In Japan’s elections, nuclear power is THE issue
Nuclear power ‘major issue’ in Japan poll SBS World News, 11 DEC 2012, SOURCE: KATESTOWELL, SBS Opinion polls have suggested the LDP is on course to return to government as the biggest party, but not with an outright majority.(AAP)
The future of nuclear power is shaping up as the major issue on voters’ minds ahead of national elections in Japan this week. … Continue reading
Greenpeace suing South Korea on its silencing of nuclear power critics
Greenpeace files court case to challenge South Korea’s silencing of nuclear criticshttp://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/press/Greenpeace-files-court-case-to-challenge-South-Koreas-silencing-of-nuclear-critics/?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=blog&utm_term=121012_1112&utm_campaign=Climate Greenpeace International and Greenpeace East Asia have launched a legal challenge against the South Korean government seeking a declaration that the government’s prohibiting of key international staff from entering the country was unlawful and anattempt to silence criticism of nuclear policies.
Through the lawsuit, lodged on Monday on international Human Rights Day, Greenpeace is seeking compensation of almost 70 million Korean won for disruption of six staff members’ ability to conduct their campaign about the risks of nuclear energy and for other damages. Continue reading
Japan workers organise for a nuclear free society
It’s Labor’s Turn! – Workers’ Committee to Aim for Nuclear Free Society Established http://labornetjp.blogspot.com.au/2012/12/its-labors-turn-workers-committee-to.html “Civil society is active in no nukes movement, but it’s our turn now to mobilize workers and unions,” HASEGAWA Takehisa, president of Japan Construction and Transport Industry Workers Solidarity Union, said on Nov. 20 in Tokyo. “We have long made effort to protect our jobs and livelihoods, but as we are threatened even for our existence by nuclear plants, we must protect our lives and safety. No life, no job. We would build solidarity with those who are deprived of decent work and living due to dangerous work in radioactive environment.” The committee formed by seven unions plans to hold a simultaneous actions in March and movie screening of a documentary on people of Futaba. Some 60 attended the meeting held for establishment of the committee and listened to KAIDO Yuichi, lawyer, who spoke of the basic law on nuclear free society. (By M)
India standing firm against USA pressure to weaken its Nuclear Liability Law
Won’t bow to US on nuclear liability law: Salman Khurshid Jayanth Jacob,Hindustan Times New Delhi, December 10, 2012 India has strongly rejected mounting US pressure to tweak its nuclear liability law — including suggestions that the legislation be interpreted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and revisited by Parliament.
Washington, DC, says the Indian law with stringent supplier international regimes on nuclear liability. If the IAEA says it is not compliant with the international system — as the Americans believe — they want India to “rework the law”, passed by Parliament. “The law (the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Act, 2010) has to be interpreted by our courts. Our courts are not subservient to any international organisation. They take into account our international obligations,” external affairs minister Salman Khurshid told HT in an exclusive interview……
The tough negotiations between India and the US also implies that commercial agreements for American companies to sell reactors to India are not likely any time soon, making operationalisation of the historic nuclear deal stuck in the last lap…..
http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/NewDelhi/Won-t-bow-to-US-on-nuclear-liability-law-Salman-Khurshid/Article1-970731.aspx
Multiple radiation symptoms in Japanese fronm areas around Fukushima
Newspaper: Door-to-door surveys revealed clusters of Fukushima residents with persistent nose bleeds, diarrhea — Fallout refugees talk about bizarre rashes, high fevers, more http://enenews.com/newspaper-fukushima-fallout-refugees-talk-about-bizarre-rashes-high-fevers-blood-noses-is-it-too-late-to-evacuate
December 8th, 2012
Kids exposed to radiation had rash, bloody nose, fever, etc., and brave mothers moved them to Okinawa. theage.com.au/world/escape-t…
7 Dec 12
Source: The Age (Australia)
Author: Jane Barraclough
Date: December 6, 2011 (Update: Please note report is from 2011)
As radiation hot spots emerge in Tokyo and nuclear contamination plagues the country, some Japanese are fleeing to the Okinawa island chain to avoid the fallout from Fukushima. But is it too late?
