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Topic Started: April 11 2011, 02:28 PM (7,662 Views)
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The Irish Times - Thursday, September 1, 2011
Japanese caught in a blizzard of conflicting information


DAVID McNEILL in Soma City

Millions of Japanese are struggling to interpret wildly diverging assessments of the radiation threat after the Fukushima disaster

YOSHIO ICHIDA is recalling the worst day of his 53 years: March 11th, when the sea swallowed up his home and killed his friends. The Fukushima fisherman was in the bath when the huge quake hit, and barely made it to the open sea in his boat in the 40 minutes before the 15-metre tsunami that followed. When he got back to port, his neighbourhood and nearly everything else was gone. “Nobody can remember anything like this,” he says.

Now living in a refugee centre in the ruined coastal city of Soma, Ichida mourned the 100 local fishermen killed in the disaster, and is trying to rebuild his life with his colleagues. Every morning they arrive at the ruined fisheries co-operative building in Soma port and prepare for work. Then they stare out at the irradiated sea, and wait. “Some day we know we’ll be allowed to fish again. We all want to believe that.”

This nation has recovered from worse catastrophes, natural and man-made. But it it is the triple meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant 40km down the coast from Soma, and its aftermath, that has shoved Japan into unknown, unknowable terrain. Across the northeast, millions of people are living with the consequences and searching for a consensus on safe radiation levels that does not exist. Experts give bewilderingly different assessments of its dangers.

Some scientists say Fukushima is worse than the 1986 Chernobyl accident, with which it shares a maximum level-7 rating on the world’s sliding scale of nuclear disasters. One of the most prominent is Dr Helen Caldicott, an Australian physician and long-time anti-nuclear activist who warns of “horrors to come” after Fukushima.

Chris Busby, a British professor at the University of Ulster, is known for his alarmist views. He generated controversy during a visit to Japan last month when he said the disaster would result in more than one million deaths. “Fukushima is still boiling its radionuclides all over Japan,” he said. “Chernobyl went up in one go. So Fukushima is worse.” On the other side of the nuclear fence are the industry-friendly scientists who insist the crisis is under control and radiation levels are mostly safe. “I believe the government and Tokyo Electric Power Co [plant operator Tepco] is doing its best,” said Naoto Sekimura, vice-dean of the Graduate School of Engineering at the elite University of Tokyo.

Sekimura initially advised residents near the plant that a radioactive disaster was “unlikely” and that they should stay “calm”, an assessment he has since had to reverse.

Slowly, steadily and often well behind the curve, the government has worsened its prognosis of the disaster. Last Friday, scientists affiliated with the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said the plant had released 15,000 terabecquerels of cancer-causing caesium, equivalent to about 168 times the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima, the event that ushered in the nuclear age. (Busby says the release is at least “72,000 times worse than Hiroshima”).

Caught in a blizzard of often conflicting information, many Japanese instinctively grope for the beacons they know. Ichida and his colleagues say they no longer trust the nuclear industry or the officials who assured them the Fukushima plant was safe. But they have faith in government radiation testing and believe they will soon be allowed back to sea. “All we can do is wait,” says Shoichi Abe, a manager with the Soma-Futaba Fisheries Co-operative, which represents over 1,000 fishermen living close to the plant.

That’s a mistake, say sceptics, who note a consistent pattern of official lying, foot-dragging and concealment. Last week, officials finally admitted something long argued by its critics: thousands of people whose homes are near the crippled nuclear plant may not be able to return for a generation or more. “We can’t rule out the possibility that there will be some areas where it will be hard for residents to return to their homes for a long time,” said Yukio Edano, the government’s top spokesman. “We are very sorry.”

On Friday, hundreds of former residents from Futaba and Okuma, the towns nearest the plant, were allowed to visit their homes – perhaps for the last time – to pick up belongings. Wearing masks and radiation suits, they drove through the contaminated 20km zone around the plant, where hundreds of animals have died and rotted in the sun, to find kitchens and living rooms partially reclaimed by nature. “It’s hard to believe we ever lived here,” one told state broadcaster NHK.

Several other areas northwest of the plant have become atomic ghost towns after being evacuated. This was too late, say many residents, who believe they absorbed dangerous quantities of radiation in the weeks after the accident. Though outside the exclusion zone, mountainous topography in some areas meant radiation from Fukushima’s crippled reactors lingered after being carried in wind and rain, poisoning crops, water and school playgrounds.

Government data on the radiation diffusion was not released, but suspicions grew nevertheless. The young, the wealthy, mothers and pregnant women left for Tokyo or elsewhere. Most of the remaining 6,000 people have since been evacuated after the government accepted safe radiation limits had been exceeded.

It is the fate of people outside the evacuation zones, however, that causes the most bitter controversy. Parents in Fukushima City, 63km from the plant, have banded together to demand that the government do more to protect about 100,000 children. Most now keep their young indoors during the day. Schools have banned soccer and other outdoor sports. Windows are kept closed. “We’ve just been left to fend for ourselves,” says Machiko Sato, a grandmother who lives in the city. “It makes me so angry.”

Many parents have sent children to live with relatives or friends hundreds of kilometres away. Some want the government to evacuate the entire population of Fukushima Prefecture of two million.

“They’re demanding the right to be able to evacuate,” says anti-nuclear activist Aileen Mioko Smith, who works with the parents. “In other words, if they evacuate, they want the government to support them.” So far at least, the authorities claim this is not necessary. The official line is that the accident at the plant is winding down and radiation levels outside of the exclusion zone and designated “hot spots” are safe. Tepco last week said leaks from the plant’s three crippled reactors had fallen over the last month. A government panel in August debated lifting evacuation orders in some parts of the prefecture.

But many experts warn the crisis is just beginning. Prof Tim Mousseau, a biological scientist who has spent more than a decade researching the genetic impact of radiation inside the 2,850 sq m zone around Chernobyl’s single reactor plant, says he worries many people in Fukushima are “burying their heads in the sand”. His Chernobyl research concluded that biodiversity and the numbers of insects and spiders had shrunk inside the irradiated zone, and the bird population showed evidence of genetic defects, including smaller brain sizes.

“The truth is that we don’t have sufficient data to provide accurate information on the long-term impact. What we can say though is that there are very likely to be very significant long-term health impacts from prolonged exposure.”

In Soma, fisherman Ichida says all the talk about radiation is confusing. “All we want to do is get back to work. There are many different ways to die, and having nothing to do is one of them.”
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Sepa report on 'Fukushima radiation' traced in Scotland

An environment watchdog has published a detailed report on radiation linked to Fukushima detected in Scotland.

Very low levels of iodine-131 were detected in air samples from across Scotland after the Japanese nuclear plant was crippled by an earthquake.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) said the incident had not posed a significant risk to Scotland.

Iodine-131 believed to be from the plant was first detected in March.

According to Sepa's new report, it continued to be picked up from samples in some parts of Scotland until early May.

Samples from Ayrshire, Caithness, Dumfries and Galloway, Lothian and Shetland were checked for Iodine-131 (131I) as part of routine analysis of air quality.

In the report, Sepa said: "The concentrations of 131I detected around Scotland from the Fukushima nuclear incident in Japan did not pose a significant risk to human health and no special precautions were necessary.

"The concentrations detected were consistent with those found further afield, e.g across Europe, and demonstrate that the monitoring programme in Scotland is capable of detecting even trace levels of radioactive contamination present in the air."

A UK-wide report is expected later this year.
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Weather Warnings/Advisories: Fukushima

Updated at 04:05 JST, 3 September 2011
:Warnings :Advisories
Sub-prefecture region Cities Current Warnings and Advisories
Nakadori Nakadori Hokubu Fukushima-shi
Heavy rain
Thunderstorm
Date-shi
Heavy rain
Thunderstorm
Kori-machi
Heavy rain
Thunderstorm
Kunimi-machi
Heavy rain
Thunderstorm
Kawamata-machi
Heavy rain
Thunderstorm
Nakadori Chubu Koriyama-shi
Heavy rain
Flood
Thunderstorm
Sukagawa-shi
Heavy rain (Ground-loosening)
Flood
Thunderstorm
Nihommatsu-shi
Heavy rain
Flood
Thunderstorm
Tamura-shi
Heavy rain
Flood
Thunderstorm
Motomiya-shi
Heavy rain
Flood
Thunderstorm
Otama-mura
Heavy rain
Flood
Thunderstorm
Kagamiishi-machi
Heavy rain
Flood
Thunderstorm
Ten-ei-mura
Heavy rain (Ground-loosening)
Flood
Thunderstorm
Miharu-machi
Heavy rain
Flood
Thunderstorm
Ono-machi
Heavy rain
Flood
Thunderstorm
Nakadori Nambu Shirakawa-shi
Heavy rain (Ground-loosening)
Flood
Thunderstorm
Nishigo-mura
Heavy rain (Ground-loosening)
Flood
Thunderstorm
Izumizaki-mura
Heavy rain
Flood
Thunderstorm
Nakajima-mura
Heavy rain
Flood
Thunderstorm
Yabuki-machi
Heavy rain
Flood
Thunderstorm
Tanagura-machi
Heavy rain
Flood
Thunderstorm
Yamatsuri-machi
Heavy rain
Flood
Thunderstorm
Hanawa-machi
Heavy rain
Flood
Thunderstorm
Samegawa-mura
Heavy rain
Flood
Thunderstorm
Ishikawa-machi
Heavy rain
Flood
Thunderstorm
Tamakawa-mura
Heavy rain
Flood
Thunderstorm
Hirata-mura
Heavy rain
Flood
Thunderstorm
Asakawa-machi
Heavy rain
Flood
Thunderstorm
Furudono-machi
Heavy rain
Flood
Thunderstorm
Hamadori Hamadori Hokubu Soma-shi
High waves
Heavy rain
Gale
Storm surge
Thunderstorm
Dense fog
Minamisoma-shi
High waves
Heavy rain
Gale
Storm surge
Thunderstorm
Dense fog
Shinchi-machi
High waves
Heavy rain
Gale
Storm surge
Thunderstorm
Dense fog
Iitate-mura
Heavy rain
Gale
Thunderstorm
Hamadori Chubu Hirono-machi
High waves
Heavy rain
Flood
Gale
Storm surge
Thunderstorm
Dense fog
Naraha-machi
High waves
Heavy rain
Flood
Gale
Storm surge
Thunderstorm
Dense fog
Tomioka-machi
High waves
Heavy rain
Flood
Gale
Storm surge
Thunderstorm
Dense fog
Kawauchi-mura
Heavy rain
Flood
Gale
Thunderstorm
Okuma-machi
High waves
Heavy rain
Flood
Gale
Storm surge
Thunderstorm
Dense fog
Futaba-machi
High waves
Heavy rain
Flood
Gale
Storm surge
Thunderstorm
Dense fog
Namie-machi
High waves
Heavy rain
Flood
Gale
Storm surge
Thunderstorm
Dense fog
Katsurao-mura
Heavy rain
Gale
Thunderstorm
Hamadori Nambu Iwaki-shi
High waves
Heavy rain
Flood
Gale
Storm surge
Thunderstorm
Dense fog
Aizu Aizu Hokubu Kitakata-shi
Heavy rain
Thunderstorm
Kitashiobara-mura
Heavy rain
Thunderstorm
Nishiaizu-machi
Heavy rain
Thunderstorm
Bandai-machi
Heavy rain
Thunderstorm
Inawashiro-machi
Heavy rain
Thunderstorm
Aizu Chubu Aizu-wakamatsu-shi
Heavy rain
Flood
Thunderstorm
Koriyama-shi Konan
Heavy rain (Ground-loosening)
Flood
Thunderstorm
Aizu-bange-machi
Heavy rain
Flood
Thunderstorm
Yugawa-mura
Heavy rain
Flood
Thunderstorm
Yanaizu-machi
Heavy rain
Flood
Thunderstorm
Mishima-machi
Heavy rain
Flood
Thunderstorm
Kaneyama-machi
Heavy rain
Flood
Thunderstorm
Showa-mura
Heavy rain
Flood
Thunderstorm
Aizu-misato-machi
Heavy rain
Flood
Thunderstorm
Aizu Nambu Ten-ei-mura Yumoto
Heavy rain (Ground-loosening)
Flood
Thunderstorm
Shimogo-machi
Heavy rain (Ground-loosening)
Flood
Thunderstorm
Hinoemata-mura
Heavy rain (Ground-loosening)
Flood
Thunderstorm
Tadami-machi
Heavy rain
Flood
Thunderstorm
Minamiaizu-machi
Heavy rain (Ground-loosening)
Flood
Thunderstorm
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Gov't releases most detailed maps yet of radiation around Fukushima plant


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A government map displaying radiation levels in the area around the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant.

The Japanese government has released new maps of radiation around the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, the most detailed yet.

The maps show radiation levels in the 20-kilometer no-entry zone around the plant, as well as areas outside that zone that were ordered evacuated. Radiation levels are given for one centimeter and one meter aboveground for 2,696 locations, generally one location for every 500 by 500 meters.

Some very high radiation levels were recorded, the highest of which was 139 microsieverts per hour at one meter above the ground in the town of Okuma, just south of the plant. The highest level at one centimeter above the ground was 368 microsieverts per hour in Futaba, just north of the plant.

According to the maps, radiation levels of 19 microsieverts per hour or higher were detected between the plant and four to five kilometers to the south, west and northwest of the plant.

Meanwhile, in the town of Namie, the central part of the evacuated area outside the 20-km no-entry zone, high levels including 41.3 microsieverts per hour were recorded at one meter above the ground and 105 microsieverts at one centimeter above the ground.
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Fukushima hotels face financial crisis as evacuees move into temporary housing


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Many seats remain empty at mealtime at the Kunugidaira Hotel in the Fukushima Prefecture city of Nihonmatsu


NIHONMATSU, Fukushima -- A hotel here that has served as an evacuation facility for people forced out of their homes due to the crisis at Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant is facing a financial crisis once again.

Kunugidaira Hotel in the Dake Hot Spring area temporarily closed after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami triggered a nuclear disaster at a power plant about 60 kilometers away, prompting all prospective guests to cancel their reservations for the rest of the month. Around one-third of employees were let go, and hotel executives at one point considered shutting down the business entirely.

