Publish to Newswire
Add an EventFrom the Open-Publishing Calendar
From the Open-Publishing Newswire
Indybay Feature
Speak-out-Evacuate The Families & Children Of Fukushima & Stop The Cover-up By Abe Gvmt
Import event into your personal calendar
Date:
Saturday, February 11, 2017
Time:
3:00 PM
-
4:00 PM
Event Type:
Class/Workshop
Organizer/Author:
No Nukes Action
Location Details:
Japanese Consulate
275 Battery St./California St.
San Francisco
275 Battery St./California St.
San Francisco
2/11 SF Japan Consulate Speak-out-Evacuate The Families and Children Of Fukushima And Stop The Cover-up
Saturday February 11, 2017 3:00 PM
Japanese Consulate
275 Battery St./California St.
San Francisco
On February 11, 2017 there will be a press conference and rally to stop the start up of all Japanese nuclear power plants. Despite the fact that nearly 6 years after Fukushima the 3 melted down plants continue to release radioactive material. Radioactive water continues to flow into the Pacifica and TEPCO has now discovered a hole in the No. 2 reactor with a level of 530 sieverts an hour. There is also a growing epidemic of thyroid cancer among children and families and the Abe government is demanding that families move back into the Fukushima area with the argument that they have decontaminated the area. Toshiba which heavily invested in nuclear power has now faced major downsizes as it takes billions of dollars in losses. The government also passed a "secrecy law" that is being used to silence journalists and investigators about what is happening at Fukushima and also they are working to pass a "conspiracy law" to jail political opponents.
The drive to militarization is also leading to more new military bases with nuclear weapons in Okinawa. The militarization of Japan and Asia will only hurt the people of Fukushima, Japan and the world.
Join with us to let our voices be heard to defend the children and families of Okinawa and the people of Japan from nuclear contamination and destruction.
Speak Out and Rally initiated by
No Nukes Action Committee
http://nonukesaction.wordpress.com/
Radiation level at Fukushima reactor highest since 2011 disaster; grating hole found "If the deposits are confirmed as fuel debris, it would be the first time the utility has found any at the three units that suffered meltdowns."
http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20170202/p2g/00m/0dm/087000c
February 2, 2017 (Mainichi Japan)
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The radiation level inside the containment vessel of the No. 2 reactor at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex stood at 530 sieverts per hour at a maximum, the highest since the 2011 disaster, the plant operator said Thursday.
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. also announced that based on image analysis, a hole measuring 2 meters in diameter has been found on a metal grating beneath the pressure vessel inside the containment vessel and a portion of the grating was distorted.
According to TEPCO, the extremely high radiation level was found near the entrance area in the space just below the pressure vessel. The previously highest radiation level monitored in the interior of the reactor was 73 sieverts per hour.
The hole could have been caused by nuclear fuel that penetrated the reactor vessel as it overheated and melted due to the loss of reactor cooling functions in the days after a powerful earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011 hit northeastern Japan.
According to the image analysis, about 1 square meter of the grating was missing.
The plant operator plans to deploy a robot at the bottom of the reactor containment vessel, which houses the reactor pressure vessel, to check the conditions there.
The analysis follows TEPCO's discovery Monday of a black mass deposited on the grating directly beneath the pressure vessel, possibly melted fuel after the unit suffered a meltdown along with two other Fukushima Daiichi reactors.
Images captured using a camera attached to a telescopic arm on Monday also showed part of the grating has gone. A further analysis of the images found a 2-meter hole in an area beyond the missing section on the structure.
If the deposits are confirmed as fuel debris, it would be the first time the utility has found any at the three units that suffered meltdowns.
Following one of the world's worst nuclear disasters since the 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe, the No. 1 to 3 reactors suffered fuel meltdowns.
Portions of the fuel in the reactors are believed to have melted through the pressure vessels and accumulated at the bottom of the containment vessels.
The actual condition of the melted fuel has remained unknown due to high radiation levels.
