英ウィリアム王子 首相と福島視察 via NHKオンライン

Posted on 2015/02/28 by kojimaaiko
安倍総理大臣は、日本を訪れているイギリス王室のウィリアム王子とともに福島県を訪れ、原発事故の影響で運動不足になりがちな子どもたちのために整備された施設を視察して、子どもたちと交流しました。
安倍総理大臣は、日本を訪れているイギリス王室のウィリアム王子とともに福島県を訪れ、２８日午後、本宮市にある子ども向けの運動施設を視察しました。
この施設は、東京電力福島第一原子力発電所の事故の影響で屋外で遊ぶ機会が減り、運動不足になりがちな子どもたちに、安全に楽しめる場所で思いきり体を動かしてもらおうと整備されたものです。
安倍総理大臣とウィリアム王子は、屋内の施設で子どもたちと一緒にボールを投げあって遊んだり、屋外のトランポリンで遊ぶ子どもたちに笑顔で話しかけたりしていました。
[…]

福島県産の食材で夕食会

子ども向けの運動施設を視察したあと、安倍総理大臣とウィリアム王子は郡山市内の旅館に入り、浴衣に着替えて、福島県産の食材で作られた和食や地酒を味わいながら懇談しました。
安 倍総理大臣は冒頭、「殿下の訪問を政府を挙げて歓迎する。今回の殿下の福島への訪問は、福島県民だけでなく、東北に住む被災者の方々に大いなる勇気を与え ていただいた。福島の食材を味わっていただくことで、風評被害を払拭（ふっしょく）するうえで大きな力になる。浴衣も大変よく似合っている」と述べまし た。
これに対し、ウィリアム王子は「日本国民の皆様、政府の皆様に、これだけ友好的に温かく迎えていただいたことに心からお礼を申し上げたい。今回の伝統的な日本食の晩さん会は特筆すべき出来事だ」と述べました。
安倍総理大臣とウィリアム王子の会食は１時間半余りにわたり、被災地の復興支援の現状のほか、２０１９年に日本で開催されるラグビーワールドカップや２０２０年の東京オリンピック・パラリンピックなどを巡って意見を交わしました。

なぜ被災地を訪問

王子の訪問先は、日本にあるイギリス大使館が提案したさまざまな候補地の中から選ばれました。
大使館では、フェイスブックやツイッターを利用し広く市民からの意見も募りました。
その結果、圧倒的に被災地に行ってもらいたいという声が多く、大使館の職員も被災地の訪問を強く薦めました。
震災直後、被災地でイギリス大使館が行った救援活動の指揮に当たったマイケル・シアラーさんは、やがてイギリスの王位に就くウィリアム王子の将来を見据えて、日本人の思いにいちばん近づける場所に行くべきだと考えたといいます。
シアラーさん「王子にとって初めての来日で、日本との関係をいかに築くかは非常に重要です。王子は、日本のことをできるかぎり学んで帰りたいと思っています。震災から４年という節目を前に被災地に行くのは、極めて自然なことでした」と話しています。

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【高浜原発の安全協定】 残る格差、立地と周辺　福島事故後、要求拡大 via 47 News

Posted on 2015/02/28 by yukimiyamotodepaul

高浜原発３、４号機（福井県高浜町）の再稼働を控え、京都府は２７日、関西電力と安全協定を結んだが、再稼働への地元同意権は盛り込まれなかった。県境を 越えて広域に放射性物質が拡散した福島の原発事故後、原発の「地元」をめぐる議論はくすぶり続ける。全国各地の周辺自治体は「立地並み」の扱いを求めるが 依然として格差は残り、住民らの不満は強い。

▽いら立ち

「なぜ同意は立地自治体だけなのか」「国が何を基準にしているか分からない」。京都府の山田啓二知事は協定締結後、報道陣に国へのいら立ちをあらわにした。

政府は原発から半径３０キロ圏内の自治体に避難計画の策定を求める一方、地元同意の範囲について「（立地道県の）知事らの判断を尊重したい」（宮沢洋一経済産業相）と判断を丸投げし続けているためだ。

