Here’s the latest news from Japan.

A very large quake 6.4 hit the Northeast coast of Japan.  More controversies about contaminated beef hits.  TEPCO claims that it has restored power to the damaged spent fuel pond in unit 4.  The Hamaoka nuke is getting 18 meter seawalls.  There are still just a trickle of english stories coming out about historic details.  More on this.  I got a late start on this this last weeks news, so check back Monday afternoon once I get a chance to review more news.

Sunday July 24th, 2011

• CNIC – Nuke Info Tokyo No. 143 (July/Aug 2011)
• Asahi Shimbun – Kan cautious about extending life of Kansai Electric’s Mihama No. 2 reactor
• Daily Yomiuri – Another 626 cattle shipped from Miyagi
• Daily Yomiuri – Fukushima residents’ radiation level low
• Daily Yomiuri – 3 nations must act as 1 to get action from N. Korea
• Daily Yomiuri – Discuss renewable energy carefully, assess its impact
• Daily Yomiuri – M-6.4 earthquake jolts Tohoku; no tsunami
• Daily Yomiuri – Kan’s recklessness could harm world’s trust in Japan
• Japan Times – City tries to lessen ‘hot spot’
• Japan Times – Town holds belated memorial in nuke plant shadow
• Japan Times – 70% back Kan’s nuclear tack, ditto seek his exit
• Japan Times – Open letter to nuclear experts – Geoff Botting
• Japan Times – Powering Japan’s future – Winifred Bird
• Japan Times – Tepco should partly cover cost of irradiated beef purchases: Kaieda
• Japan Times – Genkai reactor may have faulty vessel
• Mainichi Daily News – Nuke crisis refugee fought losing 18-year legal battle against Fukushima plant
• Mainichi Daily News – Aging Genkai nuclear reactor may have faulty vessel: study
• Mainichi Daily News – Utility executives began political donations after firms ended payments
• Mainichi Daily News – U.S. used atomic power cooperation to remedy Japan’s ‘ignorance’
• Nikkei – Strong Quake Hits Northern Japan Coast
• PanOrient News – Plutonium-Removing Drug Developed In Japan
• AP Google – Strong earthquake jolts northeastern Japan
• AP Google – Villagers hold memorial in nuke plant’s shadow – Eric Talmadge
• BBC News – Fukushima residents allowed a brief visit home
• Bloomberg – Threat to Japan’s Food Chain Multiplies as Radiation Spreads

Saturday July 23rd, 2011

• Japan Today – M6.5 quake jolts northern Japan
• Mainichi Daily News – Errors in nuclear plant data highlight checking system insufficiencies
• Mainichi Daily News – Errors in Genkai plant report threaten to delay restart of nuclear reactors
• Mainichi Daily News – Contrary to power company figures, cost of nuclear power generation highest: research
• Nikkei – Tokyo Local Government To Build Thermal Power Plant
• AP Google – Utility executives big political donors in Japan
• Bloomberg – Tepco Restores Power to Cooling System for Fukushima Fuel Pool – Yuji Okada
• Reuters – Japan nuclear compensation bill could be enacted in Aug-Nikkei – Shinichi Saoshiro

