Outside Fukushima reactor containment vessel deadly 9.4 sieverts detected
Deadly 9.4 sieverts detected outside Fukushima reactor 2 containment vessel; checks stop http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/10/30/national/deadly-9-4-sieverts-detected-outside-fukushima-reactor-2-containment-vessel-checks-stop/#.VjPyu9IrLGj Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Thursday that radiation levels of up to 9.4 sieverts per hour have been detected outside a reactor containment vessel at the meltdown-hit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
People exposed to the maximum radiation dose for some 45 minutes will die. Tepco expects decontamination work to take at least one month.
Sept. 4-25 checks found the extremely high radiation levels at a cell that accommodates a pipe connected to the containment vessel of reactor 2 at the plant, which was devastated by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, Tepco said.
The highest contamination was detected on the floor. Details behind the situation are unknown, according to the company. Tepco planned to start in August to check the inside of the containment vessel by using a remote-controlled robot but high radiation levels have stalled the examination.
Extremely high radiation levels and the inability to grasp the details about melted nuclear fuel make it impossible for the utility to chart the course of its planned decommissioning of the reactors at the plant.
Is the world ignoring the climate catastrophe of Indonesia’s fires?
Governments ignore issues when the media ignores them.
one reason is the complete failure of perspective in a de-skilled industry dominated by corporate press releases, photo ops and fashion shoots, where everyone seems to be waiting for everyone else to take a lead. The media makes a collective non-decision to treat this catastrophe as a non-issue, and we all carry on as if it’s not happening.
Indonesia is burning. So why is the world looking away?, Guardian George Monbiot, 30 Oct 15 A great tract of Earth is on fire and threatened species are being driven out of their habitats. This is a crime against humanity and nature “……A great tract of Earth is on fire. It looks as you might imagine hell to be. The air has turned ochre: visibility in some cities has been reduced to 30 metres. Children are being prepared for evacuation in warships; already some have choked to death. Species are going up in smoke at an untold rate. It is almost certainly the greatest environmental disaster of the 21st century – so far.
And the media? It’s talking about the dress the Duchess of Cambridge wore to the James Bond premiere, Donald Trump’s idiocy du jour and who got eliminated from the Halloween episode of Dancing with the Stars. The great debate of the week, dominating the news across much of the world? Sausages: are they really so bad for your health?
What I’m discussing is a barbecue on a different scale. Fire is raging across the 5,000km length of Indonesia. It is surely, on any objective assessment, more important than anything else taking place today. And it shouldn’t require a columnist, writing in the middle of a newspaper, to say so. It should be on everyone’s front page. It is hard to convey the scale of this inferno, but here’s a comparison that might help: it is currently producing more carbon dioxide than the US economy. And in three weeks the fires have released more CO2 than the annual emissions of Germany.
But that doesn’t really capture it. This catastrophe cannot be measured only in parts per million. The fires are destroying treasures as precious and irreplaceable as the archaeological remains being levelled by Isis. Orangutans, clouded leopards, sun bears, gibbons, the Sumatran rhinoceros and Sumatran tiger, these are among the threatened species being driven from much of their range by the flames. But there are thousands, perhaps millions, more.
One of the burning provinces is West Papua, a nation that has been illegally occupied by Indonesia since 1963. I spent six months there when I was 24,investigating some of the factors that have led to this disaster. At the time it was a wonderland, rich with endemic species in every swamp and valley. Who knows how many of those have vanished in the past few weeks? This week I have pored and wept over photos of places I loved that have now been reduced to ash.
Nor do the greenhouse gas emissions capture the impact on the people of these lands. After the last great conflagration, in 1997, there was a missing cohort in Indonesia of 15,000 children under the age of three, attributed to air pollution. This, it seems, is worse. The surgical masks being distributed across the nation will do almost nothing to protect those living in a sunless smog. Members of parliament in Kalimantan (Indonesian Borneo) have had to wear face masksduring debates. The chamber is so foggy that they must have difficulty recognising one another.
It’s not just the trees that are burning. It is the land itself. Much of the forest sits on great domes of peat. When the fires penetrate the earth, they smoulder for weeks, sometimes months, releasing clouds of methane, carbon monoxide, ozone and exotic gases such as ammonium cyanide. The plumes extend for hundreds of miles, causing diplomatic conflicts with neighbouring countries.
