Fukushima: Japan takes all necessary precautions ahead of plans to discharge treated water
Twisted facts in this pro-nuc spinned propaganda.
- The contaminated water is treated in ALPS, the unit that removes virtually all radioactive substances: VIRTUALLY: untrue. Both filtering systems failed to remove all the 64 radionuclides in the contaminated water. They are removed only partially.
- But the storage tanks have reached their maximum capacity, meaning they have to be emptied into the sea: Yes but there is sufficient land space beside the nuclear plant to build more.
- However, one radioactive substance remains in small quantities: tritium: untrue. After filtering several radionuclides in small quantities still are present in that contaminated water.
- Tritium which is inseparable from the water: untrue. Tritium can be separated from water. The technology exists but it is expensive, so Tepco prefers to ignore that solution.
- As for the french scientist, it won’t be the first nor the last shill on the nuclear lobby payroll.
19/12/2022
11 years after the Fukushima disaster, Japan is facing a new challenge: the discharge of treated water into the sea. Since the tsunami of 11 March 2011, Japan has been continuing the decommissioning and the decontamination of the site, which should last 30 to 40 years.
But today the priority, explains one official of TEPCO, the operator of the plant, is water.
“The water that accumulates every day has been used to cool the molten fuel. And there is also water from underground springs or rainfall that accumulates”, explained TEPCO’s Kimoto Takahiro.
The contaminated water is treated in ALPS, the unit that removes virtually all radioactive substances. But the storage tanks have reached their maximum capacity, meaning they have to be emptied into the sea.
However, one radioactive substance remains in small quantities: tritium, which is inseparable from the water.
After a new treatment, the water will be released into the sea through a tunnel, which is one kilometer long and built at a depth of 16 meters. It will be completed in the spring.
Marine life
In the plant, fish are raised to analyse the impact on marine fauna. Opponents say tritium from a nuclear accident is more dangerous. But Jean-Cristophe Gariel, Deputy Director of the Institute of Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety told Euronews that that isn’t true.
“Tritium is a radioactive element with a low hazard”, explained the French scientist. “The characteristics of tritium that will be released at Fukushima are similar to the characteristics of those released from nuclear power plants around the world.”
Nevertheless, the first concerned — the fishermen of Fukushima — are worried about the reputation of their products.
“What worries us the most is the negative reputation this creates”, said Nozaki Tetsu, Chairman of the Fukushima Prefectural Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations. “In terms of the explanations that we’ve had from the government over the last 10 years, their explanations have not been false – so we appreciate their efforts.”
Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is pleased that Britain lifted import restrictions on products from the region last June — a sign of returning confidence.
Tanabe Yuki, Director for International Issues at the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry’s Nuclear Accident Response Office told Euronews, “So far we have held about 700 meetings with stakeholders, including the fisheries industry, to listen to their opinions. We have developed concrete projects to combat the negative reputation.”
‘Remarkable progress’
Japan has taken all the necessary precautions on this sensitive issue of the discharge of treated water and has asked the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to supervise the operations.
In May 2022, Rafael Grossi, the director of the IAEA, visited Fukushima, and praised the “remarkable progress on decommissioning at Fukushima Daiichi since his last visit two years ago.”
The UN agency has set up a special task force. Last November, Gustavo Caruso, the head of this mission, returned to Fukushima Daiichi.
“Before the water discharge begins, the IAEA will issue a comprehensive report containing all collective findings until now, our conclusions about all this process. All the standards we apply are representing a high level of safety”, Caruso confirmed.
The first discharges are expected to begin next year, in what will be the new step in the reconstruction of a region that believes in its future.
Fukushima: Japan prepares to discharge water from the plant into the sea
13/12/2022
11 years after the Fukushima disaster, Japan is working hard to overcome challenges posed by its water. Since the Tohoku tsunami of 11 March 2011, Japan has been decommissioning and decontaminating the nuclear power plant, which is expected to take 30 to 40 years.
Now, the plant must urgently empty its water tanks.
Euronews spoke to Kimoto Takahiro, the Deputy Site Superintendent at D&D Communication Center, Fukushima Daiichi D&D., Co., Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) to ask where the water comes from.
“The water that accumulates every day was used to cool the molten fuel”, Kimoto explained. “And there is also water from underground springs or rain that accumulates.”
