Japan Defense Ministry rejected Prime Minister's attempt to double "allowable" doses for emergency workers

The Mainichi Daily News has reported that an attempt by Prime Minister Kan and his Fukushima Daiichi czar Hosono to raise emergency workers' "permissible" radiation dose to 50 rem per year was rejected outright by the Japan Defense Ministry, whose Self-Defense Forces were serving on the front line of battling to contain the nuclear catastrophe. One Defense Ministry official observed that cancer rates would increase after 50 rem exposures, and reportedly said "There's no way we're going through with such a stupid plan." The article also reported that at 50 rems of exposure, "lymphocyte counts in the bloodstream drop significantly, weakening the immune system." The Defense Ministry stood firm that unless another explosion was imminent, no further increase to "allowable" doses should be permitted. The standard had already been raised from 10 rem to 25 rem per year due to the emergency. Under normal circumstances, U.S. nuclear workers are "only" allowed to receive 5 rems of exposure per year; German nuclear workers, only 2 rems of exposure annually. The Prime Minister's team backed down.

Japanese federal czar on Fukushima Daiichi catastrophe declares first phase of recovery complete

The Mainichi Daily News has reported that Goshi Hosono, the Japanese federal government's top minister overseeing the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe, has declared the first phase of containing the disaster -- bringing the reactors to a stable condition -- accomplished on schedule. How he can make that claim is not explained, as three melted cores continue to be cooled by "feed and bleed" water dousing and radioactive steam releases, a process that could continue for years, despite Japanese federal government assurances that "cold shutdown" (bringing the molten cores below the boiling point of water) will be achieved by January, if not sooner. In addition, the Units 1 and 4 high-level radioactive waste storage pools still lack cooling systems, requiring ad hoc mechanisms to keep water from completely boiling away. Also, the French Areva designed water decontamination system, the functioning of which was another "Phase 1" goal, has repeatedly malfunctioned, leaving tens of thousands of tons of radioactively contaminated water to wait for treatment, as typhoon rains threaten; water storage space at Fukushima Daiichi has been scant to non-existent for months, risking the overflow of highly radioactive water directly into the ocean yet again, as previously happened in April.

Tepco tries to plug holes in roofs as typhoon approaches Fukushima Daiichi

Nikkei.com reports that Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) is welding steel plates onto gaping holes on the roof of its damaged Unit 3 turbine hall at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, in order to prevent rainwater from spreading radioactive contamination within as a typhoon approaches. In addition, Tepco plans in the coming weeks to restore cooling water systems at Fukushima Daiichi's Unit 1 and Unit 1 pools for storage of high-level radioactive waste. Ever since March 11th, Tepco and Japanese government (police, fire, military) agencies have employed various ad hoc means of maintaining water within the boiling pools, from helicopter drops to fire trucks, concrete trucks, and even water cannons designed for crowd control.

Bloomberg also reported on the work to install the rain cover against the typhoon, as well as an update on the general situation at Fukushima Daiichi.

Japanese utility executives major campaign contributors

The A.P. reports that the executives of Japan's utility industry -- including Tokyo Electric Power Company, which owns the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant -- comprise 72% of the personal contributions to the Liberal Democratic Party which ruled Japan almost continuously from after World War Two till 2009.

Of course, a similar dynamic exists in the U.S. Between 1999 and 2009, according to Judy Pasternak at the American University Investigative Reporting Workshop, the U.S. nuclear power industry contributed $64 million to the campaigns of federal candidates. An analysis by Beyond Nuclear showed that U.S. Representative Fred Upton, a very pro-nuclear Republican from Michigan who now chairs the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, with jurisidction over nuclear power matters, received $79,000 in personal campaign contributions from individuals associated with the nuclear power industry in just the 2008 to 2010 election cycle alone. Meanwhile, political action committees (PACs) associated with the nuclear power industry donated a whopping $671,000 to Rep. Upton during the 2008-2010 election cycle. The nuclear power industry has regularly gotten a very good return on its investment in Congressman Upton's electoral success.

Two strong earthquakes jolt Fukushima Prefecture -- again

The A.P. reports that in the past day, two tremors, measuring 6.4 and 6.2 on the Richter scale, has struck northeastern Japan just off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture. Previous such aftershocks from the March 11th 9.0 quake, which spawned the tsunami that plunged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into catastrophic station blackout, have forced the evacuation of emergency workers from cooling operations on the three melted down reactor cores, as well as the ever boiling storage pools holding high-level radioactive waste. Previous aftershocks have also temporarily disrupted the electricity suppy to run the cooling systems. Another major concern is the weight of the water being used to cool the melted cores -- such aftershocks could be the straw that breaks the camel's back in terms of even more catastrophic failure of the melted cores and their damaged primary containment structures. The same can be said of the pools containing high-level radioactive wastes -- Unit 4's pool is especially at risk of collapse after severe damage caused by a massive hydrogen explosion in the early days of the catastrophe.