Japanese buying Geiger counters, don’t trust govt information on radiation
Demand for personal Geiger counters soars in Japan, Reuters, By Chiaki Kawase, TOKYO May 25, 2011 – With a nuclear plant just 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo still leaking radiation, demand for personal Geiger counters has skyrocketed in the Japanese capital and manufacturers are struggling to keep up with the demand…..With many people unsure of who to trust for their information, some buy Geiger counters to check for themselves……
plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) confirmed on Tuesday that the fuel rods at three reactors at the plant had melted down. Radioactive traces exceeding national safety standards have been found in various foods grown in areas around the plant as well as in tap water in places as far away as Tokyo, keeping residents on edge.
“I don’t think that the information you got are the real information in Japan. That’s the problem,” said restaurant chef Bruno Menard, noting that a French company he had checked with that morning for radiation levels had said levels were very high around Fukushima.
“Especially when it’s raining we have to be concerned.”….Demand for personal Geiger counters soars in Japan | Reuters
Indian scientists contradict nuclear lobby’s propaganda
Unlike the pro-nuclear propaganda that tries to project nuclear power as a scientifically-proven energy option that is both efficient and environment-friendly, there are scores of scientists who have been against nuclear energy but their voice got drowned in the clamor of powerful lobbyists,”
Scientists enroll students into anti-nuke lobby – The Times of India, 26 May,”……………….The scientists, gathered under the umbrella of Poromanu Shakti Birodhi Mancha or Anti-Nuclear Power Front, have already given a talk to students of La Martinere, Lakshmipat Singhania, Don Bosco, Mitra Institution and Loreto Day School. After the summer vacation, more talks are lined up in at least nine more schools in the city. Continue reading
Wikileaks reveal global concerns about Pakistan’s nukes
VIDEO WikiLeaks: US raised concerns about safety of Pakistan’s nuclear 
assets, NDTV May 26, 2011 New Delhi: Defence Minister AK Antony voiced India’s apprehension on Wednesday about the safety of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal and said it was a matter of global concern. “Naturally, it is a concern not only for us but for everybody,” Antony said in response to reporters’ questions on whether the security of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal was under threat in the wake of terror strikes such as the one at the Mehran naval air base in Karachi on Sunday night. (Watch – India’s new worry: Are Pak’s N-weapons safe?)
US cables, accessed exclusively by NDTV through WikiLeaks, show that this concern is indeed a global one and has been voiced by several countries since the present government took over in 2008. Several cables between US embassies and Washington during in a year-long period between mid 2008 and mid 2009, reveal that the US had raised concerns about the security of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal with Pakistan and China and had sought to reassure a worried Russia……
WikiLeaks: US raised concerns about safety of Pakistan’s nuclear assets
Thousands of tons of radioactive water to be stored somehow at Fukushima
Facility for tainted water almost full, New storage sites needed at Fukushima No. 1 Japan Times, May 24, 2011 Kyodo A nuclear waste disposal facility being used to store radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima No. 1 power plant will soon be full, Tokyo Electric Power Co. officials said Monday. The operator, known as Tepco, plans to suspend the extraction operation until mid-June once the facility becomes filled and until a new water treatment facility begins operating. Continue reading Japanese parents angry over radiation levels for children
Japanese ire over radiation limit for kids. Herald Sun AAP , May 23, 2011 FURIOUS parents at the centre of Japan’s atomic crisis and hundreds of their supporters rallied in Tokyo today against revised nuclear safety standards in schools they say are putting children at risk.
Japanese children can now be exposed to 20 times the radiation that was permissible before the March 11 tsunami caused a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant, sparking the world’s worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl. Around 400 protesters, many from areas around the stricken plant, flocked to the education and science ministry to demand a rethink on the new limit, which allows exposure of up to 20 millisieverts a year.
A group of Fukushima residents submitted a letter for the education minister demanding the ministry do all it can to lower radiation levels at schools and offer financial support.
Protest organisers said the radiation limit for playgrounds was about six times as much as the 0.6 microsievert-per-hour legal maximum under which under-18s are allowed to work…….The nuclear crisis remains unresolved and tens of thousands of people are still unable to return to homes, farms and businesses in a 20-kilometre zone around the radiation-spewing plant.
More than 20 elementary and junior high schools within 30 kilometres have been forced to close since the accident, affecting some 5000 pupils, the Yomiuri daily newspaper reported today….http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/breaking-news/japanese-ire-over-radiation-limit-for-kids/story-e6frf7jx-1226061484710
Pakistan and the nuclear terrorism risk
Pakistan is the nuclear Somalia...- By: Sumantra Maitra 05/23/11 The Examiner Pakistani Talibans last night attacked a heavily secured Air Force base in Karachi, Pakistan at approximately 2 AM. Around 15-20 heavily armed terrorists, with rocket propelled granades, shoulder fired missile launchers, and assault rifles, attacked the Air Force base PNS Mehran, which also houses the Pakistani Navy air group, right at the heart of the commercial capital of Pakistan raises question on the failing state.