The hotel reopened on April 1, however, when the prefectural government began providing financial assistance to facilities taking in evacuees. Every day between April and July, the hotel housed about 240 evacuees from the prefectural town of Namie, designated as a no-entry zone. But as construction of temporary housing units finished in Fukushima city and elsewhere, evacuees began moving out of the hotel and into their new temporary homes. As a result, only about 50 people are now staying at the hotel.

Hotel President Mieko Abe says this does not bode well for the hotel. "The radiation levels around the hotel are low, at 0.2 microsieverts per hour, but families hardly come to stay with us just because we're located in Fukushima Prefecture," she says. "If it weren't for the prefectural government's assistance program, we would have gone out of business."

According to prefectural government officials, 541 facilities housing a total of 17,902 evacuees took advantage of the financial assistance program in June, but the number is now down to 348 facilities housing about 5,700 people. A total of 8.7 billion yen has been supplied to various hotels by the prefecture thus far, and although evacuation shelters were generally shut down as of Aug. 31, prefectural assistance for hotels has been extended through October.

"Next, the hotels will have to come up with ways of attracting customers," a representative from the prefectural government's tourism division says.

According to an association comprising 614 hotels and Japanese-style inns in Fukushima Prefecture, five of its members have gone out of business after the triple disasters, citing financial reasons. Deliberations over how to assess damage resulting from fears created by the nuclear crisis have been slow-going, and the tourism industry has not received any provisional payments from Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), the operator of the stricken plant.

In June, the association set up a committee to address the damages suffered from the nuclear disaster and plans to submit a lump-sum invoice for damages in October.

"Many hotels have stayed afloat by taking in evacuees," said association president Yutaka Kanno. "We hope TEPCO will acknowledge our losses from radiation fears to the maximum possible extent."


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Short-term leaders in Japan leave disaster victims in limbo

FUKUSHIMA CITY, Japan — Disaster survivors in northeastern Japan are demanding that government officials spend more resources on them instead of focusing on political squabbles in Tokyo, where Yoshihiko Noda took office this week as the country’s sixth prime minister in five years.

From the tsunami-ravaged towns of Ofunato and Rikuzen-takata to the radiation-troubled city of Fukushima, residents of Japan’s wide-ranging disaster zones told The Washington Times that Japan’s weak national leaders have left their lives in limbo.

Nearly six months since a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear reactors, Fukushima residents said they are still waiting for the government to provide Geiger counters and to test their children for exposure to cancer-causing radioactive isotopes.

“Decisions are not being made fast enough because of the political problems,” said Ayako Okada, who is raising her 5-year-old child in Fukushima city. “Many mothers are worried about what they should do for their children, and whether they should move or stay in Fukushima city. But they aren’t getting proper direction from the government.”

Daisuke Okamato, a teacher at a private school in Fukushima city, has been living in a sort of limbo since the March 11 earthquake, tsunami and subsequent nuclear crisis.

He and his wife recently moved from Iwaki city, about 30 miles south of the damaged nuclear reactors, to the outskirts of Fukushima city farther inland, only to discover that his new neighborhood has higher levels of radiation than he expected, though not high enough to warrant immediate evacuation.

“Nobody knows what is really happening to us right now,” he said. “It’s surreal, like living in a mystery movie. This could go on for the next 10 or 20 years.”

Disappointment and frustration over the government’s performance run deep and wide in Japan, a recent survey shows.

According to an Associated Press-Gfk poll, nearly 75 percent of Japanese citizens doubt the government can handle another major disaster. About 67 percent believe Japan is weaker internationally than it was 10 years ago.

Some 44 percent believe children born today will be worse off when they grow up than people are now, the AP reported.

In coastal areas of Iwate province devastated by the tsunami, many survivors say they can’t make plans because the government still hasn’t figured out where and how to rebuild destroyed towns.

Yasuo Shimizu, 64, a barber in the port town of Ofunato, said his family of four is desperate to build their own home in order to get out of a hot and cramped temporary house at an elementary school.

But the government hasn’t determined where they can build or whether they will be compensated for the loss of their former home.

“We have dreams of the home we would like to build, but it could be a long time before they can become a reality,” Mr. Shimizu said.

Yutaka Kinno, 34, an employee at the Japan agricultural cooperative in the devastated city of Ofunato in Iwate province, said Tokyo politicians have been too busy grappling with their own problems to solve issues in the disaster areas.

Friday, September 2, 2011
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In Japan, Evacuees Weigh Risks of Return After Nuclear Disaster. Friday, September 2, 2011


(09-01) 15:46 PDT Minamisoma, --

Japan - Two weeks ago, Kimie Furuuchi received a letter encouraging her to come home. It was signed by the mayor, and it began, "Dear Minamisoma Evacuee . . ."

"We are trying to create the environment where all evacuees can come back to Minamisoma as soon as possible," the letter read.

Furuuchi thought it seemed premature. Government authorities and radiation experts kept saying that her old city could become safer, but almost nobody said it was safe. The ambiguity meant that Furuuchi, like tens of thousands of others who fled their homes after the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear disaster in March, had to weigh the comfort of a homecoming against a danger she could not quantify.

As Japan prepares this month to lift its "evacuation preparation zone" - the ring just beyond the 12.4-mile no-entry radius - the long-term viability of a region depends on people returning to their towns and accepting the risk. For cities such as Minamisoma, the largest in this ring, the next months will determine whether they wither or endure. That's why officials here are pushing for people to come back, even before they know the outcome of frenzied decontamination efforts.

"We are aiming to make the city safer," Minamisoma Mayor Katsunobu Sakurai said. "But we don't know if it's safe or not."

Tokyo wants local governments to decontaminate public areas, reopen schools and re-create a region that offers jobs and security. But research offers conflicting data on the long-term effects of low-level radiation, particularly on children and pregnant women.

Furuuchi and her three teenagers have lived since April 3 in Chiba, an hour's train ride from Tokyo. The elder two like city life even more than they expected. And when the family visited Minamisoma in early August, they agreed that the things they loved about it were gone. Fewer played outside. Nobody visited the beach. The main shopping street had become a glum passageway of shuttered storefronts.

But for Furuuchi, Minamisoma also offers one thing that Chiba has not yet given: a job. The hospital where she worked has been calling; they want her to return. Furuuchi doubts it's safe to go back, but recently she pulled her kids together and said, "Let's talk about the best way to decide."

In an unlucky region, Minamisoma got lucky. The city center sits about 15 miles northwest of the nuclear plant, but its radiation levels - 0.61 microsieverts per hour at the city office on Friday - are a small fraction of those in towns closer to the plant and in many mountainside hot spots farther away. A person spending a year in Minamisoma will likely get one-fifth to one-fourth of the government's maximum 20-millisievert annual limit for adults.

In the initial days of the disaster, amid explosions at three of Fukushima's reactors, the government urged those between 12.4 and 18.6 miles from the facility to evacuate or stay indoors. Tokyo removed the request to stay inside in late April, but the area still had a special designation - it was a place where residents should be ready to flee in case the situation worsened.

People fled anyway. Minamisoma, with a population of 71,000 before the disaster, at one point had lost six of every seven residents.

But with a plan now to lift the evacuation zone between 12.4 and 18.6 miles, the government sees an opportunity in Minamisoma. Already the city has recovered 55 percent of its population. If it can regain its school-age population, it can also regain a semblance of normalcy - a key benchmark of progress in efforts to overcome the nuclear disaster.



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Fukushima Disaster Design, Manufacture and Installation of Cover (KIMONO) Reactor Unit 1

A short documentary on the creation of the cover for reactor unit 1

Video Link ........ http://youtu.be/dpKH1eHTNN4
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Q+A - What do Japan's reactor stress tests mean for nuclear power?


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(Reuters) - Japan has avoided power outages during the summer due to conservation efforts and the weather, but as more reactors are shut down the threat of a power crunch increases and the importance grows of tests that could allow reactor restarts.

Japan in July announced plans for two-tier "stress tests" on its nuclear reactors, aimed at dispelling public distrust over nuclear safety and boosting confidence in the ability of reactors to withstand natural disasters.

Tokyo has so far failed to give a time frame for the tests that would have clarified when idled reactors would restart and give a better indication as to whether Japan might avert power shortages in the winter.

The March 11 earthquake and tsunami, which crippled Tokyo Electric Power Co's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and resulted in a huge radiation leak, heightened public concerns about safety and also led to the shutdown of Chubu Electric Power Co's Hamaoka plant southwest of Tokyo.

Since the March disaster, local governments have blocked the restart of any idled nuclear reactors taken down for routine checks and maintenance.

After Kyushu Electric Power shut its Sendai No.2 reactor for routine checks on Thursday, Shikoku Electric Power will begin planned maintenance on Ikata No. 1 reactor from Sept. 4, reducing the number of online reactors in Japan to 11 with a capacity of 9,864 MW, meaning just 20 percent of the nation's total nuclear power capacity will be in use.

Japan's nuclear stress tests are modelled on tests already under way in the European Union.

Q: What are the stress tests?

The tests involve simulations based on existing data to gauge reactors' resilience to earthquakes, tsunami and other such events, as well as to a loss of electricity and cooling systems.

The tests will take into consideration risk and safety assessments used in similar EU tests and will run in two stages.

The first-stage tests are targeted at reactors currently halted due to regular checks and maintenance and will assess tolerance for severe earthquakes and other extreme events. Restarts will depend on the results.

The second-stage tests will make a comprehensive safety assessment of all 54 of Japan's reactors, except for the crisis-hit Fukushima facility. Utilities will go beyond existing figures and calculate the limits at which reactors would start to see serious damage to their fuel cores.

Q: How long will the stress tests take?

Government officials have not said how long the tests are likely to take.

Utilities must submit their own reports on the results of both rounds of stress tests to the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA), Japan's nuclear watchdog which is part of the Trade Ministry and is one of the industry's regulators, and the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan, an independent entity which monitors nuclear agencies including NISA.

The safety agency said it would expect plant operators to submit reports from the second round of tests before the end of this year.

A NISA official said while the authorities want to swiftly review utilities' reports on the first-stage stress tests, it would likely require at least a month.

The official said that utilities can submit the second-stage reports before the first-stage or submit both reports simultaneously.

NISA would present its schedule to the Nuclear Safety Commission of Japan, which will ultimately determine the viability of the tests and the reactors.

Unlike in the EU, all Japanese utilities have already run simulations for a "blackout", or loss of cooling functions, to meet immediate safety regulations imposed by NISA after the Fukushima nuclear crisis. With those simulations already completed, interim reports could be compiled more quickly than in the EU, a NISA official said. The EU interim reports are scheduled to be completed in less than two and a half months.

Q: How do the tests differ from existing safety measures?

NISA says the stress tests will supplement more stringent safety requirements aimed at ensuring the safety of the reactors and bolstering public confidence.

"This comprehensive assessment will gauge if the safety measures fulfil our requirements by 100 percent, 120 percent, or more," a NISA official said.

The government on March 30 ordered emergency safety measures such as the deployment of back-up mobile power generators for reactors, and confirmed in early May that utilities had complied.

The government nevertheless called for the Hamaoka plant, 200 kilometres (120 miles) southwest of Tokyo, to shut down until its tsunami defences could be strengthened further due to the exceptionally high projected risk of a massive quake and tsunami hitting the area within the next several decades.

On June 7, the government ordered further enhancements to forestall atomic disasters, including securing communications and preventing hydrogen explosions, and declared on June 18 that operators had all taken appropriate measures.

Q: How will the stress tests affect reactor restarts?

With no time frame for completing the first stage of the stress tests, it remains unclear to what extent they may delay reactor restarts.

After the reports of the first-stage stress tests are approved by the Nuclear Safety Commission, they must be approved by the prime minister and relevant ministers. Then, local governments must also give the go-ahead for restarts.

Hokkaido Electric Power won local backing last month for commercial operation of a nuclear reactor which had been operating in "test status" since four days before the March 11 disaster.

Japan's new prime minister, Yoshihiko Noda, appears to be more pragmatic than his predecessor about restarting reactors if they meet the new safety requirements.

The share of nuclear power in Japan's power supply tumbled to about 15 percent in July from about 30 percent before the disasters struck.

Q: Which reactors have begun first-stage stress tests?

Shikoku Electric Power Co may become the first utility to submit the first-stage stress tests assessment as it began conducting the tests for its 890-megawatt No. 3 Ikata reactor in late July. It hopes to submit the report by the end of September.

Kansai Electric Power Co said the first phase of stress tests were under way at four reactors, while one reactor operated by Tohoku Electric Power Co

was also in the first phase of testing.

Kyushu Electric Power Co was conducting first-stage tests at four reactors, and Hokuriku Electric Power Co began the tests in August.
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In One Japanese City, Hot Spots to Avoid
Government Advises Residents of Contaminated Town to Stay—but Keep Clear of Places With Radiation Risks


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Morio Onami with grandson Sho and wife Sato. Mr. Onami says radiation levels at his home were deemed safe—in contrast to his son's, steps away.

DATE, Japan—This sprawling city, 35 miles away from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi reactors, is leading the next phase of Japan's struggles with radiation: deciding how to handle populations in contaminated communities where the level isn't high enough to justify evacuation.

Five months after a nuclear accident blew radioactive particles across the countryside, contamination in Date (pronounced DAH-tay) is deemed low enough to be manageable—as long as residents don't spend too long outside, and avoid spots such as parks and forests, where radioactive elements tend to gather. Radioactive cesium has a tendency to bind to earth, and flow along with silt in water.

The government is urging Date's citizens to decontaminate their houses and fields. Instead of the wholesale evacuation urged on towns with higher radiation levels, Date is suggesting families leave only when their homes are deemed mini "hot spots"—where radiation levels are so high they could be worrisome.

The new hot spots are devilishly small and scattered: one out of five houses in the neighborhood of Kaki-no-uchi; six households of 10 in Aiyoshi. In some cases, next-door neighbors have received differing recommendations.
Even for those houses tapped, evacuation is optional, though the government provides assistance for those who choose to leave.

In early July, the Japanese government declared 113 households out of the 21,800 in Date eligible for evacuation, in the first trial of the new policy. It has since moved on to other towns. During the past month it has done the same with 131 households in the city of Minamisoma, and late last month finished surveying for radiation at more than 2,000 homes in the city of Fukushima, population 290,000.

