Scientists detect highest cesium levels in a year in #Fukushima

via The Asahi Shimbum / July 8, 2013 / Radioactive cesium levels found in moss on a rooftop in downtown Fukushima exceeded 1.7 million becquerels, the highest levels detected in a year, researchers said. Ryoji Enomoto, an associate professor at the University of Tokyo’s Institute for Cosmic Ray Research, who led the team, said radioactive cesium levels were unusually high in the samples collected. The city is located more than … Continue reading

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Japanese Govt. gives up on #Fukushima Pref. decontamination efforts

via Nuclear-News.net / June 4th, 2013 / Government officials held a meeting in Tamura-city in Fukushima prefecture to explain to residents that they need to look after themselves from now on. Originally they were aiming to reduce the level of contamination down to 0.23uSv/h (=added ionizing radiation 1mSv/y). However they have now abandoned this aim and are not going to repeat any more decontamination. The officials have suggested to residents … Continue reading

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#Fukushima waste incinerator takes shape

via World Nuclear News / July 2nd, 2013 / Construction of an incinerator is underway at the Fukushima Daiichi plant to burn the low-level waste (LLW) being generated from the clean-up and decommissioning of the site. The 3170-square-metre facility is expected to begin operating between September 2014 and March 2015. It will be used to reduce the volume of LLW – including such things as clothing, gloves and building materials … Continue reading

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Opinion: We cannot allow return to nuclear power without proper debate

via Asahi Shimbun / July 2nd, 2013 / POINT OF VIEW by Hirohito Ono / The run-up to July’s Upper House election will likely focus on the economy and foreign policy issues, but one topic that must be discussed is the Abe administration’s nuclear energy policy. In its platform for the December Lower House election, the Liberal Democratic Party said it “would seek the establishment of an economic and social … Continue reading

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New map of radioactive iodine released from Fukushima Daiichi

via Enformable.com / June 28, 2013 / The American Health Physics Society released a map which shows how far radioactive iodine spread in the wake of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.  The map was generated by researchers from the Japan Atomic Energy Agency and the United States Department of Energy after they analyzed radiation data that had been gathered jointly between April 2nd and 3rd of 2011. The map records … Continue reading

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War and the New Nuclear Danger: #Fukushima and Beyond

Global Research News Hour Episode 31: via Global Research.ca / June 24, 2013 / One of the most severe industrial accidents in history occurred two and a half years ago when the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility in Japan was crippled in the wake of an earthquake and tsunami that struck the island country. Critically, electric generators which circulate coolant through the facility failed leaving the core vulnerable to a melt … Continue reading

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Tritium level rising in #Fukushima plant port

via NHK World / June 25, 2013 / Officials from Tokyo Electric Power Company say the level of radioactive tritium has been rising in sea water near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. They say they can’t rule out the possibility that contaminated groundwater seeped into the sea. TEPCO officials said on Monday that samples collected on Friday contained 1,100 becquerels of tritium per liter. That is 10 times the … Continue reading

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(Another) Leak found at Fukushima Daiichi desalting device

via NHK World / June 21, 2013 / TEPCO says radiation-contaminated water was found to have leaked from a desalinating device at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. The plant operator adds that the leak stopped when it halted the device, and that the water has not flowed outside the complex. TEPCO said a worker detected the leak at the device that removes salt from water used for reactor … Continue reading

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‘Eat and Support’ #Fukushima Rice, Without Knowing and Without Choice

via EX-SKF / June 19, 2013 / From rice to be grown and harvested in 2013, the national government is buying up 250,000 tonnes for the government’s rice reserve; of that, 40,000 tonnes, or 16%, may come from Fukushima Prefecture. The Fukushima prefectural government is encouraging farmers to participate in the government bidding if they fear “baseless rumors” driving down the price for their rice in the open market. Once … Continue reading

