Water cooling at Fukushima nuclear plant causes more problems
Workers must inject the reactor cores with water to keep them cool. But that step guarantees that water will leak through the damaged plant and into the basement-level turbine rooms……..”They’re just perpetuating the problem and making a bigger and bigger mess,” said Lake Barrett, a nuclear engineer who directed the cleanup of the hobbled Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania.-
Water cooling Japan plant now a problem, FRANCE, June 9, 2011 , News Day.com By CHICO HARLAN. The Washington Post, Tokyo At the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, nothing is more problematic than the contaminated water that covers the basement floors, leaks into the environment and endangers any worker who goes near it. Continue reading
Fear of radiation leads to discrimination against Fukushima victims
Although such examples are isolated, the severity and callousness of them led chief government spokesman Yukio Edano to condemn such actions. But many Japanese from outside the affected area remain wary in their dealings with Fukushima locals….The Fukushima Bar Association says evacuees and their children have been victimised and petrol stations have denied access to cars with Fukushima plates……
Discrimination increases torment of Fukushima, THE AUSTRALIAN, Rick Wallace, Tokyo correspondent June 11, 2011 IT was supposed to be a lifetime highlight, but the wedding plans of a bride-to-be from Fukushima have turned into a nightmare thanks to the new post-crisis phenomenon of radiation discrimination. Continue reading
Tokyo Electric – too big to fail, but it’s failing
In a sense, it is because Japan allowed Tokyo Electric to become too big to fail that it must now deal with the consequences of its potential demise. Led by Tokyo Electric, Japan’s 10 electricity companies have long resisted efforts to liberalize the market, leaving them with virtual monopolies in their respective regions.
After Nuclear Crisis, Japan’s Biggest Utility Faces Insolvency Risk, NYT By HIROKO TABUCHI, June 9, 2011 On Thursday, shares in Tokyo Electric again fell to a record low, at one point slumping to 148 yen ($1.85), down 93 percent from prequake levels. Shares finished at 192 yen ($2.40), down 4 percent from the previous day, and the company already had a 1.25 trillion yen loss in the year ending March 31, the largest annual loss for a nonfinancial institution in Japanese history. Continue reading
Japan should have turned away from nuclear power – says Murakami
Mr. Murakami said Japan, having experienced the trauma of radiation, should have turned away from nuclear power…. those who questioned nuclear power were marginalized as being ‘unrealistic dreamers’,
Murakami Slams Japan’s Nuclear Choice, WSJ JUNE 10, 2011,“……..Accepting an international award given to people whose work helps ”develop cultural, scientific and human values worldwide” from Catalan authorities in Barcelona late Thursday, Mr. Murakami didn’t mince his words. Picking up the International Catalunya Prize (in Catalan), the author described the crisis at Fukushima Daiichi as the second nuclear blow Japan has suffered after the atomic bombings of World War II—and a self-inflicted blow at that, he said, one that should never have happened. Continue reading
Japanese will need to conserve electricity as unofficial nuclear shut-downs increase
A spokesman for Kansai Electric, which supplies electricity to Osaka, Japan’s second-largest city after Tokyo, said Wednesday that it may have to ask its customers to save electricity this summer if many of the nuclear power reactors that supply electricity to the company remain idle, and if temperatures are high.
Japan Expects Power Shortages Amid Growing, Unofficial Nuclear Shutdown, WSJ 11 June 11By MARI IWATA, TOKYO—Japan’s electricity shortages may be intensified over the coming months by a wide-scale unofficial shutdown of nuclear power plants across the country. Continue reading
Increasing number of TEPCO shareholders want withdrawal from nuclear
More Tepco Shareholders Seeking Nuclear Phaseout, TOKYO (Nikkei) 11 JUne 11–A total of 402 shareholders at Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501) have jointly submitted a resolution urging a withdrawal from nuclear power operations, the utility revealed in a notice for its general shareholders…http://e.nikkei.com/e/fr/tnks/Nni20110610D10JFN01.htm
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VIDEO: Fukushima meltdowns, radiation into sea
VIDEO Japan Admits 3 Nuclear Meltdowns, More Radiation Leaked into Sea; U.S. Nuclear Waste Poses Deadly Risks, Democracy Now 11 June 11 Almost three months after the earthquake and tsunami that triggered a nuclear disaster in Japan, new radiation “hot spots” may require the evacuation of more areas further from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facility. Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency recently admitted for the first time that full nuclear meltdowns occurred at three of the plant’s reactors, and more than doubled its estimate for the amount of radiation that leaked from the plant in the first week of the disaster in March. “What they failed to mention is that they discharged an equally large amount into the ocean,” says our guest Robert Alvarez, former senior policy adviser to the U.S. Secretary of Energy. “As [the radiation] goes up the food chain, it accumulates. By the time it reaches people who consume this food, the levels are higher than they originally were when they entered the environment.” Alvarez also discusses his new report on the vulnerabilities and hazards of stored spent fuel at U.S. reactors in the United States. Then we go to Tokyo to speak with Aileen Mioko Smith, executive director of the group Green Action. She says citizens leading their own monitoring efforts are calling for additional evacuations, especially for young children and pregnant women. [includes rush transcript] http://www.democracynow.org/seo/2011/6/10/as_japan_nuclear_crisis_worsens_citizen
Continuing radiation emissions into sea and air, from Fukushima
Highly toxic radioactive iodine, cesium, strontium, plutonium and other toxic man-made radionuclides have leaked unabated since March 12 into the ocean and atmosphere…..The mainstream media is not reporting on this.
