"Nuclear crisis set off fears over Tokyo" New York Times, February 28, 2012
TOKYO — In the darkest moments of last year’s nuclear accident, Japanese leaders did not know the actual extent of damage at the plant and secretly considered the possibility of evacuating Tokyo, even as they tried to play down the risks in public, an independent investigation into the accident disclosed yesterday.
The investigation by the Rebuild Japan Initiative Foundation, a new private policy organization, offered one of the most vivid accounts yet of how Japan teetered on the edge of an even larger nuclear crisis than the one that engulfed the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.
A team of 30 university professors, lawyers, and journalists spent more than six months on the inquiry into Japan’s response to the triple meltdown at the plant, which followed a huge earthquake and tsunami on March 11 that shut down the plant’s cooling systems.
An advance copy of the report describes how Japan’s response was hindered at times by a breakdown in trust between Kan; the Tokyo headquarters of the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power, known as TEPCO; and the manager at the stricken plant. The conflicts produced confused flows of sometimes contradictory information in the early days of the crisis, the report said.
Is that what they are calling lies these days?
The 400-page report, due to be released this week, also described a darkening mood at the prime minister’s residence as a series of hydrogen explosions rocked the plant on March 14 and 15.
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"Fukushima power plant still vulnerable; Government downplayed full danger, report says" by Mari Yamaguchi | Associated Press, February 29, 2012
OKUMA, Japan — The tsunami-hit Fukushima power plant in Japan remains fragile nearly a year after it suffered multiple meltdowns, its chief said yesterday, with makeshift equipment — some mended with tape — keeping crucial systems running.
An independent report, meanwhile, revealed that the government downplayed the full danger in the days after the March 11 disaster and secretly considered evacuating Tokyo.
Journalists given a tour of the Fukushima Daiichi plant yesterday saw crumpled trucks and equipment still lying on the ground. A power pylon that collapsed in the tsunami, cutting electricity to the plant’s vital cooling system and setting off the crisis, remained a mangled mess.
“I have to admit that it’s still rather fragile,’’ said plant chief Takeshi Takahashi, who took the job in December after his predecessor resigned due to health reasons. “Even though the plant has achieved what we call ‘cold shutdown conditions,’ it still causes problems that must be improved.’’
LIE!!
See: Fukushima Flares Up
Not very often in my newspaper, but....
The government announced in December that three melted reactors at the plant had basically stabilized and that radiation releases had dropped. It still will take decades to fully decommission the plant, and it must be kept stable until then.
But not stopped.
The operators have installed multiple backup power supplies, a cooling system, and equipment to process massive amounts of contaminated water that leaked from the damaged reactors.
Some of which was dumped into the sea.
But the equipment that serves as the lifeline of the cooling system is shockingly feeble-looking. Plastic hoses cracked by freezing temperatures have been mended with tape. A set of three pumps sits on the back of a pickup truck.
Along with the pumps, the plant now has 1,000 tanks to store more than 160,000 tons of contaminated water.
Radiation levels in the Unit 1 reactor have fallen, allowing workers to repair some damage to the reactor building. But the Unit 3 reactor, whose roof was blown off by a hydrogen explosion, resembles an ashtray filled with a heap of cigarette butts.
A dosimeter recorded the highest radiation reading outside Unit 3 during yesterday’s tour - 1.5 millisievert per hour. That is a major improvement from last year, when up to 10 sieverts per hour were registered near Units 1 and 2.
Exposure to more than 1,000 millisievert, or 1 sievert, can cause radiation sickness, including nausea and an elevated risk of cancer.
Officials say radiation hot spots remain inside the plant and minimizing exposure to them is a challenge. Employees usually work for about 2-3 hours at a time, but in some areas, including highly contaminated Unit 3, they can stay only a few minutes.
But we have a cold shutdown, sigh.
Since the March 11 crisis, no one has died from radiation exposure.
Not yet, and even if they had government -- as we have seen time and before -- would attribute the cause to something else and unrelated.
Yesterday’s tour, organized by plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co., came as an independent group released a report saying the government withheld information about the full danger of the disaster from its own people and from the United States.
After a while you take that for granted.
The report by the private Rebuild Japan Initiative Foundation delivers a scathing view of how leaders played down the risks of the reactor meltdowns while holding secret discussions of a worst-case scenario in which massive radiation releases would require the evacuation of a much wider region, including Tokyo.
Maybe it really did happen that way and the government and power company lied about it to prevent mass panic, hmmmm?
The report, compiled from interviews with more than 300 people, paints a picture of confusion during the days immediately after the accident. It says US-Japan relations were put at risk because of US frustration and skepticism over the scattered information provided by Japan.
Just like reading an AmeriKan paper!