Why is this happening? Indonesia’s forests have been fragmented for decades by timber and farming companies. Canals have been cut through the peat to drain and dry it. Plantation companies move in to destroy what remains of the forest to plant monocultures of pulpwood, timber and palm oil. The easiest way to clear the land is to torch it. Every year, this causes disasters. But in an extreme El Niño year like this one, we have a perfect formula for environmental catastrophe……..
Governments ignore issues when the media ignores them. And the media ignores them because … well, there’s a question with a thousand answers, many of which involve power. But one reason is the complete failure of perspective in a de-skilled industry dominated by corporate press releases, photo ops and fashion shoots, where everyone seems to be waiting for everyone else to take a lead. The media makes a collective non-decision to treat this catastrophe as a non-issue, and we all carry on as if it’s not happening.
At the climate summit in Paris in December the media, trapped within the intergovernmental bubble of abstract diplomacy and manufactured drama, will cover the negotiations almost without reference to what is happening elsewhere. The talks will be removed to a realm with which we have no moral contact. And, when the circus moves on, the silence will resume. Is there any other industry that serves its customers so badly?
A fully linked version of this article can be found at monbiot.com http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/oct/30/indonesia-fires-disaster-21st-century-world-media
Nobody knows what to do with Fukushima nuclear reactors’ corium – melted fuel
Fukushima – a Hushed Up Catastrophe, CounterPunch, by ROBERT HUNZIKER , OCTOBER 30, 2015 “……..As the situation now stands, what if the corium leaked or leaks into the ground beneath the reactor’s final cement & steel containment vessel, the last line of defense? Answer: Nobody knows because it has never happened before, but the smell test says it can’t be good; in fact, it’s gotta be awful, really awful and deadly out of control, impossible to stop.
Tragically, nobody knows what to do. They really don’t.
Still, here’s what sources claim probably happens when a nuclear meltdown hits pay dirt, immersing into Earth: Some isotopes uncontrollably spread erratically, for example, Cesiun-137, which is deadly toxic to all life forms, and only one of many dangerous isotopes, is water-soluble and makes its way into soils and waters and quickly becomes ubiquitous in the ecosystem; that’s what happens, “ubiquitous in the ecosystem.”
Thereafter, assuming a situation similar to Chernobyl (1986), an exclusion zone is established to keep everybody out due to excessive levels of radiation. But, questions like how big of an exclusion zone and how prolific the underground hot radioactive corium reacts nobody knows how to answer. When Ihor Gramotkin, director of the Chernobyl Power Plant was asked how soon the Chernobyl reactor site would be inhabitable again, he replied: “At least 20,000 years,” Eben Harrell, Apocalypse Today: Visiting Chernobyl, 25 Years Later, Time Magazine, April 26, 2011.
Nevertheless, the Abe government is already moving people back into some of the four-year-old exclusion zones of Fukushima………… http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/10/30/fukushima-a-hushed-up-catastrophe/
China far from being nuclear industry hope, could be its nightmare
Just how safe is China anyway? Now if China had a fantastic record of safety in its construction and other industries, maybe the odds should be made a bit longer….
Cheap? Some scepticism is in order How do we know what these reactors really cost? The fact is, we don’t. With China’s nuclear corporations under the control of various organs of state including the Communist Party and the Peoples Liberation Army, official statistics and accounts can simply not be relied upon…..
Nuclear construction in China must be cheaper than in the US and Europe due to lower labour costs. But if it really is that much cheaper it can only be at a huge safety penalty……
Tsunami risk – not if but when…….
The only good news in all this is that nuclear construction in China is not proceeding anything like as fast as Forbes magazine claims. Most of the more modern ‘Generation III’ reactors are well behind in their completion times, echoing the European experience with the failed EPR design.