Preface Nuclear Toxicity Syndrome, The Intel Hub, By Dr. Mark Sircus – June 9th, 2011 Arnie Gundersen, widely-regarded to be the best nuclear analyst covering Japan’s Fukushima disaster, indicates that the situation on the ground at the crippled reactors remains precarious and at a minimum it will be years before it can be hoped to be truly contained. Continue reading
Fukushima kids to wear radiation dose badges
Fukushima School Rule: Dosimeters for Kids, WSJ By Hiroyuki Kachi, 9 June 11, After the disclosure that much more radiation leaked from the stricken nuclear Fukushima Daiichi than previously estimated, local authorities in towns and cities nearby are taking as many precautions as they can – particularly for schoolchildren. One city in Fukushima prefecture is taking no chances: Date city, located about 60 kilometers northwest of Fukushima Daiichi, has decided to deliver basic radiation monitoring devices to all 8,000 kids in its schools.
The devices to be delivered to students, schoolkids and kindergarten attendees are badge-type dosimeters, rather than hi-tech electronic beeping equipment, according to an official at a local education committee. After being worn for a month or so, the dosimeters will be sent to a research laboratory to check radiation levels. Likely costing about 3,000 yen apiece, it is still undecided when all kids will receive their badges…..http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2011/06/09/fukushima-school-rule-dosimeters-for-kids/
Japan may evacuate more towns, as radiation “hot spots” found
Japan Considers Evacuating More Towns WSJ By YUKA HAYASHI TOKYO, 9 June 11—Japanese government officials said they are considering evacuating more towns affected by radiation, after recent monitoring data showed new “hot spots” of elevated contamination farther away from the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Continue reading
Unemployed Japanese risk their health in seeking cleanup work at Fukushima
If this was happening in America we’d have every political group complaining about workers rights, living wages, working conditions, and manipulation of the poor into taking these jobs at personal risk to their own lives instead of focusing on the selfless act of one person helping another
Unemployed Japanese Workers Flock to Radiation-Contaminated Fukushima Gizmodo 8 June 11Kelly Hodgkins — Japanese workers are so desperate for work that many are traveling to devastated areas of the country to find employment in the risky field of radiation cleanup. Continue reading
Japan’s green tea now radioactive?
Japan’s green tea contaminated with radiation, Herald Sun June 10, 2011 JAPANESE green tea, esteemed around the world for its purity and health-enhancing properties, has become contaminated with radiation, as fallout from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant continues to blight Japan’s agricultural heartlands, authorities revealed today.Authorities admitted for the first time that green tea from Japan’s biggest tea-growing area, the Shizuoka prefecture, contains radiation higher than the officially-permitted level.
The contamination has opened a furious argument among local and national officials about how to measure the radiation, and what constitutes a safe level of contamination.
Dried leaves from the year’s first harvest in the Honyama area of Shizuoka were found to contain radioactive cesium at a level of 679 becquerels per kilogram, above the permitted maximum of 500 becquerels. But the discovery was made by chance, and the authorities admit that earlier consignments, which were not examined and have gone to the market, may have also been contaminated…….The high reading was discovered not by the tea grower or the local government, but by a mail order tea company in Tokyo that carried out its own measurements….http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/japans-green-tea-contaminated-with-radiation/story-e6frf7ko-1226072822881
Growing anxiety of Tokyo residents about nuclear radiation
Radiation leaking from Fukushima power plant should be monitored more closely Mainichi Daily News 10 June Residents of the Tokyo metropolitan area are becoming increasingly concerned about levels of radiation spreading to their neighborhoods from the tsunami-hit Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant. There are some areas called “hot spots,” where high levels of radiation have been detected even though they are far away from the crippled nuclear plant. When radioactive substances leak from a nuclear facility as a result of an accident and spread through the sky, they fall on some limited areas depending on geographical features, wind direction and rain, resulting in high concentration of radiation in these areas…… Continue reading
Video of Fukushima nuclear whistleblower
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/06/09/3240251.htm Nuke worker speaks out about tsunami taboo VIDEO ABC News By North Asia correspondent Mark Willacy A former worker at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan says the operator ignored warnings about a large tsunami hitting the facility.Jun 9, 2011 Continue reading
India – another nuclear-capable missile test
India tests nuclear-capable missile Express Tribune , 10 June By AFP BHUBANESWAR: India tested a short-range nuclear-capable missile along its eastern coast on Thursday, an official said, as part of the country’s efforts to build up its atomic deterrent.
The surface-to-surface Prithvi-II missile was fired from a range in the eastern state of Orissa and hit its target in the Bay of Bengal successfully, the defence ministry official said.The Prithvi, which is domestically built and developed, can carry nuclear or conventional payloads and has already been inducted into the armed services.
India’s Defence Research Development Organisation is developing a series of missiles as part of the country’s deterrent strategy against neighbouring Pakistan and China which also have nuclear weapons…..http://tribune.com.pk/story/185422/india-tests-nuclear-capable-missile/
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