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USA military were told of radiation data 9 days before Japanese public

Radiation-dispersal data was provided to U.S. before Japanese public,  Mainichi Daily News,  17 Jan 12, TOKYO (Kyodo) –– Japan’s science ministry provided data on the dispersal of radioactive materials to U.S. forces a few days after the nuclear crisis erupted at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, far earlier than the disclosure of the information to the Japanese public, a ministry official said Monday.

The revelation came amid criticism that the government’s delay in releasing data from the System for Prediction of Environmental Emergency Dose Information may have resulted in the unnecessary radiation exposure of people who later evacuated from their homes around the plant.

The data was provided to U.S. forces via the Japanese Foreign Ministry on March 14, three days after a devastating earthquake and tsunami triggered the nuclear crisis, according to Itaru Watanabe, an official of the Science and Technology Policy Bureau of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

But it was not until March 23 that the public was officially informed. Watanabe, speaking at a meeting of the nuclear accident investigation panel set up by the Diet, said that the science ministry passed on the data to U.S. forces “to seek support from them” in dealing with the nuclear crisis…..http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20120117p2g00m0dm037000c.html

January 18, 2012 Posted by | Japan, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Japan’s media “press club”- subservient to nuclear industry and government

troubling questions whether nuclear power is safe anywhere in this seismically-active archipelago. TEPCO, as on previous occasions, provided incomplete answers, perhaps reflecting valid uncertainties—but also suggesting it is not telling the whole story.

Japan’s nuclear crisis, The meltdown and the media The Economist, Jan 16th 2012,  by K.N.C. | TOKYO “…On January 16th, the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (NAIIC) held its first public hearing. Some 50 members of the public, and around 100 journalists, attended.
…..Japan’s media operate under a “press club” system that can lead to a form of self-censorship. News is doled out in unofficial interactions with the press. This serves many interests. For government and to a lesser extent business, it keeps the media on a tight leash and controls content. For individual journalists, it gives the veneer of exclusive information and inside access. For newspapers, it lessens the chance of being scooped by rivals, so everyone can work under less pressure. Continue reading →

January 18, 2012 Posted by | Japan, media | Leave a comment

USA and Australia should stop special nuclear favours to India

Australia in particular, along with the United States and the Nuclear Suppliers Group, must review recent decisions to positively discriminate in order to permit nuclear dealings with India.

The evidence is incontrovertible that India was a customer of the Khan network.

Gillard’s sexual education, Crikey, January 18, 2012 –, by NAJ Taylor   ”……..  if Playboy’s January issue (the one with Lindsay Lohan on the cover) is approached with open eyes, I believe it has the capacity the recast the Australia-India relationship. In sum, the article by Joshua Pollack concerns an already infamous Pakistani and a group of Indian nuclear scientists – the evidence assembled suggests only one thing: there was once a time when they were all in bed together. Continue reading →

January 18, 2012 Posted by | India, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Pakistan’s A.Q. Khan’s treacherous nuclear deals with India

The Secret Treachery of A.Q. Khan, PLAYBOY, January  12, JOSHUA POLLACK “…… By now Khan has made nearly every possible claim about who bears responsibility for selling Pakistan’s centrifuge technology. He did it at the behest of the military. He acted purely on his own. The military was solely responsible. It was all done by foreigners. Khan lost many things during his ordeal, including his freedom and his credibility. But throughout, he retained one crucial secret: the identity of a fourth country, after Iran, Libya and North Korea, to which he had provided the shortcut to a nuclear weapon. Continue reading →

January 18, 2012 Posted by | India, Pakistan, Reference, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Independent inquiry: did earthquake first damage Fukushima’s nuclear reactors?

The panel includes legal, nuclear and medical experts. Seismologist Katsuhiko Ishibashi has long warned of tsunami risks in the earthquake-prone country where all 54 nuclear reactors are built on the coastline. Engineer Mitsuhiko Tanaka designed nuclear reactors at Babcock-Hitachi K.K. and has suggested the March quake damaged the Fukushima reactors before the tsunami.

