The latest news from Japan. Two quakes hit the region this last week, a 6.2 and a 6.5.  The quakes got a brief note in the papers. Must be hard on people’s nerves.  Let’s just say they are lucky these are all happening offshore…  Japan’s Congress against the A&H Bomb voted to call for a dismantlement of nuclear energy.  This took awhile to hit. Stories circulating about the close ties between government regulators and the nuclear utilities has damaged its credibility.  A call to split up the regulators surfaced.  Another story said that the current government received over 100 million yen in the last 3 years from the nuke companies.  Another story told of a huge drop in tourism in the hardest hit region of the country.  More households continue to evacuate due to hot spots, while the beef industry has taken a huge hit, while five prefectures found over 1,500 tons of radioactive sludge.  Local governments that are growing to distrust the national government have started drawing up their own safety programs.  Another story now says that at least 1,600 TEPCo workers have received more than the allowable dose of radiation at Fukushima.  In another news story, Fukushima had long been listed as one of the worst facilities in the world.  Independent food testers in huge demand due to the contaminated beef scandal that reached over 2,600 head of cattle, much of which got into at least one of the major chain grocery stores in the country.  Hundred’s of children were allowed to leave the city of Fukushima due to high dose readings. The nuclear industry union continues to stand by reactors.

Sunday July 31st, 2011

• Asahi Shimbun – Nuclear regulator asked utility to push nuclear power in public forum
• Daily Yomiuri – Radioactive waste worries local governments / Officials seek guidance from central authorities on how to permanently dispose of sludge, ash – Tsukasa Kinoshita and Takayuki Ojima
• Daily Yomiuri – Government reluctant to obtain N-waste sites – Atsuki Kira
• Daily Yomiuri – Saga gov. may have sparked e-mail scandal
• Daily Yomiuri – Utility’s e-mails ‘up pressure’ / Kyushu Electric attaches file urging support for reactor restart
• Daily Yomiuri – Livestock farmers in despair – Nobuyuki Tange and Midori Satsukawa
• Japan Focus – The Truth About Nuclear Power: Japanese Nuclear Engineer Calls for Abolition – Koide Hiroaki
• Japan Times – Energy plan shakeup
• Japan Times – Iwate to join cattle ban; hundreds more suspected tainted
• Japan Times – Iwate to join cattle ban; hundreds more suspected tainted
• Mainichi Daily News – M6.5 quake hits Fukushima, no impact on nuclear plant
• AFP Google – Fukushima protesters urge end to nuclear power
• Bloomberg – Japan Has ‘Slim’ Chance of Splitting Utilities as Blackouts Loom
• RIA Novosti – Japan’s Congress Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs urges end of nuclear industry
• Washington Post – Editorial: Japan’s post-tsunami agenda
• Xinhua News – Pacific waters off Japan’s Fukushima clearly affected by nuclear crisis: China’s oceanic administration

Saturday July 30th, 2011

• All Things Nuclear – NRC Study Shows the Serious Consequences of a Fukushima- Type Accident in the US – Ed Lyman
• Daily Yomiuri – Nuclear safety agency must be split from ministry
• Daily Yomiuri – Shikoku utility also urged to sway N-meet
• Daily Yomiuri – Govt drafts path to less reliance on nuclear energy
• Daily Yomiuri – Nuclear safety agency’s reputation on rocks / Industry regulator faces credibility crisis after cozy ties with electric utility firms exposed – Satoshi Yamada, Tatsuo Nakajima and Koichi Yasuda
• Nikkei – Hundreds More Cattle Found Shipped After Being Fed Tainted Straw
• Japan Times – Timely film reiterates the ‘no nukes’ urgings of Barefoot Gen’s creator – Roger Pulvers
• Japan Times – Fukushima teacher muzzled over radiation – Takahiko Hyuga
• Mainichi Daily News – Revelations about staging illustrate collusive ties between gov’t and power companies
• Mainichi Daily News – Hokuriku Electric incurs 36.9% net profit dive amid reactor stoppage
• Mainichi Daily News – Tohoku Electric remains in red in April-June qtr on quake effects
• Mainichi Daily News – Chubu Electric expects 170 bil. yen group operating loss for FY 2011
• Mainichi Daily News – Nuclear regulator scandal may further delay restart of idled reactors
• Mainichi Daily News – Hibakusha: Radiation from Bikini Atoll fallout haunts fisherman with prostate cancer
• Mainichi Daily News – Accusations of public opinion manipulation by NISA have damaged trust
• Mainichi Daily News – Japan gov’t adopts basic policy on quake reconstruction
• Mainichi Daily News – Gov’t unit, utilities sought to manipulate symposiums on nuclear power – Chosun Ilbo
• Nikkei – 67% of Hibakusha Believe Japan Should Reduce Nuclear Power: Survey
• AP Google – Another earthquake jolts northeastern Japan
• AFP Google – Strong quake shakes Japan’s Fukushima
• New York Times – Japan Proposes Aggressive Recovery Plan – Hiroko Tabuchi
• Reuters – Update 1-Strong earthquake jolts northeast Japan, no tsunami – Michael Watson
• Mainichi Daily News – Taiwan watchdog official wants nuclear plant construction halted

