Just as Goshi Hosono as Minister of the Environment (he is still the
minister in charge of the nuclear accident) said the other day, the
mayor of Shimada City in Shizuoka Prefecture is confident that
"baseless rumors" will disappear once the disaster debris is spread
all over Japan.

What kind of "baseless rumors"? In case of Shimada City, it's a
"baseless rumor" that the green tea grown in Shimada City may get
contaminated with radioactive materials from burning of the disaster
debris contaminated with radioactive fallout from the Fukushima I Nuke
Plant accident and from burying the ashes in the final disposal site
that has dubious records for safety.

The mayor has told the city residents who oppose the debris burning to
take a hike, saying he will do whatever he wants to do anyway. The
city's state-of-the-art melting furnace needs "fuel", and that will be
the disaster debris.

The waste disposal company president turned mayor of Shimada even
worries about the mental health of the residents in the disaster
affected area, in the article below.

No word about the mental health of the residents of his own city.

From Hibi Zakkan blog quoting the article on March 19, 2012 that has
since disappeared except on two sites (3/20/2012):

(From Chubu-Nippon Broadcasting Co's news on 3/19/2012)

Mayor of Shimada City, Shizuoka met with Governor of Iwate Prefecture

Mayor Sakurai of Shimada City, Shizuoka who decided to accept disaster
debris in Iwate Prefecture met with Governor Tasso of Iwate Prefecture
on March 19. He told the governor that he wants to increase the amount
of debris per shipment to expedite the debris removal at the disaster
affected areas.

"I will do as much as I can to help." (Mayor Sakurai, Shimada City,
Shizuoka Prefecture)
"Thank you, please do." (Governor Tasso, Iwate Prefecture)

Mayor Sakurai of Shimada City, Shizuoka Prefecture, who decided last
week to accept disaster debris in Iwate Prefecture, met with Governor
Tasso of Iwate and Minister Hosono on March 19 at the Ministry of the
Environment, and said "I want to do as much as I can" to accept
disaster debris.

Shimada City is to accept 5,000 tonnes of debris per year, but Mayor
Sakurai expressed interest in increasing the amount of debris per
shipment. He said removing the debris from the disaster affected areas
as soon as possible would improve the mental health of the residents
in the disaster affected areas.

Mayor Sakurai also touched upon the "baseless rumors" causing damage
to the green tea industry in Shimada City because of [his decision] to
accept [and burn] the debris. "If disaster debris are accepted in
various parts of Japan, there will be no baseless rumors", he said,
highlighting the need for tackling the disaster debris disposal on the
national scale.

As far as the Ministry of the Environment is concerned, it looks like
the "escalation of commitment". As early as March 14, 2011, the
ministry was sending out a letter to the national waste disposal
industry association asking for cooperation in wide-area disposal of
disaster debris. It was followed up by another letter, this time to
the governors, on April 8, 2011 asking for cooperation. At that time,
there was no mention of "radioactive contamination", and no mention of
specific prefectures affected by the disaster.

This is strange, as disaster debris from the Kobe earthquake was never
distributed far and wide, and Hyogo Prefecture (where Kobe is located)
did almost all disposal by itself.

Oh I get it. The ministry and the waste disposal industry lobby didn't
want to repeat the "mistake" of disaster debris distributed all over
Japan with fat subsidies to benefit the industry, so they moved very,
very quickly, even as the radioactive fallout from Fukushima I Nuclear
Power Plant was descending on the debris.

By the way, Governor Tasso of Iwate Prefecture is a graduate of Tokyo
University (law) and a former career bureaucrat in the Finance
Ministry. All too familiar story these days, of ex-bureaucrat
governors and mayors eager to help the national government, sometimes
with the help of vice mayors who are bureaucrats in the ministries on
leave.

Not a problem, says the city. The debris from the natural disaster
(earthquake, tsunami) was doused with radioactive fallout from
Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant.

As I wrote earlier today, plutonium isotopes were found in Iwaki City
on a metal plate that had been outside since March 11, 2011, and they
were of Fukushima I Nuke Plant origin.

But the city will start burning in earnest in April so that the city
is debris-free by the end of 2013.

The residents of the city don't seem totally on board, but just like
Tokyo's governor and Shimada City's mayor, the Iwaki City's unnamed
officials (in the article below) say the city will do it anyway.

