Japan’s problem of radioactivity in food – cesium 137 found in baby milk powder
Cesium in Baby Milk Powder Shows Nuclear Risk for Japan Food December 07, 2011 By Kanoko Matsuyama and Yuriy Humber Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) — Radioactive cesium was found in milk powder in Japan made by a Meiji Holdings Co. unit, raising concern that nuclear radiation is contaminating baby food.
Meiji the past week found traces of cesium-137 and cesium- 134 in batches of “Meiji Step” made in March, the Tokyo-based company said yesterday. The probe was triggered by a customer complaint last month. ….
The finding highlights the radiation threat to food in Japan nine months after the Fukushima nuclear plant was wrecked by an earthquake and tsunami. ….
In a nuclear accident, radioactive isotopes including iodine-131 and cesium-137, which are normally contained inside the fuel rods, may be released into the atmosphere as gases or particulates if the rods are damaged. These can be inhaled or ingested through contaminated food or water. Children are especially susceptible to radiation poisoning from iodine, which can accumulate in the thyroid gland, according to the World Health Organization.
Cesium-137 that enters the body is distributed throughout the soft tissues, especially in muscle….
Radiation is more dangerous for infants because their cells are dividing more rapidly and radiation-damaged RNA may be carried in more generations of cells, according to Lincoln. The risk for children depends on the quantity of radioactive cesium they consume or are exposed to,…
Japan’s Mihama nuclear reactor to shut down following leak
Kansai Electric to manually shut Mihama nuclear unit Mihama 500 MW unit one of only nine reactors still running in Japan TOKYO, Dec 7 (Reuters) – Kansai Electric Power Co will manually halt its Mihama No. 2 nuclear reactor as a safety precaution after it
discovered unusual levels of coolant leaking from a valve inside the containment vessel, Continue reading
ONGOING PEOPLE’S STRUGGLE IN KOODANKULAM Nuclear Power Plant
STATEMENT ON ONGOING PEOPLE’S STRUGGLE IN KOODANKULAM IN TAMILNADU AGAINST PROPOSEDNUCLEAR PLANT IN ORDER TO SAVE THEIR LIVELIHOOD, LIVES AND ENVIRONMENT.
We, members of Human Rights, Pro-Democratic activists and movements, have formed a group at Delhi under the name of “FRIENDS OF KOODANKULAM ANTI-NUCLEAR MOVEMENT” in order to support the anti-nuclear movement of Koodankulam people in Tamilnadu to save their lives, their livelihood and priceless environment.
- The people of 32 villages surrounding Koodankulam under the name of People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) are protesting the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) and started their agitation on August 16, 2011 and have been sitting on relay fasting since September 11, 2011.
- This struggle is a collective of the communities of the districts of Thirunelveli, Kanyakumari and Tuticorin; this is supported by the people of Tamilnadu. The various peoples’ movements of Tamilnadu have been showing their solidarity by different agitations and demonstrations. Continue reading
Okinawa island, with no nuclear plants, becoming a refuge for Japanese families
Okinawa prefecture is the largest region in Japan without nuclear plants. Okinawa island, the largest in the group, has beautiful beaches, a slow-food subculture and thriving music and arts scenes. It attracts thousands of sea-changers every year, but only recently has this included worried parents who would never have considered a move to Okinawa before the Fukushima disaster……
Escape to Okinawa, SMH, Jane Barraclough, December 6, 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?
Mari Takenouchi …and her one-year-old son fled to the Okinawa islands – Japan’s southernmost prefecture, 2000 kilometres south of the unfolding crisis.
……….lack of alarm after the explosions kept Takenouchi and Joe in Tokyo half a day too long to dodge the fallout, which gradually dispersed in a cruel lottery of wind, rain and snow that contaminated homes, farms, wilderness, and eventually a schoolyard in Takenouchi’s neighbourhood. Continue reading
New radioactive leak belies TEPCO’s claims of Fukushima cleanup success
More Radioactive Water Leaks From Japanese Nuclear Plant, By HIROKO TABUCHI, NYT December 4, 2011 TOKYO — At least 45 tons of highly radioactive water has leaked from a purification facility at the Fukushima Daiichi buclear power station, and some of it may have reached the Pacific Ocean, the plant’s operator said on Sunday…..
the plant continues to pose a major environmental threat. Before the latest leak, the Fukushima accident had been responsible for the largest single release of radioactivity into the ocean, threatening wildlife and fisheries in the region, experts have said.
