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Fukushima Sensationalism and Hoaxes

During the past years and half following the ongoing Fukushima catastrophe I have said it repeatedly many times:

1. Sensationalism discredit the real gravity of the situation in Fukushima and of the living conditions of the Fukushima victims, it also discredits all the serious Fukushima Watchers and our anti-nuclear cause.
2. It is an insult to truth and to the real victims on location in Fukushima.
3. Fukushima and nuclear do not need any exageration, sensationalism, the plain truth as it is, is terrible, horrible enough.
4. Only by spreading the truth, the true facts we can mark solid points against the cover-up of the nuclear lobby and its servile media, only with truth and true facts we can help the Fukushima victims situation to be known, exposed and get them the help they rightfully deserve.
5. Therefore we should oppose both the nuke shills who minimize the truth about Fukushima and nuclear, and the sensationalists who discredit the Fukushima cause to the eyes of the general public with their wild lies about Fukushima.

For four years and half, I have been sharing, circulating information on internet thru 3 blogs and on Facebook on a few groups and pages.

I have chosen up to now to ignore the rotten apples, but I cannot keep silent anymore when I do witness the harm they are doing to the Fukushima cause and to the anti-nuclear cause with their sensationalism, their repetitive hoaxes, their lack of integrity, of responsibility, their sensationalizing of Fukushima to draw attention so as to milk donations from good people but alas gullible not well informed.

The typical example of those few Youtubers sensationalizing Fukushima for self profit, transforming the Fukushima issue into a personal con-game is a man named Kevin Blanch.

For example last year Kevin Blanch made a video announcing that the spent fuel pool of the reactor 4 at the Nuclear plant of Fukushima Daiichi was on fire and had exploded, that the whole U.S. would be fried by the radiation plume released from that fire and explosion within few days, causing a panic and fear in numbers of people. Of course it was just bull. Another hoax of his, among his countless other lies and hoaxes.

His latest hoax, this year, on August 2015, after Japan restarted its first reactor at Sendai in Southern Japan on Kyushu Islnd, he took advantage of people’s attention about that restart to announce suddenly that that reactor was having a meltdown. Of course, not basis whatsover for his claim, just another made-up hoax of his. Multiple hoaxes for which during the past 4 years and half he never even once apologized , once those hoaxes in due time were debunked one after the other. Totally unrepentant, and always keeping on doing it.

That scoundrel is making a living from making sensationalism videos about Fukushima on Youtube, full of exaggerations, hyperboles, plain lies, hoaxes, promoting his self-importancy with the sole intent to fool the people about his pretended activism so as to milk donations from them, thus making Fukushima his personal lucrative con-game.

I feel sorry for the gullible people that he fools, that he takes advantage of, most of those people certainly well meaning and good hearted. But If only them I would not interfere with his con-game and his preys.

But people like him are robbing those donations from the people who really need it and who really deserve it : The real victims and the real activists on location doing the real job, helping the victims, organizing radiation measuring networks to measure the environment and the foods & beverages of the communities, providing measuring instruments to communities on locations, etc… The people who are crowdfunding, organizing health recovering spring and summer camps outside of Fukushima for the children of Fukushima in Japan or Hawaii, or in Australia or in various European countries, so that the Fukushima children may leave their daily contaminated environment to replenish their health for a few weeks in a non contaminated environment, to eat also there non-contaminated foods for a few weeks. Those times out are very crucial for the health of those children, for them to be ble to detox their young vulnerable organism, as it was proven before with the children of chernobyl by numerous studies.

Those few people like him on Youtube are not well-meaning citizens wishing to expose the Fukushima situation, to circulate the informations which are not well circulated by the mainstream media due to the nuclear lobby influence and its financial associates, such people are riding the Fukushima catastrophe, as vultures, to the detriment of the real victims and to the detriment of truth, for their own ego and greed.

Please people, don’t be victimized by con-men and their glib jive lies.

Spare your donations to help the real victims, and to help the real activists present on location to help the Fukushima victims.

From the father of a Fukushima girl.

Best wishes to you all.

September 11, 2015 Posted by dunrenard | Japan | Fukushima continuing, Fukushima Daiichi, Fukushima Victims, Hoaxes, Sensationalism | 11 Comments

Can Towns Near Japan’s Fukushima Nuclear Plant Recover?

” There are more decontamination workers than townspeople. It’s like we’ve been taken over,” says carpenter Koichi Takeda, who evacuated to nearby Iwaki City and was in town to help a friend clean her house.
He has a number of clients renovating their houses in Naraha, but most of them are undecided about whether they will actually return. “It’s like keeping a vacation home here,” he said.”