Fukushima Minpo (3/22/2012):

Iwaki City will burn the disaster debris in earnest, "Radiation level
is not a problem"

Iwaki City has decided to start the burning of the disaster debris
from the March 11, 2011 earthquake/tsunami in the fiscal 2012 [that
starts on April 1]. The city conducted the test burn in February, and
decided there was no problem with the radiation level. After
explaining to the local residents, the city will start burning the
debris in the city's two waste disposal plants in April.

Iwaki City has about 40,000 tonnes of disaster debris that needs
incineration. If the incineration starts in earnest, the debris will
be disposed of completely in the fiscal 2013, according to the city.
The test burn was conducted from February 16 to 22 at the Nanbu waste
disposal center. Disaster debris was mixed with the regular household
garbage at 8.8%, and 860 tonnes of this mixed waste was burned.
Radiation levels of exhaust gas, fly ashes, and main ashes were
measured, and the air radiation levels inside the compound and in the
surrounding levels were measured. The levels were not significantly
higher than when only the household garbage was burned. The results of
the measurements are published on the city's website.

So far, because of the opposition from the residents, the disaster
debris in the city hasn't been burned in earnest. The person in charge
at the city government says, "Unless we burn, daily lives of the
citizens will be negatively impacted. It may be difficult to obtain
the unanimous consent from the residents, but ultimately we will carry
out [the burn], and the city will take responsibility."

Well if that's the case, what is your name, Mr. Anonymous at the Iwaki
municipal government in charge of contaminated debris burning?

As of February 2012, 8,500 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium was
still found in the fly ashes at the incineration plants in the city,
and that was just household garbage.

Given that much of the call was spent describing the current
radiological status on the ground in Japan, I think a short summary of
that status would be useful in the telecon summary. Here is a proposed
paragraph:

“The nuclear accident in Japan has resulted in widespread deposition
of radioactive contamination throughout the northern part of Japan,
including the metropolitan Tokyo area. Surface contamination levels in
this entire region would be required to be posted as radiological area
if they were at a U.S. licensed facility or DOE site. Any materials
leaving Japan have the potential for low levels of radioactive
contamination. Thus, the discussion about materials in DOD possession
is indicative of similar materials that are entering commerce from
Japan. In the DC and IPC meetings earlier this week, it was agreed
that the limit of 4 Bq/cm2 for commerce was going to be acceptable and
posed no health risk.”

[...]

Jeff Steele
Naval Reactors

If Terrorists Want To Get Their Hands On Dirty Bomb, All They Have to
Do Is Go To Japan With A Dustpan And A Broom. That Black Stuff Is
Everywhere.

If you thought the women's "ekiden" road race that took place in
Fukushima City last year was bad, you haven't seen this thing.

Minami Soma City, where one of the "black dusts" found on the road
surfaces throughout the city has 3.43 million becquerels/kg of
radioactive cesium (and who knows what else), will hold a marathon and
"ekiden" road race in the city to show to the world the recovery and
reconstruction of Minami Soma City. Unlike the women's road race in
Fukushima City where the youngest girls who could enter the race were
13-year olds, the Minami Soma marathon event will have elementary
school kids running the 2-kilometer course.

The entity who has organized this event, an NPO called Furusato Fukko
[homeland recovery] Kizuna [ties that bind domestic animals] Council,
will let elementary school children and junior high school students
participate for free. How generous. Everybody else will pay 3,000 yen
(US$36) to kick up dusts that may have several million becquerels/kg
of radioactive cesium.

Keep smiling.

From Fukushima Minyu (2/27/2012); clearly the newspaper is one of the
sponsors:

"Ekiden" and marathon event in Minami Soma on March 25. Run and show
your courage [this must be the slogan of the event.]

The Minami Soma Furusato [homeland] Recovery Ekiden and Marathon will
be held on March 25, with the starting and ending point at the Kashima
Country Club in Kashima District of Minami Soma City. People can sign
up up till March 10.

The event is sponsored by an NPO, Furusato Fukko [homeland recovery]
Kizuna Council and the event executive committee (chairman Nobuyoshi
Sato). Minami Soma City has been deeply affected by the earthquake/
tsunami and the nuclear accident. The event will feature the local
residents run with vigor to cheer and encourage the residents who have
evacuated or live in the temporary housing. The event is subsidized by
the Fukushima prefectural government as a community-building and -
supporting event.

The marathon and ekiden road race will start and end at the club house
of the Country Club. Elementary school children will run a 2-kilometer
marathon, junior high school students 3-kilometer, high school
students and general public 5-kilometer or 10-kilometer. An ekiden
road race team will consist of 4 people, with each running 1.5
kilometer.

