"Fish near Fukushima plant still showing radioactivity" by Hiroko Tabuchi | New York Times, October 26, 2012
TOKYO — Elevated levels of cesium still detected in fish off the Fukushima coast of Japan suggest that radioactive particles from last year’s nuclear disaster have accumulated on the seafloor and could contaminate sea life for decades, according to new research.
Translation: the Pacific has been ruined as a food source -- unless you want to contract cancer.
The findings published in Friday’s issue of the journal Science highlight the challenges facing Japan as it seeks to protect its food supply and rebuild the local fisheries industry....
Radiation readings in waters off Fukushima and beyond have returned to near-normal levels.
PFFFT!
But about 40 percent of fish caught off Fukushima and tested by the government still have too much cesium to be safe to eat under regulatory limits set by the Japanese government last year, said the article’s author, Ken O. Buesseler, a leading marine chemistry specialist at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, who analyzed test results from the 12 months after the March 2011 disaster.
Because cesium tends not to stay in the tissues of saltwater fish very long, and because high radiation levels have been detected — particularly in bottom-feeding fish — it is likely that fish are being newly contaminated by cesium on the seabed, Buesseler wrote in the Science article.
‘‘The fact that many fish are just as contaminated today with cesium 134 and cesium 137 as they were more than one year ago implies that cesium is still being released into the food chain,’’ Buesseler wrote.
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Related:
"People exposed to the highest doses of radiation during Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant disaster in 2011 may have a slightly higher risk of cancer but one so small it probably won’t be detectable, the World Health Organization said in a report released Thursday."
They are ‘‘pretty small proportional increases,’’ so don't be worried says the WHO. Worry about getting a flu $hot instead!
"JAPANESE HONOR VICTIMS OF 2011 TSUNAMI -- Yoko Yasuda (center) placed flowers on Sunday where her parents' house used to stand in Rikuzentakata, in northern Japan. Yasuda lost her parents and brother in the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami. Japan will mark the second anniversary of the disaster on Monday (Boston Globe March 11 2013)."
"Recovery slow as Japan marks 2 years since disaster" by Elaine Kurtenbach | Associated Press, March 12, 2013
TOKYO — Amid growing dissatisfaction with the slow pace of recovery, Japan marked the second anniversary Monday of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that left nearly 19,000 people dead or missing and has displaced more than 300,000.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the government intends to make ‘‘visible’’ reconstruction progress and accelerate resettlement of those left homeless by streamlining legal and administrative procedures many blame for the delays....
At observances in Tokyo and in still barren towns along the northeastern coast, those gathered bowed their heads in a moment of silence marking the moment, at 2:46 p.m. on March 11, 2011, when the magnitude 9.0 earthquake — the strongest recorded in Japan’s history — struck off the coast.
Japan has struggled to rebuild communities and to clean up radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, whose reactors melted down after its cooling systems were disabled by the tsunami.
They haven't cleaned up anything. All they are doing is constantly pouring water on the place to keep it cool.
The government has yet to devise a new energy strategy — a central issue for its struggling economy with all but two of the country’s nuclear reactors off line.
They haven't cleaned up anything. All they are doing is constantly pouring water on the place to keep it cool.
The government has yet to devise a new energy strategy — a central issue for its struggling economy with all but two of the country’s nuclear reactors off line.
About half of those displaced are evacuees from areas near the nuclear plant.
Hundreds of them filed a lawsuit Monday demanding compensation from the government and the now-defunct plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., for their suffering and losses.
‘‘Two years after the disasters, neither the government nor TEPCO has clearly acknowledged their responsibility, nor have they provided sufficient support to cover the damages,’’ said Izutaro Managi, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs.
Throughout the disaster zone, the tens of thousands of survivors living in temporary housing are impatient to get resettled, a process that could take up to a decade, officials said.
‘‘What I really want is to once again have a ‘my home,’’’ said Migaku Suzuki, a 69-year-old farm worker in Rikuzentakata, who lost the house he had just finished building in the disaster. Suzuki also lost a son in the tsunami, which obliterated much of the city.
I don't think you are ever going home.
Further south, in Fukushima prefecture, some 160,000 evacuees are uncertain if they will ever be able to return to homes around the nuclear power plant, where the meltdowns in three reactors spewed radiation into the surrounding soil and water.
I don't think you are ever going home.
Further south, in Fukushima prefecture, some 160,000 evacuees are uncertain if they will ever be able to return to homes around the nuclear power plant, where the meltdowns in three reactors spewed radiation into the surrounding soil and water.
