Kenzaburo Oe, Nobel Winner Urges Japan To Abandon Nuclear Power

TOKYO — Nobel laureate Kenzaburo Oe urged Japan's new prime minister on Tuesday to halt plans to restart nuclear power plants and instead abandon nuclear energy.

Oe cautioned Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda against prioritizing the economy over safety. Noda has said he will allow idled nuclear plants to resume operation when their safety is confirmed.

"The new prime minister seems to think that nuclear power plants are necessary for Japan's economy, and how to resume their operation is one of his key political agendas," Oe said. "We must make a big decision to abolish all nuclear plants."

Oe, who won the Nobel Prize in literature in 1994, said the accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant six months ago caused the Japanese public to want to reduce their dependence on nuclear power, but that feeling seems to be fading.

He spoke at news conference Tuesday about an anti-nuclear petition drive, accompanied by other members of the campaign.

The group, which is demanding that the government decommission aging reactors and promote renewable energy, aims to collect 10 million signatures and submit them to the government next March.

Oe has actively supported pacifist and anti-nuclear campaigns and written books about the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.

Noda, who took office last Friday, becoming Japan's six prime minister in five years, has said he does not plan to build new nuclear plants and will decommission those that are aged. But he said he plans to restart plants whose safety is confirmed to relieve power shortages and help Japan's economic recovery. More than 30 of the country's 54 reactors are idled, forcing a nationwide conservation effort this summer.

The nuclear accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant was like "a third atomic bombing" that Japan inflicted on itself, Oe said. "We already faced the major threat of radiation from Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Now, many children will have to live with radiation threats for 10, 20 or 30 years from now."

Comments

[R Davis]

12:42 AM on 09/12/2011

We should have learned our lesson after Chernobyl. But it seems when people can make millions that it is a lesson that must be learned over and over.

[CaptD]

12:58 PM on 09/10/2011

Japan Trade Minister Resigns: Yoshio Hachiro Leaves Over Nuclear Crisis Gaffe
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/10/japan-trade-minister-resigns_n_956661.html?ir=Green

[WeMustDoBetter09]

08:11 PM on 09/09/2011

Dr. Koide: Massive amounts of radioactivity may again be released from Fukushima — Mentions “steam explosion” from melted fuel hitting water
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/perspectives/news/20110909p2a00m0na016000c.html
At present, I believe that there is a possibility that massive amounts of radioactive materials will be released into the environment again. [...]

[I]t is necessary to keep cooling the No. 2 and 3 reactors, which are believed to still contain some fuel, but the cooling system itself is unstable. If the fuel were to become overheated again and melt, coming into contact with water and trigger a steam explosion, more radioactive materials will be released.

(In and out all weekend - but this is horrible news)

[WeMustDoBetter09]

09:37 PM on 09/09/2011

Kyoto U. expert: Melted fuel may have sunk into ground — “We are now head to head with a situation that mankind has never faced before”
http://enenews.com/kyoto-u-expert-melted-fuel-may-have-sunk-into-ground-we-are-now-head-to-head-with-a-situation-that-mankind-has-never-faced-before

[CaptD]

11:50 AM on 09/10/2011

Same here!
Lets hope that 9/11 does not get yet another Disaster to remember it with!

[SLS11]

08:03 PM on 09/09/2011

Six Months: The Nuclear Refugees

Since becoming self-appointed “nuclear refugees” in early July, Minako Ishigooka and her 14-month-old son have been living in a single room in a hostel in Naha, the prefectural seat of the southern island chain of Okinawa.

Just a few blocks away, the city’s main commercial strip is bustling with vacationers, but Ms. Ishigoooka’s days are spent on mundane tasks like making meals for her son and taking him out for walks. After he goes down for the night, she sits at the inn’s communal computer until 2 a.m. to gather news about radiation on Twitter.

She and her son have been to the beach only once but that doesn’t bother her. “At least here, I can let him play outside,” the 35-year-old mother from Tokyo says.

http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2011/09/09/six-months-the-nuclear-refugees/

[CaptD]

08:53 PM on 09/09/2011

Faved
Better safe than sorry!
Children and Radiation don't mix!

[Atoms4Peace1]

12:26 AM on 09/10/2011

Goiana Brazil - more children fatalities from radiation than Fukushima.

