Former Japanese Prime Ministers forget their differences – join in opposing nuclear power
Two former Japanese prime ministers take anti-nuclear stance to stage at rock festival http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-30/two-former-japanese-prime-ministers-take-anti-nuclear-stance-to/5777958 30 Sep 2014,
“We must create a country where nuclear power generation is zero. Let’s develop our country without nuclear power,” shouted charismatic former leader Junichiro Koizumi from the festival stage, hosted by renowned musician Ryuichi Sakamoto.
Mr Koizumi told reporters that an “unexpected event could happen anytime” at nuclear power plants in Japan, touching on the recent volcanic eruption of Mt Ontake in central Japan which occurred without warning and killed dozens of climbers.
In Japan, earthquakes, tsunami and volcanic eruptions could occur in various locations. It’s a country not allowed to have nuclear power plants,” he said.
Morihiro Hosokawa, another former prime minister, said he felt hope in his anti-nuclear campaigning as he saw the eyes of youths at the festival “twinkling”.
The prime minister at the time of the 2011 earthquake and Fukushima meltdown, Naoto Kan, also attended an anti-nuclear protest on Sunday, rallying against the imminent restart of two reactors at the Sendai nuclear plant.
Mr Kan became an anti-nuclear activist upon stepping down as prime minister in September 2011.
The government of Shinzo Abe is pushing for the resumption of reactors that clear new safety requirements introduced in the wake of the Fukushima accident.
Shambles of Japan’s plans for evacuation after the next nuclear accident
Not nearly enough buses for mass exodus after nuclear accident THE ASAHI SHIMBUN by Masanobu Higashiyama and Hiroki Koike.27 Sept 14 The gargantuan task of moving residents in a nuclear crisis will fall on chartered buses, according to the local governments’ evacuation plans.
The problem is there may not be nearly enough vehicles to move huge numbers of people to safety.
Some prefectures already realize they would be lucky to assemble just half the number of buses for the job.
There is also opposition from bus companies, which say they will not subject their drivers to hazardous radiation risks.
In a 10-kilometer radius of Kyushu Electric Power Co.’s Sendai nuclear power plant in Kagoshima Prefecture, which has passed safety checks for a restart, surveys show that local governments can charter only one-fourth of buses that would be needed to evacuate residents.
Although the prefecture plans to sign an agreement with the prefectural association of bus companies to preferentially charter vehicles, a local bus drivers’ union said it will oppose the plan unless safety measures for drivers are mapped out.
According to evacuation plans submitted by Satsuma-Sendai, the city hosting the nuclear plant, and surrounding municipalities within a 30-km radius of the plant, people who need nursing care and others without family cars will have to evacuate by bus……..
In addition to the lack of buses, the void of safety measures to prevent bus drivers from being exposed to radiation during an evacuation casts a shadow on plans by local governments to use chartered buses.
Central government guidelines stipulate that ordinary people such as bus drivers must not be exposed to more than 1 millisievert of radiation annually in normal situations. However, there are no measures in place to deal with those who are exposed to higher readings.http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201409270012
In addition, rules for distributing potassium iodide tablets to protect against thyroid cancer due to radiation have yet to be devised……..
During an Aug. 29 news conference, Niigata Governor Hirohiko Izumida asked if it is realistic for residents to rely on chartered private buses in a case of a nuclear disaster. The prefecture hosts Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant.
“Is it possible to make drivers from private bus companies work in areas that are highly contaminated with radiation?” Izumida asked.
Officials at Fukushima Prefecture’s Nuclear Power Safety Division said they had not confirmed reports that bus companies refused to send vehicles due to concern for drivers’ safety during evacuation procedures for the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
But some trucks transporting relief goods did refuse to enter areas that were highly contaminated with radiation, according to the officials.
“A private company can face legal charges if its employees are exposed to radiation because of work orders,” said an official of Niigata Prefecture. “Even if we sign an agreement with bus companies, it will not ensure the efficacy of such an evacuation plan.”
