Seventy Local Japanese Governors Hold a Meeting about moving towards a 'Nuclear-Free Society'.

Seventy local governors from different regions of Japan, including a few members of parliament, met on April 28 in Tokyo to share information and experience in order to support each other in moving towards a nuclear-free society. In Japan, however much the government wants to, the nuclear power plants can only be restarted if each local governor of the regionｓ where the plants are located gives the go-ahead, so this meeting is very significant step towards keeping Japan nuclear-free.

http://ibarakinews.jp/news/news.php?f_jun=13356266217932

 

One Week to Go for “Zero Nuclear” in Japan

After the Fukushima disaster in March last year, 53 out of 54 reactors have stopped one by one for the safety check and haven’t restarted yet.  The last one, Tomari nuclear plant in Hokkaido is also going to stop at midnight on May 5.  It’s going to be a historical moment of “Zero Nuclear” for Japan since the first one started to work 45 years ago.  

As it’s getting close to it, the group of nuclear power including the Japanese government have been making effort of restarting the others, especially Oi nuclear plant in Fukui prefecture.  They say it won’t be enough electricity otherwise.  We heard it last year when there was enough electricity.  They say they will decide on political reasons.  However they can’t prove the nuclear in Japan safe scientifically because the investigation of Fukushima disaster hasn’t finished.  They don’t know what happened and how the explosion occurred after the big earthquake and tsunami. Therefore it’s impossible to bring changes to make it safe.   The citizens in Fukushima Prefecture were trapped and forced to live with a high radiation.  It’s now very clear that the government doesn’t save the citizens even the vulnerable children, instead they save Tepco company.   

With possible big earthquake in the near future, if the government forces to restart the reactor, it’s for sure it's not for the nation but for who and what?   So far the local government hasn’t given the go sign yet.  Let’s hope they won’t.  And we don’t think IAEA should interfere with it if that’s true.  With ongoing radiation problems with the Fukushima plant, Japan won’t be able to survive another catastrophe.  All of the reactors are on the earthquake areas.  The land got even shakier since the disaster.  There were seven of magnitude 5 or more earthquakes occurred in the last 3 months in the east coast of Japan according to the official website: 

http://bousai.tenki.jp/bousai/earthquake/earthquake_center_ranking 

It’s obvious for the rest of the world that Japan should stop nuclear.  If the Japanese government hasn't learned the lesson, when would they? 

Japan Objected to IAEA Defining Contamination Zone for Food

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/politics/AJ201203170006

 When the International Atomic Energy Agency in 2005 proposed defining a zone where food intake regulations were to be enacted in the event of a nuclear emergency, Tokyo objected………..

The Japanese Government Wants to Spread Radioactive Debris Throughout Japan.

22 million tons of radioactive debris was created by the big earthquake and tsunami in the northeast of Japan (in Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima prefectures) on March 11 last year.  The debris in Fukushima prefecture has been burnt in Fukushima prefecture, but the Japanese government wants other areas (even Okinawa, in the far south of Japan) to incinerate some of the debris from Miyagi and Iwate Prefecture and bury the ash in those areas.

Although the government has been saying it’s safe to do this, most people outside the affected areas have been rejecting the plan because they know that the contamination went well beyond Fukushima Prefecture.  Although the radiation level in the debris is relatively low, it gets concentrated into the ash when the debris is incinerated and is also spread into the air during incineration. 　Also the government relaxed the safety limit for radiation  in  debris up to 8,000 BQ/kg from 100 BQ/kg in July, then further raised  it  to 10,000BQ/kg in October last year, allowing normal incinerator s to  incinerate radioactive debris below 10,000   BQ/kg  in the same way  as normal material.   

