via Goddard’s Journal / Published March 11, 2016: Response to: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35… Expanded upon here: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35… Dose-rate conversion: http://www.translatorscafe.com/cafe/E… ” 2.8 microsievert/hour = 24.5448 millisievert/year ” Study cited @ 1:40 re regional natural background dose rate of 0.05 uSv/y Malins et al (2016). Evaluation of ambient dose equivalent rates influenced by vertical and horizontal distribution of radioactive cesium in soil in Fukushima Prefecture. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity 151 (2016) 38e49 http://pubmed.gov/26408835 … Continue reading →
Continue readingTag Archives: nuclear industry
via SputnikNews.com / February 11, 2016 / Over 70 percent of the Japanese are in favor of completely or partially abandoning the use of nuclear power plants (NPP) in the country after the Fukushima disaster, a poll revealed Thursday. According to Japan’s NHK broadcaster that conducted the survey, 22 percent of respondents want the country to abandon nuclear power plants in the country entirely, while 49 percent partially supported the idea.The poll revealed that … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia The Japan Times / February 15, 2016 / The Nuclear Regulation Authority and Tokyo Electric Power Co. have broadly agreed to start operating the frozen underground wall at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant in stages. The agreement, reached Monday, is on the frozen underground wall that officials hope will surround the buildings housing reactors 1 through 4 and reduce the amount of groundwater flowing into the facilities. The … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia EyeWitness News / September 23, 2015 / A Japanese nuclear expert says close to 85 percent of the Japanese population do not trust the use of nuclear energy after the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Dr Tatsujiro Suzuki says the public’s mistrust largely stems from the widely held belief that the government has not been transparent about its nuclear policies. In his lecture on nuclear energy policies at the University of … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Zero Hedge / June 9th, 2015 / In a stunning report by The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Director General Yukiya Amano fingers Japanese over-confidence and complacency among the main reasons why the country was unprepared to the Fukushima Daiichi disaster of 2011. As Sputnik News reports, Amano exclaimed “there was a widespread belief in Japan that Japanese nuclear power plants are very safe and there would never be … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia news.yahoo.com / June 1, 2015 / Japan’s Kyushu Electric Power said on Tuesday it has delayed the restart of its Sendai nuclear plant in southwestern Japan, the first to be brought back into service under new rules introduced after the 2011 Fukushima disaster. The delay to mid-August from the previous target of late July follows a warning by Japan’s nuclear regulator in April that the utility’s schedule for a … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia tcetoday.com / May 29, 2015 / The Sendai nuclear power plant (pictured) has been given final regulatory approval to restart its reactors and moved one step closer to being the first in Japan to come online since the 2011 Fukushima disaster. Plant operator Kyushu Electric Power Company first made its application to the Japanese Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) in mid-2013. It has finally gained the regulator’s third and final … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Reuters / May 20, 2015 / Japan’s nuclear regulator signed off on the basic safety of a reactor at a third nuclear plant on Wednesday, as the country inches toward rebooting its atomic industry more than four years after the 2011 Fukushima disaster. The decision will be a boost for operator Shikoku Electric Power Co, which relied on its sole Ikata nuclear power station (pictured) in southwestern Japan for … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Enformable.com / May 19, 2015 / Tokyo Electric Power Company has not used any uranium to produce electricity since the March 11th, 2011 nuclear disaster. None of the reactors owned by TEPCO have been restarted and remain offline. The utility has been struggling to stay ahead of the mounting financial problems as it has to decommission the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and pay compensation for damages without generating … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Fairewinds.org / May 7, 2015 / In April of 2015, Fairewinds’ Chief Engineer, Arnie Gundersen and the Fairewinds crew headed to Quebec City for the World Uranium Symposium. Attended by more than 300 delegates from 20 countries that produce uranium for nuclear power and weapons, the symposium brought together experts who are calling on governments throughout the world to end all uranium mining. In this speech about the Fukushima … Continue reading →
Continue readingMarch 24, 2015 / by Mari Yamaguchi / AP / Japanese government auditors say the operator of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant has wasted more than a third of the 190 billion yen ($1.6 billion) in taxpayer money allocated for cleaning up the plant after it was destroyed by a March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. A Board of Audit report describes various expensive machines and untested measures that ended in … Continue reading →