Fukuzilla? China’s nuclear boom threatens global catastrophe http://www.theecologist.org/blogs_and_comments/commentators/2986056/fukuzilla_chinas_nuclear_boom_threatens_global_catastrophe.html Oliver Tickell 28th October 2015
China’s plans for 400 nuclear reactors threaten global catastrophe, writes Oliver Tickell. In the normal way of things we could expect major accidents every few years, but with 300 reactors along China’s seismically active coast, a major tsunami would be a Fukushima on steroids – wiping out much of China and contaminating the whole planet. Continue reading
No foreseeable end to Fukushima’s daily dumping of radioactive waste to Pacific Ocean
Former WHO Official: Fukushima plant is dumping nuclear waste into ocean on a daily basis; “There’s no foreseeable end to it… and nobody has any good ideas on how to stop it” — Japan gov’t worried that attempts to reduce leakage will cause even more radioactivity to flow into sea (VIDEO) http://enenews.com/former-official-fukushima-plant-dumping-radioactivity-ocean-daily-basis-foreseeable-good-ideas-stop-japan-govt-worried-attempts-stop-going-nuclear-waste-flow-sea-video?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ENENews+%28Energy+News%29
Asahi Shimbun, Oct 26, 2015 (emphasis added): [TEPCO announced] the construction of seaside walls to block radiation-contaminated groundwater from seeping into the sea has been completed at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant… TEPCO officials said the underground walls will reduce the daily flow of contaminated groundwater into the sea from the previous estimated 400 tons to 10 tons. However, they said it will take a month or two to confirm the effectiveness of the barriers.
Japan Times, Oct 26, 2015: Tepco hopes the wall will significantly reduce the amount ofcontaminated water that has continued to flow into the Pacific more than four yearsafter the 2011 meltdown crisis… 400 tons of groundwater was draining along the sides of the buildings and into the sea each day, after being contaminated with fallout from the 2011 meltdown crisis, according Tepco. The utility says an estimated 150 tons of underground water is still flowing into the basements of the damaged reactor buildings each day… Recent tests of water samples from the nearby sea have detected radioactive substances such as cesium-137 and strontium-90, but scientists have said the density is so low that it poses no immediate danger to human health. Yet, the ongoing flow of tainted water from the plant has raised anxiety and concerns among local fishermen and many consumers across the country. Tepco plans to keep monitoring the density of radioactive materials in the nearby sea over the next month. To isolate the four reactor buildings from the underground water, Tepco hopes to freeze the soil around them… The Nuclear Regulation Authority has yet to give permission for the operation, saying creation of frozen soil could drastically change the underground water level around the plant. If the water level outside falls lower than that inside, the contaminated water could leak out. Meanwhile, Tepco has not explained exactly how it will control the water levels, an NRA official said.
Dr. Keith Baverstock, former World Health Organization regional adviser for radiation and public health, published Oct 23, 2015 (at 37:00 in): “I’m really appalled at the way the international system has failed… Quite frankly, we don’t get anything through the media… There is no general understanding of the situation here in Europe, because the media are not putting this view forward. In fact, I think many people would be very surprised that it was still a matter for discussion. They would be even more surprised to learn that it’s still an ongoing accident, and that it hasn’t terminated yet. They’d be even more surprised that nobody has any good ideas on how to stop it. So this is a very big black point… for the nuclear industry — that they can cause a situation like this, where there’s no foreseeable end to it. It’s against international law to dump radioactivity into the sea, but that is precisely what is happening on a daily basis.”
Japan’s govt admits that 40% of Fukushima evacuation personnel exposed to radiation of 1 mSv
40% of Fukushima evacuation personnel exposed to radiation of 1 mSv http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/40-of-fukushima-evacuation-personnel-exposed-to-radiation-of-1-msv OCT. 27, 2015 TOKYO —
Nearly 40% of Self-Defense Forces troops, police officers and firefighters involved in evacuation operations right after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis were exposed to radiation above the annual public limit of 1 millisievert, the government said Monday.
The Cabinet Office surveyed for the first time 2,967 personnel who assisted in evacuating residents living within a 20-kilometer radius of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex as well as radiation cleanup and other activities from March 12 to 31, 2011.
The survey found that around 62% were exposed to radiation of less than 1 millisievert. But 38% were exposed to 1 millisievert or more, of whom 19% received 1 to 2 millisieverts and 5% received 5 to 10 millisieverts.