Friday July 29th, 2011

• Daily Yomiuri – 120,000 tons of ‘radioactive’ waste in storage
• Daily Yomiuri – Local govts begin checks on all cattle
• Daily Yomiuri – Over 680,000 hotel bookings canceled
• Daily Yomiuri – Tea, flower growers to be compensated
• Daily Yomiuri – ‘Credibility shot to pieces’ / Latest utility scandal also sullies govt nuclear safety agency
• Japan Times – Utility says NISA sought ‘plants’ to talk up MOX bid – Kazuaki Nagata
• Japan Times – Energy policy revised to cut nuclear role – Masami Ito
• Mainichi Daily News – NISA asked Chubu Electric to stage questions in nuclear symposium
• Mainichi Daily News – Hibakusha: Memories of black rain and hoping for gov’t support
• Mainichi Daily News – Over 1,550 tons of highly radioactive sludge found in 5 prefectures
• Mainichi Daily News – Films on late double A-bomb survivor to be shown in London in Aug.
• Mainichi Daily News – Two nuke crisis compensation bills set to pass Diet don’t clarify gov’t responsibility
• Mainichi Daily News – Japan drops promotion of nuclear power from 5-year science plan
• Mainichi Daily News – Households in radioactive hotspots recommended for evacuation begin leaving
• Mainichi Daily News – Kansai Electric fears huge loss if all reactor operations stopped
• Mainichi Daily News – Hitachi JV, Polish firm link up to supply nuclear reactors to Poland
• Mainichi Daily News – Japan to send official to Turkey Sat. for nuclear plant talks
• Mainichi Daily News – Panel to identify TEPCO assets that should be sold
• Mainichi Daily News – Nagasaki mayor to call for energy policy shift in Aug. 9 ceremony
• Nikkei – IAEA To Help Japan Clean Up Contaminated Fukushima Soil: Amano
• Nikkei – Govt Unit Sought To Manipulate Symposium On Nuclear Power
• Nikkei – Japan To Seek To Scale Back Nuclear Power
• Nikkei – IAEA Chief Urges TEPCO To Ensure Information Transparency
• AFP Google – Japan PM to speak on plan to reduce nuclear power – Hiroshi Hiyama
• Bloomberg – Chubu Says Japan Regulator Sought to Sway Public on Atomic Power – Tsuyoshi Inajima and Yuji Okada
• Bloomberg – Japan Ending Nuclear Age Risks $5 Trillion Economy as Komatsu, Sharp Walk – Yuji Okada and Yuriy Humber
• New York Times – Japan Proposes Aggressive Recovery Plan – Hiroko Tabuchi
• Reuters – Update 2-Japan vows to skirt nuclear shutdown, watchdog embarassed – Shinichi Saoshiro and Yoko Kubota
• Reuters – Japan watchdog tried to plant views at nuclear forum: utility – Shinichi Saoshiro

Thursday July 28th, 2011

• Asahi Shimbun – Editorial: Create new law to deal with radioactive pollution
• Daily Yomiuri – Govt to take responsibility for N-debris
• Daily Yomiuri – Decontamination delayed / TEPCO fails to meet goal in removing radioactivity from water
• Daily Yomiuri – Govt must clarify criteria for restarting nuclear reactors
• Japan Times – Miyagi beef cattle shipments barred – Masami Ito
• Japan Times – Utility unable to unload damaged Hamaoka fuel rod for 17 years
• Japan Times – Utilities, LDP long held cozy ties
• Japan Times – Kyushu Electric board mulling head’s offer to go
• Japan Times – Ocean radiation tests may ignore threat to seafood
• Japan Times – Turmoil over beef spreads to luxury brands
• Mainichi Daily News – Researchers invent new substance for decontaminating radioactive water
• Mainichi Daily News – Tochigi begins radiation tests on beef from all farms
• Mainichi Daily News – 11 prefectures decide to test all beef cattle for radiation; expected to cost 4 billion yen
• Mainichi Daily News – Chubu Electric unable to remove damaged nuclear fuel rod for 17 years
• Mainichi Daily News – Evacuees should receive compensation in line with radiation levels in neighborhoods
• Mainichi Daily News – A-bomb survivors’ accounts to be published as English e-book
• Mainichi Daily News – Land decontamination key to enabling evacuees to go home: Hosono
• Mainichi Daily News – Mongolia expresses reservations about nuclear fuel repository plan
• Nikkei – Edano: Evacuees Outside Designated Areas Should Be Compensated
• Bloomberg – Fukushima Teacher Muzzled on Radiation Risks for School Children – Takahiko Hyuga
• Bloomberg – Chubu Electric Has Damaged Fuel Left in Decommissioned Reactor – Yuji Okada
• Bloomberg – Radiation Concern Prompts Aeon to Test Beef for Cesium Level – Kanoko Matsuyama
• Nuclear Energy Insider – Decommissioning Fukushima 1: The Rods Nobody Wants – Paul French
• Focus Taiwan News – Nuclear facilities to run out of waste storage space soon – Tsai Ho-ying and Jamie Wang

