経済産業省に緊急申し入れ＆記者会見「汚染水を海に流さないで！」via Foe Japan

Posted on 2020/10/20 by nfield

漁業者の断固たる反対の声にもかかわらず、政府は今月中にも「海洋放出に一本化」という決定をしてしまう方向であると報じられています。 原子力市民委員会が提唱してきた大型タンクによる長期安定的な保管、モルタル固化処分など、代替案が十分検討されたとは到底いえません。 合意形成プロセスにも大きな問題があります。このようななかで海洋放出を決めることは許されません。こうした状況を踏まえ、下記の要請書を経済産業省に提出することにしました。 ※FoE Japanの呼びかけで10月17日朝から10月20日朝まで賛同を募集したところ、6,886人の方々の賛同を得ることができました。10月20日午後、頂いたご署名およびメッセージを添えて経産省に提出いたします。

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NFLA alarmed by the planned dumping of over 1 million tonnes of radioactively contaminated water from Fukushima into the Pacific Ocean – the Japanese Government needs to urgently reconsider this strategy via Nuclear Free Local Authorities (Councils Working for a Renewable, Safe, and Peaceful Future)

Posted on 2020/10/19 by nfield

19th October 2020

[…]

The NFLA has asked independent marine radioactivity consultant Tim Deere-Jones for his analysis on this proposed decision, given his extensive analysis on the marine issues around the Fukushima disaster. (2) It also draws on the expert analysis of Dr Ian Fairlie who has publicly commented on these issues on a number of occasions. (3)

Tim Deere-Jones argues that, following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in 2011 there has been no coherent or sustained analysis of the impact of the post-event, ongoing, but unquantified discharges of tritium into the marine environment. Tritium is one of the main contaminants in the water that has been used to cool down the stricken reactors. While much of it has been stored in tanks, some of it will have already got into watercourses. (4)

As a result of the lack of such analysis, both the Japanese Government and nuclear industry has no significant empirical data to support any claim that the tritium released to date has NOT given rise to doses to the local coastal populations. In such a context, the proposal to dispose of the additional very high volumes of stored tritiated water, with its very high calculated aggregated radioactivity, is strongly contra-indicated.

Tim Deere-Jones has concluded that the Fukushima event (downstream) coastal populations are those most likely to emerge as the marine/coastal Critical Population Group due to their exposure to dietary doses of tritium (mostly as OBT) from both sea foods and terrestrial produce. The Fukushima event Coastal Critical Population Group is also strongly indicated as the potential receiver of inhalation doses of airborne tritium (due to sea to land transfer processes).

In the context of the emerging empirical evidence, and the significant data gaps described above and the release of over 1 million tonnes of highly tritiated water he concludes that the proposals lack both sufficient scientific rigour and justification and are of great concern because they put large numbers of sea food consumers and “downstream” Japanese coastal communities at major risk from the long term receipt of high dietary and inhalation doses of tritium.

NFLA also refers readers to the excellent summary of the concerns around sea-dumping that has been made by independent consultant on radiation in the environment, Dr Ian Fairlie, which can be found on his website. A key part of Dr Fairlie’s analysis also includes note of emerging reports that the tank waters remain contaminated with other nuclides such as caesium-137 and especially strontium-90. This is due to the poor performance of Hitachi’s Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) at the site. Their concentrations are much lower than the tritium concentrations but they are still unacceptably high. NFLA shares Dr Fairlie’s conclusion that the ALPS system has to be drastically improved. After that, some observers have argued that, ideally, the tritium should be separated out of the tank waters, though this may be extremely difficult to do.

As Dr Fairlie concludes:

“There are no easy answers here. Barring a miraculous technical discovery which is unlikely, I think TEPCO/Japanese Government will have to buy more land and keep on building more holding tanks to allow for tritium decay to take place. Ten half-lives for tritium is 123 years: that’s how long these tanks will have to last – at least. This will allow time not only for tritium to decay, but also for politicians to reflect on the wisdom of their support for nuclear power.”

