The Fukushima Coverup: “Biggest Industrial Catastrophe in the History of Mankind”

From: Global Research

“We knew the world would not be the same. Few people laughed, few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita. Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and to impress him takes on his multi-armed form and says, “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.” I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.”

-Robert Oppenheimer, scientific director of the Manhattan Project which created the first atomic devices. [1]

The Global Research News Hour. Conversations with Yoichi Shimatsu and Hatrick Penry

LISTEN TO THE SHOW

Impending Japan-China war has the makings of a Clancy classic

The article shown below deals strictly with the current tensions right now between China and Japan but even so this has a direct effect on Fukushima. China seems to be flexing it's muscle and an all out war is a definite possibility. Should this occur the United States would, by treaty, be drawn into the fray as well. There are other tensions in the region with North Korea as well. This is how large wars begin.

The cleanup at Fukushima is expected to take at least forty years to complete and cost billions. War has a way of interrupting efforts like this and one must really ask the question; what will happen to the clean up effort should that occur? Additionally Japan has tons and tons of spent fuel lying around at fifty plus reactors. This in a space the size of California. What happens if a fight encroaches on Japanese soil? During World War II munitions factories and dumps were prime targets. What happens if Japan's nuclear sites are targeted? I am not even sure I want to think about that. We in the U.S. have a vested interest in seeing a peaceful conclusion to this problem but I am not sure given our current financial woes we have a lot of influence. 

From: Japan Times

On Nov. 23, China announced the creation of a newly expanded air defense identification zone (ADIZ) in the East China Sea, overlapping a large expanse of territory also claimed by Japan. The move has produced a visceral reaction in the Japanese vernacular media, particularly the weekly tabloids. Five out of nine weekly magazines that went on sale last Monday and Tuesday contained scenarios that raised the possibility of a shooting war.

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

Emperor’s apparent liberal leanings jar with Japan’s right wing

From: Japan Times

In the media debate about the state secrets bill, much has been said about the public’s right to know. Participants in a democratic society must be informed to make decisions in their interest, and critics of the bill, which ostensibly protects matters of national security, believe it will be used to keep people in the dark about anything the government doesn’t want revealed or discussed openly.

But even before there is a law limiting the dispersal of official information, Japanese citizens operate with a built-in filter that controls what an individual believes he or she has a right to say. According to documentary filmmaker Tatsuya Mori, this self-censorship function is a holdover from the prewar regime’s effort to monitor the hearts and minds of the populace, and its main tool in that effort was emperor worship.

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

Passage of contentious secrets law ends extra Diet session

From: Japan Times

The extraordinary Diet session effectively closed Saturday morning after the House of Councilors enacted the state secrecy law despite raucous protests from the opposition camp.

In his policy speech in October, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had said it would be a “growth strategy Diet” session, but critics said it was actually a “state secrecy Diet session”...

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

Ministry panel eyes three Fukushima towns for storage of tainted soil

From: the Japan Times

An Environment Ministry panel said Saturday it is possible to build interim facilities in three towns in Fukushima Prefecture to store soil contaminated by the nuclear catastrophe.

On-site surveys show that the towns of Okuma, Naraha and Futaba have ground solid enough to build such facilities, the panel said.

The panel’s conclusion is “a major step forward,” Senior Vice Environment Minister Shinji Inoue told reporters.

However, officials of the three towns remain cautious about hosting the facilities.

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

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Note: For those who feel nuclear is "clean energy" please send me your address as I am creating a data-bank of possible locations to store thousands of tons of high level waste sitting around at the hundreds of nuclear sites around the world. Most sites are running out of room and after Yucca was cancelled... It will also be a convenient place to store dirt scraped up around any future nuclear meltdowns or other accidents. After all when a plant melts down the isotopes spread over a huge area then across the entire world so there is a lot of topsoil that is rendered unusable for a few thousand years. The world desperately needs places to put this stuff and generously offering your city, town or neighborhood will not go without notice from the world community.  Please check with your neighbors before submitting your address as they may have health concerns that differ from yours. 

Second request....the world desperately needs signs that can be placed on this nuclear waste that will last several thousands of years to keep people away. All ideas for a material that will last the duration are welcome. 

