9/11 SF Rally/Speakout Against Japan Restarting Nuclear Plants and Growing Dangers Of Cont

9/11 SF Rally/Speakout Against Japan Restarting Nuclear Plants and Growing Dangers Of Contamination and More Accidents
Monday September 11, 2015 3:00PM
Japanese Consulate
275 Battery St./California
San Francisco, CA

Stop All Restarts Of Japan Nuclear Plants, Defend Fukushima Residents And All The People Of Japan

The Japanse Abe government continues to restart Japanese nuclear plants. The Sindai plant in Kyushu has reopened despite the opposition by the community and the majority of the people of Japan. The recent typhoon and floods has again raised serious health and safety problems with the release of more radioactive water being released into the Pacific ocean affecting not only the people of Japan but the people in the Pacific Rim.
At the same time the government continues to move toward militarization and organizing to sanitize the history of the 2nd World War arguing that the comfort women from China, Korea, the Philippines and other countries were not coerced by the military.
This effort to censor the history of the 2nd World War in order to justify the re-militarization of Japan is directly connected to the effort to violate the Article 9 which prohibits offensive war, the passage of the secrecy law and the effort to set up the draft of Japanese students in the military. Additionally against the opposition of the majority of the people of Okinawa the Abe government continues to push to build a new US military base that would further threaten the environment and the health and safety of the people of this small island.
This is a threat to the people of Japan and the people of Asia and the world.
Speakers will speak out on these and other issues at the monthly rally that has been organized by the
For more information or to endorse
No Nukes Action Committee
http://nonukesaction.wordpress.com/
(510) 495-5952

Japan Sendai nuclear plant operator set to plug leaks in 5 cooling system pipes
http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201508250046
August 25, 2015

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
SATSUMA-SENDAI, Kagoshima Prefecture--The operator of the recently reactivated Sendai nuclear power plant here said it had pinpointed the sites of leaks that forced a postponement of full reactor operations.

Kyushu Electric Power Co. said it detected tiny cracks in five narrow pipes that carry seawater used to cool steam. The pipes are part of the steam condenser at the No. 1 reactor, which resumed operation on Aug. 11.

Output will be maintained at 75 percent of capacity, while the utility carries out checks for further holes.

Kyushu Electric was expected to release a final report on the glitch on Aug. 25. At the same time, it said fully restored reactor operations will be postponed from the scheduled date of Aug. 25.

The regional utility detected a tiny amount of seawater leaked into one of three condensers in the secondary cooling system of the reactor, which has an output of 890 megawatts, on Aug. 20.

The seawater was flowing in the condenser, a device that converts steam used in power generation to water by cooling it, and became mixed with the secondary cooling water that does not contain radioactive materials.

Kyushu Electric suspended operations of one of the two water circulation channels through the condenser at issue and inspected narrow pipes forming the system by passing an electric current through it.

Technicians found miniscule holes in five of 13,000 pipes they had inspected as of 10 a.m. on Aug. 24. After inspecting all the pipes, the workers will repair the faulty bits.

Kyushu Electric said the seawater was removed with a desalination device and operations at the No. 1 reactor were not hindered.

The reactor was restarted earlier this month for the first time since it was shut down for a periodic inspection in May 2011. Opponents of the plant have voiced safety concerns.

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

Japan resumes nuclear reactor operation for 1st time in 2 years
http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150811p2a00m0na017000c.html
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The reactivated No. 1 reactor, right, is pictured at the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture, on Aug. 11, 2015, in this photograph taken from a Mainichi helicopter. (Mainichi)
Kyushu Electric Power Co. on Aug. 11 restarted the No. 1 reactor at its Sendai Nuclear Power Plant in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture, making it the first reactor to be reactivated under new safety regulations established in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

It was the first time in about two years for a nuclear reactor to operate in Japan, after the No. 3 and No. 4 reactors at the Oi Nuclear Power Plant in Fukui Prefecture were shut down in September 2013. The Kagoshima plant's 890 megawatt No. 1 reactor had been inactive for around four years, three months.

At 10:30 a.m. on Aug. 11, a lever in the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant's central control room was operated to remove rods controlling nuclear fission from the reactor. The reactor is expected to reach criticality at about 11 p.m. the same day.

After the reactor reaches criticality, Kyushu Electric Power Co. will check that it can be safely shut down, and if there are no problems, power generation and transmission will begin on Aug. 14. The power company will bring the reactor to full operating capacity in stages while checking the temperature and pressure inside the reactor.

If Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) finds no problems with the reactor during an inspection, commercial operation will resume in early September.

Operation of the No. 1 reactor at the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant was suspended in May 2011 for a regular inspection. Since the reactor has been offline for a long time, possible trouble caused by deterioration of pipes and other equipment has been feared. It is rare globally for a reactor to be restarted after being offline for more than four years.