(略）

▽わずか数百メートル

九州電力玄海原発（佐賀県玄海町）から最短で数百メートルの同県唐津市。小さな湾を隔てた対岸にある原発は住民にとって身近な存在だ。だが、これ ほど近くても行政区画の境界が壁となり、地元同意は認められない。唐津市は２０１２年に協定を結んだが「佐賀県が県全体を代表して協定を結んでいるから」 と押し切られ、立地の玄海町とはほど遠い内容となった。

先行する九電川内原発（鹿児島県）のケースでは同意対象が立地の鹿児島県と薩摩川内市に限られたため、高浜原発など他の原発でも同様になると懸念する声は強い。

中国電力島根原発（松江市）の半径３０キロ圏に入る鳥取県の平井伸治知事は 今月１０日 、再稼働に関しては周辺自治体の意見を判断に反映させるよう経産省に要望。「川内原発の進め方が先例として定着することを危惧している」と訴えた

全文は【高浜原発の安全協定】 残る格差、立地と周辺　福島事故後、要求拡大

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Fukushima data show rise and fall in food radioactivity via Nature

Posted on 2015/02/28 by yukimiyamotodepaul

Giant database captures fluctuating radioactivity levels in vegetables, fruit, meat and tea.

[…]

Little contamination

The safety effort has been commended for being very effective. It also produced a vast database. Stefan Merz, an environmental scientist at the Vienna University of Technology in Austria, and his colleagues have now analysed the database of almost 900,000 samples collected between 2011 and 2014, and publish their results in Environmental Science and Technology1.

The researchers found that during the first year after the accident, 3.3% of food from the Fukushima region had above-limit contamination — these products were then prevented from reaching the market. It rose slightly the following year but by 2014, the proportion had fallen to 0.6%. For Japan more widely, the figures were 0.9% falling to 0.2%, says co-author Georg Steinhauser, an environmental scientist at Colorado State University in Fort Collins. Combined with the fact that people need to eat huge amounts of above-limit food to exceed the annual permitted radiation dose, the chance of anyone exceeding it was very low, he says.

That conclusion fits with several studies, including one done in 20132 that showed that only members of the public who bypassed the monitoring by eating home-grown food — four older residents — showed any elevated radiation levels, and these soon returned to normal when eating food that had been regulated.

[…]

Of mushrooms and boar

From Chernobyl and weapons-testing sites in the twentieth century, scientists already knew that mushrooms, which soak up radioactive elements from the soil, have a tendency to accumulate more radionuclides than most other vegetables.

The data from Fukushima show that the radioactivity levels fell quickly in most vegetables: just five months after the disaster, only a handful of samples exceeded the limit. They also showed two peaks for mushrooms, one for fresh mushrooms and the other for dried mushrooms. Tea leaves showed a late spike — they were harvested later than other leafy plants, but retained some radioactivity because older leaves transferred the radioactive elements to younger leaves, says Steinhauser.

Read more at Fukushima data show rise and fall in food radioactivity 

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「原子力ムラ」記事で名誉毀損＝毎日新聞に賠償命令－東京地裁 via 時事ドットコム

Posted on 2015/02/27 by yukimiyamotodepaul

使用済み核燃料輸送容器の検査基準について、寄付を受けた業者に有利となるよう学会の審議を主導したとする記事で名誉を毀損（きそん）されたとして、東京 工業大の有冨正憲名誉教授が毎日新聞社と記者に６００万円の損害賠償などを求めた訴訟の判決が２７日、東京地裁であった。松井英隆裁判長は「業者に有利と なるよう基準を取りまとめたとは認められない」と述べ、同社に１６５万円の支払いを命じた。

松井裁判長は「審議で有冨氏が果たした役割を明確にしないまま、学会関係者からの情報提供に頼った記事だった」と判断。「『原子力ムラ』内部で自分たちに有利な基準をつくり上げていく構図が浮かんだ」との表現について、「公正とは言えない」と指摘した。

問題となったのは、毎日新聞が２０１２年２月１２日付朝刊の１面に掲載した記事。「寄付企業に有利な基準」との見出しで、業者から計１４８５万円の寄付を受けていた有冨氏が日本原子力学会の審議を主導し、国の規制よりも緩い内容の学会基準がまとめられたと報じた。