Wednesday July 27th, 2011

• Daily Yomiuri – 310 children transferred to schools outside Fukushima city
• Daily Yomiuri – Govt eyes Fukushima Pref. as R&D center
• Daily Yomiuri – Coffee shop rises from ruins, finds new grounds
• Japan Focus – US Nuclear Technology as a Cure for Japanese “Ignorance”?
• Japan Times – 1,600 workers projected over radiation limit
• Japan Times – Niigata reactors to stay offline, governor says
• Japan Times – 1,600 workers projected over radiation limit
• Japan Times – Niigata reactors to stay offline, governor says
• Mainichi Daily News – Temple priest stores residents’ radioactive dirt
• Mainichi Daily News – Turkey warns it may buy nuclear tech from another country if Japan doesn’t clarify stance
• Mainichi Daily News – Document suggests government estimated 1,600 workers exposed to radiation
• Mainichi Daily News – Santa Claus cheers up nuclear crisis evacuees in Saitama
• Mainichi Daily News – LDP must clear doubts over links with power firms: secretary general
• Mainichi Daily News – Reactors not to be restarted despite ‘stress tests’: Niigata gov.
• Mainichi Daily News – Noodle restaurant from village evacuated over Fukushima nuke crisis gets fresh start
• Mainichi Daily News – Nuclear plant workers developed cancer despite lower radiation exposure than legal limit
• Mainichi Daily News – 55 percent of local gov’ts in areas near nuke plants draw up own disaster-prevention plans
• Mainichi Daily News – Researchers confirm ground-up TV cathode-ray tubes block 99 percent of radiation
• Nikkei – Hosono: Wants Discussion Of Power Sector’s Future Composition Starting This Fall
• Nikkei – Kyushu Electric: Chairman, President To Return Full Monthly Salaries For Time Being
• Nikkei – Kyushu Elec To Restructure Assets To Generate Over Y10bln
• Bloomberg – Toshiba Bond Risk at Four-Month Low as Nuclear Concerns Ease: Japan Credit – Pavel Alpeyev and Yusuke Miyazawa
• Bloomberg – Tepco Won’t Join Project to Build Turkish Atomic Power Plant – Tsuyoshi Inajima
• Global Research – Fukushima: Minimize Exposure to Radiation, Not Information!
• Reuters – Shikoku’s Ikata No.1 reactor to enter maintenance Sept – Osamu Tsukimori
• Reuters – Q+A-How is Japan’s reconstruction plan shaping up? – Rie Ishiguro and Tetsushi Kajimoto
• UPI – Japan could lose rights on nuclear plant