NRA Chairman Shunichi Tanaka has commented that various problems are envisaged, and the nuclear watchdog is therefore seeking solid safety precautions. The power company has said it will quickly release information if there is any trouble or if equipment malfunctions.

Kyushu Electric Power Co. has also had the nuclear plant's No. 2 reactor undergo preoperational checks, and if there are no problems, the reactor is expected to be restarted in mid-October.

Japan has a total of 54 nuclear reactors. In the wake of the meltdowns at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant triggered by a massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, reactors were gradually shut down, and in May 2012 no reactors were in operation. In July that year, the government restarted the No. 3 and 4 reactors at the Oi Nuclear Power Plant in Fukui Prefecture as a special measure, but they were shut down in September 2013 for regular inspections, again leaving Japan with no reactors in operation.

Applications have been filed with the NRA to screen 25 reactors at 15 nuclear power plants in Japan. In addition to the No. 1 and 2 reactors at the Sendai plant, other reactors to have received safety approval from the regulator are the No. 3 and 4 reactors at Kansai Electric Power Co.'s Takahama plant in Fukui Prefecture, and the No. 3 reactor at Shikoku Electric Power Co.'s Ikata plant in Ehime Prefecture. All of these reactors are pressurized water reactors, different from those at the Fukushima plant.

The Fukui District Court has issued a temporary injunction halting activation of reactors at the Takahama plant, and there are no immediate prospects of the plant's reactors being restarted.

It is unclear whether local consent can be obtained for restarting the Ikata plant reactor, and it is unlikely that it will be reactivated this year.

Click here for Japanese article
August 11, 2015 (Mainichi Japan)

Japan JR East begins decontaminating tracks in areas affected by nuclear crisis despite dangerous levels of radiation
http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150821p2a00m0na002000c.html

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Workers remove weeds along the JR Joban Line tracks in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture, on Aug. 20, 2015, in preparation for work to decontaminate the tracks on a trial basis. (Photo courtesy of JR East Mito branch)
East Japan Railway Co. (JR East) began on Aug. 20 to decontaminate tracks on the Joban Line, which have been affected by the Fukushima nuclear crisis, on a trial basis, company officials said.

The work, which is part of JR East's efforts to resume services between Tomioka and Namie stations, got under way in a section between Yonomori and Futaba stations where radiation levels are particularly high.

After analyzing data showing how radiation levels have declined following the decontamination, JR East is expected to consider when to resume services between Tomioka and Namie stations.

The company will remove rails and sleepers in a 50-meter section at six separate spots, where radiation levels are 2.8 to 28 microsieverts per hour, and remove surface soil. All these six spots are situated in a zone where it is difficult for evacuated residents to return in the foreseeable future, with annual cumulative radiation levels exceeding 50 millisieverts, in the town of Okuma. All decommission workers are required to put on protective gear.

On Aug. 20, workers removed weeds around the tracks and created roads through which necessary equipment will be brought into these areas.

Services on the Joban Line have been suspended in some sections in Fukushima Prefecture since the outbreak of the nuclear crisis triggered by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and ensuing tsunami.

JR East aims to resume services on the Odaka-Haranomachi section by the spring of 2016, the Namie-Odaka section by March 2017, the Tatsuta-Tomioka section by March 2018 and the Soma-Hamayoshida section by the spring of 2017.

August 21, 2015 (Mainichi Japan)

No. 1 reactor at its Sendai Nuclear Power Plant in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture

3,000 Japan High schoolers protest security bills in Harajuku area
http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150803p2a00m0na006000c.html

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High school students parade down streets in Tokyo's Shibuya Ward in protest against the security-related bills on Aug. 2, 2015. (Mainichi)
Click to enlarge
Thousands of high school students took to the streets in Tokyo's Harajuku and other areas in protest against the government-sponsored security-related bills on Aug. 2, chanting such slogans as "No war" and "Protect Japan from (Prime Minister) Shinzo Abe," say organizers.

Clad in their school uniforms on a scorching Sunday, participants paraded down streets in the capital's Shibuya Ward to the tune of music to decry the security legislation now under deliberation in the House of Councillors, raising placards bearing such messages as "War is over" and "Change the prime minister." Organizers put the number of participants at some 3,000.

A 16-year-old participant from Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, learned about the demonstration via Twitter as a follower of the organizers' group. "I'm proud that Article 9 of the Constitution renounces war," she said.

Another 16-year-old high school student from Tokyo's Koto Ward commented, "I want to demonstrate that high school students can also play an important role in thwarting moves toward constitutional amendment."

Click here for Japanese article
August 03, 2015 (Mainichi Japan)