[Hikerguy22]

10:26 PM on 09/09/2011

The power companies are filling us full of lies so they can keep the investors pumping money into their sinking ship. They claim we need more and more electric power, when in fact, power use in the U.S. has flatten out overall. The reasons? Conservation, immigration reform, and efficiency. As long as the PSC in my state in controlled by republicans, the people here will suffer unneeded rate hikes and be living in a state of fear from a newly approved nuclear plant.
God help us.

[CaptD]

11:53 AM on 09/10/2011

Faved, already Fanned!
I call it Nuclear Fascism* and it is supported by both Parties!
* http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Nuclear%20Fascism
snip

The International Nuclear Industry working with all Governments to control the masses use of nuclear power and to limit the spread of Green Energy.

[SLS11]

08:00 PM on 09/09/2011

Sea radiation from Fukushima seen triple Tepco estimate

OKYO, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Radioactive material released into the sea in the Fukushima nuclear power plant crisis is more than triple the amount estimated by plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co , Japanese researchers say.

Japan's biggest utility estimated around 4,720 trillion becquerels of cesium-137 and iodine-131 was released into the Pacific Ocean between March 21 and April 30, but researchers at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) put the amount 15,000 trillion becquerels, or terabecquerels.

http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL3E7K90I220110909

[desertlabs]

12:40 AM on 09/10/2011

OMG...exclamation of disbelief. Let's be sure to watch the dates and see what TEPCO's estimate of releases since April 30. How is this possible.

[CaptD]

11:59 AM on 09/10/2011

And it will go much HIGHER, as they get meters to measure the other radionuclides thay have not been trying to detect!
snip
TOKYO, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Radioactive material released into the sea in the Fukushima nuclear power plant crisis is more than triple the amount estimated by plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co , Japanese researchers say.

Japan's biggest utility estimated around 4,720 trillion becquerels of cesium-137 and iodine-131 was released into the Pacific Ocean between March 21 and April 30, but researchers at the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) put the amount 15,000 trillion becquerels, or terabecquerels.

Government regulations ban shipment of foodstuff containing over 500 becquerels of radioactive material per kg.

Takuya Kobayashi, a researcher at the agency, said on Friday the difference in figures was probably because his team measured airborne radioactive material that fell into the ocean in addition to material from contaminated water that leaked from the plant.

Takuya Kobayashi, a researcher at the agency, said on Friday the difference in figures was probably because his team measured airborne radioactive material that fell into the ocean in addition to material from contaminated water that leaked from the plant.

He believed Tepco excluded radiation that originally came from airborne material. The report does not include cesium-134 as the research group initially lacked resources to measure it, meaning the amount of estimated radioactive material will increase with further calculations.

[SLS11]

07:50 PM on 09/09/2011

TEPCO submits heavily redacted copy of Fukushima nuke accident manual

The 6-page manual for nuclear accidents TEPCO did submit was divided into four sections, including "main item" and "shift supervisor (deputy shift supervisor)." The document was, however, nearly unreadable because most of it had been blacked out. Even those sections left visible had holes, such as one sentence that read: "When reactor pressure rises, stabilizes the pressure at (redacted) Mpa by using an emergency condenser and other techniques, and report."

According to the METI's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA), TEPCO submitted them to NISA on Sept. 2 after seeking a guarantee of nondisclosure the day before. NISA rejected the utility's request, but then simply delivered the TEPCO documents to the committee.

Sources said TEPCO defended the censored documents, saying they contain intellectual property and may cause problems concerning the protection of nuclear materials.

Committee Chairman Kawauchi said the blacked out documents "are extremely regrettable. If TEPCO refuses to resubmit the manuals in question, we will consider summoning TEPCO executives as unsworn witnesses."

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110908p2a00m0na022000c.html

[CaptD]

12:01 PM on 09/10/2011

I hope the Japanese people demand "MORE" from BOTH their Leaders and from NISA!

[CaptD]

05:51 PM on 09/09/2011

Iodine-131 now being detected in large amounts almost 200 km from Fukushima meltdowns
http://enenews.com/breaking-iodine-131-detected-large-amounts-almost-200-km-fukushima-meltdowns
snip
Oshu City is located 187 kilometers north of Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant.

The city announced the latest survey of radioactive materials in sewer sludge in a sewage treatment center in the city, and it shows iodine-131 being detected in the sludge cake since August 25. [...]