Given these expert opinions, the NFLA is highly alarmed of the risks in general of dumping such large amounts of contaminated water into the sea when there is no clear idea of what impacts it may have to the marine environment and the public. NFLA also remain concerned that not enough research has been undertaken on the effects of tritium to justify such dumping into the ocean. Local fishing communities and the wider public are right to be concerned over the impact of such an act. As Dr Fairlie notes, the water should continue to be collected on the site and further scientific research should be undertaken.

[…]

Ends – for more information please contact Sean Morris, NFLA Secretary, on 00 44 (0)161 234 3244.

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Nuclear Meltdown in Fukushima, Political Meltdown in US, No End in Sight for Either via Reader Supported News

Posted on 2020/10/19 by nfield

By William Boardman, Reader Supported News

18 October 20

nce again the people in charge of the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant are talking about flushing 1.2 million tons of highly radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean. That’s more than 265 million gallons of water so toxic that it currently has to be stored on-site to keep it safe. This is not a new problem. Radioactively toxic water has accumulated constantly since three of Fukushima Daiichi’s four nuclear reactors melted down in the aftermath of an earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011. The present situation, as reported by Reuters on October 16, suggests some uncertainty about the actual release of radioactive wastewater:

Nearly a decade after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Japan’s government has decided to release over one million tonnes of contaminated water into the sea, media reports said on Friday, with a formal announcement expected to be made later this month.

This is a “decision” that authorities at the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), which owns the plant, and the Japanese government, which is responsible for it, have wanted to make for a long time as a safety shortcut and money-saving stopgap solution to a problem that’s not going away for decades to come. TEPCO and the government have been floating the Pacific dump for more than a year without ever carrying it out. No one knows what impact such a massive amount of radiation will have on the Pacific Ocean. Neighboring countries object to being guinea pigs in an experiment that has no fail-safe. The Japanese fishing industry in the Fukushima region, already battered by the after-effects of the meltdowns, adamantly opposes further release of radioactive water into the ocean.

TEPCO and the government have been trying to shed responsibility for the Fukushima disaster for years. A report in 2002 predicted the possibility of an earthquake and tsunami. The power company took no precautions. Government regulators failed to compel the company to take precautions. On September 30, ruling in a suit filed seven years earlier, the Sendai High Court found that TEPCO and the government are responsible for the Fukushima nuclear disaster. This is the first time a High Court has ruled on a Fukushima case, and the first time a High Court has sought to hold TEPCO and the government accountable for their actions and inactions. TEPCO and the government have appealed the decision to the Supreme Court.

As matters now stand, radioactive water seeps continuously into the Pacific at a presumably low but unmeasured rate. This is uncontrolled groundwater that enters the melted cores clean but becomes irradiated by the cores that remain highly radioactive and all but unapproachable even by robots. The cores, inherently more dangerous than the original accident, are kept in check by cooling water pumped into the containment vessels. This water also becomes highly irradiated and is stored in huge tanks on site, which is running out of storage space.

Dumping radioactive water into the ocean won’t solve the problem. It will only free up storage space that will slowly fill until it needs to be dumped again – depending on whether the presently proposed dumping results in a new disaster. TEPCO has promised to treat the wastewater, removing all radioactive elements except Tritium. Nuclear wastewater with low levels of Tritium is routinely dumped by nuclear operations around the world. This dumpage is from normal nuclear operations, not plants in meltdown crisis. TEPCO’s treatment of Fukushima wastewater is expected to take another two years. Whether the treatment is effective remains uncertain.

Uncertainty is the key word when it comes to Fukushima. Reuters, having reported the dumping decision had been made (above), later in the same story quotes the Japanese industry minister as saying that no decision had been made, but that a decision needed to be made quickly to “prevent any delays in the decommissioning process.” That is nonsense, if not sheer dishonesty. The “decommissioning process” has no effective timetable, the melted cores are years if not decades from being brought under control, and the buildup of radioactive wastewater is only a visible sideshow to the largely invisible ongoing nuclear calamity at the bottom of the destroyed reactors.

[…]

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Support the Inclusion of New Mexicans in the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA)! via Beyond the Bomb

Posted on 2020/10/19 by nfield

Send a clear message to your representatives that after sidelining the people of New Mexico for 75 years, it is time to finally include them in the amendments of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA).