A few signs of life are returning to this rural town made desolate by the Fukushima nuclear disaster four-and-a-half years ago: Carpenters bang on houses, an occasional delivery truck drives by and a noodle shop has opened to serve employees who have returned to Naraha’s small town hall.

But weeds cover the now rusty train tracks, there are no sounds of children and wild boars still roam around at night. On the outskirts of town, thousands of black industrial storage bags containing radiation-contaminated soil and debris stretch out across barren fields.

This past weekend, Naraha became the first of seven towns that had been entirely evacuated to reopen since the March 11, 2011, disaster, when a tsunami slammed into the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, causing meltdowns and a massive radiation leak.

The town’s viability is far from certain, and its fate will be watched closely by authorities and neighboring towns to see if recovery is indeed possible on this once-abandoned land.

Just over a tenth of Naraha’s population of 7,400 say they plan to move back soon, and only a few hundred have actually returned, most of them senior citizens. Schools won’t reopen for another two years, and many families with children are staying away due to concerns about radiation levels, which authorities say are below the annual allowable limit. Residents are given personal dosimeters to check their own radiation levels if they want.

One thing that won’t change is the town’s dependence on the nuclear industry — only this time it will involve dismantling damaged reactors, not building and running them.

An economic revival plan centers on a giant 85 billion yen ($700 million) facility that is being built on the edge of town to research, develop and test specialized robots and other technology — part of the government’s “Innovation Coast” plan to turn the disaster-hit region into a hub for nuclear plant decommissioning technology.

The complex will include mock-ups of sections of the wrecked Fukushima reactors to train workers on robot operations. Dismantling the Dai-ichi plant and removing its melted reactor cores will take about 40 years, the government estimates.

The facility is expected to draw hundreds of workers, and the town also seeks to host laborers to decontaminate buildings and outdoor areas in the area. Naraha is also home to a second nuclear power plant — Fukushima Dai-ni — that barely survived the tsunami but may be scrapped due to local opposition to its restart. So it may also be dismantled.

Returning residents are determined to make a go of it, but they wonder if the town will survive economically — and mourn that it will never be the same cozy place it was five years ago.

“There are more decontamination workers than townspeople. It’s like we’ve been taken over,” says carpenter Koichi Takeda, who evacuated to nearby Iwaki City and was in town to help a friend clean her house.

He has a number of clients renovating their houses in Naraha, but most of them are undecided about whether they will actually return. “It’s like keeping a vacation home here,” he said.

Source: ABC News

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/towns-japans-fukushima-nuclear-plant-recover-33597508

September 8, 2015 Posted by dunrenard | Japan | Fukushima continuing | Leave a comment

Evacuation order lifted for Fukushima town

The evacuation order has been lifted for the town of Naraha in Fukushima prefecture, allowing residents to permanently return to their homes there. Naraha, located within 20 kilometres of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, is the first of seven municipalities that were fully evacuated to have its order removed.

The town’s entire population of 8011 people were evacuated on 12 March 2011, the day after a large earthquake and tsunami struck the nearby Fukushima Daiichi plant. The loss of power at the plant led to core meltdowns at three of the plant’s six units, resulting in the spread of radioactive materials across the area.
The municipality was redesignated as a zone being prepared for the lifting of the evacuation order in August 2012, which meant that residents were allowed to enter the town during daytime hours.
Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) announced that, following decontamination and reconstruction work, as of midnight on 5 September residents of Naraha were free to return to their homes.
The government aims to lift all evacuation orders by March 2017, except for certain areas where radiation levels are expected to remain high.

Source: World Nuclear News
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/RS-Evacuation-order-lifted-for-Fukushima-town-0709154.html

September 7, 2015 Posted by dunrenard | Japan | Evacuation Order Lifted, Fukushima continuing | Leave a comment

Japan Reopens Town 12 miles from Fukushima Daiichi, Govt Says Radiation is at Safe Levels.

Noraha Mayor Yukiei Matsumoto, rear left, plants a tree with children of Naraha residents during an event in Naraha, Fukushima

More than four years after the 7,400 residents of the Japanese town of Naraha were evacuated after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant melted down in the wake of a devastating tsunami, the government is allowing people to return.
Following several years of decontamination, Naraha is the first town in the area to allow residents to return. It was evacuated in March 2011 after the Fukushima plant was smashed by the magnitude-9.0 earthquake and tsunami near Sendai, setting off the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl.
The central government has said radiation is at safe levels.
“The clock that was stopped has now begun to tick,” Naraha Mayor Yukiei Matsumoto said at a ceremony attended by about 100 people. Naraha is “at the starting line at last,” he told reporters.
But, according to The Associated Press, a survey indicates that 53 percent of the evacuees from the town, about 12 miles south of the nuclear plant, “say they’re either not ready to return home permanently or are undecided. Some say they’ve found jobs elsewhere over the past few years, while others cite radiation concerns.”
The Japan Times reports: “To address lingering radiation concerns, dosimeters will be handed out and 24-hour monitoring will be conducted at a water filtration plant. Also, tap water will be tested at households worried about radioactive contamination.”
Source:
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/09/05/437792215/japan-reopens-town-shuttered-by-fukushima-nuclear-disaster