Friday July 22nd, 2011

• Asahi Shimbun – Government may buy all radioactive beef
• Asahi Shimbun – Despite bombing, hibakusha saw nuclear energy as hope of the future
• Daily Yomiuri – Effects of cesium beef fiasco hit meat industry
• Denki Shimbun – Step 1 of Fukushima I crisis resolution roadmap completed
• Japan Times – Government points to lack of resiliency
• Japan Times – Tepco tries to woo Niigata leaders
• Japan Times – IAEA chief sets Monday visit to Fukushima No. 1
• Japan Times – Kansai Electric seeks approval to run four-decade-old reactor
• Japan Times – ’70s activist foresaw nuclear disaster – Keiji Hirano
• Japan Times – Q&A” Are worries over meat overblown? – Minoru Matsutani
• Japan Times – Hamaoka to get seawalls of 18 meters
• Mainichi Daily News – TEPCO head seeks local leaders’ support on Niigata nuclear plant
• Mainichi Daily News – All shelters in Fukushima Pref. to be closed at end of Oct.
• Mainichi Daily News – Gov’t to allow use of less-demanding radiation detector for beef
• Mainichi Daily News – TEPCO admitted failure to vent Fukushima No. 1 reactor in May report
• Mainichi Daily News – Japan’s nuclear reactor ‘stress test’ format officially approved
• Mainichi Daily News – Gov’t to buy up all beef containing cesium exceeding allowable levels
• Nikkei – Data Errors To Delay Stress Test Of Kyushu Reactor
• Nikkei – Kansai Elec Seeks Extended Life For 40-Year-Old Reactor
• Nikkei – 3-Way Bargain Clears Way For Tepco Aid Bill
• Nikkei – Supermarket Chief Slams ‘Slow’ Govt Response To Beef Problem
• Bloomberg – Tepco Restores Power to Cooling System for Fukushima Fuel Pool – Yuji Okada
• NEI – TEPCO Assessment: First Step in Stabilizing Fukushima Reactors Complete
• Reuters – Japan reactors ordered to check data for stress tests – Risa Maeda
• Reuters – Factbox: Japan’s looming nuclear shutdown and possible impact – Kaori Kaneko
• Reuters – Japan nuclear scare triggers run for radiation checks – Kiyoshi Takenaka
• Reuters – Table-Japan nuclear plant ops (Ohi No.4 to be shut for maintenance) – Risa Maeda and Chikako Mogi

Thursday July 21st, 2011

• Asahi Shimbun – The Column/ Hirohito Ohno: Nuclear waste disposal requires millennial planning – Hirohito Ohno
• Asahi Shimbun – Bureaucrats had early doubts about nuke fuel recycling program – Kazuo Yamagishi
• Asahi Shimbun – Nuclear Leverage: Long an advocate of nuclear energy, Nakasone now says Japan should go solar – Takuya Suzuki
• Asahi Shimbun – Government asks everyone to save on the juice
• Asahi Shimbun – Point of View/ Jitsuro Terashima: ‘Either-or’ argument won’t help energy policy
• Asahi Shimbun – Beef Scare: Cesium-laced beef reached 43 prefectures
• Daily Yomiuri – Through Otaku Eyes / The timely meaning of Yanobe’s ‘Atom Suit’ – Kanta Ishida
• Daily Yomiuri – Beef industry hit by falling sales / Concern over cesium contamination rises despite govt assurances – Minoru Akita and Tomoko Hatakeyama
• Japan Times – Kansai biz leaders issue urgent petition to restart nuclear reactors
• Japan Times – More hot spots to be named
• Japan Times – Contaminated beef may have been sent abroad
• Japan Times – Sunflower seeds sown in Fukushima hot spot to denuclearize field
• Japan Times – State to buy all radioactive beef
• Japan Today – No. of tainted cattle shipped around Japan nears 1,500
• Mainichi Daily News – Fukushima city sows sunflower seeds to decontaminate ‘hot spot’
• Mainichi Daily News – TEPCO: Cooling system operation at Fukushima plant fell to new low recently
• Nikkei – Kaieda: To Oversee Passage of Renewable Energy, Tepco Compensation Bills
• Nikkei – Japan To Buy Up All Beef Containing Cesium Exceeding Allowable Levels
• Nikkei – Japan To Start Nuclear Stress Tests As Early As This Week
• Nikkei – Kansai Business Groups Ask Govt To Reopen Nuke Plants ASAP
• Bloomberg – Japan Says Number of Cattle Fed With Radioactive Hay Has Doubled – Pavel Alpeyev
• Bloomberg – Kansai Electric to Shut Nuclear Reactor as Japan’s Power Shortage Worsens – Aaron Sheldrick and Yuji Okada
• Bloomberg – Japan Has 16,405 Megawatts of Nuclear Capacity Online: Table – Yuji Okada
• The Examiner – Sick Children and Dying Pets Accompany New Iodine Radiation In Tokyo – Alexander Higgins
• NIRS – Nuclear Crisis in Japan
• Reuters – Chubu Elec: to complete nuke plant tsunami defence by Dec 2012 – Osamu Tsukimori
• Xinhua News – TEPCO lambasted by health ministry for lax employee management

