Did North Korea fake its footage of submarine-launched ballistic missile?
Claims North Korea faked test footage to hide ‘catastrophic failure’ of submarine-launched ballistic missile, ABC News 14 Jan 15 Experts analysing footage released by North Korea last week showing the firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile say the images appear to be faked. In defiance of a United Nations ban, North Korea said it tested ballistic missile technology that would allow it to launch a nuclear warhead from a submarine.
North Korea released the submarine launch footage after it separately conducted a fourth nuclear weapons test on January 6.
Two days later, North Korean state television aired footage of the submarine test which it said took place in December.
Unlike a previous submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) test in May, it was not announced at the time.
At the weekend, South Korea’s military said North Korea appeared to have modified the video and edited it with Scud missile footage from 2014.
However, an official said the ejection technology might have improved since that test.
Now, analysis by the California-based James Martin Centre for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) shows two frames of the state media video where flames engulf the missile and small parts of its body break away.
“The rocket ejected, began to light, and then failed catastrophically,” CNS senior research associate Melissa Hanham said.
“North Korea used heavy video editing to cover over this fact.”
Ms Hanham said North Korea state media used different camera angles and editing to make it appear the launch was several continuous launches, when in fact it was a single event.
Launch likely from barge, not submarine: expert
She said the CNS study showed editors used rudimentary techniques to crop and flip old video footage of an earlier SLBM test and Scud missile launch.
John Schilling, an aerospace engineer who is a specialist in satellite and launch vehicle propulsion systems, said it appeared from the video that the launch was conducted from a submerged barge rather than a submarine…….
Crispin Rovere, an Australia-based nuclear policy and arms control specialist, said the 5.1-magnitude tremor detected at the North’s Punggye-ri nuclear test site was too small to support Pyongyang’s claim.
“The seismic data that’s been received indicates that the explosion is probably significantly below what one would expect from an H-bomb test,” Mr Rovere said.
“So, initially, it seems to be that they’ve successfully conducted a nuclear test but unsuccessfully completed the second-stage hydrogen explosion.”
This test came just two days before leader Kim Jong-un’s birthday. Analysts said the leader had been looking for a major achievement to highlight at a rare ruling party congress scheduled for May, the first gathering of its kind for 35 years. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-13/claims-north-korea-faked-missile-test-footage/7085094
Nuclear weapons material: North Korea’s reactor not fully operational
North Korea nuclear reactor not fully operational: US think tank https://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/30571677/north-korea-nuclear-reactor-not-fully-operational-us-think-tank/ January 14, 2016 Seoul (AFP) – Recent satellite images suggest the nuclear reactor seen as North Korea’s main source of weapons-grade plutonium is still not operating at full capacity, a US think tank said on Thursday.
North Korea mothballed the Yongbyon reactor in 2007 under an aid-for-disarmament accord, but began renovating it after its third nuclear test in 2013.
When fully operational, the reactor is capable of producing around six kilos (13 pounds) of plutonium a year — enough for one nuclear bomb, experts say.
Analysing satellite imagery from late 2014 to the end of 2015, the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) concluded the reactor has been operating intermittently or at low power throughout the period.
Using tell-tale operational markers, including steam emissions and hot water discharges, the ISIS experts discerned a pattern of limited operations for a few weeks, followed by an apparent shutdown.
“The reasons for this type of operation are unknown,” the institute said.
Its findings contradict a North Korean statement in September last year that all facilities at the Yongbyon nuclear complex were working normally.
The ISIS experts did detect signs that a gas centrifuge plant for enriching uranium was operational, given snow melt on the roofs of the plant’s main buildings.
Activity at Yongbyon is closely monitored for any sign of reprocessing activity.
At some point North Korea is expected to shut down the reactor, discharge the spent fuel, and chemically process it in a nearby radiochemical laboratory to extract weapons-grade plutonium.
North Korea has carried out four nuclear tests since 2006, the most recent being last week when it announced it had detonated its first hydrogen bomb.
Experts have disputed the H-bomb claim, saying the yield from the test was far too low for a full-fledged thermonuclear device.