[…] 30 other refugees [in Okinawa] from around the mainland — mostly mothers with young children — share the same anxieties. They talk about bizarre rashes, high fevers, blood noses and government and industry failures “they can never forgive”.
[…] door-to-door surveying in non-evacuated areas 60 kilometres from the plant revealed clusters of residents with persistent nose bleeding and diarrhoea. The same symptoms were also found among Tokyo residents.
Hiroshima survivor Dr Shuntaro Hida, who runs a non-profit hospital for Chernobyl and Hiroshima atomic bomb victims, assessed 50 patients at a one-off clinic in the middle of the year.
“People presented with purple spots, nose bleeding, high fevers, diarrhoea, aching bones, and extreme fatigue, ” he says. […]
After seeing patients at the clinic with multiple radiation symptoms, Hida is concerned about radiation in Tokyo. […]
Exploitation of workers at Fukushima nuclear plant
Asahi: Fukushima workers report exploitation — Told to be like kamikaze — Large numbers leaving — “I wonder if we can raise children” http://enenews.com/asahi-fukushima-workers-report-exploitation-told-to-be-like-kamikaze-large-numbers-leaving-i-wonder-if-we-can-raise-children
December 9th, 2012
Title: Worker wants new government to secure safety at Fukushima plant
Source: AJW by The Asahi Shimbun
Author: Miki Aoki and Toshio Tada
Date: December 09, 2012
A man in his 50s hopes that a new government to be formed after the Dec. 16 Lower House election will protect the health of workers like himself at the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant […]
The man said workers at the Fukushima No. 1 plant are being exploited. […]
“Many people work without seeing a doctor because they fear they might be told not to come anymore from the next day,” he said. “It is a distortion caused by the layers of subcontractors involved. I want the government to protect us.” […] Continue reading
USA bullying Japan into keeping nuclear power
On 22 September the Tokyo Shimbun newspaper reported that the US Government had demanded that no cabinet decision endorsing the strategy be made. Other newspapers reported that the US Government was pressuring Japan to abandon its nuclear phase out aspirations.
More recently a series of statements by former senior US officials and advisors suggests a concerted campaign could be underway to intimidate the Japanese Government
whatever the outcome [of Japan’s election], Japan is undergoing a historic shift in its energy policy. The Japanese people need international support in this process, but they don’t need to be bullied.
Why America Wants A Nuclear Japan, New Matilda, 7 Dec 12 In the wake of the Fukushima disaster, most Japanese voters want the country’s nuclear power plants to be permanently closed down – but the US has other ideas, writes Philip White
On 14 September this year, one and a half years after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident, the Japanese Government released an unprecedented document.
The “Innovative Energy and Environment Strategy”, the culmination of a year-long policy review process, set the previously unthinkable target of zero nuclear energy by the end of the 2030s. In resolving to phase out nuclear energy, the Japanese Government did what it had never done before in the energy policy field: it allowed itself to be influenced
by the will of the people.
The backlash was immediate. Business groups banded together to condemn the strategy, governors of prefectures hosting nuclear facilities expressed concern about the future of these facilities and, perhaps equally significant, the governments of France, the UK and the United States communicated their displeasure. In the face of this onslaught the government went weak at the knees and failed to give the strategy formal cabinet endorsement…… Continue reading
Data on Fukushima workers’ radiation exposure
TEPCO releases worker radiation exposure data to WHO, Enformable.com. 6 Dec 12 TEPCO released data related to the radiation exposure doses documented for Fukushima Daiichi emergency workers which it had submitted to the World Health Organization (WHO).
The data showed the youngest workers were in their teens, while the oldest was 84 years old. One of the teenagers was exposed to 56.89 mSv. Most of the workers are in their 40s. 26 workers are over the age of 70.
TEPCO Worker Ages……
The highest radiation dose recorded was 678.8 mSv. The highest dose recorded by a worker in their 20s was 477.01 mSv…..
Distribution of Thyroid Doses based on measured value of I-131 (Thyroid equivalent dose from Cs not included in data)……
There are still over 600 workers unaccounted for in the most recent data, TEPCO did not release any details as to why they were unable to track down the missing workers……..
