via 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 →
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Hydrogen explosion at Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3 in mid-March 2011, which turned the reactor building into rubble and deposited 50 tons of debris into the high-level radioactive waste storage poolAs the fourth year of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear catast…
Continue readingThe EPA is considering revising its limits for radiation releases and doses to the public from normal operation of nuclear power and other uranium facilities. In the Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR), EPA makes clear that it is not proposi…
Continue readingAs the Fukushima nuclear disaster deepens three years later into a planet-wide emergency, with massive continuous daily radioactive emissions into the air, ocean and biosphere, a new documentary from award-winning filmmakers counters nuclear industry l…
Continue readingby Yumiko Sato / Huffington Post / March 5, 2014 / As the third year anniversary of The Great Tohoku Earthquake approaches on March 11, what does Fukushima mean to us, Japanese? The answer depends on who you ask: For many, it is a constant reminder of the nuclear power plant accident, the reason to protest against the danger of nuclear power, a place where their donations and prayers are … Continue reading →
Continue readingBy Mary-Ann Russon / via IBTimes.co.uk / March 4, 2014 / University of Tokyo scientists have built the world’s first whole body scanner capable of accurately measuring internal radiation exposure in babies and children living in the Fukushima Prefecture. The aim is to ease the worries of concerned parents. BABYSCAN (pictured) is a whole body scanner specially designed so that children can lie down and play or read a book … Continue reading →
Continue readingRead the full press release here.
Some excerpts:
“Few lessons from Fukushima have been learned in the U.S. One of the most important should be that high density U.S. pools are emptied into hardened on-site storage as soon as possible, before the …
by 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 Lucas W Hixson / via Enformable.com / March 4, 2014 / In the three years since the start of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster there has been a plethora of drastic changes made to the landscape of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant including; new processing facilities for radioactive water, a farm of storage tanks for contaminated water, new cooling systems, a new carpet of thick steel sheets for … Continue reading →
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As reported by The Milan News-Leader, the City of Milan in Southeast MI has joined dozens of other municipalities in Ontario, Michigan, Ohio, and beyond in passing a resolution opposed to the DUD (Deep Underground Dump) for so-called “low” and “…
Entergy’s Palisades atomic reactor, and the Great Lake and surrounding region it puts at riskThe Kalamazoo Gazette has reported that a hunk of extraneous metal has become wedged in the reactor at Entergy’s Palisades on the Lake Michigan shore in s.w. M…
Continue readingPalisades, Lake Michigan, and the region at riskBeyond Nuclear has joined with long-time watchdogs on the government-nuclear industry complex in Michigan, including Don’t Waste MI and MSEF, to decry a proposed bill before the State House of Representat…
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Karl Grossman, reknowned author and educator on the inherent hazards of nuclear technology, brings us up to date on the ongoing catastrophe of Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident which began on March 11, 2011.
by 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 readingJapan Times / March 1, 2014 / Hundreds rallied Saturday in Tokyo to protest a decision by prosecutors to drop charges over the Fukushima nuclear meltdowns, meaning no one has been indicted, let alone punished, nearly three years after a calamity ruled “man-made.” Official records do not list anyone as having died as a direct result of radioactive fallout after tsunami unleashed by the 9.0-magnitude quake of March 11, 2011, … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia PBS.com / February 28, 2014 / The site of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan remains a post-apocalyptic landscape of abandoned towns, frozen in time. Science correspondent Miles O’Brien got a rare tour inside the plant, where three nuclear reactors melted down after the earthquake and tsunami in 2011, to learn more about the long-term solutions for stemming the radioactive contamination.