"The idea is that there are certain points where radiation levels are high, but if you avoid those points, you'll be fine," explains Masato Kino, a spokesman at the government's nuclear-response center in Fukushima city.

But implementing such a strategy hasn't proven easy on the ground. The Japanese government says the ceiling for what it is calling safe—20 millisieverts of accumulated radiation exposure per year—is one-fifth the level at which scientists see the first solid signs of health risk. A chest X-ray is around 0.05 millisievert. But 20 millisieverts per year is at the top of an internationally set range for safety in long-term exposure situations. Officials say they're suggesting evacuation at lower levels for pregnant women and children, thought to be the most vulnerable to radiation, though they won't say precisely what those levels are.

Date residents complain the measurements aren't reliable, and that the line between who stays and who goes is fuzzy. Families who qualify for evacuation get breaks on property taxes, insurance premiums and medical fees—assistance potentially worth thousands of dollars—fanning jealousy among neighbors who get nothing. And many residents aren't convinced it is safe to stay behind, particularly when others nearby are moving.

Most of Date's hot spots are clustered in the district of Oguni, a verdant, hilly area full of farms and forests. On June 11 and 12, inspectors hired by the government fanned out across the area, carrying portable radiation meters with silver probes to survey 485 houses. They were looking for amounts of radiation that could put residents at risk of accumulating more than 20 millisieverts of exposure a year, a level that worked out to about 3.2 microsieverts per hour.

At each house the inspectors measured two spots—in the yard and at the front door—at heights of about 20 inches and one yard (one meter). In choosing the spots, the inspectors were warned to stay away from areas such as drains, shrubbery and rainspouts, where radioactive elements tend to gather, potentially skewing results.

In early July, letters started arriving at the 113 houses deemed hot spots.

Lumber-company owner Morio Onami says his house didn't qualify for evacuation, even though his son's, just a few steps away, did.

"At first I thought it was a mistake," says Mr. Onami, 69 years old.

Mr. Onami's son, who lived with his wife and two children in a big, new house on the family plot, had received a notice saying the house's radiation levels were high enough to qualify them for evacuation. But no notice conferring hot-spot status had come to Mr. Onami and his wife, Sato, who lived in the family's original dwelling, steps away.

The two houses got different readings—3.2 microsieverts per hour in the yard at Mr. Onami's son's house, versus 2.4 microsieverts at Mr. Onami's house. But the two households functioned as one, with everyone using the same bathtub, Japanese-style.

As neighbors compared notes, they found levels and notices were "all over the place," Mr. Onami says. Mr. Onami says he'll stay behind, while the rest of his family—including his wife—evacuates.
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Recent Earthquakes Near Fukushima, Japan

Fukushima, Japan has had:

0 earthquakes today
0 earthquakes in the past 7 days
11 earthquakes in the past month
181 earthquakes in the past year

More info ..... http://earthquaketrack.com/jp-08-fukushima/recent
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Violation of the Human rights of the Children of Fukushima

September 1st, 2011

This is an HTML breakout of the PDF document of the same name from Green Action, to allow translate filters, search and all those other things that make the web great. You can find the original PDF document at the bottom of this page.

17 August 2011

This submission concerns the violation of the human rights of the children of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. These children have been continually exposed to radioactive contamination since 11 March 2011, the start of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, and urgent measures are needed to reduce this exposure.

Both the Japanese government and Fukushima Prefecture continue to expose people, including children and pregnant women, to unhealthy radiation levels that can be prevented by these authorities, thus making this exposed population bear unnecessary health risks. Both the national and prefectural governments are unwilling to undertake feasible remedial measures to mitigate this radiation exposure.

Fukushima prefecture has a population of 2,030,463, of which 385,940 persons are under 20 years of age. This paper addresses the human rights and the right to evacuation (right to relocate) of all non-adults and pregnant women.

Japan’s standard for radiation exposure for the general public is 1 millisievert (mSv) per year. The provisional standard for Fukushima citizens is 20 millisieverts per year. This standard is only for Fukushima Prefecture. The standard remains at the pre-accident level of 1 millisievert per year (mSv/yr) for all the other 46 prefectures of Japan. The provisional standard for Fukushima applies to pregnant women and children, in spite of the vulnerability of fetuses and children to radiation.

The 20-millisieverts-per-year figure is also the standard to decide the evacuation zone. Any areas that are contaminated to the extent that living there will expose citizens to 20 mSv/yr or over are to be evacuated.

This paper will track the events chronologically from March 2011 to the present.
Children’s Exposure to Radioactive Contamination

On 29 and 30 March, because of the total lack of monitoring of radiation levels by government authorities, parents of Fukushima children measured radiation levels at their children’s schools. High levels were found at school grounds. To address this issue, the citizens formed a group, The Fukushima Conference for Recovery from the Nuclear-Earthquake Disaster, and on 31 March, along with their report of the monitoring results and press release, they issued a letter to the Fukushima governor and Fukushima Board of Education petitioning that the opening ceremonies for the new school year be postponed due to the high level of contamination. Fukushima Prefecture refused, and the opening ceremonies took place as scheduled. Because of this, many children who had been self-evacuated by their families were brought back to the contaminated areas.

Fukushima Prefecture did answer the parents’ demand that school grounds be measured for radioactive contamination, undertaking a survey on 5th~7th April which covered the 1,638 schools in the prefecture. The result showed that 76% of Fukushima prefecture schools had levels of contamination exceeding what triggers designation of a workplace as “radiation-controlled” (0.6 microsievert per hour) where individuals under 18 are not legally permitted to enter. At over 20% of the schools even higher radiation levels were recorded, levels warranting “individual exposure control” if occurring in a workplace.

Elementary and junior high schools in Fukushima prefecture commenced the new semester on 5 April, even though radiation contamination was at very high levels and in spite of the greater health risks and vulnerability of children to radiation. On 17 April, compiling the information from the prefectural study of school grounds, the Fukushima Conference for Recovery from the Nuclear-Earthquake Disaster issued an advisory to Fukushima Prefecture and the national government. The advisory stated that measures should be taken to close schools for the time being, and that evacuation of the children should be undertaken quickly. In the meantime, the advisory sought prompt decontamination of school grounds.

In their advisory letter, the citizens group stated that all school grounds where radiation levels corresponded to those of “radiation controlled areas” designated by law (i.e., 0.6 microsievert per hour or more) should be closed.
The 20-millisievert-per-year provisional standard:

On 19 April the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) issued a notification to Fukushima Prefecture. The notification stated the
maximum allowable permitted value for use of school grounds shall be 3.8 microsieverts per hour of radiation. This calculates to 20 millisieverts per year. That is
how the provisional standard of 20 mSv/yr came into effect. This 20 mSv/yr provisional standard has been heavily criticized both within Japan and
abroad.

On 20 April, the next day after setting of the 20 mSv/yr provisional standard, MEXT issued an official booklet for schoolteachers titled, “To Correctly Understand
Radiation” which was distributed to all schools in Fukushima prefecture. Excerpts from pages 10 and 11 of the booklet translated from the Japanese read:

“For ‘definitive impact’ there is a ‘threshold’ below which there is absolutely no
damage found. For example, temporary decline in white blood cells will be seen
[only] above the threshold level of 250 mSv.”

“…..there will be no impact with such weak radiation levels such as [cumulative]
250 mSv (=250,000 microsieverts) over several years. Therefore, it is unimaginable
that physical damage from ‘definitive impact’ could occur at the level of radiation
seen outside of the evacuation zone.”

“It is unthinkable under current conditions that residents, even those staying near
the nuclear power plants, would be exposed to a cumulative total of 100 mSv
(=100,000 microsieverts) of radiation. The amount of radiation, however, should be
monitored. At below the cumulative level of 100 mSv (=100,000 microsieverts), the
probability of cancer due to other causes could become higher, and no clear
correlation has been seen between radiation and increase in the probability of
cancer.” [Ed. ???]

Before MEXT’s notification on 19 April, many schools had made various efforts to reduce radiation exposure to children but they stopped as a result of the government notification. The setting of the 3.8-microsieverts-per-hour standard and the MEXT official booklet distributed to schoolteachers had a huge impact in reducing concern about the radiation exposure to children.

The notifications and statements issued by the national government and Fukushima prefecture created a social situation where parents concerned about their children’s radiation exposure could not voice their concern and were criticized by schoolteachers, neighbors, and relatives for “over-reacting” if they did. It also made it nearly impossible for teachers who had concerns about the radiation exposure of the children they taught to voice these concerns.
20-millisieverts-per-year provisional standard criticized by experts:

On 22 April, Kenji Utsunomiya, chair of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, representing the associations, issued a statement raising concerns about the
provisional 20 mSv/yr standard. The statement says: “…children are also more susceptible to the long-term effects of radiation, demonstrating higher probabilities of developing radiation-induced illnesses. In view of these considerations, children should be afforded the maximum possible protection from all radiation exposure.”

The statement continues: “MEXT bases its demarcation of controlled areas on Article 3, Clause 1(1) of the Ordinance on the Prevention of Ionizing Radiation

Hazards (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, 2001). The Ordinance defines a controlled area as ‘The area in which the total of the effective dose due to external radiation and the active dose due to radioactive substances in the air may exceed 1.3 mSv quarterly.’ Clause 3 prohibits persons other than those with business there from entering the controlled area. A quarterly (three-month) dose of 1.3 mSv adds up to 5.2 mSv per year. The maximum dose permitted by the new guideline, however, far exceeds that limit. Moreover, the Ordinance was enacted to regulate activities involving radiation work and therefore assumes that some degree of control over the degree of radiation exposure is possible. The current situation, however, involves an ongoing crisis, and exposure due to changing weather conditions is entirely possible. The guideline must take full account of such unforeseen factors.” Utsunomiya’s statement continues, “Considering the policy intent of the 1 mSv/year limit, we are forced to conclude that easing the radiation standard in the midst of an accident compromises the safety and welfare of the citizenry.”

The Associations urges that remedial measures be undertaken by “[P]romptly retract the new guideline and related directives”, and “[E]stablishing a considerably lower radiation limit for children.”

On 29 April, the US-based Physicians for Social Responsibility held a press conference and issued a statement criticizing the Japanese government’s provisional 20- millisieverts-per-year standard. The statement reads:

“It is the consensus of the medical and scientific community, summarized in the US National Academies’ National Research Council report Biological Effects of Ionizing Radiation VII (BEIR VII report, http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?isbn=030909156X), that there is no safe level of radiation. Any exposure, including exposure to naturally occurring background radiation, creates an increased risk of cancer. Moreover, not all people exposed to radiation are affected equally. Children are much more vulnerable than adults to the effects of radiation, and fetuses are even more vulnerable. It is unconscionable to increase the allowable dose for children to 20 millisieverts (mSv). Twenty mSv exposes an adult to a one in 500 risk of getting cancer; this dose for children exposes them to a 1 in 200 risk of getting cancer. And if they are exposed to this dose for two years, the risk is 1 in 100. There is no way that this level of exposure can be considered ‘safe’ for children.”

(The Physicians for Social Responsibility is the US affiliate of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW). IPPNW was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1985.)
Citizens confront national government:

On 1 May, a meeting entitled “Protecting Children from Radiation Meeting” was held in Fukushima City under the sponsorship of two groups, the Fukushima Conference for Recovery from the Nuclear-Earthquake Disaster (Fukushima Conference) and the Tokyo-based Citizens Against Fukushima Aging Nuclear Power Plants (Fukuro-no-kai). The attendance was larger than expected at over 250 people. Parents felt they could not rely on being protected by the national government or by Fukushima prefecture and thus decided to meet to see how their children’s radiation exposure could be reduced. Excerpt from the report about the meeting:

“The participants were mostly parents of infants and children from Fukushima City but also from all over the prefecture. ….The formation of the “Fukushima Network for Protecting Children from Radiation” (The English translation of the group’s name was later changed to the “Fukushima Network for Saving Children from Radiation”) was confirmed at the meeting. The meeting served to transform the fervent wishes of the parents into concrete steps toward protecting the children from radiation.”

On the next day, 2 May, a meeting was held at the House of Councillors Diet Office Building in Tokyo between the Fukushima parents, citizens, and NGOs on the one hand, and, MEXT, Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW), and the Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC) on the other. MEXT stated at the meeting, “We do not believe that there is danger at 20 millisieverts. However, we do not believe that it is fine at 20 millisieverts.”

The Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC) official stated, “We do not feel it’s permissible for children to be exposed to 20 millisieverts a year. The four Safety Commissioners feel that way too.”

The NSC official turning to the MEXT official and continued, “…why use the expression ‘there is no problem’?”…MEXT is also deciding against the 20-millisievert
limit, right?”

At the meeting the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) admitted that “children should not/cannot be allowed to play within a radiation-controlled area (0.6 microSv/h or more).” However, the Ministry did not respond to whether or not playing in an area of equivalent contamination as a radiation-controlled area should be/could be allowed. (As stated earlier, 76% of schools in Fukushima Prefecture have contamination levels that require them to be radiation-controlled areas if they were workplaces.)

[For a visual and oral account see the Fuji TV Program “Tokudane: What is Happening at Fukushima Schools? — The Wavering ‘Radiation Safety Standard.’” for an informal English translation: read here.]

At the 2 May meeting the Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC) stated, “NSC does not endorse 20 mSv as a standard. None of the experts have deemed 20 mSv/yr was safe.” It was clarified by the NSC on 2 May that the meeting on 19 April in which 20 mSv/yr was discussed was not a formal meeting of the NSC, and that there are no minutes of this meeting although four Nuclear Safety Commissioners including the Chair were physically present. MEXT, after receiving advice from the NSC, issued the 3.8-microsieverts/hour standard later that day (19 April.)

On 2 May, no government authority took responsibility for setting the 20 mSv/year provisional standard. The following are excerpts from the document, “Facts and Questions Arising from Meeting the Japanese Government about the 20 mSv/yr Standard of Radiation Exposure to Fukushima Children” issued by NGOs on 2 May:

“The Ministry stated that it was necessary to reduce the level of contamination. However, it did not indicate any concrete methods for undertaking this… Although admitting the necessity of reducing levels [of contamination], the only measure being undertaken is monitoring.”

“The Ministry stated, although it will not stop local authorities from undertaking decontamination activities [of school grounds], that undertaking decontamination activities was not necessary.”