Daily radiation doses remained high until around March 15—the day the third reactor building suffered an explosion at the plant—and dropped below 0.1 millisievert from March 18.
The Cabinet Office revealed the data at a meeting to discuss ways to mitigate the radiation exposure of civilians helping others to evacuate in the event of a nuclear accident. The Japanese government is pushing for the reactivation of reactors that have cleared a set of new safety requirements imposed in the wake of the Fukushima crisis, triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, but public concern persists about whether smooth evacuations would be possible in the event of a nuclear accident.
The government plans to set a 1-millisievert-limit for civilians assisting in evacuations such as bus drivers. But some bus drivers are reluctant to accept the proposal.
The maximum radiation dose for ordinary members of the public is set at 1 millisievert per year. The limit for workers at nuclear facilities is 100 millisieverts over five years and 50 millisieverts per year in normal times, but it is raised in emergencies.
Vietnam: Nonproliferation and Nuclear Energy
Nonproliferation and Nuclear Energy: The Case of Vietnam Is Vietnam diverting its civilian know-how to create an indigenous nuclear weapons program? Not yet, says the CSS’ Oliver Thränert, but increased tensions or overt conflict with China could lead Hanoi to develop its own nuclear deterrent. By Oliver Thränert for Center for Security Studies (CSS) 26 October 2015
For many years, the international nuclear non-proliferation regime has been in deep crisis. This became apparent most recently when the ninth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in May 2015 ended without a common final document. At the same time, a number of threshold countries are planning to begin using nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. In a time of increasing international tensions, some of them might build on know-how acquired through their civilian programs to safeguard their national security needs through a nuclear weapons program in the near future. Vietnam is an interesting case in point. Irrespective of certain delays in the development of its peaceful nuclear program, the country has progressed quite far. At the same time, it is engaged in an increasingly precarious conflict with its main neighbor, nuclear-armed China. Currently, there are no signs of a Vietnamese nuclear weapons program. In the framework of the nuclear non-proliferation regime, the country is a model of transparency and cooperation. But it is uncertain whether this will always remain the case. On the contrary, Hanoi might change its policy if the conflict with China should come to a head while the NPT continues to be weakened…….
Vietnam’s strategic situation Vietnam’s strategic environment is rapidly changing. This is especially true for Vietnam’s relations with China. While the Communist parties of the two countries regard each other as brother parties and economic relations run deep, the two countries also have disputes over certain small islands in the South China Sea and over the mutual demarcation of exclusive economic zones in these waters. The extent of widespread anti-Chinese feeling among the general public became evident in May 2014, when a Chinese oil platform was discovered in an area claimed by Vietnam. Subsequently, there were not only skirmishes between Chinese and Vietnamese vessels, but also demonstrations in several Vietnamese cities that escalated into violence in which several people were killed.
With an increasingly aggressive China next door, Vietnam, like most of the riparian states, is seeking closer engagement with the US. Washington has become one of Vietnam’s main trading partners. Military relations, too, have been intensified. In July 2013, speaking in Washington, D.C., US President Barack Obama and Vietnamese President Truong Tan Sang announced a comprehensive bilateral partnership. One important step towards the closer development of ties was the passing in Congress of a 123 Agreement in September 2014, which paved the way for future cooperation in the peaceful use of the atom.
Despite the interest in improving cooperation with the US across the board, however, the leadership in Vietnam must be aware that issues such as the country’s single-party system, together with a human-rights situation that the US continues to regard as problematic, are certain to resurface time and again in relations with Washington. Against this background, US security guarantees such as Japan and South Korea have been given can hardly be expected by Vietnam. At the same time, there is the danger that an overly evident rapprochement with Washington might provoke reactions by China. Thus, Hanoi is forced to perform a difficult tightrope walk, balancing out its relations with China on the one hand against those with the US on the other………http://www.isn.ethz.ch/Digital-Library/Articles/Detail/?id=194337
Japan keen to sell nuclear reactors to Kazakhstan
Japan to construct nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan, Tengri News, 27 Oct 15
For more information see:http://en.tengrinews.kz/politics_sub/Japan-to-construct-nuclear-power-plant-in-Kazakhstan-262718/
Use of the Tengrinews English materials must be accompanied by a hyperlink to en.Tengrinews.kz
October 23 Tengrinews.kz reported, citing the country’s Vice Minister of Energy Bakhytzhan Dzhaksaliyev, that Kazakhstan was to decide within the following 2-3 years on the location and strategic partner for its first nuclear power station.