Secrecy and poor labour conditions at Fukushima nuclear plant
Fukushima Worker: “All sorts of troubles going on in plant”; Officials won’t tell public what really happens — People should worry, it’s not under control — Employees wear disguises over fear of retaliation — Reporter: Tour of plant “was very strange… feels completely dead… not many people” (VIDEO) http://enenews.com/fukushima-worker-all-sorts-troubles-going-inside-plant-officials-arent-disclosing-problems-public-im-concerned-safety-employees-wear-disguises-fear-retaliation-plant-control-people-be-worried-vi?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ENENews+%28Energy+News%29
NHK, Sept. 24, 2014 (at 2:15 in): [A Fukushima Daiichi worker’s attorney] warns that the current system could endanger the entire decommissioning process… “Tepco should be held accountable for turning a blind eye. It needs to improve labor conditions, otherwise the situation will make it impossible to secure enough workers to deal with the nuclear accident.” >>Watch the video here
The Guardian, Sept. 9, 2014 (emphasis added):Fukushima fallout continues… [There’s an] unprecedented attempt by four Fukushima Daiichi workers to sue the utility for unpaid wages… [T]he four men… wore masks in court for fear of reprisals from their employers… “A year ago, the prime minister told the world that Fukushima was under control. But that’s not the case,” Tsuguo Hirota told Reuters… “It’s becoming a place for amateurs only, and that has to worry anyone who lives near the plant.”… “My health could suffer… I believe there are many people who can’t speak out about this kind of problem,” one of the workers told public broadcaster NHK.
Time Magazine correspondent Hannah Beech, Sept. 7, 2014: Just to get into the plant it –again — it’s like a Hollywood movie… What was very strange about walking into this place is that it feels completely dead. You don’t see that many people moving around. And those people that you do see, there’s not a palpable sense of urgency, but you realize that the work that they’re doing is so important. And they may not be getting the full of backing that they should to be able to do this. >> Full interview here
NPR, March 11, 2014: About 100 out of the 4,000 people working in the plant every day are TEPCO employees. The rest are subcontractors… Workers [are barred from] speaking to the media… I met a TEPCO worker who was on the job when the quake and tsunami hit… and talked in his car… on the condition that we not identify him and disguise his voice. He says it’s well known at the plant that shoddy work is being done… Many problems inside the Fukushima plant go unreported… The worker says that the Japanese government now needs to step in and guarantee the welfare and safety of all the workers…
TEPCO employee at Fukushima Daiichi (at 2:45 in): I’m concerned about my safety… There are things they feel they don’t have to disclose. There are all sorts of troubles going oninside the plant.
Full interview with the anonymous Fukushima worker here http://enenews.com/fukushima-worker-all-sorts-troubles-going-inside-plant-officials-arent-disclosing-problems-public-im-concerned-safety-employees-wear-disguises-fear-retaliation-plant-control-people-be-worried-vi?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ENENews+%28Energy+News%29
In Fukushima many women aborted their babies in the months after the nuclear disaster
Fukushima Woman: Many are aborting their babies… It’s really happening — I know many women who were visibly pregnant then suddenly weren’t (VIDEO) http://enenews.com/fukushima-woman-many-aborting-babies-really-happening-many-women-visibly-pregnant-suddenly-werent-video
In Containment: The people of Minamisoma, 15 months after the meltdown – Part 1/5
Director/editor Ian Thomas Ash
Producer/camera Koji Fujita
Published on Jul 2, 2012
Published by DocumentingIan
Citizens of Minamisoma share personal struggles they continue to face
At 5:00 in
Unidentified Speaker : And many women are aborting their babies.
Interviewer: I have also heard that the number of abortions increasing. But I don’t know if it’s really true.
Minamisoma Resident: It’s really happening.
Interviewer: It’s not just a rumor, but actually true?
Minamisoma Resident: Many people are afraid to have children. I know many people who feel that way. I know many women who were visibly pregnant then suddenly weren’t.
At 7:30 in
Minamisoma Resident 2: Although more than a year has passed we are still suffering. Our hearts are still anguished by issues such as this problem of increasing abortions.
Japan’s secret nuclear weapons program, helped by USA
Japan had a dual use nuclear program. The public program was to develop and provide unlimited energy for the country. But there was also a secret component, an undeclared nuclear weapons program that would allow Japan to amass enough nuclear material and technology to become a major nuclear power on short notice.
That secret effort was hidden in a nuclear power program that by March 11, 2011– the day the earthquake and tsunami overwhelmed the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant – had amassed 70 metric tons of plutonium. Like its use of civilian nuclear power to hide a secret bomb program, Japan used peaceful space exploration as a cover for developing sophisticated nuclear weapons delivery systems.