続きは「原子力ムラ」記事で名誉毀損＝毎日新聞に賠償命令－東京地裁 

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“Bizarre, milky rain” falls for days by most contaminated nuclear site in U.S. — Expert: I’ve never seen anything like it — TV: Very unusual for our area — Nuke lab “didn’t collect enough to analyze… never planned to do real study” on mystery material — NOAA contaminates sample, then loses it (VIDEO) via ENE News

Posted on 2015/02/27 by yukimiyamotodepaul

CNN, Feb 7, 2015 (emphasis added): Mysterious filth rained down… onto Washington and Oregon on Friday… described it as “white stuff” or “milky rain.” Rainwater filling a collector at the NWS [NOAA’s National Weather Service] looked like it was pulled from a muddy river.

Reuters, Feb 10, 2015: “We’re fairly certain it came from Nevada” [NWS] scientist Mary Wister said… federal scientists at the… Hanford nuclear site have suggested…winds may have carried ash… from Japan‘s Sakurajima volcano… [Wister] cautioned that without a chemical analysis of the milky rain, it would be impossible to pinpoint its origins.

KNDU, Feb 10, 2015: Rare ‘Milky Rain’ Most Likely Traveled From Ancient Lake in Oregon… nearly 500 miles away… [The] substance has not yet been scientifically confirmed… Originally, a large storm that hit northwest Nevada was blamed… “But the trajectory just didn’t add up,” said [NWS] meteorologist Mary Wister… “The wind direction would have carried the dust into western Montana.”

ian, Feb 9, 2015: ‘Milky rain’ falling in Oregon, Washington still a big mystery to meteorologists — Meteorologists are stumped by the spooky “milky rain”… over the past two days… “There are a whole bunch of theories,” [NWS meteorologist Robert Cramp] said. “But the reports are coming in from a limited area“… concentrated in the Columbia River Basin. — CAPTION: A bizarre, murky rain is reportedly leaving chalky spots on cars… [NWS] is reportedly testing it.

KPLU, Feb 10, 2015: Scientists from the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory [next to Hanford] intend to study the muddy rain this week. They have a theory that the sediment is ash from a Japanese volcano… the Benton Clean Air Agency [Hanford is in Benton County] also intends to test samples. They think the sediment might be from a southeast Oregon lake, a recently burned area in Oregon or possibly even Nevada dust… [NWS] also has a sample, but says it won’t test it… a weather service spokesman said the sample was likely contaminated [and its] whereabouts… couldn’t be accounted for.

KUOW, Feb 9, 2015: Much of eastern Washington and Oregon was pelted with a dirty rain, but so far scientists do not agree on a cause… Scientists say… this 200-mile event… is unusual. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory… plans to test samples this week.

Live Science, Feb 13, 2015: Robin Priddy, director of Benton Clean Air [Agency said] it’s unclear where the dust came from, especially since it was a windless day, Priddy told Live Science…  it’s rare to see muddy rain in the winter, and the rain’s mysterious white color still has researchers scratching their heads… Though researchers at Benton Clean Air took samples… lab technicians weren’t tasked with figuring out the origins of the sediment… Pacific Northwest National Laboratory also took samples, though later found they didn’t collect enough to analyze, said Mary Beckman, a lab spokeswoman. But the lab never planned to do a real study on the material, she said. “It was purely out of curiosity.”

Read more at “Bizarre, milky rain” falls for days by most contaminated nuclear site in U.S. — Expert: I’ve never seen anything like it — TV: Very unusual for our area — Nuke lab “didn’t collect enough to analyze… never planned to do real study” on mystery material — NOAA contaminates sample, then loses it (VIDEO) 

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S.Korea’s nuclear watchdog approves restart of second-oldest reactor via Reuters

Posted on 2015/02/27 by yukimiyamotodepaul

SEOUL, Feb 27 (Reuters) – South Korea’s nuclear watchdog said on Friday it had approved the nuclear operator’s plan to restart the country’s second-oldest reactor and continue running it to 2022, supporting the country’s pro-nuclear policy.

Seven of nine commissioners at the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission voted for the approval in a meeting that started on Thursday and lasted 14 hours, according to a statement from the nuclear watchdog.