Continue readingvia CBC.ca / February 26, 2014 / People along the British Columbia coast are being asked to step in where governments in Canada and the U.S. have not — to measure radiation from Japan’s crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in B.C.’s ocean waters. Scientists from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Woods Hole, Mass., are calling on the public to collect data from B.C.’s oceans for a crowd-funded research project. The website … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Enformable.com / February 27, 2014 / After nearly four years of requests from the United States and recent protests from China, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga confirmed on Wednesday that Japan will return its stockpile of highly concentrated plutonium that was purchased during the 1960s and 1970s from the United States and the United Kingdom. Japan has told the United States that it will return the weapons-grade plutonium if … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Enformable.com / February 25, 2014 / This week NUMO submitted a proposal to a government-commissioned panel of experts which proposed new methods for choosing locations for burying radioactive nuclear waste. The government panel of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry is comprised of experts in seismology, volcanoes, and groundwater who have been discussing the methods of selecting sites which will host an underground nuclear waste repository. The panel … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Daily Kos / February 26, 2014 / The Asahi Shimbun reported Tuesday that the mud in 468 reservoirs outside of the Fukushima evacuation zone contain levels of cesium high enough to be designated waste that must be removed. The mud in the Myotoishi reservoir, 55 kilometers west of the stricken Fukushima plant, had a cesium level of 370,000 becquerels per kilogram, a level the newspaper described as “mind boggling”. … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia spectrum.ieeee.org / February 28, 2014 / A radiation-proof superhero could make sense of Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in an afternoon. Our champion would pick through the rubble to reactor 1, slosh through the pooled water inside the building, lift the massive steel dome of the protective containment vessel, and peek into the pressure vessel that holds the nuclear fuel. A dive to the bottom would reveal the … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia NPR.org / February 27, 2014 / TRANSCRIPT: It has been nearly three years since a massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan killed nearly 20,000 people. Another victim: the Fukushima nuclear power plant. There was a meltdown at three reactors there. Cleaning up and shutting down that plant involves huge challenges and risks that are expected to last for decades. NPR’s Anthony Kuhn recently went inside one of the damaged … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia RT.com / February 28, 2014 / The radioactive water clean-up system at the stricken Fukushima plant was hit by another issue as its alarm went off. The warning alerted that one of the two clean-up pumps had stopped functioning. After the alarm, a pump for sending tainted water into equipment where radioactive materials are absorbed stopped working, the facility’s operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said. The damaged line … Continue reading →
Continue readingA nuclear accident has occurred at the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Waste Isolation Pilot Plant deep underground near Carlsbad, New Mexico. The WIPP site stores nuclear waste, principally plutonium-239, plutonium-240 and americium-241 contaminate…
Continue readingvia NHK World / February 26, 2014 / The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has opened the central control room for the facility’s No.1 and 2 reactors to media for the first time since the 2011 accident. Tokyo Electric Power Company organized the visit on Wednesday ahead of the 3rd anniversary of the March 11th earthquake and tsunami that cut off power and crippled the plant. The room … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia natureworldnews.com / February 25, 2014 / Three news items released Tuesday regarding the public health effects of radiation in the atmosphere as a result of the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear incident do little to lessen confusion surrounding the issue, but all point to intense radiation monitoring efforts happening on both sides of the Pacific Ocean. A meeting of the American Geophysical Union’s Ocean Science section revealed Tuesday that low … Continue reading →
Continue readingKouji H. Haradaa, Tamon Niisoeb, Mie Imanakac, Tomoyuki Takahashid, Katsumi Amakoe, Yukiko Fujiia, Masatoshi Kanameishia, Kenji Ohsef, Yasumichi Nakaif, Tamami Nishikawaf, Yuuichi Saitof, Hiroko Sakamotog, Keiko Ueyamah, Kumiko Hisakii, Eiji Oharai, Tokiko Inouej, Kanako Yamamotok, Yukiyo Matsuokal, Hitomi Ohatae, Kazue Toshimam, Ayumi Okadan, Hitomi Satoo, Toyomi Kuwamorip, Hiroko Tanip, Reiko Suzukiq, Mai Kashikuraq, Michiko Nezur, Yoko Miyachis, Fusako Arait, Masanori Kuwamoriu, Sumiko Haradav, Akira Ohmoriv, Hirohiko Ishikawab, and Akio Koizumia,1 … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia CNN / February 24, 2014 / The safety measures imposed after the 2011 meltdowns at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant appear to have averted widespread health risks to the surrounding population, Japanese scientists say. People who live on the outskirts of the evacuation zone surrounding the plant received only slightly more radiation than normal background doses in the year following the world’s second-worst nuclear accident, researchers at Kyoto … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Enformable.com / February 24, 2014 / Last week officials from the Tokyo Electric Power Company announced that extremely radioactive water had leaked from a storage tank at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. According to the utility over 100 tons of water containing 240,000,000 becquerels per liter of beta-ray emitting substances leaked out of the storage tanks over a period of nine hours before the leak was discovered. The … 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 readingThe International Workshop on Radiation and Thyroid Cancer in Tokyo, February 21-23, 2014 The workshop is ongoing, co-hosted by the Ministry of the Environment, Fukushima Medical University, and the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency. Presenters include expert researchers from around the world, including Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, in radiological research and thyroid cancer research. The link to the English program: http://www.nsra.or.jp/safe/crpph2014/program-e.pdf The link to the Japanese program: http://www.nsra.or.jp/safe/crpph2014/program-j.pdf Live webcast in … Continue reading →