US circumvented laws to help Japan accumulate tons of plutonium From National Security News Service By Joseph Trento, April 9th, 2012
The United States deliberately allowed Japan access to the United States’ most secret nuclear weapons facilities while it transferred tens of billions of dollars worth of American tax paid research that has allowed Japan to amass 70 tons of weapons grade plutonium since the 1980s, a National Security News Service investigation reveals. These activities repeatedly violated U.S. laws regarding controls of sensitive nuclear materials that could be diverted to weapons programs in Japan. The NSNS investigation found that the United States has known about a secret nuclear weapons program in Japan since the 1960s, according to CIA reports. Continue reading
Doubtful that Japan’s nuclear reactors will ever restart
Rocky road ahead for Japan’s nuclear restart, Ecologist Jim Green and Peer de Rijk / Nuclear Monitor 26th September 2014 Japan’s government is trying to get its failing nuclear power industry up and running, write Jim Green and Peer de Rijk. But in the post-Fukushima world, it faces formidable obstacles. Experts believe most reactors will never restart – and Japan’s stricken utilities may have to find $30 billion or more to finance their decommissioning……… Continue reading
TEPCO dumps the failed ice wall plan to contain Fukushima radiation
Tepco to give up the preceding frozen wall and directly fill the trenches with cement instead http://fukushima-diary.com/2014/09/tepco-give-preceding-frozen-wall-directly-fill-trenches-cement-instead/Tepco is going to give up the preceding water wall project and simply pour cement instead, they announced in the press conference of 9/22/2014. Extremely highly contaminated water is “retained” in the underground trenches, which are connected to the plant buildings.
Though Tepco is denying this, there is a possibility that these trenches are also severely damaged by the continuous explosions and earthquake, keep letting the coolant water leak underground and sea directly from plant buildings. Tepco was attempting to separate the plant buildings and trenches by frozen water wall in order to pump up the extrenely highly contaminated water retained in the trenches.
However the frozen water wall has never been completed.
Instead of the frozen water wall, Tepco announced they developed the special type of cement to fill the entire trenches.In the simple math, if they pour cement, the same volume of contaminated water would be pushed out of the trenches. However Tepco states it would not leak out because they would pump up the contaminated water as they pour cement.
Because the trenches and the plant buildings are connected, they would end up having to pump up the same volume water as the entire capacity of the trenches. Tepco hasn’t announced if they prepare the enough contaminated water storage. http://www.tepco.co.jp/tepconews/library/archive-j.html
Very high abnormality rates in Fukushima insects eating radiation contaminated leaves
“Groundbreaking” study reveals Fukushima nuclear waste is poisoning wildlife: Up to 99% of offspring died after eating ‘low-level’ contaminated food — “Very high” abnormality rates including “severe and rare” deformities (PHOTOS) http://enenews.com/groundbreaking-study-fukushima-radiation-poisoning-wildlife-99-offspring-died-after-eating-food-low-level-contamination-severe-rare-abnormalities-photos?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ENENews+%28Energy+News%29
PhysOrg, Sep 23, 2014 (emphasis added): In a previous study, the group [of university researchers] suggested that eating leaves with high levels of radiation seriously affected the pale grass blue butterfly. Their new study investigated the effect of eating leaves with much lower levels of radiation… Joji Otaki, University of Rukyus, says… “Our study demonstrated that eating contaminated foods could cause serious negative effects on organisms. Suchnegative effects may be passed down the generations… eating non-contaminated food improves the negative effects”…
AAAS, Sep 22, 2014: Fukushima radiation still poisoning insects — Eating food contaminated with radioactive particles
may bemore perilous than thought… The findings from Otaki’s group are “groundbreaking,” says Timothy Mousseau, a biologist at the University of South Carolina… there have been “almost no studies” on how ingestion of radiation-tainted foods affect wildlife.