This water is treated in ALPS, a unit specially designed for Fukushima. It removes almost all the radioactive substances.
The treated water is then stored in a thousand tanks, but they have reached their maximum capacity. Next year, Japan will release the treated water into the sea.
However, a small amount of radioactive substance, called tritium, still remains, as it’s inseparable from the water.
90,000 samples of treated water are analysed in a laboratory each year in preparation for dilution in the sea. After a second treatment in ALPS, the water will be discharged into the sea through a tunnel, which is one kilometre long and built at a depth of 16 metres. The tunnel is set to be completed next spring.
The tunnel, which is one kilometre long and 16 metres deep, is set to be completed next spring
Just before it reaches the Pacific, the water will be diluted one last time in large seawater pools.
In order to find out whether marine life will be affected by the radioactivity, the nuclear power plant is rearing fish in separate pools.
“There are basins of natural seawater on one side, and basins of treated water mixed with seawater on the other”, Kimoto Takahiro told Euronews.
“We are going to discharge water at a much lower level than the drinking water standard set by the WHO”, he added.
But the fishermen of Fukushima are worried about the reputation of their products. In the port of Onahama, 60 kilometres from the power station, their work has already suffered from apprehension among consumers. From 25,000 tonnes per year before 2011, only 5,000 tonnes of fish are now caught, according to the president of the fishermen’s association.
“As a fisherman in Fukushima, I am against the release of radioactive materials into our workplace. What worries us is the negative reputation this creates”, said Nozaki Tetsu, Chairman of the Fukushima Prefectural Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations.
However, Nozaki recognised that “in terms of the explanations we’ve had from the government over the last 10 years, they have not been false, so we appreciate their efforts. And therefore, if we can also presume their scientific explanations haven’t been false, we will make an effort to continue fishing while at the same time fostering better consumer understanding, and, by doing this, I think we can limit most of the reputational damage.”
After the daily catch, one fish of each species is analysed in this laboratory in the port. Everything is monitored.
Of the 63 species tested while Euronews was present, not a single one had any trace of radioactivity. That means they are all for sale.
In one year, only once has a fish exceeded the authorised stage. This stage is strictly set at 50 bequerel in Fukushima, whereas the international standard allows 1000 bequerel. The monitoring will continue after the discharge of water.
The authorities repeat that the dose of tritium released will not be dangerous:
Just 22 terabecquerel will be released each year, which accounts for far less than most power plants in the world.
22 terabecquerel will be released each year — which accounts for far less than most power plants in the world. The waste reprocessing site of La Hague in France releases more than 11,000 terabecquerel annually.
Opponents say tritium from a nuclear accident is more dangerous. But one French scientist who has visited the Fukushima site 30 times insists that that is not true.
“Tritium is a radioactive element that is only slightly dangerous”, explained Jean-Christophe Gariel, the Deputy Director of the Institute of Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety. “There are no different types of tritium. The characteristics of the tritium that will be released at Fukushima are similar to the characteristics of those released by nuclear power plants around the world”.
The Japanese government is pleased that Great Britain lifted import restrictions on products from the region last June, showing a sign of renewed confidence, after years of effort by Japan.
Tanabe Yuki, the Director for International Issues at the Nuclear Accident Response Office at the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry told Euronews that, “so far, we have organised about 700 meetings with stakeholders, including the fishery industry. We have developed concrete projects to combat the bad reputation.”
Indeed, Japan has taken all the necessary precautions on the sensitive issue regarding the discharge of treated water and has asked the International Atomic Energy Agency to supervise the operations.
In May 2022, the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency Rafael Grossi visited Fukushima.
The IAEA chief said in a statement that, “the request for IAEA reviews demonstrates Japan’s commitment and will help send a message of transparency and confidence to the people in Japan and beyond”, emphasising the “remarkable progress on decommissioning at Fukushima Daiichi since my last visit two years ago.”
The UN agency has set up a special task force. Last November, Gustavo Caruso, Director of Safety and Security Coordination. Department of Nuclear Safety and Security, and the head of this mission, returned to Fukushima.
“The task force held its third mission to Japan and it was this time composed of experts from Argentina, China, Canada, France, the Republic of Korea, Marshall Islands, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and Vietnam”, he announced.