Highest radiation levels measured outside reactor

From:NHK World

Anyone exposed to this level of radiation would die within twenty minutes.

Short Video

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/20131207_01.html?play

Japanese parliament enacts secrets law critics fear will muzzle media

From: South China Morning Post

Enactment comes despite opposition from critics who fear measure will muzzle the media

...Thousands of protesters, bundled in coats against the chill, gathered across from the parliament building, chanting "Shame on you, Shinzo Abe".

"This was really rushed through too fast and you have to wonder why the hurry now," one man told public broadcaster NHK. "I think we'll really regret this later."

In the days before passage, the government scrambled to address complaints that there was no independent review process to ensure the law was not abused by bureaucrats seeking to hide mistakes or misdeeds, including suggesting an oversight body whose members would require parliamentary approval.

But the proposed mechanisms are not mandated by the law, and critics said they failed to remove concerns that the oversight will not be truly independent.

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

EDITORIAL: Lawmakers--and public--must continue fight against state secrets law

From; The Asahi Shimbun

The Upper House passed legislation on Dec. 6 to protect confidential information concerning national security. Serious thought must be given to the grave implications from the viewpoints of the political system and the Constitution.

Under the new state secrets protection law, the chiefs of ministries and agencies have the power to determine what specific information should be designated as a state secret and whether such confidential information should be disclosed for Diet deliberations or trials.

The law will effectively create a pocket of secrecy within the sphere of administrative activities insulated from scrutiny by the public, the Diet or the judiciary. It will empower the government to determine at its discretion the scope and content of information that should be enveloped by the heavy veil of official secrecy.

In other words, the government has obtained a convenient and powerful tool to limit information disclosure. The scope of state secrets will inevitably expand year after year.

This situation poses a serious threat to the fundamental constitutional principles of popular sovereignty and separation of the three branches of government.

The legislation could eviscerate the most important principles of modern democracy and bring outdated politics back to the nation.

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

Japan's new state-secrets law gives leakers up to 10 years in prison

From: TheVerge

Japan has enacted a new state-secrets law that strengthens punishments for journalists and government officials who leak or seek top secrets, reports Reuters. The legislation has been met with protests and criticism by the public, with many fearing that the law will be used to silence media outlets or allow government officials to cover up their actions. Reuters reports that under the law, public employees and others with access to state secrets could be jailed up to 10 years for leaking them, while journalists and other private sector employees could be jailed up to five years for seeking out state secrets through "grossly inappropriate" means.

INFORMATION CAN BE MARKED AS SECRET FOR 60 YEARS OR LONGER

But many are concerned that private employees could be punished simply for seeking information that they weren't aware was a state secret in the first place. Reuters reports that leaders of all ministries will have authority to create state secrets that are held for up to 60 years — sometimes longer.

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

China, South Korea fear secrets law could lead to Japanese military state

From:the Asahi Shimbun

South Korea and China raised concerns that the Dec. 6 enactment of the state secrets protection law is putting Japan on the path of becoming a nation ready to go to war.

“Japan has entered a course to change into ‘an ordinary nation,’” said the South Korean Dong-A Ilbo newspaper in a Dec. 7 article. “That means it is seeking to create a nation that can go to war by moving away from its postwar structure that banned war or the possession of a military.”

The state-run China Central Television broadcast a report on Dec. 7 that said, “The high-handed method used is meant to push forward to becoming a military state.”

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

Yesterday, 12/6/13, the world became considerably darker

Yesterday the Japanese Government cemented into law the "State Secrets Act". (See previous posts for information about this act.) It is not completely clear what the specific intent of this bill is but the flow of information regarding Fukushima will at best be impeded and, at worst, will completely dry up. Tokyo wants the 2020 Olympics and it has become clearly evident they will manufacture falsehoods ("Fukushima is under control") or simply cover up the truth of this clear and present danger to keep them.

About the same time this act was finally passed the world lost a great man, Nelson Mandela. It si far beyond me, or the scope of this blog, to mention his accomplishments but I would like to quote him.

"A critical, independent and investigative press is the lifeblood of any democracy. The press must be free from state interference. It must have the economic strength to stand up to the blandishments of government officials. It must have sufficient independence from vested interests to be bold and inquiring without fear or favor. It must enjoy the protection of the constitution, so that it can protect our rights as citizens.

