| #Radioactive Japan: Someone Emailed "Go to Hell" to Shimada City, Shizuoka for Burning Disaster Debris Posted: 28 May 2012 11:55 PM PDT In tea-growing Shimada City in Shizuka Prefecture where the mayor of the city is in the waste management business, they have started to burn the disaster debris in earnest, now that the test incineration in the state-of-the-art melting furnace was done. Someone was very unhappy about it, and let the city known in no uncertain terms. From Yomiuri Shinbun (part; 5/28/2012): 「地獄に堕ちろ」がれき焼却の島田市にメール
"Go to hell" email to debris-burning Shimada City
東日本大震災で発生したがれきの受け入れを始めた静岡県島田市は２８日、「首を洗って待っていろよ」などと書かれたメール８通が、市の代表アドレスに届いたと発表した。
Shimada City in Shizuoka Prefecture started to accept the disaster debris from March 11, 2011 disaster. On May 28, the city announced that it received 8 emails to the city's email address including an email with the message "Wash your neck [and be ready to be executed by beheading] and wait for me."
受け入れに反発する内容が記載されており、市は、脅迫とも受け取れるとして、県警への被害届提出を検討している。
The emails express strong opposition to the city's acceptance of the debris. The city is considering filing a damage report with the prefectural police as they could be construed as threats.
市によると、メールは５月２０～２５日、同じアドレスから届き、「がれき焼却を続けるだと！」「地獄に堕(お)ちろ」などと書かれていた。
According to the city, the emails were sent from the same address between May 20 and 25, and contained the messages like "How dare you continue burning the debris!" and "Go to hell".
Not that I have much sympathy for the city government, but it is just one example of how divisive the national government's continued insistence on the wide-area disposal of disaster debris.
These emails could have also been sent by someone who is pro-incineration, to discredit the opponents.
The Japanese society has become not only radioactive but coarse, where pro-nuclear people and experts and anti-nuke counterparts not only go at each other but also scold or ridicule people in the "middle" who are trying to figure out what's going on. That middle is not a "silent majority". It is a silent minority dwindling fast, cowed by attacks from both sides.
Meanwhile, a city that is almost bankrupt in Osaka Prefecture wants to accept non-flammable disaster debris. The city, Izumisano City, desperately needs money.
"It's all about money, isn't it? If someone says no at 100 million yen, tell them you will double the money. If he still says no, then triple it. If he still says no, there will be someone else who will take that money anyway" - this is the gist of what Dr. Haruki Madarame of the Nuclear Safety Commission said in 2005 while he was still a professor at Tokyo University.
Dr. Madarame was talking about the nuclear fuel cycle and the final disposal site. It's the same with the disaster debris disposal, with pro-government researchers and the government money. 
|
| Spiegel Interviews Tsipras: "If Greece Is Destroyed, Angela Merkel Will Be Guilty" Posted: 28 May 2012 05:09 PM PDT Mr. Alexis Tsipras, the Syriza leader, promises Greece will stay in euro, and no he won't abide by the austerity diktat. If anything goes wrong in Greece, it will be Angela Merkel's fault, and other European forces. He probably scoffs at IMF Chief Christine Lagarde too, who told the Greeks to "pay up". In the interview below, the Spiegel reporters don't sound too happy. From Spiegel Online International (5/28/2012): Greek Leftist Leader Alexis Tsipras 'It's in Europe's Interest to Lift the Austerity Diktat'
Alexis Tsipras, head of the leftist Syriza party, wants an end to austerity in Greece. Ahead of Greek general elections in mid-June, he speaks with SPIEGEL about the dangers his country poses to the euro, the failure of economization measures thus far and why Chancellor Angela Merkel would be to blame if the Greek economy collapses.
Tsipras, the 37-year-old rising star in Greek politics, lays his Ray-Ban sunglasses on the table. It's Tuesday afternoon, and he looks exhausted. Indeed, he has a packed schedule: first Paris and then Berlin, where he met with Gregor Gysi and then with Jürgen Trittin and Sigmar Gabriel, senior officials in Germany's Left Party, Green Party and Social Democratic Party, respectively. Tsipras was the surprise victor when his Radical Left (Syriza) party took second place in May 6 general elections in Greece. Because leaders were unable to form a coalition government, a new election will be held on June 17. Most believe that Tsipras will attract even more votes in this second election.
