via 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 →
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via GreenAction.org / September 13, 2013 / https://fs220.xbit.jp/n362/form2/ To: Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan Toshimitsu Motegi, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Shunichi Tanaka, Chairman, Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) Urgent international petition calling for immediate action on the uncontrolled radioactive discharges at Tepco’s Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant This is clearly not an appropriate time for Japan to restart nuclear plants or export nuclear technology The ocean, the source of … Continue reading →
Continue readingby Mark Willacy / ABC / November 5, 2013 / CLICK HERE FOR MP3 AUDIO REPORT TRANSCRIPT TONY EASTLEY: One of the terrible legacies of the radioactive fallout from the Russian disaster at Chernobyl is now being visited upon people in Japan. Researchers in Fukushima are uncovering higher than expected rates of thyroid cancer in children. One prominent former thyroid surgeon – a veteran of the Chernobyl disaster – has … Continue reading →
Continue readingBy Yoshifumi Takemoto and Kentaro Hamada / via Reuters / November 4, 2013 The operator of Japan’s wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant is working on a reorganization plan to fend off more drastic proposals, including possibly dragging the company through bankruptcy in return for a publicly funded clean-up and shutdown of the reactors. Two people close to Tokyo Electric Power Co (9501.T), or Tepco, and the government department that oversees it … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia ENE News / Nov. 5, 2013 / The utility had intended to start removing the fuel rods from the unit’s packed cooling pool as early as Friday. The test was requested by the Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization. The government-affiliated agency called for an initial test that would include transporting a protective fuel cask from the No. 4 storage pool to another pool in a different building about 100 … Continue reading →
Continue readingArnie Gundersen, Chief Engineer, Fairewinds Associates, Inc.Arnie Gundersen, Chief Engineer at Fairewinds Associates, Inc. (photo, left), testified before the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) on behalf…
Continue readingHelp support a new film – Crying Earth Rise Up! – that tells the story of the struggle of two Lakota Indian women to uncover the human cost of mining uranium on their sacred lands. The women ask questions about the children’s health and safety as they …
Continue readingvia RT / October 25, 2013 / Many issues of national importance to Japan, probably including the state of the Fukushima power plant, may be designated state secrets under a new draft law. Once signed, it could see whistleblowers jailed for up to 10 years. Japan has relatively lenient penalties for exposing state secrets compared to many other nations, but that may change with the introduction of the new law. … Continue reading →
Continue readingKevin, Leona, and Yuko prepare for their workshop in between visitors to the Beyond Nuclear info. table at PowerShift 2013. The Japanese banner behind them reads “Stop Plutonium Thermal,” or “Nix MOX.” It was given to Kevin by anti-nuclear activists in…
Continue readingvia ex-SKF / October 21, 2013 / The ex-McKinsey management consultant never ceases to entertain (albeit in a bad way). The last I heard Mr. Toshimitsu Motegi was when he said there would be more space to install storage tanks for contaminated water once Reactors 5 and 6 at Fukushima I NPP were decommissioned, casting doubt about his intelligence level. He was also pontificating over the talk between TEPCO and … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia RT / October 20, 2013 / Water has overflowed at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) is attempting to discern the quality of the water and possible radioactive substances which could have been spilled. TEPCO announced on Monday that the water overflowed in 12 areas of the plant. Heavy rains caused water to flow over the barriers of an artificial embankment which surrounds a dozen … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Arirang News / October 22, 2013 / Japan’s Environment Ministry was forced to acknowledge Monday that the decontamination of six towns around the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant will have to be delayed by up to three years. The clean-up was originally due to be complete by next March, but has been pushed back mostly due to lack of storage for contaminated cooling water from damaged reactors. The Fukushima plant … Continue reading →
Continue readingReports Reuters: “Britain signed a deal with France’s EDF to build a 16-billion pound ($26-billion) nuclear plant, becoming the first European country to provide state guarantees to help fund a nuclear project.
The Hinkley Point C project in southwest …
via YouTube / Footage from a public consultation between the Japanese government and Fukushima residents recorded June 6, 2013 and posted by World Network Children.
