Time is proving the nuclear industry, the Japanese government, and TEPCO wrong in their premature self-serving assertions that Fukushima was a minor glitch in the glorious future of nuclear power.

Time shows the reactors still leaking, fuel pools still in danger, the waste being shipped all around Japan to further contaminate the embattled country. It shows what may be the largest radioactive contamination of the ocean in history- a contamination that, like Fukushima fallout, is travesing the globe: in particulate matter, in the atmosphere, in water that houses the protein source for a billion people in Asia, and in marine life and radioactive debris that are currently moving towards Hawaii and the pacific coast of the US and Canada. Time is also showing that it is not on the side of the Japanese people, because it has made clear that the accident is not over.

Caroline Lucas, Rebecca Harms, and Dany Cohn-Benditl The Guardian  17 February, 2012

On 11 March last year, Japan was hit by massive earthquake and tsunami, resulting in thousands of tragic deaths, as well as a nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima.

While global attention has long since shifted elsewhere, the nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima is far from over. This is the nature of nuclear accidents: they leave a long-lasting radioactive legacy.

One year on, the situation is not under control. The announcement by the Japanese government that the damaged reactors were in a state of "cold shutdown" was met with scepticism and anger from a concerned public – and with disbelief among nuclear experts.

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As time goes by,  it is growing harder for the nuclear industry to hide the toxic effects and legacy of uranium mining. But, uranium mining still disproportionately affects people who can be marginalized in some way by governments. The case against uranium mining is not only a public health and environmental issue, it is also a human rights issue.

Indian Country l Tristan Ahtone January 19, 2012

Kenny Slattery has lived on the Wind River Reservation for 51 years, and just across the street from the old Susquehanna-Western uranium mill tailings pile for that entire period of time. “They say there’s a cancer cluster in this area,” says Slattery. “I don’t know, but my mother died of lung cancer, and my father died of prostate cancer. My cousin’s husband died of esophageal cancer just a half-mile from here, and other people have died from cancer around this area too. Dogs have died of cancer. It’s strange.”

The site is just a few miles southwest of Riverton, the ninth-most-populated city in Wyoming. It has a long history of contamination, as well as a cloud of rumors. “People say there’s a one-eyed fish over here,” says Slattery as he points to the pond in question. “Just one eye,” he says again, then laughs.

It sounds funny, but over the years, officials have begun taking these kinds of stories very seriously. “We know of some of our tribal members down there who have suffered some real serious cancers,” says Wes Martel, Shoshone and Arapaho Joint Business Council co-chair. “Thyroid disorders and nerve disorders and respiratory disorders and babies being born with deformities and things like that.”

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Slow in coming, but important, progress is made in forcing Areva to take responsibility for the workers who have fallen sick at their uranium mining facilities in Niger. This is good news, but remember- this is the company that just a few years ago when confronted on this issue said publicly to Der Spiegel (http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,686774,00.html) that Niger was poor, needed the jobs, and should be grateful. 

Excellent work on the part of Greenpeace, SHERPA, and others for their hard work in getting Areva this far. And, for bringing the plight of uranium miners and their families to the public eye. The front end of the nuclear fuel cycle is deadly, dirty, and decidedly not carbon free.

Reuters l 6 December, 2011

NIAMEY (Reuters) - Areva said on Tuesday it would monitor the health of thousands of workers and residents exposed to its uranium mine sites in Niger, bowing to pressure from advocacy groups.

The move comes a year after the French nuclear giant launched a plan in Gabon to treat more than 1,000 former miners who fell ill after working in one of Areva's mines there.

"Health observatories have now become a reality in two African countries and Areva wants to extend the health monitoring to all the mines it operates in the world," said Alain Acker, medical director for Areva.

"In case of illness attributable to professional activity, Areva would take responsibility for healthcare up to French medical standards."

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Once again, the Japanese governement has been called to task for failing to study, or encourage study, of Fukushima's evacuation zone. International researchers have initiated work on bird populations which will be continued in February. The work of Japanese researcher Dr Bin Mori who conducted studies on spiders and insects has not been widely reported. Although, reports of the effects of radiation on the animals of Fukushima did make a brief appearance in the news.