The objective of the mission was to ensure the safety of the discharge. The UN agency examines the regulatory aspects and carries out analyses in independent laboratories.
“The evaluation report and the conclusions will be released in approximately three months, and the IAEA task force will also carry out another mission in Japan in January before the water discharge begins. The IAEA will issue a comprehensive report containing all the collective findings until now, and our conclusions about this process. All the standards that we apply are representing a high level of safety”, Gustavo Caruso confirmed.
The first discharge should take place next year.
Japan is doing everything possible to make this operation a success and to protect the inhabitants and the environment. It’s the latest step in the reconstruction of a region that believes in its future.
Japan Still Facing Challenges in Reconstructing Fukushim
Reconstruction without full decontamination is nothing else but a pipe dream, mostly made out of PR and propaganda…
July 19, 2022
Tokyo, July 19 (Jiji Press)–Reconstruction of areas in Fukushima Prefecture hit by the March 2011 nuclear accident has shown progress, but a number of challenges have yet to be overcome, including construction of essential facilities for everyday life and creation of jobs to bring back residents who evacuated to other prefectures.
The decommissioning of the meltdown-hit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant of Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. should also be pushed forward.
With evacuation orders in afflicted areas having been lifted in stages, the number of evacuees outside the northeastern prefecture has now fallen to some 30,000 from the peak level of over 160,000.
Most recently, it has been decided to remove Aug. 30 the evacuation order for the so-called specified reconstruction zone in the town of Futaba, which co-hosts the Fukushima No. 1 plant, crippled by the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami, and is the only remaining completely evacuated municipality.
After the central and Futaba town governments reached the agreement to lift the order for the area around Futaba Station on the JR Joban Line, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno visited nuclear accident-hit areas for two days through Saturday.
Aversion to food from Fukushima remains high in South Korea
TEPCO’s preparing the public for the release of the accumulated stored radioactive water lying through their teeth as always, with the help of the JUapanese mainstream media:
‘The water will be diluted with seawater to bring its radiation level to well within safety standards’
May 16, 2022
Nearly 80 percent of South Koreans want to avoid food products from Fukushima Prefecture regardless of the water-release plan at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, a survey showed.
The Reconstruction Agency conducted the online survey in January and February in 10 countries and regions to gauge international feelings toward Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s plan to discharge treated radioactive water into the sea as early as spring 2023. A total of 2,700 individuals responded.
The survey results, released on April 26, will be used to take countermeasures against negative publicity from the water-release plan that could hurt the image of products from the prefecture, the agency said.
The government in April 2021 decided to discharge the water to reduce the more than 1 million tons of processed water stored at the plant.
Although the treatment process cannot remove tritium, the water will be ‘diluted with seawater to bring its radiation level to well within safety standards’, TEPCO has said.
According to the survey, 13 percent of respondents in Japan “do not want to buy” Fukushima-derived foodstuffs as of now. The ratio rose slightly to 14 percent when the water-release plan was included in the scenario.
The percentage increases were 5 to 8 points in five nations and regions, including Hong Kong, Singapore and the United States.
In South Korea, about 77 percent said they do not want to buy Fukushima-made products regardless of whether the water is discharged into the sea.
The survey asked respondents if they knew that Japan’s food safety levels are controlled under some of the strictest standards in the world.
Around 50 percent each in Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan were aware, while the rate topped 30 percent in Europe and the United States.
However, just 15 percent of South Koreans said they were aware of Japan’s safety levels. And 56 percent said they knew about the safety levels but doubted the claims by the Japanese government.
Kosaburo Nishime, the reconstruction minister, on April 26 asked government bodies to show the international community data from the International Atomic Energy Agency and other third parties concerning the water-release plan.
The central government plans to bolster its radiation monitoring of waters around the Fukushima plant after the water is discharged.
Release of Fukushima water to have ‘limited’ impact on consumer habits, poll shows
What a smooth piece of propaganda by Japan’s spin doctors on behalf of the will to dump all that ‘treated’ radioactive water into OUR Pacific ocean!!!
Apr 27, 2022
The impact on consumers of the planned release into the ocean of treated water from the disaster-crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant is seen as limited both in Japan and abroad, a government survey has shown.