The city says it has stopped the shipment of sludge cakes from this plant because of the high radioactive iodine concentration detected from the August 25 sample [...]

Here is what nuclear engineer Arnie Gundersen said about the presence of iodine-131 back in April:

Iodine-131 can only come from nuclear fission, and because it has a short life, it disappears after about 80 days.

In other words, the presence of iodine-131 suggests that the [nuclear] fuel has started its own chain reaction without any human intervention.

[undsoweiter]

08:34 PM on 09/11/2011

Or treatment for hyperthyroidism. You know perfectly well that this iodine comes from radiotherapy.

[desertlabs]

09:38 PM on 09/11/2011

All I've heard is the hypothesis, but no evidence.

[WeMustDoBetter09]

05:20 PM on 09/09/2011

Just as we've all suspected...an omg moment;

Kyoto U. expert: Melted fuel may have sunk into ground — “We are now head to head with a situation that mankind has never faced before”
http://enenews.com/kyoto-u-expert-melted-fuel-may-have-sunk-into-ground-we-are-now-head-to-head-with-a-situation-that-mankind-has-never-faced-before
Hiroaki Koide, Nuclear safety expert at Kyoto University’s Research Reactor Institute

[...] At the No. 1 reactor, there’s a chance that melted fuel has burned through the bottom of the pressure vessel, the containment vessel and the floor of the reactor building, and has sunk into the ground. [...]

It’s doubtful that there’s even a need to keep pouring water into the No.1 reactor, where nuclear fuel is suspected to have burned through the pressure vessel. [...]

Recovering the melted nuclear fuel is another huge challenge. I can’t even imagine how that could be done. When the Three Mile Island accident took place in 1972, the melted nuclear fuel had stayed within the pressure vessel, making defueling possible. With Fukushima, however, there is a possibility that nuclear fuel has fallen into the ground, in which case it will take 10 or 20 years to recover it. We are now head to head with a situation that mankind has never faced before. [...]

[CaptD]

05:46 PM on 09/09/2011

WOW, yet another They said N☢ Chance, now this...
The first of a number of NEW Releases (pun intended)... FAVED
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/perspectives/news/20110909p2a00m0na016000c.html
snip
TEPCO says it is aiming to bring the No. 1, 2 and 3 reactors to cold shutdown by January 2012. Cold shutdown, however, entails bringing the temperature of sound nuclear fuel in pressure vessels below 100 degrees Celsius. It would be one thing to aim for this in April, when the government had yet to confirm that a meltdown had indeed taken place. But what is the point of "aiming for cold shutdown" now, when we know that fuel is no longer sound?

In the days ahead, the storage of enormous quantities of radiation-contaminated waste, including tainted mud resulting from the decontamination process, will become a major problem. Because the responsibility for spreading nuclear materials into the environment lies with TEPCO, it makes sense to bring all the radioactive waste to TEPCO headquarters in Tokyo.

[desertlabs]

12:55 AM on 09/10/2011

But that would be concentrating the waste not diluting it.

[Atoms4Peace1]

12:27 AM on 09/10/2011

words like "may" and "could" fill in the uncertainty gaps. The plain truth is that corium outside the RPV and into the ground hasn't been fully documented.

[CaptD]

12:02 PM on 09/10/2011

Ask your in-situ friends about it and then let us know!

[CaptD]

02:44 PM on 09/09/2011

From Genders on the other CA thread:
Remember this article: 32 US Nuclear Plants Fail Safety Tests
http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/344-208/5920-32-us-nuclear-plants-fail-safety-tests.
snip
uclear plant emergency generators like those that failed in Japan following the March earthquake and tsunami also failed during tests at the Seabrook Station in New Hampshire and 32 other US plants in the past eight years, according to a report by US Representative Edward J. Markey's office.

The report was issued yesterday by the Malden Democrat's office as a federal task force vouched for the safety of the nation's nuclear plants in the aftermath of the Japanese crisis, triggered in part by the failure of backup generators at one plant.

The Seabrook incident, according to the report, took place in August 2006, when the plant shut down because of "inoperable emergency diesel generators." The generators were inoperable for one day.

Alan Griffith, a spokesman for NextEra, which owns Seabrook, said the problem occurred when one of two backup generators was taken down for routine maintenance and a voltage problem occurred at the other during a test. It was quickly repaired, but Nuclear Regulatory Commission rules require the plant to shut down if a certain number of generators are not operational.

