"Japanese protest nuclear power" by Malcolm Foster Associated Press / September 20, 2011
TOKYO - Chanting “Sayonara nuclear power’’ and waving banners, tens of thousands of people marched in central Tokyo yesterday to call on Japan’s government to abandon atomic energy in the aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear accident.
Related: If You Are Anti-Nuclear Power, You Might Be a Terrorist
If you oppose the agenda at any level it seems you are a "terrorist" these days.
The demonstration underscores how deeply a Japanese public long accustomed to nuclear power has been affected by the March 11 crisis, when a tsunami caused core meltdowns at three reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi complex.
The disaster, the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl, saw radiation spewed across a wide part of northeastern Japan, forcing the evacuation of some 100,000 people who lived near the plant and raising fears of contamination in everything from fruit and vegetables to fish and water.
Since March 11 and continuing.
“Radiation is scary,’’ said Nami Noji, a 43-year-old mother who came to the protest on this national holiday with her four children, ages 8 to 14.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty about the safety of food,’’ Noji said, “and I want the future to be safe for my kids.’’
People are the same all over.
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In addition to fears of radiation, the Japanese public and corporate world have had to put up with electricity shortages amid the sweltering summer heat....
See: Japan Coverage Heating Up
Japan is also a resource-poor nation, making it a difficult, time-consuming process for it to come up with viable alternative forms of energy.
Mari Joh, a 64-year-old woman who traveled from Hitachi city to collect signatures for a petition to shut down the Tokai Daini nuclear plant not far from her home, acknowledged that shifting the country’s energy sources could take 20 years.
“But if the government doesn’t act decisively now to set a new course, we’ll just continue with the status quo,’’ she said yesterday. “I want to use natural energy, like solar, wind, and biomass.’’
Before the march, the protesters gathered in Meiji Park to hear speakers address the crowd, including one woman from Fukushima prefecture, Reiko Muto, who described herself as a “hibakusha,’’ an emotionally laden term for survivors of the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Those evacuated from around the plant remain uncertain about when, if ever, they will be able to return to their homes....
Related: NY Times: Large Areas Of Japan To Be Declared Indefinitely Uninhabitable, Perhaps For Decades
Author Kenzaburo Oe, who won the Nobel literature prize in 1994 and has campaigned for pacifist and antinuclear causes, also addressed the crowd. He and musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, who composed the score to the movie “The Last Emperor,’’ were among the event’s supporters.
Better be careful or they will call you an a**hole.
Japan’s government minister said yesterday that the government plans to bring water temperatures under control at the reactors of the Fukushima nuclear plant by the end of this year.
Meaning UNTIL THEN it is STILL LEAKING RADIATION!
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"Typhoon hits Japan, grazes nuclear plant" September 22, 2011|Associated Press
TOKYO - A powerful typhoon slammed into Japan yesterday, halting trains and leaving 13 people dead or missing in south-central regions before grazing a crippled nuclear plant and heaping rain on the tsunami-ravaged northeast.
Officials at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, where engineers are still struggling with small radiation leaks due to tsunami damage, expressed relief that Typhoon Roke’s driving winds and rain caused no immediate problems there other than a broken security camera.
So we are told.
But the typhoon brought new misery to the northeastern region already slammed by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, dumping up to 17 inches of rain in some areas.
Authorities warned of a high risk of mudslides in that region....
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"Japan lifts some evacuation advisories; Officials cite stable radiation levels in five towns, cities" by Hiroko Tabuchi New York Times / October 1, 2011
TOKYO - Despite continued fears over radiation levels, Japan lifted evacuation advisories for an area spanning five towns and cities around a tsunami-ravaged nuclear power plant yesterday, the first such move since multiple fuel meltdowns at the site led to a substantial radiation leak and forced more than 100,000 surrounding residents to flee.
The easing was a bid by the government to bring the country a step closer to normalcy after the March 11 quake and tsunami, which destroyed wide areas of its Pacific coast and set off the world’s worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. But with lingering fears over radiation levels - as well as slow progress in decontaminating towns and cities hit by radioactive plumes - a return to these areas will likely be slow.
It's ALL ABOUT IMAGERY, huh?
A 12-mile exclusion zone will remain in place around the Fukushima Daiichi plant, which the government is working to bring under control. The worst-contaminated areas close to the nuclear facility are likely to remain uninhabitable for decades, government officials have said.
Still, the government decided yesterday to lift evacuation advisories for five lesser-hit towns and cities just outside the exclusion zone, based on their stable radiation levels....
But questions remain about whether radiation levels are low enough for all residents to return. Yesterday, for example, the entrance to Minamisoma’s main hospital measured 0.51 microsieverts per hour in radiation, according to numbers released daily by the city. A simple calculation shows annual exposure at that level would be almost 4,500 microsieverts, or 4.5 millisieverts, far above the annual 1 millisievert limit for civilians recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection. A sievert measures the effect of radiation on humans.
Still think government cares about you?
At an elementary school in Naraha, a town also declared safe for residents to return, the measurement came to 0.77 microsieverts per hour, or 6.75 millisieverts a year.
While experts say these levels are still low - the limit for US radiation workers is 50 millisieverts per year - little is known about the effects of extended exposure to low-level radiation. Moreover, children and pregnant women are known to be especially sensitive to radiation.
Defending its decision, the government cited progress in bringing the Fukushima plant to a relatively stable condition. In one milestone Thursday, the government said temperatures in the plant’s three most damaged reactors had fallen below 100 degrees Celsius, an important step toward what experts call a stable “cold shutdown’’ of the facility.
This is really beginning to make me sick.
Despite yesterday’s easing, many shops, schools, hospitals, and train lines in the affected area remain closed - either damaged in the tsunami or simply unable to open because of the lack of staff and supplies - hindering the return to normalcy.
I hate to tell them this, but things will never be returning to normal.
“There are many challenges we must overcome so residents can safely return home,’’ said Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, promising to speed up a cleanup effort that is expected to cost tens of billions of dollars. “The government must unite and lead the way in decontamination and recovery efforts, so we can clear away any doubts evacuees may have about returning.’’
Pffft!
The central government’s slowness in aiding areas affected by the nuclear disaster has irked some residents, however.
Katsunobu Sakurai, mayor of one of the cities cleared for rehabitation yesterday, said that tireless efforts by local officials - themselves victims in the March disasters - were responsible for any progress made in preparing for residents to return....
That doesn't surprise me.
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