Impact of Radiation on Wildlife of Fukushima
Biologist Timothy Mousseau’s Lecture at Fukushima on Jan 11, 2016
” Impact of Radiation on Wildlife of Fukushima”
中継の視聴をのがしてしまったので、のちほど視聴してみます。
生物学の視点から。
Highest alert level for US military in South Korea
North Korea: US forces in South put on highest level of alert; allies discuss ‘strategic assets’ , ABC News, 11 Jan 16
Key points:
- Media reports say a US aircraft carrier, B-2 bombers, submarines and F-22 fighters being considered for deployment to South
- Inter-Korean Kaesong industrial park restrictions to increase on Tuesday
- South Korea and Japan used a military hotline for the first time after North’s test
- North’s state media says Kim Jong-un congratulated nuclear scientists
The US and its ally South Korea are in talks to send further strategic assets to the Korean peninsula, a day after a US B-52 bomber flew over the South in response to the test…..
Under the US-South Korea military alliance, there are nearly 30,000 US troops permanently stationed in South Korea, which is also protected by the US “nuclear umbrella”. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-11/us-troops-in-south-korea-on-high-alert-after-north-nuclear-test/7081296
China nuclear reactors – possible partnership with bankrupt AREVA
Radiation fears in Hong Kong from China’s unproven and possibly faulty nuclear reactors nearby, Post Magazine, Stuart Heaver, 10 Jan 16 “……. the only customer for the American Westinghouse AP1000 reactor is China, which is currently constructing four, in Zhejiang and Shandong provinces. The third-generation AP1000 is also untested in the real world, and the reactors being built in China are years behind schedule, too.
When, in November, Areva announced a possible minority stake sale to another major player, China National Nuclear Corp, and a partnership covering all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle, some commentators saw it as a bailout by the Chinese. Schneider finds it astounding that anyone would seek a partnership with what he calls a “bankrupt company”.
“Everybody is scared to death about losing billions of euros if these plants don’t open,” says Schneider, adding that all eyes will be on tests in France scheduled for this year and the ASN will be under enormous pressure.
“You don’t need to be an expert to imagine the huge commercial pressure in play,” says Schneider. “But what does it mean when an almost bankrupt company is operating a nuclear facility?”…..http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1898583/hong-kong-fallout-chinas-reckless-nuclear-ambitions-feared
Nuclear reactors are most dangerous when very new or very old: a concern regarding China
Radiation fears in Hong Kong from China’s unproven and possibly faulty nuclear reactors nearby, Post Magazine, Stuart Heaver, 10 Jan 16 “……Age is a concern in China because nuclear plants are most dangerous at the beginning as well as at the end of their life cycles. The 1979 Three Mile Island accident in the US occurred in a reactor that had started operation only three months earlier, and the accident at Chernobyl occurred after only two years of operation. A serious loss of coolant occurred at the French Civaux-1 reactor in 1998, less than five months after start-up.
With regard to external threats, one of the Guangdong plants on the drawing board is proposed for Huizhou, which, it is envisioned, will have two AP1000 reactors up and running by 2025. Earthquaketrack.com reports that no less than 16 earthquakes have shaken Huizhou in the past 30 years, the most recent, on August 31, 2012, having a magnitude of 4.4.
Nature explains that the “culture of safety” is an intangible value but extends beyond legislation and regulation to an innate appreciation of risk. Recent industrial accidents, such as the explosion at the port of Tianjin last August and the mudslide at a construction-waste site in Shenzhen last month, suggest such a culture isn’t particularly strong in China.
“We are very worried about Taishan and the design flaws in the reactor vessel and we would like to know what CGN are doing,” says Frances Yeung Hoi-shan, energy group leader for Greenpeace Asia. “We simply don’t know. Investors were informed that the plant would not open until 2017 but there was little detail.”
It comes as no surprise that Greenpeace Asia has consistently rejected nuclear power as part of Hong Kong’s energy mix – the parent group was initially set up to protest nuclear weapons testing, after all – but it has a separate concern about the proliferation of nuclear plants in Guangdong and how transparent the safety processes will be. In April, the environmental group wrote to the Hong Kong government requesting information about Taishan 1&2 and Yeeng was not impressed with the reply, which only reaffirmed that any major incidents would be reported as an extension of the protocol set up for Daya Bay and that “tests” were being carried out…….http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1898583/hong-kong-fallout-chinas-reckless-nuclear-ambitions-feared
Japanese Govt. To Reuse Fukushima Contaminated Soil
Japanese Govt. To Reuse Fukushima Contaminated Soil, Simply Info, December 22nd, 2015 |
The Environment Ministry has announced they plan to “reuse” contaminated soil in public construction projects. Last week they announced that some contaminated materials and soil below 8000 bq/kg of contamination would be released from government oversight.……..http://www.fukuleaks.org/web/?p=15244
Virtual reality to be used to help decommission Fukushima
Virtual reality to be used to help decommission Fukushima plant http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201601080058 By TAKUYA ISAYAMA/ Staff Writer, 8 Jan 16 NARAHA, Fukushima Prefecture–A virtual reality system here that will assist in the decommissioning of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant is preparing for full-scale operations this spring.