The NGO document notes, “monitoring” is not a measure for reducing children’s radiation exposure, just tracking how much exposure children were getting, and
without other measures, MEXT was not implementing all necessary protective measures.

Since three-quarters of Fukushima Prefecture schools have radiation levels exceeding the trigger level for radiation-controlled areas as described above, where those under 18 years of age are legally not permitted to enter, Fukushima residents have repeatedly addressed this issue with MEXT. However, MEXT has refused to answer when pressed to respond concerning the inconsistency and de facto illegality of allowing children to continue to be in areas with such high radiation levels. The Minister of MEXT Yoshiaki Takaki has even criticized the asking of this question, stating, “I wonder if it is proper to ask such a question.” [see “Tokudane” interview, Fuji TV]

It is important to note that no government authority in Japan has ever officially established the 20-millisieverts-per-year provisional standard nor taken responsibility for it. No Japanese government authority has stated that this level is safe for children. Yet, this standard is being utilized by the Japanese government as a provisional standard for Fukushima citizens including children and pregnant women. This situation remains the same today.

Facing increasing criticism both domestically and abroad, on 11 May, MEXT informed Fukushima prefectural offices about replacing topsoil with a layer of subsoil. However, the contaminated topsoil was not to be removed and deposited at another site away from the children, but only placed under the thin layer of subsoil, thus effectively keeping radiation in the ground under the children.

The next day, the Fukushima Network for Saving Children from Radiation and the Fukushima Conference for Recovery from the Nuclear-Earthquake Disaster (Fukushima Conference), joined by four other citizen organizations, issued an emergency appeal and statement. The document petitions, “[MEXT] should stop burying topsoil and start the process of proper soil decontamination TEPCO and the government should take full responsibility in dealing with contaminated soil. Remove the 20 mSv/yr standard for children immediately and implement school closure until their safety can be confirmed.”

The statement continued, “There is no more room for excuses. With every moment, children are being exposed to that much more radiation. In order to keep these children from any more exposure, MEXT should retract the ’20 msv’ standard immediately. We demand that all nursing schools, kindergartens and schools be thoroughly decontaminated. Until this decontamination process is complete and verified, we demand that schools be closed. Even if children’s educational opportunities are temporarily limited and they are put in an unsatisfactory position in the short term, they will still have the opportunity to catch up later if they have their lives and their health. Threatening children’s lives and health for the sake of securing educational opportunities is, in effect, putting the cart before the horse.”

On the same day, 12 May, the Japan Medical Association issues the following statement: “The scientific basis for choosing the maximum amount of 20 mSv in the band of 1 to 20 mSv is not clear. The government’s action should be more carefully deliberated considering the fact that growing children are more sensitive to radiation exposure compared to adults. We as a nation should make the utmost effort to reduce the exposure to radiation of children, as well as adults. We are responsible for the children’s health and life.” The statement continues, “We urgently request that the Japanese National government strive to reduce children’s exposure to radiation in the fastest and most effective way possible.”

On 23 May, 70 parents from Fukushima, together with 650 citizens showing their support, gathered in front of the offices of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) in Tokyo. The Fukushima parents, citizens, NGOs, and four national Diet members from three political parties supporting them demanded scrapping of the 20 mSv/yr provisional standard for children’s exposure to radiation and made concrete demands. The MEXT building was encircled by a human chain. At the meeting MEXT restated, “MEXT does not consider 20 millisieverts a safety standard.” However, it refused to rescind it. The press release issued on 23 May by the six citizen organizations stated, “The parents asked for only one thing: to protect the children of Fukushima. For that, the 20-millisieverts-a-year standard (3.8 microsieverts an hour out in the school grounds) must be rescinded and the national government should take responsibility for implementing specific measures to minimize the radiation that children are exposed to.”

In another press release issued the same day, L’Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire (IRSN), the French radiological protection institute, stated that 70,000 additional residents should be evacuated from the Fukushima area surrounding the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
Dr. Shunichi Yama(censor)a Appointed Chair of the Review Committee for the Fukushima Prefecture “Prefectural People’s Health Management Survey”

Back in 19 March, Professor Shunichi Yama(censor)a, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University Department of Molecular Medicine and Department of International Health and Radiation Research, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, was appointed by Fukushima Prefecture to be the prefecture’s Radiation Health Risk Management Advisor. After his appointment, Dr. Yama(censor)a lectured widely to citizens in Fukushima. According to him, “We have continued to educate the local people in the accurate knowledge of radiation. I have spoken over 27 times to more than 10,000 people.”

On 27 May, Dr. Yama(censor)a was appointed to chair the Review Committee for the Fukushima Health Management Survey. The following are excerpts from Professor Yama(censor)a’s lectures in Fukushima Prefecture and Tokyo:

Seminar in Fukushima City: 21 March 2011
“Radiation and its Connection to Personal Health”
“The name Fukushima will become known throughout the world. Fukushima, Fukushima, Fukushima — everywhere Fukushima. This is a tremendous thing. We have even surpassed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Now, the name Fukushima will ring out with more pre-eminence throughout the world. A challenge is an opportunity. Now is our biggest opportunity ever. Fukushima has claimed fame without so much as moving a finger. There’s no way we can let this opportunity pass by.”

“The effects of radiation do not come to people who are happy and laughing, they come to people who are being weak-spirited. This has been clearly proven through animal experiments. For good or for bad, those who drink alcohol are less susceptible to the impacts of radiation. I am not saying you should drink. But,
laughing will remove your phobic fear of radiation.”

“Scientifically speaking, concerning concentration of environmental pollution in terms of microsieverts, there is no risk of health impact unless figures rise beyond 100 microsieverts per hour. So it is clear whether it is safe to go outside when the level is at 5, 10, or 20. I said this only yesterday at Iwaki. ‘Is it safe to play outside in Iwaki?’ My reply is, ‘Go right ahead and play as much as you want.’ The same applies for Fukushima City. There is nothing to worry about.”

Seminar at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan (FCCJ): 22 March 2011
“Impact of Radioactive Materials” Source: Science Media Centre of Japan
“The cancer rate will increase a little if exposure occurs at 100 millisieverts or more in one dose, however, when the exposure is limited to 50 millisieverts, it is not considered to cause any problem. “

“Among the people evacuated from the 10 to 20 km zone of the nuclear plant, some may have been exposed to a radiation dose of roughly 1 mSv. However, the health effects are no different between a few microsieverts and 100 millisieverts, so the increase in the cancer rate will be no different.”

At the 2 May meeting, the NSC stated that if it is indeed true that Fukushima Prefecture advisors Shunichi Yama(censor)a and Kenichi Kamiya gave public lectures in
Fukushima stating, “100 mSv is safe,” then the NSC would “give them guidance.”

A petition addressed to the governor of Fukushima Prefecture organized by The Fukushima Network for Saving Children from Radiation launched 21 June demands that Professor Shunichi Yama(censor)a be dismissed from all Fukushima prefecture appointments including that of Radiation Health Risk Management Advisor. The petition states:

“The first thing that Professor Yama(censor)a should have done when the hydrogen explosions began to occur at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on March 12 was to call for the evacuation of the people of Fukushima Prefecture. This would have been possible due to his superior knowledge and standing. If he had taken this action, the people of the prefecture would have respected him and thanked him wholeheartedly.

“However, he did the exact opposite. Coming to the prefecture on 19 March, after the ‘most dangerous 7 days’ (his words) had passed, he told the people of the
prefecture, “There is no need to consider health impacts,” “It’s OK,” and, “I absolutely want you to stay in this town.” Following that, he failed to call for radiation protection [measures] and continued to encourage the citizens to remain in Fukushima and carry on life as normal.”

The petition continues,

“Governor, please consider how the people of the prefecture who believed Professor Yama(censor)a’s statements feel now. Please sense the feelings of the parents who are suffering remorse and guilt from having exposed their children to radiation because of their foolishness in believing in him. Please also understand the feelings of the people of the prefecture who are imagining the future and who are having to endure unspeakable fear.

“It is totally unacceptable that Professor Yama(censor)a has now been newly appointed as a member of the committee to consider a Prefectural People’s Health Management Study. He is the least suitable choice for a person to study the health impacts of exposure to radiation that we citizens have been forced to endure.”

[Video of 21 June, Press Conference: Fukushima Parents Seek Dismissal of Radiation Advisor Shunichi Yama(censor)a, House of Councillors, Diet Office Building, Tokyo, Japan]

The above Fukushima citizens’ petition signature campaign is ongoing.

Because the Japanese government continued to ignore the problem of internal radiation exposure, Fukushima parents and NGOs decided to initiate their own testing of children’s urine samples. The samples were taken and sent to ACRO, the independent radiation measuring and sampling laboratory accredited by the French nuclear safety authority, Autorité de Sûreté Nucléaire (ASN).

A joint press conference was held on 30 June 2011 by the Fukushima Network for Saving Children from Radiation and the five other NGOs. The chair of ACRO, David Boilley, spoke at the press conference. The ACRO press release that day stated,

“ACRO has analyzed urine of children living in Fukushima-city located at about 60 km of the Fukushima NPP. There is no ambiguity on the results: all samples are tainted by cesium 134 and cesium 137 at concentrations ranging from 0.4 to 1.3 becquerels per litre.”

“This means that these children between 6 and 16 years old are all contaminated by cesium 134 and cesium 137. There were also probably contaminated by iodine 131 that disappears quickly and cannot be detected now.” “This reinforces our opinion that the evacuation threshold fixed by the Japanese authorities is too high. Many NGO’s, including ACRO, have criticized this limit that is fixed at 20 millisieverts for the first year. It is 2 times larger that limit fixed by the French authorities in case of an accident and 20 times larger than the usual maximum permissible dose for the public.”

To date there have been 80,410 signatures collected cumulative in two petitions (from Japan and 61 other countries) and 1383 organizations (cumulative) have endorsed these petitions. The petitions were submitted to the Japanese government on 2 May and 16 June respectively. The petitions asked for speedy expanded evacuation and minimizing children’s radiation exposure by withdrawing the provisional 20-millisievert-per-year radiation exposure limit for children (which was issued by the Japanese government on April 19, 2011), and restoring the 1-mSv-per-year dose limit. The following is the third, ongoing petition, begun 30 June.

The demands are:

In areas with particularly high levels of radiation, promote short-term or long-term evacuation and close schools early for summer recess. Give top priority to the relocation of infants, children, and expectant mothers.
Monitor regularly the degree of internal exposure for all Fukushima residents, including children, using whole-body counters.
Dismiss Shunichi Yama(censor)a, professor at the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Nagasaki University, from his dual positions as advisor to Fukushima prefecture on health-risk management for nuclear radiation and member of the prefecture’s Health-Management Investigation Committee.
Strictly adhere to the legal annual radiation limit of 1 millisievert. Compute the radiation dose based on total cumulative radiation, internal and external, absorbed since March 11. Revoke the current provisional annual limit of 20 millisieverts (3.8 microsieverts per hour). Lower the provisional radiation standards for food and drink so as not to exceed the annual limit of 1 millisievert.

On 3 July, a statement titled “Statement on the program to monitor and manage the health of Fukushima prefectural residents” was issued by the Fukushima University Forum on Nuclear Disaster.”

It was endorsed by nineteen members of the Fukushima University faculty. The statement critiques the Fukushima health survey stating, “The chairperson of the program committee is Mr. Shun’ichi Yama(censor)a, who also serves as the health risk management adviser to Fukushima Prefecture. However, there is a conflict of interest if the person who is in charge of administering the prefecture’s policy on radiation issues (risk management adviser) is also responsible for evaluating the health of Fukushima residents, which has been affected by the same risk management policy that person has established. To maintain the neutrality of the program, the person who serves as the health risk management adviser should not be allowed to become a member of the program committee.”

On 19 July, the first public meeting was held in Fukushima between citizens and the national government’s Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters. Tokyo officials of the headquarters refused to come to Fukushima and the meeting was held with the officials of the Fukushima division of the headquarters. Some 130 local residents participated. At the meeting, Seiichi Nakate, head of the Fukushima Network for Saving Children from Radiation asked the government’s Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters, “It is correct, is it not, that Fukushima citizens have the same and equal right as other Japanese citizens to spend their life without receiving unnecessary radiation doses. That is correct, is it not?” Akira Sato, Director of the government’s Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters in Fukushima replied, “I don’t know whether or not they have that right.”

The callous attitude of the government officials, which was later broadcast via YouTube, shocked many people. The meeting was a sequel to the first round of talks held on 30 June in Tokyo with the national government’s Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters. Kazumasa Aoki of Fukuro-no-Kai reported on the meeting.

One of the main issues raised by citizens at the meeting was the right to evacuate. Heart-rending testimonies were given by mothers and fathers whose families were torn apart because of the inaction of the Japanese government.

Back in 22 April 2011, Kenji Utsunomiya, chair of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations Japan Federation of Bar Associations had proposed in his statement:

“Where children must be relocated to other schools because radiation levels have exceeded the standard limit, implement the following measures, taking care not to separate children from their parents and communities unless absolutely necessary: arrange for children to be admitted to neighboring schools in safe areas, secure additional school buses and other means of transportation allowing them to commute, and where necessary, build temporary school buildings and related facilities outside the contaminated zone.”

“Where children must live apart from their parents and communities for their own safety, arrange for their room and board. Also, establish a system staffed by
professionals who can help the children deal with the psychological and emotional trauma resulting from the earthquake, tidal waves, nuclear accident, and separation from their families.”

“Establish an oversight system to ensure that children who relocate are not subjected to bullying and other forms of discrimination and are able to receive a proper education in neighboring schools.”

The Japanese government has not implemented any of the above actions. Fukushima citizens and NGOs continue to urge the Japanese government to
implement measures to protect children from radiation. To date the Japanese government has refused to even consider these pleas and proposals. Today, 17 August, Fukushima children who want to meet with the Japanese government will be coming to Tokyo.

The children of Fukushima have the same right as all other children in Japan to live a life free from unnecessary, preventable radiation exposure. We urgently request that the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights/OHCHR come to Japan to investigate this matter.