September 7, 2015 Posted by dunrenard | Japan | Evacuation Order Lifted, Fukushima continuing, Fukushima Radiation | Leave a comment

EDITORIAL: Each Fukushima water leak weakens faith in Japan’s food safety

Wholesalers check fish at a market in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture.

Japan’s dispute with South Korea over its import restrictions on Japanese seafood imposed after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster is now going to the World Trade Organization.

Following the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, South Korea banned imports of some marine products caught in waters off Fukushima and seven other prefectures, mainly areas along the Pacific coast between Aomori and Chiba prefectures. Then in autumn 2013, Seoul expanded the scope of the ban to include all marine products from these prefectures.

The Japanese government responded to the move by criticizing the measure for “lacking a scientific basis.”

Tokyo has been demanding that the measure be withdrawn while cooperating with Seoul’s investigations. But the two countries have failed to resolve their disagreements, and Japan has asked the WTO to set up a dispute-settlement panel comprising experts from third countries to rule over South Korea’s import ban.

More than a dozen countries and areas have barred imports of all or part of Japanese-made foods, but the government has singled out South Korea because the country has expanded its restrictions.

The WTO tends to be regarded as dysfunctional because of the lack of progress in the global trade-liberalizing talks under its auspices. But the world trade watchdog has at least been performing its dispute-settling functions.

Japan has been making active use of the WTO’s ability to settle trade disputes.

Over the past several years, Tokyo has filed complaints with the WTO over China’s restrictions on exports of rare earth minerals and Ukraine’s emergency restrictions on automobile imports, for instance. These actions have produced certain positive results for Japan.

Japan’s diplomatic relations with South Korea remain strained over some long-standing territorial and history-related rows. But both countries should not allow these problems to affect the ways they deal with economic issues like trade disputes.

Tokyo and Seoul need to continue talks to seek an early solution to the dispute even while the WTO’s panel is hearing the case.

Four-and-a-half years after the accident, coastal areas of Fukushima Prefecture, where the disaster-stricken nuclear power plant is located, are still subject to restrictions on shipments of certain kinds of fish. Even for the fishes not covered, fishermen in these areas are allowed to catch and sell them only on a “trial basis.”

A system has been established to ensure that farm, forestry and fishery products made in areas directly affected by the disaster as well as surrounding regions are shipped only after they have passed the safety standards in radiation tests. But consumers have shown a tendency to avoid all food products from these areas.

In cases of fishery products, only small-scale fishing operations and limited sales of products have been conducted to gauge the reactions from consumers.

The South Korean government says it has expanded the import curbs in response to leaks of radiation-contaminated water from the Fukushima plant.

With the South Korean public deeply worried about food contaminated with radioactive materials, the step was aimed at preventing confusion among consumers in the country, according to Seoul.

The scope of the import restrictions and the means involved may be open to dispute. It should be noted, however, that in both South Korea and Japan, food safety from a scientific viewpoint doesn’t necessarily reassure consumers.

The Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant has been plagued by leaks of polluted water. Local fishermen have lodged protests every time such an incident occurs.

It must not be forgotten that every leak of contaminated water makes consumers even more unwilling to put their faith in the safety of products from the areas.

The only way to restore the public’s trust in the safety of food is to ensure there will be no more leaks of contaminated water nor any exacerbation of the nuclear accident. The food trade dispute with South Korea should serve as a reminder of the absolute need to achieve these most basic nuclear safety goals.

Source: Asahi Shimbun

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/views/editorial/AJ201509070016

September 7, 2015 Posted by dunrenard | Japan, South Korea | Exports, Food contamination, Fukushima continuing | Leave a comment

Fukushima town facing population decline, lack of lifelines as evacuation orders lifted

Residents began returning to the Fukushima Prefecture town of Naraha on Sept. 5 as evacuation orders issued after the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster were lifted, but the town’s revival is uncertain as residents fret over the scarcity of medical services and other lifelines.

To make Naraha residents’ return to their homes successful and to increase momentum for the reconstruction of additional towns, the national government is drawing up policies to provide assistance to local businesses.