Wednesday July 20th, 2011

• Daily Yomiuri – Govt must provide accurate picture of N-restoration efforts
• Daily Yomiuri – Return of evacuees still up in the air
• Daily Yomiuri – Govt, TEPCO announce new road map on N-crisis
• Daily Yomiuri – Water decontamination key to ending N-crisis – Makoto Mitsui, Masayuki Takata and Eiji Noyori
• Daily Yomiuri – N-plant workers still labor under severe conditions
• Japan Times – Step 2 of nuclear crisis control
• Japan Times – No protest over U.S. subcritical nuke tests – Masami Ito
• Japan Times – Plugging reactors no longer stated goal for Tepco – Kazuaki Nagata
• Japan Times – Tepco seen staying vague to satisfy goals Cold shutdown high hurdle – Kazuaki Nagata
• Japan Today – Over 1,300 cattle suspected of radiation contamination shipped
• Mainichi Daily News – Agriculture Ministry under fire over contaminated rice straw
• Mainichi Daily News – Decontaminating soil, lowering radiation levels needed to lift evacuation order
• Mainichi Daily News – Kan hints at reviewing Japan’s nuclear fuel recycle policy
• Mainichi Daily News – Film on double A-bomb victim set for British debut
• Mainichi Daily News – U.S. conducted subcritical nuclear tests in Dec. and Feb.
• Mainichi Daily News – Handling of nuclear crisis must take evacuated residents into consideration
• Mainichi Daily News – Kyushu Electric president offers to resign
• Mainichi Daily News – Hitachi to retain nuclear reactor business plan: vice president
• Mainichi Daily News – Kan defends remarks about nuclear phaseout
• Mainichi Daily News – 68 countries to attend A-bomb ceremony in Hiroshima
• Mainichi Daily News – U.S. says safe to use Sendai Airport
• BBC News – Fukushima crisis: Nuclear only part of Japan’s problems
• Bloomberg – Japan Won’t Rule Out Possibility Radioactive Fukushima Beef Was Exported – Aya Takada and Yuriy Humber
• Business Week – Tepco Will Start Removing Spent Fuel From Fukushima in 3 Years – Yuji Okada and Chisaki Watanabe
• HNN Huntingtonnews – Ex Japanese Nuclear Regulator Blames Radioactive Animal Feed on “Black Rain”
• Press TV – Analyst: Japan’s nuclear industry is finished – Michael Penn
• Reuters – Over 1,000 cows fed nuclear-contaminated feed shipped in Japan – Tetsushi Kajimoto
• Stars and Stripes – Military to calculate radiation doses for those living, working in Japan following earthquake – Seth Robson
• UPI – Reactor cooling effort successful
• World Nuclear News – Fukushima emissions down