New probe to cut deeper in Japan nuclear crisis17 JAN 2012  3 News New Zealand, By Mari Yamaguchi 

http://www.3news.co.nz/New-probe-to-cut-deeper-in-Japan-nuclear-crisis/tabid/417/articleID/239500/Default.aspx  A newly formed investigative panel on Japan’s nuclear disaster will use its subpoena powers wisely and cut deeper into the accident than the government’s probe, according to the leader of the independent commission.

The panel appointed by parliament last month has gained attention here because its 10 members include outspoken critics of Japan’s nuclear policy who long ago questioned the seismic risks to the country’s 54 nuclear reactors.

It is expected to examine the extent to which the 9.0-magnitude earthquake contributed to the crisis at the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant, as well as the ensuing tsunami and radiation alert system. Continue reading →

January 18, 2012 Posted by | Japan, Resources -audiovicual, safety | Leave a comment

India leads in renewable energy investment

India Clean Energy Surge Enters Next Phase, Bloomberg, 18 Jan 12,  “……Renewable energy offers an exception to India’s history of overpromised goals. The nation overshot its installation target by 100 percent just two years after “Power for All” became policy. Since then, renewable energy in India has been growing quickly. In March 2007, India had 10.2 GW of renewable energy. That more than doubled by the end of 2011, to over 22 GW accounting for 11% of India’s power generation capacity.

Bloomberg New Energy Finance tracks money flowing into projects, venture capital and private equity deals, and public market fundraising. We found that India led nations in the growth of renewable energy investment in 2011, with a 52 percent jump to $10.3 billion, helped by a growing wind sector and accelerating solar market. Continue reading →

January 18, 2012 Posted by | India, renewable | Leave a comment

Japan to pass landmark renewable energy law

Renewable Energy Boom About to Start in Japan, Oil Price.com By Energy Digital, 17 January 2012   Japan’s Parliament readies approval of an energy bill that will spark ‘explosive growth’ in renewable solar and wind

Solar and wind companies, set your sails for Japan! The country is about to pass a landmark bill into law that will see “explosive growth” in both solar and wind energy investment according to Prime Minister Naoto Kan.  The bill is designed to reduce Japan’s dependence on nuclear power, which accounts for roughly 30 percent of the country’s energy generation. Japanese lawmakers are readying to sign the bill into law by the end of August.

The bill has been developed and promoted by Prime Minister Kan himself, and seeks not only to move away from nuclear dependence, but also break the energy monopoly held by the country’s 10 major utilities.

The legislation calls for installed renewable energy capacity to rise by at least 20 percent of the country’s total power by the early 2020s.

The bill will require utilities to purchase power from outside providers, such as cooperatives and private companies. The rule aims to promote the use of alternative energy sources, which currently only make up 9 percent of Japan’s total electricity supply….. http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Renewable-Energy/Renewable-Energy-Boom-About-To-Start-In-Japan.html

January 18, 2012 Posted by | Japan, politics, renewable | Leave a comment

Taiwan’s election may mean closure of nuclear power there

Vote Holds Fate of Nuclear Power in Taiwan, NYT By ANDREW JACOBS, January 12, 2012 TAIPEI, Taiwan — When voters here choose a president and a new legislature on Saturday, their decisions will also determine whether Taiwan pulls the plug on a state-backed nuclear power industry that provides the country with a fifth of its electricity.

Although the presidential race has mostly been about pocketbook concerns and, to a lesser extent, Taiwan’s relationship with China, the leading challenger has made the elimination of Taiwan’s reliance on nuclear energy a central plank of her campaign. Pollsters and analysts say that the challenger, Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party, has a good chance of unseating the incumbent, Ma Ying-jeou, whose party has long been a reliable backer of nuclear energy.

In recent months, Ms. Tsai has vowed to retire the island’s six aging reactors and has said that she would seek to mothball a problem-plagued nuclear plant that has been under construction since the late 1990s. The plant, whose price tag has nearly doubled to $9.3 billion, was supposed to begin operating this year, but further delays appear likely.

“After Fukushima, our society has realized that nuclear power is not only expensive but also unsafe,” Ms. Tsai said……. Taiwan — an island devoid of oil, gas and coal reserves — appears to be losing its appetite for the atom. Last spring thousands of protesters in Taipei demanded an end to the construction of the latest plant, the Lungmen nuclear project, or Nuke 4. Soon afterward, one of Taiwan’s richest tycoons joined the antinuclear chorus: Chang Yung-fa, chairman of the Evergreen Group, one of the world’s largest shippers.