In the district of Kamikobana, an area near central Naraha that is surrounded by forest, Noriko Sato, 53, smiled on Sept. 4 as she watched her 93-year-old mother-in-law tend to flowers in the garden of the family’s home, to which they returned after having evacuated to the Fukushima prefectural city of Iwaki.

“She is really happy to be back,” Sato said.

The women had participated in a program that began in April to allow temporary overnight stays, launched in preparation for the full lifting of the evacuation orders in Naraha.

Among the 18 households in the district, however, some 30 percent have built new homes in the areas where they evacuated — and though the evacuation orders have been lifted, hardly any of them plan to return anytime soon.

Sato says that she had also planned to resettle permanently outside of Naraha, but that she decided to return due to her mother-in-law’s desire to live in her hometown, which had been her residence for 70 years. Meanwhile, Sato’s 56-year-old husband has been living on his own in Niigata Prefecture, after the foodstuffs company where he works relocated there following the nuclear crisis. With their 28-year-old daughter living and working alone in the city of Iwaki, the family of four continues to live scattered apart.

In the meantime, Naraha residents are voicing their anxiety about life in the town following the lifting of the evacuation orders. For example, a high concentration of radioactive materials remains sunk at the bottom of a dammed lake within the town’s borders that serves as a local water source.

“It is only the elderly who wish to return here,” Sato noted. “In the future, the population will continue to decrease even further,” she added. “And if people don’t return here, places to shop and to seek medical treatment won’t be built. I really don’t know whether this town will make it or not.”

Farmer Tamio Watanabe, 68, spent time cleaning his home on Sept. 4 in preparation for moving back in together with his family, whose members span three generations. “This town is going to experience financial hardship at some point after the government has finished with its period of intensive reconstruction,” he commented worriedly. “The governmental services available here are likely going to decline as well.”

Prior to the meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co., the town did not receive local government tax allocations because it was receiving subsidies for hosting the Fukushima No. 2 Nuclear Power Plant. Now, the town is receiving tax allocations because its tax revenues have fallen to less than one-third of pre-disaster levels. Anticipated population declines also mean that predictions for the future there remain uncertain.

Sachio and Hiroko Watanabe, aged 56 and 61, respectively, say that with more than four years having passed since the disaster, life as evacuees has become the new norm.

The couple tore down their home in Naraha this year in February, and bought a 38-year-old home in the city of Iwaki, where Sachio’s company had relocated. “We will be watching what happens in Naraha from afar,” Sachio commented softly, an air of sadness about him.

According to prefectural estimates, populations of the 12 municipalities where evacuation orders were issued following the nuclear accident have decreased due to factors such as people relocating their residence registries to the areas where they evacuated.

As a consequence, eight towns and villages in the Fukushima prefectural county of Futaba are considering merging in the future.

Evacuation orders for six whole towns and villages in Futaba County are still in place. Among them, large areas in the three towns of Namie, Futaba and Okuma are designated as “difficult-to-return zones” where annual cumulative radiation exposure levels exceed 50 millisieverts.

The mayor of one of the municipalities in Futaba County commented, “Everyone here realizes that at some point, we will need to begin looking at the possibility of merging.” Meanwhile, a top prefectural official noted, “While we do not have the capacity to undertake such a merger at present, this will eventually be a discussion that we can no longer avoid.”

As evacuation orders were lifted in Naraha, the city of Minamisoma and the town of Kawamata, along with the village of Katsurao, began a program of provisional overnight stays on Aug. 31.

In Minamisoma, however, only 32 percent of residential neighborhoods and other areas where residents visit throughout the course of their daily activities had been decontaminated as of Aug. 7 although the municipal government is aiming to have evacuation orders for the city lifted by April next year.

“Decontamination is ongoing, and there is almost no one around,” commented Toshiyuki Kuroki, 66, a former agricultural cooperative employee who returned with his wife to their home in Minamisoma’s Odaka district.

“We are not yet receiving postal mail delivery, and life here is inconvenient, he added. “But at the place the authorities had rented (as a temporary housing unit for us), we could not work in the garden — and in fact, there was nothing to do at all. Here, at least things are better than they were there.”

Source: Mainichi

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150905p2a00m0na010000c.html

September 7, 2015 Posted by dunrenard | Japan | Evacuation Order Lifted, Fukushima continuing | Leave a comment

Long-time residents of Naraha facing dilemma with lifting of evacuation order

Shukan Sakanushi, head priest of the Dairakuin temple in Naraha, performs a ceremony on Sept. 5 praying for the rebuilding of his hometown.

With the lifting of the evacuation order for the Fukushima Prefecture town of Naraha on Sept. 5, Shukan Sakanushi, head priest of the Dairakuin temple in Naraha, decided to return home.

At midnight, he chanted Buddhist sutras in a ceremony praying for the rebuilding of the town.

