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Excerpts from ‘Fukushima has an Ongoing Melt-Out’ On March 11, 2011, Pandora’s Box was opened. Japan Times, Commentary by Prof. Christopher Hobson of Waseda University: Apr. 24, 2014: […] many serious challenges lie ahead. There will be more leaks and problems at the No. 1 plant. There will also have to be the controlled release of contaminated water into the ocean. Public support and understanding will be needed through these difficult processes. For this to happen, Tepco needs to begin to rebuild its credibility with the public […] Tepco’s regaining the trust of Japan’s public is just as difficult a task as resolving the technical challenges in decommissioning the plant. The only way this might happen is […] to be more honest and transparent about the problems in Fukushima. |
China’s nuclear reactors endanger Taiwan, but “national leaders” will be safe
China nuclear plants a threat to Taiwan: NSB chief By Joseph Yeh, The China Post May 6, 2014, TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan is at risk of nuclear disasters and radioactive incidents as more than a dozen nuclear power plants are located along coastal areas of the Chinese mainland, National Security Bureau (NSB, 國安局) head Tsai De-sheng (蔡得勝) said yesterday……As the island of Taiwan is located close to the Chinese mainland, the NSB head said Taiwan is at high risk of nuclear disasters and radioactive incidents if an incident similar to Japan’s Fukushima incident in 2011 occurs on the other side of the Taiwan Strait……
Once a nuclear disaster or radioactive incident occurs, Tsai said, the NSB will escort national leaders and senior Cabinet members to a safe house as soon as possible. An annual drill has focused on having national heads evacuate in case of emergency, he added.
Tsai made the comments in response to lawmakers’ questions on the government’s nuclear disaster response measures during the Legislature’s National Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee meeting yesterday.
Speaking during the same session, Defense Minister Yen Ming (嚴明) said the military will immediately relocate important military facilities and installations once a nuclear accident happens.http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/national/national-news/2014/05/06/407029/China-nuclear.htm
Lin Yi-hsiung will continue his fight against nuclear power in Taiwan
Hunger Striker Ends Fast, but Not Fight, Against Nuclear Power in Taiwan NYT, By AUSTIN RAMZY MAY 1, 2014, A former head of Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party has announced that he is ending his hunger strike, but not his campaign, against nuclear power on the island.
The former leader, Lin Yi-hsiung, 72, began his protest on April 22, and it drew attention from Taiwan’s leaders and from protesters, who converged on central Taipei in recent days to say they were inspired by Mr. Lin’s sacrifice.
In announcing the end of his fast on Wednesday, Mr. Lin thanked protesters for their recent campaign against nuclear power.
“Over the past half month, the people of Taiwan’s outstanding display has been unprecedented, which leaves one feeling moved, full of admiration and deeply appreciative,” he wrote in a blog post.
On Monday, the government announced that it was halting work on the Lungmen nuclear power plant in northeast Taiwan, about 20 miles outside Taipei, pending a referendum on its future. The project, known as No. 4, was started more than a decade ago and has cost more than $9 billion………
The 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan has raised concerns among many people in Taiwan about the safety of nuclear power, particularly with a plant that is near the ocean and the island’s largest urban area.
After Sunday’s demonstration, which the police estimated drew 28,500 people and organizers say had as many as 50,000, a smaller number of protesters converged on a main street near Taipei’s main train station. They were forcibly removed by the police using water cannons.
With the halt to construction on the plant and the end of Mr. Lin’s hunger strike, the momentum for antinuclear demonstrations has ebbed somewhat. But smaller protests have continued outside the legislature building this week, and Mr. Lin has called on his supporters to continue pushing for the shutdown of Taiwan’s three other nuclear power plants.
“If work on No. 4 doesn’t resume, it’s no longer an issue,” he wrote. “Nuclear opponents should take a step forward to ensuring the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 nuclear power plants are closed on schedule.” http://sinosphere.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/05/01/hunger-striker-ends-fast-but-not-fight-against-nuclear-power-in-taiwan/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0
Japanese nuclear utilities call for tax-payer support as they post losses
Japanese utilities post losses, seek state support Star Online 2 May 14 TOKYO: Japan’s nuclear-reliant utilities reported losses for the third straight year and warned of further electricity rate hikes to pay for surging fuel imports as they face an uncertain outlook for restarting idled reactors.
