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Indybay Feature

SF Japan Consulate Speak-out-Evacuate The Families and Children Of Fukushima And Stop The

sm_japan_fukushima_rivers_of_radiation.jpg
Date:
Sunday, December 11, 2016
Time:
3:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Event Type:
Press Conference
Organizer/Author:
No Nukes Action Committee
Location Details:
San Francisco Japanese Consulate
275 Battery St./California
San Francisco

12/11 SF Japan Consulate Speak-out-Evacuate The Families and Children Of Fukushima And Stop The Cover-up
Sunday December 11, 2016 3:00 PM
275 Battery St./California St.
San Francisco

On Sunday December 11, 2016 at 3:00 PM there will be a speak out rally to defend the families and children of Fukushima and against the restart of Japan's nuclear plants.
The Japanese Abe government continues to tell the people of Fukushima and Japan that they have "decontaminated" Fukushima and families and workers should move back. The reality is that people continue to be contaminated and even the government admits that the financial costs are out of control.
At the same time the government is seeking to sell more nuclear power plants to countries throughout the world including Turkey.
The majority of Japanese people are against the restarting of nuclear power plants but the Abe government is moving ahead to restart more plants. The government which has nationalized TEPCO because of the massive financial costs is using contract labor with tens of thousands of workers becoming contaminated in this work. They have brought in immigrant workers and day laborers in some cases under the control of Yakuza contractors and most of these workers doing work at the plant do not receive proper health and safety training putting them in serious health dangers.
The government has also raised the level of acceptable radioactive contamination.
The government is also pushing militarization and supporting more US bases in Okinawa that will contain nuclear weapons despite the opposition of the people of Okinawa.
Join the speak out in support of the Fukushima families and in opposition to the restarting of the Japan's remaining 40 nuclear plants.

Speak Out and Rally initiated by
No Nukes Action Committee
http://nonukesaction.wordpress.com/


Japan Kagoshima Governor under fire as Sendai nuclear reactor likely to restart "“What he had done over the past months now appears to be a mere publicity stunt,” said Yukio Taira, chief of a confederation of labor unions in Kagoshima Prefecture. Taira withdrew his candidacy in the governor’s race in July after he and Mitazono agreed on many policy measures toward a temporary halt of operations at the nuclear plant in Satsuma-Sendai."
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201611290066.html
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
November 29, 2016 at 18:15 JST


Kagoshima Governor Satoshi Mitazono on Nov. 28 explains to the prefectural assembly why he has requested a budget to form a committee of experts on nuclear power generation. (Akemi Saito)
KAGOSHIMA—Anti-nuclear activists are castigating Governor Satoshi Mitazono, saying the politician has retreated from his campaign promises regarding the planned restart of a nuclear reactor in the prefecture.

Despite stressing that he would take a hard look at safety issues, Mitazono’s actions on Nov. 28 indicate that Kyushu Electric Power Co. will be allowed to restart the No. 1 reactor at its Sendai plant on Dec. 8 as was expected.

“What he had done over the past months now appears to be a mere publicity stunt,” said Yukio Taira, chief of a confederation of labor unions in Kagoshima Prefecture.

Taira withdrew his candidacy in the governor’s race in July after he and Mitazono agreed on many policy measures toward a temporary halt of operations at the nuclear plant in Satsuma-Sendai.

Mitazono on Nov. 28 submitted to the prefectural assembly a budget proposal for establishing an expert panel on nuclear power generation--a centerpiece of his campaign pledges.

“I will make a comprehensive judgment on how to respond when the panel releases its findings of the utility’s reports on ‘special checks,’” Mitazono told the assembly session, referring to the reactor restart plan.

However, given that a governor does not have the legal authority to order a halt, the No. 1 reactor will probably already be running by the time those findings are released.

The assembly is expected to vote on the budget request for the panel on Dec. 16. Kyushu Electric is scheduled to release the outcome of its special checks in early January.

The utility agreed to carry out the additional checks in response to the new governor's concerns. These inspections, including checking bolts fastened on barrels containing nuclear waste, are nothing new and have been done in the past, according to Kyushu Electric.

Two reactors at the Sendai plant were the first in the nation to go online under new nuclear safety regulations set up after the 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukushima Prefecture.

The No. 1 reactor has been shut down for maintenance since October. The No. 2 reactor is scheduled to be taken offline in December for a routine inspection.

Mitazono, a former TV journalist, was elected on campaign promises to take a “strong response regarding a reactor restart if the envisaged committee deems the plant unsafe.”

Concerns over the safety of the nuclear complex arose when roads and other infrastructure were damaged in a series of powerful quakes that began rattling neighboring Kumamoto Prefecture in April.

After gaining support from anti-nuclear groups, Mitazono won the race against the incumbent, who was seen as friendlier toward nuclear power generation.

But after he took office, Mitazono appeared to back off from his campaign promises.

He did request an “immediate halt” of plant operations to Michiaki Uriu, president of Kyushu Electric, in late August and early September.

After the company refused the governor’s requests, Mitazono decided not to pursue the issue, saying a governor does not have the legal authority to demand a halt to operations.