“Those who live in temples have to go to where the people are,” Sakanushi, 44, said. “Today is a milestone of sorts. I will return to the temple from today.”

However, because only a small number of long-time residents have returned to Naraha, many parts of the town are quiet and lonely at night. Community bonds remain severed, making a return to Naraha difficult for former residents such as Teruyuki Ishizawa, 75, who now lives in temporary housing in Iwaki.

“I want to return but cannot,” he said. “The town is so dark that I cannot allow my wife to walk outside by herself.”

The lifting of the evacuation order for residents who fled in the wake of the accident at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant following the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami does not mean that all 7,400 residents can simply return home.

Some evacuees have established comfortable lives elsewhere and want to continue with that daily routine.

Others are discouraged by the likelihood that only a few neighbors will return to their communities even with the evacuation order lifted.

For Sakanushi, March 11, 2011, was a special day, but not because of the twin disasters that changed his life. That was the day he was officially appointed head priest of Dairakuin by the headquarters of the Buzan sect of Shingon Buddhism to which the temple belongs.

He intended to take over most of the duties performed by his father, Myokan, 78, who had served as head priest of Dairakuin for 50 years.

However, after the evacuation order was issued for Naraha, Sakanushi’s family of six moved away.

Sakanushi is also an employee of the Naraha town government. He temporarily moved to Aizu-Wakamatsu where he provided support to other evacuees. Subsequently, he moved to Kita-Ibaraki, Ibaraki Prefecture, where his wife, Chisaki, 39, daughter, Mayu, 11, and son, Homare, 7, had evacuated to. Sakanushi’s parents eventually settled in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, after initially evacuating to Gunma Prefecture.

Although the evacuation order has been lifted, Sakanushi is now the only family member to return to Naraha.

No decision has yet been made about whether to have his two children return. The town government plans to resume the elementary and junior high schools in town from spring 2017. But Homare has no memories of life in Naraha, because he evacuated four and a half years ago.

“I do hold the feeling of wanting to live together as a family,” Sakanushi said. “However, the children have become accustomed to life in Ibaraki. I will think about whether we should all return by the time school resumes here.”

Many of his temple’s followers have also not returned to Naraha. Some are still concerned about the radiation, while others are worried about the inconveniences associated with returning to a community that has been deserted for more than four years.

Sakanushi plans to maintain the temple “annex” that was established in Iwaki, where about 80 percent of Naraha residents have evacuated to.

The tsunami and Fukushima nuclear accident have drastically altered the appearance of Naraha.

Homes along the coast remain flattened from the tsunami. Areas that once were rice paddies now are filled with black plastic bags holding dirt contaminated by radiation.

After the nuclear accident, lodging facilities and offices of companies involved in reactor decommissioning and decontamination work related to the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant have been constructed in Naraha. More than 1,000 workers now reside in Naraha, exceeding the number of long-time residents who returned. Those workers also frequent the temporary shopping arcade that has been set up in town.

A couple who now reside in Nagoya have all but given up hope of ever returning to Naraha.

Yoshiharu and Nobuko Matsumoto fled to Nagoya because their oldest daughter lives in Aichi Prefecture.

At first, Nobuko, 79, would say to Yoshiharu, 80, “We will return after a year or so.”

However, their lives as evacuees have now lasted for four and a half years.

Their oldest daughter, who returned temporarily to Naraha to sell off furniture and clean up, told them how their home has deteriorated.

Mold has grown on the house, which has also been damaged by rats. Shrubs have grown taller than the height of the Matsumotos.

This spring, the Matsumotos were told it would cost 10 million yen ($84,000) to repair the home.

That was when Nobuko decided, “I will remain in Nagoya.”

Yoshiharu was still determined to return to Naraha.

In early August, the entire family returned to Naraha with the intention of completing the clean-up work.

Even though he had back problems, Yoshiharu made the trip to Naraha, but he could not stop the tears from flowing when he saw his home for the first time in more than four years.

A next-door neighbor had begun destroying their home. The neighbor across the street had also decided to do the same. Of the family of five who used to live in the back of the Matsumoto home, only the grandmother in her 80s is planning to return.

In total, only one neighbor among their acquaintances was planning to return to Naraha.

“I want to return, but if I cannot farm and there are no friends, I would not be able to go on living there,” Yoshiharu said. “When I saw our home, I felt we had moved far away.”

He still has not decided whether to tear down the home because he fears that would anger his ancestors. Yoshiharu has asked his children to, at the very least, leave the family grave in Naraha.