Japan Toshiba pulling out of overseas nuclear reactor construction
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201701280024.html
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
January 28, 2017 at 16:30 JST
Toshiba Corp. President Satoshi Tsunakawa replies to a question during a news conference in Tokyo on Jan. 27. (Shogo Koshida)
Toshiba Corp. has decided to withdraw from the business of constructing nuclear reactors overseas after forecasting a huge deficit for its U.S. subsidiary in the business year ending in March.
The Tokyo-based electronics appliance maker said Jan. 27 the decision was taken to prevent business deficits from rising sharply again in the future.
“We focused on the nuclear business among all of our energy businesses, but this will change," Toshiba's president, Satoshi Tsunakawa, said in a news conference on Jan. 27. "This will entail a review of our overseas (nuclear) business.”
Toshiba had failed to grasp huge losses that would result from the purchase of a company that was constructing nuclear reactors by its subsidiary, Westinghouse Electric Corp.
Reflecting on that failure, Toshiba plans to strengthen the supervision of its overseas nuclear business by putting related divisions under the direct control of the president.
In the future, Toshiba plans to concentrate only on designing, manufacturing and supplying nuclear reactors. It will withdraw from the reactor construction business because of the difficulties in forecasting construction costs.
“We will eliminate the risk from the construction business,” Tsunakawa said.
Toshiba has aimed to win orders for 45 or more nuclear reactors overseas by fiscal 2030. However, it now plans to review that goal.
The deficit from the nuclear business in the United States is likely to increase to about 700 billion yen ($6.1 billion) in this business year. Toshiba plans to announce the exact amount on Feb. 14 when it releases its financial statement for the period from April to December 2016.
Over 200 protest gov't's resumption of Henoko base relocation work
http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20161227/p2a/00m/0na/012000c
December 27, 2016 (Mainichi Japan)
Participants of a demonstration against the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to the Henoko district of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, stage a sit-in in front of the gates at the U.S. Marine Corps' Camp Schwab in Nago on Dec. 27, 2016. (Mainichi)
NAGO, Okinawa -- More than 200 people staged a protest here against the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to the Henoko district of this city on Dec. 27 as the government resumed construction work the same day, chanting slogans such as "No base for Henoko's sea."
In front of the gates at U.S. Marine Corps' Camp Schwab in Henoko, a sit-in began shortly past 6:30 a.m. as base security guards wearing helmets kept watch. One after another, protesters arrived by bus or car at the gates used by construction vehicles to join the demonstration.
This afternoon, the central government resumed base relocation work for the first time since March, after Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga retracted his revocation of his predecessor's approval for reclamation work off Henoko as part of the base relocation work a day earlier.
"This is the start of a new struggle. We must not lose," said Satoru Oshiro, 53, secretary-general of the Okinawa Heiwa Undo Center (Okinawa peace movement center), as he addressed the protesters. In response, rally participants raised placards reading, "No to resumption of construction work!" and "Don't kill the sea."
The day marked three years since then Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima approved the central government's request for reclamation work off Henoko. Gov. Onaga, who replaced Nakaima, subsequently rescinded his predecessor's approval, but he retracted the revocation on Dec. 26 after the Okinawa Prefectural Government lost a court battle against the central government over the issue.
Keiichi Yamauchi, 66, a farmer from the Okinawa Prefecture village of Yomitan who has taken part in anti-base protests for about three years, said, "The situation has returned to what it was that day three years ago." Raising his fist in anger, he added, "If the relocation work is granted, Okinawa, which is filled with U.S. military bases, will face an even worse situation. We must start over."
Makoto Yasu, 51, an occupational therapist from the Okinawa Prefecture town of Yonabaru, joined the protest ahead of his work. "If the base is built here, our daily lives will be further threatened." He emphasized, "The military won't protect the lives of residents."
Meanwhile, Kyoki Nakagawa, secretary-general of the LDP's Okinawa Prefectural Chapter, said, "The Supreme Court ruling showed that the previous governor's decision was not mistaken. Relocation is unavoidable if we are to eliminate the dangers posed by Futenma air station. I will closely watch the progress of construction."
