No Way Back: The Japanese Government Tells People to Go Home Despite Radiation Alarm 日本政府は放射能の危険さを無視して、避難者を立ち入り禁止にすべき地域に帰還させようとしている。

(Source) http://www.save-children-from-radiation.org/2013/11/20/to-return-or-not-to-return/

Scientists say that's suicidal. Anti nuclear activists say no one should be allowed to return to Fukushima until it's completely safe. What does TEPCO say? It's under control! 

Mrs. Morizono, a Fukushima resident, is highly concerned about many hot spots existed around the area. She had to close her after school classes for children because of high radiation. One mother who has a small child joined the NGO group of the ordinary women, united by fear for the future of their chldren and distrust of the government's actions.

*Future for Fukushima evacuees is not certain 福島原発避難者：将来への不安

Those residents in the area more than 50mSv/y will get sufficient financial help from the government, but those in the remaining area are not going to be financially supported. …Where are those residents in 50mSv/y going be housed? They could be offered to live in 20mSv/y zone in Fukushima prefecture as the government considers it safe...... Also, they would advise the residents to use dosimeters because it reads even lower than the public monitoring posts.  http://fukushimaappeal.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/future-for-fukushima-evacuees-is-not.html

*Japan’s plan to make radiation readings come out looking better -Plan to lower radiation readings OK’d 日本政府は住民の被爆を低く見積もるよう仕組んでいる。  JIJI NOV 12, 2013

(Source) http://nuclear-news.net/2013/11/13/japans-plan-to-make-radiation-readings-come-out-looking-better/#more-59479

10,000 protesters against tough new official secrets law in Japan 秘密保護法案反対集会デモ、1万人集まる

www.reuters.com

Tokyo (Reuters) – 10,000 people protested in Tokyo on Thursday against a proposed secrets act that critics say would stifle information on issues such as the Fukushima nuclear crisis. The law, proposed.
 
*Journalists hold protest action against Japan’s state secrets bill
http://japandailypress.com/journalists-hold-protest-action-against-japans-state-secrets-bill-2139880/


More coverage

• Japanese justice minister says that news organizations could be raided under secrets bill
  
• Foreign press club asks Japan's parliament to reject state secrets bill
  
• Deliberations begin on controversial state secrets protection bill
  
• Over 50% of the Japanese public opposes the secrecy protection bill
  
• State secrets act feared to have ‘chilling effect on journalism’ in Japan
  

[ via The Mainichi ]

CONTAMINATED FUKUSHIMA FISH RECYCLED AS FOOD AID: Canned Fish from Tohoku sent to Developing Countries, With Help of WFP 食料支援で風評被害解消 被災地の缶詰を途上国に

(Source) http://www.globalresearch.ca/contaminated-fukushima-fish-recycled-as-food-aid-canned-fish-from-tohoku-sent-to-developing-countries-with-help-of-wfp/30069
Another “win” for Britain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who operates the ODA (Official Development Assistance). They have managed to obtain support from the United Nations on this one.
I first wrote about this particular ODA in June last year, with the follow-up post in September when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs formally requested the appropriation for the 3rd supplementary budget.
Now it’s official, with the help of the UN. Canned fish from Tohoku will be given to people in developing countries in the world so that the fisheries in the disaster-affected areas can recover and “baseless rumors” disappear.
The fish cans will go to Cambodia and 4 other countries and will be used in school lunches to feed school children.
From Sankei Shinbun (3/30/2012):
食料支援で風評被害解消　被災地の缶詰を途上国に
Food aid to dispel baseless rumors, by sending canned food made in disaster-affected areas to developing countries
　政府は、東日本大震災の被災地で製造された水産加工品を発展途上国の人々に食べてもらうため、国連機関の世界食糧計画（ＷＦＰ）と政府開発援助（ＯＤＡ）に関する書簡を交換した。食料支援を通じ、被災地の水産業振興と風評被害の解消につなげるのが狙いだ。
The Japanese government exchange letters with the UN WFP (World Food Programme) regarding the ODA (Official Development Assistance) so that people in developing countries will be able to eat processed marine products made in the areas affected by the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The purpose is to promote [the recovery of] fisheries industry in the disaster-affected areas and to dispel baseless rumors [that food in Japan is contaminated with radioactive materials].
　政府が平成２３年度第３次補正予算に計上した１０億円を元手に、ＷＦＰが青森、岩手、茨城、千葉の４県の水産加工場で製 造されたイワシやサバなどの水煮の缶詰を調達。カンボジアなど５カ国で学校給食などに役立ててもらう。加藤敏幸外務政務官は書簡交換の式典で、「甚大な被 害を受けた被災地の水産加工企業は、操業の全面再開に向け努力している」と強調した。
The Japanese government allocated 1 billion yen in the fiscal 2011 3rd supplementary budget. Using this money, WFP will purchase cans of boiled sardines and mackerels made in factories in Aomori, Iwate, Ibaraki, and Chiba Prefectures. The cans will be shipped to 5 countries including Cambodia for the use in school lunches. Toshiyuki Kato, parliamentary secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs [No.3 politician at the ministry] emphasized in the letter exchanging ceremony, “The marine product processing companies in the disaster-affected areas have sustained grave damage, and they are doing their best to resume full operation.”
　このＯＤＡをめぐっては、東京電力福島第１原発事故の影響を懸念する一部の市民団体などが反発。外務省幹部は「放射線量を検査し、安全性に問題がないものを輸出することで、海外に根強い風評被害の打破を図りたい」と説明している。
There are a few citizens’ groups who oppose this particular ODA program as they are worried about the effect of the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident. The top officials at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs explain that the radiation measurement will be conducted, and only those products without any worry of safety will be exported so that the baseless rumors that still persist overseas are dispelled.
When the Japanese government officials say “without any worry of safety”, their safety equals 100 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium starting April 1, 2012.
I couldn’t find any press release on this, and no information as to other 4 countries receiving the canned fish from Japan.
Here’s from the feedback page of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. You can contact them by mail or by phone, or you can contact the embassies and consulates around the world.
The UN’s WFP contact information is here: http://www.wfp.org/contact