Six of Japan’s nine big regional power companies, all of which own reactors, reported a combined net loss of US$3.3bil as they face the rising fuel costs and also spend billions of US dollars to 
upgrade nuclear facilities to meet new regulatory standards. “We can no longer deny the possibility that we will not be able to restart a nuclear plant for some time,” Kansai Electric Power president Makoto Yagi told an earnings briefing, adding that another electricity rate hike might become inevitable. It raised rates by 9.75% last May.
Kansai Electric, Japan’s second-largest utility by revenue which supplies nearly one-fifth of the nation’s electricity, reported a 97.4 billion yen (US$950mil) net loss for the fiscal year that ended on March 31, its third consecutive year of losses.
Kyushu Electric Power and Hokkaido Electric Power said on Wednesday they would request financial support from the government-affiliated Development Bank of Japan, asking it to buy 150 billion yen in preferred shares in the two utilities.
Kyushu Electric serves Japan’s southern main island which is home to several auto and chip plants, while Hokkaido Electric serves the northern-most island.
The three consecutive years of net losses for utilities will make it difficult for them to secure further private-sector loans under standard Japanese banking practices, pushing firms like Kyushu and Hokkaido to seek public support……..Even in the most optimistic scenario, analysts and industry watchers say Japan may only be able to restart one-third of its reactors, while 17 are unlikely ever to come back online due to their age, location or proximity to suspected active fault lines. — Reuters http://www.thestar.com.my/Business/Business-News/2014/05/02/Japanese-utilities-post-losses-seek-state-support/
Fukushima’s children thyroid cancer and justifiable anxiety over radiation
Thyroid cancer cases rise near Fukushima as schoolchildren flee radiation http://www.naturalnews.com/044938_thyroid_cancer_Fukushima_schoolchildren.html
Thursday, May 01, 2014 by: Jonathan Benson, staff writer (NaturalNews) Disillusioned by the government’s questionable position on radiation dangers throughout the region, many Japanese families living in and around the Fukushima prefecture where a large nuclear power station sustained three full meltdowns back in 2011 are deciding to send their children away to greener, safer pastures.
Associated Press (AP) reporter Yuri Kageyama reports that many families living within the so-called “no-go zone,” which covers a six-mile radius surrounding the plant, are not so sure that their children are safe there. At least 33 children throughout the region have been diagnosed with thyroid cancer since the Fukushima disaster, and many more are suffering from other symptoms possibly caused by radiation.
This is why Yukie Hashimoto and her husband decided to send their 12-year-old daughter 200 miles away to a resort town in central Japan. Concerned that the girl might eventually develop symptoms from perpetual exposure to low-dose radiation, the Hashimotos decided to take advantage of an offer by the town’s mayor to take in, educate and care for young Fukushima refugees.
“The low-dose radiation is continuing,” stated Hashimoto to reporters about the decision. “There is no precedent. We don’t know what effect that will have on our children.”
Local leader says radiation levels four times higher around Fukushima than after Chernobyl
And the Hashimotos aren’t alone. The families of at least seven other children near Fukushima have reportedly decided to do the same thing to protect their children from long-term harm. This comes as local leader Katsutaka Idogawa, former mayor of Futaba, a town near Fukushima, recently issued a warning about radiation levels near Fukushima being four times higher than they were near Chernobyl.
“It is by no means safe, no matter what the government says,” he is quoted saying to RT.com.
Many residents in the area feel the same way, having expressed concerns about the validity of government reassurances that radiation levels are too low to be harmful. If recent radiation readings are any indication, it is clear that things are hardly as rosy as the world is being led to believe.
“I didn’t really believe things are as safe as the government is telling us,” Hashimoto said to AP reporters. “We made our decision with her future, 10 years and 20 years later, in mind.”
Thyroid-cancer-surgeon-turned-mayor to care for refugee children
In Matsumoto, the ski town where their daughter and a handful of others have now been sent, the children will receive an education and be cared for by local families. If complications should arise from earlier radiation exposure, the children will have access to the town’s mayor, a medical doctor who previously performed more than 100 thyroid cancer surgeries following Chernobyl.