The remaining two commissioners refused to vote and walked out of the meeting, the statement added.

The restart of Wolsong No.1, which started operating in 1983 and shut in 2012 after reaching the end of its expected 30-year lifespan, is critical to the fate of other reactors, including the oldest, Kori No.1, which had its lifespan extended by 10 years to 2017.

The watchdog’s review of the reactor has been closely watched, as concerns over nuclear power have grown since the Fukushima disaster in Japan in 2011, revelations in 2012 of fake certificates for reactor parts in South Korea and the hacking of South Korea’s nuclear operator in December.

[…]

The nuclear operator runs 23 reactors, supplying about a third of electricity for Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

South Korea, the world’s fifth-largest user of nuclear power, in January 2014 decided to cut its reliance on nuclear power to 29 percent of total power supply by 2035. But Seoul remains deeply committed to nuclear energy. (Editing by Elaine Hardcastle and Mark Potter)

Read more at S.Korea’s nuclear watchdog approves restart of second-oldest reactor

 

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米国:米の原発輸出に「日印原子力協定早期妥結が不可欠」via 毎日新聞

Posted on 2015/02/27 by yukimiyamotodepaul

（抜粋）

米国の 原発企業では、東芝傘下のウェスチングハウスと、日立製作所とゼネラル・エレクトリックの合弁会社がインド市場への進出を計画している。これについて、米 高官は「米企業側が（インドに）提案している原子炉の技術には日本企業が重要な役割を果たしている。米日の（原発）企業は一緒だ」と指摘した。

同高官は「原発開発には通常１０年から１５年かかり、（米原発企業とインド当局の）協議も時間がかかるが、（日印の交渉妥結まで）それほど多くの時間が残されているわけではない」と述べた。

日印原子力協定の交渉は、核を保有するインドが、核実験を再度実施しないよういかに担保するかなどを巡り交渉が難航。事故時に原発メーカーに賠償責任を負わせるインド国内法についても日本側に懸念がある。【杉尾直哉】

全文は 米国:米の原発輸出に「日印原子力協定早期妥結が不可欠」

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Trio of approvals in Fukushima seals deal for radioactive soil dump via The Asahi Shimbun

Posted on 2015/02/26 by

Ending a prolonged and often contentious process, Fukushima Prefecture and two town governments agreed to host an interim storage facility for contaminated debris from the 2011 nuclear crisis.

Fukushima Governor Masao Uchibori and the mayors of Okuma and Futaba met Feb. 25 with Environment Minister Yoshio Mochizuki and Wataru Takeshita, the reconstruction minister, to sign safety agreements, an important hurdle in the process.

Under the deal, the facility will store tainted soil generated from decontamination work for a maximum of 30 years.

Despite the agreement, the mayors said the decision was not easy.

“This is an agonizing decision, but it is unavoidable,” said Okuma Mayor Toshitsuna Watanabe.

Referring to future negotiations to purchase the land in question, Futaba Mayor Shiro Izawa said, “I hope there will be no heavy-handed methods that will only lead to criticism from the local community.”
[…]
Around that time, the prefectural government stipulated five conditions that would have to be met before approval was given. One was that a law be enacted clearly designating a location outside Fukushima Prefecture as the final storage site after the 30-year period for the interim facility ends.

The final condition was the safety agreement signed Feb. 25.

Local governments signed onto the agreement after the central government agreed to their demands related to the site, including a provision that gives them the right to request a halt to the delivery of radiation-contaminated soil.

Read more.

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Fukushima fishermen blast TEPCO over failure to disclose radioactive water flow via The Asahi Shimbun

Posted on 2015/02/26 by

Fukushima fishermen appear to have finally run out of patience with Tokyo Electric Power Co.

They lambasted TEPCO at a meeting on Feb. 25 over the utility’s failure for half a year to disclose the flow into the ocean of water contaminated with radioactive materials from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

“This is a situation that will shake our relationship of trust with TEPCO,” Tetsu Nozaki, head of the Fukushima Prefectural Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations, told reporters after the meeting.