"Chernobyl Was Transparent Compared to Fukushima": Harvey Wasserman on Ongoing Crisis 福島事故よりチェルノビル事故のほうが情報の透明性があった。Harvey Wasserman氏、現在進行中の危機について

(Source) http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/20116-chernobyl-was-transparent-compared-to-fukushima-harvey-wasserman-on-the-ongoing-crisis

The operators of Japan's devastated Fukushima nuclear plant have announced plans to remove 400 tons of highly irradiated spent fuel from the site, in an unprecedented operation that began Monday November 18. Nuclear researcher Harvey Wasserman believes that the highly risky procedure, in fact, the entire plant needs to be taken out of the hands of the operators- Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO).

In this interview with GRITtv, Wasserman explains how the fuel rods at Reactor Number Four have been stored since the earthquake and tsunami that hit the Fukushima Daiichi Plant in March of 2011. They can't heat up, be exposed to air or break without releasing deadly gas, but the cooling pool they've been resting in is leaky and potentially corroded by seawater and could never withstand another tremor or quake. The cooling pool is also 100 feet up.

"These rods have to be brought to the ground. It's never been done under these kinds of circumstances," says Wasserman. But as a 40-year activist in the field, Wasserman is especially concerned about the operators, TEPCO.

"I believe we got better information from the Soviet Union about Chernobyl than we're getting from TEPCO and the Japanese about Fukushima," he told GRITtv.

 A petition with more than 150,000 signatures was delivered to the United Nations earlier this November, calling for the world to take action. But who? As he points out, the International Atomic Energy Agency" has a mandate to promote nuclear power."

What does all of this say about the prospect of safe nuclear power and the "new generation of plants" the Obama administration endorses? And what about the Tokyo Olympics? Wasserman's answers aren't reassuring.

(For more read; go to the above link.) 

Tepco doesn't know how many workers died!! 東電は労働者の死亡数を把握していない

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq07VZdbb7g

(Editor's note: Although this video was uploaded in October 2011, the situation stays the same as far as I understand.)

-Mr. Matsumoto, Tepco spokesperson said “We have no idea of whether there is any dead person among the workers exposed to radiation at high level.”

Uploaded on Oct 25, 2011

Makorine of Oshidori, a comedienne of Yoshimoto Kogyo Co., Ltd. and beginning journalist of News for the People in Japan(NPJ) knew that a young worker in Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant had been exposed to 60 mSv/year, had been ordered to stay at home in August and had died of myocardial infarction in Octorber.
While neither the Japanese government nor TEPCO will only announce his death but both say they need not know the death because he was exposed just to a dose of 60mS, less than 100mS, the limit.
But Oshidori claims the gov't should know of the worker' death even if he was exposed to a dose less than 100mS. But Parliamentary Secretary Sonoda tries to repeat an evasive answer.
[...]

The website of Osidori (in Japanese):
http://oshidori.laff.jp/
http://oshidori-mako.laff.jp/ (diary of Makorine)
http://twitter.com/intent/user?screen...)