“If my fears turn out to be unfounded, nothing would be better news,” stated Akira Sugenoya, the mayor in question, to the AP last fall when he first announced taking in refugee children living near Fukushima. “But if they become reality, then there is little time before it’s too late.”
For the Hashimotos, not everyone in the family is necessarily on board with this precautionary measure. The young girl’s older brother and grandmother both think her relocation is extreme, and she herself is worried about her leaving her six-year-old brother behind, since he is too young to be accepted into the program. But at the end of the day, her parents are certain that the decision is sound.
“The bottom line is: No one knows for sure,” stated Hiroshi Ueki, a former Fukushima resident who moved with his wife and two children to Matsumoto to lead the project. “What we do know is that the cases of cancer are up, and so naturally we are worried.”
Fukushima’s ‘safety’ ice wall will not work according to PRO NUCLEAR Dale Klein and Barbara Judge
Nuclear expert doubts ice wall will solve Fukushima plant leaks http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/05/02/national/nuclear-expert-doubts-ice-wall-will-solve-fukushima-plant-leaks/#.U2QRuIFdWik
KYODO An international nuclear expert expressed skepticism Thursday over Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s plan to set up an ice wall to ultimately stop radioactive water from further increasing at the troubled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear complex.
“I’m not convinced that the freeze wall is the best option,” former U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Dale Klein, who heads a supervisory panel tasked with overseeing the plant operator’s nuclear safety efforts, said in an interview with Kyodo News.
“What I’m concerned about is unintended consequences,” Klein said.
“Where does that water go and what are the consequences of that? I think they need more testing and more analysis,” he said.
Former British Atomic Energy Authority Chairwoman Barbara Judge, who was also present at the interview in Tokyo and is part of the panel, said there is a need to assess during summer whether the ice wall method would be effective. The remarks by the two overseas experts came at a time when concerns over the plan are being raised by Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority and engineering experts. Their opinions may cast a shadow on Tepco’s plan to begin operating the ice wall by the end of next March.
“No one has built a freeze wall this long for this period of time. Typically, you build a freeze wall for a few months,” Klein said.
Faced with a string of problems including radioactive water leaks at the Fukushima plant, Tepco is attempting to freeze 1.5 kilometers of soil around the basement areas of the Nos. 1 to 4 reactor buildings.
The ice wall is envisioned to block groundwater from seeping into the reactor buildings’ basement areas and mixing with highly toxic water used to cool the plant’s three crippled reactors.
“I am much in favor of the bypass system,” Klein said, referring to the groundwater bypass system in which Tepco pumps groundwater at the Fukushima plant to direct it into the sea to reduce the amount of water seeping into the reactor buildings.
“The freeze wall is expensive,” he said, urging Tepco and the government to look at the cost of building one and whether the plan is making the “best use of limited resources.” “I would encourage them to get international advice a little bit more,” Klein said about Tepco, in terms of its decontamination work and future plans to scrap the plant.
Klein also urged the company to work with and share information with relevant authorities in the United States and Britain given that those nations are experienced in water management and decontamination efforts at former military or weapons-related sites.
Tomioka a radioactive dead town in Fukushima Prefecture
AP: “This town is dead”… Locals feel Fukushima plant could explode any minute; Yearly ‘safe’ radiation levels exceeded “in a matter of a few hours” — TV: “Fukushima evacuees complain of health problems”; Nearly 70% of households affected http://enenews.com/ap-this-town-is-dead-we-feel-fukushima-plant-could-explode-any-minute-says-evacuee-yearly-safe-radiation-levels-exceeded-in-a-matter-of-a-few-hours-tv-evacuees-complain-of-health?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ENENews+%28Energy+News%29
NHK WORLD,, Apr. 30, 2014: Fukushima evacuees complain of health problems […] nearly 70 percent of households that evacuated after the March 2011 disaster have members who complain of health problems. The prefecture polled more than 62,800 evacuee households. About one-third responded. [68%] said one or more of their members complain of health problems such as lack of sleep or depression.