Located at the Naraha Remote Technology Development Center, the system features a 3.6-meter-high display that simulates 3-D images of the interiors of the reactor buildings at the Fukushima plant.
The research and training center was developed by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency as part of efforts for the lengthy decommissioning process, which is expected to take 30 to 40 years.
By using dedicated virtual reality goggles, researchers can view simulated 3-D images of the interiors of reactor buildings that are currently inaccessible to humans because of dangerous levels of radiation. The display shows estimated dose of radiation levels in millisieverts during planned work at the site in the upper part of the image.
The center also features a model of a reactor containment vessel to be used for training in decommissioning methods.
Hong Kong: lack of confidence in China’s nuclear safety system
“In Daya Bay, we adopted French technology, but we now have multiple technologies and much of it is unproven,” says Lai, echoing the official findings reported to China’s State Council in 2012 as part of a nuclear safety review in the wake of Japan’s Fukushima disaster: “China has multiple types of nuclear reactors, multiple technologies and multiple standards of safety”.
Radiation fears in Hong Kong from China’s unproven and possibly faulty nuclear reactors nearby, Post Magazine, Stuart Heaver, 10 Jan 16 Unproven and possibly faulty nuclear reactors are being built on Hong Kong’s doorstep and throughout China, a country not known for its transparency or industrial safety, writes Stuart Heaver
Scientists and conservationists fear the ever-increasing commercial and environmental pressure to expand the nuclear power sector means not enough attention is being paid to safety. Within a couple of decades, Hong Kong could be in close proximity to as many as 39 reactors, spread across Guangdong province. Two of them are nearing completion just 140km west of Hong Kong, in Taishan, in what has been labelled by green groups as the “most dangerous nuclear power plant in the world”.
“China is developing its nuclear capability too fast; they just don’t have enough trained staff or adequate independent safety infrastructure,” says civil engineer Albert Lai Kwong-tak, convenor of Hong Kong think tank the Professional Commons and a long-standing opponent of nuclear energy. Yet, despite the reservations of campaigners, China is not only the world’s biggest market for nuclear technology but, according to the World Nuclear Association (WNA), it is set to “go global”.
“The only country that is building plants to a significant degree is China,” says nuclear industry analyst Mycle Schneider……..
there are still no proven safe means of disposing of radioactive waste and, despite pledges to build a dedicated facility, all of Daya Bay’s spent fuel rods are still in a temporary facility about 5km from the main plant. Continue reading
Bangladesh: calls to stop Russia’s nuclear project
Prominent Bangladeshis ask Russia not to build nuclear power plant, Bellona, January 11, 2016 by Andrei Ozharovsky, translated by Charles Digges ROOPUR, Bangladesh – Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom and the government of Bangladesh have signed a deal to invest $12.65 billion in a project to build two 1200 MWe nuclear power units at Rooppur.
ROOPPUR, Bangladesh – Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom and the government of Bangladesh have signed a deal to invest $12.65 billion in a project to build two 1200 MWe nuclear power units at Rooppur…….
Bangladesh, with its population of 150 million people, is one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia, and is often rocked by political turbulence, terrorism and attacks on foreigners.
But in keeping with Rosatom’s practice of padding its foreign order book, the Bangladesh project looks like another in a long list of reactor export deals relying on huge credits financed by Russian taxpayers to countries that have scant chanced of repaying them.
Russia has already earmarked $500 million in credit to Bangladesh, and the start of construction will still require a few more loans from the Russian budget. That may be a hard sell, given Atomenergoprom, Rosatom’s foreign reactor building wing, last year suffered an embarrassing credit rating downgrade to a “BBB –.”