The lawsuit filed by a group of 800 people in Fukushima demands an apology payment of $625 a month for each victim until all radiation from the accident is wiped out, a process that could take decades.
Another 900 plan similar cases in Tokyo and elsewhere. Managi said he and fellow lawyers hope to get 10,000 to join the lawsuits.
Evacuees are anxious to return home but worried about the potential, still uncertain risks from exposure to the radiation from the disaster, the worst worldwide since Chernobyl in 1986.
While there have been no clear cases of cancer linked to radiation from the plant, the upheaval in people’s lives, uncertainty about the future and long-term health concerns, especially for children, have taken an immense psychological toll.
‘‘I don’t trust the government on anything related to health anymore,’’ said Masaaki Watanabe, 42, who fled the nearby town of Minami-Soma and doesn’t plan to return.
Nor does anyone here, either.
Nor does anyone here, either.
"Power, cooling restored at Japanese nuclear plant" by Mari Yamaguchi | Associated Press, March 20, 2013
TOKYO — Cooling systems were restored for four fuel-storage pools at Japan’s tsunami-damaged nuclear plant, more than a day after a power outage halted the supply of fresh cooling water and raised concerns about the safety of the facility, which still relies on makeshift equipment.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said the cooling system at the last pool at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant was repaired early Wednesday. It said pool temperatures were well within safe levels and the reactors were unaffected.
TEPCO spokesman Yoshikazu Nagai said workers were still trying to determine the cause of the cooling failure, which began when a brief power blackout hit the plant Tuesday evening.
About 50 workers in hazmat suits and full-face masks were mobilized to fix the cabling to three switchboards that were suspected of involvement in the problem. TEPCO also prepared a backup system in case the repairs did not fix the issue and ‘‘worse comes to worst,’’ company spokesman Masayuki Ono said earlier Tuesday.
A massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, caused extensive damage to the plant. Massive radiation leaks at that time contaminated air, water, and soil around the plant, causing some 160,000 residents to evacuate.
The latest power outage was a test for TEPCO to show if it has learned anything from the disaster. TEPCO, which has faced repeated cover-up scandals, was slammed by local media Tuesday for waiting hours to disclose the blackout.
Ono acknowledged the plant was vulnerable.
‘‘Fukushima Dai-ichi still runs on makeshift equipment, and we are trying to switch to something more permanent and dependable, which is more desirable,’’ he said. ‘‘Considering the equipment situation, we may be pushing a little too hard.’’
Ono said the utility did not immediately try to switch to a backup cooling system because doing so without finding and fixing the cause could lead to a repeat of the problem.
There is a backup cooling system but no backup outside power source.
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Related:
"Meltdowns at three reactors caused massive radiation leaks that contaminated air, water, and soil"
Still are, and they start heating up if the water is shut off.
"Meltdowns at three reactors caused massive radiation leaks that contaminated air, water, and soil"
Still are, and they start heating up if the water is shut off.
"Japan engineers say new nuclear safety plans too lax" by Mari Yamaguchi | Associated Press, April 09, 2013
TOKYO — Engineers who investigated Japan’s nuclear crisis said Monday that government oversight of the crippled plant’s operator is still too lax, as public concern has grown over recent safety problems.
A power failure last month caused by a rat that short-circuited a switchboard left the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant’s fuel storage pools without cooling water for more than a day. Last Friday another cooling failure occurred, and hours later the operator reported a large leak of radioactive water from underground tanks.
Bad enough they are dumping it into the sea.
Bad enough they are dumping it into the sea.
The plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., disclosed Saturday that up to 120 tons of highly contaminated water escaped from a temporary underground tank and a smaller amount from another tank. TEPCO said it believes the water has not flowed into the ocean....
What, just soaked into the soil, 'eh?
What, just soaked into the soil, 'eh?
The investigators told parliament on Monday that the recently formed Nuclear Regulation Authority is merely rubber-stamping TEPCO’s work at the plant, which is still using makeshift equipment put together after the March 2011 disaster, caused by a massive earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan.
Remember 18 months ago when they told you they were going to do a cold shutdown?
Remember 18 months ago when they told you they were going to do a cold shutdown?
The authority began in September as a more independent, tougher regulator.
Nine of the investigators testified Monday at a parliamentary nuclear committee for the first time since releasing their findings in July. The report called the disaster ‘‘man-made’’ and blamed regulator-operator collusion and botched crisis management.
