Akio Matsumura l Finding the Missing Link  11 May, 2012

The highly radioactive spent fuel assemblies at the Fukushima-Daiichi power plants present a clear threat to the people of Japan and the world. Reactor 4 and the nearby common spent fuel pool contain over 11,000 highly radioactive spent fuel assemblies, many of which are exposed to the open air. The cesium-137, the radioactive component contained in these assemblies, present at the site is 85 times larger than the amount released during the Chernobyl accident. Another magnitude 7.0 earthquake would jar them from their pool or stop the cooling water, which would lead to a nuclear fire and meltdown. The nuclear disaster that would result is beyond anything science has ever seen.  Calling it a global catastrophe is no exaggeration.

If political leaders understand the situation and the potential catastrophe, I find it difficult to understand why they remain silent.

The following leaves little to question:

1. Many scientists believe that it will be impossible to remove the 1,535 fuel assemblies in the pool of Reactor 4 within two or three years.
2. Japanese scientists give a greater than 90 percent  probability that an earthquake of at least 7.0 magnitude will occur in the next three years in the close vicinity of Fukushia-Daiichi.
3. The crippled building of Reactor 4 will not stand through another strong earthquake.
4. Japan and the TEPCO do not have adequate nuclear technology and experience to handle a disaster of such proportions alone.

http://akiomatsumura.com/2012/05/fukushima-daiichi-it-may-be-too-late-unless-the-military-steps-in.html

Japanese governement takes control of TEPCO effecticvely nationalizing the failing energy giant. Once again, this proves the tremendous financial risk posed by nuclear liability to everyone. The cost of the Fukushima accident is one no-one can afford. The ramifications: financial, environmental, and in terms of public health danger will effect much of the world in at least some part, before the accident is over. Judging by the effects of Chernobyl, which still haunt Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and much of Europe, it is becoming more clear that nuclear accidents of this scale never really end.

Washington Post l Chico Harlan  9 May 2012

TOKYO — Japan’s government on Wednesday approved a 1 trillion-yen, or $12.6 billion, bailout for the operator of the disaster-stricken Fukushima nuclear plant, putting the giant utility under temporary state control as it continues to deal with the extensive damage at the facility.

Read more

Today Japan is nuclear power free, a good day for them, a promising day for the world. But lest naysayers weigh in, or people become overconfident, the radiation from Japan's damaged reactors will haunt them for a very long time, just as it will haunt much of the northern hemisphere in differing degrees. So, let's power down the world's reactors before this happens again. As the Japanese are finding, they can't "take back" Fukushima. We won't be able to "take back" the next accident either. Children in the areas around Chernobyl are still getting sick in shocking numbers. There was no "take back" for them. Chernobyl, like Fukushima, is still in many ways still happening. It is time to say enough, and move on to the many safer, truly sustainable choices available to us. Let this day be a sign we are moving toward a saner energy future.

By YURI KAGEYAMA | Associated Press – Sat, May 5, 2012

TOKYO (AP) — Thousands of Japanese marched to celebrate the switching off of the last of their nation's 50 nuclear reactorsSaturday, waving banners shaped as giant fish that have become a potent anti-nuclear symbol...

Read article

Green Action Japan l May 2, 2012

Press Release——Fukushima

Coalition Sends Urgent Request for UN Intervention to Stabilize
the Fukushima Unit 4 Spent Nuclear Fuel

For immediate release: 2 May 2012

Kyoto, Japan—On 30 April, seventy-two Japanese NGO organizations lead by Shut Tomari and Green Action send an urgent request to the UN and Japanese government urging immediate action to stabilize the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Unit 4 spent nuclear fuel. The letter was endorsed by experts from Japan and abroad.

The letter warned that the seriously damaged Unit 4 spent nuclear fuel pool contains Cesium-137 (Cs-137) that is equivalent to 10 times the amount released at the time of the Chernobyl nuclear accident. If an earthquake or other event were to cause this pool to drain, this could result in a catastrophic radiological fire.

The letter urged the United Nations to organize a Nuclear Security Summit to take up the crucial problem of the Fukushima Daiichi Unit 4 spent nuclear fuel pool. The letter stated that the United Nations should establish an independent assessment team on Fukushima Daiichi Unit 4 and coordinate international assistance in order to stabilize the unit’s spent nuclear fuel and prevent radiological consequences with potentially catastrophic consequences.

Letters were sent to both UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, the latter asking that Japan ask immediately for the UN’s help.

Nearly all of the 10,893 spent fuel assemblies at the Fukushima Daiichi plant sit in pools vulnerable to future earthquakes, with roughly 85 times more long-lived radioactivity than released at Chernobyl.

Kaori Izumi of Shut Tomari stated, “Fukushima Daiichi is no longer a Japanese issue but is an international issue. It is imperative for the Japanese government and the international community to work together on this crisis before it becomes too late.”

Nuclear experts from the US and Japan such as Arnie Gundersen, Robert Alvarez, Hiroaki Koide, Masashi Goto, and Mitsuhei Murata, a former Japanese ambassador to Switzerland, and, Akio Matsumura, a former UN diplomat have continually warned against the high risk of the Fukushima Unit 4 spent nuclear fuel pool.