And where the deal earlier envisioned building Russia’s well-test work-horse VVER-1000 reactor, newer documents stipulate Bangladesh will receive the VVER-1200, which still has not been used for industrial-scale energy production ever.
Local’s who stand against the plan have also told Bellona that Bangladesh can fair fine on cheaper and readily available renewables and other climate friendly solutions it is now obligated to pursue as one of the 195 signatories of the Paris accord.
The plan for the Bangladesh has elicited criticism from experts in the local population, and Bellona has interviewed Bangladeshis who are against the import of Russian nuclear reactors.
One of these is Nusrat Islam Khan, a journalist from the city of Pabna in Bangladesh’s central district, which is where the plant would, in fact, be located. Her chief concern is that the plant’s construction was a political, not a popular decision…….
Another prominent Bangladeshi who spoke with Bellona was Arup Rahee, of the Center for Bangladeshi Studies…… http://bellona.org/news/nuclear-issues/2016-01-prominent-bangladeshis-ask-russia-not-to-build-nuclear-power-plant
Young Japanese activist takes up the torch for nuclear disarmament
Japanese student activist to keep up lifelong fight against nuclear arms, Japan Times, BY MIYA TANAKA
KYODO JAN 11, 2016 YOKOHAMA – For aging atomic bomb survivors, it is a matter of grave concern whether their long-running campaign to see the abolition of nuclear weapons will be continued by the next generation, and just as important to them as passing on their memories of the 1945 bombings.
They may have a ray of hope in a 23-year-old descendant of an atomic bomb survivor who is working for a better future through a range of activities, most recently as a member of the student group that spearheaded last year’s protests against the security laws.
Mitsuhiro Hayashida is one of the founding members of SEALDs (Students Emergency Action for Liberal Democracy-s), which was launched in May, and has also been deeply committed since his teenage days to the effort to ban nuclear weapons.
“What drives me in my current actions are the words of the hibakusha I have heard all my life,” the senior student at Meiji Gakuin University in Tokyo told the audience at an event in October to oppose the security laws and nuclear arms.
Born in Nagasaki, Hayashida has been immersed in local peace education since his childhood and grew up listening to the accounts of people who survived the city’s bombing, including his grandfather, who entered the city shortly after the blast and handled dead bodies…….
Realizing that civilian use of nuclear power can expose people to radiation just like atomic bombs, Hayashida was drawn to protests in front of the prime minister’s office in 2012. These demonstrations also drew the other youths who would go on to form SEALDs, such as the group’s leading figure, Aki Okuda, who was also attending Meiji Gakuin University.
While Hayashida’s current focus is on repealing the security laws that passed the Diet in September, expanding the role of the Self-Defense Forces overseas, he believes the activities of SEALDs are also connected to his mission to abolish nuclear weapons.
“I think debating national security issues will eventually lead to (the question of whether we need) atomic bombs, so in my mind these two issues are linked,” he said……..http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/01/11/national/japanese-student-activist-keep-lifelong-fight-nuclear-arms/#.VpN_ybZ97Gj
Food Contamination: When Political Interests Take Precedence Over People Interests
In recent years the Japanese Government has been heavily lobbying other nations to lift the radiation controls and security measures which those nations have been taken on the Fukushima and nearby prefectures food products imports since the March 2011 Fukushima disaster. Disaster which is still ongoing up to the present day, with its contamination omnipresent all over Eastern Japan.
There are two reasons behind such intense forceful lobbying. The first one of course is economic, to maintain the income generated by those exports. The second one is plainly political, to indirectly soothe the fears of the Japanese people themselves about the radiation contaminated food.
It seems that this lobbying is now making headways, as the European Commission finally decided to relax restrictions on some food imports from Fukushima. Such decision prioritizes political and economic considerations over the health of the European people, and dismisses as if they were non-existing all the available gathered scientific data about the devastating health effects of the Chernobyl radiation contaminated food on the Ukrainian and Belarussian populations during the past 30 years.
From the Japan Times:
EU due to start easing restrictions on food imports from Fukushima
The European Union will start easing restrictions Saturday imposed on Japanese food imports over the Fukushima nuclear disaster, including vegetables and beef produced in the prefecture, the farm ministry said.
