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Japan

Until the Fukushima accident, Japan had 55 operating nuclear reactors as well as enrichment and reprocessing plants which had suffered a series of deadly accidents at its nuclear facilities resulting in the deaths of workers and releases of radioactivity into the environment and surrounding communities. Since the Fukushima disaster, there is growing opposition against re-opening those reactors closed for maintenance.

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Entries by admin (536)

Thursday
Sep082016

Japan Ex-PM Koizumi: Abe 'Lied' Claiming Fukushima 'Under Control'

As reported by Sputnik:

On Wednesday, former Japanese Premier Junichiro Koizumi said that current Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a “lie” by downplaying the damage wrought by the Fukushima nuclear accident, and claiming that the radioactivity contaminating the site was “under control.”

After a March 2011 tsunami and earthquake caused a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, Koizumi, who served as premier from 2001 to 2006, began sharply criticizing nuclear power, saying he was “ashamed” for believing that nuclear energy was a clean, safe and cheap energy alternative for Japan.

"I studied the process, reality and history of the introduction of nuclear power and became ashamed of myself for believing such lies," Koizumi said after the accident.
Monday
Aug292016

Japan’s $320 Million Gamble at Fukushima: An Underground Ice Wall

Friday
Jul222016

Greenpeace International: Fukushima five years later report, "Atomic Depths: An Assessment of Freshwater and Marine Sediment Contamination"

Beyond Nuclear board of directors member Kendra Ulrich, a Greenpeace Japan nuclear campaigner, is a co-author of a new Greenpeace International Fukushima five years later report, "Atomic Depths: An Assessment of Freshwater and Marine Sediment Contamination."

The report summarizes numerous scientific studies from the past several years, and also publishes Greenpeace International radioactivity measurements from the Fukushima Daiichi coastline, and nearby river banks and estuaries, as well as control measurements, from the pristine sediments of the ancient Lake Biwa (millions of years old).

Thursday
Jun302016

FOE Japan: Urgent Petition regarding Fukushima decontamination: “No” to the Policy “To Use Contaminated Soil (Less than 8,000 becquerel/kg) for Public Works”

Our colleague Aileen Mioko Smith of Green Action Kyodo in Japan has asked us to sign onto this Friends of the Earth Japan petition (which we have done!), and to spread the word (which we are now doing!):

Urgent Petition regarding Fukushima decontamination: “No” to the Policy “To Use Contaminated Soil (Less than 8,000 becquerel/kg) for Public Works”

PETTITION DEADLINE: June 30, 2016
 

Download here for signing the petition via internet:
https://www.change.org/p/minister-of-environment-tamayo-marukawa-contaminated-soil-produced-by-the-nuclear-disaster-to-be-used-for-public-works?lang=en-US 

FULL TEXT OF PETITION:

To: Minister of Environment Tamayo Marukawa 

Urgent Petition: “No” to the Policy “To Use Contaminated Soil (Less than 8,000 becquerel/kg) for Public Works”— Don’t Contaminate the Environment, Don’t Force Radiation Exposure on the Entire Population 

On March 30, the Ministry of Environment (MOE) Investigative Committee on Strategy for Technological Innovation for Reducing and Recycling Temporarily Stored Contaminated Soil decided to allow the use of 
contaminated soil (lower than 8,000 becquerel/kg) for public works nationwide with “proper containment measures.” The committee argues that the additional effective dose for residents will be less than 10µSv/year, but the Nuclear Reactor Regulation Act that specifies 100 becquerel/kg or less as the threshold for reusing concrete and metals from nuclear power plants. MOE’s latest policy increases the threshold eighty-fold. 

Moreover, the Working Group on Safety Evaluation of the Effects of Radiation within the investigative committee met behind closed doors, and its meeting minutes have not been published. In fact, the goal of 
the committee is to increase an amount of radioactive waste for reuse in order to decrease an amount for final disposal. The committee seems to consider it inevitable to expose the entire Japanese population to radiation to implement the infeasible policy of “decontamination and repatriation” for Fukushima residents. 

MOE boasts that “the reconstruction of Fukushima and the Tohoku region not only constitutes a crucial project for the renewal of Japan but also will become an unprecedented source of knowledge and experience to be shared with international society.” But “proper containment measures” is unrealistic. Even strictly managed disposal sites contaminate their surroundings and groundwater; how can public works, which are not as strictly as managed, prevent contaminated soil from spreading radioactivity? Indeed, rainfall, erosion, and disasters can damage public works to trigger a significant release of radioactivity in the environment. Construction work will also expose laborers to radioactivity. If a huge earthquake occurs, roads will be damaged, exposing radioactive waste to the air. This is indeed a “national project” to force radiation exposure on the entire Japanese population, including children. We cannot, and will not, allow it. 

Petition Items 

1. Retract the policy to use decontaminated soil, which contains radioactive waste, for public works. 
2. Rethink the goal of the policy to “decontaminate and repatriate.” 
3. Enlist wider participation from people inside and outside Fukushima Prefecture in deciding on issues related to decontamination and disposal of decontaminated soil. 
4. Disclose all information regarding the Working Group on Safety Evaluation of the Effects of Radiation, including the names of members, meeting minutes, and reference materials. 

(Translated by Hiro Saito)

Contact: 
Friend of the Earth Japan 
Tel:+81-3-6909-5983 Fax:+81-3-6909-5986 
info@foejapan.org
Thursday
Jun092016

Disaster Fallout: Fukushima's Legacy Five Years Later

Five years after three nuclear reactors catastrophically failed in Fukushima, an anonymous young woman has broken cultural taboos by speaking about thyroid cancer she contracted due to radiation exposure.

Radio Sputnik’s Loud & Clear spoke with Kevin Kamps, the radioactive waste watchdog for Beyond Nuclear, about the Fukushima tragedy, how victims have been silenced and whether a similar meltdown could occur in America.

Listen to the full 18 minute 30 second interview at the following link:

(The interview was recorded on June 8th, and aired on June 9, 2016.)