*** Fukushima *** and other nuclear-----updates and links

NHK: NHK Special – Japan’s Nuclear Crisis, Part 1
In this special documentary, NHK interviewed more than 200 people including government and TEPCO officials, experts, and engineers.
While reluctant, they agreed to speak with NHK. Some of the rather candid comments confirm that TEPCO, nor the Japanese government where adequately prepared for a disaster of this magnitude. The Economy, Trade, and Industry Minister, Banri Kaieda even made a rather damning remark (around the 4m30s mark in clip 1-A) that he could not deny there was a myth of safety regarding the nuclear power plants and that probably somewhere in their minds, they always felt that measures against emergency situations were unnecessary because such situations would never occur. This 1 hour video is split into 4 parts and hosted on Dailymotion (so you’ll need to put up with the advertisements automatically displayed) since it is blocked on YouTube.

[link to www.nippon-sekai.com]

"since it is blocked on Youtube"

Does that wake anybody up??

Isn't censorship just wonderful?

Cabinet OKs ¥2 trillion quake-aid budget
Outlays to cover nuclear disaster health checks
[link to search.japantimes.co.jp]

After the crisis: Japan nuclear at a crossroads

"I never thought it was completely safe. Nothing made by man is perfect. But it supported us," Hayashi said, speaking quietly in a cafe in Tsuruga city, host to three of 14 reactors that dot the coast of the Fukui region – nicknamed the "Atomic Arcade" because it has more reactors than any other region in Japan.

"I think it would be good to abandon nuclear power, but what would we have to do to achieve that?" said the 59 year-old Hayashi. Her son and nephew also work in the industry and a niece fled her home about 50km (30 miles) from the Fukushima plant after the world's worst nuclear accident in 25 years.

"We've become used to this modern lifestyle, so is it really possible?" asked a clearly distressed Hayashi.

[link to www.climatespectator.com.au]

Japanese minister quits over 'uncaring remarks'

"When a guest comes to visit, do not call up the guest until you have arrived in the room," he told Mr Murai. "Do you understand?"

He then warned journalists in the room not to report his words, warning that their companies would suffer if they did. However, his actions were widely reported in the media and a video of the exchange was posted on the Internet.
[link to www.todayonline.com]

- prick.

Japan Families Arrive on Maui for Respite Stay

[link to mauinow.com]

The article focuses on the arguments regarding the allowable dosage of high-energy radiation from different atomic-energy activities in the U.S. It has been stated that the Federal Radiation Council has set, in its present standard, 170 millirad per year of allowable dosage of whole body ionizing radiation. Consequently, investigators Arthur R. Tamplin and John W. Gofman suggested that the Radiation Protection Guidelines on exposure be reduced to 10-fold. They mentioned that the present standard would bring detrimental effects on the population such as physical or mental defects of infants, the incidence of leukemia, bone cancer and death. PUB. DATE
September 1970



[link to connection.ebscohost.com]


[link to en.wikipedia.org]

75% of all breast cancers are from exposure to radiation

Last Edited by Mobyhunr on 07/05/2011 10:18 PM

[link to webcache.googleusercontent.com]

soooo whats that big ass crane at no1 doin??

I suppose they are using it to repair wall panels and also to install the fabric dome for containment. I don't know how they are going to be able to work in those areas if they can manage to contain the radiation emissions.

270 seiverts per hour at unit 1.

Japan Has Two Reactors Without Approval as Fukushima Raises Safety Concern

[link to www.bloomberg.com]

-Both units started test runs days before the March 11 earthquake and tsunami knocked out power and cooling systems at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant, causing three reactors to melt down in the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986.

“It’s unusual the reactors are running for four months on a test-run basis, but there is nothing illegal about it,” said Tomohiro Sawada, an assistant director at NISA’s nuclear power inspection division.

The approvals for the Ohi and Tomari reactors haven’t been granted because Kansai Electric and Hokkaido Electric have yet to submit requests to NISA, the spokesmen said. The utilities are waiting for the government and NISA to address local safety concerns before asking for approval, they said. Both reactors are supplying power to the electricity grid.

- waiting for the addressing of local safety concerns before submitting requests for approval....but operating anyway and there is nothing illegal about it....hmmm.

-probably should be illegal.

Japan nuclear plants to undergo 'stress tests'

[link to www.msnbc.msn.com]

-and I think we all can agree that this is an important step to take.

Japan politician blames his blood type for offensive remarks
TOKYO - Forced to quit after barely a week as Japan’s reconstruction minister for remarks deemed offensive to victims of the March earthquake and tsunami, Ryu Matsumoto had an unusual explanation for his behaviour — his blood type.

“My blood’s type B, which means I can be irritable and impetuous, and my intentions don’t always come across,” he said on Tuesday after his resignation.
[link to www.torontosun.com]


Yup - the old, "I'm not an asshole, I just have asshole blood" excuse

that's pretty funny. hehe

The ongoing crisis at the tsunami-hit Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant looks like an exhibition of panic by the elite. The headquarters of Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), the operator of the crippled nuclear power station, has become hesitant to release information on the accident for fear that local residents would panic, as a result of which the utility is suspected of covering up information on the crisis. This suggests that the company's elite leaders are panicking.

[link to mdn.mainichi.jp]

Last Edited by Waterbug on 07/07/2011 09:56 AM

The system has processed a total of 14,970 tons of the highly tainted water since it began operating on June 17.

The amount of highly radioactive water that accumulated at buildings for the Nos. 1 to 4 reactors has dropped to 97,610 tons, down 1,830 tons from last week, according to TEPCO, as the operator is known.