Among respondents from Japan in the online survey, the proportion of those who said they would refrain from buying food items produced in Fukushima Prefecture, where the nuclear plant is located, after the start of the water release came to 14.7%, against 13.3% who said they are already avoiding such items.
The two comparable figures among respondents from the United States stood at 38.3% against 32%, and at 41% against 41.3% among those from Taiwan.
Of respondents from South Korea, 77.7% said they are currently avoiding Fukushima food products while 76% said they would do so after the water release.
The survey polled 300 people from each of Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, the U.K., the United States and France and 150 from each of Australia and New Zealand in January and February.
The attitude survey by the Reconstruction Agency was the first to be conducted over the planned discharge of treated water, which contains radioactive tritium from the plant, run by Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc., that was the site of the 2011 triple reactor meltdown.
The survey also suggested that only 29% in Japan and only 16% in the United States know that tritium is released to rivers and the sea in many countries based on existing laws and regulations.
“We need to spread knowledge (about tritium) in and outside our country,” Reconstruction Minister Kosaburo Nishime told a meeting Tuesday, where the survey results were reported.
The government will strengthen measures to prevent reputational damage to food items due to the planned water release, he stressed.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2022/04/27/national/fukushima-water-consumer-impact-limited/
TEPCO to grow fish at nuclear plant to show water safety
No, it is not for April Fools’ Day only, for Tepco it is Fool’s Day everyday
April 1, 2022
Tokyo Electric Power Co. will raise seafood at its stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in a bid to ease concerns about its plan to release treated radioactive water stored there into the ocean.
“We want to contribute to dispelling the public’s anxiety and reassuring people,” a TEPCO representative said.
The government and TEPCO last year announced the plan to treat and then discharge contaminated water accumulating at the nuclear plant into the ocean starting as early as spring 2023. More than 1 million tons of water have already been stored.
Local residents and fisheries industry officials, worried about reputational damage to marine products caused by the water release, asked the utility to demonstrate the safety of the water that will be discharged instead of just spouting off technical terms.
They suggested that TEPCO keep fish at the plant to show that the processed water will pose no health risk.
The water treatment process removes most radioactive substances, but not tritium. The water will be diluted with seawater to reduce the tritium concentration to less than 1,500 becquerels per liter, one-40th the legal standard.
On experts’ advice, TEPCO decided to culture flatfish and abalone on a trial basis because both species can be caught off Fukushima Prefecture and grown easily.
Preliminary farming started in March in seawater at the plant to gain expertise.
Around September, the utility will begin growing 600 flatfish and 600 abalone. Some will be raised in ordinary seawater while others will be in treated and diluted water containing tritium at the same level of the water that will be discharged.
The concentration of tritium and other substances in the creatures’ bodies will be analyzed, as will their growth rates in the two sets of tanks.
A continuing video of the experiment will be made available on the internet.
TEPCO said it expects the raised fish to have tritium readings similar to those in the water of their farming tanks. So the figure for flatfish raised in the processed water will likely be higher than their seawater-cultivated counterparts.
“We hope to counter negative publicity by showing that fish can grow healthily (in the treated water),” a TEPCO official said.
Taiwan partially lifts import bans on Japanese foods
Political expediancy, lies and cover up, propaganda!
Feb. 21, 2022
Taiwan says it has partially lifted import bans on Japanese foods on Monday that have been in force since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant accident.
Taiwan had stopped importing all food items from Fukushima and the nearby prefectures of Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma and Chiba. The ban excluded alcoholic drinks.
Officials announced earlier this month that they would lift the ban, except for wild bird and animal meat as well as mushrooms from those prefectures.
They said the move was based on global standards and ‘scientific proof’and noted that most countries have eased restrictions.
Taiwanese authorities say they sought feedback from the public about the decision and ‘received only a few objections’.
Food from the five prefectures must still be accompanied by test results for radioactive materials, and all items will be subject to inspections in Taiwan.
All prefectures must also still provide proof of origin.
Officials in Japan say the safety of the food has been scientifically proven and they will continue asking Taiwan to lift all the regulations.