Saturday February 11, 2017 3:00 PM
Japanese Consulate
275 Battery St./California St.
San Francisco
On February 11, 2017 there will be a press conference and rally to stop the start up of all Japanese nuclear power plants. Despite the fact that nearly 6 years after Fukushima the 3 melted down plants continue to release radioactive material. Radioactive water continues to flow into the Pacifica and TEPCO has now discovered a hole in the No. 2 reactor with a level of 530 sieverts an hour. There is also a growing epidemic of thyroid cancer among children and families and the Abe government is demanding that families move back into the Fukushima area with the argument that they have decontaminated the area. Toshiba which heavily invested in nuclear power has now faced major downsizes as it takes billions of dollars in losses. The government also passed a "secrecy law" that is being used to silence journalists and investigators about what is happening at Fukushima and also they are working to pass a "conspiracy law" to jail political opponents.
The drive to militarization is also leading to more new military bases with nuclear weapons in Okinawa. The militarization of Japan and Asia will only hurt the people of Fukushima, Japan and the world.
Join with us to let our voices be heard to defend the children and families of Okinawa and the people of Japan from nuclear contamination and destruction.
Speak Out and Rally initiated by
No Nukes Action Committee
http://nonukesaction.wordpress.com/
Radiation level at Fukushima reactor highest since 2011 disaster; grating hole found "If the deposits are confirmed as fuel debris, it would be the first time the utility has found any at the three units that suffered meltdowns."
http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20170202/p2g/00m/0dm/087000c
February 2, 2017 (Mainichi Japan)
TOKYO (Kyodo) -- The radiation level inside the containment vessel of the No. 2 reactor at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex stood at 530 sieverts per hour at a maximum, the highest since the 2011 disaster, the plant operator said Thursday.
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. also announced that based on image analysis, a hole measuring 2 meters in diameter has been found on a metal grating beneath the pressure vessel inside the containment vessel and a portion of the grating was distorted.
According to TEPCO, the extremely high radiation level was found near the entrance area in the space just below the pressure vessel. The previously highest radiation level monitored in the interior of the reactor was 73 sieverts per hour.
The hole could have been caused by nuclear fuel that penetrated the reactor vessel as it overheated and melted due to the loss of reactor cooling functions in the days after a powerful earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011 hit northeastern Japan.
According to the image analysis, about 1 square meter of the grating was missing.
The plant operator plans to deploy a robot at the bottom of the reactor containment vessel, which houses the reactor pressure vessel, to check the conditions there.
The analysis follows TEPCO's discovery Monday of a black mass deposited on the grating directly beneath the pressure vessel, possibly melted fuel after the unit suffered a meltdown along with two other Fukushima Daiichi reactors.
Images captured using a camera attached to a telescopic arm on Monday also showed part of the grating has gone. A further analysis of the images found a 2-meter hole in an area beyond the missing section on the structure.
If the deposits are confirmed as fuel debris, it would be the first time the utility has found any at the three units that suffered meltdowns.
Following one of the world's worst nuclear disasters since the 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe, the No. 1 to 3 reactors suffered fuel meltdowns.
Portions of the fuel in the reactors are believed to have melted through the pressure vessels and accumulated at the bottom of the containment vessels.
The actual condition of the melted fuel has remained unknown due to high radiation levels.
Japan Toshiba pulling out of overseas nuclear reactor construction
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201701280024.html
THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
January 28, 2017 at 16:30 JST
Toshiba Corp. President Satoshi Tsunakawa replies to a question during a news conference in Tokyo on Jan. 27. (Shogo Koshida)
Toshiba Corp. has decided to withdraw from the business of constructing nuclear reactors overseas after forecasting a huge deficit for its U.S. subsidiary in the business year ending in March.
The Tokyo-based electronics appliance maker said Jan. 27 the decision was taken to prevent business deficits from rising sharply again in the future.
“We focused on the nuclear business among all of our energy businesses, but this will change," Toshiba's president, Satoshi Tsunakawa, said in a news conference on Jan. 27. "This will entail a review of our overseas (nuclear) business.”