For more, contact Furusato Fukko Ekiden/Marathon event office at
03-5379-3700.

Now that's very interesting. That telephone number is a Tokyo number,
not Minami Soma. The NPO's announcement shows it is located in
Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo. The chairman of the Council is Nobuyoshi Sato. No
idea who this man is, but he has successfully obtained the government
money (who will then take money from the taxpayers) to plan an event
where elementary school children are encouraged to run in a city with
on-going "decontamination" effort right outside the 20-kilometer no-
entry zone in Fukushima.

What a country.

From the event page of this NPO:

The event subtitle is "Fukushima-51". It will send vigor and courage
for the next millennium with courageous dream from Kashima Country
Club. Fukushima-50 (whom the world praised) plus 1. "1" signifies the
future of courageous children, region, and Japan, and by broadcasting
the event to the entire world showing the local people running toward
the recovery, we will thank people from all over the world who have
helped us. It will evoke the image of powerful and proud Japan, and
will inspire courage and confidence in the recovery of the region. So
we will hold this event.

Oh boy. It smells like a good-intentioned dunce in his late 20s or
early 30s who truly believes what he's saying which is nothing but
fluff with soundbites (to get the subsidy, I think), rendering the
sentences near impossible to translate into English. Probably I did a
poor job because the original Japanese is very much illogical, while
the English translation is somewhat readable. (Road to hell is paved
with ....)

By the way, the parents of these children (under the age of 18) must
sign the waiver for them that will indemnify the organizer from any
injury and sickness on the day of the event and afterwards. If you see
school kids running in this event, there are parents in that city who
will have signed the waiver. So much for "We have to protect children"
refrain you hear all over Japan.

The waiver document also says the air radiation levels at the Kajima
Country Club are 0.6 to 0.7 microsievert/hour.

HCR+OPCOM, a Minami-Soma-based NGO who protested the Fukushima City's
women's road race, was doing a hunger strike in front of the Kajima
Country Club protesting against the event that would endanger children
for no good reason other than to show that people in Minami Soma are
brave.

SOURCE: http://ex-skf.blogspot.jp/2012/03/recovery-and-recontruction-marathon...

--------------------------

Hosono should send AKB48 to Fukushima!  That would bring the people
there and help "recovery" ...

As Chugoku Shinbun reports (3/24/2012) on the meeting between the
Shimane Prefecture officials and the Ministry of the Environment, as
long as money from the national government is coming to them the local
governments will stop worrying.

Why is the Shimane prefectural government pressuring the
municipalities in Shimane to accept disaster debris? The prefectural
government doesn't want to miss out on the gravy train, but it has to
beg the municipalities probably because the prefectural government
does not have the incineration plant of its own.

I just wish I had visited this ancient place (I always wanted to
visit).

Chugoku Shinbun (3/24/2012):

Shimane Prefecture held a meeting designed for the municipalities in
Shimane regarding the disposal of disaster debris from the March 11,
2011 earthquake and tsunami, by inviting the official from the
Ministry of the Environment. Shimane was the first prefecture to hold
such a meeting in the 5 prefectures in Chugoku Region. In the meeting,
the safety standard of 8,000 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium in
the ashes from burning the debris as well as the national government's
policy to pay for the entire cost of disposal were emphasized to the
participants.

Tsuyoshi Sekiya, head of the wide-area disposal promotion team at the
Ministry of the Environment recycling division explained to 35
officials from 19 municipalities and 3 wide-area waste management
unions. The disaster debris from Miyagi and Iwate to be disposed
outside the prefectures was 3.44 million tonnes from Miyagi and
570,000 tonnes from Iwate, Sekiya said, and requested that they
consider accepting the debris because "there is not enough capacity"
in the disaster-affected areas.

Officials from the municipalities asked about the details of measures
that Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda indicated in early March to support
wide-area disposal of the debris, including financial support from the
national government for radiation measurement of the disaster debris.
Sekiya could only say, "As soon as possible".

In Shimane Prefecture, the City Assembly in Matsue City [capital city]
is expected to pass the resolution requesting the city to accept the
debris. Shoji Kodama, manager of Matsue City's environmental
protection section who attended the meeting said, "Securing the safety
of the residents comes first, and we will discuss."

4 million tonnes of disaster debris from the two prefectures, less
than 20% of the total debris.