Continue readingNuclear power continues its decline worldwide while investements in, and development of, renewables soar. The findings of the newly released 2013 World Nuclear Industry Status Report, prepared by Mycle Schneider, Antony Froggatt et al., show that …
Continue readingvia Ex-SKF / October 14, 2013 / Duh. Relying on government officials in an emergency may be hazardous to your health and well-being. Nagaoka City, where the drill was carried out, is located in Niigata Prefecture, close to Kashiwazaki-Kariwa NPP. Good luck residents, because the governor of Niigata has declared he won’t allow venting in a severe nuclear accident, even if it’s the filtered vent, unless the municipalities and supposedly … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Press TV / October 14, 2013 / The International Atomic Energy Agency has for a second time sent a team of experts to Japan to monitor the clean-up operation at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima. The IAEA team, which includes 16 nuclear specialists, arrived in the Japanese capital, Tokyo, on Monday for a week-long mission at the request of the Japanese government. “We want to carefully analyze the … Continue reading →
Continue readingBy Shiro Namekata / via The Asahi Shimbun / October 14, 2013 / Japan urgently needs an effective system that reuses radiation-contaminated water to cool down the crippled reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, said Gregory Jaczko, former chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. In an interview with The Asahi Shimbun, the nuclear expert said failure to handle the contaminated water problem at the site will damage … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Business Insider In March 2011, one of the most devastating earthquakes on record hit Japan, setting off a chain reaction that included a tsunami and a disastrous nuclear power plant meltdown. The Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant disaster was the largest Nuclear incident since Chernobyl and caused radiation leakage that has lasted to this day. The plant is still not stable. Hundreds of thousands of residents living within 12 miles … Continue reading →
Continue readingRenowned environmental journalist and Beyond Nuclear Board member, Karl Grossman wrote this report on a Fukushima-focused symposium he attended in New York, posting on the cutting edge anti-nuclear news site, Enformable. Grossman describes t…
Continue readingTHE FUKUSHIMA NUCLEAR ACCIDENT: ONGOING LESSONS FOR BOSTON & NEW YORKFormer Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Former Prime Minister of Japan join panel to discuss the risks of nuclear power at the Indian Point and Pil…
Continue readingvia Japan Times / October 6, 2013 / Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday requested more foreign assistance in cleaning up the Fukushima No. 1 power plant, where work has been plagued by the radioactive water crisis. “Our country needs your knowledge and expertise” in coping with the aftermath of the triple meltdown triggered by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, Abe said in a speech in English at an … Continue reading →
Continue readingHarvey Wasserman (photo, left) at Nukefree.org has posted an article entitled “The Demand for Global Take-Over at Fukushima Has Hit Critical Mass,” and urges folks to sign the petition at MoveOn, “The World Community Must Take Charge at Fukushima.” The…
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 readingFaith Aquino / The Japan Daily Press / Oct 2, 2013 Japanese fast food chain Yoshinoya dares to farm in Fukushima Prefecture, home of the world’s worst nuclear meltdown in two decades, where they plan to harvest rice and vegetable produce as ingredients for their dishes. Yoshinoya Holdings said it has collaborated with local farmers in the prefecture, forming the Yoshinoya Farm Fukushima. Yoshinoya and local farmers will be utilizing … Continue reading →
Continue readingMI State Rep. Sarah Roberts, and Sen. Hoon-Yung Hopgood, spoke to local press along the shores of Lake Huron at Macpherson Park in Kincardine, Ontario, Canada. Photo credit Kincardine Times.As reported by CTV, Michigan State Senator Hoon-Yung Hopgood a…
Continue readingvia The Japan News / September 30, 2013 / Tokyo Electric Power Co. President Naomi Hirose revealed in an interview with The Yomiuri Shimbun on Saturday the company’s plans to decommission the Nos. 5 and 6 reactors at its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. In the interview, Hirose said the two reactors will never again be used for power generation. The permanent shutdown of the Nos. 5 and 6 … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia The Mainichi / Sep 26, 2013 / Fishery products caught off Fukushima Prefecture were ready for trial sale as early as Sept. 26 after fisheries cooperatives here resumed test fishing the day before. Some 5.2 tons of 11 varieties of fish — including octopus, horsehair crab, blackbelly rosefish and angler — were landed at the Matsukawaura Port in Soma, northern Fukushima Prefecture, after 21 dragnet fishing boats returned there … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia News on Japan / Sep 26, 2013 / The operator of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant says underwater barriers in the facility’s port have been breached. The so-called silt fences are intended to prevent the spread of radioactive materials. Tokyo Electric Power Company officials said on Thursday they found damage in the curtain-like barriers near the intake canals of the No. 5 and 6 reactors. The silt fences … Continue reading →
Continue readingThe Stop the Great Lakes Nuclear Dump petition now has nearly 35,000 signatures! If you haven’t already signed it yourself, please do. And please continue to circulate it to everyone you know! Beverly Fernandez, spokesperson for Stop the Great Lakes…
Continue readingvia NHK World / Sep 25, 2013 / The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant says it will soon test a filtration system that could remove most radioactive substances from accumulated wastewater at the site. The Advanced Liquid Processing System (pictured) is the key to Tokyo Electric Power Company’s plans to purify radioactive-contaminated water that keeps accumulating at the plant. The company hopes to completely decontaminate the stored waste … 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 Japan Times / Sep 24, 2013 / Fishing operations off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture were set to resume Wednesday, about a month after leaks of contaminated water at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant forced trial operations to be put on hold. The Fukushima Prefectural Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations said Tuesday that “through tests we know the radioactive levels of the fish are not an issue and … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Japan Times / Re: “Fukushima and the right to responsible government” by Colin P.A. Jones (The Foreign Element, Sept. 17): It would be useful if the government of Japan would