Markey criticized the NRC for becoming too cozy with the industry it oversees and compromising safety

[Atoms4Peace1]

12:28 AM on 09/10/2011

Markey sponsored a bill for medical isotopes to be produced in reactors.

[CaptD]

10:26 AM on 09/11/2011

medical isotopes iare not the subject of this discussion!

[desertlabs]

06:19 PM on 09/11/2011

That came out of left field...

[desertlabs]

06:20 PM on 09/11/2011

Another example of the effectiveness of redundant systems...or at least of the Industry's idea of effective redundant systems.

[CaptD]

01:52 PM on 09/09/2011

Another view on Nuclear reactors and the grid in CA http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/08/san-diego-power-outage-sh_n_954892.html

[termgirl]

11:57 AM on 09/09/2011

Japanese Island Residents Resist Nuclear Industry's Allure

IWAISHIMA, Japan — When the boats came to start work on a planned nuclear power plant just off this tiny island, an aging fisherwoman named Tamiko Takebayashi carried out a dramatic protest: she lashed herself to the dock.
"The sea is our livelihood," says a resident of Iwaishima.
The move, while reminiscent of a Greenpeace action, was highly unusual in understated Japan. But it was emblematic of the islanders’ nearly three-decade fight against the powers arrayed against them — their own government and the nuclear industry it has championed.

“The sea is our livelihood,” said Ms. Takebayashi, 68, whose family has fished for sea bream, mackerel and other local delicacies for generations. “We will never let anyone sully it."

(This is a very inspiring story, IMO.
It illustrates the lengths the nuclear industry and enabling governments go to in order to install nuclear plants, and the determination and persistance of a group of residents who have fought for decades to resist them. I can only hope that these people will be, ultimately, successful.)

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/28/world/asia/28nuclear.html?_r=1&hp

[CaptD]

01:53 PM on 09/09/2011

Faved
Nice to see your post today!
I really liked this part:
snip
The story of Iwaishima’s battle has become something of a touchstone in Japan, especially among those who feel uneasy in the wake of the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant for having accepted decades of government assurances that nuclear power was safe. And because the plans to build the plant are closer to approval than any others in Japan, many antinuclear activists see the island’s struggle as their best hope of ending the country’s reliance on nuclear energy.

[termgirl]

02:52 PM on 09/09/2011

Hi, Capt. Good to see you.

[CaptD]

02:49 PM on 09/09/2011

snip#2
Beyond that, many of the island’s men had, over time, left for work elsewhere. Some of them worked in nuclear plants, and they returned home with worrisome stories. They would become part of the front line in the island’s struggle.

Kazuo Isobe, 88, was one of them. He left the island in Japan’s postwar chaos and initially worked at construction sites. But in the 1970s, he started work at the newly opened Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

He worked to clean up radioactive buildup at the plant’s No. 2 reactor, using rags while sweltering in a protective suit.

His radiation records from the time, which he provided, show he received about 850 millirems of radiation during just three months of work — about the amount of radiation allowed for nuclear workers in a year, and more than eight times as much as the limit set for civilians.

When Mr. Isobe heard, on a trip back to Iwaishima in 1982, that Chugoku Electric planned to build a nuclear plant just across the water, he was “terrified.”

“I had seen with my own eyes that radiation is hard to contain,” Mr. Isobe said. “I told everyone in the neighborhood not to agree to anything they said.”

[WeMustDoBetter09]

11:32 AM on 09/09/2011

Another Article on the Fukushima Effect
A "Fukushima effect" on suppliers of renewable energy
http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.novethic.fr%2Fnovethic%2Fecologie%2Cenergies%2Cenergies_renouvelables%2Cun_effet_fukushima_fournisseurs_energie_renouvelable.jsp%3Futm_source%3Dnewsletter%26utm_medium%3DEmail%26utm_content%3DnovethicInfo%26newsletter%3Dok
Following the accident at the nuclear power plant in Fukushima, many French have opted for a supplier of electricity from renewable energy. The effect is particularly visible in the cooperative Enercoop but is also found to a lesser extent in "Planet yes", one of its main competitors. A long-term trend?