How will Mr. Kodama of Shimane City secure the safety of the
residents? Probably by doing what Hosono and his clowns did the other
day on the street corner in Kawasaki City, Kanagawa. Wave a survey
meter over the debris and scream "See? Did you see that? It's safe!"

One good thing about the article by Chugoku Shinbun is that the
reporter named names. That seldom happens in the national newspapers,
particularly online versions of their papers. It's always "an unnamed
official" or "the government source".

Also noticed the unusually cold winter in Japan this year?  Yep nearly
all of the 54 nuclear reactors on the coast are idled thus no longer
heating up the seas surrounding Japan (although they still have to
cool the fuel loaded in these reactors and SFPs for many years to come
but the decay heat is not as much as if they were running in the
fission water boiling mode). Look at the Farewinds educational video
to realize that the nuclear power is the most inefficient way of
generating electricity because they cannot run these monsters at too
high temperature to prevent nuclear explosion hence most of the heat
from the nuclear reactions is lost into the seas (or atmosphere in the
case of the cooling tower type).  Global warming by CO2 is a hoax, and
they never tell you how much our planet is being heated by running
hundreds of nuclear reactors over the globe. In the case of burning
coal to boil water the efficiency is much better because they can run
at very high temperature and less heat is wasted into the environment.

http://enenews.com/happening-now-radiation-spikes-in-tokyo-at-shinjuk...

Radiation Expert: Huge Quantities of Radiation Are Still Being
Released from Fukushima … And Radiation Levels In Some Parts of Tokyo
Are Higher than In the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

Huge Quantities of Radiation Are Still Being Released By Fukushima

“Radiation expert Dr. Chris Busby says that huge quantities of
radiation – 1013 or 10 trillion becquerels per hour – are still being
released from Fukushima.

“This is down slightly from some of the radiation levels observed in
March, which – as I noted in April – exceeded levels pumped out at
Chernobyl during the week-long fire.

“But given that the Fukushima crisis has continued for months,
Fukushima dwarfs Chernobyl in terms of radiation released……”

SOURCE:
http://enenews.com/developing-new-university-study-fukushima-radiatio...

------------------

And this will get only worst as the buildings rust and decay.  They
cannot get close enough even with robots to look at and secure the
coriums after 1 year.  When the buildings fall apart they won't be
able to get near the whole plant to maintain the cooling water pumps
also for the other reactors still loaded with fresh and huge amounts
of spent fuel (which is sitting there for decades to come).  The rich
are already moving out of Japan behind the scenes while the poor
drones would need to get used to living in high radiation background.
Is this the end of the Japanese longevity?

At least at Chernobyl they encased it in a concerete "coffin" and many
brave people willingly gave their lives to do it. In Japan they
sprayed some water on it and told us everythings fine. There are FOUR
Chernobyls sitting side by side that have been belching out radiation
for a f*cking YEAR !

you cannot compare Chernobyl and Fukushima for the following reasons:

Chernobyl
800KG of Uranium
contained in concrete shell

(Applicants can download an application in Excel file at the Embassy's
site. Go to the end of the post for more.)

Remember that harebrained project that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
said it would do after grabbing some extra money in the supplementary
budget last year? Well it has just started.

"An Invitation Program to Japan for SOCIAL MEDIA WRITERS: Hello social
media writers!--the Government of Japan invites you to participate in
an opportunity to travel to Japan and share your experience through
social media."

The post (23 hours ago) says the following (emphasis is mine):

An Invitation Program to Japan for SOCIAL MEDIA WRITERS: Hello social
media writers!--the Government of Japan invites you to participate in
an opportunity to travel to Japan and share your experience through
social media.

- objective: to share your impressions, positive experiences, and
attraction to Japan through social media i.e blogs, Facebook,
&Twitter. Witness a vibrant Japan as it recovers from the disasters of
the Great East Japan Earthquake.
- visit places that would help you understand Japan's politics,
economics, society, and culture + meet with persons in your area of
interest
- area of interest: pop culture, fashion, design, science &
technology, Japanese food culture, sports, academia, art, etc.
- You should have more than 1000 followers per social media profile.
After returning to Canada, participants will be required to write at
least three articles about their visit.
- duration: 7 days sometime after April 2012
- expenses covered: accommodation, travel to and from Japan,
transportation in Japan, and accident insurance
- deadline: April 4.
Please find the application form & procedure @
http://www.ca.emb-japan.go.jp/canada_e/JapanCanada/2012/social_media_...