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"Japan halts nuclear cleanup after leak at storage pool" by Hiroko Tabuchi | NY Times Syndication, April 10, 2013
TOKYO — The operator of Japan’s crippled nuclear plant halted an emergency operation Tuesday to pump thousands of gallons of radioactive water from a leaking underground storage pool after workers discovered that a similar pool, to which the water was being transferred, was also leaking.
What a mess, what an absolute mess.
What a mess, what an absolute mess.
At least three of seven underground chambers at the site are now seeping radioactive water, leaving the Tokyo Electric Power Co. with few options on where to store the huge amounts of contaminated runoff from the makeshift cooling systems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Those systems were put in place after a large earthquake and tsunami damaged the plant’s regular cooling systems two years ago, causing fuel at three of its reactors to melt and prompting 160,000 people to evacuate their homes. Since then, the Tokyo Electric Power Co., or TEPCO, has been flooding the damaged reactor cores to cool and stabilize the fuel.
But TEPCO has struggled to find space to store the runoff water. It initially released what it said was low-level contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean, igniting furious criticism among neighbors and environmental activists. Traces of radioactive cesium were later found in bluefin tuna caught off the California coast.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has stressed that he will not permit TEPCO — which has effectively been nationalized since the disaster — to again release contaminated water into the ocean.
The company has said it is building more storage space.
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"Radioactive waste water threatens Japan nuclear plant" by Martin Fackler | New York Times, April 30, 2013
TOKYO — Two years after a triple meltdown that grew into the world’s second worst nuclear disaster, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has a new crisis: a flood of highly radioactive waste water that workers are struggling to contain.
Ground water is pouring into the plant’s ravaged reactor buildings at a rate of almost 75 gallons a minute. It becomes highly contaminated there, before being pumped out to keep from swamping a critical cooling system. A small army of workers has struggled to contain the continuous flow of radioactive waste water, relying on hulking gray and silver storage tanks sprawling over 42 acres of parking lots and lawns.
But even they are not enough to handle the tons of strontium-laced water at the plant — a reflection of the scale of the 2011 disaster and, in critics’ view, ad hoc decision-making by the company that runs the plant and the regulators who oversee it. In a sign of the sheer size of the problem, the operator of the plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co., or TEPCO, plans to chop down a small forest on its southern edge to make room for hundreds more tanks, a task that became more urgent when underground pits built to handle the overflow sprang leaks in recent weeks.
‘‘The water keeps increasing every minute, no matter whether we eat, sleep or work,’’ said Masayuki Ono, a general manager with TEPCO who acts as a company spokesman.
While the company has managed to stay ahead, the constant threat of running out of storage space has turned into what TEPCO itself called an emergency, with the sheer volume of water raising fears of future leaks at the seaside plant that could reach the Pacific Ocean.
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Related: Discharges of Fukushima nuclear material into Pacific “have effectively contaminated the sea”
Related: Discharges of Fukushima nuclear material into Pacific “have effectively contaminated the sea”
AmeriKan media acting like it has not.
"Firefighter killed in explosion at plant
TOKYO — An explosion at a chemical plant in western Japan on Saturday killed a firefighter and injured dozens of people. Police said the explosion occurred at the Nippon Shokubai Co. plant in the coastal industrial area of Himeji, about 370 miles west of Tokyo (AP)."
"Hundreds more file claims in Japanese nuclear meltdown; Say radiation was high even outside Fukushima towns" by Mari Yamaguchi | Associated Press, May 22, 2013
TOKYO — Hundreds living just outside Japan’s Fukushima prefecture say they have been denied adequate compensation after the country’s 2011 nuclear disaster despite suffering elevated radiation levels.
Nearly 700 residents from Hippo district, just northeast of Fukushima, filed a claim Tuesday with a government arbitration office demanding that they be given the same compensation as residents of Fukushima.
The government’s compensation scheme only covers Fukushima residents, which critics say is to minimize costs.
The Hippo residents said some radiation levels in their area exceeded those in Fukushima towns. Hippo district is about 30 miles northwest of the crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant.
They demanded that the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., pay them an additional $690,000 in damages.
Due to the costs of compensation and cleanup, Tokyo Electric Power has declared bankruptcy and is under state control. The compensation money comes from the government.
Radiation levels in Hippo are comparable to Fukushima areas subject to evacuation, where residents can get up to $7,000 for each child and pregnant woman, and $1,180 per adult. After months of negotiations, Tokyo Electric agreed to pay Hippo residents about half the Fukushima amount.