This document is being submitted to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human
Rights/OHCHR
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Former Prime Minister Naoto Kan, stepped down his position as of September 2, 2011, accepted the exclusive interview offer from Tokyo Shinbun and talked about the anxiously he had felt while series of hydrogen explosion happening at TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Energy Plant. "This accident may cause serious disaster to make Metropolitan area dead zone" - He disclosed that he felt this sense of crisis. He's changed his mind and determined to shift "Stop relying on nuclear energy power" since Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Energy Plant accident, as he used to be very confident about Japanese nuclear technology.

He explained the reason why he went to TEPCO headquarters on March 15, 2011, 4 days after the accident, was the words from Former Minister of METI Banri Kaieda around 3pm on the same day, who disclosed TEPCO was planning to abandon Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Energy Plant.
He felt "If TEPCO abandons Fukushima Daiichi and Daini Nuclear Energy Plant, 10 nuclear reactors and 11 nuclear fuel storage pools, nuclear reactors and nuclear fuel storage pools would be empty and rapidly melt down. " , then he ordered to set up the Integrated Headquarters Measures of TEPCO and government at TEPCO headquarters.

"If TEPCO had abandoned Fukushima Nuclear Energy Plant, there would have been nobody in Tokyo. It was the most critical moment for Japan as a country to keep surviving as it is. The amount of radiation leakage could have been more than several score times than Chelnobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident." , Kan explained and this experience changed his old idea of being confidence in Japanese nuclear technology into the new idea to aim not to rely on nuclear power plant energy society.

The reason why he requested CEPCO to stop Hamaoka Nuclear Energy Plant was based on the research result of big possibility of Tokai earthquake, which would completely cut off the route between Tokyo and Osaka, that would result in huge damage on Japanese economy and society.

Kan said "NISA was trying to restart the nuclear reactor following the old procedure without my knowledge. I didn't think it was possible to get an approval from Japanese nation." , and criticized METI's correspondence. This is the reason why he installed the new safety standard procedure just before the restart of KEPCO Genkai Nuclear Energy Plant. About renewable energy, such as solar power, "Although there are possibilities to start shifting to those renewable energy, electric utility industry and METI have kept rejecting those since 30 years ago. I would like do my best to get over this difficulty.", Kan said.

Regarding restarting Fast Breeding Reactor Monju and recycling nuclear fuel, Kan said "It's almost impossible with our current technology. It has to be fully reviewed whether to keep it or not. "
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Hosono promotes radiation reducing technology

Japan's nuclear crisis minister says the government may develop technology to cut radiation and the volume of waste from the Fukushima nuclear accident.

Goshi Hosono told reporters on Tuesday that reducing the volume of nuclear waste will be very important in the decontamination process.

He said there will be no progress in that process unless irradiated soil can be temporarily stored in the contaminated area.

He said it is not fair to nearby residents to leave such waste for long periods, so a storage facility will have to be created in Fukushima prefecture for the mid-term.

Tuesday, September 06, 2011 14:57 +0900 (JST)
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Saitama asks tea growers to refrain from shipments

Japan's Saitama prefecture has asked tea producers there to avoid shipping tea made from early picked leaves.

The request came on Tuesday after radioactive cesium beyond government safety levels was detected by the Health Ministry in local tea products.

The ministry found over 500 becquerels of cesium per kilogram of processed tea in inspections earlier this month in Hidaka and Tsurugashima, both in Saitama.

According to the prefectural government, tea in Kawagoe also showed 800 becquerels per kilogram. Separately, 1,240 becquerels of cesium was found in tea from Iruma, in Saitama, in a test conducted by Koganei in Tokyo.
Saitama says the tea tested in Hidaka and Tsurugashima was made from young leaves, and has asked producers and dealers in the prefecture to refrain from shipping tea made from such leaves until they are confirmed safe.

Saitama says it did its own tests but didn't find unsafe levels of cesium. It now says it had not checked early picked leaves.

Tuesday, September 06, 2011 16:04 +0900 (JST)
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TEPCO to build wall off Fukushima Daiichi plant

The operator of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant plans to build an iron wall on the ocean side of the plant to prevent radioactive water from leaking into the sea.

Tokyo Electric Power Company says more than 110,000 tons of highly radioactive water remains in the basements of reactor buildings at the plant. There is growing concern that the water may eventually pass via underground water into the ocean.

The utility will use thousands of iron pipes to create an 800-meter-long wall surrounding the water intakes of 4 reactor facilities.

Each pipe, 22-meters long and one meter wide, will be installed deep below the sea bed to stop the flow of groundwater.

The firm says it will also prepare for a rise in underground water levels around the plant after the wall is built. It says it will closely monitor the level of groundwater and consider pumping it away to prevent overflow.

Construction will begin as early as the end of this year and be completed in about 2 years.

Prevention of sea-water contamination is one of pillars in the company's roadmap to contain the nuclear accident.

Tuesday, September 06, 2011 07:11 +0900 (JST)
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Fukushima evacuees pessimistic about going home

An NHK survey shows that more than half of those who fled Fukushima Prefecture after the March 11th disaster think it will be hard for them to return to their hometowns.

NHK surveyed 187 people living in shelters or temporary housing in and outside Fukushima Prefecture nearly 6 months after the earthquake and tsunami and the start of the nuclear accident.

Asked if their plans about where they will live have changed compared to right after the disaster, 26 percent of the respondents said they feel a stronger desire to go back to their hometowns.

But 43 percent said they feel more strongly that they won't be able to go home, while 11 percent said they're resolved not to do so.
Asked why they feel they won't be able to return or wish not to, many cited what they saw on temporary return visits -- run-down houses, deserted towns and high radioactivity readings in their homes.

Many respondents apparently want the government to restore their land to its pre-disaster state if possible, or government support so they can move elsewhere. Asked what they want from the government, 43 percent said thorough decontamination of soil, and 19 percent said they want the government to purchase their property.

Tuesday, September 06, 2011 19:04 +0900 (JST)
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Fukushima Recovery Workers Probably Safe, Scientist Explains

TUSCON, Ariz., Sep 6, 2011 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) -- A standard hazard function model shows that Fukushima recovery workers probably will suffer no life-threatening radiation damage, writes Bobby R. Scott, Ph.D., of the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute in Albuquerque, N.M.

In the same article in the fall issue of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons ( www.jpands.org/vol16no3/scott.pdf ), Scott also warns that predicting long-term effects based on the discredited linear no-threshold hypothesis--that no dose is safe--could cause harmful radiation phobia.

High-dose radiation damages many body systems, but the bone marrow or blood-forming system is the most sensitive and is the key one for assessing life-threatening damage. There is a threshold dose for a specific "deterministic" effect such as lethal marrow injury because a lower dose does not damage a sufficient number of cells. A higher dose is tolerable if delivered more slowly.

Using a standard model, the likelihood that a worker received a life-threatening dose accumulated during successive work shifts, during which he received doses monitored by a personal dosimeter, can be calculated. With the annual limit set at 250 mSv, one scenario in which the worker may require medical intervention is a hydrogen explosion that suddenly caused a large spike in released radionuclides.

Fears of long-term effects in persons far from the reactor assume that one radiation "hit" to each person in a very large population will cause at least one cancer. Scott points out that every person in the U.S. receives more than 86 billion hits per day from natural radiation. Those who took potassium iodide pills probably got more radiation from the natural potassiuim-40 in the pills than they could possibly have gotten from radioactive iodine from Fukushima.

Unwarranted fears are potentially harmful, Scott states, pointing to some 100,000 abortions of normal babies because of fearmongering after the Chernobyl disaster.

AAPS, a national organization representing physicians in all specialties, www.aapsonline.org was founded in 1943. Its Journal is committed to "promoting open debate and scientific integrity."
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60% Of Tohoku Food Firms Feeling Impact Of Nuclear Disaster: Poll

TOKYO (Nikkei)--Sixty percent of food-related companies in the Tohoku region have been affected by the fallout from the Fukushima nuclear accident, the Japan Finance Corp. reported Tuesday.

According to the government-backed lender's food industry survey, 60.2% of the 281 firms polled in the northern mainland region were feeling direct or indirect effects of the nuclear accident. That figure is 6.8 percentage points higher than the nationwide average.

Including the ones that expect a future impact, nearly 80% of the respondents in Tohoku are concerned about the lingering crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s (9501) Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, which is located in the southeast of the region.

When asked about sales after the March 11 calamity, 69.2% replied that revenue declined, but 14.6% said sales increased. This is because some souvenir shops experienced sharp sales increases as visitors to the region purchased local specialties to help with rebuilding efforts.

The survey was conducted in July, targeting 6,659 food-related companies nationwide. Of them, 2,666 returned valid answers.

(The Nikkei Sept. 7 morning edition)
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Special Medical Zone To Aid Disaster Recovery

TOKYO (Nikkei)--The government plans to set up a special medical zone covering three earthquake-ravaged prefectures in an effort to help drive an economic revival and create jobs in the area, The Nikkei learned Tuesday.

Japan's northern Tohoku region is already home to many factories of medical equipment makers, such as Olympus Corp. (7733) and Nipro Corp. (8086). By giving a special zone designation to Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, the government hopes to create a hub for advanced medical equipment.

As a first step, the Health Ministry plans to promote partnerships between key regional hospitals and universities' medical and engineering departments. In Iwate Prefecture, Iwate Medical University's School of Medicine, Iwate University's Faculty of Engineering and local hospitals will work together to develop advanced endoscopic surgical instruments.

The ministry also aims to ease regulations, including requirements for clinical trials, in the special zone to enable faster development of medical equipment.

Furthermore, it is considering offering tax breaks to encourage R&D and attract manufacturing bases to the region.

To finance the initiative, the ministry plans to seek around 5 billion yen in the fiscal 2011 third supplementary budget for a fund that will support related research, development and investment.

Separately, in Fukushima Prefecture, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry plans to launch a project to help develop medical robots and radiation therapy equipment.

In addition, the Science and Technology Ministry and Tohoku University are considering teaming up with regional medical institutions to establish a framework for genome projects.

(The Nikkei Sept. 7 morning edition)
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Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Restaurant Industry Creating Jobs In Quake-Hit Cities

TOKYO (Nikkei)--Watami Co. (7522) and HotLand Corp. are among the restaurant chain operators increasing employment in areas hit hard by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Posted Image
A new Watami Takushoku call center will be set up in Iwate Prefecture.

Watami plans to build a call center for its meal delivery service for seniors in Rikuzentakata, Iwate Prefecture, by February 2012. The site will employ 100 or so locals, including high school graduates and people who have lost their jobs.

A subsidiary, Watami Takushoku Co., delivers meals in 32 prefectures but has just one call center, located in Nagasaki Prefecture. With orders surging nearly 40% in roughly six months to 160,000 meals a day, adding call centers has been an issue.

Watami Chairman Miki Watanabe, who was appointed an adviser to Rikuzentakata in June, decided to build the center in the earthquake-ravaged city to help with reconstruction. The call center will field orders from all over eastern Japan.

HotLand, operator of the Tsukiji-Gindaco chain of "takoyaki" octopus ball eateries, will in November relocate its headquarters from the Gunma Prefecture city of Kiryu to Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture. Business development, personnel training and other functions will be moved to the new location, creating around 100 new jobs. Although group firms will still be overseen from Kiryu, President Morio Sase says he will work half the week from Ishinomaki.

HotLand will also build an octopus-processing plant in Ishinomaki. Due to come onstream next year, the plant will be able to handle an annual 2,000 tons or so. The firm now processes 6,500 tons at a Chinese plant, but one-third of this will be switched to the new plant. It opted for Ishinomaki, which had a bounty of seafood-processing facilities, in order to tap the skills of experts.

(The Nikkei Sept. 6 morning edition)
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Loan Buyouts For Disaster Victims Hit Pricing Snag

TOKYO (Nikkei)--The first in a planned series of public institutions for clearing away the debt overhang of disaster-struck small and midsize businesses has run into opposition from local lenders.

To help indebted businesses in need of new loans to rebuild from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the government has proposed buying up outstanding loans. The first institution for this purpose was to have been set up in Iwate Prefecture last month and serve as a model for the rest.

Eighty percent of the capital is supposed to come from the government-affiliated Organization for Small & Medium Enterprises and Regional Innovation, with local lenders putting up the other 20%.

But talks between the two sides have run aground on the issue of pricing the loans. Local lenders want the institution to pay at least 70-80% of book value. The government's pricing method, which it calls "objective," would likely discount loans to only 10-30% of book value.

Pricing the loans closer to market value would force losses on lenders. The opposite approach would expose the government-affiliated small-business organization to the losses that could result if the bailed-out firms fail to recover.

The organization plans to invest a total of about 200 billion yen in surplus funds in the proposed buyout funds. It would need to put up more money if local lenders have their way on pricing. But the government is reluctant to set prices any higher, lest it face criticism for putting taxpayers at risk.

While the organization is looking to invest only about 200 billion yen, disaster-hit firms have some 450 billion yen in outstanding debt, according to the Financial Services Agency.

To keep costs down, the government wants to limit the loan buyouts to companies with prospects for revival, which would receive support in the form of new financing. But in many cases, the loans that local lenders want off their books are to businesses that can ill afford to take on new debt.

"If we rack up any more debt, we'll never be able to pay it all back, no matter how hard we work," laments the president of an ice company in Kesennuma, Miyagi Prefecture, one of the areas hit hardest by the tsunami.

With an overhang of debt from before the disaster, this official is wavering on whether to borrow the tens of millions of yen needed for repairs, even though the firm has qualified for new financing.
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Nippon Express Reopens Air Cargo Center Near Sendai Airport

TOKYO (Nikkei)--Nippon Express Co. (9062) on Thursday reopened its tsunami-ravaged Sendai Airport Logistics Center, a core base for its international air cargo services.

All of the debris and mud has been cleared away and the climate-control equipment and plumbing have been replaced.

Nippon Express hurried to reopen the center in preparation for the resumption of international flights out of Sendai at the end of September.

Located near Sendai Airport, the logistics center has a total of roughly 8,300 sq. meters of floor space.

While repairing the tsunami damage, Nippon Express reduced the space in the center used for administrative tasks and expanded the cargo-handling area to 3,066 sq. meters.

The company will use the center as a base for handling imports and exports of autoparts, electronic components and machinery.
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PM Noda To Visit Fukushima On Thursday

TOKYO (Dow Jones)--Japan's top government spokesman said Tuesday that Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda will tour some of the nation's disaster-hit areas this week.