Online Tour by Reconstruction Agency to Consider Decommissioning of TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant
2022/02/20
On February 20, an online tour was held at the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Nuclear Decommissioning Museum in Tomioka Town, Fukushima Prefecture, to have people from inside and outside of the prefecture think about the decommissioning of TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. The speakers voiced the need for greater transparency in the dissemination of information about the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
Prof. Nobuhisa Murao of Kwansei Gakuin University, who appeared as a commentator, said that it was important to ensure the transparency of decommissioning work and pointed out that “even small accidents should be made public immediately without hiding them. Masato Kino, director general of the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, said, “It is important to disclose information on both good and inconvenient matters.
Idol Ayaka Wada, who visited the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant last December, also made an appearance. She said, “I learned that it will take a long time to decommission the plant. Some of the participants suggested that the younger generation should be encouraged to visit the disaster area.
The online tour was organized by the Reconstruction Agency. The online tour was sponsored by the Reconstruction Agency and distributed nationwide via the video-sharing website YouTube. Mr. Kino explained the latest developments in the removal of molten nuclear fuel (debris), measures for contaminated and treated water, and improvements in the working environment. He accepted questions from the participants and exchanged opinions with them.
https://www.minpo.jp/news/moredetail/2022022094602?fbclid=IwAR2npqJ8B2NtHQQMh4O5Hq49pI1lWS9cLCb_ImXblfhX8idUhHAs4eu0nIA
UN to review Japan’s plan to release Fukushima water into Pacific
Transparency coming from Tepco is an oxymoron…
Taskforce will ‘listen to local people’s concerns’, as government plans to release more than 1m tonnes
February 18, 2022
A UN nuclear taskforce has promised to prioritise safety as it launches a review of controversial plans by Japan to release more than 1m tonnes of contaminated water into the ocean from the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
Japan’s government announced last April that it had decided to release the water over several decades into the Pacific Ocean, despite strong opposition from local fishers and neighbouring China and South Korea.
Lydie Evrard, the deputy director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency [IAEA], speaking after a team of experts visited the plant to collect water samples, said on Friday: “We listen very carefully to local people’s concerns and the inspection is designed to provide answers about safety in a transparent manner.” .
The controversy comes almost 11 years after a magnitude 9.0 earthquake triggered a huge tsunami that killed more than 18,000 people along Japan’s north-east coast.
Tsunami waves crashed into Fukushima Daiichi, knocking out its backup electricity supply, triggering meltdowns in three of its reactors and sending large quantities of radiation into the atmosphere. More than 150,000 people were forced to flee their homes, and evacuation orders in communities closest to the plant have only recently been partially lifted.
The Tokyo Electric Power company (Tepco) says its treatment technology can remove all radioactive materials from water except tritium, which is harmless in small amounts. It said the gradual release of the water, diluted with seawater, would not pose a threat to human health or the marine environment. In 2020, however, Greenpeace said the water still contained contaminants beside tritium and would have to be treated again.
The wastewater is being stored in about 1,000 tanks that officials say need to be removed so the plant can be decommissioned, an operation expected to take several decades. The tanks are expected to reach their capacity of 1.37m tonnes this summer.
The liquid includes water used to cool the damaged reactors, as well as rain and groundwater that seeps into the area.
Shaun Burnie, a senior nuclear specialist for Greenpeace East Asia, said he did not believe the IAEA would fully investigate and address safety and environmental concerns in its report.
Noting that the agency had welcomed the discharge option when it was announced last year, Burnie said: “The IAEA is not an independent agency in nuclear affairs – under statute its mission is to promote nuclear power. It has sought to justify radioactive marine pollution as having no impact and safe. But the IAEA is incapable of protecting the environment, human health or human rights from radiation risks – that’s not its job.
“The IAEA taskforce should be investigating the root cause of the contaminated water crisis and exploring the option of long-term storage and the best available processing technology as an alternative to the deliberate contamination of the Pacific.”
The IAEA team, which includes experts from South Korea and China, will report its findings at the end of April.
South Korea, which has yet to lift an import ban on Fukushima seafood introduced in 2013, has said that discharging the water would pose a “grave threat” to the marine environment. Pacific peoples have challenged Japan to prove the water is safe by dumping it in Tokyo.
Local fishers also oppose the water’s release, saying it would undo a decade’s work to rebuild their industry and reassure nervous consumers their seafood is safe.
Junichi Matsumoto, a Tepco official overseeing management of the treated water, said the utility was prioritising safety and the effect on the Fukushima region’s reputation. “Ensuring transparency and objectivity is crucial to the project,” he said this week. “We hope to further improve the objectivity and transparency of the process based on the review.”