January 23,2015 Tengrinews.kz reported that Kazakhstan had started talks with Toshiba, owner of Westinghouse, to construct its first nuclear power plant. The sides were to sign an agreement on supplying a $3.7 billion reactor capable of 1 gigawatt, according to Russia’s Kommersant daily.
Early 2014 the country’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev commissioned the Government to decide before the end of the Q1 2014 on the location, sources of investments and timing of constructing a nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan.
In his Address to the Nation at the start of 2014, President Nursultan Nazarbayev elaborated why Kazakhstan needs to construct a nuclear power plant.
He emphasized that the future lies with nuclear power……… “The actual need for a nuclear power plant will be felt around 2025 given the current power generation and consumption figures”, he elaborated.
For more information see:http://en.tengrinews.kz/politics_sub/Japan-to-construct-nuclear-power-plant-in-Kazakhstan-262718/
Japanese Prefecture Kyoto moves to replace nuclear with gas and renewables, in pact with Alaska
Kyoto advances nuclear-free agenda with Alaska LNG pact, Japan Times, BY ERIC JOHNSTON KYOTO, 25 OCT 15, – The Kyoto Prefectural Government signed an agreement with Alaska last month to explore the possibility of importing liquid natural gas from the state to Maizuru, a port city on the Sea of Japan.
While daunting financial and bureaucratic challenges mean it will still be a while before Alaskan LNG flows to Kyoto, the agreement represents a step forward for Kyoto to achieve a larger goal: ending prefectural dependence on nuclear power by 2040.
The strategy, as outlined by Kyoto Gov. Keiji Yamada, calls for building up LNG facilities at Maizuru and installing new LNG pipelines in the Kansai region. The prefecture envisions Maizuru supplying not only Kyoto, but other prefectures in the region with gas to replace Fukui Prefecture’s nuclear power plants as a major source of electricity.
Kyoto is not alone in seeking to replace atomic power with a combination of LNG imports and renewable energy. As of the end of 2014, more than 600 local governments nationwide had declared their intent to be nuclear-free, although not all of have set specific dates like Kyoto, and many lack a strategic plan for achieving that goal.
Yamada listed several reasons why the prefecture needs to end its usage of nuclear power, which comes mostly from 11 Kansai Electric Power Co. reactors in neighboring Fukui……..
Kyoto and Hyogo, along with Osaka Gas, Kepco, and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, agreed in early September to formally research the cost of building an LNG pipeline from Maizuru to Sanda, Hyogo Prefecture, that could then supply other parts of Kansai and likely lead to other localities needing less nuclear power. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/10/25/national/kyoto-advances-nuclear-free-agenda-alaska-lng-pact/#.Vi0_ztIrLGh
Pakistan edging towards deal on nuclear non proliferation
Islamabad moves closer to total disclosure over nuclear weapons, The National ae, Tom Hussain, 25 Oct 15, It has been more than 17 years since Pakistan detonated five nuclear warheads, in a tit-for-tat exchange with India that announced weapons of mass destruction were now part of the South Asian strategic theatre.
Since then, very little has been made public about the underlying philosophy of Pakistan’s programme. In fact, the sole stated “known” is that Pakistan has refused to embrace the no-first-strike commitment made by India, on the ground that Pakistan’s strategic weapons exist to discourage India from using its conventional military superiority to overwhelm it. That position was taken in 2001.
Until recently, the only other information in the public realm was gleaned from Pakistan’s ballistic missile tests. For example, its tests two years ago of short-range missiles revealed they would be used, in theory, against an Indian force that had seized a strategically important parcel of Pakistani territory. However, it has never been specified which parcels of territory would qualify under that inferred criterion.
Pakistan’s so-called “red lines” – events that would trigger a nuclear weapons launch – are unstated and the subject of conjecture. Security analysts have learnt of no more than three such scenarios and they are statements of the obvious for those familiar with recent history……..
