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Japan Heads for Nuclear Unknown With Reactor Restart

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Stephen Stapczynski Yuriy Humber

August 5, 2015 — 5:00 PM EDTUpdated on August 6, 2015 — 11:04 PM EDT

Japan is about to do something that’s never been done before: Restart a fleet of mothballed nuclear reactors.

The first reactor to meet new safety standards could come online as early as next week. Japan is reviving its nuclear industry after all its plants were shut for safety checks since the 2011 earthquakeand tsunami that wrecked the Fukushima Dai-Ichi station north of Tokyo, causing radiation leaks that forced the evacuationof 160,000 people.

Mothballed reactors have been turned back on in other parts of the world, though not on this scale -- 25 of Japan’s 43 reactors have applied for restart permits. One lesson learned elsewhere is that the process rarely goes smoothly. Of 14 reactors that resumed operations after being offline for at least four years, all had emergency shutdowns and technical failures, according to data from the International Atomic Energy Agency and regulators in the U.S. and Canada.

“If reactors have been offline for a long time, there can be issues with long-dormant equipment and with ‘rusty’ operators,” Allison Macfarlane, a former chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said by e-mail.

In Sweden, E.ON Sverige AB closed theNo. 1 unit at its Oskarshamn plant in 1992 and restarted it in 1996. It had six emergency shutdowns in the following year and a refueling that should have taken 38 days lasted more than four months after cracks were found in equipment.

Industry Renaissance

Japan’s restarts are being closely watched as the Fukushima disaster snuffed out what was then called a global nuclear renaissance. Success in Japan might allow the industry to re-emphasize nuclear as carbon-free energy before internationalclimate talks in Paris this year, where almost 200 nations will negotiate emission standards.

This week, the Obama administration outlined a limited role for U.S. nuclear plants in its carbon reduction rules, withdrawing some credit for existing nuclear units while giving credit to new reactors under construction.

The first Japanese reactor to restart is at Kyushu Electric Power Co.’s Sendai plant on the southern island of Kyushu. It could be back online as soon as Aug. 10, according to the company.

Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority has run safety checks and ensured that Kyushu Electric performed the maintenance required for a restart, Tadashi Yamada, an agency spokesman, said by e-mail. The authority’s rules require nuclear operators to prepare dozens of safety countermeasures, such as building a secondary control room and constructing larger tsunami walls.

The challenges facing the NRA are “absolutely unique worldwide,” said John Large, chief executive at Large & Associates, a London-based engineering consultant to the nuclear industry. “You have had the whole nation’s fleet of nuclear power plants closed down for four years.”

Long-Dormant

As problems can arise with long-dormant reactors, the NRA “should be testing all the equipment as well as the operator beforehand in preparation,” Macfarlane of the U.S. said by e-mail. Although the NRA “is a new agency, many of the staff there have long experience in nuclear issues,” she said.

Kyushu Electric has performed regular checks since the reactor was shut to ensure it restarts and operates safely, said a company spokesman, who asked not to be identified because of company policy.

“If a car isn’t used for a while, and you suddenly use it, then there is usually a problem. There is definitely this type of worry with Sendai,” said Ken Nakajima, a professor at Kyoto University Research Reactor Institute. “Kyushu Electric is probably thinking about this as well and preparing for it.”

Nuclear plant operators shouldn’t feel obligated to meet restart deadlines at the expense of safety, said Dale Klein, another former head of the nuclear regulator in the U.S. and now an adviser to Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the Fukushima plant.

“The operators need to demonstrate a safety culture of stopping the startup if they encounter unexpected or unsafe conditions,” Klein said.

Japan Heads for Nuclear Unknown With Reactor Restart - Bloomberg Business
 
This means that the Japanese demand for oil is less in the coming months, which is bad news for the oil producing countries.

The price of oil will stay low in the near future.
 
Japan lacks nuclear power know-how, look at the Fukushima disaster. Japan is not only endangering the lives of its citizens but also citizens from other nations
 
Oh GOD, Are you kidding me, Japan? Do I need take a radioactive detector with me to seafood restaurant? Damn it


At least 82 bags filled with contaminated material from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant have been swept away by flood water as typhoon Etau hit Japan, officials said. TEPCO said rainwater from the nuclear plant has been leaking into the Pacific.
TrendsFukushima nuclear disasterTagsAbby Martin
Flooding caused by Tropical Typhoon Etau has swept at least 82 bags suspected to contain radioactive grass and other contaminated materials that had been collected at the site of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant (NPP). They had been stored in a nearby town in the same prefecture, the Environment Ministry said on Friday, according to local media. Though the Ministry went on to say that most of the bags had been recovered undamaged, local media reported that only 30 of the bags had been found.