Study by University of the Ryukyus and Nagasaki University researchers, published Sep 23, 2014: [We] examined the effects 
of low-level-contaminated diets… The mortality rate increased linearly in accordance with an increase of the caesium… Remarkably, the mortality rate of the Koriyama group [.04 Bq per larva] was 53% [in the first generation]… We discovered various morphological abnormalities in the surviving adults… severe and rare abnormalities shown in Figure 5might imply the effects of a contaminated diet. Only three [that ate] Okinawa leaves [1760 km from Fukushima Daiichi] showed very minor morphological abnormalities… As observed in the F1 [first] generation, various morphological abnormalities were detected in the surviving F2 [second generation] adults… very high mortality and abnormality rates [were] recorded…low-dose effects were clearly detected… results suggest that low-dose ingestion of approximately 100 Bq/kg may be seriously toxic to certain organisms… The biological effects of ingesting the contaminated diets were more severe in the F2 generation…
Mortality Rates
- Koriyama [60 km from Fukushima Daiichi] F1 group and the Koriyama F2 group obtained from the Koriyama F1 adults were 53.0% and 79%, respectively
- Motomiya [also 60 km] F1 group and the Motomiya F2 group obtained from the Motomiya F1 adults were 31.2% and 99%, respectively… “very small number of surviving adults”
Prof. Otaki: Many theoreticians and politicians have claimed [that Fukushima has caused] no harmful biological effects… Even worse, some biologists have claimed that there are no biological impacts… to our surprise, leaves contaminated at relatively low levels… resulted in a mortality rate of more than 50%… Moreover, the sensitivity of the offspring generation increased, resulting in very high mortality rates… it is widely believed among modern biologists that insights obtained from one biological system are largely applicable to other systems…
shock and collapse – the plight of Fukushima nuclear plant officials in March 2011
Leader of Fukushima plant “started staggering… mumbling ‘It’s all over’” before last reactor melted — Appears to collapse, has visions while motionless on floor — Top official “bursts into tears” at meeting — No way to prevent ‘utter catastrophe’ — ‘Chilling’ sound soon heard, ‘gaping hole’ in reactor suspected http://enenews.com/leader-fukushima-plant-started-staggering-around-mumbling-all-before-last-reactor-melted-appears-collapse-begins-having-visions-motionless-floor-senior-official-bursts-tears-around-same-time?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ENENews+%28Energy+News%29
Kyodo News (Part 9), Sep 23, 2014 (emphasis added) : Reactor 2′s cooling system finally stopped functioning at 1:25 p.m. on March 14… [In 5 hours]… the water level had drained to 3.7 meters below the top of the nuclear fuel… leaving it fully exposed. There was also no signthe seawater was entering the reactor… firetrucks that were supposed to be injecting water into the reactor had run out of fuel… [Fukushima chief Masao] Yoshida would later recall that this felt like a “turning point,” beyond which “we had run out of all options and I thought I might really die.”… Yoshida went up to [the many workers on the 2nd floor] and said: “Thank you for dealing with the situation until now. It is OK to go home.”… 8:30 p.m… Yoshida then asked [if] there was any place people could evacuate to… Yoshida [was told] that the No. 2 plant was ready… With workers unable to operate the venting valves, the pressure continued to build… an experienced leader… felt that the reactor’s containment vessel could break at any time…
Kyodo News (Part 10), Sep 23, 2014:: A [Tepco] senior official broke down and wept in the prime minister’s office when the utility felt it had exhausted all options to prevent an utter catastrophe... bursting into tears… Shortly after 4 a.m. on March 15 [Japan was] facing a potential rupture of the reactor 2 containment vessel… [Prime Minister Naoto] Kan soonrealized it was too late to rein in the crisis… a chilling sound swept through the response office at 6:14 a.m, albeit duller than that of the two previous hydrogen blasts. Those present felt their blood freeze as they were told by reactor operators that the pressure inside the reactor 2 suppression chamber, connected to the containment vessel, had dropped to zero… radioactive steam could pour out into the external environment, leaving no safe place inside the plant or in the surrounding area. “The suppression chamber might have a gapping hole… [Yoshida] instantly decided it was time to evacuate the site.
Testimony reveals odd behavior just before ‘chilling sound’ and pressure dropping to zero at Unit 2: Early on March 15, silence engulfed the emergency response office as the point of no return neared. Yoshida stood up and started staggering around, mumbling to himself, “It’s all over.”… Yoshida was searching for the right time to allow Tepco employees to leave the plant, except for a skeleton crew… As he returned to his seat, he leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms and closed his eyes… he was thinking about what might happen if the reactor 2 containment vessel failed, discharging a catastrophic amount of radioactive materials… He could not think of a way to avoid such a scenario. [Shiro] Hikita… sawYoshida’s body slide from the chair onto the floor. At first he thought Yoshida had collapsed but then realized he was sitting cross-legged as if meditating. With his eyes closed,Yoshida did not move for several minutes. Yoshida later said he was calling to mind the faces of his longest-serving colleagues: “There were about 10 or so. I thought those guys might be willing to die with me.”