Source: Asahi Shimbun

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201509060018

September 6, 2015 Posted by dunrenard | Japan | Evacuation Order Lifted, Fukushima continuing | Leave a comment

Radiation fears as report shows Fukushima fir trees to be growing strangely

TOKYO — Following the events of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami and the subsequent meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant complex, radiologists in Japan have been closely observing the area for potential changes. A new report by the National Institute of Radiological Sciences now suggests that the fir trees in Fukushima may be exhibiting strange growth patterns, with the radiation from the disaster being named as a possible factor.

The report, published on the organisation’s website on August 28, states that when comparing fir trees from within the affected zone to those from areas with lower radioactivity, the fir trees in the affected area were increasingly found to be stunted and exhibiting signs of morphological change, particularly bifurcation, the splitting of a body into two parts, i.e. “branching.”

Each year of a healthy fir tree’s growth sees it growing directly upward while also putting out two horizontal branches. Scientists have noted, however, that some of the trees in the affected areas are only branching off into two separate directions at the tip, and exhibiting lack of upward growth.

The changes can be identified in the images above left, which were included with the report. Image A shows a normal example of growth. Note the vertical central branch. Photo B shows a trunk which has entirely split into two, and photo C shows horizontal growth only, with a distinct lack of vertical growth. The red arrows indicate where bifurcation has occurred. You can see in image C how the central, vertical branch of the tree which should be growing upward is missing entirely.

The investigation was conducted in January of this year, with trees examined in Okuma, Fukushima (3.5 kilometres from the nuclear plant), and two locations in Namie, Fukushima (8.5 and 15 kilometres from the plant). Radiation levels in Okuma were recorded at 33.9 microsieverts, and in Namie, the levels were 19.6 and 6.85 microsieverts, respectively. These trees were compared against trees in the north of neighbouring Ibaraki Prefecture from an area with a microsievert reading of 0.13.

Between 100 and 200 trees in each location were examined for changes, with the effect seen more often in the areas with higher levels of radiation. 90% of the trees examined in Okuma exhibited some degree of morphological change, a number which fell to 40% and 30% in Namie, and to less than 10% in northern Ibaraki Prefecture .

The correlation between the frequency of the morphological change and the proximity to the Fukushima Daiichi site/level of radiation recorded suggests that it is likely — but as yet not confirmed — that the changes are connected to the increase in background radiation.

However, the report notes that this particular morphological change has been identified in other areas and can be attributed to a range of other factors including environmental changes and as a result of pest damage. The report states that rather than attributing this change directly to the nuclear disaster, researchers are instead presenting evidence that proves that this change is seen more often when radiation is a contributing factor.

Source: Report on Morphological Changes to Fir Trees in Areas with High Radiation, National Institute of Radiological Sciences

Source: Japan Today

http://www.japantoday.com/smartphone/view/national/radiation-fears-as-report-shows-fukushima-fir-trees-to-be-growing-strangely

September 6, 2015 Posted by dunrenard | Japan | Fukushima continuing, Fukushima Radiation, Mutations | 2 Comments

Japan lifts evacuation order for town near doomed nuke plant

NARAHA, Japan (AP) — Japan’s government on Saturday lifted a 4 1/2-year-old evacuation order for the northeastern town of Naraha that had sent all of the town’s 7,400 residents away following the disaster at the nearby Fukushima nuclear plant.

Naraha became the first to get the order lifted among seven municipalities forced to empty entirely due to radiation contamination following the massive earthquake and tsunami that sent the plant’s reactors into triple meltdowns in March 2011.

The central government has said radiation levels in Naraha have fallen to levels deemed safe following decontamination efforts.

According to a government survey, however, 53 percent of the evacuees from Naraha, which is 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of the nuclear plant, say they’re either not ready to return home permanently or are undecided. Some say they’ve found jobs elsewhere over the past few years, while others cite radiation concerns.

Naraha represents a test case, as most residents remain cautious amid lingering health concerns and a lack of infrastructure. In the once-abandoned town, a segment of a national railway is still out of service, with the tracks covered with grass. Some houses are falling down and wild boars roam around at night.

Only about 100 of the nearly 2,600 households have returned since a trial period began in April. Last year, the government lifted evacuation orders for parts of two nearby towns, but only about half of their former residents have returned.

Naraha Mayor Yukiei Matsumoto said that Saturday marked an important milestone.

“Our clock started moving again,” he said during a ceremony held at a children’s park. “The lifting of the evacuation order is one key step, but this is just a start.”

Matsumoto said he hoped Naraha could set a good example of a recovering town for the other affected municipalities.

About 100,000 people from about 10 municipalities around the wrecked plant still cannot go home. The government hopes to lift all evacuation orders except for the most contaminated areas closest to the plant by March 2017 — a plan many evacuees criticize as an attempt to showcase Fukushima’s recovery ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.