Continue readingfrom japan-focus.org / December 26, 2011 / By Nishioka Nobuyuki I: Fukushima and Okinawa At midnight on April 22, 2011, the Japanese government designated the zone within a 20-kilometer radius of the Fukushima nuclear power plant a controlled area under the Basic Law for Disaster Countermeasures. As a result, all entry into the zone was prohibited without special government permission. Some 78,000 people were separated from their homes, without knowing … Continue reading →
Continue readingBy Scott Dunn / thedigitalfirehouse.fr / January 8, 2015 / When most people think of nuclear power, they think of thousands of barrels of waste that no one can touch or do anything about. They look for ways to keep the waste out of their backyards. They think of crusty old domes near their homes or freeways that could go off any day now. As mentioned before in several articles … Continue reading →
Continue readingBy Masakazu Honda / Asahi Shimbun / December 2, 2014 /A British scientist who studied the health effects of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster panned a United Nations report that virtually dismissed the possibility of higher cancer rates caused by the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis. Keith Baverstock (pictured), 73, made the comments during a visit to Tokyo at the invitation of a citizens group related to the Fukushima disaster. In response … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Asahi Shimbun / November 3, 2014 / The main components of the government’s nuclear fuel recycling project have all been sidelined. But the program was already in a state of collapse even before the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster led to a shift in Japan’s energy policy. After the meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, the Democratic Party of Japan-led government considered reviewing the recycling program. However, … Continue reading →
Continue readingBy Dave Sweeney / New Matilda / August 29, 2014 / In March 2011 people all around the world held our breath as the Fukushima nuclear disaster played out on our screens. Later as the headlines, albeit not the radiation levels faded, it was confirmed that Australian uranium directly fuelled Fukushima. Rocks dug in Kakadu and northern South Australia were the source of the radioactive fallout threatening Japan and well … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia The Corbett Report / August 3rd, 2014 / James Corbett is joined by Gary Kohls, MD–a retired physician and regular contributor to the Duluth Reader–to discuss his recent column, “The Hiroshima Myth and the Glorification of American Militarism.” We expose the myths surrounding the supposed necessity of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of WWII and outline the real reasons that the nuclear annihilation of these … Continue reading →
Continue readingby Jason Bartashius / Japan Times / July 30, 2014 / Over the past three years, the atomic bombing anniversaries in August have increasingly become a time to ask new questions. How did the only country to experience nuclear bombings come to embrace nuclear power, a decision that ultimately led to the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 plant? Does Japan have the capability or political will to create … Continue reading →
Continue readingby Jeff Kingston / Japan Times / June 28, 2014 /Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s (pictured) nuclear renaissance involves downplaying risks, restarting reactors, building new ones, and exporting reactor technology and equipment. A number of hurdles remain before he can rev up the reactors, but the summer of 2014 will probably be Japan’s last nuclear-free one for decades to come. On April 11, 2014, Abe’s Cabinet approved a new national energy … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Channel News Asia / May 28, 2014 / Japan’s government has announced it will replace two of its five members on the Nuclear Regulation Authority which determines if a nuclear plant is ready for a restart. Speculation is rising that the government is removing the seismic expert responsible for actually beefing up the requirements for nuclear plants. The Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) is eager to spread the message … Continue reading →
Continue readingfrom Vice News / May 12, 2014 / In 2012, more than 15,000 people living near the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant filed a criminal complaint at the Fukushima prosecutors’ office. They alleged that Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) and the Japanese central government were criminally negligent for the March 2011 Fukushima meltdown and the way in which the resulting cleanup was handled. The Fukushima police, however, declined to investigate. … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Wall Street Journal / May 6, 2014 / Three years after the meltdown at Fukushima, the future of nuclear energy in East Asia is coming into view. Voters everywhere remain jittery about safety, but Japan and South Korea continue to invest in new capacity. The exception is Taiwan, which may soon exacerbate its own economic and strategic vulnerabilities by abandoning domestic nuclear-power production. Large street protests and a hunger … Continue reading →
Continue readingfrom The Corbett Report: The Japanese Nuclear Regulatory Agency is currently considering applications from 8 different utilities companies to restart 17 of the nation’s 54 nuclear reactors, which have been taken offline in the wake of the Fukushima crisis. Today we talk to Aileen Mioko Smith of Green Action Japan about the anti-nuclear movement in Japan and their efforts to stop the reactor restarts from happening.