Japan’s media self-censorship about radioactive particles
NHK changed their TV program about Fukushima radioactive particle to dinosaur with no explanation http://fukushima-diary.com/2014/09/nhk-changed-tv-program-fukushima-radioactive-particle-dinosaur-explanation/ Iori Mochizuki 25 Sept 14, NHK cancelled their TV show about radioactive particle scheduled for 9/21/2014.The title of the show was “Nuclear accident – Follow the unidentified radioactive partile !”. It was scheduled to be broadcast at 23:30 of 9/21/2014, but instead, they rebroadcast the show about dinosaur, which was originally broadcast only 5 weeks ago.
About the sudden change of the TV program, NHK has made no announcement though it’s public broadcasting.
Bribery, corruption, and birth defects near India’s uranium mine in Jharkand
Economy & Ecology: The Inconvenient Truths The Global Calcuttan September 21, 2014 “Capitalism, as it’s conceived and conducted today; capitalism that relies on globalization, unbridled consumerism, deregulation and perpetual economic expansion, is irreconcilable with a livable climate.” – Naomi Klein, Capitalism vs. The Climate
Economy and Ecology: Disclosing the Inconvenient Truths By SB Veda CALCUTTA – This week we feature two articles on the conflict between capitalism and the environment: One describes the mysterious set of illnesses affecting children in the village of Jadugora in Jharkand, India, the sight of India’s first major uranium mine (now closed); and the second is an interview with left-wing author and thinker, Naomi Klein on her new book, which was published, yesterday called Capitalism vs. The Climate……..
Nuclear Poisoning in Jharkand
It is already too late for many of the children of Jadugora, born with birth defects, destined to develop cancer. The story is one of ignorance, lack of adequate regulation, and finally a total breakdown of institutional responsibility within the Indian republic.
In fact, the owner of the Uranium mine situated in the village, The Uranium Corporation of India Limited (UCIL) is owned by the Government. UCIL, instead of acting in the people’s interests, systematically dumped nuclear waste, ending up in Jadugora’s water supply. This is water used to drink and wash, water that grows the vegetation consumed by the villagers and their livestock. They are literally consuming and bathing in nuclear poison.
It is no wonder that the defeated UPA government under Manmohan Singh, sought to export liabilities from nuclear mismanagement to potential foreign suppliers after India became a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). In India, the government seems to have abdicated its responsibility to effectively regulate the civil nuclear industry to safeguard the people.
The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) owns UCIL and its operations are covered under Atomic Energy Act, which makes accurate information about the mine extremely arduous to obtain. There is no requirement for public participation at any stage of the process of sighting, designing or building nuclear facilities. In an article for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (1999), T.S. Gopi Rethinaraj writes: “The department [of atomic energy] has happily exploited the ignorance of India’s judiciary and political establishment on nuclear issues. In the past, it has even used the Atomic Energy Act to prevent nuclear plant workers from accessing their own health records. While nuclear establishments everywhere have been notorious for suppressing information, nowhere is there an equivalent of India’s Atomic Energy Act in operation. Over the years, in the comfort of secrecy, India’s nuclear establishment has grown into a monolithic and autocratic entity that sets the nuclear agenda of the country and yet remains virtually unaccountable for its actions.” (Source:http://jadugoda.jharkhand.org.in).
Even lawyers at the legal aid society whose responsibility it was to advise the victims of the environmental calamity of their rights and recourse are named as defendants in the public interest suit brought on behalf of the afflicted. Everybody, it seems, was bought and paid for in the oligarchic legacy left by Jawaharlal Nehru that is The Republic of India.
Nehru’s views on the nuclear industry are revealing. The former Gandhian Satyagrahi, wrote to his defence minister shortly after independence that not only did the “future belong to those who produce atomic energy”, but “Defence (was) intimately connected with this.” He was at the ready to fund atomic research – the first Asian government to do so, and his surreptitious plan for a nuclear defence was carried to the next generation and revealed in the misuse of civilian nuclear technology imported from Canada by Indira Gandhi for purposes of defence. This caused all nuclear cooperation between the two nations to cease until recently.
The BJP may have taken the nuclear defence programme out of the darkness, making India a declared nuclear power but it also did little to clean up the civilian nuclear power industry.