Matsumoto said that fear of radiation and nuclear safety was still present, and that Naraha had a long way to go in its recovery. The town will be without a medical clinic until October, while a new prefectural hospital won’t be ready until February.

A grocery store started free delivery services in July, and a shopping center will open next year. Still, many residents, especially those who don’t drive, face limited options for their daily necessities.

Residents have been given personal dosimeters to check their own radiation levels. To accommodate their concerns, the town is also running 24-hour monitoring at a water filtration plant, testing tap water for radioactive materials.

Toshiko Yokota, a 53-year-old homemaker who had to leave her Naraha house after the disaster, said Saturday that she came back to attend the ceremony and clean her home, and that she eventually wants to move back with her husband. Their house was damaged by rats, bugs and rainwater leaks in their absence, and still needs to be fully renovated, but she hopes to return in a few years.

“My friends are all in different places because of the nuclear accident, and the town doesn’t even look the same, but this is still my hometown and it really feels good to be back,” said Yokota, who currently lives in another town in Fukushima prefecture.

“I still feel uneasy about some things, like radiation levels and the lack of a medical facility,” she said. “In order to come back, I have to keep up my hope and stay healthy.”

Source: AP

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/9f71192d4ea144a3bad42ad564ef5f7a/japan-town-near-damaged-nuclear-plant-lifts-evacuation

September 6, 2015 Posted by dunrenard | Japan | Evacuation Order Lifted, Fukushima continuing | Leave a comment

Evacuation order lifted in Fukushima’s Naraha Town

Japan’s government has lifted an evacuation order for Naraha Town, near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The measure took effect on Friday at midnight. Nearly all of the area is located 20 kilometers from the plant in Fukushima Prefecture and was subject to the March 2011 evacuation order.

The government says decontamination has been completed in the area. Officials say the town’s environment is almost ready for residents to return to their homes.

This is the third evacuation order to be lifted since the accident. The previous 2 were the Miyakoji district in Tamura City and the eastern part of Kawauchi Village.

But Naraha is the first municipality among the 7 towns and villages around the plant to have its evacuation order lifted.

These 7 municipalities totally emptied of residents, as well as local government workers. The evacuation was ordered by the central government soon after the disaster.

The lifting of the evacuation order allows the town’s approximately 7,300 residents to return to their homes. It also permits them to resume commercial and business activities.

At the same time, the town faces the challenge of addressing residents’ concerns about radiation and building a safe environment for its residents. It also faces the task of resuming the town’s commercial and medical services for the first time in 4-and-a-half years.
An evacuation order remains in place for about 70,000 people in 9 municipalities surrounding the Daiichi plant.

The central government plans to lift the order for the remaining municipalities once decontamination is complete and services are capable of supporting people’s lives.

Source: NHK

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20150905_07.html

September 5, 2015 Posted by dunrenard | Japan | Evacuation Order Lifted, Fukushima continuing | Leave a comment

Evacuation order lifted in Naraha, but few returning home

NARAHA, Fukushima Prefecture–Authorities lifted an evacuation order for 7,400 residents of this small town close to the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant on Sept. 5, but very few homeowners have indicated they plan to return anytime soon.

Most of Naraha is located within the 20-kilometer-radius evacuation zone surrounding the stricken plant. Even though the evacuation order was lifted at midnight for the entire town, there are lingering fears of radiation contamination and concerns over a lack of essentials that would allow residents to pick up the threads of their former lives.

Of the seven Fukushima municipalities where all residents were ordered to evacuate after the triple meltdown triggered by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster, Naraha is the first one to have the evacuation order removed.

One evacuee who did return to his Naraha home was 68-year-old Fusao Sakamoto.

“Looking back, I feel my four-and-half-years as an evacuee was agonizingly long,” the landscape gardener said.

According to the town government, only 780 residents of 351 households, or just over 10 percent of the entire population, were registered at the end of August with the town’s program to allow them to stay overnight to prepare for permanent resettlement.

It was the third removal of an evacuation order among areas in the former no-go zone set within 20 km of the plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co.

The number of residents allowed to return home is the largest with the lifting of the Naraha evacuation order. It is expected to set a precedent for large-scale resettlement of Fukushima evacuees.

Almost all Naraha residents fled from their hometown on March 12, the day after the nuclear disaster unfolded. The Fukushima plant is located in the nearby towns of Okuma and Futaba.

Naraha was initially designated as a no-entry zone, which in principle prohibited residents from entering the town. But it was redesignated as a zone being prepared for the lifting of the evacuation order in August 2012, which meant that residents were allowed to enter the town during daytime hours.

With decontamination work and restoration of basic infrastructure largely completed, evacuees were allowed to return home for long-term stays in April to prepare for permanent resettlement.

