SF Rally-Speak Out Defend The Children and People Of Fukushima and Stop the Start-up

8/11 SF Rally-Speak Out Defend The Children and People Of Fukushima and Stop the Start-up of More Nuclear Plants in Japan
Thursday August 11, 2016 3:00 PM
San Francisco Japan Consulate
275 Battery St./California St.
San Francisco

On Thursday August 11 at 3:00 PM , community members and defenders of the people of Fukushima will speak out at the San Francisco Japanese consulate to demand the evacuation of all children and families from Fukushima, full compensation and the closure of all nuclear plants in Japan/ The Abe government is seeking to reopen the remaining more than 35 nuclear plants despite the great dangers of another Fukushima disaster. Japan is located on the ring of fire and the danger of another major earthquake that could cause a similar disaster is very real.
The Abe government also is continuing to cover-up the growing dangers of thyroid cancers. Using the secrecy law the government refuses to release the information in the spike of thyroid cancer surgeries in the country.
Also the Abe government which now controls Tokyo Electric Power Company TEPCO continues to all subcontractors to hire day laborers and other immigrant workers and put them to work without proper training a protection at Fukushima. These workers are then dumped and face a potential lifetime of dealing with radioactive poisoning.
According to a report of Greenpeace Japan the radioactive material continues.
"Radioactive contamination in the seabed off the Fukushima coast is hundreds of times above pre-2011 levels, while contamination in local rivers is up to 200 times higher than ocean sediment, according to results from Greenpeace Japan survey work released Thursday."
It is time for all people in the United States to defend the people of Fukushima and demand that the Japanese government stop the restarting of all nuclear plants in Japan.
Join Us On August 11, 2016 at 3:00 PM

Speak Out and Rally initiated by
No Nukes Action Committee
http://nonukesaction.wordpress.com/
For more information
(510) 495-5952


Radiation Along Fukushima Rivers Up to 200 Times Higher Than Pacific Ocean Seabed
http://www.ecowatch.com/radiation-fukushima-rivers-200-times-higher-than-pacific-ocean-seabed-1937971722.html
Jul 22, 2016
Radiation Along Fukushima Rivers Up to 200 Times Higher Than Pacific Ocean Seabed


Radioactive contamination in the seabed off the Fukushima coast is hundreds of times above pre-2011 levels, while contamination in local rivers is up to 200 times higher than ocean sediment, according to results from Greenpeace Japan survey work released Thursday.

"The extremely high levels of radioactivity we found along the river systems highlights the enormity and longevity of both the environmental contamination and the public health risks resulting from the Fukushima disaster," Ai Kashiwagi, energy campaigner at Greenpeace Japan, said.



Greenpeace sediment sampling in Abukuma river, Miyagi prefecture, February 2016. The Abukuma has a 5,172km2 catchment15 which is largely in Fukushima prefecture, before entering the Pacific ocean in Miyagi prefecture.
Greenpeace / Raquel Monton
"These river samples were taken in areas where the Abe government is stating it is safe for people to live. But the results show there is no return to normal after this nuclear catastrophe," said Kashiwagi.

Riverbank sediment samples taken along the Niida River in Minami Soma, measured as high as 29,800 Bq/kg for radiocaesium (Cs-134 and 137). The Niida samples were taken where there are no restrictions on people living, as were other river samples. At the estuary of the Abukuma River in Miyagi prefecture, which lies more than 90km north of the Fukushima Daiichi plant, levels measured in sediment samples were as high as 6,500 Bq/kg.



Greenpeace radiation specialist Jacob Namminga on board research vessel off the coast of Fukushima Daiichi, removing marine sediment sample collected by Remotely Operated Vehicle, March 2016.
Greenpeace / Christian Aslund
The lifting of evacuation orders in March 2017 for areas that remain highly contaminated is a looming human rights crisis and cannot be permitted to stand. The vast expanses of contaminated forests and freshwater systems will remain a perennial source of radioactivity for the foreseeable future, as these ecosystems cannot simply be decontaminated.

Caesium-137 has a half life of 30 years and will continue to pose a risks to the the environment and human health for hundreds of years. Cs-137 contamination in seabed samples near the Fukushima plant was measured at up to 120 Bq/kg – compared to levels pre-2011 of 0.3 Bq/kg. Further, the levels of contamination found 60km south of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant were comparable with those found within 4km of the plant. Numerous marine science investigations, have concluded that these higher levels are one explanation for some marine species still showing higher cesium levels than the background levels in seawater.


River systems along Fukushima and neighboring prefecture coastline discharging radioactivity into Pacific Ocean.
"The radiation levels in the sediment off the coast of Fukushima are low compared to land contamination, which is what we expected and consistent with other research," Kendra Ulrich, senior global energy campaigner at Greenpeace Japan, said. "The sheer size of the Pacific Ocean combined with powerful complex currents means the largest single release of radioactivity into the marine environment has led to the widespread dispersal of contamination."

