"Japan plans to phase out nuclear power; 2040 target, seen as flexible, appeases few" by Hiroko Tabuchi | New York Times, September 15, 2012
TOKYO — Japan extended the expected transition away from nuclear power by at least a decade, from 2030 to 2040, and includes caveats that appear to allow some plants to operate decades past the new deadline....
The announcement comes after months of increasing anxiety and intense political pressure from those who believe Japan’s future is at stake.
Many political and business leaders argue that shuttering nuclear plants would doom the resource-poor country to high energy costs and a steeper economic decline than Japan is already facing. But many Japanese, while acknowledging the economic upheaval it could cause, have expressed hope that the country would phase out nuclear energy within two decades, and a nascent, but increasingly vocal, antinuclear movement has pressed for faster action.
While important for setting a tone, the announced strategy is subject to vast change, not only because of the long lead time, but also because the unpopular prime minister, Yoshihiko Noda, and his governing Democratic Party probably will lose the next national election....
Analysts have suggested the Democrats timed the announcement to give them a political lift, but it is unlikely to appease the antinuclear movement or powerful business interests.
Those who favor a phaseout blasted the strategy Friday as too vague and drawn-out to bring real change.
‘‘It’s trickery with words and numbers,’’ said Tetsunari Iida, director of the Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies, a research group based in Tokyo. ‘‘The zero number might be symbolic politically, but in reality, it holds little meaning.’’
On behalf of the entire planet I would just like to say that WE ARE SICK of LYING S*** GOVERNMENTS and the IMAGERY of ILLUSION that constitutes government these days!
And the country’s most influential business federation this week made clear that phasing out nuclear power was ‘‘unrealistic and unreachable,’’ according to its chairman, Hiromasa Yonekura.
You guys should have developed tidal power instead.
With the long-term energy plan set, the political battle is set to shift to the continuing struggle by the government to build consensus for reopening the vast majority of the country’s reactors, which were idled after the nuclear catastrophe amid public opposition to restarts until better safety regulations were in place.
The government has sought repeatedly to regain the public’s trust, most recently by scrapping its former nuclear regulator and appointing a new one. But the new regulator has already come under fire....
I'm sorry, but once that has been broken you never get it back.
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"Tokyo Power Company President Urges Retaining Reactors" New York Times | September 6 2012
Public anxiety over nuclear safety has helped keep all but two of Japan’s 50 remaining reactors offline, and the country’s nascent anti-nuclear movement has demanded an even more immediate shutdown.
But energy prices would soar, the country would become dangerously dependent on Middle Eastern oil and its greenhouse gas emissions would surge if it went nuclear-free — especially if it did so immediately, said Naomi Hirose, president of the Tokyo Electric Power Company.
Almost makes the dead zone worth it.
And without a swift restart of the remaining reactors, the company’s finances, already crippled by compensation claims after the Fukushima disaster, would worsen further, he warned.
“We understand that local residents might ask whether they are really all right with letting us operate nuclear reactors again after the accident,” he said. “But zero nuclear is a very dangerous option. We need to step back and think of the wider consequences of giving up nuclear power.”
You need to think of the wider consequences of not giving it up.
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Has he forgotten about Fukushima?
"Videos released of Fukushima after the tsunami" by Mari Yamaguchi | Associated Press August 07, 2012
TOKYO — The command center at Japan’s stricken nuclear plant shook violently when hydrogen exploded at one reactor, and the plant chief shouted, ‘‘This is serious! This is serious!’’ videos taken during last year’s crisis reveal.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. initially refused to release the footage, but the company is now under state control and was ordered to do so.
The videos, seen Monday, are mainly of teleconferences between company headquarters in Tokyo and staff at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant after the March 11, 2011, tsunami critically damaged its reactors.
In the videos, then-plant chief Masao Yoshida can be heard complaining about phone calls to the prime minister’s office not getting through and expressing frustration over interference from government nuclear safety officials whose technical advice didn’t fit conditions at the stricken plant.
In footage taken around 11 a.m. on March 15, Yoshida screams to utility officials: ‘‘Headquarters! This is serious, this is serious! The No. 3 unit. I think this is a hydrogen explosion. We just had an explosion.’’
‘‘I can’t see anything from here because of heavy smoke.’’
In the background, officials can be heard shouting questions about radiation levels and other data. The massive earthquake and tsunami that hit northeast Japan had knocked out the cooling systems that kept the reactors’ nuclear material stable, and the cores of three reactors had melted, releasing large amounts of radiation.
And they are still spewing to this day as sea water is constantly being poured on them, then dumped into the Pacific.
As workers struggled to assess the situation, they fell behind media reports. A voice from an off-site emergency center says he saw the explosion on television news.
The structures housing three of the reactors suffered hydrogen explosions after gas filled the unvented buildings, and the blasts spewed radiation and delayed repair work. In trying to halt the explosions, the videos show, officials even considered dropping a hammer from a helicopter to make a hole in the ceiling, but they scrapped the idea because it was too dangerous.
The footage shows communication problems between the plant and the government as well as workers’ lack of knowledge of emergency procedures and delays in informing outsiders about the risks of leaking radiation.
Just after the Unit 3 explosion, plant officials and executives with the electric power company discussed extensively whether to call it a hydrogen explosion. The videos also show that they failed to notify officials outside the electric power company and residents about the March 14 meltdown at another unit, No. 2, or even provide data crucial for evacuation.