Opponents say that there are a number of active seismic faults across the island and that more than five million people in northern Taiwan live within an 18-mile radius of two nuclear plants. For the 23 million people living on an island the size of Maryland and Delaware combined, there would be few places to run in the event of a disaster.

“Taiwan is simply ill suited for nuclear energy,” said Tsui Shu-hsin, secretary general of the Green Citizens’ Action Alliance, which has been waging a lonely battle against atomic power……..

January 14, 2012 Posted by | politics, Taiwan | Leave a comment

U.S. geologist warns on earthquake risk to planned Jaitapur nuclear plant

Jaitapur nuclear power plant project draws more fire Gulf News, By Pamela Raghunath, 13 Jan 12, US geologist warns of high quake risk in region and urges authorities to embrace a design that can withstand a high degree of shaking  Mumbai: A noted American geologist has criticised the construction of a 9,900 Megawatt nuclear power plant in Jaitapur, Maharashtra, warning of a high earthquake risk in the area.
In a paper co-authored with Professor Vinod Gaur of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Professor Roger Bilham of the University of Colorado warned that a magnitude 6 earthquake could hit Jaitapur. The paper was published in Current Science, a prestigious Indian journal published by the Current Science Association and the Indian Academy of Sciences.
He joins environmentalists, Indian scientists and local farmers in opposing the energy project……
The Jaitapur area comes under Ratnagiri district which falls in the seismic Zone 4 (high damage) category with Zone 5 being the highest. The region has witnessed 92 earthquakes within the period from 1985 to 2005.
Professor Bilham said nuclear power plants can be engineered to withstand a high degree of shaking intensity although the expense of the design will increase with the severity and duration of the shaking. http://gulfnews.com/news/world/pakistan/jaitapur-nuclear-power-plant-project-draws-more-fire-1.965175

January 13, 2012 Posted by | India, safety | Leave a comment

Community struggle to get a referendum on nuclear power in Japan

Civic group battles to get support for referendums on nuclear power in Tokyo, Osaka. Mainichi Daily News, 11 Jan 12,   A civic group has been fighting an uphill battle to collect enough signatures for petitions to hold referendums in Tokyo and Osaka on whether Japan should continue to rely on nuclear power despite the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant. Continue reading →

January 11, 2012 Posted by | Japan, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

Renewable energy – wave power for India

Indian innovator harnesses sea waves for power, The Economic Times, 10 Jan 12,   NEW DELHI: An Indian innovator has come up with a technology that tweaks gravity power to harness sea waves for clean and affordable energy, a source more readily available than wind or solar power and, unlike fossil fuels, inexhaustible. Continue reading →

January 11, 2012 Posted by | India, renewable | Leave a comment

Fukushima radiation cleanup might cause environmental damage

Ten months after the nuclear disaster, trust in the authorities is nearly non-existent. Without it, Japan’s government risks the biggest cleanup fiasco of all: a decontamination effort that carries huge financial and environmental costs but still fails to convince Fukushima residents that their homes, farms, and forests are safe once again. 

Fukushima nuclear cleanup could create its own environmental disaster
Decontaminating the Fukushima region to remove radioactive particles will not be possible without removing large amounts of soil, leaves and plants Winifred Bird for Yale Environment 360, part of the Guardian Environment Network guardian.co.uk,  9 January 2012  Following the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl 25 years ago, the Soviet government chose long-term evacuation over extensive decontamination; as a result, the plants and animals near Chernobyl inhabit an environment that is both largely devoid of humans and severely contaminated by radioactive fallout.

The meltdown last March of three nuclear reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan also contaminated large areas of farmland and forests, albeit not as severely or extensively as at Chernobyl. But lacking land for resettlement and facing public outrage over the accident, the Japanese government has chosen a very different path, embarking on a decontamination effort of unprecedented scale.