Tsipras' tour through "Europe's two most important capital cities," as he put it, was primarily about cultivating his image. The civil engineer, already politically active in high school as a member of the Communist Youth of Greece, numbers among the strongest critics of the EU-International Monetary Fund (IMF) strategy for Greece, which calls for radical budget cuts and austerity in return for international aid. Should he win the June 17 election, Tsipras plans to ditch the terms of the bailout agreements struck with its creditors. On the campaign trail, one of his slogans has been that Greece is in danger of becoming a "German colony." But he toned things down in Berlin, saying: "We want to persuade, not blackmail."
SPIEGEL: Mr. Tsipras, is Berlin really as bad as you always say back home in Athens whenever you rail against the evil Germans?
Alexis Tsipras: Berlin is my favorite capital city in Europe. It's too bad that I'm always here only briefly. I'd like to have more time.
SPIEGEL: You might be Greece's prime minister the next time you come to Berlin. If that happens, will Greece still be a member of the euro zone?
Tsipras: Of course. We'll do everything we can so that Greece can retain the euro. We're trying to convince our European partners that it's also in their interest to finally lift the austerity diktat. We need policies that don't destroy the Greek economy but, rather, allow for renewed growth. If the austerity course isn't changed, it will result in the complete destruction of the Greek economy. That would indeed be a danger to the euro.
SPIEGEL: But even some parts of Syriza, the leftist alliance you lead and which came in second place in the May 6 election, have been calling openly for a return to the drachma.
Tsipras: That's only a minority. In each party, no matter whether big or small, there are different orientations, different opinions. Then there will be a vote, and the majority decides. What's more, this minority among us isn't in favor of an exit from the euro, for example; it just wants to ensure that Greece can also survive, with the help of another currency, for example, if others have completely ruined our national economy.
SPIEGEL: Which "others" do you mean? The Greek economy is already in a shambles.
Tsipras: What I mean by that is if our economic foundation is completely destroyed and the decisions of an elected Greek government are not responsible for it but, rather, certain political forces in Europe. Then they too will be guilty, for example Angela Merkel.
SPIEGEL: Are you seriously claiming that the reforms which Europe is demanding as a precondition for loan assistance are the reason for Greece's miserable situation?
Tsipras: If we are once again pushed and blackmailed into an austerity program that has so obviously failed, then it won't be long before Greece is in fact no longer capable of paying its creditors. The result will be a halt in payments, one into which we were practically forced. This would not only be dangerous for Greece, but for the entire European economy. These days, the financial systems of all countries are so closely intertwined with each other that one can't limit the crisis geographically. It's a problem of all countries and of all national economies.
SPIEGEL: If Greece ultimately exits the euro, you will also bear some of the blame. You promised your voters the impossible: retaining the euro while breaking Greece's agreements with the rest of Europe. How can such a plan find success?
Tsipras: I don't see any contradiction in that. We simply don't want the money of European citizens to vanish into a bottomless pit. The fact that there is financial assistance is the principle of European solidarity and a mark of being part of a community. That's good. But we think these resources should also be put to sensible use: for investments that can also generate prosperity. Only then will we in fact be able to pay back our debts.
SPIEGEL: For you, other people are always the scapegoat. It's other people's fault that the economy is languishing, so other people also have to rescue it …
Tsipras: That's not correct; we naturally also take a critical look at ourselves. We bear significant responsibility for our situation. We've accepted politicians who have destroyed our country's manufacturing base and created a corrupt state. We have elected the very people who have stashed their money away abroad and not only allowed tax evasion to occur, but also fostered it. Of course we are responsible for that; we allowed it all to happen. But we also have the responsibility to change exactly that right now.
SPIEGEL: Given your dependence on financial support and your rejection of vital structural reforms -- such as that of the public administration -- already agreed on, how do you propose doing so?
Tsipras: We're not opposed to reforms. We're only saying what so many economists, what many German newspapers and what even former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt are saying -- and what the OECD has now reconfirmed in a study: The austerity policies we've been implementing for two years -- the policy of solely relying on drastic belt-tightening -- have failed. We now find ourselves in the fifth year of the recession. This year too, our economy will once again contract by at least 6 percent.
SPIEGEL: Is that the complete truth? Even Alekos Alavanos, your old mentor and the former Syriza floor leader in parliament, has called on you to finally be honest with your fellow Greeks.
Tsipras: Alavanos left the party some years ago because he didn't share our conviction about remaining within the euro zone. It's fairly odd that I now have to justify myself for the fact that we -- like the vast majority of the population, incidentally -- want to stay within the euro association.