Japan nuclear watchdog to boost monitoring spots for TEPCO ‘treated’ water release
Smooth propaganda spinning from NHK, ‘treated’ water instead of the reality: radioactive water!
February 16, 2022
Japan’s nuclear watchdog has decided to boost maritime monitoring spots in anticipation of the release of treated water from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
The plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, plans to release treated water into the sea, starting from around spring next year.
Water, which has either been used to cool molten fuel or seeped into damaged reactor buildings, has become contaminated with radioactive materials.
TEPCO is treating the water by filtering out most of the radioactive substances. But the filtered water still contains tritium.
The utility plans to discharge the treated water after diluting the tritium level to well below national standards.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority on Wednesday discussed ways to measure levels of radioactive substances in the seawater, based on advice from an expert panel of the Environment Ministry.
The authority decided to increase its tritium monitoring locations from 12 to 20, and to lower the minimum detectible level to enable more precise measurements.
It will adopt these enhancements this spring. This would allow for comparison of water before and after release.
The total of tritium monitoring locations, including those of the Environment Ministry, will be increased to around 50, mainly within 10 kilometers of the release spot.
The head of the authority, Fuketa Toyoshi, called for sufficient confirmation to prevent substandard measurements and errors, noting that analysis of tritium takes time and analytic laboratories are limited.
TEPCO claims that impacts from exposure to treated water are minimal, but fears of damage based on rumors remain strong, especially among local residents.
The government and the plant operator hope that stepped-up monitoring would help ease such concerns.
8% of Japanese consumers still hesitate to buy Fukushima food products
At their own risk and peril. There is no acceptable safe threshold when it comes to radioactive contamination.
Fukushima Gov. Masao Uchibori (left) promotes peaches from the prefecture in the city of Fukushima in July.
Feb 28, 2021
About 8.1% of consumers in Japan still hesitate to buy food products from Fukushima Prefecture almost 10 years after the March 2011 nuclear disaster, a survey by the Consumer Affairs Agency has shown.
Although the figure is the lowest since the survey started in February 2013, the finding is “very regrettable,” Shinji Inoue, minister for consumer affairs and food safety, said after the survey was released Friday. “Safety has been secured” for produce from Fukushima, he added.
The latest survey, the 14th of its kind, was carried out online on Jan. 15-19, with answers received from 5,176 people in their 20s to 60s mainly in the Tokyo metropolitan area.
The share of respondents who hesitate to buy food products from Fukushima has been on the decline since hitting 19.6% in the August 2014 survey, and fell below 10% for the first time in the latest survey.
Fukushima is home to Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.’s Fukushima No. 1 plant, the site of the triple meltdown disaster triggered by the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.
According to the survey, the share of respondents who hesitate to buy food products from Iwate, Miyagi or Fukushima prefectures dropped to a record low of 6.1%, down from 6.4% in the previous poll in February 2020. The three prefectures were hit hardest in the disaster.
A record high 62.1% of respondents said they do not know that checks for radioactive substances have been conducted on food products from disaster areas. The figure has been rising since standing at 22.4% in the first survey.
An official said the agency will continue efforts to not only boost the share of people who are aware of radiation checks but also offer all of the information available about radioactive substances in food products.https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2021/02/28/national/fukushima-products-survey/
J-pop group TOKIO to promote Fukushima goods in new TV commercials
They pretend that there is no radioactive contamination in Fukushima produce, they say it is only “harmful rumors”… Would you buy this B.S. ?
The image shows a poster featuring pop group TOKIO and regional goods of Fukushima Prefecture.
July 14, 202
FUKUSHIMA — A set of new TV commercials in which members of the pop group TOKIO promote regional goods from this northeastern Japan prefecture, with the aim to dispel harmful rumors that spread after the 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, are set to go on air, according to a July 13 announcement.
Fukushima Gov. Masao Uchibori is optimistic about the ads, saying, “Through these wonderful commercials, we would like to share with everyone in Japan the great qualities of the prefecture’s agricultural, forest and fishery products, as well as the pride of the producers here.”
Since 2012, a year after the accident at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s nuclear power plant, TOKIO has been promoting regional goods from Fukushima Prefecture through commercials and posters.