Japan, I fear, is no longer a democracy and the world must take notice. 

California town passes Fukushima resolution: “Urgent international rescue” needed at site — “Poses health and safety concerns to America’s West Coast” — “Much greater contamination is likely”

From: ENE News

[…] Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear reactors, crippled by the tsunami in Japan in March of 2011, continue to pose a grave risk to people and the environment around the world, including the United States.

[…] much greater contamination is likely, given that the reactor cores are highly unstable and that the structures and storage tanks are deteriorating and that massive amounts of contaminated cooling and groundwater are being released into the Pacific daily [...]

[…] this disaster presents one of the gravest threats and greatest technological challenges facing the international community, and as such demands an international response utilizing the world’s most accomplished experts as well as international funding on a level commensurate with humankind’s most ambitious efforts, in the interest of every nation […]

[…] mishaps at the site are ongoing and pose a growing threat not only to the Japanese, but to all Pacific nations, including the western coast of the United States […]

[…] the situation at Fukushima, Japan is now clearly an international problem and poses health and safety concerns to America’s West Coast;

[…] the Town of Fairfax urges that:

The United Nations General Assembly and Security Council appoint on an emergency basis, within thirty days, an International Independent Commission of Experts (IICE) charged with formulating a plan to reduce, to every extent possible, releases of Fukushima Dai-ichi radiation into the atmosphere and the ocean […]

The Food and Drug Administration, Environmental Protection Agency, United States Agricultural Department and the Federal Trade Commission and other responsible agencies begin periodic collection and reporting of radioactivity levels in edible ocean species, plants and products and that the results of such surveys be published on a public website for consumer information and education without delay […]

The foregoing Resolution was duly passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the Town Council of the Town of Fairfax […]

(FULL ARTICLE HERE---LINK)

COMPLETE TEXT OF RESOLUTION---LINK

TEPCO investigates radiation levels of exhaust stack at Fukushima Daiichi

From: Enformable Nuclear News

Workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant used a camera attached to a long pole with a dosimeter to explore highly radioactive areas near the combined exhaust stack for Unit 1 and Unit 2 reactors.  Part of the decommissioning process requires the reinforcement and dismantling of portions of the exhaust stack, but the contaminated areas make it impossible for workers to access some of the required areas.

The investigation found radiation doses of 95 millisieverts per hour 5 feet from the SGTS piping at the base of the exhaust stack.

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

Record outdoor radiation level detected at Fukushima plant

From: Asahi Shimbun

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Dec. 6 it detected the highest estimated radiation level for an outdoor location at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.

The reading of 25 sieverts per hour was taken on steel piping near an exhaust stack for the No. 1 and No. 2 reactors, TEPCO said.

The utility earlier said high radiation levels of at least 10 sieverts per hour were found on the piping.

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

Canada Busted Covering Up Spikes In Fukushima Radiation

From: Global Research

Falsely Stated That There Were No Unusual Radiation Levels

The governments of Japan, America and Canada have covered up the severity of the Fukushima crisis ever since it started in March 2011.

They’ve cut way back on radiation monitoring after the Fukushima meltdown, underplayed the amount of radiation pumped out by Fukushima, and raised acceptable radiation levels … rather than fixing anything.

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

TEPCO chairman plans to quit in June

From: the Japan News

Tokyo Electric Power Co. Chairman Kazuhiko Shimokobe plans to step down from the post after a general shareholders meeting in June next year, it has been learned.

Shimokobe believes TEPCO can pave the way for its business reconstruction after the outbreak of the crisis at its Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in March 2011 with the planned adoption of a revised special business program by the end of this year, sources said.