The treatment installation suffered a lower-than-expected performance partly because it needed to be stopped every time radioactive absorbents were replaced and it shut down automatically due to configuration errors.

TEPCO, which has since taken corrective measures, says it hopes that the system will begin operating at 80 percent of its capacity by the end of this month and raise the performance rate to 90 percent next month.

[link to www.mcot.net]

Kyushu Electric sought to distort local views over reactors restart
[link to www.japantoday.com]

President of Japan Nuclear Operator May Resign Over E-Mails

TOKYO — The president of a nuclear plant operator said on Thursday that he may resign as a result of a scandal over faked e-mails that has added a bizarre new twist to a decision whether to allow Japan’s idled reactors to restart in the wake of the Fukushima disaster.

[link to www.nytimes.com]

The revelations on Thursday of the faked e-mails appeared to deal an embarrassing setback to not only Kyushu Electric, but also the powerful Ministry of Trade and Industry, which convened the hearing to win public support for the reactors’ restart.

“This behavior was unspeakable and went completely against the rationale of the program,” the minister of trade and industry, Banri Kaieda, told reporters.



- more lies.

[link to www.atimes.com]


Reportedly, American pressure for more information and concerted action eventually helped jerk the Japanese authorities from their shock. This narrative carries the seeds of another narrative which most of us would very much like to believe: a story of international cooperation and the coming together of the world's finest technological achievements to combat a natural disaster.

Yet American officials were also caught unprepared. Most continue to deny outright that the radioactive pollution will have a palpable effect on the United States. Recent reports, however, indicate that infant mortality rates in eight major cities in the northwestern United States, where the fallout was greatest, jumped 35% in the four weeks following the accident. This is consistent with the biological effects of radiation. [4]

Previous reports have indicated the presence of radioactive particles in rainwater as far east as Massachusetts, and in milk and other products throughout the country. The American authorities, as indeed most authorities in the world, appear to be in denial. Many important reports continue to be classified, and there is a sense that governments are lying to their people for lack of a better response.

In all likelihood, the scope of the disaster continues to evade us. There is little doubt that "the biggest industrial catastrophe in the history of mankind" will force us to learn painful lessons, and that we are only just beginning to grapple with its meaning.

[link to www.iaea.org]

IAEA update.

Last Edited by Waterbug on 07/07/2011 12:18 PM

Scientist: NKorea paid Pakistanis for nuclear tech


The founder of Pakistan's nuclear weapons program claims that in the late 1990s North Korean officials paid kickbacks to senior Pakistani military figures in exchange for critical weapons technology.

Abdul Qadeer Khan has given a United States-based expert documents that appear to show North Korea's government paid more than $3.5 million to two Pakistani military officials as part of the deal, the expert told The Associated Press Wednesday.

To back up his claim, Khan released what he said was a copy of a North Korean official's 1998 letter to him, written in English, that purports to describe the secret deal.

[link to seattletimes.nwsource.com]

Last Edited by Waterbug on 07/07/2011 12:25 PM

[link to www.jaif.or.jp]

Update JAIF.

-High radiation circumstance is hampering the work to restore reactor cooling. Preparation work such as removing
radioactive debris, radiation monitoring is underway in each unit. Large-scale work inside the R/B started at unit-1 and 2
after radioactive substance and humidity in the air inside the R/B dropped.

..... and this drop can be attributed to opening the doors and releasing the accumulating radiation into the atmosphere? OK.


-Storage capacity of 14800m3 (10,000m3 + 4,800m3）for highly radioactive wastewater are secured by using the Centralized Radiation
Waste Treatment Facility as water storage place.
-Underground tank for high level radioactive wastewater (storage capacity: approx. 10,000m3） to be installed in the mid August
-Storage tanks to receive processed, low to middle level radioactive wastewater with the capacity of approx. 13,000m3 installed (-5/31).
Additional capacity to be installed at 20,000m3/month from the end of June.

..Underground tank for highly radioactive wastewater. Doesn't sound like a good idea.

Oh well. Out of sight...out of mind.

ENENEWS Energy News
Trouble at Reactor No. 3: Unable to inject nitrogen in containment vessel to prevent hydrogen explosion [link to DON'T_USE-THIS] #Fukushima
há 5 minutos

After some investigation, we can now confirm that the Kauai Monitoring Station in Hawaii broadcast yet another Radiation Alert recently (see graph at right), commencing toward midnight of June 29th and continuing into the early morning hours of June 30th.

This is becoming somewhat of a routine event for the Kauai station, considering elevated radiation detections twice before, on June 10th and June 22nd.

This most recent Alert was triggered by a detection of over 100 CPM (Counts per Minute) for a sustained period of almost 15 minutes, followed by lower, yet elevated radiation levels for another half hour, making this the longest detection period yet for the Kauai station (clear sky this time – no rain). Background radiation for that station approximates 37 CPM, so these sustained levels were 2 to 3 times normal. Again, our best judgment is that the source of this radiation is probably Fukushima, perhaps from recent “releases” – we will try to correlate.

[link to hawaiinewsdaily.com]

-shows probability of continuing releases. Where else would this be coming from?

Nitrogen injection could be delayed at Fukushima


[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]

Governors criticize central govt's nuke response

[link to www3.nhk.or.jp]

-Ah. The Japanese are waking up. Finally. I predict a huge backlash as more and more Japanese realise what has been covered up by the government and tepco.

On Tuesday, six citizens' and anti-nuclear groups warned of high radiation found in soil samples and said children and pregnant women should be evacuated.

Radiation maps show that the areas worst affected by fallout from the the Fukushima disaster lie to the northwest, where Fukushima City is located, due to wind patterns and geographical features of the region.

[link to www.google.com]