Officials said the flooding had not reached the nuclear reactors damaged in the 2011 disaster, when the NPP was hit by a tsunami that had been caused by an earthquake. The nuclear disaster at Fukushima, which took place over four years ago, was dubbed the worst since the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear accident.

Earlier on Friday, Tokyo Electric Power CO. (TEPCO), the company in charge of the damaged NPP, said that one of the holding tanks on the premises of the plant has been leaking drainage rainwater into the ocean. Later in the day, TEPCO said the leakage had been stopped. According to the company’s website, there have been several similar cases in recent days.

READ MORE: Fukushima leaks radioactive water after Typhoon Etau busts drainage system

“On September 9th and 11th, due to typhoon no.18 (Etau), heavy rain caused Fukushima Daiichi K drainage rainwater to overflow to the sea,” TEPCO said, adding that the samples taken on Wednesday “show safe, low levels” of radiation.

From the sampling result of the 9th, TEPCO concluded that slightly tainted rainwater had overflowed to the sea; however, the new sampling measurement results show no impact to the ocean,” it continued.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga warned that the rainwater drenching the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant could flow into the Pacific Ocean, the Japan Times reported on Friday. However, he told reporters that the radiation level of such rainwater would be “sufficiently below” the legally permitted level.

TEPCO said on Friday it will continue to monito
 
Earth Heal - News For an Earth In Transition

12 September 2015

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- Flooding caused by Typhoon Etau has sent hundreds of tons of radiation contaminated water from the Fukushima nuclear plant into the ocean after rain overwhelmed the site’s drainage pumps. At least 82 bags full of radioactive contaminated materials from the Fukushima plant were also washed away by the flood, officials say.

Should these radioactive waste materials be kept in a secure and safe place? Why just in bags? That sounds freaking ridiculous to me.
Since Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster on 2011, what Japan has done on that is totally selfish and irresponsible.
 
japan 2011 and now is a great lesson for those unthinking bureaucrats in india who are arresting activists agitating against the new building of nuclear power reactors in india.

nuclear power is obsolete technology... there are better methods like solar thermal and renewable bio-fuels.
 
japan 2011 and now is a great lesson for those unthinking bureaucrats in india who are arresting activists agitating against the new building of nuclear power reactors in india.

nuclear power is obsolete technology... there are better methods like solar thermal and renewable bio-fuels.
There are numerous countries operating nuclear power. None of them are like Japan that treated the radioactive wastes in such irresponsible, self-fish and arrogant way.

So far what medias revealed about how Japan has been treating those hazardous materials from Fukushima accident makes me worry: is it possible that Japan has been treating all the nuclear waste like this? Just Dumping into ocean?
 
(NaturalNews) A number of countries are beginning to require Japan to place region-of-origin labeling on its food products to ensure that anything coming from the radiation-infested regions surrounding the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant are adequately screened for contamination. The decisions by countries such as Taiwan and South Korea have angered Japanese officials, who are turning to the globalist World Trade Organization to force the countries to abolish their protective regulations.

In recent days, Japan threatened Taiwan with filing a complaint with the WTO while actually filing one against South Korea, the latter of which had placed new restrictions on Japanese food imports following the disaster.

The Fukushima plant was heavily damaged by a major tsunami that was caused by a massive earthquake off the northern coast of the island in March 2011.

Officials in Tokyo are complaining that the South Korean regulations violate rules of international trade.

As reported by Russia Today:

Under WTO rules, South Korea has 60 days to resolve the matter in bilateral talks. After that, Japan can ask the organization to assemble a panel of trade experts to assess the situation.

The measures imposed by South Korea after the Fukushima accident of 2011 ban a number of products and require additional certification of Japanese food due to concerns that it could be contaminated with radiation.


Trying to "secure the safety of the people" against WTO rules?

Officials with the Ministry of Trade in South Korea said that the restrictions are reasonable, given that the damaged plant is still leaking radiation-tainted water.

Japan made its announcement ahead of a planned meeting with South Korean Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan in Tokyo. He held formal talks with his Japanese counterpart May 23, the first such meeting between both men in two years.

"The government will explain in future consultations with Japan that import restrictions have been placed to secure the safety of people," South Korea's trade, agriculture, foreign affairs, and other related ministries said in a joint statement on May 21, RT.com reported.

Japanese officials said they saw no reason for any trade restrictions on food imports because of the Fukushima accident. Tokyo maintains that radiation levels in Japanese food have declined appreciably since the accident and that ongoing testing of food produced in the region surrounding Fukushima has found that less than 1 percent was contaminated with radiation above Japan's food safety limits by 2014.