Toshiba had failed to grasp huge losses that would result from the purchase of a company that was constructing nuclear reactors by its subsidiary, Westinghouse Electric Corp.
Reflecting on that failure, Toshiba plans to strengthen the supervision of its overseas nuclear business by putting related divisions under the direct control of the president.
In the future, Toshiba plans to concentrate only on designing, manufacturing and supplying nuclear reactors. It will withdraw from the reactor construction business because of the difficulties in forecasting construction costs.
“We will eliminate the risk from the construction business,” Tsunakawa said.
Toshiba has aimed to win orders for 45 or more nuclear reactors overseas by fiscal 2030. However, it now plans to review that goal.
The deficit from the nuclear business in the United States is likely to increase to about 700 billion yen ($6.1 billion) in this business year. Toshiba plans to announce the exact amount on Feb. 14 when it releases its financial statement for the period from April to December 2016.
Over 200 protest gov't's resumption of Henoko base relocation work
http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20161227/p2a/00m/0na/012000c
December 27, 2016 (Mainichi Japan)
Participants of a demonstration against the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to the Henoko district of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, stage a sit-in in front of the gates at the U.S. Marine Corps' Camp Schwab in Nago on Dec. 27, 2016. (Mainichi)
NAGO, Okinawa -- More than 200 people staged a protest here against the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to the Henoko district of this city on Dec. 27 as the government resumed construction work the same day, chanting slogans such as "No base for Henoko's sea."
In front of the gates at U.S. Marine Corps' Camp Schwab in Henoko, a sit-in began shortly past 6:30 a.m. as base security guards wearing helmets kept watch. One after another, protesters arrived by bus or car at the gates used by construction vehicles to join the demonstration.
This afternoon, the central government resumed base relocation work for the first time since March, after Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga retracted his revocation of his predecessor's approval for reclamation work off Henoko as part of the base relocation work a day earlier.
"This is the start of a new struggle. We must not lose," said Satoru Oshiro, 53, secretary-general of the Okinawa Heiwa Undo Center (Okinawa peace movement center), as he addressed the protesters. In response, rally participants raised placards reading, "No to resumption of construction work!" and "Don't kill the sea."
The day marked three years since then Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima approved the central government's request for reclamation work off Henoko. Gov. Onaga, who replaced Nakaima, subsequently rescinded his predecessor's approval, but he retracted the revocation on Dec. 26 after the Okinawa Prefectural Government lost a court battle against the central government over the issue.
Keiichi Yamauchi, 66, a farmer from the Okinawa Prefecture village of Yomitan who has taken part in anti-base protests for about three years, said, "The situation has returned to what it was that day three years ago." Raising his fist in anger, he added, "If the relocation work is granted, Okinawa, which is filled with U.S. military bases, will face an even worse situation. We must start over."
Makoto Yasu, 51, an occupational therapist from the Okinawa Prefecture town of Yonabaru, joined the protest ahead of his work. "If the base is built here, our daily lives will be further threatened." He emphasized, "The military won't protect the lives of residents."
Meanwhile, Kyoki Nakagawa, secretary-general of the LDP's Okinawa Prefectural Chapter, said, "The Supreme Court ruling showed that the previous governor's decision was not mistaken. Relocation is unavoidable if we are to eliminate the dangers posed by Futenma air station. I will closely watch the progress of construction."
For more information:
http://nonukesaction.wordpress.com/
Added to the calendar on Wed, Feb 8, 2017 9:01PM
Add Your Comments
Comments
(Hide Comments)
'Fukushima catastrophe ongoing: Leakage on a daily basis’
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/376607-leakage-radiation-fukushima-japan/
Published time: 7 Feb, 2017 16:56
© Tomohiro Ohsumi / Reuters
1.3K65
There are many shoes still to drop at Fukushima Daiichi, said Kevin Kamps, radioactive waste monitor at Beyond Nuclear. If something goes wrong with the radioactive waste storage pools, there could be a release of high-level radioactivity into the air, he added.