The new radioactive water leak called into question the progress that the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, appeared to have made in bringing its reactors under control…. Continue reading
Japan’s second rate contract workers cop the brunt of nuclear radiation
contractors last year accounted for 96% of the harmful radiation absorbed by workers at the nation’s nuclear power plants. Temporary workers at the Fukushima plant in 2010 also faced radiation levels 16 times higher than did employees of the plant’s owner-operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., because contractors are called in for the most dangerous work,
Japan’s ‘nuclear gypsies’ face radioactive peril at power plants Unskilled contractors make up most of the workforce and face higher doses of radiation than utility employees at Fukushima and other nuclear power plants in Japan. By John M. Glionna, Los Angeles Times December 4, 2011
Japan’s provinces lose international students, with radiation fears
Trainees steer clear of Tohoku / Radiation fears apparently behind sharp drop in foreign interns, The Yomiuri Shimbun, 5 Dec 11 The number of foreign trainees in the disaster-affected prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima has nearly halved since the March 11 disaster, with many apparently afraid to return to the Tohoku region due to radiation fears. Continue reading
Disastrous effects of uranium mining on health of Jharkhand’s people
the financial benefits are meaningless when weighed against what his group says is an alarming rise in stillbirths, birth defects, and adults and children diagnosed with cancer, kidney disease, and tuberculosis.
report showed a far greater incidence of congenital abnormality, sterility, and cancer among people living within 2.5 kilometres (1.5 miles) of the mines than those living 35 kilometres away. Mothers in villages close to the mine sites were also twice as likely to have a child with congenital deformities,
India’s uranium mines cast a health shadow,Google News, By Ammu Kannampilly (AFP), 5 Dec 11, ”… Environmental groups say the mining company is polluting the groundwater by dumping radioactive waste inside three so-called tailings ponds that hold the sludge produced by the mining process ….. Continue reading
Court hearing on concerns about nuclear safety in India
Nuclear safety: Apex court to hear NGOs’ petitions today THE HINDU BUSINESS LINE, NEW DELHI, DEC. 4: An application has been filed before the Supreme Court with copies of letters and documents sent to the Prime Minister highlighting the concerns on safety and cost-effectiveness of the nuclear plants in India.
The application was filed earlier this week by NGOs Common Cause and Centre for Public Interest Litigation as well as some prominent citizens.
On November 14, acting on the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by these NGOs and citizens, a Bench headed by the Chief Justice, Mr S.H. Kapadia, had asked the petitioners to first write to the Government on the matter.
The apex court had adjourned the matter saying it would consider the petition only after the petitioners show that they had moved the concerned department regarding their grievances.
It will now hear the matter again on December 5. Advocate Mr Prashant Bhushan, representing the petitioners, had said that they had already written to the Department of Atomic Energy about the concerns on nuclear safety but the Government failed to take any action despite their representations. Continue reading
The “China Killer” – India developing new long range nuclear missile
India to test new missile dubbed ‘the China killer’, The Age 3 Dec 11, Given the incendiary moniker ”the China killer” by the more sensationalist press, India’s newest nuclear-capable missile will be its most powerful yet, and an unmistakable signal to its neighbours.
Agni V – formally named after the Hindu god of fire and acceptor of sacrifices – is set to be tested within three months. It will be capable of carrying a nuclear warhead 5000 kilometres, meaning it can reach not only Beijing and Shanghai, but all of northern China. India’s existing arsenal can already reach every corner of Pakistan…. Continue reading
TEPCO claims that radioactive substances now responsibility of landowners, not TEPCO
TEPCO: Radioactive substances belong to landowners, not us, By TOMOHIRO IWATA / Asahi Shimbun Weekly AERA, 24 Nov During court proceedings concerning a radioactive golf course, Tokyo Electric Power Co. stunned lawyers by saying the utility was not responsible for decontamination because it no longer “owned” the radioactive substances.