“We in Marumori town have been exposed to as much radiation as our peers in Fukushima, or even more depending on the area,” said Takeo Hikichi, 71, who represents the claimants. “We cannot accept the kind of compensation scheme that discriminates against us just because of the prefectural border.”
Residents of areas just outside of Fukushima say they also face discrimination in legal protection. They say health checks, radiation monitoring, and cleanup in most cases do not go beyond the prefectural border.
“Damages from the nuclear accident do not stop at the border. We hope that the compensation program is carried out in a way that reflects the reality of people’s lives,” said Koji Otani, a lawyer for the residents.
The group hopes to set a precedent, he said.
A massive earthquake and tsunami hit the Fukushima plant, knocking out its cooling systems and causing the cores of three reactors to melt and release radioactivity. Hippo’s radiation level exceeded the annual limit for nuclear workers.
So far, Tokyo Electric Power has paid $22.5 billion, about half of it to companies and business owners. That amount includes 1.6 million individual claims, mostly from voluntary evacuees. Because the amount of claims is expected to exceed the initial estimate of $29 billion, the government has injected an additional $1.5 billion into the compensation fund.
About 150,000 Fukushima residents are still displaced. Hundreds have filed claims seeking greater compensation.
Most of Japan’s nuclear reactors have been shut down for safety checks or maintenance. On Wednesday, Japan’s nuclear watchdog is to rule on whether one reactor, Tsuruga No. 2, should be permanently closed.
The watchdog’s own panel said last week the reactor probably sits on an active fault and should not be restarted.
"Japanese reactor is said to stand on fault line" by Hiroko Tabuchi | New York Times, May 16, 2013
TOKYO — Specialists said Wednesday that a nuclear reactor in western Japan stands above an active fault, a finding that could lead to the first permanent shutdown of a reactor since the Fukushima crisis two years ago.
The decommissioning of a reactor at the Tsuruga power plant would deal a big blow to a push by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to get the country’s nuclear program back online.
Related: Japanese Never Learn
Related: Japanese Never Learn
It would also show that the country’s new nuclear regulator, put in place to bolster oversight of the nuclear industry after the 2011 disaster, has teeth. Its predecessor was criticized for its close industry ties and lax approach to safety.
I was told above it was weak and.... never mind.
I was told above it was weak and.... never mind.
All of Japan’s 50 reactors closed for inspection after the meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi station, which forced more than 100,000 people to evacuate. Only two reactors have been restarted.
And the Japanese are still getting by? Then they don't need nuclear power.
And the Japanese are still getting by? Then they don't need nuclear power.
The fate of the country’s reactors lies in safety assessments being carried out under the Nuclear Regulation Authority, which has been studying earthquake, tsunami, and other safety risks.
There is pressure from Japan’s power industry, business community, and pro- nuclear politicians in Abe’s ruling party for the agency to allow more reactors to restart. Keeping reactors closed has led to hundreds of millions of yen in losses for utilities.
Japan Atomic Power Co., which operates the two-reactor Tsuruga station, contends the fault is not active.
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Related: 5.9 earthquake strikes Japan off Fukushima coast
I guess there are some things the Globe just doesn't want you to know.
"Japan backs off date to end nuclear use" by Hiroko Tabuchi | New York Times, September 20, 2012
Related: 5.9 earthquake strikes Japan off Fukushima coast
I guess there are some things the Globe just doesn't want you to know.
"Japan backs off date to end nuclear use" by Hiroko Tabuchi | New York Times, September 20, 2012
TOKYO — In an abrupt turnabout, the Japanese government stopped short on Wednesday of formally adopting a goal it announced just last week to phase out nuclear power by 2040.
See: Japan Needs Nuclear Power
The reversal came after intense opposition to the plan from business groups and communities that host the country’s nuclear power plants, which have warned that abandoning nuclear power will damage Japan’s economy.
See: Japan Needs Nuclear Power
The reversal came after intense opposition to the plan from business groups and communities that host the country’s nuclear power plants, which have warned that abandoning nuclear power will damage Japan’s economy.
The Cabinet of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda instead endorsed a vague promise to ‘‘engage in debate with local governments and international society and to gain public understanding’’ in deciding Japan’s economic future following the 2011 nuclear disaster at Fukushima.
I imagine this contributed to them losing power.
I imagine this contributed to them losing power.
The Cabinet on Wednesday said only that it would ‘‘take into consideration’’ the goal to eliminate nuclear power by 2040, laid down in a policy document released last week.
That document, called the ‘‘Revolutionary Energy and Environment Strategy,’’ said Japan will seek to eliminate nuclear power through greater reliance on renewable energy, conservation, and use of fossil fuels.