Trends
Fukushima nuclear disaster
Radiation at Fukushima’s nuclear power plant is at its highest level since the tsunami-triggered meltdown nearly six years ago. Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) is reporting atmospheric readings inside Daiichi’s reactor No.2 are as high as 530 sieverts an hour, while a human exposed to a single dose of 10 sieverts would die in a couple of weeks.
READ MORE: Record high fatal radiation levels, hole in reactor detected at crippled Fukushima nuclear facility
RT: Can you explain what is likely going on here?
Kevin Kamps: This catastrophe that is ongoing is nearly six years old at this point. The fuel, the melted cores have been missing an action. TEPCO doesn’t know where they are; the Japanese government doesn’t know where they are; nobody knows where they are. What could have happened is these probes, these cameras, these robots, these radiation monitors that are being sent in by TEPCO to try to figure out what is going on, may have encountered the closest they have come yet to these melted cores. They may even have come upon melted fuel that is not under water, and water serves as a radiation shielding. So if this is an open area and there is no water – that could explain.
But what you’ve got are melted reactor cores. Of course, human beings can’t be in operating atomic reactors. They also can’t be in this area where there is a meltdown. There is also imagery – it looks like a melt through of a metal grade. It all stands to reason that the cores melted through the reactor pressure vessels and down into the containment structures right through that metal grating.
It is not unexpected, but we still don’t know where the cores are. There are claims that “it’s all contained, don’t worry about it.” It is indisputable that there is a daily flow of radioactively contaminated groundwater into the ocean. The figures something like 80,000 gallons per day of relatively low-level radioactive waste water. Then you’ve got those storage tanks – we’re talking 800,000 tons of highly radioactive water stored in tanks. Every day they pour a hundred tons of water on each of these three melted down cores. Sometimes they lose those tanks. They leak, they overflow – it is an ongoing catastrophe.
RT: So the contamination, in this case, could leak out, couldn’t it?
KK: There is some leakage on a daily basis. Then they try to capture as much as they can and contain it in the storage tanks, which they sometimes lose, whether during a typhoon or through human error - they have had overflows. So many shoes can still drop at Fukushima Daiichi. One of the ones is the high radioactive waste storage pools that aren’t even inside radiological containment. They don’t have all of that spent nuclear fuel transferred to a safer location in a couple of the units still. If something were to go wrong with that – those would be open air releases of very high-level radioactivity.
The prime minister at the time the catastrophe began, [Naoto] Kan, had a contingency plan to evacuate all of North-East Japan – up to 50 million people. It was predominantly because of those storage pools. We’re still in that predicament- if one of those pools were to go up in flames. As Tokyo plans to host the 2020 Olympics and bring in many millions of extra people into this already densely populated area -it is not a good idea.
RT: Going back to this specific leak: how does this complicate the cleanup efforts there? Is it possible even to get something in there right now to examine what is going on?
KK: State of the art robotic technology – Japan is a leader in robotics – can only last so long, because the electronics get fried by the gamma radiation, and probably neutron radiation that is in there. That is the situation deep in there. They are already saying it will take 40 years to so-called decommission this, but that may be optimistic.
RT: Also in December the government said it is going to take twice as much money – nearly twice as much as they originally thought – to decommission that. Does this make matters ever worse – this leak? Or is this just kind of the situation to expect at this point?
KK: It just shows how dire the situation is. The figures of $150 billion to decommission – I have seen figures from a think tank in Japan sided by Green Peace Japan up to $600 billion. If you do full cost accounting: where is this high-level radioactive waste going to go? It is going to need a deep geological depository. You have to build that and operate it. That costs a hundred billion or more. So when you do full cost accounting, this catastrophe could cost hundreds of billions of dollars to recover from. We’re just in the beginning.
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/376607-leakage-radiation-fukushima-japan/
Published time: 7 Feb, 2017 16:56
© Tomohiro Ohsumi / Reuters
1.3K65
There are many shoes still to drop at Fukushima Daiichi, said Kevin Kamps, radioactive waste monitor at Beyond Nuclear. If something goes wrong with the radioactive waste storage pools, there could be a release of high-level radioactivity into the air, he added.