What does seem to be clear is that the area around Fukushima shares far too many similarities to Chernobyl's exclusion zone for comfort. The idea that it will be safe for people to return seems very unlikely. More a product of government wishful thinking and denial than fact.

Please click on links for more information.

Bird Population in Collapse Near Fukushima l Common Dreams  3 february, 2012

An upcoming study shows the future for birds and insect life around Fukushima has been badly damaged, an ominous sign of things to come.

The study, set to be published next week in Environmental Pollution, looked at 14 species of birds common to Fukushima and Chernobyl. David McNeill writes in the Irish Times:

Researchers working in the irradiated zone around the disabled Fukushima nuclear plant say bird populations there have begun to dwindle, in what may be a chilling harbinger of the impact of radioactive fallout on local life.

In the first major study on the impact of the world’s worst nuclear crisis in 25 years, the researchers from Japan, the US and Denmark say that analysis of 14 species of birds common to Fukushima and Chernobyl shows the effect on numbers is worse in the Japanese disaster zone. [..]

Timothy Mousseau and Anders Pape Moller say their research there uncovered major negative effects among the local bird population, including reductions in longevity, male fertility and birds with smaller brains.

Many species show “dramatically” elevated DNA mutation rates, developmental abnormalities and extinctions, they add, while insect life has been significantly reduced.

 

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Press Release IPPNW Germany

Spikes of radioactive emissions during inspection and refuelling

Gundremmingen Nuclear Power Station, Bavaria, Germany

For the first time anywhere in the world, recent German data reveal huge spikes in radioactive releases during the refuelling of NPPs.

In September 2011, Gundremmingen NPP located between Ulm and Augsburg in Southern Germany emitted  much larger amounts of radioactive noble gases during inspection/refuelling  than are emitted during normal power operation. According to the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) in Germany, the normal emission concentration during the rest of the year is about 3 kBq/m³, but during inspection/refuelling (in the afternoon and evening of September 22nd) this concentration abruptly increased to ~700 kBq/m³ with a peak of 1,470 kBq/m³. In the following days (September 22nd - 29th), the concentrations of released radioactive noble gases were still much higher (average = 100 kBq/m³) than during normal power operation.

In order to refuel, reactor pressure vessels must be opened which releases to the local environment very large volumes of radioactive gases and vapours, including noble gases, H-3 (tritium),  carbon-14, and iodine-131.  Until now, the nuclide amounts were only published as annual averages throughout the world. Now, after requests by IPPNW and the Green Party in the Bavarian State Parliament (Landtag), non-averaged values have been made available for scientific evaluation for the very first time anywhere in the world.

Is compulsory radiation exposure now to be the "new normal?" This is an infringement on so many rights. Not to mention contributing to public health risk. To do this at all flies in the face of medical knowledge (not to mention 4th amendment  rights). To do this in secret, and without regulation is completely unacceptable.

ProPublica l Michael Grabell 27 January, 2012

U.S. law enforcement agencies are exposing people to radiation in more settings and in increasing doses to screen for explosives, weapons and drugs. In addition to the controversial airport body scanners, which are now deployed for routine screening, various X-ray devices have proliferated at the border, in prisons and on the streets of New York.

Not only have the machines become more widespread, but some of them expose people to higher doses of radiation. And agencies have pushed the boundaries of acceptable use by X-raying people covertly, according to government documents and interviews.

While airport scanners can show objects on the surface of the body, prisons have begun to use X-rays that can see through the body to detect contraband hidden in cavities. U.S. Customs and Border Protection is in the process of deploying dozens of drive-through X-ray portals to scan cars and buses at the border with their passengers still inside.

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Hanford has been called the most contaminated spot in the western hemisphere. A cautionary monument to the cost of war and nuclear ambitions. It is one of the places the world should be looking as long as there continue to be arguments made in favor of nuclear energy use.