Tsuyoshi Takagi, Cabinet minister in charge of rebuilding from the March 2011 quake, tsunami and nuclear crisis, on Friday welcomed the bloc’s decision. At present, all food items from Fukushima except alcoholic beverages must be shipped with radiation inspection certificates.
That requirement will be removed for vegetables, fruit excluding persimmons, livestock products, tea and soba, because the radiation levels of these items never exceeded permissible levels in 2013 and 2014, according to the farm ministry.
Other food from the prefecture such as rice, mushrooms, soybeans and some fishery products — excluding scallops, seaweed and live fish — will remain subject to the requirement.
The allowable limits are set at 100 becquerels per kilogram for vegetables and fruit, 50 Bq/kg for milk beverages and infant food, and 10 Bq/kg for drinking water, in accordance to Japanese standards.
The EU move follows the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry’s announcement in November that the bloc would ease the restrictions after gaining approval from the European Commission.
The decision also comes as the European Union and Japan are in the midst of negotiations for a free trade agreement. In the talks, Tokyo is seeking the elimination of duties on Japanese vehicles, while Brussels is looking to expand exports through the reduction of tariffs on pork, cheese, wine and other agricultural products.
“We will make persistent efforts so (restrictions) on all items (from Fukushima) will be eliminated,” Takagi said at a press conference Friday.
The minister added that he will continue to work with other countries to lift similar restrictions imposed after the triple meltdown at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant raised concerns over the safety of food produced in Japan.
The European Union will also remove restrictions on all food imports from Aomori and Saitama prefectures.
Aside from Fukushima, restrictions will remain in place for some items produced in 12 prefectures in northeastern, eastern and central Japan.
At least 14 countries, including Australia and Thailand, have abolished restrictions on Japanese food imports, while dozens of countries like South Korea maintain special rules.
This European decision can now be used by the Japanese Government as a leverage to immediately try to force its Asian neighbors to also lift their restrictive measures.
From the Free Malaysia Today:
Japan presses Singapore to ease restrictions on Fukushima imports
TOKYO: Japan pressed Singapore to ease its ban on Fukushima food imports, following the European Union’s move to relax restrictions on imports from the area, according to media reports on Sunday.
Japanese agriculture minister Hiroshi Moriyama said the Asian financial hub would take “proactive” steps to meet Tokyo’s request, after holding talks with Singapore’s minister for national development, reported Jiji Press.
On Saturday the EU began easing restrictions on Japanese food imports imposed after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.
Under the previous rule, the EU required all food products, excluding alcohol, from Fukushima prefecture to come with radiation inspection certification.
The EU continues to restrict the importation of items such as rice, mushrooms and some fishery products, however.
Singapore has banned imports of certain Fukushima products since 2011.
“I explained the EU’s step to ease” its restriction, Moriyama told Japanese journalists in Singapore.
“I asked for easing of the restriction based on scientific evidence,” Moriyama said, according to Jiji.
During the talks, Wong said Singapore “would take proactive steps by studying cases such as the EU’s latest step,” Moriyama told reporters.
Fukushima was a key agricultural area before the 2011 disaster, when a huge tsunami swamped reactors and sparked meltdowns, sending out plumes of radioactive material.
Thousands of people were evacuated and huge tracts of land were rendered unfarmable. The accident has left the Fukushima brand contaminated both domestically and internationally.
Tokyo has been encouraging countries across the globe to ease trade restriction on Japanese food products established after the Fukushima crisis.
At least 14 countries such as Australia and Thailand have abolished their restrictions on Japanese food imports, while dozens of nations continue to maintain select regulations, according to Kyodo News.
Today’s Fukushima Nuclear Evacuees Real Situation
For your information, as Abe’s government has tightened its grip on most of Japanese the media, the Fukushima nuclear evacuees situation is presented quite differently in the various Japanese media.
Abe’s regime has more or less gagged Asahi, has put more control on Japan Times, while Yomiuri is the Japanese equivalent of the Soviet era Pravda. The only major media who has managed somehow to keep some degree of independance and impartiality is the Mainichi.
As you may see the Japan Times article while having an added positive spin, leaves out many things untold:
Fukushima nuclear evacuees fall below 100,000. As the fifth anniversary of the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis approaches, the number of residents of the northeastern prefecture who are still living as evacuees has fallen below 100,000, a survey by the prefectural government revealed Friday.