Continue readingvia Enformable.com / April 7, 2014 / A paper published by the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum focuses on why Fukushima Daiichi experienced a severe accident and other nuclear power facilities like Fukushima Daiini, Onagawa, and Tokai nuclear power plants were not as severely affected by the earthquake and tsunami. One of the findings was that the earthquake damaged all seven of the offsite power systems providing external power to the … Continue reading →
Continue readingBy Andrew DeWit / Asia-Pacific Journal / April 7, 2014 / 60% of Japan’s 48 viable nuclear reactors, are not as yet being considered for application to the Nuclear Regulation Agency (NRA) for restart. All of Japan’s 48 viable nuclear reactors are at present offline, and have been since September of 2013. The Abe cabinet is keen to restart as many of these as possible. But regulatory rules, public opinion … Continue reading →
Continue readingKyle Cleveland Temple University Japan Abstract The nuclear disaster in Fukushima which followed in the wake of the 3/11 Tohoku earthquake and Tsunami has been one of the most significant public health crises in modern history, with profound implications for how nuclear energy is perceived. This paper analyzes the nature of risk assessment in the nuclear crisis, examining how the Japanese government and its constituent institutions in the nuclear industry, foreign governments … Continue reading →
Continue readingBy David McNeil / NY Times / In the chaotic, fearful weeks after the Fukushima nuclear crisis began, in March 2011, researchers struggled to measure the radioactive fallout unleashed on the public. Michio Aoyama’s initial findings were more startling than most. As a senior scientist at the Japanese government’s Meteorological Research Institute, he said levels of radioactive cesium 137 in the surface water of the Pacific Ocean could be 10,000 … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia RT.com / March 10, 2014 / Emails obtained by journalists at NBC News reveal that officials at the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission — the government agency that oversees reactor safety and security — purposely misled the media after the Fukushima, Japan disaster in 2011. On Monday this week — one day shy of the third anniversary of the Fukushima meltdown — NBC published emails obtained through a Freedom … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Channel News Asia / March 9, 2014 / Tens of thousands of citizens turned out for an anti-nuclear rally in Tokyo on Sunday, as the nation prepares to mark the third anniversary of the Fukushima disaster. Demonstrators congregated at Hibiya Park, close to central government buildings, before marching around the national parliament. They gathered to voice their anger at the nuclear industry and the government of Prime Minister Shinzo … Continue reading →
Continue readingby Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry / via theweek.com / March 5, 2014 / Energy is arguably the single most important strategic issue of our time. It literally powers everything we do. The world economy see-saws to the gyrations of oil prices. Most of our geopolitical squabbles are about energy in one way or another. And, of course, above all hovers the “threatening Armageddon of global climate change”. [emphasis added] But when it … Continue reading →
Continue readingby Mari Yamaguchi / via JapanToday / February 26, 2014 / Japan unveiled its first draft energy policy since the Fukushima meltdowns three years ago, saying nuclear power remains an important source of electricity for the country. The draft presented Tuesday to the cabinet for approval expected in March, said Japan’s nuclear energy dependency will be reduced as much as possible, but that reactors meeting new safety standards set after … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Japan Times / February 21, 2014 / Foreign activists urged Tokyo on Friday to give up its policy of exporting nuclear technology as the impact of the meltdown crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant continues to ripple through Japan and other countries even after three years. “My humble request to the Japanese and the Japanese government is please don’t dump this destructive technology on people who love … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Enformable.com / February 19, 2014 / The controversy in Japan swirling around the topic of restarting idled nuclear reactors is showing no signs of simmering down; instead uncertainty and frustration appear to be increasing. In July, 2013, the Nuclear Regulation Authority began processing restart applications for ten reactors from eight utilities under tougher post-Fukushima guidelines. At that time the process was only expected to take six months, but has … Continue reading →
Continue readingby Miya Tanaka / via Japan Times / February 10, 2014 / The defeat of two anti-nuclear candidates, including former Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa, in Sunday’s Tokyo gubernatorial election has given the central government a boost of confidence as it prepares to move forward with an energy policy supporting the use of atomic power. “We plan to compile a feasible and balanced Basic Energy Plan (for medium- to long-term energy … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Asahi Shimbun / February 10, 2014 / Hundreds of technicians and engineers are camped out in Tokyo hotels trying to revive Japan’s nuclear industry, shut down in the wake of the Fukushima disaster almost three years ago. It’s proving a hard slog. A new, more independent regulator is in place, asking difficult questions and seeking to impose tougher safety rules on powerful utilities that were largely their own masters … Continue reading →
Continue readingby Masaaki Kameda / via The Japan Times / February 2, 2014 / Whether the powers that be liked it or not, nuclear power took center stage in a debate involving four major candidates for the Tokyo gubernatorial election that was streamed live on the Internet Saturday. Three of the candidates came out firmly against atomic power. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration has done its best to keep the issue … Continue reading →