*Embassy of Japan may request candidates to visit the Embassy for an
interview.

Please apply & spread the word!

The anon reader who gave me the link says the Embassy people (or
whoever is managing their Facebook page) keep deleting the negative
comments.

The Japanese people I know are all disgusted with the government
scheme and they are extremely ashamed. And angry that their tax money
is being used like this by their government.

==================

This is hilarious. I clicked on the link in the Embassy's Facebook
post to take a look at the application form. IT'S AN EXCEL FILE! Are
we still in the late 1980s, when companies that were very much behind
the curve about computers were using Excel spreadsheet as word
processor?

So these Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials do not even know how to
create a simple form either in editable PDF format or web format, and
they want to invite social media writers.

It was probably created by a local secretary who doesn't know anything
about social media...

(What an atrocious color scheme... What has happened to the fine sense
of design and color that the Japanese want to think they possess?)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1896_Meiji-Sanriku_earthquake

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1771_Great_Yaeyama_Tsunami

311

2015?

Get the nuclear rods off the islands NOW !!!!

----------------

The revolt against the criminal government spreading their radioactive
debris could start in ancient Kyoto:

http://ex-skf.blogspot.jp/2012/03/sakura-in-full-bloom-in-kyoto-at.html

I can say the same thing about these Google newsgroups.  Using some
type of a newsgroup reader program is even worst, IMHO.  Leaving
Facebook comments on thousands of different Web sites is the modern
approach.  These newsgroups are laughably out of date.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyDvFwlCgrY

The seasoned geologist in that clip, Jim Berkland, worked for the U.S.
Geologic Survey for six years and is reknowned for accurately
predicting the 1989 "World Series" earthquake that hit California FOUR
DAYS in advance.

By the end of the video segment it is clear that he is gravely
concerned that a LARGE earthquake could hit CA, OR, and/or WA with the
greatest "Seismic Window" being between the 19th and 26th of March.
[So we are now overdue]

He also specifically mentioned that the coming event could involve the
Cascadia trench as it has been involved in an historic 9 magnitude
quake that happened in 1700.

He then explained that the months of October, March, and April have
historically been the months in which the largest earthquakes with the
most damage have affected the San Francisco Bay area.

He also pointed out that due to some large earthquakes that have
already occurred at three other widely separated points around the
Ring of Fire (that surrounds the Pacific Ocean) and there not having
been a recent major quake yet on the west coast of the North American
continent, this makes a LARGE earthquake that affects the west coast
of the U.S. more imminent.

He pointed out that the full moon and within an hour of the full moon
the closest approach of the moon to the earth until 2016, higher tides
at the spring equinox, as well as higher earth tides and water table
tides, etc. are all culminating at about the same time this month in
the "seismic window". This increases the likelihood of a significant
seismic event in the warned area.

Also, changes in the magnetic field often precede large quakes and
many animals have the metal magnetite in their bodies and are affected
by changes in the magnetic field. Another sign is wild animals coming
into populated areas.

Lastly, he mentioned a recent 1 million fish kill that occurred off of
Redondo Beach and a major sweep of fish from deep water into shallow
water off the coast of Mexico.

Whale beachings are also a major sign of an impending earthquake. The
1989 "World Series" earthquake was preceded by a very unusual beaching
of rare pygmy whales at what turned out to be the epicenter of the
quake. The Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami happened right after
large beachings of whales in New Zealand and Australia.

Technology is designed to increase flying time 'from days to months',
along with power available for weapons systems

American scientists have drawn up plans for a new generation of
nuclear-powered drones capable of flying over remote regions of the
world for months on end without refuelling.

The blueprints for the new drones, which have been developed by Sandia
National Laboratories – the US government's principal nuclear research
and development agency – and defence contractor Northrop Grumman, were
designed to increase flying time "from days to months" while making
more power available for operating equipment, according to a project
summary published by Sandia.

"It's pretty terrifying prospect," said Chris Coles of Drone Wars UK,
which campaigns against the increasing use of drones for both military
and civilian purposes. "Drones are much less safe than other aircraft
and tend to crash a lot. There is a major push by this industry to
increase the use of drones and both the public and government are
struggling to keep up with the implications."

The highly sensitive research into what is termed "ultra-persistence
technologies" set out to solve three problems associated with drones:
insufficient "hang time" over a potential target; lack of power for
running sophisticated surveillance and weapons systems; and lack of
communications capacity.