avail themselves of the assistance and technology that could be provided by foreign corporations with experience in the decommissioning of nuclear plants. The United States successfully cleaned and decommissioned nuclear facilities at Hanford, Washington, Rocky Flats, Colorado, and Portsmouth, … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia worldbulletin.net / Sep 23, 2013 / The Mayor of Tokyo, Naoki Inose, has indicated that the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe lied to the International Olympic Committee when he reassured them that contaminated water leaking from the Fukushima Nuclear Plant were “under control.” Inose publicly denounced the Japanese Prime Minister’s claim after telling reporters from Fuji TV that the water leak was “not necessarily under control” on Friday. Shinzo … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia EX-SKF / Sep 23, 2013 / As Japan celebrates “recovery” (at least in the stock market), 2020 Tokyo Olympic, maglev bullet train that will run under Japan Alps, there are still 100 people from Futaba-machi, Fukushima still living in the abandoned high school building in Saitama Prefecture, more than two and a half years after the earthquake and tsunami and the nuclear accident struck Tohoku and Kanto. Time has … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia The Asahi Shimbun / Sep 21, 2013 / TEPCO, resigned to never restarting its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant as concerns grow over radioactive leaks, will turn the facility into a training base for decommissioning reactors. The plant operator has begun considering turning the 42-year-old plant into what would be called a “decommissioning center,” sources said Sept. 20. The new role for the plant will be included in … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia The Asahi Shimbun / Sep 21, 2013 / TEPCO, resigned to never restarting its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant as concerns grow over radioactive leaks, will turn the facility into a training base for decommissioning reactors. The plant operator has begun considering turning the 42-year-old plant into what would be called a “decommissioning center,” sources said Sept. 20. The new role for the plant will be included in … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia The Japan Times / Sep 22, 2013 / Radioactive cesium has been found on an estimated 200 to 300 tons of wood chips that were left months ago near Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture, prefectural officials said. Samples of the chips show a reading of up to 3,000 becquerels per kilogram, the officials said Tuesday. The readings are below 8,000 becquerels, the threshold requiring special measures such as keeping … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia The Japan Times / Sep 22, 2013 / Radioactive cesium has been found on an estimated 200 to 300 tons of wood chips that were left months ago near Lake Biwa in Shiga Prefecture, prefectural officials said. Samples of the chips show a reading of up to 3,000 becquerels per kilogram, the officials said Tuesday. The readings are below 8,000 becquerels, the threshold requiring special measures such as keeping … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia The Asahi Shimbun / Sep 21, 2013 / In the wee hours of Sept. 20, a strong earthquake measuring a 5-plus on the Japanese seismic scale struck Fukushima Prefecture. Its epicenter was in the Hamadori area in the eastern part of the prefecture, where the wrecked Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant is located. Even though it caused no damage to the some 1,000 storage tanks within the plant … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia The Asahi Shimbun / Sep 21, 2013 / In the wee hours of Sept. 20, a strong earthquake measuring a 5-plus on the Japanese seismic scale struck Fukushima Prefecture. Its epicenter was in the Hamadori area in the eastern part of the prefecture, where the wrecked Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant is located. Even though it caused no damage to the some 1,000 storage tanks within the plant … 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 The Japan Times / Sep 19, 2013 / Wearing a protective suit to guard against radioactive contamination, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe entered the wrecked Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant Thursday to inspect the desperate effort to stop tainted water from entering the soil and the Pacific. Abe visited the site in an apparent publicity stunt to demonstrate his determination to get the water crisis under control. An estimated 300 … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia EX-SKF / Sep 21, 2013 / To win 2020 Olympic for Tokyo, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe declared to the world that his government will be “at the forefront” to deal with problems at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. Reading the article by Nikkei Shinbun about his most recent visit to the plant and comments from his ministers, it sure looks all talk, nothing but talk. From Nikkei Shinbun … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia NHK World / Sep 20, 2013 / A strong earthquake jolted Fukushima Prefecture northeastern Japan, shortly before 2:30 AM on Friday. The Meteorological Agency says the preliminary magnitude was 5.3 and the focus was 17 kilometers underground in the eastern coastal part of Fukushima. The quake measured 5 plus in Iwaki City on the Japanese intensity scale of 7. Two local women reported slight injuries. An intensity of 5 … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia ENENews.com / Sep 18, 2013 / We have been conducting an on-site inspection for seismic safety evaluation on the exhaust stack for Units 1 and 2 at Fukushima Daiichi NPS. Today (on September 18), in the inspection, we found fracture-like traces on steel members (diagonal bracings) of the exhaust stack (pictured). Since the area around the exhaust stack includes a location with a high dose rate, we will start … Continue reading →
Continue readingvia Japan Real Time / Sep 18, 2013 / Recent decisions by two local fishing cooperatives to delay a resumption of fishing near the Fukushima nuclear plant highlight the confusion over ocean contamination. The cooperatives decided not to fish in the area because they have no hope of selling their catch, not because marine life in the area is unsafe to eat. The decisions suggest it is the perception of … Continue reading →
Continue readingIPS senior scholar Robert AlvarezIt’s déjà vu all over again! After announcing a public meeting on August 22nd — supposedly intended for technical dialogue — the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) attemped to change the rules, and…
Continue readingU.S. Senator Ed Markey (D-MA)On the eve of a public meeting at the agency’s HQ in Rockville, Maryland, U.S. Senator Ed Markey (D-MA, photo left), a long-time congressional watchdog on the nuclear power industry and its supposed regulators at the U.S. N…
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