Getting back to bribery – though more flagrant in India, is also present in Western democracies as Klein pointed out in her interview: ‘Both by . . . bribing politicians and serving as (an election-campaign) disciplinary force for politicians — you get the money if you do the right thing. But if you don’t do the right thing from the perspective of the oil companies then that same money is used to attack you in television ads and so on.’…
Tokyo rallies against the return of nuclear power
‘What’s your anti-disaster plan?’ Thousands protest Japanese nuclear revival RT.com September 23, 2014 Thousands of people protested in Tokyo on Tuesday, criticizing the government’s move to restart two of Japan’s nuclear reactors by arguing that no sufficient anti-disaster plans have been presented three years after the Fukushima catastrophe.
More than 16,000 activists gathered in the Japanese capital, speaking out against the September 10 decision by the country’s nuclear watchdog to restart two reactors at the Sendai plant in southern Japan. We don’t need nuclear plants,” was one of the main slogans protesters shouted as the demonstration marched through the capital, now more than three years after a triple reactor meltdown at Fukushima’s power plant in March 2011.
“Three and a half years has passed since the nuclear accident, but self-examination has yet to be made,”Nobel literature laureate Kenzaburo Oe told the Tokyo rally.
“[Japan’s government] is going ahead with the plan to resume operation at the Sendai plant without compiling sufficient anti-disaster plans,” Oe said, according to public broadcaster NHK…….http://rt.com/news/190068-japan-nuclear-energy-protest/
Wild life affected by even low levels of radiation in Fukushima area
Even Low Radiation Levels In The Fukushima Disaster Area Are Harming Animals http://www.businessinsider.com.au/even-low-radiation-levels-in-the-fukushima-disaster-area-are-harming-animals-2014-9 CHRIS PASH Butterflies eating food collected from around the Fukushima nuclear meltdown site showed higher rates of death and disease, according to a Japanese study.
Researchers fed groups of pale blue grass butterflies (Zizeeria maha) leaves from six different areas at varying distance from the disaster site and then investigated the effects on the next generation.
Feeding offspring the same contaminated leaves as their parents magnified the effects of the radiation.
But offspring fed uncontaminated leaves were mostly like normal butterflies and the authors say this shows that decontaminating the food source can save the next generation.
The 2011 meltdown at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant released substantial amounts of radiation into the surrounding area.
Humans were evacuated and no significant health effects have been reported but the scientists from the University of the Rukyus, Okinawa, are studying the impact on the area’s wildlife.
In a previous study, the group suggested that eating leaves with high levels of radiation seriously affected the pale grass blue butterfly.
Their new study investigated the effect of eating leaves with much lower levels of radiation, which had been collected in 2012, a year after the disaster, from six areas that were between 59kms and 1,760kms from the site.
Their study, published in the journal BMC Evolutionary Biology, showed that even in these comparatively low levels of radiation, there was an observable difference in the butterflies’ lifespan, depending on the dose of caesium radiation in their food. Butterflies fed leaves with higher caesium radiation doses were also smaller and some had morphological abnormalities such as unusually shaped wings.
Professor Joji Otaki, of University of Rukyus, says wildlife has probably been damaged even at relatively low doses of radiation.
He says the study demonstrates that eating contaminated foods can cause serious negative effects on organisms.
“Such negative effects may be passed down the generations,” he says.
“On the bright side, eating non-contaminated food improves the negative effects, even in the next generation.”
Painfully slow and expensive – Fukushima radioactive trash cleanup
Fukushima cleanup going painfully slow, Japan Times BY MIZUHO AOKI STAFF WRITER SEP 22, 2014 Three and a half years after Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power station spewed massive amounts of radioactive materials into the air and water, decontamination work in Fukushima Prefecture has yet to draw to an end.
The government initially hoped to complete the decontamination by the end of last March, but the process continues to lag far behind, prompting the government to push back the goal by three years to 2017.
Due to the slow progress, huge bags filled with contaminated soil can still be seen piled up at hundreds of temporary storage sites across the prefecture, and many residents are in limbo, unable to make up their minds about whether to return home in the near future or to relocate for good.
How are toxic houses and land decontaminated?
The work mainly consists of scraping off the top layer of soil, removing grass and fallen leaves, and washing roofs and walls with water or wiping them off with cloth.
As of March, the removed soil and grass was being stored at more than 660 temporary storage sites set up by municipal governments in Fukushima and at 53,000 decontaminated spots such as school grounds and people’s front yards, according to the Fukushima Minpo newspaper………
Why is it taking so long?
The major reason is the lack of temporary storage sites that would be used until the government builds more permanent facilities.