Trends
Fukushima nuclear disaster
Radiation at Fukushima’s nuclear power plant is at its highest level since the tsunami-triggered meltdown nearly six years ago. Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) is reporting atmospheric readings inside Daiichi’s reactor No.2 are as high as 530 sieverts an hour, while a human exposed to a single dose of 10 sieverts would die in a couple of weeks.
READ MORE: Record high fatal radiation levels, hole in reactor detected at crippled Fukushima nuclear facility
RT: Can you explain what is likely going on here?
Kevin Kamps: This catastrophe that is ongoing is nearly six years old at this point. The fuel, the melted cores have been missing an action. TEPCO doesn’t know where they are; the Japanese government doesn’t know where they are; nobody knows where they are. What could have happened is these probes, these cameras, these robots, these radiation monitors that are being sent in by TEPCO to try to figure out what is going on, may have encountered the closest they have come yet to these melted cores. They may even have come upon melted fuel that is not under water, and water serves as a radiation shielding. So if this is an open area and there is no water – that could explain.
But what you’ve got are melted reactor cores. Of course, human beings can’t be in operating atomic reactors. They also can’t be in this area where there is a meltdown. There is also imagery – it looks like a melt through of a metal grade. It all stands to reason that the cores melted through the reactor pressure vessels and down into the containment structures right through that metal grating.
It is not unexpected, but we still don’t know where the cores are. There are claims that “it’s all contained, don’t worry about it.” It is indisputable that there is a daily flow of radioactively contaminated groundwater into the ocean. The figures something like 80,000 gallons per day of relatively low-level radioactive waste water. Then you’ve got those storage tanks – we’re talking 800,000 tons of highly radioactive water stored in tanks. Every day they pour a hundred tons of water on each of these three melted down cores. Sometimes they lose those tanks. They leak, they overflow – it is an ongoing catastrophe.
RT: So the contamination, in this case, could leak out, couldn’t it?
KK: There is some leakage on a daily basis. Then they try to capture as much as they can and contain it in the storage tanks, which they sometimes lose, whether during a typhoon or through human error - they have had overflows. So many shoes can still drop at Fukushima Daiichi. One of the ones is the high radioactive waste storage pools that aren’t even inside radiological containment. They don’t have all of that spent nuclear fuel transferred to a safer location in a couple of the units still. If something were to go wrong with that – those would be open air releases of very high-level radioactivity.
The prime minister at the time the catastrophe began, [Naoto] Kan, had a contingency plan to evacuate all of North-East Japan – up to 50 million people. It was predominantly because of those storage pools. We’re still in that predicament- if one of those pools were to go up in flames. As Tokyo plans to host the 2020 Olympics and bring in many millions of extra people into this already densely populated area -it is not a good idea.
RT: Going back to this specific leak: how does this complicate the cleanup efforts there? Is it possible even to get something in there right now to examine what is going on?
KK: State of the art robotic technology – Japan is a leader in robotics – can only last so long, because the electronics get fried by the gamma radiation, and probably neutron radiation that is in there. That is the situation deep in there. They are already saying it will take 40 years to so-called decommission this, but that may be optimistic.
RT: Also in December the government said it is going to take twice as much money – nearly twice as much as they originally thought – to decommission that. Does this make matters ever worse – this leak? Or is this just kind of the situation to expect at this point?
KK: It just shows how dire the situation is. The figures of $150 billion to decommission – I have seen figures from a think tank in Japan sided by Green Peace Japan up to $600 billion. If you do full cost accounting: where is this high-level radioactive waste going to go? It is going to need a deep geological depository. You have to build that and operate it. That costs a hundred billion or more. So when you do full cost accounting, this catastrophe could cost hundreds of billions of dollars to recover from. We’re just in the beginning.
For more information:
https://www.rt.com/op-edge/376607-leakage-...
We are 100% volunteer and depend on your participation to sustain our efforts!
Donate
$75.00 donated
in the past month
Get Involved
If you'd like to help with maintaining or developing the website, contact us.
Publish
Publish your stories and upcoming events on Indybay.
Topics
More
Search Indybay's Archives
Advanced Search
►
▼
IMC Network