Noda will visit areas affected by the March tsunami and floods triggered by the recent typhoon "to better understand the conditions of areas hit by natural disasters and to speak with local authorities," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura.

Noda will spend Thursday in Fukushima Prefecture, Friday in Wakayama, Nara and Mie prefectures, and Saturday in Iwate and Miyagi prefectures, Fujimura said.

The crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is in Fukushima Prefecture. Deadly floods affected Wakayama, Nara and Mie prefectures following last weekend's typhoon. Iwate and Miyagi prefectures were the worst-hit by the March earthquake and tsunami.
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TEPCO to put USD 30 mn into Fukushima compensation body
PTI | 03:09 PM,Sep 07,2011

Tokyo, Sept 7 (Kyodo) Tokyo Electric Power Co will put USD 30 million into a new entity set up to help the utility pay compensation to individuals and businesses claiming damages caused by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant disaster, sources close to the matter said today. The body will also receive USD 91 million in public funds as well as a total of USD 91 million from 12 nuclear plant operators, with the crisis-hit utility known as TEPCO shouldering the largest amount among the 12. The 11 other nuclear power companies will pay into the entity because it is meant to work as a compensation scheme for future accidents. The percentage of their contributions is fixed in proportion to the power output of their plants. Kansai Electric Power Co. will provide USD 14 million, followed by USD 8.59 million by Kyushu Electric Power Co and USD 9 million by Chubu Electric Power Co Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd, which owns a spent nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in Aomori Prefecture, will provide USD 1.5 million to the entity. The utility companies will also pay annual contributions to the body. TEPCO is required to make extra contributions, with the specific amount to be decided later. The amount of compensation over Japan's worst radiation-leaking accident in Fukushima Prefecture may total billions of dollars. (Kyodo)
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Nishizawa:TEPCO to scrap Fukushima reactors

Tokyo Electric Power Company president Toshio Nishizawa says his company will scrap the 4 severely damaged reactors at its disaster-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

He made the remark on Wednesday at a session of the Fukushima Prefectural Assembly, which is investigating the accident at the plant.

Nishizawa deeply apologized for causing the serious nuclear accident, and, in particular, for mentally and physically affecting evacuees from areas around the plant.

He also stressed that TEPCO will do its utmost to bring the crisis under control and compensate those who have been affected by the accident.

Answering a question by a prefectural assembly member, Nishizawa said that TEPCO will scrap the damaged No.1 to No.4 reactors of the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

He added, however, that TEPCO will judge, based on the opinions of local municipalities, whether the remaining reactors that are less damaged will be abolished. He was referring to 2 reactors at the Daiichi plant and 4 reactors at the Fukushima Daini nuclear plant. The Daini plant is located about 10 kilometers south of the Daiichi plant.

Another prefectural member asked if the utility had taken adequate anti-quake, anti-tsunami and other safety measures in spite of predictions of a higher-than-expected tsunami.

Nishizawa says he thinks that the company had prepared for the possible damage based on various studies, but that it needs to consider such predictions more humbly. He admitted to insufficient damage prediction by his company.

Wednesday, September 07, 2011 20:56 +0900 (JST)
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Fukushima Crisis Is Still Hazy

Chaos and bureaucracy hamper assessment of nuclear crisis

By David Cyranoski, Geoff Brumfiel and Nature magazine | September 7, 2011 |



Posted Image
Schools such as this one in Fukushima City are a high priority for clean-up efforts



Tatsuhiko Kodama began his 27 July testimony to Japan's parliament with what he knew. In a firm, clear voice, he said that the Radioisotope Center of the University of Tokyo, which he heads, had detected elevated radiation levels in the days following the meltdown of three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station. But when it came to what wasn't known, he became angry. "There is no definite report from the Tokyo Electric Power Company or the government as to exactly how much radioactive material has been released from Fukushima!" he shouted.

Kodama's impassioned speech was posted on YouTube in late July and has received nearly 600,000 views, transforming him into one of Japan's most visible critics of the government. But he is not alone. Almost six months after an earthquake and tsunami triggered the meltdowns, other researchers say that crucial data for understanding the crisis are still missing, and funding snags and bureaucracy are hampering efforts to collect more. Some researchers warn that, without better coordination, clean-up efforts will be delayed, and the opportunity to measure the effects of the worst nuclear accident in decades could be lost. Kodama and a handful of Japanese scientists have become so frustrated that they are beginning grassroots campaigns to collect information and speed the clean-up.

Since the crisis began, the Tokyo Electric Power Company and the Japanese government have churned out reams of radiation measurements, but only recently has a full picture of Fukushima's fallout begun to emerge. On 30 August, the science ministry released a map showing contamination over a 100-kilometer radius around the plant. The survey of 2,200 locations shows a roughly 35-kilometer-long strip northwest of the plant where levels of caesium-137 contamination seem to exceed 1,000 kilobecquerels per square metre. (After the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine, areas with more than 1,480 kilobecquerels per square metre were permanently evacuated by the Soviet authorities. In Japan, the high-radiation strip extends beyond the original forced evacuation zone, but falls within a larger 'planned evacuation zone' that has not yet been completely cleared.)

Exposure estimates
Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency has also published new estimates of the total radiation released in the accident, based on models that combine measurements with what is known about the damage to the reactors. The latest figures, reported to the International Atomic Energy Agency in June, suggest that the total airborne release of caesium-137 amounts to 17% of the release from Chernobyl (see map). The government estimates that the total radiation released is 7.7 × 1017 becquerels, 5–6% of the total from Chernobyl.

Yet "there are still more questions than definite answers", says Gerald Kirchner, a physicist at Germany's Federal Office for Radiation Protection in Berlin. High radiation levels make it impossible to directly measure damage to the melted reactor cores. Perhaps the greatest uncertainty is exactly how much radiation was released in the first ten days after the accident, when power outages hampered measurements. Those data, combined with meteorological information, would allow scientists to model the plume and make better predictions about human exposure, Kirchner says.

Several measurements suggest that some evacuees received an unusually high dose. Five days after the crisis began, Shinji Tokonami, a radiation health expert at Hirosaki University, and his colleagues drove several hundred kilometres from Hirosaki to Fukushima City, taking radiation measurements along the way. The results indicate that evacuees from Namie, a town some 9 kilometres north of the plant, received at least 68 millisieverts of radiation as they fled, more than three times the government's annual limit (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/srep00087).
The dose is still safe, says Tokonami. Gerry Thomas, a radiation health expert at Imperial College London, adds that radiation exposures from Fukushima were far lower than those from Chernobyl. "Personally, I do not think that we will see any effects on health from the radiation, but do expect to see effects on the psychological well-being of the population," she says.

But Kodama says that residents of Namie and other towns inside the evacuation zone could have been better protected if the government had released its early models of the plume. Officials say they withheld the projections because the data on which they were based were sparse.

Hotspots
Many questions also remain about the radiation now in the environment. The terrain around Fukushima is hilly, and rainwater has washed the fallout into hotspots, says Timothy Mousseau, an ecologist at the University of South Carolina in Columbia who recently travelled to the Fukushima region to conduct environmental surveys. The plant, located on the Pacific coast, continues to spew radionuclides into the water, adds Ken Buesseler, an oceanographer from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. During a cruise in mid-July, his team picked up low-level radiation more than 600 kilometres away. Ocean currents can concentrate the fallout into hotspots something like those on land, making the effect on marine life difficult to gauge.

Gathering more data is a struggle, say researchers. Tokonami says that overstretched local officials are reluctant to let his team into the region for fear that it will increase their workload. Buesseler and Mousseau add that Japan's famed bureaucracy has made it difficult for outside researchers to carry out studies. Funding has also been a problem. To complete his cruise, Buesseler turned to the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation for a $3.5-million grant. Mousseau got a biotech company to sponsor his trip and has since found funding through the Samuel Freeman Charitable Trust.

Some Japanese scientists have grown so frustrated with the slow official response that they have teamed up with citizens to collect data and begin clean-up. Because radiation levels can vary widely over small distances, the latest government maps are too coarse for practical use by local people, says Shin Aida, a computer scientist at Toyohashi University of Technology. Aida is proposing a more detailed map-making effort through 'participatory sensing'. Using the peer-to-peer support website 311Help (http://311help.com), Aida plans to have people gather samples from their homes or farms and send them to a radiation measuring centre, where the results would be plotted on a map.

Kodama, meanwhile, is advising residents in Minamisoma, a coastal city that straddles the mandatory evacuation zone. Minamisoma has set aside ¥960 million ($12.5 million) for dealing with the nuclear fallout, and on 1 September it opened an office to coordinate the effort. "We needed to find out what's the most efficient and effective way to lower the risk," says one of the leading officials, Yoshiaki Yokota, a member of the local school board. The first job is to collect and bury soil at schools. Residents have learned to first roll the soil in a vinyl sheet lined with zeolite that will bind caesium and prevent it from seeping into the groundwater.

Farther northwest, in the city of Date, decontamination efforts are moving from schools to nearby peach farms. On 31 August, some 15 specialists started removing the top centimetre of soil at the farms with a scoop or with suction machines, trying not to damage the peach trees' roots. They hope to lower the radiation enough to produce marketable fruit next year.

After a sluggish start, the central government is launching two pilot clean-up projects for the region. One will focus on areas like Minamisoma, where radiation is less than 20 millisieverts per year on average but includes some hotspots. The other will look at 12 sites of radiation of more than 20 millisieverts per year.
Researchers are hopeful that the chaos immediately after the crisis will soon give way to a sharper picture of the fallout and its toll. The United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), which conducted many studies after the Chernobyl disaster, is working with Japanese officials to collate the stacks of data collected since the crisis began. UNSCEAR is also studying the environmental effects of the accident and the exposure of workers and evacuees, and aims to have an interim report ready by next summer.

Clean-up is the top priority, but Fukushima also offers a unique research opportunity, says Mousseau, who has worked extensively at Chernobyl. Because of Soviet secrecy, researchers missed a crucial window of opportunity in studying the Ukrainian crisis. "Japan offers us an opportunity to dig in right off the bat and really develop a profound understanding," he says.

This article is reproduced with permission from the magazine Nature. The article was first published on September 7, 2011.
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Fukushima's Reactor Cores Still Too Hot to Open

Six months after the disaster that caused three meltdowns, efforts to stabilize the Japanese nuclear power plant continue



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Work on decontaminating the Fukushima plant will continue for decades Image: TEPCO


On March 11, a magnitude-9.0 earthquake struck off the coast of Sendai in Japan, knocking out power at the nearby Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. In the hours and days that followed, three of the plant's six reactors melted down, triggering a series of explosions and fires at the site. Six months later, what progress has been made to stabilize the plant, and what is yet to be done?

What is happening at the site right now?
On any given day, 2,500-3,000 workers are on site. Many are cleaning up radioactive debris scattered by the explosions. Others are installing and operating systems to decontaminate radioactive water. Still others are erecting a shroud over the Unit 1 reactor, to prevent further contamination from the meltdown spreading to the environment. Similar covers may follow at Units 2 and 3, which also melted down (see Video).

Are the reactors stable?
Not entirely, but they are much more stable than they were six months ago. After the earthquake, the three reactors operating at the time shut down, but their uranium fuel continued to decay and release heat. The systems that keep the fuel cool in an emergency stopped working, and in the first hours after the accident the fuel became so hot that it probably melted. The melting is thought to have created a mess at the bottom of the reactors and released hydrogen gas that eventually ignited, causing explosions.

In late March, the temperature inside the Unit 1 reactor exceeded 400 °C. It has now fallen to around 90 °C, and temperatures in Units 2 and 3 are also hovering around 100 °C. The cooling water injected into the reactor cores is being heated to boiling point, so workers must continually replenish it.

Eventually — perhaps by the end of this year — the reactor cores will drop well below 100 °C and will no longer require active cooling. Only then will the reactors be considered stabilized.

What about the radiation outside the core?
Radioactive debris scattered by the explosions is the biggest hazard for workers at the plant. In some areas, the radioactive junk is hot enough to kill anyone close to it within minutes, and remote-controlled vehicles must be used to clean it up. Furthermore, radioactive water is continuing to leak from the plant. A system has been set up to decontaminate the water and inject it back into the reactor cores for cooling.

Radioactive contamination, mainly in the form of caesium-137, has spread beyond the plant and will have to be cleaned up by local authorities. Some have already begun the work (see Fukushima impact is still hazy).

What will the social impact of the crisis be?
It might be too early to say. New data suggest that there will have to be a permanent exclusion zone near the plant, just like that around the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, where there was a nuclear accident in 1986 (see Directly comparing Fukushima to Chernobyl). Political consequences are still unfolding; at the end of August, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan resigned, owing in large part to critcism of the government's handling of the nuclear crisis.

What happens now?
In the short term, workers will continue to cool the reactors and clean up as much contamination as possible. But in the longer term they will have to actually remove the uranium from the reactor cores and transport it away from the coast, where it poses a major environmental and health risk.

This will create an unprecedented challenge. The radioactive fuel inside the reactors is believed to have melted down completely, and some or all of it has probably leaked from the stainless-steel pressure vessel in which it was housed into the concrete enclosure below the reactor. The radiation will remain powerful enough to kill for decades to come, so workers will have to find a way to clean up and remove the fuel remotely.

Given the current levels of radiation near the reactors, it may be years before workers are even able to take a first look at what has happened inside.

This article is reproduced with permission from the magazine Nature. The article was first published on September 7, 2011.
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Remembering "3/11": Six Months After the Fukushima Reactor Disaster, Key Lessons Appear To Be Going Unlearned

WASHINGTON, Sept. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Trio of Experts Outline Eight Key Concerns: Ongoing Health Woes in Japan, Unaddressed Design Flaws and Inadequate U.S. Regulatory Response Seen As Troubling.

Regulatory, scientific and health experts agree: The "3/11" Fukushima reactor disaster is still ongoing six month later ... and some major lessons are in danger of going unheeded.

Sunday marks the six-month anniversary of the Fukushima nuclear reactor crisis. In anticipation of that milestone, three leading U.S. experts held a news conference today to outline both what is now known in the wake of the Fukushima and where things stand for the nuclear power industry in the United States.