[CaptD]

01:56 PM on 09/09/2011

Nice to see France, another Country like Japan where the Nuclear Industry is all powerful, have to start to consider the people that are buying the energy!
Germany is so far ahead of these Nuclear foot draggers!

[Atoms4Peace1]

12:29 AM on 09/10/2011

This is what I meant by offsetting economies. So the "trillion dollars" is not accurate at all since this component will be left off the calculation - probably by design or agenda.

[CaptD]

10:28 AM on 09/11/2011

You gather your figures( like I am doing) and then we will post them...

[outnow]

11:19 AM on 09/09/2011

Kan told TEPCO executive, "You cannot leave. Prepare to meet your fate."

What is that fate going to be? Had TEPCO pulled out the "foreign powers" would have had to come in resulting in a perceived lack of autonomy and technical capability.

By the way, it is nice to have electricity in San Diego again this morning. The SONGS SCRAMED last night in response to the high voltage switching failure in Arizona. The President of SDG&E spoke about the power outage on KOGO, the only AM/FM station left working in all of San Diego. Fortunately, no damage was done to the grid allowing a gradual resumption of power to the many communities left without power from Mexico to Los Angeles to Arizona, including most of San Diego County.

High voltage is about 500,000 volts.

The scary thing is about the lack of effective communication or disaster preparedness. This was the first time in history thaqt there had been a total power fasilure in all of San Diego. Everyone was told to turn off their airconditioners since they draw about 6 times as much juice when they are re-turned on when the power attempts to come back. They feared another power failure. I unplugged my computers and TV, etc at home and office to avoid surges.

[CaptD]

01:58 PM on 09/09/2011

There is a Hp thread on that http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/08/san-diego-power-outage-sh_n_954892.html and it includes many comments about just what you are talking about!
Faved

BTW: Some even think it was planned as a test...

[termgirl]

02:59 PM on 09/09/2011

I think what happened yesterday is a small window showing what might happen if evacutions were ever necessary; impacting large cities in California.
The street lights being out caused multiple traffic accidents; imagine if millions were trying to leave their homes at the same time.
I am going to give my family members solar radios for Christmas, and emergency kits.
I'm happy your power has bene restored, outnow.

[CaptD]

05:00 PM on 09/09/2011

Ditto
Can I get on your list?

BTW: North Park, a part of the City Of San Diego installed the States first solar Powered streetlights a number of years ago and for those that live nearby they worked without the grid!

[WeMustDoBetter09]

10:00 AM on 09/09/2011

Japan gov’t reveals ‘unlucky combination’ of rain and wind washed down radioactive debris over wide area around meltdowns — Radiation had been expected to go over Pacific
http://enenews.com/japan-govt-reveals-unlucky-combination-rain-wind-washed-down-radioactive-debris-wide-area-around-meltdowns-radiation-expected-pacific

[CaptD]

02:00 PM on 09/09/2011

Sure The
Gov't. is now claiming it is UNLUCKY because all the pollution did not just blown (pun intended) offshore toward North America!

[CaptD]

10:30 AM on 09/11/2011

snip
The Japanese government initially underestimated radiation releases from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, in part because of untimely rain, and so exposed people unnecessarily, a report released this week by a government research institute says.

Adding to earlier evidence of initial government missteps, the report by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency says an unlucky combination of heavy rains and shifting winds meant that much of the airborne radioactive debris washed down over a broad area around the crippled plant. Before the changing weather, the radiation had been expected to drift over the Pacific Ocean [...]

[WeMustDoBetter09]

09:56 AM on 09/09/2011

Fukushima radiation triple estimate
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/asia/japan-earthquake/5598620/Fukushima-radiation-triple-estimate
Takuya Kobayashi, a researcher at the agency, said on Friday the difference in figures was probably because his team measured airborne radioactive material that fell into the ocean in addition to material from contaminated water that leaked from the plant.

He believed Tepco excluded radiation that originally came from airborne material. The report does not include cesium-134 as the research group initially lacked resources to measure it, meaning the amount of estimated radioactive material will increase with further calculations.

Huge amounts of contaminated water accumulated during efforts to cool the reactors, with much of it reaching the sea, and radiation has been found in fish, seaweed and other seafood.

[CaptD]

02:01 PM on 09/09/2011

I bet these will become 5 to 10 TIMES LARGER once the Corium(s) are investigated and the total missing amount is calculated!