Some residents are opposing the temporary storage of contaminated waste out of fear of radiation and uncertainty over how long the bags of tainted soil will be stored there.
But the central government hopes to speed up the whole process after reaching agreement with Fukushima Gov. Yuhei Sato on Sept. 1 to build temporary storage facilities in Okuma and Futaba in return for ¥301 billion in subsidies.
The government plans to start moving waste to the facilities in January and complete the transportation in three years.
The government is currently mulling the best way to move the contaminated waste. Last Thursday, the Environment Ministry proposed a transportation plan to a panel of experts, including using 10-ton dump trucks on expressways to deliver the soil quickly — and hopefully safely — to sites where it will likely sit for decades awaiting permanent disposal.
Will the government’s plan work?
That remains to be seen. The government still needs to negotiate with more than 2,000 landowners to acquire 16 sq. km of land in Okuma and Futaba to build the storage facilities…….
The total is estimated to reach 22 million cu. meters, equal to filling the Tokyo Dome 18 times.
Within three decades, the waste is supposed to moved to the final disposal sites the government plans to create outside Fukushima. However, the locations of these final sites have yet to be found.
The neighboring prefectures are having their own problems with radiation-tainted waste, as their residents are strongly opposed to storage nearby.
In July, the Environment Ministry designated a plot of state-owned land in Shioya, in Tochigi Prefecture, but the mayor and residents are opposed to the plan, saying it will damage the environment in which they live…….
The government estimates that the decontamination will cost about ¥2.5 trillion in total. But according to a calculation by the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, it could be twice as much, reaching a staggering ¥5 trillion. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/09/22/reference/fukushima-cleanup-going-painfully-slow/#.VCNe35RdUnk
Fukushima” radioactive groundwater seeps towards Tokyo
VIDEO: Radioactive material now flowing toward Tokyo and contaminating their water supply; Problems “actually only getting worse” — “Truth is no one in world really knows how to deal with Fukushima” — Gov’t Expert: Tepco “should give up’ making ice walls VIDEO: Radioactive material now 
flowing toward Tokyo and contaminating their water supply; Problems “actually only getting worse” — “Truth is no one in world really knows how to deal with Fukushima” — Gov’t Expert: Tepco “should give up’ making ice walls
Japan Times, Sept 19, 2014: Tepco started building ice walls [but] has been unable to seal the leaks… it hasn’t been able to freeze because the [highly contaminated] water is flowing too fast [from the turbine buildings]. Tepco is trying to figure out how it can seal up the leak[s]… but it is still unclear when it will be able to plug the leaks. [Atsunao Marui, a groundwater expert who isa memer of a goverment panel dealing with the tainted water issue] said Tepco has been spending too much time trying to make the ice walls work, and should give up and explore other alternatives.
Dr Ronald McCoy, MD, physician, Sept. 18, 2014 (emphasis added): Experts say that the Japanese government will soon be left with no choice but to release radioactive water into the ocean… The truth is that no one in the world really knows how to deal with the Fukushima accident… Murphy’s Law is inexorable: If anything can go wrong, in time it will go wrong. A major nuclear accident [can] render large areas of land uninhabitable for thousands of years.
Interview with Yokohama evacuees Beverly Findlay Kaneko and son Ryan, Social Uplift, Sept. 14, 2014 (at 3:00 in): I started working on March 11 this year, 2014, with Libbe Halevy of Nuclear Hotseat and we helped her produce a segment called Voices from Japan (Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 |Part 4)… We interviewed probably 12-14 different people, top people in the anti-nuclear and the humanitarian movements, regarding Fukushima… Every last one of those people said here we are 3 years after the disaster and nothing has changed. Nothing has changed except for the fact that the government keeps trying to brush the issue under the rug and cover up… Unfortunately the cleanup up the site has not progressed they are to the point now where there is so much contaminated water collecting at the site that now the only choice they have is to dump it into the Pacific Ocean. The rivers in Fukushima Prefecture were contaminated at the time of the accident. That contamination is now flowing toward the Tokyo area, contaminating the Tokyo water supply. So environmentally things have not gotten better they’re actually only getting worse.
Dr. Ferenc Dalnoki-Veress and Dr. Arjun Makhijani, Asia-Pacific Journal, Dec. 19, 2011: Some of the fuel has reached the concrete floor and may breach it, posing a threat of unremediable contamination of ground water.
See also: Bloomberg: Could Fukushima contamination flow downstream to Tokyo and present a big risk? (VIDEO)
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