Continue readingUnbowed and unrepentant, Sister Megan Rice, Greg Boertije-Obed and Michael Walli of the “Transform Now Plowshares” were sentenced on February 18, 2014 by U.S. District Court Judge Amul Thaper. They are to serve 3 to 5 years in federal priso…
Continue readingEnvironmental coalition attorney Diane CurranA Petition for Rulemaking was filed on Feb. 18th by Washington, D.C.-based attorney, Diane Curran (photo, left), as well as Mindy Goldstein of the Emory U. Turner Environmental Law Clinic, to the U.S. Nuclea…
Continue readingNRC file photo of NRC inspector visually examining severe cracking in Davis-Besse’s Shield Building wall in Oct., 2011.FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC) ran its Davis-Besse atomic reactor to the breaking point in 2002. The Hole-in-the-Head …
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 readingvia NHK World / The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant says there is just one working thermometer monitoring the temperature of melted nuclear fuel in the plant’s No.2 reactor. Officials of Tokyo Electric Power Company say they have discovered a fault in one of the 2 thermometers used to monitor the lower part of the reactor’s container vessel. They say the problem was found this week after … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia NHK World / The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant says water containing extremely high levels of radioactive substances has leaked from a storage tank. Tokyo Electric Power Company officials said the leak was found on Wednesday night in one of the many tanks being stored on the mountain side of the reactor buildings. They say the leaked water contained 230-million becquerels per liter of beta-ray emitting … Continue reading →
Continue readingAerial image of Plant Vogtle Nuclear Generating Station – photo credit to High Flyer. The photo shows the operating Units 1 and 2, as well as the construction site for proposed new Units 3 and 4.U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz has announced th…
Continue readingvia Yomiuri Shimbun / It will be difficult for Tokyo Electric Power Co. to reach the target for completing the purification of water contaminated with radioactive substances in storage tanks at its crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in fiscal 2014, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned. According to TEPCO’s estimates, 1,960 tons of contaminated water per day must be processed from October to purify about 350,000 tons of polluted … Continue reading →
Continue readingby Shannon Tiezzi / via The Diplomat / According to the Japan Times, both Japanese and U.S. government sources have confirmed that the Obama administration wants Japan to return over 300 kg of plutonium that was given to Japan “for research purposes” during the Cold War. It’s estimated that the plutonium could be used to make between 40 and 50 nuclear weapons. The plutonium is currently kept at the Japan Atomic … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia NHK World / February 16, 2014 / The operator of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant says officials have found water leaks at 7 locations in a barrier that surrounds tanks holding contaminated water. Tokyo Electric Power Company officials said they confirmed on Sunday that water had leaked from the barrier near the Number 4 reactor. It’s one of 30 barriers in the compound. The officials said the amount … Continue reading →
Continue readingby Diane Barnes / NTI.org / February 14, 2014 / The U.N. nuclear watchdog urged Japan to weigh dumping radioactive water from its Fukushima plant to help control the fluid’s “enormous” quantity. Japan should consider “all options” to manage radiation-tainted fluid from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, “including the possible resumption of controlled discharges to the sea,” the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a report prepared at Japan’s request … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia NHK World / February 14, 2014 / Chubu Electric Power Company has applied for a safety screening for a nuclear reactor in central Japan. Such screenings are required for restarting reactors. Executive Vice President Masatoshi Sakaguchi filed the application on Friday with the Nuclear Regulation Authority for the No.4 reactor at the Hamaoka plant in Shizuoka Prefecture. The plant has five reactors, two of which are shut down for … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia RT.com / February 14, 2014 / A record high level of radioactive cesium has been found in groundwater beneath the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, it operator TEPCO revealed. On February 13, Tokyo Electric Power Co. reported 37,000 becquerels of cesium-134 and 93,000 becquerels of cesium-137 were detected per liter of groundwater sampled from a monitoring well earlier that day. Water samples were taken from the technical … Continue reading →
Continue readingAlfred Meyer, PSR board memberAlfred Meyer (photo, left), national board member of Physicians for Responsibility (PSR), spoke throughout Michigan on a tour organized by Beyond Nuclear from Feb. 12-17. His presentations of “Nuclear Power: What You Need …
Continue readingfrom Asahi Shimbun / February 12, 2014 / The Hakodate municipal government will file a lawsuit demanding a halt to construction of a nuclear power plant across the Tsugaru Strait, arguing that an accident there could have catastrophic consequences for the city. The lawsuit against the central government and the electric power company building the nuclear plant in Oma, Aomori Prefecture, on the northern tip of Japan’s main island of … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Asahi Shimbun / February 12, 2104 / Two cracks were discovered in a concrete floor near radioactive water storage tanks on the grounds of the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the plant operator said Feb. 11. Officials with Tokyo Electric Power Co. said some of the contaminated water from the melting snow blanketing the area may have seeped into the ground through the cracks. Workers on patrol … Continue reading →
Continue readingBy Mari Saito / reuters.com / February 12, 2014 / Japan’s nuclear regulator has criticised the operator of the stricken Fukushima plant for incorrectly measuring radiation levels in contaminated groundwater at the site. Almost three years since the reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi station, Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) still lacks basic understanding of measuring and handling radiation, Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) Chairman Shunichi Tanaka said on Wednesday. The … Continue reading →
Continue reading“ROSEMEAD, Calif. June 7, 2013 Southern California Edison (SCE) has decided to permanently retire Units 2 and 3 of its San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS).”