Shut Tomari and Green Action are seeking endorsements from civil organizations abroad (deadline 20 May). More Japanese civil organizations are expected to sign on in addition to the seventy-two organizations. (Deadline for signatures: 20 May.)

For full text of letter/endorsements/signatories, see: http://wp.me/p1FMPy-B6

Press release issued by:
Shut Tomari (Japan),
1-2, 6-4 Higashisapporo, Shiroishi-ku, Sapporo 003-0006 Japan
TEL: +81-90-2695-1937 FAX:+81-11-826-3796 email: kaori-izumi@ta3.so-net.ne.jp
Green Action (Japan),
Suite 103, 22-75 Tanaka Sekiden-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8203 Japan
Tel: +81-75-701-7223 Fax: +81-75-702-1952 email: info@greenaction-japan.org

Read letter here

Dr Helen Caldicott in Madison Wisconsin: The Medical Implications of Fukushima (video)

The Helen Caldicott Foundation: Disproportionate Harm, Initial Talking Points

There has been a lot of discussion about the spent fuel at Fukushima, especially now - about the reactor #4 spent fuel pool. The harm this could cause should it collapse is incalculable. But, the truth is we are getting sick and dying from radiation exposure already, and it is happening in disproportionate numbers. We need to keep referencing that this is happening now in Japan, and everywhere around the world. We are asking for your help in making this widely known. Please join us!

Disproportionate Harm: Women and Children are more Vulnerable.

This year the Helen Caldicott Foundation in partnership with NIRS, and all other groups who want to join us (national and international), will embark on the start of a major education to action campaign on the effects of radiation exposure on the health of all people. But, its particular focus will be the disproportionate risk radiation exposure poses to women and children. Buried in the literature to date is the fact that men are more resistant to radiation. The safety standards, which time has shown protect no one, were designed at the time of the Manhattan Project to protect young, healthy, western, men. Presumably, military men expected to accept a certain degree of risk in exchange for protecting their country.

Insufficient as it is, even the National Academy of Sciences BEIR V11 Report, widely accepted as the industry standard, clearly states:

1. There is no safe dose of ionizing radiation. Any exposure can trigger cancer.
2. Although the reasons are not yet clearly understood, women and children are 
significantly more vulnerable.
3. Women are 40-60% more likely to get cancer than men, given the same exposure. 
They are about 50% (half again) more likely to acquire a fatal cancer from this exposure. This means that for every two men who die of radiation related cancer, three women will die given a similar exposure.

Children between the ages of 0-5 are more vulnerable than all adults, both men and women. But what is almost never discussed, also from the BEIR V11 Report, is that in this age group little girls are twice as vulnerable as boys. This means that for every boy, there will be two girls who will acquire a fatal or non-fatal cancer...

Published on Apr 12, 2012 by canarycoalition

Nobel Peace Prize nominee Dr. Helen Caldicott speaks to why the nuclear age is the single greatest threat to the world's health, namely the profound medical , environmental, political and moral consequences of perpeturating nuclear weapons, power and waste.

If this is allowed to continue in Japan it will be a tacit admission that it can and will happen everywhere. And, that people will permit it. How much harm will it take before the world joins Japanese citizens in demanding protection. Precautions should be taken to protect the people, not the industry's liability. The government should start moving vulnerable populations out of areas that show high levels of contamination. Contaminated food should be removed from the market instead of fudging and blurring radiation recording methods. This is a betrayal of the public trust on a global scale. In Japan, this betrayal will prove deadly.

Ex-SKF Bogspot l 5 April, 2012

Farmers in contaminated areas in Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Gunma, and Chiba continue to farm, and the government is busy setting up one PR campaign after another to appeal safety of things produced in Japan. The media do report, but unless your information comes from the net only, the news gets buried in the cacophony of mind-numbing small news of no significance on TV and print media.

Here's the list of food items that I found which exceeded the new safety limit of 100 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium:

1. Shiitake mushrooms: 350 becquerels/kg from Murata-cho, Miyagi Prefecture

2. Bamboo shoots: 120 becquerels/kg from Kisarazu City, Chiba Prefecture; 110 becquerels/kg from Ichihara City, Chiba Prefecture

3. Bamboo shoots: 130 becquerels/kg from Sakae-cho, Chiba Prefecture; 170 becquerels/kg from Abiko City, Chiba Prefecture

4. "Komon Kasube" (common skete): 640 becquerels/kg, test fishing off the coast of Iwaki City, Fukushima

5. Beef: 106 becquerels/kg from Shibukawa City, Gunma Prefecture (the cattle had to eat the feed (rye) with 772 becquerels/kg of cesium...)

6. "Suzuki" (sea bass): 104 becquerels/kg in Sendai Bay, Miyagi Prefecture

7. Shiitake mushrooms: 146 becquerels/kg from Shirosato-machi, Ibaraki Prefecture; 131 becquerels/kg from Sakuragawa City, Ibaraki Prefecture

8. "Wakasagi" (pond smelt): 426 becquerels/kg from Akagi Onuma in Gunma Prefecture

   Read full text with links to souces