Tuesday July 26th, 2011

• UN: IAEA – IAEA Chief Surveys Progress at Fukushima Accident Site
• Asahi Shimbun – Power shortages expected even 5 years ahead
• Asahi Shimbun – EDITORIAL: Process for TEPCO bankruptcy should start immediately
• Daily Yomiuri – Hazy nuclear policy hurting exports / Govt inconsistency impacts confidence abroad in dealing with Japanese firms – Hideyuki Ioka and Takeshi Kurihara
• Daily Yomiuri – Japan may lose leg up in talks on N-plant deal
• Daily Yomiuri – Japan eyes N. Korea dialogue / Govt also wants to restart abduction issue before 6-nation talks
• Daily Yomiuri – Booting Kan out proves harder than expected
• Denki Shimbun – Anti-tsunami measures formulated for suspended Hamaoka NPS reactors
• Japan Corporate News – MHI to Establish Advanced Plant Safety Department to Boost Response to Safety Measures for PWR Nuclear Power Plants
• Japan Times – Meat sector to buy tainted beef, burn it – Mizuho Aoki
• Japan Times – Second extra budget passes
• Japan Times – U.S. nukes to South Korea? – Ralph Cossa
• Japan Times – Radiation exposure over lifetime studied
• Japan Times – Nuclear evacuees get special Italy summer invite
• Mainichi Daily News – Blaming everything on Kan won’t solve nuclear issue
• Nikkei – Tepco Support Bill Passes Key Hurdle
• Nikkei – Parliamentary Committee Approves Tepco Support Bill
• AFP Google – Atomic power to grow despite Fukushima: IAEA head
• AFP Google – Japan to burn radiation-tainted beef
• BBC News – Yukiya Amano: Japan crisis will not end nuclear age
• Bellona – Japan’s food supply under threat as radiation from Fukushima Daiichi spreads – Charles Digges
• Bloomberg – Fukushima Bill Plans for Tepco, Stakeholders to Help Provide Compensation – Takashi Hirokawa
• Bloomberg – Fukushima Bill Plans for Tepco, Stakeholders to Help Provide Compensation – Takashi Hirokawa
• Bloomberg – Japan Aims to Finish Reconstruction in 10 Years – Toru Fujioka and Kyoko Shimodoi
• New York Times blog – Spent Fuel Pools as a Bright Spot in Fukushima’s Crisis – Matthew L. Wald
• Reuters – Japan sees power shortage next summer without nuclear power-media – Osamu Tsukimori
• Reuters – RPT-Update 1-Japan nuclear compensation bill passes key hurdle – Tetsushi Kajimoto and Yoko Kubota
• Reuters – Special report: Fukushima long ranked most hazardous plant – Chisa Fujioka and Kevin Krolicki
• Reuters – Japan nuclear compensation bill passes key hurdle – Kiyoshi Takenaka and Taiga Uranaka
• Reuters – IAEA chief sees more nuclear power use despite Fukushima crisis – Kiyoshi Takenaka
• Reuters – Turkey may end priority talks with Japan on nuke – Osamu Tsukimori
• Reuters – Update 1-Japan PM says early poll against public feeling-Jiji – Yoko Kubota
• Xinhua News – Japanese PM, IAEA chief pledge to work together to end nuke crisis

Monday July 25th, 2011

• Asahi Shimbun – U.S. used Hiroshima to bolster support for nuclear power – Ryuichi Kanari
• Daily Yomiuri – Radiation survey meets skepticism / Fukushima Pref. residents asked to recall diet, activities from 4 months ago – Kumiko Nakajima, Sho Funakoshi and Miki Yabuki
• Daily Yomiuri – Lifelong thyroid checks for Fukushima youth
• Japan Times – IAEA chief’s tour of stricken plant sobering; help offered
• Japan Times – More Aussie beef in pipeline amid cesium fears
• Japan Times – Radiation tester in hot demand via beef scare
• Japan Times – Kan hopes to apologize to Saga, Genkai leaders
• Japan Times – Challenge to India’s nuclear trade persists as suppliers group adds tighter guidelines – Harsh V. Pant
• Japan Today – Fukushima mobilizes 3,900 to help decontaminate ‘hot spots’
• Mainichi Daily News – M6.2 quake jolts Fukushima, Miyagi prefectures
• Mainichi Daily News – Fight over radiation dose limits highlights gov’t chaos in early days of nuke crisis
• Mainichi Daily News – Fukushima to provide lifetime thyroid tests in wake of nuclear crisis
• Mainichi Daily News – How Japan’s media sees progress on Fukushima nuclear crisis
• Mainichi Daily News – Kan hopes to apologize to mayor for confusion over Genkai reactors
• Nikkei – Govt Has Responsibility For Being Unable To Prevent Fukushima Accident: Edano
• AP Google – IAEA chief visits crippled Japan nuke plant – Mari Yamaguchi
• AFP Google – Japan passes second recovery budget
• AFP Google – IAEA chief visits Japan’s stricken nuclear plant
• AFP Google – Japan to test-drill for seabed ‘burning ice’
• Bloomberg – Japan’s Food-Chain Threat Multiplies as Fukushima Radiation Spreads – Aya Takada
• Bloomberg – Japan to Buy Australian Beef on Nuclear Radiation Concern, AACo Says – Phoebe Sedgman
• Bloomberg – Aeon Says Suspected Radioactive Beef Sold in 174 Supermarkets Across Japan – Gearoid Reidy
• Bloomberg – Japan Has 14,355 Megawatts of Nuclear Capacity Online: Table – Yuji Okada
• The Independent – A young man sacrificing his future to shut down Fukushima – David McNeill
• Nuclear Engineering – Chubu reveals Hamaoka’s flooding protection plan
• Reuters – Analysis: Sticking with nuclear could be costlier Japan option – Linda Sieg
• Reuters – U.N. atomic watchdog head lauds Fukushima cleanup – Yoko Kubota
• World Nuclear News – Nuclear stress tests begin for Japan
• Xinhua News – Japan enacts 2nd extra reconstruction budget