There are three types of commercials: one featuring group leader Shigeru Joshima with peaches, another showing Masahiro Matsuoka with tuna and one starring Taichi Kokubun with summer vegetables. Producers and children from Fukushima Prefecture appear in all three types of ads, and they present the region’s goods with comical movements and a bright smile.
The commercials will be broadcasted from July 15, not only in the prefecture but also in the Kanto region in eastern Japan and the Kansai region in western Japan.
Every summer, Gov. Uchibori travels to metropolitan areas such as Tokyo and Osaka to promote the trade of regional goods, but he has decided to suspend this year’s visits due to the effects of the novel coronavirus. Uchibori said, “Even with the restrictions, we would like to promote our agricultural products by broadcasting commercials and by other means.”
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20200714/p2g/00m/0et/065000c
New School Opens in Nuclear Crisis-Hit Fukushima Village
Sacrificing the youth in the simulacre of a return to normalty…
Iitate, Fukushima Pref., April 5 (Jiji Press)–A new school offering nine-year compulsory education opened on Sunday in a northeastern Japan village affected by the country’s worst nuclear accident nine years ago.
Iitate Hope Village Academy is the first facility for compulsory schooling launched in a former no-go zone set up after the unprecedented triple meltdown at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, which was damaged by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
The institution in the village of Iitate in Fukushima Prefecture aims to improve the quality of education by integrating school functions after the number of students fell sharply due to an exodus of residents following the nuclear accident. The academy, run by the government of the village, will provide education programs for elementary and junior high schools.
An opening ceremony, held on Sunday, was attended by 50 of the 65 students and some 150 guardians and guests. While taking measures, such as wearing face masks, to prevent infection with the novel coronavirus that is raging across the country, participants sang the school song written by poet Madoka Mayuzumi and composed by singer Kosetsu Minami.
“As a top-grade student, I’m ready to lead younger students,” Ryosuke Watanabe, 14, said, receiving the new school flag at the ceremony.
Indonesia eases import limits on processed foods from Japan imposed after Fukushima nuclear disaster
Japan continues its PR campaign to facilitate its Fukushima contaminated food exports to other countries, making financial loans to some and bribing their corrupt officials, organizing promotion show in some others to fool the unknowing public.
Visitors to the Paris Japan Cultural Center taste sake at an event featuring sake and food from Fukushima Prefecture on Jan. 23.
Feb 18, 2020
Indonesia has eased its import restrictions on processed foods made in Japan imposed after the nuclear accident in Fukushima Prefecture in March 2011, the Japanese agriculture ministry said Tuesday.
With the measure, taken as of Jan. 27, Indonesia now accepts processed foods from 40 Japanese prefectures, including Fukushima, without radiation inspection certificates.
Such certificates are still required for processed foods from the remaining prefectures — Miyagi, Yamagata, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Niigata, Yamanashi and Nagano.
In the meantime, radiation inspection certificates are necessary for meat and vegetables from all prefectures, due to concern over effects from the triple meltdown at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
A trip to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant: Full-body suits and three layers of socks
This article is just another slick piece of propaganda, downplaying the dangerosity of the situation, a situation still not resolved that after 9 years of lies and cover-up, still not under control.
Among the many B.S. a very good example of its deceitful spin: ” Tepco officials later showed me containers of crystal clear water that had been through ALPS. They said it would be safe to release the liquid into the environment after mixing it with fresh water to meet regulations.”
Sorry Mister, crystal clear water does not make it safe when you’re talking about radioactive water, because remember radiation is invisible. Invisible indeed are the various types of radionuclides contained in that “crystal clear water” that they intend to dump into our ocean. Because as TEPCO admitted last year, their ALPS failed to remove all the Cesiums, Strontium and others, beside Tritium…
The Olympics are near… So the spinned propaganda is up in all japanese media trying to make us all believe how good everything is at Fukushima Daichi nuclear plant, and in contaminated Fukushima prefecture and Tokyo…
Employees of Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. wear protective suits and masks inside a radiation filtering Advanced Liquid Processing Systems (ALPS) at the tsunami-crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in January.
Feb 5, 2020
OKUMA, FUKUSHIMA PREF. – Reuters was recently given exclusive access to the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, where three reactors melted down in 2011 after a powerful earthquake and tsunami overwhelmed the seaside facility.