The website of News fot the People in Japan (in Japanese):
http://www.news-pj.net/

The original video by IWJ:
http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/18081533

About the donation for IWJ:
http://iwakamiyasumi.com/archives/3338

The IAEA, WHO and TEPCO should be a case for the International Criminal Courts IAEA, WHO と東電は国際刑事裁判所で、裁かれるべき

(Source) http://tekknorg.wordpress.com/2011/03/26/the-iaea-who-and-tepco-should-be-a-case-for-the-international-criminal-courts/

March 26, 2011 by Mikkai 妊娠中の日本人女性の避難すぐ

The IAEA organizes propaganda conferences each year. Only those who are recommended by their country’s atomic authority are permitted to participate. Nuclear issues which are subject to criticism are excluded.
The World Health Organization (WHO) also organizes annual conferences. However, WHO is gagged by the IAEA (per Agreement WHA 12-40 of 1959) and is prohibited from independently issuing statements regarding the health effects of atomic accidents.
This means the IAEA’s engineers and physicists are given the legal right to make statements about the health impacts of atomic accidents at the same time medical doctors from the World Health Organization are legally prohibited from doing so. The IAEA’s physicists issue official statements about the biological effects of exposure to radiation or radioactive contamination; they are permitted to assess the impact of accidental exposure or releases of radioactive contamination on human health.
The IAEA has a history of denying that the following health impacts occurred as a result of exposure to radiation and radioactive contaminants: damage to the immune system, stillbirths, thyroid cancer in children, brain damage, mental retardation, trisomy 21, diabetes, fetal abnormalities, disabled children, and all kinds of cancer, illness.
Many of these illnesses occur months, years or decades after initial or continued exposure and therefore, the IAEA and WHO artificially reduce the casualty count by including only those injuries received in the first minutes, hours, days following a nuclear accident.
Keith Baverstock - World Health Organisation and IAEA - April 9th 2011, part3


The proposal to bring TEPCO before the International Criminal Court (ICC) was made by German politician, Stefan Wenzel on April 9th, 2011, during the IPPNW congress in Berlin. Watch his impressive speech here (beginning at 4:08 Min.):
He also brought the following proposal to dissolve the secret relationship between the IAEA and WHO before the “Bundestag”, a federal legislative body in Germany.

(Editor's Note:  The Japanese Government should also be a case for the International Criminal Court.)

Fukushima fallout damaged thyroid glands of California babies 福島事故により、カリフォルニアの赤ちゃんの甲状腺にも悪影響を及ぼしている

