Speak Out At JPN Consulate: Stop Nuke Plant Restarts In Japan

8/11/19 SF Speak Out At Japan Consulate: Stop Nuclear Reactor Restarts In Japan, Defend Fukushima Families & Children: No Olympics In Fukushima & Japan
Stop PM Abe’s Big LIE and Fraud On The People Of The World That Fukushima is SAFE!

Wednesday August 11, 2019 3:00 PM
San Francisco Japanese Consulate
275 Battery St near California St.
San Francisco

Join No Nukes Action NNA on it’s 83nd action at the San Francisco Japanese Consulate to stop the Abe Japanese governments restart of Japan’s nuclear plants. The Abe government. is telling the people of Japan and the people of the world that Fukushima has been decontaminated and is safe. This is a lie. Abe also personally lied to the Olympic committee saying that Japan should get the Olympics since the Fukushima meltdowns had been resolved but the three reactors still have melted nuclear rods which they have not been able to remove. In addition there is over 1 million tons of contaminated radioactive tritium water in thousands of tanks surrounding the broken nuclear plants in Fukushima. The government is pushing to release the water in the Pacific Ocean despite the opposition of fisherman associations and the public.
There are also thousands of bags in Fukushima filled with radioactive waste with no place to go and these bags are spread throughout the region making it a major health danger.

This is a continual threat to the people of Japan and the world.
The Abe government is also pushing for militarization and removal of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution that prevents military interventions outside Japan. They are also pushing for a new US military base in Okinawa despite the opposition of the mass of Okinawan people and the governor. This base would also have US nuclear ships and weapons which is presently against the US-Japan Security Agreement. The US has already violated this agreement many times and used Okinawa as a base for illegal wars around the world.
The majority of Japanese people are opposed to restarting Japan’s nuclear plants including the previous 3 prime ministers who are worried that Japan would be destroyed with another disaster like Fukushima. Again this shows that the Abe government has contempt for the people it supposedly represents. Join the rally and speak out.

Defend the people of Fukushima, Japan and the world.
Stop The Restart of ALL Japan NUKE Plants
Defend the Children and People of Fukushima
No Olympic Baseball Games at Fukushima and Olympics in Japan
No Militarization and War In Asia

For more event information:
http://nonukesaction.wordpress.com

Japanese Government Operated TEPCO should be open in dealing with storage of tainted water
The No. 1 to No. 3 reactors at the plant are still generating 150 tons of polluted water per day as these reactors are being flooded to cool melted nuclear fuel and underground water keeps pouring in. Even after being treated with a filtering system, the polluted water still contains tritium, a radioactive form of hydrogen, and has to be stored in on-site tanks.

Last year, TEPCO was roundly criticized for failing to make active efforts to make it known to the public that higher-than-standard levels of radioactive materials other than tritium had been detected in treated water.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201908230028.html

August 23, 2019 at 12:40 JST


A large number of storage tanks on the grounds of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant hold water processed to remove most radioactive substances. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
An industry ministry subcommittee has started debating a new proposal for the long-term storage of radiation-contaminated water being generated by the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the plant destroyed by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, takes a dim view of this approach. But the expert panel of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry should assess the advantages and disadvantages of storing contaminated water in tanks for decades.

The No. 1 to No. 3 reactors at the plant are still generating 150 tons of polluted water per day as these reactors are being flooded to cool melted nuclear fuel and underground water keeps pouring in.

Even after being treated with a filtering system, the polluted water still contains tritium, a radioactive form of hydrogen, and has to be stored in on-site tanks.

For three years, the panel has been discussing five potential ways of dealing with the problem, including diluting the water to safe levels and releasing it into the ocean, or vaporizing the waste water and releasing the gas into the atmosphere.

Since water containing tritium from nuclear plants in Japan is released into the sea according to the legal safety standards, the dilute-and-release method has been the favorite option among the experts.

But local fishermen are vehemently opposed to this idea. At public hearings on the issue held last summer in Fukushima and Tokyo, many participants voiced their opposition to this approach.