Most of the radioactivity in Fukushima Daiichi reactor units 1-3 core fuel in March 2011 remains at the site.

"The scientific community must receive all necessary support to continue their research into the impacts of this disaster," Ulrich said.

"In addition to the ongoing contamination from forests and rivers, the vast amount of radioactivity onsite at the destroyed nuclear plant remains one of the greatest nuclear threats to Fukushima coastal communities and the Pacific Ocean. The hundreds of thousands of tonnes of highly contaminated water, the apparent failure of the ice wall to reduce groundwater contamination and the unprecedented challenge of three molten reactor cores all add up to a nuclear crisis that is far from over."

A radiation survey team onboard the research vessel Asakaze, supported by the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior, conducted underwater survey work along the Fukushima coastline from Feb. 21 to March 11 this year, as well collecting samples in river systems. The samples were measured at an independent laboratory in Tokyo.

There’s no end to Fukushima crisis while melted fuel remains
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201607230013.html
Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a daily column that runs on Page 1 of The Asahi Shimbun.
July 23, 2016 at 12:20 JST

A massive concrete structure encases the wrecked No. 4 reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, site of the catastrophic 1986 accident.

Dubbed the "sarcophagus," it was erected to contain the fuel that could not be extracted from the crippled reactor.

I never expected this word ("sekkan" in Japanese) to crop up in connection with the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis.

Local governments raised objections to the use of this word in a report compiled by a government organ that supports the decommissioning of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

While the report discusses the extraction of melted fuel as a requirement, it is written in such a way as to suggest that the construction of a sarcophagus is an option that should not be dismissed out of hand.

This outraged the governor of Fukushima, Masao Uchibori, who lashed out, "Containing (the melted fuel) in a sarcophagus spells giving up hope for post-disaster reconstruction and for returning home."

The government organ has since deleted the word from the report, admitting that it was misleading and that constructing a sarcophagus is not under consideration.

The report lacked any consideration for the feelings of local citizens. But more to the point, just deleting the word does not settle this case.

Even though five years have passed since the disaster, nothing has been decided yet on how to extract the melted fuel. How, then, can anyone guarantee that the fuel will never be "entombed"?

I am reminded anew of the sheer difficulty of decommissioning nuclear reactors. The Fukushima edition of The Asahi Shimbun runs a weekly report on the work being done at the Fukushima No. 1 plant.

The report portrays the harsh realities at the site, such as leaks of contaminated water and accidents involving workers. Efforts to decommission the crippled reactors continue day after day, but the task is expected to take several decades.

Elsewhere in Japan, the rule that requires nuclear reactors to be decommissioned after 40 years is becoming toothless, and preparations are proceeding steadily for restarting reactors that have remained offline.

"Normalcy" appears to be returning, but there is a huge gap between that and the unending hardships in the disaster-affected areas.

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 23

Bulk of melted fuel at bottom of Fukushima No. 2 reactor vessel
http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20160729/p2g/00m/0dm/022000c
July 29, 2016 (Mainichi Japan)

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Most of the melted nuclear fuel inside the No. 2 reactor at the disaster-hit Fukushima Daiichi power plant is likely located at the bottom of its pressure vessel, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. said Thursday.

According to a study that used a cosmic ray imaging system, an estimated 130 tons of the so-called fuel debris remains at the bottom of the vessel, the first time the location and amount of the melted fuel have been estimated.

The finding is important as the data could help the operator to narrow down methods to remove the fuel debris, the most challenging task in decommissioning the plant's Nos. 1 to 3 reactors that experienced meltdowns in the nuclear crisis that began in March 2011.

The study was carried out by a team involving Tokyo Electric and the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization in Ibaraki Prefecture.

As high radiation levels are continuing to hamper direct access to the reactors, researchers have tracked muon elementary particles, which are produced as cosmic rays collide with atmospheric particles and change course when coming into contact with nuclear fuel.

The No. 2 reactor was in operation when the nuclear crisis was triggered by a powerful earthquake and subsequent tsunami that devastated Japan's northeast.

About 160 tons of fuel assemblies are estimated to have been present inside the reactor vessel prior to the crisis. Most of the fuel is believed to have fallen to the bottom of the pressure vessel and mixed with nearby structures to form debris.

In the nuclear crisis, massive amounts of radioactive substances were released into the environment, with the Nos. 1, 3 and 4 reactor buildings damaged by hydrogen explosions.

The No. 4 reactor was offline for periodic maintenance work and all of its fuel was stored in the spent fuel pool, avoiding a meltdown.