Japan’s intractable problem of virtually permanently irradiated areas
Fukushima zone likely off-limits for ‘decades’, ABC Radio 774 ,Mark Willacy, August 22, 2011 The Japanese government says highly radioactive areas around the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant will remain no-go zones for decades after the damaged complex is stabilised.
Authorities say they plan to bring the stricken nuclear plant to a state of cold shutdown early next year. But with some areas near the complex continuing to show high levels of radioactive contamination, the government says it is unavoidable that some places will remain no-go zones.
Japanese newspaper The Daily Yomiuri reports government sources have said it could be “several decades” before the area is considered safe to enter. For the first time, the government has released figures revealing that many communities within 20 kilometres of the complex have contamination levels up to 500 times higher than safety limits.
The radiation readings were taken in 50 locations within a 20-kilometre radius of the Fukushima nuclear plant.Based on that data, the government has released estimates of the annual dose of radiation residents would be exposed to.
It found that in one town, Okuma, people would receive a dose of 508 milisieverts per year – more than 500 times the acceptable limit.At more than half the locations it was more than 20 times the limit.Tokyo Institute of Technology’s associate professor of radiobiology, Yoshihisa Matsumoto, says efforts to decontaminate the area will likely prove difficult…http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-08-22/fukushima-radiation-500-times-safe-limit/2849394/?site=melbourne
Japan – prejudice against residents of Fukushima Prefecture
Teachers lack knowledge It is important to teach children the meaning of “becquerel,” which indicates how much radiation a radioactive substance emits, and “sievert,” the unit for calculating the effect radiation has on the human body. This will help children better understand daily news reports about radiation….
Better radiation education needed to end prejudice, The Yomiuri Shimbun, 20 Aug 11 Ever since the accident at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, many evacuees from Fukushima Prefecture have been subjected to discrimination and prejudice.
A student who transferred from the prefecture to a primary school in the Kanto region was shunned by classmates and eventually stopped going to class. Some gas stations in the Tokyo metropolitan area have refused to serve cars bearing Fukushima license plates. Continue reading
Radiation caused illnesses now seen in Japan
Doctors in Japan are already treating patients suffering health effects they attribute to radiation from the ongoing nuclear disaster.
“We have begun to see increased nosebleeds, stubborn cases of diarrhoea, and flu-like symptoms in children,” Dr Yuko Yanagisawa, a physician at Funabashi Futawa Hospital in Chiba Prefecture, told Al Jazeera.
Fukushima radiation alarms doctors , Aljazeera, .Dahr Jamail Japanese doctors warn of public health problems caused by Fukushima radiation.: 18 Aug 2011 , Scientists and doctors are calling for a new national policy in Japan that mandates the testing of food, soil, water, and the air for radioactivity still being emitted from Fukushima’s heavily damaged Daiichi nuclear power plant.
“How much radioactive materials have been released from the plant?” asked Dr Tatsuhiko Kodama, a professor at the Research Centre for Advanced Science and Technology and Director of the University of Tokyo’s Radioisotope Centre, in a July 27 speech to the Committee of Health, Labour and Welfare at Japan’s House of Representatives.
“The government and TEPCO have not reported the total amount of the released radioactivity yet,” said Kodama, who believes things are far worse than even the recent detection of extremely high radiation levels at the plant. Continue reading
The mental health toll in Fukushima
Radiation fears bring psychological stress to Fukushima residents, Mainichi Daily News, 19 Aug 11, FUKUSHIMA — Residents of Fukushima Prefecture are increasingly visiting psychiatrists complaining of sleeplessness or the inability to concentrate as they worry about the effects of leaked radiation from the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, the Mainichi has learned…… Continue reading
Cautious optimism of a nuclear thaw on the Korean peninsula
| The Two Koreas’ Long Slog over Nuclear Weapons |
| Asia Sentinel, by Lee Byong-chul | |
| , 19 AUGUST 2011 There is cautious optimism in Washington DC and other capitals about a possible nuclear thaw on the Korean peninsula since the visit of North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan to New York to discuss nuclear proliferation, and a later meeting in Bali between nuclear negotiators for both North and South Korea. |
The Bali meeting, on the side of a regional meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, was the first since disarmament talks collapsed in 2008. The two events have generated at least some hope that an armed and dangerous North Korea could somehow be controlled. They appear to be at one with a three-step plan by China for resumption of the Six-Party talks. They have been accomplished so relatively quickly and painlessly that they appear to suggest that step three – the resumption of the talks, is right around the corner. …http://www.asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3399&Itemid=182
Nuclear industry subsidies and other payments to Japan’s local governments
2.5 trillion yen in nuclear money doled out to local governments since 1966, Mainichi Daily News, 19 Aug 11, Local governments have received at least 2.5 trillion yen in “nuclear money” in the form of subsidies, fixed property taxes and other payments since the start of nuclear power generation in Japan in 1966, a tally by the Mainichi shows.