In response to a growing chorus of calls for considering long-term storage, the ministry has decided to task the panel with considering the idea.

Long-term storage would allow for waiting for radiation levels to decline naturally over time without causing any harmful effect on the local fishing industry. But this method would also pose tough challenges, such as securing land to place storage tanks, ensuring safety for many decades and preventing any disruption in the work to decommission the reactors.

The experts need to carefully assess the costs and risks involved in the long-term storage of radioactive water.

In a troubling move, the electric utility, known as TEPCO, warned at a recent subcommittee meeting that storage tanks holding processed water on the grounds of the plant will become completely full by the summer of 2022.

The warning about the increasing difficulty of securing additional land to place tanks seems to be aimed at putting pressure on the central government to decide quickly on how to tackle the problem.

The ministry panel, however, should not feel pressed for time in carrying out its job. It should rather spend enough time and exercise sufficient caution as it determines whether there is really no additional space for keeping tanks.

Disclosure of relevant information by TEPCO is vital for the panel’s mission.

The company’s stance toward disclosure has been far from exemplary.

At the subcommittee meeting, the utility did not offer sufficient graphics or data to support its claim that there will be no more tanks to store contaminated water by the summer of 2022.

Some experts even suspect that the company deliberately held back such information.

Last year, TEPCO was roundly criticized for failing to make active efforts to make it known to the public that higher-than-standard levels of radioactive materials other than tritium had been detected in treated water.

The company’s attitude inevitably raises doubt whether it has done serious soul-searching over its poor disclosure performance.

TEPCO has a duty to disclose all relevant information including inconvenient facts and engage in sincere dialogue with the local communities over this issue.

No progress toward a decision on how to deal with the contaminated water is possible without the support and understanding of the local communities.

S. Korea to double safety inspections of Japanese food products for radiation
http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_international/906611.html
Posted on : Aug.21,2019 18:02 KST Modified on : Aug.21,2019 18:02 KST
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Amid concerns over radiation, the South Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) has decided to ramp up safety inspections on food products imported from Japan’s Fukushima region. On Aug. 21, the MFDS announced that safety inspections for food products suspected of radiation contamination will increase two fold starting Aug. 23. The tightened inspections will apply to 17 categories of items, including tea, chocolate, and instant coffee. The photo shows Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe takes part in a government event to show that Fukushima food products are safe. (Yonhap News)

Report: Go West Come West Japan’s August 6 Hiroshima Action

Ryota Sono and Yoko Shimosawa

August 7, 2019

(Translated and edited by Etsuji Watanabe and Nozomi Isizu) In Japanese : https://www.gowest-comewest.net/2019/08/06/2019-08-09hiroshima/

Friends, evacuees and supporters! This is Ryota Sono.
We are very pleased to inform you that we successfully completed the August 6 Hiroshima Action for Appeal without any serious trouble with the police and extreme rightwing activists. Our ten members were able to get a lot of participants from daytime meetings, with even refreshments gifted by them, and handed out all the leaflets that we had brought in. Special thanks to the participants from distant places in exhausting schedules and scorching weather!

The below is a report on our evening action including the first-stage interference by the security firm supposedly coordinated with the authorities. Part 1 is written by me, Part 2 by Yoko Shimosawa.
It would be greatly appreciated if you could spread this document to your friends and acquaintances.


Overview


Again this year, we, Go West and Come West Japan, an organization of nuclear evacuees from Tohoku and Kanto regions (including Fukushima and Tokyo areas) and their supporters, organized an action in Hiroshima on August 6, the 74th anniversary of the United States atomic bombing.

The action was named "NO to A-bomb/nuke-power/radiation! NO to covering-up health damage for nukes! 3.11 refugees and friends’ Hiroshima Appeal on Motoyasu bridge in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park".
The purpose was to convey the following messages to those who gathered in the park on "the night" of August 6, when largest number of people were expected to gather from inside and outside the country. Specifically:

(1) Stop the Japanese government covering up the radiation exposure damage of both Hiroshima/Nagasaki atomic bombings and the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster, as well as sacrificing the victims, especially returnees to highly contaminated areas in Fukushima, which is tantamount to secret radiological mass murder organized by the Japanese government.