AP,, Apr. 30, 2014: […] It’s difficult to imagine ever living again in Tomioka, a ghost town about 10 kilometres from the former Fukushima Dai-chi nuclear plant. […] The streets were abandoned […] The neighbourhood was eerily quiet except for the chirping of the nightingales. […] The long-term goal is to bring annual exposure down to one millisievert […] considered the safe level before the disaster, but the government is lifting evacuation orders at higher levels.
It says it will monitor the health and exposure of people who move back to such areas. In the yellow restricted zone […] a visitor exceeds one millisievert in a matter of a few hours. […] “The prime minister says the accident is under control, but we feel the thing could explode the next minute,” said Michiko Onuki, who ran a ceramic and craft shop out of their Tomioka home. “We would have to live in fear of radiation. This town is dead.” […] “I can survive anywhere, although I had a plan for my life that was destroyed from its very roots,” said [Tomioka city assemblyman Seijun] Ando, tears welling up in his eyes. […]
Japan’s Prime Minister Abe hastens sale of nuclear power plant to UK
Abe’s visit spurs signing of deal to build nuclear plant Ft.com, By Kiran Stacey and Guy Chazan 2 May 14, Britain’s nuclear power industry was given a boost on Thursday as one of Japan’s largest companies took a step closer to building a £10bn nuclear power plant in the north-west.
Toshiba, the engineering and technology company, signed an agreement giving it the right to build at Sellafield, in west Cumbria, during a visit by Shinzo Abe, Japanese prime minister, to London, in an effort to boost trade and investment between the two countries.
The land option agreement for the new nuclear site will involve total payments by Toshiba and its partners to Britain’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority of over £200m by the time the option is exercised, the energy department said……….
The NuGen consortium, a joint venture between Toshiba/Westinghouse and France’s GDF Suez, owns a site near Sellafield in west Cumbria that has been earmarked for three new reactors. …….
The leaders of the two countries also agreed to launch negotiations on sharing supplies and transport services between their militaries, as well as accelerating a plan to jointly develop military equipment.
Mr Abe’s willingness to discuss military co-operation is a sign of his efforts to make Japan a more significant player on the world stage, something he refers to as making a “greater contribution to peace”.
But while officials in both countries welcomed the deal as a sign of healthy trading ties, the warm words mask deeper Japanese unease about Britain’s role in Europe. Mr Abe used his visit to Downing Street to press home the urgency of signing a trade agreement between Japan and the EU, something he wants to achieve by 2015……….http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/6fa6824e-d144-11e3-bdbb-00144feabdc0.html#axzz30asoDSeZ
TEPCO makes $4.3 Billion Profit
Fukushima Nuclear Plant Operator Tepco Books $4.3 Billion Profit http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/business/fukushima-nuclear-plant-operator-tepco-books-4-3-billion-profit/ By Agence France-Presse Apr 30, 2014 The operator of Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant said on Wednesday it booked a $4.3 billion annual net profit owing to an electricity rate hike and a massive government bailout following the 2011 disaster.
Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) was teetering on the brink as cleanup and
compensation costs stoked huge losses and threatened to collapse the sprawling utility until Tokyo stepped with a multi-billion dollar rescue.
The company at the center of the worst nuclear accident in a generation said it earned 438.65 billion yen ($4.3 billion) in the fiscal year to March, compared with a net loss of 685.3 billion yen in the same period a year earlier.
Sales rose 11.0 percent to 6.63 trillion yen, it said.
The company’s results got a boost from a rate hike, and helped offset a decline in the amount of electricity Tepco sold owing to warmer-than-usual winter weather, it said.
It also booked a special gain of 1.8 trillion yen based on funds the company received from a government-backed bailout fund as well as asset sales.
But it added that rising fossil fuel costs after Japan switched off its nuclear reactors were pressuring its bottom line.
“The business environment that surrounds us remains very serious,” Tepco president Naomi Hirose told a news conference.
The Fukushima plant’s cooling systems were swamped by the 2011 tsunami, sparking reactor meltdowns and radiation leaks.