He tried to assuage public concerns about the safety of the plant, citing the extra special checks the utility promised to conduct.

Taira said Mitazono has rejected repeated requests for a meeting with him and other anti-nuclear activists. They have asked Mitazono to quickly establish the expert panel for possible action to counter Kyushu Electric’s reactor restart plans. But the governor did not reply.

Mitazono also did not submit a budget request for the expert panel in the September session.

When asked by reporters, Mitazono merely kept saying he would establish the panel “as soon as possible.”

“He is breaking the campaign promise if he allows the resumption of the plant without obtaining the conclusion of the panel,” Taira said.

According to one source, the governor told an informal gathering of members of the Liberal Democratic Party, the largest group in the assembly, that he shares the LDP’s direction in nuclear power policy.

(This article was written by Takeshi Nakashima and Sei Iwanami.)

Tokyo says Tepco may stay nationalized to deal with massive cost of nuclear disaster
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2016/12/05/national/tokyo-says-tepco-may-stay-nationalized-deal-massive-cost-nuclear-disaster/#.WEZJ8hS_K-Q
KYODO

• DEC 5, 2016
Faced with massive ongoing costs stemming from the 2011 nuclear crisis in Fukushima, Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings Inc. may remain under state control longer than initially planned, the government said Monday.

Under the current plan, the utility would gradually reduce government involvement in its management from April.

However, at a key panel meeting the government proposed a revised option in light of the huge compensation and decommissioning expenses that are involved.

The government leads the business operations of the utility, known as Tepco, acquiring 50.1 percent of its voting rights through the state-backed Nuclear Damage Compensation and Decommissioning Facilitation Corp.

Some ministry bureaucrats have also been dispatched to the utility.

It is understood the state-backed body will assess efforts to reform the company in late March and make a decision on whether to reduce state involvement.

“The direction of Tepco reform is coming into sight,” said Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Hiroshige Seko at the panel meeting. “We have to come up with a more detailed picture of the reform.”

The government is seeking to split the activities of the utility into “business operations,” including retail sales and power generation, and “Fukushima operations” related to decommissioning reactors at the disaster-hit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant and paying compensation, which would remain under public control.

As for Tepco’s business operations, the government plans to free them of state control at an early date, hoping to promote industry reorganization involving nuclear and energy distribution businesses.

The plan was revealed at the panel meeting at the trade ministry to study compensation and decommissioning issues facing the utility. The panel will compile proposals by the end of this year.

The government also seeks cooperation from other power companies in reactivating Tepco’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in Niigata Prefecture, which would be the main source of its revenue.

With the involvement of other utilities, the government hopes to ease local distrust of Tepco’s nuclear plant operations. Two reactors at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa plant are under prolonged safety examinations by nuclear regulators.

Fukushima Nuclear Decommission, Compensation Costs to Almost Double To $177.51 billion US: Media
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2016/11/27/world/asia/27reuters-tepco-outlook.html?ref=world&_r=0
By REUTERS
NOV. 27, 2016, 8:33 P.M. E.S.T.

TOKYO — Japan's trade ministry has almost doubled the estimated cost of compensation for the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster and decommissioning of the damaged Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant to more than 20 trillion yen ($177.51 billion), the Nikkei business daily reported on Sunday.

The trade ministry at the end of 2013 calculated the cost at 11 trillion yen, which was comprised of 5.4 trillion yen for compensation, 2.5 trillion yen for decontamination, 1.1 trillion yen for an interim storage facility for contaminated soil, and 2 trillion yen for decommissioning, the report said.

The new estimate raised the cost of compensation to 8 trillion yen and decontamination to 4-5 trillion yen, the cost for an interim storage facility remained steady, and decommissioning will rise by several trillion yen, it added.

The part of the cost increase will be passed on in electricity fees, it added, citing multiple unnamed sources familiar with the matter.

The ministry could not provide immediate comment.

On March 11, 2011, a massive 9 magnitude earthquake, the strongest quake ever recorded in Japan, created three tsunamis that knocked out the Fukushima-Daiichi plant, causing the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl a quarter of a century earlier.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will discuss with the Ministry of Finance a possible expansion of the interest-free loan program from 9 trillion yen, to help support the finances of the Fukushima plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co's, the report said.

The cost of cleaning up Tokyo Electric Power's wrecked Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear plant may rise to several billion dollars a year, from less than $800 million per year now, the Japanese government said last month.

The Mainichi newspaper reported in October that Japan's utilities lobby expects clean-up and compensation costs from the Fukushima disaster to overshoot previous estimates by 8.1 trillion yen.

(Reporting by Osamu Tsukimori; Editing by Michael Perry)
Added to the calendar on Sat, Dec 10, 2016 11:01AM
japan_fukushima_workers_with_masks.jpg
The Japanese government which has nationalized Tokyo Electric Power Company TEPCO has refused to directly hire workers who are trying to deal with the continuing dangers to the people and workers. Most contract workers do not have proper health and safety training and also corrupt sub contractors profit from the exploitation of these clean up workers.
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