The news event speakers were: Peter Bradford, former member of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, former chair of the New York and Maine utility regulatory commissions, and currently adjunct professor at Vermont Law School on "Nuclear Power and Public Policy"; Edwin Lyman, Ph.D., senior scientist, Global Security Program, Union of Concerned Scientists; and Dr. Andrew Kanter, national board president elect (2012), Physicians for Social Responsibility, and director of Medical Informatics/Health Info Services, Millennium Villages Project, Earth Institute, Columbia University.

The following eight concerns and lessons were among those outlined by the speakers:

The U.S. regulatory response since Fukushima has been inadequate. "Six months after Fukushima, it seems clear that the U.S. is not going to undertake the type of fundamental, no-holds-barred look at its nuclear regulatory practices that followed the much less serious accident at Three Mile Island some 30 years ago." - Peter Bradford

America should avoid post-9/11 mistakes in tightening reactor safety standards. "In responding to Fukushima by issuing orders, the NRC should not make the same mistakes as it did following 9/11, when industry stonewalling delayed implementation of critical security measures for many years. Even today, some post 9/11 security upgrades have not been completed at numerous plants ... The worldwide response to the Three Mile Island accident was clearly inadequate to prevent even worse events from occurring. The U.S. must respond to Fukushima in a much more comprehensive way or it may soon face an accident even worse than Fukushima." - Edwin Lyman

Overall Japanese health dangers are getting short shrift. "The last six months have shown a continued pattern of secrecy, cover-up, and minimization .... (The) news media and some so-called authorities have repeated the false information that doses under 100 mSv (millisieverts) have no health effects. All radiation doses have some effect, particularly when large populations are exposed. The Japanese government's decision to increase the maximum allowed dose for citizens of Fukushima (including children) from 1 mSv per year to 20 mSv, the equivalent of 200 chest x-rays or the maximum many countries allow for nuclear workers ... is unacceptable and remains in place despite vehement public and international pressure." -- Dr. Andrew Kanter

In particular, the impact on the health of Japanese children is being glossed over. "Children are at least three-to-four times more susceptible to radiation than are adults. There are about 350,000 children under 18 in Fukushima Prefecture. If each of these children were exposed to the 20 mSv maximum over two consecutive years, the National Academy of Sciences BEIR VII report would predict 2,500 additional cancer deaths... The upshot is that there is no safe dose of radiation and exposing non-consenting people, especially children, to these increased health risks is medically unacceptable. The Japanese government is not adequately monitoring radiation contamination of soil, food, water, and air and is not providing the parents with sufficient information to protect their children." -- Dr. Andrew Kanter

The U.S. was warned of Fukushima-style problems but failed to act ... and is still failing to do so. "U.S. reactors have some of the shortcomings of the Fukushima plants. Furthermore, citizen groups and scientists had tried to call one of these - spent fuel pool vulnerability -- to Nuclear Regulatory Commission attention during the last decade. The NRC dismissed these efforts, with one commissioner even ordering the staff to do a review designed to discredit the concerns. The NRC reviews of Fukushima to date are all well and good, but the Commission and the Congress need to face up to the deeper lessons of Fukushima as well. When mishaps occur at nuclear power plants, the NRC requires a "root cause analysis" that gets at the underlying causes as well as the immediate technical problems. Without a root cause analysis of its own failure to heed the now validated warnings about spent fuel pools, the NRC may patch the technical problems revealed by Fukushima, but it won't fix the underlying shortcomings that allow defects to persist until catastrophic events rather than regulatory vigilance force the nuclear industry and the public to face up to them." - Peter Bradford

Emergency planning zones in the U.S. must be expanded. "The NRC Task Force report got some things right but others wrong. In contrast to the Task Force conclusions, we believe that emergency planning zones should be expanded, certain hydrogen control measures should be immediately enforced and spent fuel transfer to dry casks should be accelerated. Also, the safety margins of new reactors need to be reassessed." -- Edwin Lyman

The recent East Coast earthquake should spur more NRC safety analysis. "The earthquake near the North Anna nuclear plant, which reportedly exceeded the plant's seismic design basis, reinforces the urgency of the NRC Fukushima task force's recommendation that all plants immediately be reviewed for their vulnerability to seismic and flooding hazards based on the best available information today." - Edwin Lyman

Fukushima is turning out to be much worse than Chernobyl. "Although the Chernobyl reactor explosion was devastating, scattering the majority of its nuclear core across a wide swath of Europe, the Fukushima accident involved three reactors, which underwent meltdowns (or melt-throughs) and four spent-fuel pools that suffered damage. It will take years to measure the total release of radioactive materials into the environment from Fukushima, but we already know that that the immediate releases are now estimated as being twice as high as originally admitted. Some authoritative sources, using releases of radioactive Xenon as a marker, show that the amount of Fukushima Daiichi radioactive fuel that has been damaged/released could be several times that of the Chernobyl release. Another estimate has the equivalent of 168 Hiroshima bomb's worth of Cesium have been released onto Japan." - Dr. Andrew Kanter
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Japan ends post-quake limits on electricity usage.

Japan on Friday night ended months of government-mandated electricity-saving, imposed for the first time in 37 years to battle power supply constraints amid the Fukushima nuclear crisis, Kyodo News reported.

Industry minister Yoshio Hachiro, thanking companies and citizens for their cooperation in saving electricity this summer, said he intends to avoid issuing a similar order again this winter but asked people to continue efforts to cut down on the use of electricity.

"Thanks to the great cooperation of citizens, and small and large-lot business users in saving electricity, we were able to avoid a (power) crunch," Hachiro said at a press conference.

He said the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry plans to complete its review of this summer's electricity supply-demand conditions by around October to make necessary preparations for the coming winter.

Under the government's mandatory power-saving order, issued July 1, large-lot users in the service areas of Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501.TO) and Tohoku Electric Power Co. (9506.TO) were required to reduce electricity consumption by 15% from a year earlier during peak usage hours on weekdays.

Citizens nationwide and large-lot users in other areas were also asked to save electricity voluntarily.

The power-saving efforts, together with a cooler-than-usual summer, led to a drop of more than 15% in power consumption in the two utilities' service areas, and prompted the government to lift the power-saving order earlier than scheduled.
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Japan’s nuclear priorities seen shifting
No new plants to be built, but nuclear will be part of the mix for years.. HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Japan’s new Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is setting the stage for what some analysts say is a new pragmatism towards nuclear energy in meeting the nation’s future energy needs.

Noda, who officially became prime minister last week, supports the view, as did former Prime Minister Naoto Kan, that there should be no new nuclear power plants built because of concerns over their safety in the wake of meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi plant that followed the deadly March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

He is also a follower of Kan’s policy of making any shift away from nuclear energy a gradual one that acknowledges atomic power will be the backbone of Japan’s energy needs for years to come, no matter how traumatized the nation was by this year’s nuclear accident.

“It’s quite unrealistic to downsize the nuclear power industry meaningfully,” said Credit Suisse’s economist Hiromichi Shirakawa in Tokyo, referring to the views backed by Kan and much of the public after Fukushima.

Indeed, any shift away from nuclear power would be a sharp reversal for the country which just last year set out a goal of meeting half its energy needs with atomic power.

Japan’s most recent energy plan, written before the Fukushima meltdowns, seeks to boost the share of nuclear power in the nation’s energy mix to 50% by 2020, up from its previous target for a 30% share. The targets also include lifting its energy independence ratio to 70% from 38% and doubling to 70% the amount of power raised from zero-emission sources during the same period.

Surging crude oil prices, along with the view that Japan faced growing resource competition from China and India, were major themes at the time the report was written.

But on March 31, twenty days after the earthquake and tsunami that triggered the worst nuclear accident since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, Kan called for a reconsideration of Japan’s basic approach to energy. In July he was cited as saying “Japan cannot take a risk [with nuclear power] that could destroy the Earth”, backing the view Japan should refrain from building any new reactors.

Since then, however, many Japanese leaders have moved away from such anti-nuclear statements.

“I think he is going to dial down the rhetoric of getting rid of nuclear power completely,” said Dan Slater, director of The Economist corporate network in Japan, referring to Noda’s likely stance on nuclear power-related issues. “What tends to happen in Japan is that people say the right thing but set the goals far off into the future.”
Scarce commodities

Japan, dependent upon the Middle East for about 90% of its imported oil, will have a tough task meeting energy needs without nuclear, most analysts say.

Royal Bank of Scotland analysts said this week that heightened competition for scarce resources can be expected throughout Asia in coming years. Asia will account for 45% of global GDP by 2025, excluding Japan, the RBS report said. Electricity needs in the region will rise about threefold, with Australia set to step up as the major commodity producer for the region’s growing appetite for coal, crude oil and natural gas.

If Japan does pull back from nuclear, it will likely look more to liquid natural gas, according to RBS, which forecasts the nation will be reliant on the fuel for 34% of its electricity needs by 2025, up from 27% currently
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Sea radiation '3 times higher than thought'

The Yomiuri Shimbun

The total amount of radioactive substances released into the sea as a result of the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant is believed to have been three times the initial estimate by the plant's operator, according to the Japan Atomic Energy Agency.

A team led by senior researcher Takuya Kobayashi estimated the actual quantity at 15,000 terabecquerels, including substances in polluted water and substances released into the air that eventually fell into the sea. Tera means one trillion.

The figure is more than triple the estimate by Tokyo Electric Power Co. Also, the new estimate does not include cesium-134, meaning the actual total could be even larger.

The research team will announce its findings at a conference of the Atomic Energy Society of Japan scheduled to start in Kitakyushu on Sept. 19.

TEPCO's calculation was based on the premise that polluted water containing high levels of radioactive substances was only released into the sea from April 1 to 6.

TEPCO estimated a total of 4,700 terabecquerels of radioactive substances--iodine-131, cesium-134 and cesium-137--leaked into the sea during that period.

Based on the density of radioactive materials near the nuclear plant's water-intake facility, Kobayashi's team calculated backward to the March 21 to April 30 period. Radioactive substances were first detected in the sea on March 21.

The team simulated the proliferation of the substances in the ocean based on its new estimate and confirmed that the results matched data from the sea near the nuclear plant.
(Sep. 10, 2011)
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Hachiro: Towns of death around N-plant

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yoshio Hachiro described municipalities around the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant as "towns of death," after a visit to the area Thursday.

"To my dismay, there were no people in city centers or towns and villages around the plant. They were like towns of death," Hachiro said Friday, following a Cabinet meeting.

Hachiro accompanied Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on a visit to municipalities near the plant Thursday in the no-entry zone around the nuclear power plant and met with leaders of municipalities affected by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and the subsequent nuclear crisis.

"I feel Japan's rebuilding will be impossible without the reconstruction of Fukushima [Prefecture]," he also said.
(Sep. 10, 2011)
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Post-tsunami Japan sticking with nuclear power

MATSUYAMA, Japan (AP)

Takashi Yamada would prefer life without the nearby nuclear power plant. But the 66-year-old retired electronics retailer says, "It is also true we all need it."

Host communities such as this seaside city on the island of Shikoku need the jobs and financial subsidies the plants provide. And Japan's $5.5 trillion economy needs the energy.

Many Japanese have grown uneasy with nuclear power since the March 11 tsunami, which left more than 20,000 dead or missing and sent a plant in Fukushima into meltdown. Anti-nuke protesters took to the streets, and a heated debate ensued over the future of atomic energy. A recent Associated Press-GfK poll found that 55 percent of Japanese want to reduce the number of reactors in the country.

Six months later, though, the nation seems to be sticking with nuclear power, at least for now. Unlike Germany, which accelerated plans to phase out atomic energy after Fukushima, Japan shows no signs of doing so. In recent days, utilities began newly mandated earthquake and tsunami stress tests, a first step toward restarting reactors idled for maintenance.

"What is the alternative?" asks Fumiko Nakamura, a flower arrangement teacher in Tokyo. She worries about nuclear safety in earthquake-prone Japan but says it will take time to develop other types of energy. "Japan is a resource-poor nation, and we need electricity."

The world's third-largest economy lacks other sources such as coal. An island nation, it can't easily buy electricity from neighbors, as Germany can from France. Alternative energy is expensive. And nuclear technology is the nation's pride, even a lucrative export.

Moreover, consensus-oriented Japan doesn't have an outspoken public saying "No" to nuclear power. In a society that frowns upon defiance of the government, many Japanese are reluctant to join a movement that is often discredited as eccentric, even after Fukushima. That means Japan's leaders have no real need to reject an industry that has helped fuel the country's prosperity for decades.

"The everyday hasn't changed," said Haruki Tange, a professor of policymaking at Ehime University in Matsuyama. "There is this prevailing mood that makes it really difficult to voice any opposition to nuclear power."

March 11 may yet prove to be Japan's Three Mile Island moment. No new plants have been approved in the U.S. since the 1979 disaster, and Japan has canceled two new ones already and shelved plans to increase its reliance on nuclear power from 30 to 50 percent.

But Tange's resignation underscores a widespread acceptance of the status quo in Japan, home to 54 reactors speckling the coast.

Matsuyama, a city of 500,000, sits 30 miles (50 kilometers) from Ikata, one of the world's most seismologically risky plants. The government says there is a 70 percent probability of a major quake here in the next 30 years.

In an unprecedented protest, about 100 people took to the streets in July to demand Ikata be shut down. "I always thought protests were scary," said one marcher, 22-year-old university student Miwa Ozue. "But now, I want the world to know."

Most onlookers ignored the largely jovial crowd that banged on drums and chanted slogans. Two months later, Shikoku Electric Power Co. is moving forward with stress tests on one of Ikata's three reactors, which was stopped in April for routine inspections.

Fukushima has influenced the public's thinking. Six out of 10 respondents to the AP-GfK poll said they had little or no confidence in the safety of Japan's nuclear plants. Only 5 percent were very confident.

The telephone poll by GfK Roper Public Affairs and Corporate Communications surveyed 1,000 adults across Japan between July 29 and Aug. 10. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.8 percentage points.

Roughly a third said they want to keep the number of nuclear plants about the same, while 3 percent want to eliminate them completely.

Such thinking, though, has not been translated into action.

Power shortages since the tsunami, coupled with an unusually sweltering summer, have helped business and its backers in government win the argument that Japan can't afford to shut down its reactors.

The nuclear industry also benefits from close government ties. Bureaucratic ranks are packed with former utility executives. The same ministry both promotes and regulates nuclear power. Such relationships have endured, despite revelations of past cover-ups of radiation leaks and safety violations.