Continue readingby Jacob Devaney / via Huffington Post / January 31, 2014 / Panic is rarely ever a good idea because it closes down the brain with fear, can cripple creative responses, and generally causes people to not think straight. Denial is worse. Like it or not, nuclear power is everywhere. Some consider it worse than Satan, others think it’s the only logical solution to address our dependence on fossil fuels … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia World Nuclear News / January 27, 2014 / Costly fossil fuel imports have helped push Japan into a trade deficit for a third consecutive year as the country’s nuclear plants remain off line. Preliminary 2013 figures released by Japan’s Ministry of Finance reveal a deficit of JPY 11.5 trillion ($112 billion), up 65% on 2012′s deficit of 6.9 trillion ($67.5 billion). A major contributing factor has been the cost … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Channel News Asia / January 23, 2014 / Japanese researchers said on Thursday they had succeeded in using cosmic rays to find nuclear fuel inside a reactor, a technology that might be helpful in the complicated decommissioning at Fukushima. By observing the way the particles behaved near reactors, container vessels and spent fuel pools, they were able to obtain a clear visual picture of the fuel, they said. “We … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia pddnet.com / January 22, 2014 / The Nuclear Regulation Authority on Wednesday confirmed that one of the aging reactors at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Daini plant can remain offline safely for another 10 years, after assessing the deterioration level of related equipment and the impact of the March 2011 natural disasters. The Fukushima Daini plant (pictured) is located about 12 kilometers south of the Fukushima Daiichi plant, which … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Boiling Frogs Post / Febuary 28, 2012 / During the nuclear catastrophe at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan’s northeast last March, the world watched in horror as conditions in the plant deteriorated by the day. Despite public reassurances that the situation was under control, we now know that three of the plant’s reactors actually began meltdown within hours and that plans were being made at the … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Asia One / January 15, 2014 / Japan’s government on Wednesday approved a fresh business plan for the operator of the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant that includes restarting idled reactors elsewhere in the currently nuclear-free country. Industry minister Toshimitsu Motegi gave the green light to Tokyo Electric Power’s plan, which involves pursuing the resumption of some operations at the huge Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power station (pictured) in northern Niigata prefecture. … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Asia-Pacific Perspective / January 4, 2013 / The Japanese government plans to revise a basic policy for disposing of nuclear waste so that it can play a more active role in selecting disposal sites. The industry ministry said starting early this year it will act on proposals submitted in November by a panel of experts, Japanese (NHK World) website reported. The government plans to store highly-radioactive waste from nuclear … Continue reading →
Continue readingBy Matthew Winkler and Yuriy Humber / Bloomberg / December 10, 2013 / The global atomic power industry needs to share cross-border information to prevent nuclear accidents, replicating the transparency of international air-traffic control, said the head of the investigation into Japan’s Fukushima disaster. Nuclear plant operators and regulators need an international common language and standard for investigating and preventing disasters, Kiyoshi Kurokawa, who headed the Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Japan Today / November 5, 2013 / Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has defended his about-face on nuclear power. Speaking in Yokohama on Monday, Koizumi shrugged off criticism that he had changed his stance on the issue of Japan’s reliance on nuclear power. The furor started on Oct 20 when Koizumi—who has retired from politics—gave a speech in Chiba Prefecture, in which he said that Japan should rid itself … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia The Japan News / October 3, 2013 / Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Japan should abandon nuclear power. “I’m calling for zero nuclear power,” he said in a speech in Nagoya. The 2011 earthquake and tsunami, which triggered a nuclear crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1 plant, should be taken as an opportunity to build a resource-recycling society without nuclear power, he said on Tuesday. … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Independent Web Journal / Sep 24, 2013 / The radioactive discharge problem at Tepco’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is bringing worldwide attention to Japan’s ability to deal with the continuing crisis at Fukushima. PRESS CONFERENCE 9/24 Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan: Gregory Jaczko, Former Chairman, US Nuclear Regulatory Commission Torgen Johnson, Citizens’ Representative, San Diego Forum Tetsuro Tsutsui, Member Nuclear Regulation Sub-committee, Citizens’ Commission on Nuclear Energy (CCNE) … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Huffington Post / Sep 20, 2013 / Charles B. Perrow is an emeritus professor of sociology at Yale University and visiting professor at Stanford University. Recent disclosures of tons of radioactive water from the damaged Fukushima reactors spilling into the ocean are just the latest evidence of the continuing incompetence of the Japanese utility, TEPCO. The announcement that the Japanese government will step in is also not reassuring since … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Press TV / Sep 15, 2013 / Japan is to start the process of switching off its last working nuclear reactor with no firm date set for the potential restart of the reactor. Kansai Electric Power will gradually take offline the No. 4 reactor at its Oi nuclear plant (pictured) in Fukui prefecture in western Japan for routine safety inspections. The move will leave the world’s third largest economy … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia RT.com / Aug. 17, 2013 / TEPCO has sought the expertise of the same US company that produced plutonium for the atom bomb dropped on Nagasaki in World War II. Hanford Engineer Works produced the 20 pounds of plutonium used for the atomic bomb “Fat Man” which was unleashed on the Japanese city of Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. The company has had decades of experience treating millions of … Continue reading →
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