Beginning this month, at least 1,000 sq km of land — much of it forest and farms — will be cleaned up as workers power-spray buildings, scrape soil off fields, and remove fallen leaves and undergrowth from woods near houses. The goal is to make all of Fukushima livable again. But as scientists, engineers, and ordinary residents begin this massive task, they face the possibility that their efforts will create new environmental problems in direct proportion to their success in remediating the radioactive contamination. Continue reading →

January 10, 2012 Posted by | environment, Japan | Leave a comment

India borrowing from France, to buy France’s nuclear reactors

Interesting to watch the developments in India, as the people’s  Koodankulam anti nuclear protest continues. The Russian engineers have now left the site, as work cannot proceed, due to the public opposition.

The Indian nuclear corporation cannot afford its planned new nuclear plants at Jaitapur and Koodankulam, which they are buying from France and Russia respectively.  But hey! – that’s no problem, because they are going to borrow the money from France and Russia.   Seems like the Indian government is working on behalf of foreign companies, not the Indian people.    Nuclear Power Corp Looks Overseas for Loans     .http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204257504577149981322117366.html

The Indian government is also learning from France’s nuclear company, AREVA, on how to manipulate public opinion. With jolly jingles and other cheery messages, they hope to convince the community that nuclear power is just fine. At left above, a  sample of AREVA’s message to children, in its Australian brochure. – Christina Macpherson

NPCIL launches campaign to clear KNPP concerns,Zee News, January 09, 2012,  Chennai: Amid the standoff over the controversial Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited has launched an intense media campaign to allay safety fears of the people in and around the project site.

“NPCIL has produced 60-second long advertisements to be telecast on TV channels. These will carry messages on cancer and on some issues raised by fishermen,” an official said here today.

In the advertisements, renowned oncologist Dr V Shanta of Cancer Institute, Chennai, marine life experts Murugesan and Sugumaran will clear doubts that locals and fishermen might have (about nuclear
power), they said. The campaign would be telecast on Tamil TV channels, apparently targeting the local population who have been up in arms against the Indo-Russian collaborative project since September last.

NPCIL officials had already aired 60-second long jingles on private radio channels in Tirunelveli district. The commissioning of the plant, earlier slated in December 2011, has been delayed after protests by locals on grounds of safety.
http://zeenews.india.com/news/tamil-nadu/npcil-launches-campaign-to-clear-knpp-concerns_751574.html

January 10, 2012 Posted by | India, marketing | Leave a comment

Japanese towns Okuma, Futaba to disappear because of nuclear radiation

many spots in the two towns where annual levels of exposure to radiation would be 100 millisieverts or higher. This is at least five times higher than the level deemed safe for human habitation.

2 towns at risk of disappearing / Okuma, Futaba face uncertain future due to nearby crippled N-plant Yasushi Kaneko / Daily Yomiuri 9 Jan 12, How will the government help the estimated 25,000 people who lived in areas where residency likely will be prohibited for an extended period due to the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant?

In particular, Okuma and Futaba towns in Fukushima Prefecture will face extreme hardship because most of their residential areas fall in those areas. The crippled nuclear plant is located in the two towns. Continue reading →

January 10, 2012 Posted by | environment, Japan | Leave a comment

India’s Chief Ministers urged to support the people, not foreign nuclear corporations

Kudankulam: 3 women CMs urged to take steps to rescind all nuke deals DNA, Jan 9, 2012,  Chennai  PTI An anti-nuclear forum spearheading the stir against Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant today requested women chief ministers of Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal to take steps to rescind all nuclear deals the Centre has signed with US, Russia, France and other nations.

In a letter to them, the People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy urged ‘the three popular and bold leaders’ tobring it up at the coming chief ministers’ conference and take steps to rescind all such agreements signed with these three countries and other nations.

Alleging that these are affecting Indian fishermen, farmers, Dalit workers and other deprived sections, it said the country’s nuclear performance has been “quite dismal, insignificant and wasteful.”

“Even after spending so much money, resources, time and national energies for the past 63 years, they produce hardly 2.5% electricity and have done little for the betterment of our people,” the letter said. PMANE also alleged that the nuclear department meddles in national politics and that ‘invigorating this department further would lead only to slavery and not salvation.”

“As women leaders with motherly concern for the people who enjoy people’s trust and huge political mandate, you are the hopes of our country’s youth and children,” the letter signed by PMANE convenor SP Udayakumar said. http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_knpp-3-women-cms-urged-to-take-steps-to-rescind-all-nuke-deals_1635185

January 10, 2012 Posted by | India, politics | Leave a comment

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