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

PETITION---Ambassador Kennedy Please Fight Japan's Fukushima State Secrets Act

As the catastrophe at Fukushima worsens, Japan's State Secrets Act threatens to cut the flow of vital information. We ask Ambassador Kennedy to oppose this act so the world might know what is happening at Fukushima and how to respond. That's why I signed a petition to Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy, which says: "

 Ambassador Kennedy: We ask for your strongest possible official opposition to Japan's new State Secrets Act, and for your every effort to guarantee free global media access to the Fukushima nuclear site. We also ask that you help secure maximum possible participation and control at Fukushima by the world's scientific, engineering and financial communities. We question Tokyo Electric's ability to deal with this unprecedented crisis. On November 7, 150,000 signatures were delivered to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon asking for a global takeover at Fukushima by the world's top experts, with all necessary funding. For our children and theirs, we ask your strongest possible support in this effort. " Will you sign the petition too?

Click here to add your name:

  SIGN THE PETITION

SIGN THIS PETITION -- Stop Japan's Fukushima State Secrets Act!

Fukushima threatens the Earth's biosphere. Our survival may hinge on the global media being guaranteed unlimited site access so humankind can be immediately informed of, and respond to, all vital developments there.

That's why I signed a petition to Government of Japan & PM Shinzo Abe, which says:

"We ask Japan's government & Prime Minister Abe to renounce the State Secrets Act cutting the flow of information from Fukushima. The global media must be guaranteed free access, so the world community can immediately see, and respond to, all vital developments there.

Will you sign this petition? Click here:

http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/stop-japans-fukushima?source=s.em.cp&r_by=1852155

Thanks!

Fierce Typhoons Spread Japan's Nuclear Contamination

From: Earthweek

Fierce Typhoons Spread Japan's Nuclear Contamination

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

From: Reuters

Insight - Fukushima water tanks: leaky and built with illegal labor

(Reuters) - Storage tanks at the Fukushima nuclear plant like one that spilled almost 80,000 gallons of radioactive water this year were built in part by workers illegally hired in one of the poorest corners of Japan, say labor regulators and some of those involved in the work.

"Even if we didn't agree with how things were being done, we had to keep quiet and work fast," said Yoshitatsu Uechi, 48, a mechanic and former bus driver, who was one of a crew of 17 workers recruited in Okinawa and sent to Fukushima in June 2012 - among the thousands of workers from across Japan who have put together the emergency water tanks and stabilized the plant after three reactor meltdowns that were triggered by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

From: Japan Real Time / Wall Street Journal

Japan’s Government Railroads Controversial Secrets Bill

No amount of heckling, arm flailing, or banging on a committee chairman’s desk could stop the administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe railroading a controversial state intelligence bill through a parliamentary debate Thursday.

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

From: Mathaba Fukushima cancer spike and nuclear industry denial There has been a spike of thyroid cancer cases in the Fukushima, like there was in Chernobyl after its nuclear disaster. And like Chernobyl, writes Capt. Graham Bates, the nuclear industry is trying to deny the events are related. ON 11 MARCH 2011, the world witnessed another Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) disaster, this time involving the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan. An earthquake, followed by a tsunami, created the worst nuclear disaster on Earth. The mainstream media has been relatively quiescent about the continuing Fukushima disaster. This is about to change. Massive amounts of toxic radionuclides and water continue leaking from the reactors and the Spent Fuel Storage Pools (SFSP) into the Pacific Ocean. Scientific studies prove that radiation-induced insect mutations, high radiation levels in fish and alarmingly, rates of human cancers are increasing. In the aftermath of the Fukushima NPP explosions, the extent of the massive damage is almost beyond belief. (FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

From: South China Morning Post

Japan may set up decommissioning agency for Fukushima plant

Japan’s ruling party could set up a British-style agency to shut down the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant, taking control of a project now managed by the station’s embattled operator, a senior party policymaker said on Thursday.

A huge earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 triggered three meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear station, the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986, and exposed a lack of preparation by the Tokyo Electric Power Company, also know as Tepco.

The company has floundered for much of the last two-and-a-half years in dealing with several problems at the site, including a series of leaks of radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean.

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

From: Tasnim News Agency

Japan Brainstorms New Measures to Stop Radioactive Leak at Fukushima

Officials said the plant could completely run out of storage space for contaminated water within two years.

The new measures include ideas picked from 780 proposals from around the world that were requested by the Industry Ministry as Japan seeks international guidance to tackle the nuclear crisis. The measures were presented in a draft report from the contaminated water panel on Tuesday.