The political reality is simple: The austerity programs, as constructed thus far, have failed, partly because they've been based on a false model, namely, that of domestic devaluation. But we're not an exporting country. It is much more the case that most of what we produce, we consume. Our ability to compete doesn't only depend on labor costs, as so many people say; they also depend on other parameters, such as the infrastructure and the mind-set of people and politicians. We really do long for a bit more meritocracy …
SPIEGEL: The concept of merit-based remuneration hasn't made it all that far in Greece. Instead, there's widespread corruption, cronyism and clientelism -- not exactly an advantage when it comes to competitiveness.
Tsipras: I am aware of the problems the Greek state has. It was systematically run down by the politicians of ours who were in power. And many Greeks share in the blame: They've supported this system; they've sustained it by continually electing the same politicians. But this can't be the cause of the crisis but, rather, at most it is a symptom. The financial and debt crisis isn't purely a Greek problem -- otherwise, there wouldn't be high government deficits in other countries, as well, such as in Italy, Spain, Portugal and Ireland. So there must be other causes. That's why we have to analyze the structure of the community, its architecture. Also that of our common currency, the euro.
SPIEGEL: Do you see in François Hollande, France's newly elected Socialist president, a new ally in the battle against the austerity diktat coming out of Germany?
Tsipras: Hollande is clearly a great white hope for us. Now, ideas and arguments that haven't been listened to will once again be heard and discussed, such as a stronger role for the European Central Bank or the introduction of euro bonds. We can't just treat symptoms, or we really will stumble over Greece. That doesn't help anyone. If our country exits the euro zone, all of Europe is in danger. We mustn't fool ourselves about that.
SPIEGEL: The most recent talks in Athens aimed at forming a government failed because you refused to join in any coalition. At the moment, opinion polls indicate that your Syriza alliance is running neck and neck with the conservative Nea Dimokratia (New Democracy) party. Who would you like to partner with after the new elections on June 17?
Tsipras: We would, of course, like to have a left-wing coalition. And we'll do everything we can to make things add up in our favor this time.
Interview conducted by Julia Amalia Heyer and Manfred Ertel
Translated from the German by Josh Ward
Zero Hedge, where I took the link to Spiegel article, says "Well, in the US, it is all Bush's fault". 
|
| Stanford Researchers Found Radioactive Cesium of #Fukushima Origin in Pacific Bluefin Tuna Off California Coast Posted: 28 May 2012 01:41 PM PDT The researchers from Stanford University, California caught 15 tuna fish off the coast of southern California last August and measured radioactive cesium-134 and -137. Nine months later, it is in the news now that their research paper has finally been published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Neither the Wall Street Journal article below, or Reuters', mentions the exact numbers for radioactive cesium, but Japan's Kyodo News does: Cesium-134: 4 Bq/kg Cesium-137: 6.3 Bq/kg The Stanford researchers think the fish were in the Japanese water about a month after the accident started. Daniel Madigan, who led the study, said they were surprised to find cesium at all, and that it was found in all samples they collected and tested. Wall Street Journal says the added radioactivity is about 3% of the naturally occurring radioactivity in the fish, and Reuters converts becquerels into curie to put things in perspective saying "It takes 37 billion becquerels to equal 1 curie". Well, at least the Japanese media, MSM or alternative, has gotten comfortable over the last year quoting the measured numbers instead of trying to put them in perspective without mentioning the numbers. From Wall Street Journal (5/28/2012; emphasis is mine): Tuna Carried Fukushima Radioactivity to U.S. Coast
By ROBERT LEE HOTZ
Pacific bluefin tuna migrating last year from coastal Japan to the waters off Southern California contained radioactive cesium isotopes from the Fukushima nuclear disaster, scientists reported Monday.
The amount of radioactivity in the fish was one-tenth the level the U.S. and Japan consider dangerous, and likely posed no public health hazard or risk to people who ate the seafood, the scientists said. But the study showed for the first time that migrating sea life rapidly brought traces of radioactive elements from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors across vast distances.
"The tuna packaged it up and brought it across the world's largest ocean," said marine ecologist Daniel Madigan at Stanford University, who led the study team. "We were definitely surprised to see it at all and even more surprised to see it in every one we measured."
Their findings raise the possibility that other wide-ranging sea-life that foraged near Japan, such as turtles, sharks and seabirds, may also have carried low levels of radioactive cesium from the accident around the Pacific basin. The scientists expect to conduct more tests on migrating bluefin tuna as well as albacore tuna, sea turtles, and several shark species this summer.