The Sandia-Northrop Grumman team looked at numerous different power
systems for large- and medium-sized drones before settling on a
nuclear solution. Northrop Grumman is known to have patented a drone
equipped with a helium-cooled nuclear reactor as long ago as 1986, and
has previously worked on nuclear projects with the US air force
research laboratory. Designs for nuclear-powered aircraft are known to
go back as far as the 1950s.

The research team found that the nuclear drones were able to provide
far more surveillance time and intelligence information per mission
compared to other technologies, and also to reduce the considerable
costs of support systems – eliminating the need, for example, for
forward bases and fuel supplies in remote and possibly hostile areas.

A halt has been called to the work for now, due to worries that public
opinion will not accept the idea of such a potentially hazardous
technology, with the inherent dangers of either a crash – in effect
turning the drone into a so-called dirty bomb – or of its nuclear
propulsion system falling into the hands of terrorists or unfriendly
powers.

Sandia confirmed that the project had been completed: "Sandia is often
asked to look at a wide range of solutions to the toughest technical
challenges. The research on this topic was highly theoretical and very
conceptual. The work only resulted in a preliminary feasibility study
and no hardware was ever built or tested. The project has ended."

According to a summary of the research published by the Federation of
American Scientists, an independent thinktank, computer-based
projections were used to test the concepts. "Based on requirements and
direction provided by Northrop Grumman, Sandia performed focused
studies to translate stated needs into conceptual designs and
processes that could be transferred easily from Sandia to industry
design and production personnel," the document says.

So sensitive is the issue that the summary does not spell out the fact
that it is referring to a nuclear-powered drone, referring instead to
"propulsion and power technologies that went well beyond existing
hydrocarbon technologies". However, the project's lead investigator at
Sandia, Dr Steven Dron, is well known as a specialist in nuclear
propulsion, having co-chaired a session at the 2008 Symposium on Space
Nuclear Power and Propulsion, held at the University of New Mexico in
2008.

The research summary also stated that the results "were to be used in
the next generation of unmanned air vehicles used for military and
intelligence applications", where they "would have provided system
performance unparalleled by other existing technologies".

It added that "none of the results will be used in the near-term or
mid-term future", due to political constraints.

The potential impact of nuclear-powered drones can be gauged by
comparing them with existing aircraft such as the MQ-9 Reaper, which
is used extensively in Afghanistan and Pakistan in operations against
insurgents. The Reaper presently carries nearly two tonnes of fuel in
addition a similar weight of munitions and other equipment and can
stay airborne for around 42 hours, or just 14 hours when fully loaded
with munitions.

Using nuclear power would enable the Reaper not only to remain
airborne for far longer, but to carry more missiles or surveillance
equipment, and to dispense with the need for ground crews based in
remote and dangerous areas.

Coles believes the increasing sophistication of drones poses many
threats: "As they become low-cost, low-risk alternatives to
conventional warfare, the threshold for their use will inevitably
drop. The consequences are not being thought through."

SOURCE: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/02/us-plans-nuclear-drones

------------------------

They already put it into the satellites.  Now the drones, imagine that
someone capable such as the "Anonymous" clan of hackers takes over the
control of such a drone ....  We get the flying nuclear power stations
all over the globe and the government will sponsor research on the
beneficial effects of "low dose" radiation.

The crisis at the Fukushima-Daiichi power plants has not ended. While
the first three reactors contained fuel and presented a serious threat
since March 11, 2011, they have largely been contained. Reactor 4
contained no fuel when the earthquake hit. Instead, the spent fuel
rods had been moved to a cooling pool on the second floor of the
containment unit. [...] If another high level earthquake hits the
area, the building will certainly collapse. Japanese and American
meteorologists have predicted that such a strong earthquake is indeed
likely to hit this year.

The meltdown and unprecedented release of radiation that would ensue
is the worst case scenario that then-Prime Minister Kan and other
former officials have discussed in the past months. He warned during
his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos that such an accident
would force the evacuation of the 35 million people in Tokyo, close
half of Japan and compromise the nation’s sovereignty. Such a
humanitarian and environmental catastrophe is unimaginable. [...]

SOURCE:
http://enenews.com/former-un-advisor-ive-been-told-maybe-50-years-to-...

http://enenews.com/ambassador-murata-writes-secretary-general-exagger...