Tens of thousands of people were evacuated from around the plant with decommissioning of the site expected to take decades.
Central Asia to be a nuclear weapons free zone
Five Powers Agree to Respect Central Asian Nuclear-Free Zone National Journal, 30 April 14, By Rachel Oswald The world’s five nuclear powers announced on Tuesday they had agreed to never use their atomic arms against five Central Asian countries.
“They commit not to attack them with nuclear weapons or to threaten them with nuclear weapons and also respect the other [treaty] provisions” banning the deployment or testing of atomic arms in Central Asia, said nonproliferation expert Gaukhar Mukhatzhanova, who is attending the Preparatory Committee meeting in New York City where the announcement was made by the five powers.
The Central Asia Nuclear Weapon Free Zone commits its signatories — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan — to refrain from developing, acquiring or possessing nuclear weapons. The treaty entered into force in 2009 without the world’s formally recognized nuclear-armed countries — China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States — agreeing to abide by its limits.
It took five years of “intensive consultations” for the five powers to agree to sign a protocol to the Central Asian treaty, according to Mukhatzhanova, a senior research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.
“It’s certainly one of the bigger news [items] so far” to come out of the Preparatory Committee meeting, Mukhatzhanova said in a Tuesday phone interview. The so-called “PrepCom” gathering is being held in advance of next year’s Review Conference for the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Peter Jones, director of defense and international security at the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, in astatement to the meeting said the United Kingdom was “delighted” to demonstrate its “commitment to legally binding negative security assurances by signing a protocol” to the treaty.
Moscow in its statement said it wished to sign the protocol “as soon as possible.” Washington similarly expressed its anticipation for inking the text.
Mukhatzhanova said she believed any signing ceremony at the meeting would take place in private, with the five powers submitting the treaty to their respective legislative bodies for ratification at a later date.
An agreement by the five powers to sign the pact had been held up for years, due to problems that London, France and particularly Washington had with some of the accord’s language, she said. The specific point of contention dealt with Article 12, which states that the agreement “does not affect the rights and obligations of the parties under other [pre-existing] international treaties.”…….http://www.nationaljournal.com/global-security-newswire/five-powers-agree-to-respect-central-asian-nuclear-free-zone-20140430
28,500 Taiwanese anti-nuclear demonstrators met with water cannons
Taiwan uses water cannon to disperse anti-nuclear protesters The West Australian, 28 April 14, Taipei (AFP) – Taiwan police on Monday used water cannon to dislodge hundreds of demonstrators blocking a main road in the capital to demand the scrapping of a controversial nuclear power plant.
An estimated 28,500 anti-nuclear demonstrators had blockaded one of Taipei’s busiest streets Sunday, forcing the ruling Kuomintang party to yield and halt construction work at the nearly completed plant.
The concession prompted many demonstrators to leave but hundreds remained, causing police to use water cannon to disperse them on Monday morning…….
A Kuomintang spokesman announced Sunday there would be no further work on this reactor. After safety checks, it would be sealed.
“Construction of reactor two will be terminated,” the spokesman said. “In the future, any such commercial operation will be decided by a referendum.”
The government has already offered to hold a referendum on the future of the power plant, but opponents say the vote’s proposed terms would be too restrictive.
Protest organisers said they would keep watching to see if the government fulfils its promises……..
Like Japan, Taiwan is regularly hit by earthquakes. In September 1999 a 7.6-magnitude quake killed around 2,400 people in the island’s deadliest natural disaster in recent history……https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/world/a/23032473/taiwan-uses-water-cannon-to-disperse-anti-nuclear-protesters/
Japan’s government pressuring Fukushima evacuees to return: govt wants no criticism of nuclear power
The government has declared that the stipends, which range from a few hundred dollars to more than $1,000, will end next March, when temporary housing will also begin to be closed. Villagers who move back before then will receive a $9,000 bonus from Tepco, adding to the pressure to return
the evacuees will feel increasing pressure to go back from a government that wants to restore the preaccident status quo as much as possible to limit criticism of the powerful nuclear industry.