“Radioactive materials (such as cesium) that scattered and fell from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant belong to individual landowners there, not TEPCO,” the utility said. Continue reading
High radioactive cesium levels in Abukumagawa river, Japan
Cesium levels hit tens of billions of becquerels at river mouth, The Asahi Shimbun November 25, 2011, By EISUKE SASAKI Researchers have sounded the alarm over river water containing cesium levels at tens of billions of becquerels a day flowing into the sea near Fukushima Prefecture, site of the crippled nuclear power plant.
A joint study by Kyoto University and the University of Tsukuba, among other entities, estimated that water at the mouth of the Abukumagawa river running through the prefecture was contaminated with cesium levels of about 50 billion becquerels a day. Continue reading
All Japan’s nuclear reactors could be shut down by May 2012
Shutdown schedule for 9 active nuclear reactors, Reuters, 1 Dec 11“……..Kyushu Electric Power Co, one of the country’s most highly nuclear reliant regional power firms, on Thursday started regular maintenance on the No.1 unit at its sole Genkai nuclear plant, as planned, leaving only nine reactors online.
A total of 54 nuclear reactors had been available for commercial use before the March 11 earthquake and tsunami disabled cooling systems at Fukushima Daiichi, run by Tokyo Electric Power Co, triggering meltdowns and causing the world’s worst radioactive material leakage in 25 years.
No reactor shut for regular maintenance has restarted since the March 11 disaster amid public concerns over atomic energy and the government’s reassessment of safety regulations…… Without approval for restarts, all of Japan’s reactors could be shut by next May, …..
Following are the locations of nuclear power plants still in operation and the companies’ schedules for shutdowns. If the utility has not given a schedule, the dates by which each reactor has to be taken offline for maintenance are listed, according to Reuters calculations.:……. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/02/us-nuclear-japan-active-idUSTRE7B104B20111202
Hillary Clinton urging Burma to come clean on nuclear research
Clinton seeks a nuclear surety from Burma, SMH, Lindsay Murdoch, December 2, 2011 BANGKOK: Hillary Clinton has made Burma’s purchase of missile technology from North Korea the highest priority of the first visit by a US secretary of state to the impoverished south-east Asian nation in 50 years.
Mrs Clinton is seeking an assurance from Burma’s leaders they are not receiving nuclear technologies from North Korea and wants them to agree to more vigorous inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency, according to a senior State Department official.
US officials travelling with Mrs Clinton say there are no signs of a ”substantial” effort by Burma to develop nuclear weapons but they are worried by the increased pace of military contact with Pyongyang……..
It was reported that Mr Thein Sein spent much of the meeting giving a detailed 45-minute presentation about further change, including the adoption of international agreements on nuclear programs to allay suspicions about the Burma-North Korea weapons trade.
Burma insists that any nuclear-related activities are purely for civilian research purposes. But Senator Richard Lugar, the top Republican member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said this week that resolving questions about Burma’s illicit nuclear research were fundamental to the US’s improved relations with Burma. A UN report released in November last year said North Korea was supplying banned nuclear and ballistic equipment to Burma as well as Iran and Syria. Burmese army defectors have claimed the country has been researching weapons of mass destruction since 2001. http://www.smh.com.au/world/clinton-seeks-a-nuclear-surety-from-burma-20111201-1o98b.html#ixzz1fSBFMTcq
Japan sets radiation level limit for childrens’ school meals
The threshold is one-fifth of the current provisional limit on radioactive cesium for items of general consumption — 200 becquerels per kilogram for drinking water, milk and dairy products. The maximum allowable amount for rice, vegetables, meat and fish is set at 500 becquerels per kilogram.
The officials of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology said they newly set the criteria for school meals as the government plans to lower the upper limit of annual internal exposure to radioactive cesium through food and drink consumption to 1 millisievert from the current provisional threshold of 5 millisieverts. The 17 prefectures include Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, Ibaraki, Tokyo, Niigata, Yamanashi, Nagano and Shizuoka.
The ministry has earmarked about ¥100 million in the third extra budget for the current fiscal year to cover part of the cost to purchase dosimeters to detect radiation amounts in meals at schools in the 17 prefectures, according to the officials.
Under the directive, municipal governments are requested to buy equipment that can detect radiation levels in food and drink below 40 becquerels and to stop serving items with radioactive substances that exceed the upper limit, the officials said. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20111202a1.htm
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