Source: TEPCO
Source: JiJi Press
Read more at http://enformable.com/2012/12/tepco-releases-worker-radiation-exposure-data-to-who/#les31YbP4ZC0Kk2S.99
Role of scientists paid to minimise risks of nuclear radiation
Outrage as AP exposes Japan scientists taking money from nuke industry — But we usually only fly coach so it’s OK — Radiation standards ‘twisted’ after 3/11 to limit evacuations http://enenews.com/just-in-outrage-as-ap-exposes-japan-scientists-taking-money-from-nuclear-industry-doctor-radiation-standards-were-twisted-to-limit-evacuations-after-311-the-excuse-we-usually-only-fly-coDecember 6th, 2012
Title: AP Exclusive: Japan scientists took utility money – The Denver Post
Source: AP
Author: YURI KAGEYAMA
Date: Dec 6, 2012
Influential Japanese scientists who help set national radiation exposure limits have for years had trips paid for by the country’s nuclear plant operators […]
The potential conflict of interest is revealed in one sentence buried in a 600-page parliamentary investigation into last year’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant disaster and pointed out to The Associated Press by a medical doctor on the 10-person investigation panel. […]
Some of these same scientists have consistently given optimistic assessments about the health risks of radiation, interviews with the scientists and government documents show. Continue reading
Tsuruga nuclear power plant may be sitting on an active earthquake fault
Regulator does not ‘rule out’ crush zone at Tsuruga nuclear plant as
active fault, Daily Yomuiri, 4 Dec 12 TSURUGA, Fukui (Jiji Press)–A nuclear regulator has not ruled out the possibility a crush zone under the Tsuruga nuclear power plant is an active fault, the presence of which would prevent restarting one of the plant’s reactors.
At a news conference Sunday after a second day of on-site surveys at the plant, Kunihiko Shimazaki, acting chairman of the Nuclear Regulation Authority, said inspectors found stratum deformation above the crush zone D-1, which runs directly underneath the plant’s No. 2 reactor building. The results of the survey, conducted by Shimazaki and four other
experts commissioned by the authority, will be evaluated at a meeting next week.
If D-1 is judged to be an active fault, the regulatory group will prevent Japan Atomic Power Co., the plant’s operator, from restarting the No. 2 reactor….. http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T121203003485.htm
Chaos in Japan Restoration Party as leader backtracks on abolishing nuclear power
Ishihara nuke flip-flop puts party in crisis Japan Times , 2 Dec 12 By ERIC JOHNSTON
Staff writer OSAKA — With the kickoff of the Dec. 16 Lower House election campaign
just one day away, Nippon Ishin no Kai (Japan Restoration Party) is in chaos after party leader Shintaro Ishihara declared Friday that he would revise a promise to abolish nuclear power by the 2030s. The
former Tokyo governor’s declaration is adding to a growing sense in
and outside the party that the decision to merge with Osaka Mayor Toru
Hashimoto’s party was a mistake. Continue reading
Ishihara now ambivalent about nuclear power, and considers nuclear weapons for japan
Pro-nuclear Ishihara already wants to rewrite party platform
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/politics/AJ201212010053
December 01, 2012 THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
Japan Restoration Party leader Shintaro Ishihara on Nov. 30 suggested
he will rewrite the party’s day-old campaign promises for the Dec. 16
Lower House election to better reflect his pro-nuclear stance.
In a debate among the chiefs of 11 political parties at the Japan National Press Club, Ishihara was asked about his party’s platform that said “nuclear power generation at existing reactors would fade out by the 2030s.”
Ishihara, a former Tokyo governor, suggested that he will review the platform that he and acting leader Toru Hashimoto, the popular Osaka mayor, announced just the previous day.
He said the party will “think about” stopping some nuclear reactors through simulations. Continue reading
Fukushima workers with high internal radiation doses
High thyroid radiation doses in 178 Fukushima workers Asahi Shimbun, December 01, 2012
By YURI OIWA Dozens of workers received potentially cancerous doses of radiation to
their thyroid glands during recovery work at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, according to data submitted to the World Health
Organization.
Tests on workers suspected of having high whole-body internal doses
found 178 individuals whose thyroid glands displayed doses greater
than 100 millisieverts, the generally accepted threshold for a raised
risk of thyroid cancer.