Forced to Flee Radiation, Fearful Japanese Villagers Are Reluctant to Return NYT, By MARTIN FACKLER APRIL 27, 2014 MIYAKOJI, Japan — Ever since they were forced to evacuate during the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant three years ago, Kim Eunja and her husband have refused to return to their hilltop home amid the majestic mountains of this rural village for fear of radiation.
But now they say they may have no choice. After a nearly $250 million radiation cleanup here, the central government this month declared Miyakoji the first community within a 12-mile evacuation zone around the plant to be reopened to residents. The decision will bring an end to the monthly stipends from the plant’s operator that have allowed Ms. Kim to relocate to an apartment in a city an hour away.
“The government and the media say the radiation has been cleaned up, but it’s all lies,” said Ms. Kim, 55, who is from South Korea, and who with her Japanese husband runs a small Korean restaurant outside Miyakoji. “I want to run away, but I cannot. We have no more money.”
She is not the only one. While the central government and national news media have trumpeted the reopening of Miyakoji as a happy milestone in Japan’s recovery from the devastating March 2011 accident, many residents tell a darker story. They insist their homes remain too dangerous or too damaged to inhabit and that they have not received enough financial compensation to allow them to start anew somewhere else…….
many evacuees have been forced to live in a state of limbo since the accident, unable to leave barracks-like temporary housing, or end their dependency on Tepco for monthly stipends to live in apartments outside the village. Tepco pays the stipends under orders from the government.
Now they feel growing pressure to return whether they want to or not. The government has declared that the stipends, which range from a few hundred dollars to more than $1,000, will end next March, when temporary housing will also begin to be closed. Villagers who move back before then will receive a $9,000 bonus from Tepco, adding to the pressure to return……..
Experts call Miyakoji a forerunner of the problems that will be faced by the 150,000 people displaced by the accident over all, as additional communities are reopened as a result of a $36 billion government-financed cleanup. They say the evacuees will feel increasing pressure to go back from a government that wants to restore the preaccident status quo as much as possible to limit criticism of the powerful nuclear industry.
“This is inhumane and irresponsible,” said Teruhisa Maruyama, a lawyer who leads the Support Group for Victims of the Nuclear Accident, a Tokyo-based legal organization that helps residents seek increased compensation.
Authorities had hoped that Miyakoji could serve as a model for repopulating the evacuated communities. So far, only about a third of residents have returned, and most of them are older villagers who feel they have less to worry about from the long-term cancer risks of radiation……..
“They want to say that everything is back to normal so they can keep their nuclear plants,” said Mr. Mizuochi, 57, who helps his wife at the restaurant. “Failing to compensate us for our losses is a way of pressuring us to go back.” http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/28/world/asia/forced-to-flee-radiation-fearful-japanese-villagers-are-reluctant-to-return.html?_r=0
People power brings a halt to Taiwan’s new nuclear reactors
Taiwan to halt construction at fourth nuclear power plant The Taiwan government will halt construction at the island’s fourth nuclear power plant as local opposition to atomic energy continues to mount. Australia Network News 28 April 14
President Ma Ying-jeou’s Kuomintang party says a decision has been made to seal off the plant’s first reactor after the completion of safety checks.
And construction of the second reactor will be halted immediately.
The move is the latest sign of pressure on Mr Ma’s administration from opposition parties and anti-nuclear activists, who are concerned about the safety of such facilities in earthquake-prone regions of Taiwan following the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan.
Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in downtown Taipei over the weekend, urging the government to abandon nuclear energy……..http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-28/an-taiwan-nuclear-protest/5414294
UV radiation, climate change, ozone hole – all bad for health
Be alert, UV radiation reaching alarming proportions in state Sanjoy Dey Ranchi, April 27, 2014 Be alert, if you feel skin burns, headache or eye inflammation on a brief day out nowadays. This may be ultraviolet (UV) radiation effect, which is alarming in major parts of the state including Ranchi for last few days. So, avoid direct sun heat in the noon, as Jharkhand is already burning at 39 to 42 degrees Celsius. Two global weather agencies — Meteovista and WeatherOnline — have put Jharkhand 
in extreme category UV index. Their statistics suggest that state’s major cities and districts have crossed the UV index of 11.Meteovista’s statistics of Sunday showed UV index at 11+ while observation of WeatherOnline suggests that UV index hovering around 12 for last few days. Both the agencies predicted that the situation might continue even in the next month.