According to the survey, 56,463 evacuees were staying within Fukushima Prefecture as of the end of December, while 43,497 were outside the prefecture as of Dec. 10. The whereabouts of 31 were unknown.
The total came to 99,991 in the December survey, down from 121,585 last January.
The total peaked at 164,865 in May 2011, two months after Japan’s worst nuclear accident occurred at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s tsunami-crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power station.
The survey covered those staying in temporary housing facilities or taking shelter at relatives’ houses and other places. It excluded those who have bought houses in the areas they fled to or settled in public housing for disaster victims.
“Many people have started new lives where they were evacuated to, while others have returned to their homes,” a prefectural official said.
Source: Japan Times http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/01/09/national/fukushima-nuclear-evacuees-fall-100000/#.VpDnE1LzN_l
Whereas the Mainichi’s article has a much better in depth look at the evolving problems for evacuees.
Fukushima evacuees are Denied housing, and pushed back to the Contaminated zone
Nuclear evacuees surveyed about living in public housing later became non-eligible
Fukushima Prefecture included more people in surveys for 2013 estimates on demand for new public housing after the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant meltdowns than it ended up allowing into the housing, and the estimates based on those surveys were never publically released, it has been learned.
The estimates were reported in a document obtained by the Mainichi Shimbun. This document was created in May 2013 by a Tokyo consulting company paid around 30 million yen by the Fukushima Prefectural Government for the work. The estimates were based on fiscal 2012 surveys by the Reconstruction Agency and the Fukushima Prefectural Government of evacuees from 11 municipalities near the crippled plant.
The estimates were made based on three types of evacuees seeking a place in the housing: people wanting to live there until evacuation orders for their home municipalities were lifted; people wanting to live there after evacuation orders for their home municipalities were lifted but until a livable environment had been established; and people wanting to live in the housing permanently.
The estimated numbers of residences required for the three types of evacuees were between 3,136 and 5,663 for the first group; between 2,743 and 4,172 for the second group; and between 3,366 and 4,837 for the third group. Only the first category, however, matches up with the standards for “long-term evacuees” — the only type of evacuee allowed to apply for the residences. Additionally, two of the 11 municipalities covered by the estimates, the city of Tamura and the town of Naraha, had their evacuation orders lifted in April 2014 and September 2015, respectively, making their residents ineligible for the housing.
The units were first proposed during the Democratic Party of Japan administration, and in September 2012 the Fukushima Prefectural Government announced preparations to build the first 500 residences. At this point, the project was being funded from reconstruction funds, and which evacuees would be eligible for a place had not yet been decided. At the end of that year, however, the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito took over the government, and at a January 2013 meeting on disaster recovery, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ordered the creation of a plan to allow evacuees to return home quickly, and to secure homes for long-term evacuees. The Act on Special Measures for the Reconstruction and Revitalization of Fukushima was revised in April 2013 to allow special government funding for the new housing, and to restrict eligibility to long-term evacuees.
The unreleased documents obtained by the Mainichi state explicitly that “under the current system to restrict entry into publically-managed housing to long-term evacuees,” others hoping to keep living in the units after their evacuation orders have been lifted “may not be included.”
A representative for the Fukushima Prefectural Government said, “It’s not good to say that the national government ‘toyed with us’ by its policy shift, but the survey on evacuees’ wishes and the establishment of the new fund (with its eligibility restrictions) happened in parallel.” The official added that prefectural staff had to start applying the restrictions “in a hurry” to keep in line with national government policy.
The Fukushima Prefectural Government has announced 4,890 planned public housing units for nuclear disaster evacuees, but even when combined with around 2,800 such residences for tsunami survivors, the number of residences covers only 17 percent of the around 43,700 Fukushima households that remained without a permanent home as of the end of last year.
Source: Mainichi http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20151205/p2a/00m/0na/013000c
While the Yomiuri Shimbun is currently promoting the government plan to use the evacuation zone as a nuclear waste cite as part of “reconstruction”. There is pressure on evacuated communities to accept waste storage and also for communities outside Fukushima to allow radioactive waste to be stored in their communities.
While the government has claimed it would treat all evacuees fairly, the actions behind the scenes show they never intended to do so.