Although in the name of ‘speedy recovery’ the government has been only asking for about 4 million tons (20%) of the total amount to be incinerated in this way, they have been using big corporations that have a cozy relationship with the government, and have been neglecting the question of economic growth for Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures, which want to incinerate all of the debris there to create job oporurtunies in those regions.  Furthermore the government has rejected their requests to build a proper incinerator with a suitable filter for removing the radiation.  According to a test report from an incinerator using a bag filter in Shimada-city in Shizuoka prefecture; it’s only 60% effective for removing cesium 137 when using the filter.  In fact there is no incinerator with a proper filter attached for removing 100% cesium in the whole of Japan, so the amount of radiation from the existing ones (particularly in Fukushima prefecture) has been contributing to high levels of radioactive contamination in the air in the affected areas. 

The government has invested a huge amount of money (23 million pounds) in publicity to try to persuade citizens to agree with it about the issues of debris and decontamination.  Isn’t that crazy?  It’s similar to the way in which the government kept saying it was safe to eat food from the contaminated areas after relaxing the safety level for radiation in food, spending a huge amount of money on a misleading safety campaign.  Also they have been telling evacuees it will be safe for them to return after decontamination work in the areas of high radiation in Fukushima, ignoring a report from specialists in Belarus, saying that it’s a waste of money. 

Getting back to the issue of radioactive debris, I would like to remind you of what Prof Arnie Gunderson, a nuclear engineer and energy adviser who has been involved in designing, constructing, operating and decommissioning nuclear power plants in the USA, suggested:

 “It would be better to keep radioactive debris near the plant rather than spreading it all over Japan.  The strategy of downgrading and spreading it out is less expensive in the short term, at least until the pits begin to leak, but we should remember that the radiation will continue to be emitted for hundreds of years, so, while the likelihood of the pits leaking may not be much this year, it will become significant and severe in the future.”

I think the government should listen to the voices of the nation and not take the wrong course of action in the name of helping the affected areas to recover.  People aware of the facts have been saying to the government that the best way of supporting the affected areas is to accept the children in Fukushima but not the radioactive debris, and that it is essential to keep the western part of Japan radiation free for growing as much food as possible.

 If the government can spend 23 million pounds on publicity, they should spend it on evacuating children from Fukushima Prefecture, or at least on arranging for them to visit radiation-free areas regularly to recuperate and on giving them more regular health check-ups.  I bet there would still be enough money to build a new incinerator with a suitable filter attached in Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate prefectures to incinerate all the debris as safely as possible.  Without a proper filter, it’s just going to accumulate even more radiation in the air.  It’s bad enough already in Fukushima where the citizens including children are forced to live up to 20mSv/y. 

http://www.env.go.jp/jishin/attach/waste-radioCs-16pref-result20110829.pdf

http://blog.goo.ne.jp/mayumilehr/e/afbe48ccbe01760725dbdebff2c0f6d7
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Thursday, 19 April 2012

The Japanese Government Wants to Spread Radioactive Debris Throughout Japan.

http://fukushimaappeal.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/japanese-government-wants-to-spread.html

Japan Needs Urgent Assistance at Fukushima Reactor

http://www.independentaustralia.net/2012/life/health/japan-needs-urgent-assistance-at-fukushima-reactor/          

After a tour of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facilities this month, U.S. senator Ron Wyden has urged the Japanese Government to urgently seek international assistance to relocate spent fuel rods stored precariously in unsound structures close to the ocean and prevent more deadly nuclear radiation being released into the environment..........

Fukushima Daiichi Site: Cesium-137 is 85 times greater than at Chernobyl Accident

http://akiomatsumura.com/2012/04/682.html

Ambassador Murata informed us that the total numbers of the spent fuel rods at the Fukushima Daiichi site excluding the rods in the pressure vessel is 11,421 (396+615+566+1,535+994+940+6375).

Based on U.S. Energy Department data, assuming a total of 11,138 spent fuel assemblies are being stored at the Dai-Ichi site, nearly all, which is in pools. They contain roughly 336 million curies (~1.2 E+19 Bq) of long-lived radioactivity. About 134 million curies is Cesium-137 — roughly 85 times the amount of Cs-137 released at the Chernobyl accident as estimated by the U.S. National Council on Radiation Protection  (NCRP)................