---------------------

Nuclear Expert: Fukushima spent fuel has 85 times more cesium than
released at Chernobyl — “It would destroy the world environment and
our civilization… an issue of human survival” -Former UN adviser

[...] I asked top spent-fuel pools expert Mr. Robert Alvarez, former
Senior Policy Adviser to the Secretary and Deputy Assistant Secretary
for National Security and the Environment at the U.S. Department of
Energy, for an explanation of the potential impact of the 11,421
rods.

I received an astounding response from Mr. Alvarez [updated 4/5/12]:

In recent times, more information about the spent fuel situation at
the Fukushima-Dai-Ichi site has become known. It is my understanding
that of the 1,532 spent fuel assemblies in reactor No. 304 assemblies
are fresh and unirradiated. This then leaves 1,231 irradiated spent
fuel rods in pool No. 4, which contain roughly 37 million curies (~1.4E
+18 Becquerel) of long-lived radioactivity. The No. 4 pool is about
100 feet above ground, is structurally damaged and is exposed to the
open elements. If an earthquake or other event were to cause this pool
to drain this could result in a catastrophic radiological fire
involving nearly 10 times the amount of Cs-137 released by the
Chernobyl accident.

The infrastructure to safely remove this material was destroyed as it
was at the other three reactors. Spent reactor fuel cannot be simply
lifted into the air by a crane as if it were routine cargo. In order
to prevent severe radiation exposures, fires and possible explosions,
it must be transferred at all times in water and heavily shielded
structures into dry casks.. As this has never been done before, the
removal of the spent fuel from the pools at the damaged Fukushima-Dai-
Ichi reactors will require a major and time-consuming re-construction
effort and will be charting in unknown waters. Despite the enormous
destruction cased at the Da–Ichi site, dry casks holding a smaller
amount of spent fuel appear to be unscathed.

Based on U.S. Energy Department data, assuming a total of 11,138 spent
fuel assemblies are being stored at the Dai-Ichi site, nearly all,
which is in pools. They contain roughly 336 million curies (~1.2 E+19
Bq) of long-lived radioactivity. About 134 million curies is
Cesium-137 — roughly 85 times the amount of Cs-137 released at the
Chernobyl accident as estimated by the U.S. National Council on
Radiation Protection (NCRP). The total spent reactor fuel inventory at
the Fukushima-Daichi site contains nearly half of the total amount of
Cs-137 estimated by the NCRP to have been released by all atmospheric
nuclear weapons testing, Chernobyl, and world-wide reprocessing plants
(~270 million curies or ~9.9 E+18 Becquerel).

It is important for the public to understand that reactors that have
been operating for decades, such as those at the Fukushima-Dai-Ichi
site have generated some of the largest concentrations of
radioactivity on the planet.

Many of our readers might find it difficult to appreciate the actual
meaning of the figure, yet we can grasp what 85 times more Cesium-137
than the Chernobyl would mean. It would destroy the world environment
and our civilization. This is not rocket science, nor does it connect
to the pugilistic debate over nuclear power plants. This is an issue
of human survival. [...]

SOURCE:
http://enenews.com/nuclear-expert-fukushima-spent-fuel-85-times-cesiu...

------------------------

With all these reactors over the globe they are literally lighting
this planet into nuclear fire.  This is incompatible with any carbon-
based life form as we know of.  The end of life coming sooner or
later.

The Japs. have been just waiting for #4 to rust or topple over due to
the next big earthquake for over a year instead of throwing the whole
site into the ocean at the beginning or encasing it into huge concrete-
lead containment. Just buying time for the rich to escape ...

Despite the angry residents shouting down the national minister and
local politicians at the JR Kyoto Station the other day, Mayor of
Kyoto City Daisaku Kadokawa has already made up his mind. He has sent
his official letter to the Ministry of the Environment, saying the
city is ready to accept the disaster debris after conducting the burn
tests at the city's 3 incineration plants.

The mayor seems quite willing to throw the 650 billion yen per year
tourism industry in Kyoto City down the drain in exchange for a few
billion yen subsidy from the national government. I do hear that Kyoto
City is in a dire financial condition, despite all the money tourists
from all over the world drop in the city.

The governor of Kyoto was quite satisfied with the government answer
that the government would compensate Kyoto for damages from "baseless
rumors". I guess the mayor is also quite satisfied with the answer.