After the earthquake that triggered a tsunami in March 2011 and hit Fukushima, the cores of the three nuclear reactors melted and burnt through the concrete basement of the reactor housing.

The water being used to cool the debris has been leaking into the soil and contaminating the ground water on the premises of the nuclear facility. This water eventually started seeping into the Pacific.

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

Situation In Fukushima Remains "Very Complex," IAEA

From: NTD Television

Situation In Fukushima Remains "Very Complex," IAEA

Situation in Fukushima remains "very complex and challenging" IAEA says.

The International Atomic Energy Power called on Wednesday (December 4) Japan's efforts to decommission the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant very complex with challenging issues remaining for the long term stability of the plant follow another review of the sites.

"The team also considers that the situation remains very complex at the site and that there are still very challenging issues that must be resolved to ensure the plant's long-term stability," said International Atomic Energy Agency Juan Carlos Lentijo at a news conference after the IAEA's 19 member team visited Fukushima Daiichi earlier last week.

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

From: Euronews

1,000 days after Fukushima: residents of crisis zone frustrated by slow clean-up

The communities around Japan’s crippled Fukushima nuclear plant are still waiting for their lives to return to some kind of normality – 1,000 days after the world’s worst atomic disaster since Chernobyl.

By the end of October, only 28.5 percent of houses, 33.2 percent of roads and 12.3 percent of forests had been cleaned, according to the Fukushima Department of Environment.

The Japanese government has extended the time-frame the clean-up of the exclusion zone around the plant, initially due to be completed by next March, until 2017.

Officials have cited several difficulties as reasons for pushing back the timetable, including finding space to store contaminated waste.

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

From: Enforceable Nuclear News

Regulators urge TEPCO to dump tritiated water into the Pacific Ocean

On Tuesday, Shinichi Tanaka, Chairman of the Nuclear Regulation Authority in Japan warned the press that low-level contaminated water stored at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant represented one of the biggest obstacles for the decommissioning process.  Tanaka advised that this obstacle could be avoided by releasing contaminated water into the Pacific Ocean.

TEPCO has been storing the tritium water, but is quickly running out of storage space for it all.  “You cannot keep storing the water forever,” Tanaka said, “We have to make a choice comparing all risks involved.”

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

A note about Tritium--Tritium is a radioisotope of Hydrogen with a half-life of roughly 12.3 years (it will remain toxic to lessening degrees for approximately 123 years). Because Tritium is a hydrogen isotope it combines well with water and when combined with water it permeates skin relatively easily. For this reason soaking in water contaminated with Tritium can be detrimental to health. Sea life that travel through the Tritium will uptake it rather quickly and it can be then passed on through eating contaminated fish. If there is an upside it is that the biological half-life is about 7-10 days so it does not stick around in the body long but does damage to the cells while it is maintained in the body and can cause cancer. Tritium is very rare and most of the existing Tritium is a result of fission in a nuclear reactor.  I have not found any source that states how many pounds of Tritium is expected to be dumped at Fukushima but prior to this expected dump there was only about 165 pounds of the stuff existing in the world.  Tritium easily permeates rubber, plastic and even some steel which makes one wonder how much Tritium has already leaked from the sub-standard tanks at Fukushima)

From: The Voice of Russia

Forgotten victims of man-made catastrophe

Cats, dogs and ostriches dying around Fukushima, waiting for owners.  You become responsible forever for what you've tamed. This rule seems so true if you look into the story of thousands of animals left behind near the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant. While wild animals can flee when danger threatens, tame ones become loyal to their surroundings or depend heavily on human care. Many Fukushima animals have died while the surviving ones are still - 18 months later - patiently waiting for their owners to return, says photographer, Yasusuke Ota.

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2013_12_04/photo-Forgotten-victims-of-manmade-catastrophe-cats-dogs-and-ostriches-dying-around-Fukushima-still-waiting-for-owners-8687/

Two and a half years after Fukushima

From: the International

Two and a half years after Fukushima

The Fukushima Daiichai nuclear disaster, occurring more than two and a half years ago, exposed Japan to the pitfalls of nuclear energy and defined international headlines for weeks. Yet, the site continues to leak radiation into international waters, contaminating marine food webs and threatening human health on a global scale.