(Source) http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/2164974/fukushima_fallout_damaged_thyroid_glands_of_california_babies.html
A new study finds that radioactive Iodine from Fukushima has caused a significant increase in hypothyroidism among babies in California, 5,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean.
A new study of the effects of tiny quantities of radioactive fallout from Fukushima on the health of babies born in California shows a significant excess of hypothyroidism caused by the radioactive contamination travelling 5,000 miles across the Pacific. The article will be published next week in the peer-reviewed journal Open Journal of Pediatrics.
Congenital hypothyroidism is a rare but serious condition normally affecting about one child in 2,000, and one that demands clinical intervention - the growth of children suffering from the condition is affected if they are left untreated. All babies born in California are monitored at birth for Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH) levels in blood, since high levels indicate hypothyroidism.
Joe Mangano and Janette Sherman of the Radiation and Public Health Project in New York, and Christopher Busby, guest researcher at Jacobs University, Bremen, examined congenital hypothyroidism (CH) rates in newborns using data obtained from the State of California over the period of the Fukushima explosions.
Their results are published in their paper Changes in confirmed plus borderline cases of congenital hypothyroidism in California as a function of environmental fallout from the Fukushima nuclear meltdown. The researchers compared data for babies exposed to radioactive Iodine-131 and born between March 17th and Dec 31st 2011 with unexposed babies born in 2011 before the exposures plus those born in 2012.
Confirmed cases of hypothyroidism, defined as those with TSH level greater than 29 units increased by 21% in the group of babies that were exposed to excess radioactive Iodine in the womb [*]. The same group of children had a 27% increase in 'borderline cases' [**].
Contrary to many reports, the explosion of the reactors and spent fuel pools at Fukushima produced levels of radioactive contamination which were comparable with the Chernobyl releases in 1986. Using estimates made by the Norwegian Air Laboratory it is possible to estimate that more than 250PBq (200 x 10¹⁵) Bq of Iodine-131 (half life 8 days) were released at Fukushima.
This is also predicted by comparing the Caesium-137 estimates with I-131 releases from Chernobyl, quantities which caused the thyroid cancer epidemic in Byelarus, the Ukraine and parts of the Russian Republic.
More on this later. At Fukushima, the winds generally blew the radioactive iodine and other volatile radionuclides out to sea, to the Pacific Ocean. The journey 5,000 miles to the West Coast of the USA leaves a lot of time for dispersal and dilution. Nevertheless, small amounts of I-131 were measured in milk causing widespread concern.
The authorities downplayed any risk on the basis that the "doses" were very low; far lower than the natural background radiation. The University of Berkeley measured I-131 in rainwater from 18th to 28th March 2011 after which levels fell. If we assume that mothers drank 1 litre of rainwater a day for this period (of course they didn't) the current radiation risk model of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) calculates an absorbed dose to the adult thyroid of 23 microSieverts, less than 1/100th the annual background "dose". The foetus is more sensitive (by a factor of about 10 according to ICRP) but is exposed to less as it is perhaps 100 times smaller.
So this finding is one more instance of the fact that the current radiation risk model, employed by the governments of every nation, is massively insecure for predicting harm from internal radionuclide exposures or explaining the clear observations.
The Fukushima catastrophe has been dismissed as a potential cause of health effects even in Japan, let alone as far away as California. And on what basis? Because the "dose" is too low.
This is the mantra chanted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the World Health Organization (WHO, largely the same outfit), and the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR). And let's not forget all the nuclear scientists who swooped down on Fukushima with their International Conferences and placatory soothing presentations.
[…]
[…]
There had been an unexpected and statistically significant increase in infant leukemia (age 0-1) in those children who were in the womb during the (whole body monitored) increased levels of Caesium-137 from Chernobyl. The beauty of this study (like the TSH study) is that, unlike the Sellafield child leukemias, there is really no possible alternative explanation.
It was the low "dose" of Caesium-137 that caused the leukemias. And the dose response trend was not a straight line: The effect at the very low "dose" was greater than at the very high "dose". Presumably because at the high doses the babies perished in the womb and could not, therefore, develop leukemia. I published the results and drew attention to the failure of the ICRP model in the International Journal of Environment and Public Health in 2009.
I had published a paper on this infant leukemia proof of the failure of the risk model in Energy and Environment in 2000, and also presented it in the same year at the World Health Organisation conference in Kiev. It was there that I first really came up against the inversion of science deployed by the chiefs of the IAEA and UNSCEAR. The conference was videofilmed by Wladimir Tchertkoff and you can see his excellent documentary, which made it to Swiss TV, Atomic Lies, re-released in 2004 as Nuclear Controversies (link to youtube, 51 minutes).
For what is done by these people is to dismiss any evidence of increased rates of cancer or any other disease by shouting at it: "the doses were too low". In this way, reality is airbrushed away. What is this quantity "dose"? It is a simple physics-based quantity which represents the absorption of energy from radiation. One Sievert of gamma radiation is one Joule per kilogram of living tissue.
This might work for external radiation. But it doesn't work for internal exposures to radioactive elements which can produce huge effects on cellular DNA at low average "doses". It is like comparing warming yourself in front of the fire with eating a hot coal. Or comparing a punch to stabbing. Same dose, same energy. Very different effects.
This "dose" scam has been used to dismiss real effects since it was invented in 1952 to deal with the exposures from nuclear weapons development and testing. For those who want to dig deeper into the science there is a recent book chapter I wrote in the book New Research Directions in DNS Repair.
The most scary instances of the sensitivity of the foetus to radiation are the sex ratio studies of Hagen Scherb, a German biostatician and member of the European Committee on Radiation Risk (ECRR).
[...]
Of course, the exposure to radio-Iodine is associated with thyroid cancer in children. There was a big rise of thyroid cancer in Byelarus, the Ukraine and the Russian Republic after Chernobyl. The situation at Fukushima seems set to echo this, despite the reassurances from the authorities that there will be no effects.
Our paper reports 44 confirmed thyroid cancer cases in 0-18 year olds in Fukushima prefecture in the last six months (a figure that has since risen to 53). In the hypothyroidism paper we discuss the 44 cases relative to the population and calculate that this represents an 80-fold excess based on national data prior to the Fukushima Iodine releases.
This presents a severe challenge to Dr Wolfgang Weiss of the UN and WHO, who stated last year that no thyroid cancers could result from the Fukushima disaster as the "doses were too low". How does he explain the 80-fold increase in this normally rare condition?
Or rather, when will he admit that the entire scientific model that underpins his views is fraudulent? And that nuclear radiation is - roughly speaking - 1,000 times more dangerous to human health than he is letting on?
Chris Busby is the Scientific Secretary of the European Committee on Radiation Risk. For details and current CV see www.chrisbusbyexposed.org. For accounts of his work see www.greeenaudit.org, www.llrc.org and www.nuclearjustice.org