
- culture and arts
- Events
- Fuk 2022
- Fuk 2023
- Fukushima 2017
- Fukushima 2018
- fukushima 2019
- Fukushima 2020
- Fukushima 2021
- general
- global warming
- Humour (God we need it)
- Nuclear
- RARE EARTHS
- Reference
- resources – print
- Resources -audiovicual
- Weekly Newsletter
- World
- World Nuclear
- YouTube
-
RSS
Entries RSS
Comments RSS
nuclear-news 