For Japan, the experience has not only brought about environmental devastation, but also a two-sided response from its citizenry, as both volunteers as well as forced laborers work to clean the danger zones of the abandoned power plant.

New data challenge initial reports

A plume of radioactive debris continues to circulate around the Pacific Rim, and new reports confirm that fallout from the meltdown has infected coastal fish in California and increased the state’s rate of hypothyroidism in newborns.

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

Government research shows Fukushima radiation spike over southwestern British Columbia in 2011

From: Straight.com--Vancouver's Online Source

Government research shows Fukushima radiation spike over southwestern British Columbia in 2011

A STUDY BY several researchers, including Health Canada monitoring specialist Ian Hoffman, reveals a sharp spike in radiation over southwest B.C. on March 20, 2011.

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

Fukushima NHK Documentary: "The Truth Behind the Chain of Meltdowns"

Fukushima's Deadly Legacy

Fukushima's Deadly Legacy

On March 11, 2011, the world's greatest ever environmental disaster struck Fukushima. Weeks later, nuclear meltdown was confirmed.

Radioactive discharges can't be stopped. They continue out-of-control. They're uncontainable. Fukushima is an unprecedented catastrophe. It's reason enough to abolish nuclear power.

Helen Caldicott is clear and unequivocal. Enough nuclear explosions "would create nuclear winter, with the US covered with a cloud so thick that it would block out the sun for years, and that would be the end." Other nuclear experts agree.

In 1953, future physiology and medicine Nobel laureate George Wald told this student at the time and others "there's no such thing as safe nuclear power." He later said:

"If you were to read in the newspapers tomorrow that astronomers had a shocking piece of information for us. They had just found another star is going to collide with the sun and that would be curtains."

"We'd have eight months more to go and, finished - why - heavens above! You would put on your best clothes and go dancing in the streets - that's cosmic, that's fate. You could go out with dignity."
Dying from nuclear power, he added, "is so trivial. It's so ghastly ignoble as to be, I think, intolerable, altogether unacceptable."

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

Many evacuees still in temp housing

1,000 days on, occupancy rate at 85% in three prefectures

SENDAI – The occupancy rate for makeshift housing units set up after the March 2011 mega-quake and tsunami is still at more than 85 percent in the three hardest-hit prefectures as Wednesday marked 1,000 days since the twin disasters struck.

The figure — much higher than in the comparable period after the Great Hanshin Earthquake of 1995 — is believed to stem from slow progress in clearing highland to construct homes and a poor rate of building public housing.

There are no signs that the situation in Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima will improve anytime soon.

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

Humanity at the Crossroads

All around us, we can see evidence of abuse on nature — disappearing species, contaminated water, stripped land, wasted resources. As a result, Indigenous Elders and Medicine Peoples gathered for the first time and released a unified statement asking the global community to wake up and start investing in planetary health.

Since humans have ignored “warnings from both Nature and the People of the Earth,” the Elders express that we have driven ourselves on a path of self-destruction. “This self destructive path has led to the Fukushima nuclear crisis, Gulf oil spill, tar sands devastation, pipeline failures, impacts of carbon dioxide emissions and the destruction of ground water through hydraulic fracking.”

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

FULL COUNCIL STATEMENT

Please sign as a supporter of this statement.

Who’s Nuking Your Food? Orwellian Irradiated “Franken-Foods” Are The New Normal

Who’s Nuking Your Food? Orwellian Irradiated “Franken-Foods” Are The New Normal

In this age of nuclear power and weapons, we’re told that the harmless ‘happy atom’ is all around us and might be dangerous but because we can’t see him this then means, “Oh, just relax. There’s really nothing to worry about. It’s all completely safe.”

All we can say to that is, if you are willing to trust your government and nuclear power companies, then you are putting yours and your family’s life in their hands. 