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Japan finds highly toxic strontium in #Fukushima groundwater

via TheStar.com / June 19, 2013 / High levels of toxic strontium-90 have been found in groundwater at the devastated Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan, the utility that operates the facility said on Wednesday Strontium-90 is a by-product of the fission of uranium and plutonium in nuclear reactors as well as nuclear weapons, according to the website of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. It was not immediately clear how … Continue reading

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Government secretly backtracks on Fukushima decontamination goal

via The Asahi Shimbun / June 16, 2013 / With the government facing difficulty in finding disposal sites, municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture are being unofficially notified that the goal for completion of radioactive decontamination work in March 2014 may not be met, sources said.   The government also informed municipalities that it will not allow decontamination work to be redone in areas where radiation levels have not declined even after … Continue reading

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Japan PM promotes nuclear exports at central Europe summit

via ChannelNewsAsia.com / June 17, 2013 / Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made a push on Sunday for his country’s nuclear technologies at a summit in Warsaw with leaders of four ex-Communist European Union countries, as part of his bid to boost the Asian powerhouse’s exports. Abe recently unveiled plans to treble Japan’s infrastructure exports to 30 trillion yen ($300 billion, 225 billion euros) a year, a target that could not … Continue reading

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No clear goals in most decontamination contracts

via NHK World / June 13, 2013 / Work to remove radioactive substances from the land and surfaces of buildings has been underway across Fukushima Prefecture more than 2 years following the nuclear accident. But NHK has learned that there are no decontamination numerical targets in most of the contracts cleaning companies signed with the central government and Fukushima municipalities. NHK obtained the information on the contracts signed through April … Continue reading

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Damaged reactor building at #Fukushima plant fully covered

via Asahi Shimbun / June 12, 2013 / A canopy has been completed over a heavily damaged reactor building at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in preparation for removing the spent nuclear fuel inside. Tokyo Electric Power Co. allowed reporters to tour part of the facility, which experienced reactor meltdowns after the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disaster, on June 11. The upper part of the No. 4 reactor … Continue reading

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Removal of melted fuel from stricken #Fukushima reactors may be advanced a bit

via Japan Times / June 10, 2013 / The government and Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Monday they may be able to start removing the melted fuel inside the crippled nuclear reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 complex around 18 months earlier than initially planned, although this action would still be years away. The process would reportedly begin with the removal of fuel assemblies from the outside-reactor spent-fuel pools of … Continue reading

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Leak Found in Steel Tank for Water at #Fukushima

via Russia Today / June 06, 2013 / The operator of the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant said Wednesday that it had found a leak in one of the hundreds of steel tanks used to store radioactive water at the plant, raising renewed questions about the company’s ability to handle the plant’s cleanup. The discovery comes a day after the operator, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, or Tepco, admitted that it … Continue reading

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Video: Women of Fukushima (trailer)

Six Japanese women offer brutally honest views on the state of the clean-up, the cover-ups and untruths since the nuclear accident in Fukushima, and how it has affected their lives, homes and families. via Women-of-Fukushima.com / June 03, 2013 / Over a year since three reactors went into meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, a broad, disparate anti-nuclear movement is growing in Japan. Nowhere is that more apparent, … Continue reading

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Last no-go zone designation in Fukushima lifted

via JapanTimes.co.jp / via May 29, 2013 / The government lifted the last no-go zone designation in Fukushima Prefecture on Tuesday, more than 26 months after three reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant suffered core meltdowns, but certain areas remain uninhabitable. In the town of Futaba, the last no-go zone has been reorganized into areas where the return of residents is deemed “difficult” and those where preparations can … Continue reading

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Ground freeze urged to curb seepage into Fukushima No. 1 radioactive basements

via JapanTimes.co.jp / May 30, 2013 / To reduce the flow of groundwater into the crippled reactor buildings at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1 atomic plant, the government told Tepco on Thursday to freeze the soil around them. Walls of frozen soil can be created by inserting pipes into the soil and injecting them with coolant. Tokyo-based major general contractor Kajima Corp. came up with the idea. A … Continue reading

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