(2) Convey the danger that the Tokyo Olympics entails with the authorities entirely disregarding radiation exposure risks, and demand the government cancel it.
(3) Stop the U.S. government preparing new nuclear war with ‘usable’ nuclear weapons. The cover-up of radiation exposure in Japan has reached a critical stage where we cannot help suspecting that the aim of the cover-up has something to do with the now-preparing United States use of small-sized nuclear weapons.

We distributed the handouts: “Tokyo as well as Fukushima Is NOT Radiologically Safe. “The Government of Japan is Making Tokyo Olympics Radiating Fields of Athletes and Visitors” : http://ur0.work/Yuih
This flier included the appeal for an international unified action on September 29, 2019, against new nuclear arms race and new nuclear war preparations, as well as against Fukushima radiation damage cover-ups : https://www.gowest-comewest.net/our-missions/

Last year, we experienced an upsurge of our action with so many visitors from overseas and second generation atomic bomb survivors attending our impromptu meeting and sharing the hidden health damage of nuclear disasters. In the end of the action, however, the Hiroshima Prefectural Police unlawfully arrested one of our members, supposedly because of this upsurge.

But this crackdown has determined us never to succumb to such a threat! So we have made it this year on the same Motoyasu bridge! By increasing the numbers of activists

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and shooting cameras we had prepared for an unexpected situation.

Prelude

On 5-6th in August in the Peace Park, many civic meetings, demonstrations, panel displays are performed freely by many groups coming from the whole country. On the morning of 6th of this year nothing unlike last year was witnessed on the bridge at all. But late afternoon suddenly the sidewalk and road were divided by corns and poles (see the photographs below) though it is a vehicle-free promenade. And the signs were posted displaying “Loudspeaker campaign without permission prohibited” and ”Don’t stop walking”. A large number of security guards and the police officers were stationed there.

The bridge was blocked by a security firm

Wasn’t this the regulation exclusively targeting our appeal? Just like last year, we were the only group which held demonstration on this bridge, although last year ours was a very small action by only four people.
It was clear their intention to crack down was targeted at the content of our action - "speaking openly in 8.6 Hiroshima to those from all over Japan and the world about the risks and real health damage caused by the Fukushima-disaster-induced internal radiation exposure, which the Japanese government is systematically covering up." If so, we, the nuclear refugees and friends cannot and will not give it up.

These days, freedom of expression is in danger and the government’s interference is 3


becoming more and more intense. Therefore, first of all, I would like to write down a memorandum so that our experience can be useful for negotiations in such cases.

Negotiation

At first we entered into negotiation with the security firm. We held many cameras, thinking that this could more effectively prevent the police from intervening than a small number of people without recording the situation. With that in mind:

(1)First confirming the situation.
We asked one of the guards “who was regulating what?"
His answer was that a security firm obtained permission to use the road on the whole bridge because it was expected to be crowded with people seeing the Toro-Nagashi, floating of lanterns (photograph below), and their purpose was to secure smooth traffic and prevent troubles." That was a stock phrase used by the police for the road regulation.

Toro-Nagashi, floating of lanterns

(Note: this suggested that all the arrangement might have been instructed by the police. The bridge is located in the site of the Park, therefore outside the direct jurisdiction of the police, so the police, being afraid of raising antipathy of people if they stood out, might use the security firm to come to the fore.

(2) A police officer then interrupted by saying to us “do not make trouble.” → We urged 4


the police to stay away, citing the principle that police stay out of civil disputes → We requested the guard to call their chief".
(3) The person in charge came.
We said to him, “this is a part of the public park, usable for anyone. Besides, the Peace Park on the very day of August 6. It is the city of Hiroshima that sponsors the floating of lanterns and the city authorities do not interfere in any civic actions. No way, can a private security firm occupy the bridge arbitrarily and hinder free civic actions? Neither, can there be any legal grounds? → The chief responded, "But do you have the permit of the police necessary for street propaganda?"