The highest recorded dose was 11,800 millisieverts, a level that would
give a correspondingly high probability of thyroid cancer.
Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. submitted the data on thyroid
tests for 522 workers—both its own staff and contractors—to the WHO
upon request. ….
The WHO assessed the probability of these people developing thyroid
cancer by reviewing medical records from the Hiroshima and Nagasaki
atomic blasts. It calculated the risk for people in three separate age
categories—aged 20, 40 or 60 at the time of exposure.
It said a 20-year-old who receives a dose of 11,800 millisieverts will
be 34 times more likely to develop thyroid cancer within 15 years.
…..
“Some epidemiological studies suggest that radiation exposure can
increase the risk of thyroid cancer for people aged 40 or older, too,”
said Yoshio Hosoi, a professor at Hiroshima University’s Research
Institute for Radiation Biology and Medicine. “In addition tochildren, adults need to receive continued tests if their thyroid
gland radiation doses are 100 millisieverts or higher.”
TEPCO said it plans to offer workers thyroid gland ultrasound
examinations free of charge if their whole-body radiation doses are 50
millisieverts or higher.
However, at least one expert said that may not include all people at risk.
“There is a possibility that the thyroid gland radiation dose is 100
millisieverts even if the whole-body dose is only 5 millisieverts,”
said Saburo Murata, deputy director of Hannan Chuo Hospital.
Murata called on TEPCO to release all past test results—and those of
tests in the future.
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/life_and_death/AJ201212010050
Confusion in Japan over nuclear policies
Japan grapples with nuclear question, Ft.com 2 Dec 12 By Jonathan Soble in Tokyo Japanese voters hoping to use December’s election to cast a ballot for or against nuclear power – the most emotionally charged issue in the
country since the Fukushima disaster – are getting little help from mainstream politicians.
Over the weekend, Japanese lawmakers across the political spectrum suggested in televised debates that the leading parties had converged on something close to a consensus – but their comments left plenty of room for confusion.
“Saying you can achieve zero nuclear in ten years or something is like
selling bananas in the street,” said Toru Hashimoto, the mayor
governor and founder of the upstart Restoration party, referring to
the way Japanese supermarkets used to sell cheap bananas in front of
their stores to draw in customers.
In September, the Democratic Party of Japan – which polls suggest will
be ousted on December 16 – unveiled a plan to abandon nuclear power by
2040. But it contained big loopholes and Prime Minister Yoshihiko
Noda’s administration watered it down days later by promising
“flexible” implementation.
Since Fukushima, Japan has grappled with whether to abandon nuclear
power, which previously provided 30 per cent of its electricity.Politicians have been seeking to balance unresolved safety concerns
with warnings from business about the high cost of abandoning atomic
energy.
Mr Hashimoto’s comments illustrate how far some parties have travelled
to join the emerging consensus. The former Osaka governor gained
attention after Fukushima as one of the most vocal critics of the
nuclear industry, accusing power companies of “lying” about the need
to keep atomic plants running to avoid electricity shortages.
His Restoration party is polling in second place, slightly ahead of
the DPJ with about 15 per cent support. Its campaign platform promises
to uphold the target for eliminating nuclear power by 2040. But Mr
Hashimoto said at the weekend that the timeline was a “starting point”
for policy rather than a hard-and-fast promise…..
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/75d1540c-3c60-11e2-a6b2-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2E1TCQFJH.
Pakistan’s growing arsenal
Nuclear nightmare: Book hints at disturbing conclusion that Pak’s arsenal will continue to grow without restraint India Today 2 Dec 12, This is the definitive study of the Pakistani nuclear weapons programme written by a retired brigadier of the Pakistan Army who has worked in the Strategic Plans Division, the secretariat of that country’s National Command Authority, and who has had unprecedented access its top personnel.
Its title comes from the famous statement of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, undoubtedly the key architect of programme, who had famously declared that if India makes an atom bomb, then “even if we have feed on grass and leaves”, Pakistan will follow suit. :http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/manoj-joshi-eating-grass-the-making-of-pakistani-bomb/1/235680.html
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