The Pakistani Taliban spokesperson Ihsan Ullah claimed the attack to be a “revenge for the death of Osama Bin Laden and against the entire infidel foprces of the World.” Hw also warned saying that this attack proves that they are capable of attacking any place in the World, at anytime. …….The PNS Mehran base is within miles of the largest air force base of Pakistan, which is probably also a suspected place of storage of nuclear materials. The attack points out to the increasing radicalisation of the armed forces of Pakistan, as such an attack could not be planned and executed without some inside help from someone inside the Pakistani Navy.
Also it raises the unanswered question about the safety of the nuclear materials in the custody of Pakistan. If the Terrorists can get hold of any IRBM and nuclear materials, a few Indian and Israeli cities, and a few thousand NATO soldiers in Afghanistan might go up in smoke…. Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://washingtonexaminer.com/blogs/opinion-zone/2011/05/pakistan-nuclear-somalia#ixzz1NHl9k74X
Massive radioactive wastes for Malaysia, from Australian company Lynas
- the space for underground wastes storage cells is very limited due to the groundwater being extremely close to the surface;
- the ground is susceptible to subsidence as it is a former peat swamp area;
Lynas plant rushed ahead before radiation study malaysiaKini 23 May 11SM Mohamed Idris, president of Consumers Association of Penang and Sahabat Alam Malaysia
— The Lynas plant in Kuantan is unravelling into a nightmare. The lanthamide concentrates (rare earths) from Australia that Lynas will import into Malaysia contain thorium AND uranium, which suggests the processing in Kuantan will produce massive amount of radioactive wastes. Continue reading
Nuclear risks with unstable Pakistan
Pakistan is the nuclear Somalia…–By: Sumantra Maitra 05/23/11 The Examiner Pakistani Talibans last night attacked a heavily secured Air Force base in Karachi, Pakistan at approximately 2 AM. Around 15-20 heavily armed terrorists, with rocket propelled granades, shoulder fired missile launchers, and assault rifles, attacked the Air Force base PNS Mehran, which also houses the Pakistani Navy air group, right at the heart of the commercial capital of Pakistan raises question on the failing state. Continue reading
Japanese rice contaminated with plutonium
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Media Silent About Plutonium Contamination of Japanese Rice, Global Tech, 23 May 11
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The Japanese Business Press reported on May 14 that a rice field more than 50 kilometers away from the Fukushima nuclear plant has tested for high levels of deadly plutonium. A “certain food manufacturing company” conducted the independent test that reported data different from data the Japanese government released, according to a translation of the news article
The corporate media outside of Japan did not mention the test or the increased radiation affecting the staple crop. Since the start of the disaster, the corporate media has parroted statements from TEPCO and the Japanese government in its coverage of the worst nuclear catastrophe since Chernobyl. In addition, the corporate media has all but ignored extremely high levels of nuclear radioactive contamination recently detected in Japan. “The latest joint US and Japan survey shows extremely high levels of nuclear radioactive contamination, with radiation levels higher than Chernobyl evacuation limits, now span over 800 kilometers in Japan,” writes Alexander Higgins
The total area contaminated with radiation from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant is estimated at about 800 square kilometers, or about 40 percent the size of Tokyo, according to a radiation map created by the science ministry and U.S. Department of Energy,” reports Asahi. “The report uses the same level of contamination (555,000 becquerels or higher of cesium-137) that was used to issue compulsory evacuation orders in the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986.” It is not likely the corporate media missed the news. Asahi has alliances with the International Herald Tribune, which is owned by the New York Times. According to the map about 800 square kilometers are contaminated with accumulated cesium-137 of 600,000 becquerels or higher per square mete
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More radiation leakage from Fukushima nuclear power plant
Japan reports more radiation leakage TOKYO, May 22 (UPI) –– At least 250 tons of radioactive water spilled into the Pacific Ocean from Japan’s earthquake-damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant, officials said.