It was my fourth visit to the plant since the disaster to report on a massive clean-up. Work to dismantle the plant has taken nearly a decade so far, but with Tokyo due to host the Olympics this summer — including some events less than 60 km (38 miles) from the power station — there has been renewed focus on safeguarding the venues.
Nearly 10 years into the decadeslong clean-up some progress has been made, with potentially dangerous spent fuel removed from the top of one damaged reactor building and removal underway from another.
But the melted fuel inside the reactors has yet to be extracted and areas around the station remain closed to residents. Some towns have been reopened farther away but not all residents have returned.
This time I was taken to the site’s water treatment building, a cavernous hall where huge machines called Advanced Liquid Processing Systems (ALPS) are used to filter water contaminated by the reactors.
Journalist Aaron Sheldrick visits the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
On my first visit in 2012 I had to wear full protective gear put on at an operations base located in a sports facility about 20 km south of the nuclear plant called J-Village, where the Olympic torch relay will start in March. Then I was taken to the site by bus.
This time I was driven by van from a railway station in Tomioka — a town that was re-opened in 2017 — about 9 km away, with no precautions. More than 90 percent of the plant is deemed to have so little radioactivity that few precautions are needed. Nevertheless, reporting from there was not easy.
Before entering the plant itself, which is about the size of 400 football fields, I was asked to take off my shoes and socks, given a dosimeter to measure radiation levels, three pairs of blue socks, a pair of cloth gloves, a simple face mask, a cotton cap, a helmet and a white vest with clear panels to carry my equipment and display my pass.
I put on all three pairs of socks and the rest of the gear given to me, later including rubber boots. I was to change in and out of different pairs of these boots many times — I lost count — color coded according to the zone we passed through, each time putting them in plastic bags that would be discarded after use.
After reaching the ALPS building in a small bus, I was decked out in protective equipment, a full-body Du Pont Tyvek suit along with two sets of heavy surgeon-like latex gloves that were taped fast to the outfit.
I also had to put on a full-face mask after taking off my glasses since it would not fit otherwise and told to speak as loudly as possible due to the muffling effect of the gear.
“Will you be able to see?” asked one official from Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc., the plant’s operator. I nodded with as much conviction as I could muster and we entered the building, which was quite dark, making it even harder to see.
A Tepco employee uses a geiger counter next to storage tanks for radioactive water.
In the ALPS building I was taken up and down metal stairways that passed around piping, machinery, testing stations, changing in and out of the rubber boots as we crossed yellow and black demarcations, warning signs everywhere for areas that could not be entered.
As well as being dark, it was surprisingly quiet, given the machinery. My dosimeter alarm kept going off as the radiation levels rose. Tepco officials later showed me containers of crystal clear water that had been through ALPS. They said it would be safe to release the liquid into the environment after mixing it with fresh water to meet regulations.
About 4,000 workers are tackling the cleanup at Fukushima, including dismantling the reactors. Many wear protective gear for entering areas with higher radiation.
The plant resembles a huge construction site strewn in areas with twisted steel and crumpled concrete, along with cars that can no longer be used, while huge tanks to hold water contaminated by contact with the melted fuel in the reactors increasingly crowd the site.
Some wreckage is still so contaminated it is left in place or moved to a designated area for the radiation to decay while the important work on the reactor buildings is underway.
As we moved back into the so-called green zone we passed through a building where I was to take off the protective gear in a precise order in stages, with each piece going into a particular waste basket for each item. Gloves were first, then the facemask, after which the suit and socks were taken off at different locations until I was left with one pair for passing back through the various security cordons.
I was then given my external dosimeter reading, which was 20 microsierverts, about two dental x-rays worth.
1.This Month
Small Nuclear Reactors Education Task Force: https://stop-smrs.weebly.com/bulletins.ht
21 May Webinar. Protect Our Waterways. No Nuclear Waste.
7 pm Tuesday May 21 https://www.protectourwaterways.org/webinars
24 May. The Vow from Hiroshima film is coming on PBS, this month https://www.thevowfromhiroshima.com/
3 June – FILM. SOS – The San Onofre Syndrome: Nuclear Power’s Legacy
6-7 July A summit and a rally in Washington D.C. https://nonatoyespeace.org/
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