The Unit 2 reactor was the most critical in the first few days.
‘‘Radiation levels are extremely high,’’ Yoshida said. ‘‘You don’t understand because you’re not here, but it’s really a skin-tight situation. [The workers] can go in only a short while, and they have to rotate.’’
And then they lied about the doses those guys were receiving to keep them working.
The 150 hours of footage were heavily edited, with workers’ faces obscured and beeps masking voices and other sound.
In addition, Tokyo Electric Power Co. made a 90-minute video of selected clips available for download.
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"Japan’s PM meets protesters, won’t stop reactors" August 23, 2012
TOKYO — Japan’s prime minister met for the first time with leaders of weekly antinuclear protests Wednesday but rejected their demand that two recently restarted nuclear plants should be shut again.
Government doesn't listen to its people anywhere.
Tens of thousands of people have been gathering every Friday night outside Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s office compound to protest against nuclear power because of safety concerns set off by last year’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear crisis.
The 11 protest leaders were allowed into the complex for the first time since they started chanting antinuclear slogans outside the tightly guarded building in April.
‘‘When the majority of the general public opposed the restart, you forced it by trampling down on us. It was ridiculous and outrageous,’’ protester Misao Redwolf told Noda as she sat across from him during the 30-minute meeting. ‘‘We will continue our protests as long as you keep ignoring our voices.’’
The protesters said meeting the prime minister was not their goal and they would continue to gather until their demands are met.
Noda initially called the demonstrations outside his office complex ‘‘big noise,’’ triggering criticism. He promised the protesters on Wednesday that he would listen to people’s views and reflect them in policy decisions.
How do you say sick of the lies in Japanese?
But Noda did not accept their demands that his government shut down two reactors that were restarted in July and keep the rest of the country’s 48 reactors shuttered.
He has repeatedly insisted that nuclear plants need to be restarted to avoid power shortages that would imperil Japan’s economy.
The protests started with dozens of people in April and have become mass demonstrations. The protesters say their peak turnout was as many as 200,000 people from around the country, while unofficial police estimates cited by media say 10,000 to 20,000 gather weekly.
Japan required safety checks on nuclear plants after the March 11, 2011, tsunami caused meltdowns at three reactors in Fukushima. All of Japan’s 50 reactors went off line in May for maintenance and inspections, and only the two reactors in western Japan have resumed generating power.
The government is finalizing a mid- to long-term energy policy, deciding one out of three options of nuclear energy dependency by 2030 — none, 15 percent, or 20-25 percent.
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Yeah, that's the environment in Japan right now.
And if anyone knows about radiation and the damage it can do:
"Hiroshima marks 67th anniversary of atomic bomb attack" by Eric Talmadge | Associated Press August 07, 2012
TOKYO — Japan marked the 67th anniversary of the world’s first atomic bomb attack with a ceremony Monday that was attended by a grandson of Harry Truman, the US president who ordered the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
A shameful stain on America, and the single greatest war crime in history.
About 50,000 people gathered in Hiroshima’s peace park near the epicenter of the 1945 blast, which destroyed most of the city and killed as many as 140,000 people. A second atomic bomb attack on Aug. 9 that year killed tens of thousands more in Nagasaki and prompted Japan to surrender to the World War II Allies.
The second one even more egregious than the first.
Btw, we let Japan keep the emperor anyway so the demand for unconditional surrender (that was Japan's only condition) looks damnable through the eye of history.
The ceremony, attended by representatives of about 70 countries, began with the ringing of a temple bell and a moment of silence.
Truman’s grandson, Clifton Truman Daniel, and the grandson of a radar operator who was on both of the planes that dropped the atomic bombs, joined in the memorial. Ari Beser’s grandfather, Jacob Beser, was the only person who took part in both bombings.
In a news conference after the memorial, Daniel declined to comment on whether his grandfather’s decision was the right one.
‘‘I’m two generations down the line,’’ he said.
“It’s now my responsibility to do all I can to make sure we never use nuclear weapons again.’’
I really hope the psychopaths in the bowels of Washington D.C. and Tel Aviv have gotten that message.
And we won't be fooled by a false flag attack where Iran gave their bomb to "Al-CIA-Duh," either.
Daniel, 55, said that he decided to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki because he needed to know the consequences of his grandfather’s decision as part of his own efforts to help achieve a nuclear-free world.
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"Powerful typhoon lashes Japan’s Okinawa island" Associated Press, August 27, 2012
Yeah, start those nukes up!
TOKYO — A powerful typhoon lashed the southern Japanese island of Okinawa and surrounding areas Sunday, injuring four people and cutting off power to about 57,000 households.
Weather officials had warned that Typhoon Bolaven would be the strongest to hit the region in several years, but its gusts weren’t as powerful as feared. Disaster authorities reported no major damage as of early Monday aside from the blackouts.
The center of slow-moving storm passed over the island late Sunday and was expected to move northwest into the East China Sea on Monday, possibly affecting coastal areas of South Korea by Tuesday, weather officials said....
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"6 die from cabbage tainted with E. coli
TOKYO — Health officials said six people died and at least 100 more have been sickened by pickled cabbage tainted with E. coli bacteria in northern Japan. The officials in Hokkaido said Saturday that the pickled Chinese cabbage was made by two local producers (AP)."