New Mexicans became the first victims of the atomic bomb on July 16, 1945. The Trinity Test site lays in the middle of the four counties of Lincoln, Otero, Sierra, and Socorro — and to this day, these areas have reported high rates of cancer, birth defects, and other issues that can be linked to the nuclear fallout released at Trinity.

For decades, New Mexicans have continually been left out of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) despite actively seeking restitution to include New Mexico in this act specifically as an affected party. Compensation has been provided to parts of Utah, Arizona, and Nevada.

We need to be explicitly clear that supporting the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act Amendments of 2019 (H.R.3783 andS.947) is the least Congress can do to make amends for the testing that continues to harm people and the planet. New Mexicans were unwilling and unknowing victims of the explosive birth of the nuclear age and deserve compensation.

Ask your representatives to take action and support these impacted communities today!

Here to write to your representatives.

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被ばく題材映画｢我が友・原子力―放射能の世紀｣を日本初公開 via 高知新聞

Posted on 2020/10/19 by yukimiyamotodepaul

監督が黒潮町でビキニ元船員らと対談
　パリ在住の映像作家、渡辺謙一監督（６９）のドキュメンタリー映画「我が友・原子力―放射能の世紀」が１７日、高知県幡多郡黒潮町の大方あかつき館で日本初公開された。県内の元船員らが被ばくした米国のビキニ水爆実験も題材とした作品。

（略）

　渡辺監督はこれまでにも「ヒロシマの黒い太陽」「フクシマ後の世界」などのドキュメンタリー作品を製作。新作「我が友・原子力―放射能の世紀」はドイツ・フランス公共テレビarte（アルテ）が今夏に初放送した

全文は被ばく題材映画｢我が友・原子力―放射能の世紀｣を日本初公開

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「イスラム教徒になったのかよ？」　福島第一原発潜入取材に向けた”猛烈ダイエット”の記録 via 文春オンライン

Posted on 2020/10/19 by yukimiyamotodepaul

『ヤクザと原発　福島第一潜入記』#5

鈴木 智彦

　30年近くヤクザを取材してきたジャーナリストの鈴木智彦氏は、あるとき原発と暴力団には接点があることを知る。そして2011年3月11日、東日本大震災が発生し、福島第一原発（1F）の潜入取材に向けて、虎の門病院で自己造血幹細胞の摂取と冷凍保存をして、放射線被ばくの症状に備えるのだった。『ヤクザと原発　福島第一潜入記』（文春文庫）より、一部を転載する。（全2回の2回目／後編に続く）

（略）

改めて会社に確認したが、健康診断は不要だと言われた。健康診断を受けるよう私が求められたのは、造血幹細胞を採取し終わり、勤務まであと2週間を切った頃だ。

（略）

取材される側の気持ちを察するいい機会と割り切ればラッキーだったかもしれない。もちろん、その後、多くの作業員に話を訊かせてもらったが、自身の経験から「ご家族が心配してませんか？」と馬鹿げた質問をせずに済んだ。この質問は作業員の神経を逆撫（さかな）でする。そんなことはわかりきった上で、1F入りを決めたのだ。私の心情は少しずつ当事者のそれに近づいていった。マスコミ報道に当事者として一喜一憂した。

（略）

バスは4号機脇にあるプロセス主建屋の前に停まった。ここに私の仕事場、東芝製の通称・サリー（Simplified Active Water Retrieve and Recovery System）がある。シェルターの喫煙室で東芝の社員が「魔法使いサリー」とか「のっぽのサリー」と笑っていたから、呼びやすいようこじつけに近い略称に決めたのだろう。サリーは本来、汚染水処理のバックアップのために作られた施設だが、現在、稼働率が悪いアメリカ、フランス製の装置に代わり、メインとして稼働している。

（略）

原発作業員がもつ様々な資格

　原発作業員は様々な資格を有している。一例を挙げれば、プラント配管計装士、危険物取扱者、消防設備士、核燃料取扱主任者、第一種放射線取扱主任者、第二種放射線取扱主任者、第一種作業環境測定士、エックス線作業主任者、ガンマ線透過写真撮影作業主任者などだ。