Decades after their construction; long after the energy has been "used" (much of it wasted in inefficient processes); long after billions of gallons of irreplaceable water have been used up and contaminated- the reactors and their forever deadly waste remain. The reactors are showing their age- leaking and cracking, but the waste will be with us, in human terms, forever. 

What this means is that we face a deadly problem without a real solution. At Hanford alone there are:

56 million gallons of waste left from a half-century of nuclear weapons production. The radioactive sludge is so dangerous that a few hours of exposure could be fatal. A major leak could contaminate water supplies serving millions across the Northwest. The cleanup is the most complex and costly environmental restoration ever attempted.

And, at Hanford, they are struggling to contain it. But, history is proving that the waste may not be containable, not in time, or for enough time, to be ever be considered safe. Not at Hanford, the other Cold War sites, or at "ordinary" reactor sites located all around the world. They say "to the victor go the spoils," but in this case, the victor will spoil everything. Because, to the growing horror of a slowly awakening post-Fukushima world- it is clear that with nuclear, the waste is winning.

Peter Eisler, USA Today l 25 January, 2012

even decades after scientists came here during World War II to create plutonium for the first atomic bomb, a new generation is struggling with an even more daunting task: cleaning up the radioactive mess.

The U.S. government is building a treatment plant to stabilize and contain 56 million gallons of waste left from a half-century of nuclear weapons production. The radioactive sludge is so dangerous that a few hours of exposure could be fatal. A major leak could contaminate water supplies serving millions across the Northwest. The cleanup is the most complex and costly environmental restoration ever attempted.

A USA TODAY investigation has found that the troubled, 10-year effort to build the treatment plant faces enormous problems just as it reaches what was supposed to be its final stage.

In exclusive interviews, several senior engineers cited design problems that could bring the plant's operations to a halt before much of the waste is treated. Their reports have spurred new technical reviews and raised official concerns about the risk of a hydrogen explosion or uncontrolled nuclear reaction inside the plant. Either could damage critical equipment, shut the facility down or, worst case, allow radiation to escape.

The plant's $12.3 billion price tag, already triple original estimates, is well short of what it will cost to address the problems and finish the project. And the plant's start-up date, originally slated for last year and pushed back to its current target of 2019, is likely to slip further.

"We're continuing with a failed design," said Donald Alexander, a senior U.S. government scientist on the project.

"There's a lot of pressure … from Congress, from the state, from the community to make progress," he added. As a result, "the design processes are cut short, the safety analyses are cut short, and the oversight is cut short. … We have to stop now and figure out how to do this right, before we move any further."

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GLOBAL RESEARCH ONLINE l Michel Chossudovsky  25 January, 2012

INTRODUCTION

The World is at a critical crossroads. The Fukushima disaster in Japan has brought to the forefront the dangers of Worldwide nuclear radiation.

The crisis in Japan has been described as "a nuclear war without a war". In the words of renowned novelist Haruki Murakami:

"This time no one dropped a bomb on us ... We set the stage, we committed the crime with our own hands, we are destroying our own lands, and we are destroying our own lives."

Nuclear radiation --which threatens life on planet earth-- is not front page news in comparison to the most insignificant issues of public concern, including the local level crime scene or the tabloid gossip reports on Hollywood celebrities. 

While the long-term repercussions of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster are yet to be fully assessed, they are far more serious than those pertaining to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the Ukraine, which resulted in almost one million deaths (New Book Concludes - Chernobyl death toll: 985,000, mostly from cancer Global Research, September 10, 2010, See also Matthew Penney and Mark Selden  The Severity of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster: Comparing Chernobyl and Fukushima, Global Research, May 25, 2011)

 Moreover, while all eyes were riveted on the Fukushima Daiichi plant, news coverage both in Japan and internationally failed to fully acknowledge the impacts of a second catastrophe at TEPCO's (Tokyo Electric Power Co  Inc) Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant.

The shaky political consensus both in Japan, the U.S. and Western Europe is that the crisis at Fukushima has been contained.