...Food that is pulled out of a radioactive environment, like seafood – is one thing. Yes, it’s dangerous, but more than likely fisherman had no idea their catch was contaminated. Risks posed by the Fukushima nuclear meltdown to the Pacific seafood stocks are just now coming into view. But imagine if the fisherman dosed their catch with radiation before they sent it to your local supplier? That’s also happening, but the irradiation of foods is much more widespread than people think…

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

FUKUSHIMA RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL SPREADS FASTER DUE TO TYPHOONS: STUDY

FUKUSHIMA RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL SPREADS FASTER DUE TO TYPHOONS: STUDY

The fact that Japan is hit every year by typhoons helps spread radioactive substances from the Fukushima site into the country’s waterways, according to a study made by Japanese and French scientists.

Contaminated soil gets washed away by the high winds and rain and deposited in streams and rivers, a joint study by France’s Climate and Environmental Science laboratory (LSCE) and Tsukuba University in Japan showed.

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

TEPCO planning to restart all Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear reactors by 2016

TEPCO planning to restart all Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear reactors by 2016

Aside from being the operator of the disaster-stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant, Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) is also the operator of the world’s largest nuclear power facility at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa. Recently, TEPCO and the Nuclear Damage Liability Facilitation Fund (NDF) have decided to outline a comprehensive special business plan in which the beleaguered utility will be able to restart all of the seven reactors at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant by around fiscal 2016 to improve its earnings.

Under the newly revised business plan, TEPCO will issue corporate bonds to stabilize its cash flow. If there are prospects for the restoration of the utility’s finances and if the NDF makes profits from selling its holdings of TEPCO shares, the fund will consider setting aside an amount to reduce TEPCO’s debts. Nevertheless, there is still no guarantee that the rehabilitation scenario – including the early restart of the reactors at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa – will be executed as planned. ...

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

Japan food scandals cloud export hopes

REUTERS

Shoppers browsing in supermarkets around the world would once have been reassured by a “Made in Japan” tag.

But a wave of problems such as a recent mislabeling controversy and festering worries over nuclear contamination have tainted the nation’s reputation as a food safe-haven.

The growing list of food scandals could dent Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s push to boost exports of high-end products such as Kobe beef, organic sake and even gimmicky square watermelons. ...

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

Fukushima Watch: Draft Plan Sees Minimal Water Risks in 7 Years

Fukushima Watch: Draft Plan Sees Minimal Water Risks in 7 Years

Risks posed by the heavily contaminated water at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant will be minimal in about seven years if the current water-processing equipment operates as planned, a government-appointed expert panel said Tuesday in a draft report.

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

Marin officials eye Japanese nuclear plant plume

Marin officials eye Japanese nuclear plant plume

Concern that a radioactive plume is headed for the West Coast from the crippled Japanese Fukushima nuclear plant has prompted Marin County officials to monitor the situation.

Although no one knows for sure what perils if any may be in store, fears about toxic pollution have prompted supervisors Susan Adams and Steve Kinsey to ask that public safety, health and coastal staff track the issue.

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

Japanese Gov't Proposes More Work to Store Contaminated Water

TOKYO (AP) - A government panel is proposing additional measures to lessen the contaminated water crisis at Japan's crippled nuclear power plant.

The panel said Tuesday the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant could run out of water storage within two years if current plans are not fully workable.

(FULL ARTICLE---LINK)

Tepco Split Looms as Utility Lacks Motive to Fix Fukushima

More than 30 months after an earthquake triggered the world’s worst nuclear disaster in a quarter of a century, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is being told by his own party that Japan’s response is failing.

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501) alone isn’t up to the task of managing the cleanup and decommissioning of the atomic station in Fukushima. That’s the view of Tadamori Oshima, head of a task force in charge of Fukushima’s recovery and former vice president of Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party.

...“We’ve seen over time that Tokyo Electric has put most of its effort and investments into ensuring business continuity,” Mabuchi, a lawmaker with the now opposition Democratic Party of Japan, said. “It’s been very reluctant to spend the kind of money that’s needed to resolve this accident. If we allow the situation to continue, it’ll never be resolved.” ...

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France’s 58 Nuclear Pools Must Be Safer, Watchdog Says: Energy

...France’s pools are similar to those in any atomic nation: after searing hot rods are removed from the reactor, they’re submerged in water for as long as two years to cool their temperature and provide a shield from release of dangerous radiation emissions. Should their cooling systems falter and pools overheat, as happened in a Fukushima reactor pool, an unprecedented accident is possible.  ...

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