Average annual imports by South Korea of Japanese fish and seafood amounted to $96 million from 2012-2014; this is less than half the average of $213 million recorded in the 2006-2010 timeframe.

Taiwan is also cracking down

In September 2013, the South Korean government extended its ban on the importation of Japanese fishery products, covering imports from eight Japanese prefectures including Fukushima.

In recent days, Taiwan began enforcing stricter rules regarding inspections of important Japanese food products for potential radiation contamination, prompting Japan to threaten WTO action against Taipei.

Reuters reported that the new rules would only permit foods with place of origin certificates issued by the Japanese government into Taiwan. In addition, some items from designated places in Japan now require radiation testing before they are permitted to enter Taiwanese markets.

Reuters noted:

Taiwan's Food and Drug Administration said the latest enforcement was in line with radiation safety management practices that other countries have put in place on Japanese food imports following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.Taiwan said this "is necessary to protect the safety of food consumption" for its people.

Japan is, in essence, turning to a globalist trade organization to force Taiwan, South Korea and other nations to consume radiation-tainted foods. In response, perhaps other nations should simply stop importing all Japanese fishery products.

Sources:
​Japan takes S. Korea to WTO over Fukushima food restrictions — RT Business

http://gizmodo.com

http://www.independent.co.uk

Learn more: Japan asks globalist trade organization to force South Koreans to eat radioactive Fukushima food - NaturalNews.com
 
Massive radiation plume from Fukushima continues drifting to U.S. West Coast

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Wednesday, June 17, 2015 by: David Gutierrez, staff writer
Tags: Fukushima, radiation plume, West Coast

(NaturalNews) By 2016, nearly as much radiation from the Fukushima disaster will have reached the North American West Coast as was initially scattered over Japan during the nuclear explosions, according to professor Michio Aoyama of Japan's Fukushima University Institute of Environmental Radioactivity.

In March 2011, a massive earthquake and tsunami triggered multiple nuclear meltdowns at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. A massive cloud of radiation was ejected into the atmosphere, settling all across Japan and into the Pacific Ocean.

Approximately 800 terabecquerels' worth of cesium-137 (Cs-137) alone is expected to reach North America by next year, accounting for just 5 percent of the Cs-137 spilled into the ocean as a result of the disaster.

Radioactivity already arriving

Radioactive cesium does not naturally occur on planet Earth and is found only as a result of human nuclear activities. Cs-137 is widely considered one of the most dangerous byproducts of nuclear activity, because it mimics the activity of potassium and therefore accumulates in soil and plants, and is actively taken up by the human body.

Aoyama says that approximately 3,500 terabecquerels' worth of Cs-137 have been released into the sea from the Fukushima plant since March 2011, plus an additional 1.2 to 1.5 terabecquerels that was first released into the air but later fell into the sea. Based on measurements of the pace at which the Cs-137 has been moving eastward, Aoyama recently calculated that 800 terabecquerels would reach the West Coast of North America by next year.

Notably, 800 terabecquerels is nearly as much as (80 percent of) the 1,000 terabequerels that Fukushima operator Tokyo Electric Power Company says fell over Japan following the disaster.

In April, researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announced that they had detected traces of Cs-134 in waters collected at the shores of Vancouver Island. Because this isotope has a half-life of only two years, the only likely source of this contamination is from the Fukushima disaster.

Based on this and other studies, Aoyama said that the 800 terabecquerels he has predicted might already have arrived at North American shores.

Media coverage of Aoyama's statements noted that Cs-137 levels measured at U.S. beaches were "only" 1 to 2 becquerels per cubic meter, and should therefore not pose health risks. However, this may be because the bulk of the radioactive material has not yet reached U.S. shores. Measurements taken a little farther off the California coast returned readings of 6.9 becquerels per cubic meter for Cs-137 and 1.7 bequerels per cubic meter for Cs-134, for a total of 8.6. Similarly, the Woods Hole study -- which took place on Canadian, not U.S., shores -- returned total readings of 7.2 becquerels per cubic meter.

How to protect yourself

People concerned that they live in areas where they might be exposed to radioactive cesium have a few ways to protect their health. Certain water filters are able to remove radioactive isotopes, including cesium, from drinking water. According to WaterFilterLabs.com, the Big Berkey filter is the most effective, removing nearly all traces of toxic elements, including 98.6 percent of cesium. Other filters capable of removing cesium include AquaTru and Zero Water.