The realties, however, are otherwise. Fukushima 3 was leaking unconfirmed amounts of plutonium. According to Dr. Helen Caldicott, "One millionth of a gram of plutonium ingested causes cancer".  

An opinion poll in May 2011 confirmed that more than 80 per cent of the Japanese population do not believe the government's information regarding the nuclear crisis. (quoted in Sherwood Ross, Fukushima: Japan's Second Nuclear Disaster, Global Research, November 10, 2011)

The Impacts in Japan

The Japanese government has been obliged to acknowledge that "the severity rating of its nuclear crisis ... matches that of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster". In a bitter irony, however, this tacit admission by the Japanese authorities has proven to been part of  the cover-up of a significantly larger catastrophe, resulting in a process of global nuclear radiation and contamination:

"While Chernobyl was an enormous unprecedented disaster, it only occurred at one reactor and rapidly melted down. Once cooled, it was able to be covered with a concrete sarcophagus that was constructed with 100,000 workers. There are a staggering 4400 tons of nuclear fuel rods at Fukushima, which greatly dwarfs the total size of radiation sources at Chernobyl." ( Extremely High Radiation Levels in Japan: University Researchers Challenge Official Data, Global Research, April 11, 2011)

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It is past time that international health organizations stepped in to stop this unacceptable plan. If Japan cannot exercise judgement on behalf of the health of its people, someone must. Until then, citizens around the world, in and outside of Japan, must speak out against this. We cannot allow this to continue and say nothing.

Karen Charman l WhoWhatWhy  20 January, 2012

After the catastrophic trifecta of the triple meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex in Japan last March—what the Japanese are referring to as their 3/11—you would think the Japanese government would be doing everything in its power to contain the disaster. You would be wrong—dead wrong.

Instead of collecting, isolating, and guarding the millions of tons of radioactive rubble that resulted from the chain reaction of the 9.0 earthquake, the subsequent 45- to 50-foot wall of water that swamped the plant and disabled the cooling systems for the reactors, and the ensuing meltdowns, Japanese Environment Minister Goshi Hosono says that the entire country must share Fukushima’s plight by accepting debris from the disaster.

The tsunami left an estimated 20 million tons of wreckage on the land, much of which—now ten months after the start of the disaster—is festering in stinking pilesthroughout the stricken region. (Up to 20 million more tons of rubble from the disaster—estimated to cover an area approximately the size of California—is also circulating in the Pacific.) The enormous volume of waste is much more than the disaster areas can handle. So, in an apparent attempt to return this region to some semblance of normal life, the plan is to spread out the waste to as many communities across the country as will take it.

At the end of September, Tokyo signed an agreement to accept 500,000 metric tons of rubble from Iwate Prefecture, one of eight prefectures designated for cleanup under a new nuclear decontamination law passed on January 1. The law allows for much of the radioactively contaminated rubble to be incinerated, a practice that has been underway at least since the end of June.

But the sheer amount of radioactive rubble is proving difficult to process. The municipal government of Kashiwa, in Chiba Prefecture to the west and south of Tokyo, recently shut down one of its main incinerators, because it can’t store any more than the200 metric tons of radioactive ash it already has that is too contaminated to bury in a landfill.

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Abe's comment: "The government's whole strategy for bringing the plant under control will have to be revised. The evacuees will never be able to return. They can't clean up the radiation. Will the media report this? I'm waiting for that."

What more can you say, except- DO SOMETHING!

David McNeill l Japan Times  8 January, 2012

Is the ongoing crisis surrounding the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant being accurately reported in the Japanese media?

No, says independent journalist Shigeo Abe, who claims the authorities, and many journalists, have done a poor job of informing people about nuclear power in Japan both before and during the crisis — and that the clean-up costs are now being massively underestimated and underreported.

"The government says that as long as the radioactive leak can be dammed from the sides it can be stopped, but that's wrong," Abe insists. "They're going to have to build a huge trench underneath the plant to contain the radiation — a giant diaper. That is a huge-scale construction and will cost a fortune. The government knows that but won't reveal it."

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