Nozaki indicated that further negotiations would be put on hold concerning part of TEPCO’s overall strategy of decommissioning the reactors at the plant.

Fukushima fishermen have repeatedly expressed anger and frustration at TEPCO’s plans, mishaps and belated disclosures in its handling of huge volumes of contaminated water generated daily and stored on the grounds of the crippled plant.

The Feb. 25 meeting of chairmen of local fisheries cooperatives was initially called to discuss TEPCO’s “subdrain plan” to pump up groundwater in the vicinity of reactor and other buildings at the Fukushima No. 1 plant site. The water would be decontaminated and released into the ocean.

Discussions on that plan were shelved as TEPCO officials spent most of the meeting being bombarded by angry remarks from the fishermen.

TEPCO officials started the meeting by apologizing for not releasing information about higher concentrations of radioactive materials in water flowing along a drainage ditch whenever it rained.

[…]
TEPCO officials released the information on Feb. 24.

Fishermen at the meeting demanded to know why TEPCO did not immediately disclose that information. Some accused TEPCO of a cover-up.

Fukushima Governor Masao Uchibori also expressed anger at TEPCO at a meeting of prefectural government and other high-ranking officials the same day.

“It is extremely regrettable that it failed to expediently release the information and also because the fundamental point of thoroughly holding such a stance (of releasing information) was not in place,” Uchibori said.

[…]
Central government officials did not appear as concerned as the Fukushima officials or the fishermen.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga noted that concentrations of radioactive materials in seawater into which the contaminated water flowed were low.

“The effects of contaminated water on the ocean outside of the harbor have been completely blocked,” Suga said at his Feb. 25 news conference. “The situation is under control.”

However, the Nuclear Regulation Authority was also not informed about the detection of higher levels of radioactive materials until a few days ago.

“Anything that affects the environment should be announced as soon as possible,” NRA Chairman Shunichi Tanaka told reporters on Feb. 25.

TEPCO has been criticized in the past for failing to release information about the analysis of radioactive materials and the flow of contaminated water into the ocean.

Company officials had been considering the subdrain plan for some time as a measure to deal with the increasing volume of contaminated water at the Fukushima No. 1 plant site. The subdrain plan was only made known to local fishermen in August 2014.

Read more.

Related news:

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福島汚染水流出:県漁連「信頼関係崩れた」via 毎日新聞

Posted on 2015/02/26 by yukimiyamotodepaul

東京電力が福島第１原発の排水路から汚染水が外洋流出しているのを把握しながら約１０カ月間公表しなかった問題で、福島県漁連（野崎哲会長）は２５ 日の組合長会議で東電に「情報隠しであり、信頼関係は崩れた」との見解を伝えた。県漁連はこの日、汚染地下水を浄化後に海洋放出する「サブドレン（井戸） 計画」承認に向け意見集約する予定だったが、問題発覚を受け、納得できる説明があるまで計画を容認しない方針も示した。

組合長会議は同県いわき市で開かれ、相馬双葉漁協やいわき市漁協の幹部らが出席。東電から事実関係の説明を受けた。東電福島復興本社の新妻常正・ 副代表らは、昨年４月以降に第１原発の港湾外につながっている原子炉建屋西側の排水路で放射性物質濃度の上昇が確認されていたことを説明。漁協幹部からは 「なぜ公表しなかったのか」との批判が集中した。新妻副代表は「（公表より）原因究明を優先してしまった。漁業者には報告しなければならなかったと反省し ている」と陳謝した。

いわき市漁協の矢吹正一組合長は「（震災から）４年も顔を合わせてきた東電幹部から裏切られた」と不快感を隠さなかった。相馬双葉漁協の佐藤弘行 組合長も「汚染水問題の解決には信頼関係が最重要だとの考えでやってきた。その前提が崩れてしまったことで、漁業者はサブドレン計画に納得しないだろう」 と述べた。

福島県の内堀雅雄知事も２５日、「海への流出で県民に不安を与え、情報の速やかな公表もされなかったのは極めて遺憾」と東電の対応を批判。県は２７日に原発の周辺市町村や有識者を交えた協議会で現地調査する方針を決めた。

続きは福島汚染水流出:県漁連「信頼関係崩れた」

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