Tuesday July 19th, 2011

• Asahi Shimbun – Oi reactor stoppage could leave Kansai Electric in the dark
• Asahi Shimbun – EDITORIAL/ Seeking a society without nuclear power generation: Let consumers regain leadership in developing energy policy
• Asahi Shimbun – Fake report helped justify need for atomic energy commission – Kazuo Yamagishi
• Daily Yomiuri – Govt to ask KEPCO users to save power
• Daily Yomiuri – Early passage of bill needed for steady relief
• Japan Times – 3/11 victims face welfare cuts
• Japan Times – Brittleness factor of aging reactors key restart criterion – Jun Hongo
• Japan Times – Typhoon may spare Fukushima
• Japan Times – Tepco plans for cold shutdown by January – Kazuaki Nagata
• Japan Times – Nuclear foe who won now ‘I told you so’ hero – Stuart Biggs and Kanoko Matsuyama
• Japan Times – Beef radiation scare recalls mad cow fiasco – Jun Hongo and Mizuho Aoki
• Japan Times – Fukushima cattle under shipment ban – Masami Ito
• Japan Times – Typhoon may spare Fukushima
• Mainichi Daily News – Japan to conduct nationwide survey on use of rice straw as feed for beef cows
• Mainichi Daily News – Miyagi man who sold contaminated straw blames gov’t for scandal
• Mainichi Daily News – Asian ministers discuss South China Sea, security
• Mainichi Daily News – Japan suspends Fukushima beef shipments over radioactive feed
• Mainichi Daily News – TEPCO installs cover over No. 3 reactor’s turbine building as typhoon approaches
• Mainichi Daily News – 505 more cows found shipped after being fed tainted straw
• Mainichi Daily News – Draft accord notes Mongolia as home for spent nuclear fuel
• Nikkei – IMF: Japan Shows Signs Of Recovery From Catastrophe
• Nikkei – Tepco Shifts Focus of Nuclear Cleanup To Cutting Radiation Emissions
• PanOrient News – Greenpeace: The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Crisis is Not Under Control
• AP Google – Japan’s crippled nuclear plant reaches stability
• AFP Google – Japan bans Fukushima beef shipments over radiation – Yuka Ito
• AFP Google – Stabilising Japan nuclear crisis on schedule: PM
• BBC News – Has Japan lost its way? – Justin Webb
• BBC News – Radiation fears for Japanese beef
• BBC News – Q&A: Contaminated beef in Japan
• Bloomberg – Tepco to Start Spent Fuel Rod Removal From Fukushima Within Three Years – Yuji Okada and Chisaki Watanabe
• Bloomberg – Japan Bans Radioactive Cattle 4 Months After Nuclear Disaster – Aya Takada
• Bloomberg – Japan Should Have Nuclear Weapons: Ishihara – Brian Fowler and Sachiko Sakamaki
• Reuters – Japan to start nuclear fuel removal from Fukushima pools by 2015 – Yoko Kubota
• Reuters – Update 3-Japan halts Fukushima cattle shipments on radiation worries – Rie Ishiguro and Yuko Takeo
• Reuters – Japan set to halt beef shipments from Fukushima – Rie Ishiguro and Yuko Takeo
• Xinhua News – Japan’s plans for nuke crisis cleanup on track: PM
• Xinhua News – Japan bans Fukushima cattle shipments amid contamination fears

Monday July 18th, 2011

• New York Times blog – N.R.C. Chief Plans Quick Response to Post-Fukushima Study – Matthew L. Wald
• NRDC blog – NRC Task Force on Lessons of Fukushima Nuclear Disaster Reveals Serious Gaps in US Reactor Safety Regulation – Christopher Paine
• Japan Today – 435 cows shipped after being fed contaminated straw
• Japan Times – Japan’s incompatible power grids – Alice Gordenker
• Japan Times – All reactors off by spring — a once unthinkable scenario – Mizuho Aoki
• Japan Times – More tainted beef shipped from Fukushima farms
• Japan Times – Reactor closures crimp Kepco
• Japan Times – Powerful typhoon heading for main islands
• Japan Times – Typhoon heading for main islands
• Japan Times – Sentaku Magazine: Don’t fall ill in a nuke crisis
• Japan Times – Enough with nuclear deception
• Japan Times – German energy study offers framework for Japanese policy chaos – Jochen Legewie
• Japan Times – Beef cattle shipment ban is set to expand
• Japan Times – Heatstroke deaths quadruple as nation shuns air conditioners
• Mainichi Daily News – Japan needs more than Kan’s bravado to create truly new, viable energy policy
• Mainichi Daily News – 1st phase of work to contain nuke crisis completed on time: Hosono
• Bloomberg – Typhoon Ma-on Slows on Approach to Japan, May Miss Fukushima Nuclear Plant – Pavel Alpeyev
• Bloomberg – Tepco Works to Cover Fukushima as Storm Nears – Aaron Sheldrick and Kana Nishizawa
• Nikkei – Tepco Putting Roof Over Crippled Reactor
• Reuters – Fukushima: 554 cows fed contaminated feed shipped – Risa Maeda