It was a great day for many individuals and groups who had come together to work for the greater good and safety of their communities. From LA to SD and points in between, and in fact across the nation. At times it was more than interesting to watch so many different individual opinions and ideas and methods coalesce to work together. The Angeles chapter Sierra Club, Peace Resource Center of SD, San Onofre Safety, Decommission San Onofre, San Clemente Green and ROSE, these working groups & individuals became known as the “Coalition to Decommison San Onofre”. It was like the universe itself had appointed this time and place for these people and groups to come together and develop a vortex of energy for the purpose of speaking truth to power about the extreme dangers sitting on the California coastline at San Onofre known as San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS). Please believe me when I say it was not any one individual or one single group that did this alone. It was in fact everyone who informed themselves on the issues, worked, organized, prayed, donated time and money and showed up to speak at meetings all around Southern California. I am sure these coalition members and individuals are committed to staying strong and working for the continued good of the community. It seemed this time and place was appointed by something beyond ourselves.
While I was hoping to take some time off to see the grandkids, finish some art pieces, and maybe take care of my health, California Edison called saying we would like someone from the anti-nuclear perspective to sit on their new Community Engagement Panel (CEP) for the decommissioning of SONGS, and would I as founder of ROSE do it? I had hoped as we all did that others from our highly energized coalition would be represented on the new CEP. At first I reluctantly said yes. But after thinking about it I can only hope that the universe has made a new appointment for us to help develop a new vortex of energy with the new CEP for the safe, sane and economical decommissioning of units 2 and 3 and the safest storage and removal in time of the extremely dangerous toxic nuclear waste sitting near our homes, and finally to restore the land to the pristine conditions for the future generations of Californians to come.
Residents Organized for a Safe Environment (ROSE) Response and Pledge to SCE’s statement of core principles and values for the decommissioning of San Onofre.
ROSE is pleased to see the SCE “Statement of core principles and values for the decommissioning of San Onofre” and is happy to sit on the Community Engagement Panel (CEP) with other community members. ROSE pledges to Southern California residents & SCE to help Southern California Edison keep these principles and core values alive every step along the way during this process. ROSE pledges to help SCE become a model for the nuclear industry in safe and sane decommissioning of our nation’s dangerous and aging nuclear fleet. ROSE pledges to stand for cleaning the SONGS site of radiation to the best degree possible in the most economical way for the ratepayers. ROSE pledges to stand for worker safety in all areas of decommissioning of San Onofre. ROSE pledges to help SCE understand and use best practices in the process even if we have to rethink them. ROSE pledges to stand for the removal of all radioactive materials from the site as soon as it is possible and restore this site to its natural condition.
It is clear that DOE and NRC studies pertaining to the storage of San Onofre’s High Burnup fuel have not been completed at this point in time, and the best practice for dealing with this extremely high radioactive fuel and the timeframe for doing so is unclear and has no consensus in the community and scientists working on this problem.
I hope other members of the newly appointed CEP will join me in this Pledge to the future of all Californians and the many generations to come.
Aging Nuke Plants On Fault Lines In Tsunami Hazard Zones = Fukushimas… Any Questions?
PLEASE Turn off a light for Fukushima USA / San Onofre
PLEASE Turn off a light for Fukushima USA / San Onofre
via apperspective.net / February 11, 2014 / Sources within the government are saying that the Cabinet of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will be adopting a new energy policy as early as this month to put into writing the mid and long-term energy plans for the country. This comes after former Health Minister Yoichi Masuzoe’s victory in the recently-concluded Tokyo gubernatorial elections, a victory that has strengthened the government’s position on … Continue reading →
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