But the total is certain to be much higher because many local governments are not releasing data on nuclear power-related fixed property taxes and donations. Continue reading
Ground is cracking underneath Fukushima nuclear power plant
Fukushima ‘alarm’: Ground cracking, radioactive steam seeping, Examiner.com Deborah Dupre , Human Rights ExaminerAugust 17, 2011 – Doomed to cripple before quake and tsunami As Canadians learned about dangerous radiation falling on them in rain on Tuesday as far east as Toronto registered at 20,000 CPM, equivalent to the highly targeted dose of radiation for cancer radiotherapy, the Fukushima catastrophe escalated even higher Wednesday with evidence that the ground is cracking under the crippled nuclear power plant, causing radioactive steam to escape, “very serious and alarming” according to Anissa Naouai’s guest on Russia Today, Dr. Robert Jacobs, Professor of nuclear history at Hiroshima Peace Institute. Continue reading
Nuclear power plans scrapped by government, West Bengal, India
West Bengal government rules out Haripur nuclear project, THE HINDU 18 Aug 11 The West Bengal government has ruled out the nuclear power plant at Haripur in the State’s Purba Medinipur district.Replying to questions in the Assembly here on Wednesday, State Power Minister Manish Gupta said the government had decided to scrap the proposal. The government had no plans for the present to set up nuclear plants elsewhere in the State….
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been maintaining that Haripur is not the proper place for a nuclear power plant as it was a densely populated area and fishermen in the region would be affected.
When in the Opposition, Ms. Banerjee had vowed that her party would scrap the project if it came to power……http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article2366598.ece
The spread of Fukushima nuclear radiation in our interconnected world
amazed that particles could be spread across the world from such a small footprint like a reactor, which he compared in size to a swimming pool.
“It shows you how connected the world is,” he said. “What happens in one place can show up someplace else.”
A scientific measure of the radiation leaked from Fukushima
Measurements Reveal Extent of Leakage from Japan’s Damaged Fukushima Reactor ScienceDaily (Aug. 16, 2011) — Atmospheric chemists at the University of California, San Diego, report the first quantitative measurement of the amount of radiation leaked from the damaged nuclear reactor in Fukushima, Japan,….. Continue reading
Critical need for China to be more transparent about nuclear issues
it’s critical that the nation develop a clear understanding of the challenges and potential dangers. A certain amount of transparency, including when things go wrong, will help alleviate unnecessary misperceptions and misunderstandings in the region and beyond.
China’s nuclear sub needs, The Diplomat, By Manpreet Sethi, August 15, 2011 The past couple of weeks have seen a number of reports over a rumoured radiation leak from a 094 type Chinese nuclear submarine stationed near Dalian port. The incident is said to have occurred as electronic equipment was being installed on the sub.
Japan will import 1000 tons of nuclear waste every year for 7 years
The Fukushima disaster and the voyage of the 5,100-ton Pacific Grebe highlights the dilemma facing Japan and the world’s nuclear industry:Radioactive waste is deadly and needs to be locked away for thousands of years, so how can any storage site be guaranteed safe and permanent?
“Japan has 1,000 tons of spent fuel coming out of reactors every year, and there are 7 more years before the spent fuel pools are filled,”
Japan Prepares for Its First Import of Radioactive Waste Since Earthquake, Bloomberg, By Yuriy Humber, Chisaki Watanabe and Stuart Biggs – Aug 14, 2011 Japan is preparing to receive its first import of highly radioactive waste since March, when an earthquake and tsunami caused a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.
The vessel Pacific Grebe set sail Aug. 3 to Japan from Britain with more than 30 metric tons of radioactive waste on board. The cargo, Japanese spent fuel reprocessed in the U.K., is returning sealed in 76 stainless steel canisters packed into 130-ton containers. It will arrive early next month at the Mutsu-Ogawara port in northern Honshu for delivery to Japan Nuclear Fuel’s nearby Rokkasho storage site. Continue reading
Confusion: radioactivity in town of Iitate and other “hot spots” in Japan
Murky Science Clouded Japan Nuclear Response,WSJ By YUKA HAYASHI, 15 Aug 11, “………Confusion over what to do about radioactive contamination is playing out in various forms all over Japan. Officials are struggling to figure out where it is safe to live, what is safe to eat and how farmers decontaminate their fields. At present, 116,000 people remain unable to return to their homes due to the radiation threat. Even as the government continues to ask more people to evacuate, it is mulling allowing others to return to towns where contamination is relatively light…..
Japan and USA seek treaty to prevent having to pay international nuclear compensation
Japan eyes global nuclear compensation treaty – report, Aug 14, 2011 Reporting by Chikako Mogi; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani, TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan is considering joining a U.S.-led global nuclear compensation treaty in a bid to fend off excessive overseas damage claims related to nuclear accidents, the Nikkei newspaper reported on Sunday, without citing sources.
The U.S., Morocco, Romania and Argentina have agreed to the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage, but the treaty needs at least five countries in order to go into effect.
The newspaper said Japan would start discussions with the United States in the coming week over the pact, which defines the rules for trials for damage claims in countries where accidents happen.
The move comes in the wake of a devastating accident in March at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which leaked radiation and exposed wide-ranging produces from vegetables, tea to water to excessive radioactive materials….http://af.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idAFTRE77D0C620110814
Continuing radiation dangers in food chain in Japan
Prolonged exposure to radiation in the air, ground and food can cause leukemia and other cancers, according to the London- based World Nuclear Association,
Mushrooms Join Growing List of Radioactive Threats to Japan’s Food Chain, Bloomberg, By Naoko Fujimura and Chris Cooper – Aug 14, 2011 Mushrooms joined the threats to Japan’s food chain from radiation spewed by Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant, as the country expands efforts to limit the effects of the disaster.
Japan is under pressure to enhance food inspections as it has no centralized system for detecting radiation contamination. About two-thirds of Japan’s prefectures now plan to check rice crops, the Mainichi newspaper reported yesterday, citing its own survey. Half of Japan’s rice is grown within range of emissions from the crippled nuclear plant, and farmers are awaiting the results of tests before harvesting begins this month…… Continue reading
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