Fukushima-origin cesium-134 has been detected in the fly ashes of the
incineration plants in Kyoto City, and people like Professor Hayakawa
of Gunma University (who is all for wide-area disposal and burning of
disaster debris) are using the data to tell people who oppose wide-
area debris disposal, "See, Kyoto is already contaminated". This is so
disingenuous. Yes, cesium-134 is highly likely from Fukushima. But
radioactive cesium get concentrated once burned, and the Ministry of
the Environment says the concentration is 33 times in fly ashes. So,
in the case of Kyoto City, with maximum cesium-134 at 9 becquerels/kg
and cesium-137 at 14 becquerels/kg in the fly ashes (total cesium 23
becquerels/kg), the amount of cesium in a kilogram of garbage would be
0.7 becquerel.

Besides, since it is from the garbage, the contamination may be from
the contaminated food items from Tohoku and Kanto. In 2010, the level
of cesium-137 of the grass land soil in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto City was 1.8
becquerel/kg.

And what levels of radioactivity are we talking about on the disaster
debris? Depending on the locations, they are anything from ND to over
1000 becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium according to the Ministry of
the Environment, not even considering other nuclides, and that's
before burning. The Ministry of the Environment says the max levels of
contamination of the debris for wide-area disposal is 480 becquerels/
kg before burning. Even if Kyoto City gets 100 becquerels/kg debris,
that's more than 100 times the contamination that Kyoto has.

From Kyoto Shinbun (4/5/2012):

Kyoto City to test burn the disaster debris at 3 of its incineration
facilities, and decide [whether to accept the debris] after the review
of the test result

In order to accept the disaster debris from Iwate and Miyagi
Prefectures from the March 11, 2011 earthquake/tsunami, Kyoto City
responded to the Ministry of the Environment in writing that it will
conduct the test burn of the debris at its incineration facilities
(Clean Centers) in the northeast (Shizuichi, Sakyo-ku), north
(Umegahata, Ukyo-ku), and south (Yoko Oji, Fushimi-ku), and will
accept the debris after reviewing the test result. The East Clean
Center in Fushimi-ku will be closed by the end of this fiscal year,
and it won't be used for test burn.

According to the city's plan, a committee of experts in radiation
medicine and radiation safety management will be set up. The committee
will examine the appropriateness of the standard set by the Kansai
Wide Area Association (made of prefectures in Kansai Area) of 100
becquerels/kg of radioactive cesium in the debris before burning,
2,000 becquerels/kg in the ashes, and study the protective measures
during transportation of the debris for the test burning and the
effect on the surrounding areas.

The debris will then be burned at the three Clean Centers, and the air
radiation levels will be measured to make sure the levels are safe.
The ashes will be buried in the huge landfill on Osaka Bay
("Phoenix"). The city will also evaluate the effect of transporting
the ashes.

The city will conduct meetings for the residents around the Clean
Centers, and the test result will be made public. The official in
charge in the city says, "Many Kyoto residents support early recovery
[of Tohoku]. We will do our best to persuade them."

It sounds all too familiar. Oh yes, the repeat of Shimada City. The
city will do whatever it wants, no matter how the residents are
against it. Meetings are for the formality, a facade, and the city
will simply tell the residents what's already decided, which is to
accept the debris and burn in their neighborhoods.

Kyoto City is in the basin, and the incineration plants surrounds the
city. Smart move, mayor, for few bucks.

I wonder Mr. Iyer, who wrote for NY Times telling the readers "Now's
the season!" to visit Kyoto, knows about this. I guess he does, and he
will probably excoriate those foreign tourists who will stay away from
Kyoto for such a trivial nuisance like potential radiation
contamination.

Many tourist destinations and residential areas are close to these
Clean Centers. Kyoto International Convention Center is located 3 km
southeast of the North Clean Center. The South Clean Center is located
in Fushimi, one of the most famous places for sake brewing in Japan.
Brewers are located about 2 kilometers northeast of the South Clean
Center. (Information from one of my Japanese readers who is very upset
about the whole issue).

Here's the map showing the Clean Centers in Kyoto City. They're going
to do the test burn in the Centers in red circles:

What kind of country is this, willing to defile its ancient city
steeped in history and culture that dates back more than 1,200 years
that even the US decided not to bomb (although it did consider nuking
the city...)?

Even if Kyoto City's mayor wants to burn, why would the national
government even ask Kyoto City to burn the disaster debris that got
contaminated with radioactive materials, arsenic, petrochemicals, and
other toxins?

Kyoto is one of my favorite cities. I've visited countless times. This
is just mind-boggling.

SOURCE: http://ex-skf.blogspot.jp/2012/04/radioactive-japan-kyoto-city-to-tes...