The Tokyo Electric Power Co. said the radiated water leaked for 41 hours beginning May 10 from the No. 3 reactor at the site, where four of six reactors were damaged in the magnitude-9 earthquake and ensuing tsunami, Kyodo News reported. At a Sunday news conference in Tokyo, utility spokesman Junichi Matsumoto told reporters Tepco has drafted plans to install a water-circulation system to cool the spent-fuel pools at the plant by the end of July, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Since the disaster, officials have scrambled to prevent the radioactive cores from overheating and releasing catastrophic radiation clouds. As of Sunday, part of the stop-gap measures still involved the use of fire hoses to pump water into the reactors, the Journal said. Matsumoto acknowledged radioactive vapor can still be seen “depending on the weather and wind direction of the day,” the Journal said……Japan reports more radiation leakage – UPI.com
Staggering financial costs of Fukushima continue to rise
it is clear that holes not only exist in the reactors at Fukushima but also in plans to bring the crisis under control……the issue of who is left holding the bag for the many costs associated with decontamination of the plant and surrounding facilities as well as rebuilding the dozens of communities wiped out by the tsunami. The amounts are staggering. Bank of America Corp.’s Merrill Lynch estimates TEPCO may face claims of 11 trillion yen ($136 billion).
Report From Tokyo: Left Holding the Bag,H UFFINGTON POST, David Wagner, 23 May, 11, Each week that passes here brings new revelations about the unstable nature of the nuclear facility at Fukushima as a result of the earthquake and tsunami on March 11th. Most recently, it has been confirmed by Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) that units #1, #2 and #3 at the Daiichi Fukushima plant all have substantial contaminated water in the basements of each reactor building, reinforcing the suspicion that the containment vessels are damaged as they are not holding the water. This creates additional challenges for TEPCO as it tries to set up a continuous cooling system that will eliminate the threat of radiation leaks into the environment. Continue reading
Solar panels plan for all new buildings in Japan
Japan ‘plans solar panels for all new buildings’, Google News, (AFP) – 23 May 11TOKYO — Japan is considering a plan that would make it compulsory for all new buildings and houses to come fitted with solar panels by 2030, a business daily said Sunday.The plan, expected to be unveiled at the upcoming G8 Summit in France, aims to show Japan’s resolve to encourage technological innovation and promote the wider use of renewable energy, the Nikkei daily said……
AFP: Japan ‘plans solar panels for all new buildings’
Nuclear lobby’s comic book spin to Jaitapur villagers
AREVA, Cameco, and other nuclear companies have become skillful at targeting indigenous peoples with comic strip books and promotions. They’ve also used these tactics in schools – getting to unsophisticated people with cheerful, simplistic propaganda.
the comic narrates the story of Jagdishpur, a village that had been underdeveloped due to ignorance and superstition, but undergoes a transformation when a nuclear power plant is built there.
Comic relief for Jaitapur N-plant fears Hindustan Times, Mumbai, May 23, 2011 The Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) has turned to comic strips to dispel safety fears of villagers about atomic energy. The move by the Government-run nuclear plant operator is an attempt to address opposition by locals and activists to the planned nuclear power project in Jaitapur, Maharashtra and questions that may come up at sites of other proposed projects. The comic dwells on the benefits of atomic power Continue reading
Debate over China’s nuclear policy
ANALYSIS: Questions remain on China’s nuclear stance, Taipei Times, By J. Michael Cole / Staff Reporter, 23 May 11, A recent report on China’s nuclear weapons capabilities has re-ignited debate on the country’s nuclear policy and the overall lack of transparency surrounding the People’s Liberation Army (PLA). Continue reading
Hamaoka nuclear plant – seawater in reactor core, radiation in farmland
Seawater enters reactor core at nuclear plant, Oman Observer, Sat, 21 May 2011 TOKYO — Some five tons of seawater is estimated to have entered a reactor core at the Hamaoka nuclear power station in central Japan, the operator said on Thursday. That followed the discovery of an estimated 400 tons of seawater that has inundated the main steam condenser at reactor 5 of the Hamaoka nuclear plant in Shizuoka prefecture, south-west of Tokyo.
Chubu Electric Power Co, which runs the plant, found the 400 tons of seawater while shutting down the reactor as requested by the government. Chubu Electric officials said their assessment of the purity of water inside the pressure vessel showed some 5 tons of seawater came from the condenser. The utility will not decommission the reactor. Instead, it will dilute and desalinate the seawater to prevent any corrosion inside the reactor as salt causes corrosion…….
The plant is run by Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO). On Saturday, after Chubu Electric started to put the Hamaoka plant in a stable state known as cold shutdown, it discovered seawater in the reactor core, Jiji said. Meanwhile, local officials in the prefecture of Miyagi said on Thursday they had found high levels of radioactive substances in a sample of pasture grass.
Local government officials detected 1,530 becquerels of radioactive caesium per kilogram in a sample collected a week ago from a farm run by the town of Marumori, some 60 kilometres north of the Fukushima plant. — DPA… Seawater enters reactor core at nuclear plant | Oman Observer
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