In the half year since the tsunami, commuter trains have often been dark inside, dizzyingly hot and more packed than usual because of reduced schedules. Neon lights disappeared from once-glitzy urban landscapes. Messages flashed on the Internet and electronic billboards, ominously warning about electricity use versus supply.

Manufacturers scrambled to cope. For automakers, the juggling included running assembly plants over the weekend and closing Thursday and Friday to reduce peak demand. "It has been totally exhausting," said Toshiyuki Shiga, chief operating officer of Nissan Motor Co.

Like many, Yoko Fujimura heeded government calls to conserve by going without air conditioning at her Yokohama home, despite outdoor temperatures that reached 100 degrees (38 degrees Celsius).

Clearly worried about shortages, the 32-year-old waitress thinks any move away from nuclear power could take decades. "I wonder what would happen if we didn't have electricity," she said. "Our entire lifestyles would change."

Before he resigned last month, Prime Minister Naoto Kan pledged to reduce Japan's reliance on nuclear power and develop solar, wind and other sources. But he later played that down as his personal view and has since been replaced by Yoshihiko Noda, who is expected to be more willing to go along with industry-friendly bureaucrats.

"The panic is starting to calm down," says Yo(censor)o Hori, chief executive of management training company Globis Corp., who has been highly vocal about Japan's need for nuclear power.

He predicts all of Japan's reactors will eventually return to service, with the exception of Fukushima and possibly Hamaoka, a plant in central Japan that was shut down after the Fukushima crisis because of a 90 percent probability of a major quake in the area in the next 30 years.

"We want to restart them," Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Yoshio Hachiro said recently.

Host communities feel they have little choice. Relatively poor, they have come to embrace their nuclear plants, as initial doubts give way to gradual acceptance and financial dependence. Opposition becomes taboo.

Hiroshi Kainuma, a sociologist who has researched Fukushima, said residents of what he calls "nuclear villages" fear life without a plant. "Almost subconsciously, in their everyday, they have grown to support nuclear power," he said.

The persistence of such thinking worries Masakazu Tarumi, a Buddhist priest who has fought the Ikata plant for more than 20 years. He hopes foreign media coverage might help sway opinion.

"If this can't bring change, nothing will," he said of the Fukushima crisis, fingering a frayed pack of his newsletters warning of Ikata's dangers. "What has happened was worse than our worst fears."

Tange, the Ehime University professor, remains pessimistic. "We are responsible for having created this kind of society," he said with a sarcastic laugh, "a society that doesn't tolerate opposition."
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Solar power plant to open 15.5 miles from Fukushima
A Japanese children's theme park company is planning to open a major new solar power plant just 15.5 miles from the damaged Fukushima nuclear reactor.

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The new plant will be less than 16 miles from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant Photo: AFP


The new project, located on a 3.7 acre tsunami-damaged site in Minamisoma, involves the creation of a one megawatt solar power plant, according to reports in the Nikkei.

The £3.2 million plant will also open its doors and allow visiting children to experience life as a solar plant worker in a realistic setting, from conducting maintenance inspections to monitoring operations.

The project is the brainchild of Kids City Japan KK, the company behind the theme park chain KidZania, where children experience life as workers across a variety of real-life professions.

Collaborating with a non-profit organisation and a local electric machinery manufacturer, operators of the one megawatt solar power plant reportedly plan to open by October next year.

The new plant taps into an anti-nuclear sentiment which has been sweeping across Japan since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami damaged the Fukushima plant, triggering the world's worst nuclear crisis in decades.
he project will also help revive the region, which was hit hard by the earthquake and tsunami as well as the atomic crisis, with many evacuated Fukushima residents relocated to the region post March 11.
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The human guinea pig defying the Fukushima leak


The power lines that bisect the hills surrounding Nobuyoshi Ito's paddy fields lead directly to the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear plant.
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While he works, Ito does not wear a face mask or protective clothing Photo: ROBERT GILHOOLY



Destroyed six months ago by the magnitude-9 earthquake and the tsunami that it triggered, the reactors have since been leaking radiation the length of this peaceful valley.

And while virtually all his neighbours in the village of Iitate hurriedly left, Ito says he is staying.

"I'm officially registered as living in a shelter in Iino because I was supposed to have been evacuated there, but I've never stayed," says Ito with a shrug. "It's about 30km (18.6 miles) from here and I only go to collect my post because they won't deliver here any more."

He surveys the paddy fields and plastic-roofed greenhouses of the agricultural research centre that he manages; raising rice, potatoes, peanuts, beans, cucumbers, aubergine and sunflowers. It is also his home. Dragonflies criss-cross the heads of the rice crop and, as night falls, the croaking of frogs echoes off the forested hillsides. But just 20 miles to the southeast, the three damaged reactors at the nuclear plant continue to emit radiation into the atmosphere.

Iitate may be just outside the mandatory exclusion zone that the government has imposed, but the geography of this district and the prevailing winds have made the village a hot spot. Of this sprawling community's 6,200 residents before March 11, only nine have stayed.
"There are people who are opposed to nuclear power who will tell you that even a small amount of radiation is very dangerous to human health," says Ito. "There are others who say that exposure to small levels of radiation is not a dangerous thing. I'm 67 years old and they say that the impact of exposure can only be seen after 15 or 20 years … I'm prepared to become a human guinea pig."

Ito has spent much of the day cutting down foliage that is encroaching on the narrow lane that runs down the valley to his farm. While he works, he does not wear a face mask or protective clothing. Medical examinations to date have found no signs of abnormalities, he says.

The first official radiation readings for Iitate village were released on March 15, three days after the tsunami struck the reactor and two days after the first hydrogen explosion at the plant. Over the next two days, similar explosions ripped through the power station. "They took the official readings by the village hall and it was 44.7 microsieverts on the first day, but it was 89.4 here," says Ito. The Japanese government has set the safe exposure limit at 1 millisievert per year but Ito's valley is likely to surpass 20 millisieverts by the time of the first anniversary of the disaster. His monitors indicate he had surpassed the 10 millisievert level by the end of June.

"My children live in Niigata Prefecture with their families and they are always telling me to leave and go to stay with them, but I keep telling them that I want to be here because there are things that I want to do and things that I have to do," he said. "I don't agree that it is frightening," he adds. "This is the only way to find out, one way or the other."

Nearly all Ito's neighbours are less willing to take the risk. Weeds are pushing through the pavements along the village's main streets, the barber's pole has stopped revolving and the gates of the local agricultural co-operative are padlocked. The post office and village store are both tightly shuttered and while the traffic lights are still operating, there is virtually no traffic to heed them.

The only cars that come here now are local people who operate mobile patrols to deter looters and residents returning to salvage what they can.

Mieko Takahashi, 63, said: "We come back here once a week to see how things are, but we never stay long. Two or three hours, at the most.". Her husband, Masayuki, 64, used to grow vegetables and rice, but they have realised that it will be years before they will be able to harvest a crop again.

"We're very worried about the radiation and there's no way I would bring our grandchildren back here," she said. "We can't sell our crops any more and it will be the same next year. I don't know how long it will be before we can come home again because we're not being told very much."

A couple of miles away, Shigeru Kanoh is checking the doors of an abandoned farmhouse. He wears a bright orange vest and a green armband indicating he is a part of the village security patrol. "I was a farmer before March 11, but we can't do anything here now," he said.

"Two years ago, Iitate village was voted the most beautiful in all of Japan. The situation is very different now," Kanoh adds.

"This place has gone from being the most beautiful village in Japan to the filthiest in the country," he says. "It will never go back to how it was before. I don't want to think about it."
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The growing nuclear backlash post Japan earthquake
When the March 11 tsunami and earthquake knocked out the reactors at Fukushima's now notorious power plant, it triggered not only the worst nuclear crisis in decades – but also a wider-reaching nuclear backlash.

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An anti-nuclear demonstration in Tokyo Photo: AP

Since the disaster, the anti-nuclear sentiment in Japan has been growing steadily with the nation becoming increasingly vociferous in its opposition to atomic power plants.

It was in the aftermath of the 1970s oil crisis that Japan began investing heavily in nuclear power with 30 per cent of the nation's energy needs generated by nuclear energy at the time of the March 11 earthquake.

Today, however, only 11 of its 54 reactors are currently operating, with more scheduled to go off-line in the coming months to undergo scheduled maintenance testing.

As the volume of voices calling for a nuclear-free society increases, the new prime minister Yoshihiko Noda faces a tricky task balancing the energy needs of the nation with such high levels of public wariness of atomic power.

Some industry experts have voiced concern about the instability of Japan's future energy supplies and the threat of production shifting overseas if off-line reactors are not put back into action or in the absence of alternative sources.
The nuclear backlash, however, has not been confined to Japan: Germany announced this summer plans to shut down all 17 of its reactors by 2022, with eight already out of operation.

Another nation to follow the non-nuclear path in the aftermath of the Japan earthquake is Switzerland, where all five reactors will be retired when their licences expire between 2019 and 2034.

Nuclear power in the United States has also been impacted, with a number of operators including NRG Energy Inc abandoning plans to build new reactors.

But the disaster has failed to curb the nuclear industries developing at a fast rate in emerging economies such as India, China and Russia, where plans to build a high number of plants are still in place.
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Japan Desperate to Cover Up Fukushima Nuclear Disaster 9/10/11

Video Link ..... http://youtu.be/G9Wy2ACdkrQ
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Study: Fukushima released more radioactive xenon than Chernobyl — So large because there were three reactors
September 10th, 2011 at 06:09 PM

The thought was confirmed by data collected by [UT engineering professor Steven Biegalski] and PNNL researchers. Their study reports that more radioxenon was released from the Fukushima facilities than in the 1979 meltdown at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Pennsylvania and in the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the Ukraine.

Biegalski said the reason for the large release in Fukushima, when compared to the others, is that there were three nuclear reactors at the Japan facilities rather than just one.

The amount of radiation released during the Fukushima nuclear disaster was so great that the level of atmospheric radioactive aerosols in Washington state was 10,000 to 100,000 times greater than normal levels in the week following the March 11 earthquake [...]

Despite the increase, the levels were still well below the amount considered harmful to humans and they posed no health risks to residents at the time, according to researchers at The University of Texas at Austin.
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Japan marks 6 months since earthquake, tsunam

TOKYO – As the world commemorated the 10th anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks, Sunday was doubly significant for Japan. It marked six months since the massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11, a date now seared in the national consciousness.

Up and down the hard-hit northeast coast, families and communities came together to remember victims. Monks chanted. Survivors prayed. Mothers hung colorful paper cranes for their lost children.

At precisely 2:46 p.m., they stopped and observed a minute of silence. March 11 changed everything for them and their country.

The magnitude-9.0 earthquake produced the sort of devastation Japan hadn't seen since World War II. The tsunami that followed engulfed the northeast and wiped out entire towns. The waves inundated the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, triggering the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl.

Some 20,000 people are dead or missing. More than 800,000 homes were completely or partially destroyed. The disaster crippled businesses, roads and infrastructure. The Japanese Red Cross Society estimates that 400,000 people were displaced.

Half a year later, there are physical signs of progress.

Much of the debris has been cleared away or at least organized into big piles. In the port city of Kesennuma, many of the boats carried inland by the tsunami have been removed. Most evacuees have moved out of high school gyms and into temporary shelters or apartments.

The supply chain problems that led to critical parts shortages for Japan's auto and electronics makers are nearly resolved. Industrial production has almost recovered to pre-quake levels.

But beyond the surface is anxiety and frustration among survivors facing an uncertain future. They are growing increasingly impatient with a government they describe as too slow and without direction.

Masayuki Komatsu, a fisherman in Kesennuma, wants to restart his abalone farming business.

But he worries about radiation in the sea from the still-leaking Fukushima plant and isn't sure if his products will be safe enough to sell. He said officials are not providing adequate radiation information for local fisherman.

"I wonder if the government considers our horrible circumstances and the radiation concerns of people in my business," said Komatsu, who also lost his home.

Another resident, 80-year-old Takashi Sugawara, lost his sister in the tsunami and now lives in temporary housing. He wants to rebuild his home but is stuck in limbo for the time being.

"My family is not very wealthy, and I only wish that the country would decide what to do about the area as soon as possible," Sugawara said.

He might be waiting for a while. The Nikkei financial newspaper reported this week that many municipalities in the hardest-hit prefecture of Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima have yet to draft reconstruction plans.

Of the 31 cities, towns and villages severely damaged by the disaster, just four have finalized their plans, the Nikkei said. The scale of the disaster, the national government's slow response and quarrels among residents have delayed the rebuilding process.

Workers at the Fukushima nuclear plant are still struggling to meet a goal of bringing it to a cold shutdown by early next year.

"We are barely keeping the reactors under control and the situation is still difficult," Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency spokesman Yoshinori Moriyama said in Tokyo.

In Fukushima city, dozens of citizens rallied Sunday outside a government-backed international conference at which scientists agreed that the radiation danger from the nuclear plant was far less than Chernobyl. The protesters accused conference organizers of trying to underestimate the risk for children.

Citizens also demonstrated in major cities like Tokyo and Osaka, where thousands of anti-nuclear protesters demanded that the country abandon nuclear power. Activists circled the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry holding banners saying, "Nuclear power? Goodbye."

Criticism of the government's handling of the disaster and nuclear crisis led former Prime Minister Naoto Kan to resign. Former Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda took over nine days ago, becoming Japan's sixth new prime minister in five years.

He spent much of Saturday visiting Miyage and Iwate prefectures, promising more funding to speed up recovery efforts and trying to shore up confidence in his administration.

But the trip was overshadowed later in the day by his first big political embarrassment. Noda's new trade minister Yoshio Hachiro resigned, caving into intense pressure after calling the area around the nuclear plant "a town of death," a comment seen as insensitive to nuclear evacuees.

Public support for the new government started out strong, with an approval rating of 62.8 percent in a Kyodo News poll released last Saturday. Hachiro's resignation will likely translate into a drop and new doubts about Noda's ability to lead.

Regardless of politics, what's clear is that the road ahead will be long.

"Given the enormous scale of the destruction and the massive area affected, this will be a long and complex recovery and reconstruction operation," Tadateru Konoe, the Red Cross president, said in a statement. "It will take at least five years to rebuild, but healing the mental scars could take much longer."

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