 Many of our readers might find it difficult to appreciate the actual meaning of the figure, yet we can grasp what 85 times more Cesium-137 than the Chernobyl would mean. It would destroy the world environment and our civilization. This is not rocket science, nor does it connect to the pugilistic debate over nuclear power plants. This is an issue of human survival.

Women lead protests at Kudankulam nuclear power plant site in India

http://www.ndtv.com/article/tamil-nadu/women-lead-protests-at-kudankulam-nuclear-power-plant-site-189556

Kudankulam:  The protests at the Kudankulam nuclear plant show no signs of subsiding. Thousands of villagers, mostly women, continue with their indefinite fast, which entered its sixth day today…………

The greatest single threat to humanity – Fukushima nuclear reactor no. 4 raises new global worries

Japan's former Ambassador to Switzerland, Mr. Murata strongly stated that if the crippled building of reactor unit 4 — with 1,535 fuel rods in the spent fuel pool 100 feet (30 meters) above the ground — collapses, not only will it cause a shutdown of all six reactors but will also affect the common spent fuel pool containing 6,375 fuel rods, located some 50 meters from reactor 4.

In both cases the radioactive rods are not protected by a containment vessel; dangerously, they are open to the air.

The greatest single threat to humanity

This would certainly cause a global catastrophe like we have never before experienced. He stressed that the responsibility of Japan to the rest of the world is immeasurable. Such a catastrophe would affect us all for centuries.

http://thewatchers.adorraeli.com/2012/04/12/while-number-of-earthquakes-increase-fukushima-nuclear-reactor-no-4-raises-new-global-worries/

Many unborn babies die in Fallujah after US bombing of using Depleted Uranium

http://vimeo.com/38175279

Victims of ionizing radiation are to be found not just in Hiroshima/Nagasaki, Chernobyl and Fukushima but also in Fallujah in Iraq．Between 2004- 2010, the US Army bombed Iraq using Depleted Uranium (=DU), concentrated in Fallujah.  UK also admitted ｕｓｉｎｇ DU in bombs in Iraq.. 

Prof. Christopher Busby, scientific secretary to the European committee on Radiation Risks has investigated the effect of such bombs.  He organized an investigation team who interviewed people about their experience after the bombs by knocking on their doors.  He also checked 52 different elements such as strontium, cesium, copper, etc. in samples of soil and residents’ hair taken in Fallujah, and found that uranium is the cause of deformed babies, cancer and leukemia in Fallujah.  He mentioned that the study shows the highest rate of genetic damage in any population ever studied, even Hiroshima.  According to the information in this video,   2 to 3 deformed babies are now  born every day  in Fallujah, sadly to live only for a few hours.　　
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I haven’t heard any news of deformed babies being born in Japan after the Fukushima disaster.  Why not?  Medical technology is more advanced in Japan than in Iraq, and all pregnant women in Japan receive an ultrasound exam to check if the baby is normal or not.  If they find it’s abnormal, it’s usually suggested that they have an abortion, which is acceptable under the Eugenic Protection Act　(which went into effect in 1948, three years after the Hiroshima/Nagasaki bombs, then changed its name to the Maternal Protection act in 1996), and the numbers of deformed unborn babies have never been made public, which is very convenient for those who support nuclear power.

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%AF%8D%E4%BD%93%E4%BF%9D%E8%AD%B7%E6%B3%95 

*Depleted Uranium is a by-product of nuclear waste.  It has a higher concentration of Uranium 238 than natural uranium and has a half-life of 4,468 billion years! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uranium-238)

Severely malformed babies have been killed in Japan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2dghS1otAw&fe


Israel Used Depleted Uranium Munitions During Gaza Offensive  http://12160.info/page/israel-used-depleted-uranium-munitions-during-gaza-offensive
ature=related

Fallujah: the forgotten scandal of babies affected by depleted uranium

http://nuclear-news.net/2012/12/19/fallujah-the-forgotten-scandal-of-babies-affected-by-depleted-uranium/