Against that backdrop, and that of annual upward revisions of estimates of the number of Pakistan’s nuclear warheads, there have been occasional outbursts of alarm in the US media, reflecting how little is actually known.
Subtly, that situation has begun to change. In June, a US-Pakistan working group issued a statement about their shared desire to ensure the security of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal and steps Pakistan had taken to prevent even unintentional proliferation of its technology. Then, in August, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and the Stimson Centre proposed that Pakistan’s strategic programme should be accepted and brought into the global non-proliferation scheme, in exchange for its commitment to a ceiling on the number of warheads it would produce and the range of its ballistic missile delivery platforms. This month, Washington Post columnist David Ignatius disclosed that Carnegie’s proposals had, in fact, been adopted by the Obama administration and offered to Islamabad. The veracity of the disclosure was confirmed, by inference, in a statement issued after a meeting of Pakistan’s civilian and military leadership held the next day and, the following day, by the White House.
But a deal is not imminent……..
Last Wednesday, however, 24 hours before prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s meeting with Barack Obama, Pakistan’s press, quoting the same unnamed official sources, reported the government’s position was markedly different to the long-perceived policy of zero compromise. It would not accept limits on the number of tactical battlefield warheads, it was reported. No mention was made of other types of devices, the strong hint being that a compromise could be reached on those, eventually, if India were prepared to make a matching commitment.
That is, by far, the biggest shift in – and disclosure of – Pakistan’s nuclear doctrine since the 1998 tests……..
It would appear Pakistan has taken the first steps towards joining the global non-proliferation regime. Nobody is suggesting a breakthrough will happen soon, but in a world increasingly characterised by regional conflicts, Pakistan’s willingness to negotiate is an encouraging sign that responsible attitudes are being adopted.
Tom Hussain is Asia-Pacific editor of The World Weekly On Twitter: @tomthehack http://www.thenational.ae/opinion/comment/islamabad-moves-closer-to-total-disclosure-over-nuclear-weapons
Many radiation related cancers to come, as Japan confirms Fukushima worker’s radiation caused cancer
“Thyroid cancer is commonly developed as a result of acute exposure to radioactive iodine 131, a product of nuclear fission…”
The British journalist also highlighted that the scientists have failed to mention that other radioactive elements emitted in the accident pose even more of a threat to the population’s health (in particular, 17.5 percent Cesium-137 and 38.5 percent Cesium 134).
Fukushima: Hundreds of Radiation-Related Cancer Cases on the Way in Japan, http://sputniknews.com/asia/20151023/1029014961/fukushima-radiation-cancer-threat-japan.html, 23 Oct 15 The Japanese government has recently admitted that a worker at the Fukushima nuclear plant contracted cancer as a consequence of radiation exposure of 2011, British journalist Oliver Tickell points out, warning that there are many more cases on the way.
The Japanese government has officially confirmed that a worker at the Fukushima nuclear plant has contracted radiation-related cancer: the man has been diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukaemia.“But that single ‘official’ cancer case is just the beginning. New scientific research indicates that hundreds more cancers have been and will be contracted in the local population. A 30-fold excess of thyroid cancer has been detected among over 400,000 young people below the age of 18 from the Fukushima area,” British journalist, author and health and environment issue campaigner Oliver Tickell wrote in his article for The Ecologist, citing a report entitled “Thyroid Cancer Detection by Ultrasound Among Residents Ages 18 Years and Younger in Fukushima, Japan: 2011 to 2014.”
The highest incidence rate ratio, using a latency period of 4 years, was observed in the central middle district of the prefecture compared with the Japanese annual incidence (incidence rate ratio = 50; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 25, 90),” the report read.
Tickell noted that during a first screening for thyroid cancer held four years after the Fukushima catastrophe among 298,577 youths, the disease was registered 50 times more frequently among those who lived in the most heavily irradiated zones than among other Japanese youth.
During a second screening carried out in April 2014 among 106,068 young people who lived in less contaminated areas of the Fukushima prefecture, the disease was 12 times more common than for the main population.
“Thyroid cancer is commonly developed as a result of acute exposure to radioactive iodine 131, a product of nuclear fission. Because iodine concentrates in the thyroid gland, thyroid damage including cancer is a characteristic marker of exposure to nuclear fallout,” Tickell elaborated, adding that iodine-131 constituted about 9.1 percent of the radioactive material released during the Fukushima disaster.