　特別技能の他にも、足場組立等作業主任者技能講習、玉掛技能講習、小型移動式クレーン運転技能講習、フォークリフト運転技能講習、ガス溶接技能講習、高所作業車運転技能講習、電気工事作業指揮者教育、石綿使用建築物等解体等業務特別教育、粉塵作業特別教育、高圧端末処理技量、低圧・計装端末処理技量、ハンダ付コネクタ処理技量、圧着コネクタ処理技量、EHC配管組立技量、後打アンカ技量、ろう付け継手技量、圧着端子圧着作業、締結作業など、数々の講習を受けなければならない。

　私以外の作業員はみな、九割九分原発経験者だった。1Fを生業とする業者はもちろん、複数の原発を渡り歩く職人たちがほとんどだ。周囲から“ドル箱スター”と呼ばれていた作業員ですらかなりの講習を受け、いくつか資格を持っていた。ドル箱とは会社の取り分が多く、手取りが少ないという意味で、使えない社員に対する蔑称だ。

全文は「イスラム教徒になったのかよ？」　福島第一原発潜入取材に向けた”猛烈ダイエット”の記録

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‘Game changer.’ Could Tri-Cities be the future home of an advanced nuclear reactor? via Tri-City Herald

Posted on 2020/10/19 by yukimiyamotodepaul

BY ANNETTE CARY

Energy Northwest is the partner in two projects picked for a new Department of Energy program to demonstrate new advanced nuclear power reactor designs.

It raises the possibility that one might eventually be built near Richland.

“The selection of these projects is an absolute game-changer for our state and makes it official: Tri-Cities, Washington, is a global leader in nuclear energy innovation,” said Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash.

The Department of Energy last week announced that X-energy of Rockville, Md., and TerraPower, of Bellevue, Wash., partnered with GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, were each awarded $80 million under the new Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program.

[…]

The region has been home to historic B Reactor, the world’s first full-scale nuclear reactor; N Reactor, with duel weapons programs and power production use; the Fast Flux Test Facility research reactor and the Columbia Generating Station, the Northwest’s only operating nuclear power plant.

Read more at ‘Game changer.’ Could Tri-Cities be the future home of an advanced nuclear reactor?


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中国「周辺国と協議を」原発処理水の海洋放出 via 日本経済新聞

Posted on 2020/10/19 by yukimiyamotodepaul

【北京=羽田野主】中国外務省の趙立堅副報道局長は19日の記者会見で、東京電力福島第1原子力発電所にたまる処理水の海洋放出について「周辺国と十分に協議して慎重に決めてほしい」と述べた。

（略）

日本政府は福島第1原発にたまり続ける処理水の海洋放出を月内にも決定する方針を固めている。中国外務省のコメントは初めてだ。

趙氏は「原発事故による放射性物質の漏れは食品安全や人類の健康に深刻な影響を及ぼしている」と主張した。

そのうえで「日本政府は国際社会に大きな責任を負う態度を堅持し、処理水がもたらす影響を綿密に見積もってほしい」と注文した。中国でこの問題への関心は高く、ネット上では否定的な意見が目立つ。

韓国では市民団体などが反発している。韓国外務省当局者は16日に「国民の健康と安全保護を最優先に、日本側の汚染水処分に関する活動を鋭意注視する」との立場を示した。

全文は中国「周辺国と協議を」原発処理水の海洋放出

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Fukushima ‘blank spaces’ in limbo, left out of decontamination plan　via Japan Times

Posted on 2020/10/16 by nfield

It was back in the autumn of 2011. Wind blowing from the Pacific Ocean was cutting through the golden rice fields.

Takashi Asano, 67, who had evacuated from the town of Okuma in Fukushima Prefecture following the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and subsequent Fukushima nuclear disaster, had returned temporarily to his home.

When Asano was gazing at the paddy fields behind his former home from afar, it looked like the field was full of rice ready to be harvested.