Their research was published Monday in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Prized as a sushi delicacy in Japan and around the world, Pacific bluefin tuna spawn in the Sea of Japan, among other locales. As they grow, the fish usually travel around the southern tip of Japan and follow the Kurishio Current up the country's east coast, past the scene of the nuclear accident, before migrating over 6,000 nautical miles to the eastern Pacific. The fish eventually return to their birth waters to spawn.
In their study, Mr. Madigan and his colleagues tested tissue from 15 young Pacific bluefin tuna caught by recreational fisherman off the coast of San Diego in August 2011, about five months after an earthquake and a tsunami severely damaged the Fukushima reactors, triggering the largest known accidental release of radioactivity into the ocean.
For weeks after the accident, levels of radioactivity were up to 10,000 times normal in the coastal waters off eastern Japan, where the bluefin tuna spend their early life before migrating across the ocean.
In the young bluefin tuna that reached California, the researchers found slightly elevated levels of cesium-137 and cesium-134, two primary products of nuclear fission that tend to concentrate in muscle tissue. The amount of cesium 137 was five times as much as the background level, leftover from nuclear weapons testing decades ago. Prior to the Fukushima accident, cesium-134, which has a half-life of about two years, was undetectable in seawater or marine life.
Overall, the levels were just enough to raise the naturally occurring radioactivity of the fish by about 3%, the scientists said.
"We found that absolutely every one of them had comparable concentrations of cesium-134 and cesium-137," said marine biologist Nicholas Fisher at Stony Brook University in New York state, who was part of the study group. "It is crystal-clear data."
For comparison, the researchers also tested tissue from yellowfin tuna caught at the same time last August and tissue preserved from bluefin tuna caught in 2008, three years before the nuclear accident. Yellowfin tuna typically spend their entire lives in the sea off the coast of California.
In both the yellowfin and the tissue of the 2008 bluefin, the scientists didn't find any cesium-134 and detected only the expected background levels of cesium-137.
Write to Robert Lee Hotz at sciencejournal@wsj.com
|
| TEPCO to Do Endoscopy of Reactor 1 Containment Vessel at #Fukushima, in Late August Posted: 28 May 2012 01:22 PM PDT After the Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization (JNES) published its analysis that the water level inside the Containment Vessel of Reactor 1 at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant may be only 40 centimeters deep, TEPCO announced the plan to probe inside the Containment Vessel with the endoscope, just as they did for Reactor 2. According to Jiji Tsushin, TEPCO plans to visually inspect the inside (by two endoscopic cameras), take temperature and radiation measurements, and collect the water samples near where the fuel debris (corium) is supposed to be on the floor of the Containment Vessel. The fuel debris (corium) in the Reactor 1 is considered to have dropped to the concrete floor of the Containment Vessel and eaten into the concrete, as having been disclosed during the workshop organized by the NISA in November last year. TEPCO's estimate is about 65 centimeters into the concrete, and the Institute of Applied Energy's estimate is about 2 meters. From Jiji Tsushin (part; 5/28/2012): 東京電力福島第１原発の廃炉に向け、８月末から９月中旬に１号機の原子炉格納容器内部を工業用内視鏡で調査し、溶けた核燃料の近くから高濃度汚染水を採取して分析する計画がまとまった。
Toward decommissioning Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, the plan has been agreed upon to probe the interior of the Reactor 1 Containment Vessel using the industrial endoscope and collect the sample of highly contaminated water near the fuel debris for analysis. The work will be carried out sometime between late August and mid September.
...
格納容器内部の調査は今年１、３月に２号機で行われ、水位が底から約６０センチしかないと判明している。
The probe of the Containment Vessel interior was done on Reactor 2 in January and March this year, which revealed the water level to be only 60 centimeters from the floor of the Containment Vessel.
１号機では予備の配管用貫通部にカメラや放射線測定器を挿入して調べるほか、汚染水を採取・分析して溶融燃料の状態を推定する。最後に「熱電対」と呼ばれる金属製温度計を挿入したままにし、内部の水温を継続的に測定する。
In Reactor 1, TEPCO will insert the camera and radiation survey meter through one of the spare penetrations for the pipes, and collect the contaminated water and analyze in order to estimate the condition of the melted fuel. After the probe, a thermocouple will be left inside the Containment Vessel [in the water] to continuously measure the temperature of the water.
The details of the Reactor 1 CV probe are in one of the reference materials (Japanese-only; pages 18 to 25) for the May 28, 2012 meeting of the Working Group for Medium to Long Term Planning. TEPCO will have to build a mock-up first to train the workers. (I'll post some of the pages here later.) 
|
No comments:
Post a Comment