On Sept. 5, the town government, which relocated its functions to Iwaki and other municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture, began to resume operations at the town office building in central Naraha.

“The clock has just started ticking again for our town with the lifting of the evacuation order after many months,” Mayor Yukiei Matsumoto told town officials. “We will accelerate efforts to achieve full recovery of the town.”

Source: Asahi Shimbun

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201509050035

September 5, 2015 Posted by dunrenard | Japan | Evacuation Order Lifted, Evacuees, Fukushima continuing | Leave a comment

Fukushima: Japan ends evacuation of Naraha as ‘radiation at safe level’

The town’s 7,400 residents are allowed to return to their homes after the four-year-old evacuation order was lifted on Saturday

A man lights candles in Naraha, Japan. Residents of Naraha will return from Saturday to live in the town near the Fukushima nuclear power plant for the first time since the 2011 disaster.

The Japanese town of Naraha has lifted a 2011 evacuation order that sent all its 7,400 residents away after the nearby Fukushima nuclear plant was crippled by a tsunami that led to a meltdown and contamination.

Naraha was the first among seven municipalities forced to empty entirely due to radiation contamination following the massive earthquake and tsunami that sent the reactors into meltdown.

The government says radiation levels in town have fallen to levels deemed safe following decontamination efforts, and on Saturday lifted the four-year-old evacuation order.

The town represents a test case, as most residents remain cautious amid lingering health concerns and a lack of infrastructure. Only about 100 of the nearly 2,600 households have returned since a trial period begun in April.

The Naraha mayor, Yukiei Matsumoto, said Saturday marked an important milestone. “Our clock started moving again,” Matsumoto said during a ceremony held at a children’s park. “The lifting of the evacuation order is one key step but this is just a start.”

He said fear of radiation and nuclear safety was still present and the town had a long way ahead for recovery. It would be without a medical clinic until October and a new prefectural hospital would not be ready until February next year.

A grocery store started free delivery services in July, and a shopping centre will open in 2016. Still, many residents, especially those who do not drive, face limited options for their daily necessities.

Residents are given personal dosimeters to check their own radiation levels. To accommodate their concerns the town is also running 24-hour monitoring at a water filtration plant, testing tap water for radioactive materials.

In 2014 the government lifted evacuation orders for parts of two nearby towns.

Source: The Guardian

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/05/fukushima-japan-ends-evacuation-of-naraha-as-radiation-at-safe-level

September 5, 2015 Posted by dunrenard | Japan | Evacuation Order Lifted, Evacuees, Fukushima continuing | Leave a comment

‘Political rhetoric, not science’: Greenpeace slams IAEA Fukushima report

Greenpeace has lashed out against the conclusions of IAEA’s latest report on the Fukushima disaster, calling the claim that radioactive exposure is “unlikely” to result in increased thyroid cancer risk in children a political rhetoric rather than science.

On Monday, IAEA said that despite uncertainties about the radiation doses incurred by children immediately after the accident, “an increase in childhood thyroid cancer attributable to the accident is unlikely.”

WTO delays panel decision on ROK

TOKYO (Jiji Press) — The World Trade Organization has put off a decision on whether to set up a dispute settlement panel on South Korea’s import ban on Japanese fishery products, the Fisheries Agency said Monday.

At a meeting Monday, the WTO stopped short of making a decision as South Korea did not agree to the establishment of the panel. But the WTO is expected to approve the setting up of the panel as requested by Japan at its next meeting, on Sept. 28.

South Korea introduced the ban on some fishery products from eight prefectures, including Fukushima, in the wake of the reactor meltdown at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

Source: Japan News

http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0002393276

September 2, 2015 Posted by dunrenard | Japan, South Korea | Food contamination, Fukushima continuing, Fukushima Radiation | Leave a comment

“New case of thyroid cancer diagnosed in Fukushima; brings number to 104

FUKUSHIMA–An investigation into health problems triggered by the 2011 nuclear disaster here turned up a new case of thyroid cancer in a young person who lived near the stricken plant.

The latest diagnosis brings to 104 the number of people out of the 385,000 or so Fukushima Prefecture residents who were 18 years old or younger at the time of the accident that are confirmed to have thyroid cancer, prefectural authorities said Aug. 31.

However, the prefectural government committee investigating the issue of health problems said that “as of now, it is unlikely for the thyroid cancers found in Fukushima Prefecture to have been caused by the nuclear power plant accident.”

The latest check was conducted between April and the end of June.

Source: Asahi Shimbun

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201509010056

September 2, 2015 Posted by dunrenard | Japan | Fukushima continuing, Thyroid Cancer | Leave a comment

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