Quoting the report, Tickell called attention to the fact that “the incidence of thyroid cancer is high by comparison with the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986,” beating the drums over the possibility of a growing cancer threat in the region in the next four-five years.
That is not all, the British journalist added, emphasizing that the real exposure doses for residents could have been higher than had been reported by the authorities and the World Health Organization.
“We could infer a possibility that exposure doses for residents were higher than the official report or the dose estimation by the World Health Organization, because the number of thyroid cancer cases grew faster than predicted in the World Health Organization’s health assessment report,” the authors of the report underscored, as quoted by Tickell.
The British journalist also highlighted that the scientists have failed to mention that other radioactive elements emitted in the accident pose even more of a threat to the population’s health (in particular, 17.5 percent Cesium-137 and 38.5 percent Cesium 134).
“These longer-lived beta-emitters (30 years and two years respectively) present a major long-term hazard as the element is closely related to potassium and readily absorbed into biomass and food crops,” Tickell stressed.
The author bemoaned the fact the Japanese people also face a danger posed by “long lived alpha emitters like plutonium 239 (which has a half-life of 24,100 years) which is hard to detect.”
“Even tiny nano-scale specks of inhaled plutonium entering the lungs and lymphatic system can cause cancer decades after the event by continuously ‘burning’ surrounding tissues and cells,” Oliver Tickell warned.
Pakistan refuses to limit tactical nuclear weapons
Pakistan tells US it won’t accept limits on tactical nuclear arms October 23, 201 Mehreen Zahra-Malik Islamabad: Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who met US President Barack Obama at the White House on Thursday, has rebuffed attempts to limit his country’s use of tactical nuclear weapons, Pakistani officials said.
Pakistan insists smaller weapons would deter a sudden attack by its neighbour India, which is also a nuclear power. But the US worries they may further destabilise an already volatile region because their smaller size makes them more tempting to use in a conventional war.
The Obama administration is preparing to sell eight F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan in an attempt to bolster the two countries’ relationship, despite Washington’s concerns about Pakistan’s growing nuclear arsenal.
The Federation of American Scientists, a leading US group that monitors the spread of nuclear weapons, published a report on Wednesday that shows that Pakistan has expanded its arsenal to between 110 and 130 warheads, up from 90 to 110 four years ago.
Officials in Washington have said they are exploring whether a deal might be possible to halt Pakistan’s deployment of tactical nuclear weapons that US experts fear are vulnerable to being launched without authorisation, or stolen, on the battlefield.
Pakistan says the US is demanding unreasonable limits on its use of nuclear weapons and not offering much in return apart from a hazy promise to consider Pakistan as a recognised recipient of nuclear technology………The Federation of American Scientists, a leading US group that monitors the spread of nuclear weapons, published a report on Wednesday that shows that Pakistan has expanded its arsenal to between 110 and 130 warheads, up from 90 to 110 four years ago.
Officials in Washington have said they are exploring whether a deal might be possible to halt Pakistan’s deployment of tactical nuclear weapons that US experts fear are vulnerable to being launched without authorisation, or stolen, on the battlefield.
Pakistan says the US is demanding unreasonable limits on its use of nuclear weapons and not offering much in return apart from a hazy promise to consider Pakistan as a recognised recipient of nuclear technology. http://www.smh.com.au/world/pakistan-to-tell-us-it-wont-accept-limits-on-tactical-nuclear-arms-20151022-gkgees.html#ixzz3phoMZJnK
Fukushima experiences 5.5 earthquake
5.5 earthquake shakes Japan’s Fukushima & Miyagi regions Rt.com : 21 Oct, 2015 A 5.5-magnitude earthquake has hit near the Fukushima prefecture in Japan, with residents of some 10 other prefectures feeling the tremor.
The quake occurred off the northeast coast of Japan. No tsunami warning has been issued.
The epicenter was near the Fukushima coastline, at a depth of 30 kilometers.