(4) We replied "Permits of the police are not necessary for street propaganda, which is confirmed by the High Court judgment.” We searched "the Yurakucho judgment" in my smartphone and showed it to him. https://www.jcp.or.jp/akahata/aik4/2005-08-11/2005081112faq_01_0.html

"Permission is unnecessary, because we use only a part of the road, we do not cause the traffic interference either.” →The chief said "I did not know that" and began to soften. (5) We said, "We are going to make an appeal about the damage the radiation exposure causes, which is the best match with this place and date. I believe that you share the same feelings with us. If any trouble happened we could handle it. No problem.” → The person in charge said "Understood. But set the volume modestly.” He withdrew from there, saying “If anything happens let us know.”

After that both the security firm and the police stood by and waited, but they did not interfere at all.
The government and the police are aiming at people spontaneously giving up their rights. A right is what people are to fight and gain specifically. Let’s go out and take action.

------------ Part2 ------------

Action completed

No one was arrested this year. What a relief!
We finished our Hiroshima action near the ground zero of the U.S. atomic bombing on the evening of August 6. Afterwards we held a tiny party with beer cans and bentos at the bank of Motoyasu bridge to celebrate our mission completed. (Thank you, the members of Heiwa no Tsudoi (meeting for peace) for giving us good foods and drinks). Some of our members said, “last year it would have been impossible for us to have such

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negotiations with the police. Only four of us participated our action last year. But this year the number was 10 thanks to advance notifications. Police won’t look down on us when more of us are present. That’s the lesson we’ve learned.”
We discussed, “After all, it’s surprising that our such small action of last year heightened the alert level of the police so dramatically this year. The key point is topics of our appeal: the tragedy of Hiroshima is connected with Fukushima nuclear disaster, the real picture of radioactive contamination in the eastern Japan, and radiation-induced health damage.”

This year we had more speakers and their speeches were impressive.

Ms Kiyoko Mito, a famous no-nukes activist in Japan, stopped by and gave a moving speech which included all the things I wanted to express.

Ms Mito appealing passionately to passer-by
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Nearly half of the people who were reading our handouts, looking at the radio-contamination map of Japan spread on the street, and listening to my English speech were foreign visitors. It was worth the time I had devoted to practicing my speech.

Lessons

Nuclear weapon burns us alive to death from outside and destroy our body from inside. This is what all nukes are really about.
The true meaning of ongoing Fukushima nuclear accident, or rather a nuclear disaster, lies there. We needed to tell that story to people here in Hiroshima. I was very grateful that we were able to protect ourselves from the police and secure this place for speeches. The words engraved in the stone at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park is “the error shall not be repeated” (direct translation from Japanese). Committed to this oath, we will never overlook lives being deprived or being killed. This is the sole reason that we stood there and I wanted to stand there. I lost words seeing those security guards and police standing in our way. “What are they that we are dealing with?”

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We are the same human beings and we are all being exposed by radiation time after time. Among those guards and police many have daughters and sons. It should be natural that parents want to protect their children.
I wish one day all people held each other’s hands, beyond the barrier, in order to ‘protect’ lives. Just like I had an opportunity to make speech there. I feel that the time of 74 years ago is connected straight to the present.

I want all people to be aware that we are forced to march along the same course leading to the same “error.” I hope that we can hold an event like this next year too, wishing more and more people to participate in our action. Now I am on my way home from Hiroshima.

Memory

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I just remembered a song I sang with pupils for a play at a school festival when I was an elementary school teacher.
The scene was about a town changing rapidly with an autocratic king.
The king’s men sang this song, called ‘Ban’.

His Majesty’s banned it, banned it.

It’s banned
It’s banned
Never ever
Never ever do that (all)

(a commander) (all)
(a commander),

The song went on like this.
Were the king’s men those police?