The government collected surveys from evacuees to estimate how many people needed public housing in order to build enough units. Mainichi’s investigation and leaked documents show the government only allowed those from “difficult to return” areas to apply for the public housing. They built the number of units based on this decision. Now anyone from an area that has been reopened or that was a voluntary evacuees has been shut out of the housing availability.
This was the doing of the LDP and Shinzo Abe. When they took power in 2013 they rewrote the current laws dealing with the disaster to bar anyone but long term evacuees from accessing this housing.
“The unreleased documents obtained by the Mainichi state explicitly that “under the current system to restrict entry into publically-managed housing to long-term evacuees,” others hoping to keep living in the units after their evacuation orders have been lifted “may not be included.”
The prefectural government feels duped and there is now a drastic housing shortage five years after the disaster. 2016 also includes looming deadlines for people’s evacuee aid to run out.
Living restrictions for nearly 55,000 mandated evacuees will be lifted by March, 2017. This will affect nearly 75% of those currently subject to the Tokyo evacuation order of 2011. The plan also calls for continuing the ~$1,000 per month (per person) mental anguish stipend until March 2017, regardless of whether or not restrictions are lifted and/or residents return home before that date. In addition, the goverment”s free rent stipend for voluntary evacuees living outside Fukushima Prefecture will end in March 2017. Tokyo and Fukushima Prefecture say there will be some support for the voluntary evacuees living in a state of poverty, to be determined on a case-by-case basis.
Japan’s nuclear safety watchdog not happy with safety of dry spent fuel casks at Fukushima
NRA announced the dry cask for spent fuel of Fukushima plant might be overly vulnerable http://fukushima-diary.com/2015/12/nra-announced-the-dry-cask-for-spent-fuel-of-fukushima-plant-might-be-overly-vulnerable/ by Mochizuki , December 8, 2015 On 12/4/2015, NRA (Nuclear Regulation Authority) announced that the dry cask to store the spent fuel assemblies can be excessively vulnerable.
In order to stock the fuel assemblies of SFP 4 (Spent Fuel Pool of Reactor 4) in the common pool, Tepco transferred the fuel assemblies from the common pool to the dry cask.
By the end of October 2014, Tepco had stocked 28 dry casks to contain 1,412 fuel assemblies. They were planning to transfer additional 1,600 fuel assemblies to more 23 dry casks. NRA reports that only 11 casks of this issued type are in actual use in Fukushima plant.
According to NRA, there is a possibility that an internal part of dry cask doesn’t have enough strength. It was designed based on the standard of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers, however the standard was abolished this October, just before this scandal became public, because it did not have enough basis and overrated the strength.
https://www.nsr.go.jp/data/000131890.pdf
https://www.nsr.go.jp/disclosure/committee/roanshin_kakunen/00000003.html
Indian officials unwilling to answer questions about nuclear emergency guidelines
Officials pass the buck on RTI queries on NDMA guidelines http://m.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/officials-pass-the-buck-on-rti-queries-on-ndma-guidelines/article8079555.ece
G. Sundarrajan of Poovulagin Nanbargal, an environmental forum had sought to know whether the NDMA Guidelines on Nuclear and Radiological Emergencies released in 2009 had been implemented in the district.
He also sought information on the infrastructure such as hospitals identified to treat radiological emergencies as per the guidelines.
The Public Information Officer (PIO) in Tirunelveli Collectorate, in his reply to the applicant, stated that the request was being forwarded to his counterpart in Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant, as the latter was the officer concerned for the details sought for.
The Public Information Officer at Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant of NPCIL on December 29 replied contending it was the District Management Authority, which was the authority concerned and returned the queries to the PIO of Tirunelveli Collectorate.
Mr. Sundarrajan said, “The Supreme Court was, in 2013, informed that all precautionary measures were taken and now they are denying information on the details of the implementation. This is anti-constitutional, anti-people and illegal. They cannot deny or point at each other when asked for information.”
Tirunelveli District Collector M. Karunakaran told The Hindu , “The applicant has not sent the queries to the right person, i.e., the DRDA, which deals with the information and the PIO in Collectorate would not have the information. If information is sought from the right person, it would have been provided.” When contacted by The Hindu , an NPCIL official said, on condition of anonymity, “There has been some misunderstanding among officials in some departments of the district administration on this issue. We complied with the implementation of the guidelines on our part.”
Info sought under RTI Act whether suggestions
on nuclear emergencies were implemented
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
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