People in affected areas of Japan took to Twitter to say they felt the tremor……..https://www.rt.com/news/319243-japan-earthquake-fukushima-miyagi/
Public opinion in North Korea about nuclear weapons
Ask a North Korean: what do you think about nuclear weapons? http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/23/ask-a-north-korean-nuclear-weapons
In an ongoing series, NK News poses a reader’s question to a North Korean defector. This week, pride in the government’s atomic exploration, Guardian, Je Son Lee for NK News, part of the North Korea network
Friday 23 October 2015 When I was still living in North Korea, the regime had a successful nuclear test. People were very proud of it, and afterwards we had a town hall meeting where my neighbours talked about how the US would no longer be able to boss us around.
Most North Koreans are very aware of the fact that other countries make fun of them, and look down on the DPRK, but many think it’s because the country is poor.
North Koreans are generally very curious about how they are perceived internationally, and reports are circulated among communities of discrimination and abuse suffered abroad – such as in China – which generate a feeling of self-consciousness.
Therefore, people in the DPRK have become very proud when they hear that the country has become a nuclear state. When they hear news like this, they think: “Our nation may still be poor. But we can [still] be one of the most powerful and influential nations in national defence.”
Justification
North Korea invests heavily in education, especially in teaching people about Japanese imperial rule and the era following independence.
The Japanese committed atrocities against unarmed, innocent Koreans, and Kim Jong-un’s government frequently highlights these acts of brutality when it justifie the possession of nuclear weapons.
Thanks to frequent reminders in school textbooks and history classes, North Koreans show more hostility toward Japanese than Americans.
Pictures and graffiti of Japanese and American soldiers committing acts of violence are painted on the buildings of kindergartens, schools and offices. If you had grown up being brainwashed and exposed to this from a young age, how would you feel? North Koreans begin to realise the importance of protecting their country.
This justifies the nuclear programme and weapons, but the government doesn’t teach its people about the negative sides and ordinary citizens have no way of finding out how dangerous they can be.
Of course, some North Koreans may hold different opinions on this issue. But from what I’ve seen, North Koreans are in favour of their government’s nuclear programme for one reason: they think it will protect them from powerful countries such as the US and Japan, and means they won’t have to go back to the time when Koreans had to suffer under the US military and Japanese imperialism.
Editing and translation by Elizabeth Jae. A version of this article first appeared on NK News, North Korea News
Apple developing huge solar investment in China
Apple steps up solar power investment in China http://www.smh.com.au/business/energy/apple-steps-up-solar-power-investment-in-china-20151022-gkfttm.html October 22, 2015 Alex Nussbaum “The time for action is now:” Apple chief Tim Cook. The move will make Apple’s operations in China carbon-neutral, the company says.
Apple will build an additional 200 megawatts of solar power in China and push suppliers to make similar commitments, as the maker of the iPad and Apple Watch seeks to offset its global-warming emissions in the world’s most polluting country.
The solar investment comes atop two previously announced solar farms in southern China that have now been completed, producing a combined 40 megawatts of power, Apple said in a statement overnight. The company will also partner with suppliers, including iPhone maker Foxconn Technology Group, on an additional 2 gigawatts of solar, wind and hydropower projects.
“Climate change is one of the great challenges of our time, and the time for action is now,” Apple chief executive Tim Cook said. “We believe passionately in leaving the world better than we found it and hope that many other suppliers, partners and other companies join us in this important effort.”
The promises are part of Apple’s efforts to cut greenhouse-gas emissions and come ahead of a United Nations summit in Paris later this year where world leaders will try to reach a global deal on reining in climate-change pollution. China, the world’s biggest source of greenhouse gases, has promised to almost double the amount of energy it gets from renewable and nuclear power by 2030.
Apple said in April that it would partner with US-based SunPower Corp. to build the two generating stations in Sichuan province. The new solar farms produce more power than Apple’s operations consume in China, making the company “carbon neutral,” it claims. The 200 megawatts of new investments will involve construction in northern, eastern and southern China and “will begin to offset the energy used in Apple’s supply chain.”
Foxconn will construct 400 megawatts of solar by 2018 as part of the initiative with suppliers, starting in Henan province. Foxconn has committed to generate as much renewable energy as its Zhengzhou factory uses in final production of the iPhone, Apple said.
Bloomberg
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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