Japan will craft its post- Fukushima energy policy ‘‘with flexibility, based on tireless verification and reexamination,’’ the Cabinet’s resolution read.
Nuclear critics called the government indecisive and weak-kneed. ‘‘We’ve only seen the government strike compromise after compromise with the business community,’’ said Hideyuki Ban, secretary general of a nuclear watchdog, the Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center.
You $aw who$e intere$t$ they $erve.
National Strategy Minister Motohisa Furukawa, who announced the original strategy last week, defended the Cabinet’s omission of the 2040 deadline, saying the government still intended to use the goal as a reference point.
You $aw who$e intere$t$ they $erve.
National Strategy Minister Motohisa Furukawa, who announced the original strategy last week, defended the Cabinet’s omission of the 2040 deadline, saying the government still intended to use the goal as a reference point.
But to critics, the Cabinet’s failure to officially adopt the 2040 deadline cast into further doubt Japan’s commitment to ending its nuclear power program, first made by then-Prime Minister Naoto Kan in 2011.
Noda, who succeeded Kan last year, has instead pushed to restart the energy-poor country’s reactors while making vague promises to ‘‘reduce Japan’s nuclear dependence.’’
The news last week that Japan would seek to end nuclear power by 2040 appeared to be a break from the past, although the target year was later than had been expected and the plan contained loopholes that could keep nuclear power going beyond that deadline.
Japan got about 30 percent of its electricity from 54 reactors across the country before a tsunami in March 2011 triggered the Fukushima disaster.
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Related: Japan tightens reactor restart rules
"Japan’s new government signals it could rethink nuclear-free future" by C. Watanabe and Yuji Okada | Bloomberg News, December 29, 2012
TOKYO — Japan’s government plans to establish a variety of sources for electricity generation within ten years, including a review of the plan to exit nuclear power set by the previous administration, Trade Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Friday.
“We will make our decisions based on technological findings and not with prejudgment,” Motegi said at a press conference in Tokyo. “We can’t say for sure that Japan will be free of nuclear power by the 2030s.”
The comments from Motegi, who oversees the energy industry as head of the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry, signals a shift in nuclear policy since the Liberal Democratic Party returned to power and a new Cabinet was introduced Dec. 26. The previous administration of the Democratic Party of Japan planned to phase out nuclear power by the end of the 2030s in line with public demands.
All but two of Japan’s 50 nuclear reactors remain offline for safety checks following the Fukushima nuclear disaster on March 11 of last year. In August, a series of town hall forums showed that a majority of the public wanted nuclear power phased out and tens of thousands of people protested in Tokyo to demand that the plants stay shut. The country began an incentive program on July 1 to encourage investments in renewable energy....
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And now we find out relief and rebuilding money was stolen?
"Japan’s rebuilding money spent on unrelated jobs" by Elaine Kurtenbach | AP Business Writer, October 31, 2012
And now we find out relief and rebuilding money was stolen?
"Japan’s rebuilding money spent on unrelated jobs" by Elaine Kurtenbach | AP Business Writer, October 31, 2012
SENDAI, Japan — About a quarter of the $148 billion budget for reconstruction after Japan’s March 2011 tsunami and nuclear disaster has been spent on unrelated projects....
The findings of a government audit buttress complaints over shortcomings and delays in the reconstruction effort. More than half the budget is yet to be disbursed, stalled by indecision and bureaucracy, while nearly all of the 340,000 people evacuated from the disaster zone remain uncertain whether, when, and how they will ever resettle.
Many of the non-reconstruction-related projects loaded into the budget were included on the pretext they might contribute to Japan’s economic revival, a strategy that the government acknowledges was a mistake....
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The findings of a government audit buttress complaints over shortcomings and delays in the reconstruction effort. More than half the budget is yet to be disbursed, stalled by indecision and bureaucracy, while nearly all of the 340,000 people evacuated from the disaster zone remain uncertain whether, when, and how they will ever resettle.
Many of the non-reconstruction-related projects loaded into the budget were included on the pretext they might contribute to Japan’s economic revival, a strategy that the government acknowledges was a mistake....
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Related:
"Japan will begin restarting its idled nuclear plants once new safety guidelines are in place later this year, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Thursday, moving to ensure a stable energy supply despite public safety concerns after the Fukushima disaster. Abe did not specify when any of the reactors might resume operation. News reports have said it might take months or even years to make expensive upgrades needed to meet the new safety standards."
Also see:
Typhoon slams into Japan, kills 1
Maybe you should just leave the light switch off.
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