Even though India Meteorological Department (IMD) raised doubts over the observations of two agencies, Birsa Agricultural University’s (BAU) study on Minimal Erythemal Dose (MED) proves that UV radiation is exceeding the permissible limit at least in the state capital.
AK Sen, director Patna Meteorological Centre, said, “The UV index provides information about the level of UV rays or ultraviolet radiation that reaches the surface. If it exceeds the permissible limit, it has definitely some harm on human body.”
The UV rays are those sun rays that can cause sunburns and long term exposure to UV rays could also cause skin cancer, cataracts and some other diseases, according to the guidebook of IMD. UV Index is divided into five categories-Low (0-2 UV Index), Moderate (3-5), High (6-7), Very High (8-10) and Extreme (11+).
Experts suggested taking all precautions including wear sunglasses, using SPF 30+ sunscreen, covering body with long-sleeve shirt and trousers and avoiding the sun from 11am to 4pm if it is at extreme category……..
BAU study shows that UV radiation is alarming in Ranchi. “We find radiation is exceeding the standard unit limit between 11.30am and 1.30pm these days. The highest MED recorded this week is 2.2 while the standard unit of MED is one,” Wadud said. He said that this has some health impact for sure but crops are still safe from such radiation level.
Wadud blamed the depleting ozone layer as main reason for rising radiation level in Jharkhand. “Since ozone layer is depleting, radiation level is also increasing in the state,” Wadud said.http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/ranchi/be-alert-uv-radiation-reaching-alarming-proportions-in-state/article1-1212946.aspxHindustan Times,
Fukushima “Disaster never seen in human history”
Journal: “Fukushima has an Ongoing Melt-Out” — “Is this not the worst possible outcome?” — “Nuclear fuel mixing with groundwater and leaking into sea” — “Disaster never seen in human history and imagined only in movies” — Tokyo Paper: “A situation in which massive accidents occur daily” http://enenews.com/journal-fukushima-has-an-ongoing-melt-out-is-this-not-the-worst-possible-outcome-nuclear-fuel-mixing-with-groundwater-and-leaking-into-sea-disaster-never-seen-in-human-history April 26, 2014
100 Taiwanese academics take to the streets in anti nuclear protest
Academics take to the streets against nuclear generation, Taipei Times, 25 April 14 By Loa Iok-sin / Staff reporter About 100 academics yesterday staged a silent march from Ketagalan Boulevard in front of the Presidential Office Building to Gikong Presbyterian
Church, where former Democratic Progressive Party chairman Lin Yi-xiong (林義雄) has been on a hunger strike since Tuesday, to urge the government to give up nuclear energy.
“Nuclear power is the most negative product of capitalism and imperialism, it’s a disaster for the disadvantaged,” said Cheng Fei-wen (鄭斐文), an associate professor of sociology at Tung Hai University. “When nuclear disaster occurs, it is the poor, the aged and children who will suffer the most. Even today, the Tao people on Orchid Island still suffer from nuclear waste storage,” he added.
National Chung Cheng University professor Chen Ruey-lin (陳瑞麟) said Taiwan was located in the so-called “Ring of Fire,” where frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions occur in the basin of the Pacific Ocean.
“I don’t think Taiwan is qualified to use nuclear energy,” he added…………
Taiwan Association of University Professors president Lu Chung-chin (呂忠津), who teaches electrical engineering at National Tsing Hua University, said the government should not continue to threaten the public by saying that there may be a power shortage without the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant.
“It would be better if the government could use this critical time to develop a green energy system for our future,” he said.
The group marched in silence to the church after tying yellow ribbons with the slogan: “Stop the Fourth Nuclear Power Plant; return the power to the people” on police barricades that barred them from getting close to the Presidential Office Building…….http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2014/04/26/2003588934
1 This Month
19 May – Webinar No To Nuclear: Why Nuclear Power Destroys Lives, Derails Climate Progress and Provokes War
1 June Webinar – The High Cost of Nuclear Power – Register
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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