People exposed to radioactive cesium in their food might want to consider the patent-pending Cesium Eliminator, developed by the Health Ranger, Mike Adams. Available in powder or pill form, the Cesium Eliminator is an emergency measure to bind up cesium isotopes and keep them from being absorbed by the body, similar to how iodine supplements can help protect the thyroid gland during a nuclear disaster. Cesium Eliminator is not a dietary supplement and is meant for emergency situations only.


Learn more: Massive radiation plume from Fukushima continues drifting to U.S. West Coast - NaturalNews.com



Fukushima radioactive contamination is rapidly warming North Pacific seawater.

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radioactive-waste-from-japan-arriving-on-american-shores-two-years-later-now-the-end-begins.jpg



Japan Tsunami Debris Cleanup



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Urethane foam pictures taken August 27, 2012 near Beach River on Montague Island.
Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation

Join us in helping to clean up tsunami debris! We are mobilizing people all along the California coast to clean up debris that was washed away from Japan during the March 2011 tsunami. Cleanups will take place quarterly in all coastal counties


California Coastal Commission, Japan Tsunami Marine Debris Cleanups<sup>®</sup>
 
Government emails reveal Fukushima radiation could cause thryoid cancer to skyrocket in Americans

Friday, June 19, 2015 by: J. D. Heyes
Tags: Fukushima radiation, thyroid cancer, America

(NaturalNews) Censored and heavily redacted emails[PDF] from U.S. government scientists and officials reveal that there were major concerns among American policymakers shortly after the devastating Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster in March 2011 that there would be widespread radiological contamination and spikes in thyroid cancer rates.

"I would like to raise another issue which now merits expeditious, near term action. There is a short time window... during which it will remain possible to... measure any I-131 that members of the public may have ingested," said an email sent to John Holdren, senior adviser to Pres. Obama on science and technology, Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, DOE/NRC officials, and others whose names were redacted on March 23, 2011, 12 days after the disaster on March 11, according to a recently released trove of email documents, per a Freedom of Information Act request.

"Collecting this data... would be very valuable," said the email.

Nuclear science experts were clearly concerned that radioactive fallout from the disaster would not merely spread to the U.S. West Coast but cause a spike in thyroid cancer rates there, as well – though none of those concerns were publicized by reports or expressed publicly by the Obama Administration at the time.

Emails revealing, though heavily redacted – why?

"Many cases of thyroid cancer, and other health problems, may end up being attributed to exposures from the Fukushima accident... on the U.S. west coast," said the email.

"It is possible that we will find that some people have received doses of I-131 and other radionuclides that could exceed [emphasis added] the levels... Protective Action Guidelines are designed to prevent. This could provide a basis for immediate action to change PAG's," it added.

"There are very strong reasons to gather data, but it must be done in a way that is broadly viewed as being in the interest of the public and the individuals involved," the email said.

As Natural Newsreported in late May, an oversight committee looking at the health of people living within the Fukushima Prefecture of Japan near the stricken power facility found that the thyroid cancer rate in young people has leapt by an incredible 6,000 percent throughout the region since the disaster first occurred back in 2011.

Further, reports indicate that, since January of this year, 16 new cases of thyroid cancer have emerged, bringing the total number of young people diagnosed with the disease to 103. Correspondingly, as many as 127 people have been diagnosed with or are suspected of having thyroid cancer, according to Japan's Asahi Shimbun newspaper.

Mainstream media downplaying real cause of thyroid cancer near Fukushima

The mainstream media, however, is downplaying the dramatic increase, pretending as though bumps in thyroid cancer rates, especially among children living in the area, might actually have been caused by something else.

Here is a typical example, from a Japan-centered blog in the online version of The Wall Street Journal August 2014:

A study by researchers in Fukushima prefecture found 57 minors in the prefecture have been diagnosed with thyroid cancer so far and another 46 are showing symptoms that suggest they may also have the disease.

Thyroid cancer can be caused by exposure to radiation, but it's unclear whether the number is linked to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident in March 2011 because the rate of thyroid cancer in the general population isn't fully known.
[emphases added]

Japan is an ultra-modern society, just like America; if the U.S. knows what its overall cancer rates are, you can bet Japan does as well. But seriously – what else, realistically, would have caused the dramatic increase in thyroid cancer rates?

"There is a possibility that early-stage cancer and small tumors were discovered because experienced doctors conducted thorough checkups using the newest machinery," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga at a news conference at the time, furthering the denial.

We will keep you informed about this evolving story.

Sources:

http://pbadupws.nrc.gov[PDF]

http://blogs.wsj.com

http://www.naturalnews.com

http://www.radiologyinfo.org

Learn more: Government emails reveal Fukushima radiation could cause thryoid cancer to skyrocket in Americans - NaturalNews.com
 
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