The misunderstandings were gradually cleared up after a bilateral committee was set up on March 22 and began regular meetings, according to the report....
Translation: Both countries got the cover-up story straight.
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Yeah, NICE OUTFIT for giving the place an EYEBALL!!
"Japan tries to return to life in tainted areas" March 06, 2012|By Mari Yamaguchi
FUKUSHIMA, Japan — Workers in rubber boots chip at the frozen ground, scraping until they have removed the top 2 inches of radioactive soil from the yard of a single home. Total amount of waste gathered: roughly 60 tons.
One down, tens of thousands to go. And since wind and rain spread radiation easily, even this yard may need to be dug up again.
The work is part of a monumental task: a costly and uncertain effort by Japan to try to make radiation-contaminated communities inhabitable again. Some contractors are experimenting with chemicals; others stick with shovels and high-pressure water. One government specialist says it is mostly trial and error.
The radiation leak has slowed considerably at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, nearly one year after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami sent three of its reactors into meltdown.
But NOT STOPPED!
Work continues toward a permanent shutdown, but the Japanese government declared the plant stable in December, setting the stage for the next phase: decontaminating the area so that at least some of the 100,000 evacuated residents can return.
Specialists leading the government-funded project cannot guarantee success. They say there is no prior model for what they are trying to do. Even if they succeed, they are creating another problem they do not yet know how to solve: where to dump all the radioactive soil and debris they haul away....
The cleanup could take decades....
Historically, the only parallel situation is Chernobyl, where the contaminated area - once home to 110,000 people - remains off-limits nearly 26 years after the nuclear power plant exploded....
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"Fear grips residents near nuclear plan; In Japan, many concerns about long-term health" by Yuri Kageyama | Associated Press, March 11, 2012
FUKUSHIMA, Japan - Yoshiko Ota keeps her windows shut. She never hangs her laundry outdoors. Fearful of birth defects, she warns her daughters: Never have children.
This is life with radiation, nearly a year after a tsunami-hit nuclear power plant began spewing it into Ota’s neighborhood, 40 miles away. She is so worried that she has broken out in hives.
“The government spokesman keeps saying there are no immediate health effects,’’ the 48-year-old nursery school worker said. “He’s not talking about 10 years or 20 years later. He must think the people of Fukushima are fools.
Ota takes metabolism-enhancing pills in hopes of flushing radiation from her body. To limit her exposure, she goes out of her way to buy vegetables that are not grown locally. She spends $125 a month on bottled water to avoid tap water. She even mail-ordered a special machine to dehusk her family’s rice.
Not everyone goes to such lengths, but a sense of unease pervades residents of Fukushima. Some have moved away. Everyone else knows they are living with an invisible enemy.
Radiation is still leaking from the now-closed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, though at a slower pace than in the weeks after the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami. It is not immediately fatal but could show up as cancer or other illnesses years later.
And the LINK will be DENIED by the GOVERNMENT!!
The uncertainty breeds fear....
“People are scared to death,’’ said Wolfgang Weiss, chairman of the UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, which is studying Fukushima....
Well, almost, sigh!
It has not helped that the government has given only optimistic scenarios to avoid mass panic....
Looks like mouthpiece media war coverage.
Yeah, it is AMAZING HOW GOVERNMENTS WORK, huh?
If it is SOMETHING REALLY IMPORTANT and BAD they MINIMIZE IT!!
If it is SOME FAKE THREAT like GOVERNMENT-CREATED, FUNDED, and DIRECTED TERRORISTS, GLOBAL WARMING, or Iran is making a bomb, there is NO PROBLEM with the URGENT DOOMSDAY being upon us!
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Also see: Japan marks 1st anniversary of quake, tsunami
Good thing something like lies and cover-ups couldn't happen here in AmeriKa:
"More problems found at Calif. nuclear plant" by Michael R. Blood | Associated Press, March 17, 2012
LOS ANGELES - Four more tubes that carry radioactive water at a Southern California nuclear power plant failed pressure tests, prompting new safety concerns, officials disclosed Friday.
Traces of radiation escaped during the leak, but officials said there was no danger to workers or neighbors.
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Related: NRC: Nebraska nuclear plant fire was serious threat
Duxbury resident still fighting Pilgrim
Also see:
Leak shuts down Pilgrim nuclear plant
A Judge Rules Vermont Can’t Shut Nuclear Plant
Court to Vermont: "Drop Dead"
Around New England: No Veracity in Vermont
Around New England: Vermont Votes Yankee Down
The Boston Globe Can Not Say a Lie
But they sure can tell 'em.
To find out what is really happening around Fukushima I usually go here. He's close to enough to have a real concern and interest in the truth.
