{"id":5426,"date":"2013-08-30T05:56:42","date_gmt":"2013-08-30T09:56:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/?p=5426"},"modified":"2013-08-30T05:59:58","modified_gmt":"2013-08-30T09:59:58","slug":"japanese-government-forced-to-take-over-fukushima-nuclear-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.l-a-k-e.org\/blog\/2013\/08\/japanese-government-forced-to-take-over-fukushima-nuclear-crisis.html","title":{"rendered":"Japanese government forced to take over Fukushima nuclear crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

\r\nThis is not the type of “crisis” or “leak” that ends quickly even with the Japanese government now taking over from TEPCO:\r\nradioactive water has been seeping into groundwater and the Pacific\r\nOcean for two years, many of those tanks\r\nholding radioactive water,\r\n\r\nbuilt with rubber seams only meant to last five years<\/a>,\r\nare leaking,\r\nand the containment wall next to the ocean is making groundwater rise behind it,\r\n\r\nspreading into the aquifer<\/a> and spilling over it into the ocean,\r\nwith\r\n\r\nevery tuna caught off California bearing radioactive signatures from Fukushima<\/a>.\r\nThe radioactive uranium cores are somewhere in\r\n\r\nor under<\/a>\r\ntheir containment buildings, with no known way to extract them,\r\nstill requiring cooling water poured over them for some unknown number of years,\r\nand continuing to be radioactive for thousands of years.\r\nRemember, the Fukushima reactors are the same GE Mark I model as Plant Hatch\r\non the Altamaha River.\r\n\r\nWhy are we building more nuclear reactors in Georgia<\/a> when\r\n\r\nten U.S. nukes have been cancelled or will never be built in the past year<\/a>?\r\n\r\nGoogle already installed on time and on budget<\/a>\r\nalmost as much solar and wind as both new Plant Vogtle\r\nnukes would produce and for less than what has already been spent on them,\r\nplus solar panels and wind farms don’t leak radioactivity.\r\n

\r\n\r\n<\/a>\r\n
\r\nPhotograph by Kyodo\/Reuters\r\n

\r\n\r\nLatest Radioactive Leak at Fukushima: How Is It Different?<\/a> by Patrick J. Kiger\r\nfor National Geographic 21 August 2013,\r\n

\r\n

\r\nThe water from the leaking tank is so heavily contaminated with\r\nstrontium-90, cesium-137, and other radioactive substances that a\r\nperson standing less than two feet away would receive, in an hour’s\r\ntime, a radiation dose equivalent to five times the acceptable\r\nexposure for nuclear workers, Reuters reported. Within ten hours,\r\nthe exposed person would develop radiation sickness, with symptoms\r\nsuch as nausea and a drop in white blood cells.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\nMari Yamaguchi wrote for AP 28 August 2013,\r\n\r\nFukushima Leak Upgraded To Level 3 Severity<\/a>,\r\n

\r\n

\r\nIn a meeting with agency officials and experts Tuesday night, TEPCO\r\nsaid radioactivity near the leaky tank and exposure levels among\r\npatrolling staff started to increase in early July. There is no sign\r\nthat anyone tried to find the source of that radioactivity before\r\nthe leak was discovered.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nOn Wednesday, regulatory officials said TEPCO has repeatedly ignored\r\ntheir instructions to improve their patrolling procedures to reduce\r\nthe risk of overlooking leakages. They said TEPCO lacked expertise\r\nand also underestimated potential impact of the leak because\r\nunderground water is shallower around the tank than the company\r\ninitially told regulators.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n“Their instructions, written or verbal, have never been observed,”\r\nToyoshi Fuketa, a regulatory commissioner, said at the agency’s\r\nweekly meeting Wednesday.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\nAsahi Shimbun 30 August 2013\r\n\r\nGovernment under fire for slow response to Fukushima leak<\/a>,\r\n

\r\n

\r\nPrime Minister Shinzo Abe has been forced to vow to take all-out\r\nefforts to contain the Fukushima nuclear crisis as his\r\nadministration is roundly criticized for its tepid response to the\r\nrecent leak of 300 tons of highly radioactive water.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n“It should not be left entirely in the hands of Tokyo Electric\r\nPower Co. to deal with the accident,” Abe said in Qatar on\r\nAug. 28, citing the plant’s operator. “The government should\r\nface up to the situation with a sense of urgency, including the\r\nproblem of radioactive water.”\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nThe government has come under fire from overseas media\r\norganizations, ruling party politicians and fishermen worried about\r\nradioactive water contaminating the ocean.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nIn a meeting at the ruling Liberal Democratic Party headquarters on\r\nAug. 29, party lawmaker Yasuhisa Shiozaki lashed out at the Abe\r\nadministration’s “lack of a sense of crisis,” singling\r\nout Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n“The issue of radioactive water is increasingly seen as an\r\ninternational problem, and lawsuits may be filed overseas,”\r\nsaid Shiozaki, acting chairman of the LDP Policy Research Council\r\nand a former chief Cabinet secretary.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nShiozaki’s anger can be seen as the first explicit criticism of the\r\ngovernment from the ruling party since the LDP returned to power in\r\nDecember.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nLater in the day, Suga received a visit from Hiroshi Kishi, head of\r\nthe National Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations, and\r\nTetsu Nozaki, head of the Fukushima Prefectural Federation of\r\nFisheries Cooperative Associations, at the prime minister’s office.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\n“We must say that TEPCO’s system of handling radioactive water\r\nhas broken down,” Kishi said. “We want the government to\r\ntake the initiative in dealing with the situation\r\nimmediately.”\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nSouth Koreans are also worried about the contamination of seawater.\r\n<\/p>\r\n

\r\nIn a statement released on Aug. 26, an environmental protection\r\ngroup based in Seoul called for an outright ban on seafood imports\r\nfrom Japan.\r\n<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\nMeanwhile, the U.S. EPA proposes\r\n\r\nto raise acceptable radiation limits<\/a>.\r\nThe comment period is still open on that until 16 September 2013.\r\n

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