“Why would that be when I haven’t planted rice,” wondered Asano, who had evacuated to Aizuwakamatsu in the prefecture after the disaster.

When he went closer, he noticed the plants had yellow tips belonging to Canadian goldenrods, an invasive foreign plant. In his absence, the plants had already begun to take over the fields.

The area where his home is located had been designated a no-go zone. It was excluded from the area designated by the government where it plans to decontaminate and either rebuild it for future use or make it a storage facility for radioactive waste such as soil by the spring of 2023.

Therefore, local residents call the area the “blank-space district,” in reference to the uncolored space on the government map for reconstruction. With no decontamination projects in the pipeline, locals can’t make any plans for the future.

[…]

“The house is no longer livable,” Asano said. “Buildings are being torn down in other parts of the town, so I don’t understand why I can’t have mine torn down, too.”

The central government announced it would secure about ¥1.6 trillion for a five-year recovery plan from fiscal 2021. About ¥1.1 trillion of that will be allocated for Fukushima Prefecture, separately from which ¥100 billion will be funneled into efforts targeting no-go zones located outside of the designated recovery zones. But specific details on what to do with those places have yet to be mapped out.

Entry restrictions have been loosened in parts of the recovery zones in Okuma, allowing some residents to begin rebuilding their homes.

In those areas, residents have the right to decide whether to return or live elsewhere. But Asano and others living in the surrounding area don’t yet have the freedom to choose their future.

“The government hasn’t made it clear what it plans to do over the next 20 or 30 years,” Asano said. “People who want to return and people who have given up — everybody is stuck.”

The disjointed dismantling of restrictions within and near recovery zones continues to invite frustration.

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Reports: Japan to Release Fukushima’s Contaminated Water Into Sea　via Reuters

Posted on 2020/10/16 by nfield

By Yuka Obayashi and Kaori Kaneko, Reuters

16 October 20

early a decade after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Japan’s government has decided to release over one million tonnes of contaminated water into the sea, media reports said on Friday, with a formal announcement expected to be made later this month.

The decision is expected to rankle neighbouring countries like South Korea, which has already stepped up radiation tests of food from Japan, and further devastate the fishing industry in Fukushima that has battled against such a move for years.

The disposal of contaminated water at the Fukushima Daiichi plant has been a longstanding problem for Japan as it proceeds with an decades-long decommissioning project. Nearly 1.2 million tonnes of contaminated water are currently stored in huge tanks at the facility.

[…]

On Friday, Japan’s industry minister Hiroshi Kajiyama said no decision had been made on the disposal of the water yet, but the government aims to make one quickly.

“To prevent any delays in the decommissioning process, we need to make a decision quickly,” he told a news conference.

He did not give any further details, including a time-frame.

The Asahi newspaper reported that any such release is expected to take at around two years to prepare, as the site’s irradiated water first needs to pass through a filtration process before it can be further diluted with seawater and finally released into the ocean.

In 2018, Tokyo Electric apologised after admitting its filtration systems had not removed all dangerous material from the water, collected from the cooling pipes used to keep fuel cores from melting when the plant was crippled.

It has said it plans to remove all radioactive particles from the water except tritium, an isotope of hydrogen that is hard to separate and is considered to be relatively harmless.

It is common practice for nuclear plants around the world to release water that contain traces of tritium into the ocean.

In April, a team sent by the International Atomic Energy Agency to review contaminated water issues at the Fukushima site said the options for water disposal outlined by an advisory committee in Japan – vapour release and discharges to the sea – were both technically feasible. The IAEA said both options were used by operating nuclear plants.

Last week, Japanese fish industry representatives urged the government to not allow the release of contaminated water from the Fukushima plant into the sea, saying it would undo years of work to restore their reputation.

South Korea has retained a ban on imports of seafood from the Fukushima region that was imposed after the nuclear disaster and summoned a senior Japanese embassy official last year to explain how Tokyo planned to deal with the Fukushima water problem.

During Tokyo’s bid to host the Olympic Games in 2013, then-prime minister Shinzo Abe told members of the International Olympic Committee that the Fukushima facility was “under control”.

[…]

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