【ウクライナの女たち②】私はふるさとを２度失った　チェルノブイリと紛争 via Globe +

Posted on 2020/06/20 by yukimiyamotodepaul

彼女たちの「あれから」をたどる旅
2014年春、ウクライナという東欧の国が突如、世界の注目を浴びた。隣の大国ロシアとの関係をめぐって紛争に陥った「ウクライナ危機」。当時、紛争地を取材した記者が、6年ぶりにウクライナを訪れ、原発事故や紛争に翻弄され、故郷を失ってもたくましく生きる女性たちの胸の内に迫った。第２回は、チェルノブイリ原発事故と東部紛争で二度ふるさとを失った女性、そして、紛争で壊れたひとり息子との関係修復を願いながら希望を探し続ける女性に会いに行った。（渡辺志帆　文中敬称略）

【アナ・ジュルディツカヤ】それでも「こうなる運命だった」
2度、ふるさとを失ったウクライナ女性がいる。1度目は、旧ソ連時代の1986年に起きたチェルノブイリ原発事故で、2度目はウクライナ危機で東部ドネツクを逃れて。今春、首都キエフ北部のアパートに暮らす、アナ・ジュルディツカヤ（38）を訪ねた。

82年4月、アナはチェルノブイリ原発の従業員たちが暮らすニュータウン、プリピャチに生まれた。父イブゲニ（66）は原発で働くエンジニアだった。

アナに、世界を震撼させた原発事故の記憶はほとんどない。ただ、事故の6日前、4歳の誕生日を迎えて、両親に開いてもらったパーティーのことは、今もよく覚えている。町中に淡いピンク色のアンズの花が咲き乱れる、美しい季節だった。プレゼントやおもちゃに囲まれ、友達と楽しい一日を過ごした。そして、事故後まもなく住民全員の避難が命じられた。平静を装って支度をする両親や周囲の大人の目に恐怖が宿っていたこともまた、アナははっきりと覚えている。

一家が移り住んだのは、プリピャチから約800キロも離れたウクライナ東部ドネツクだった。プリピャチ住民の多くが130キロほどしか離れていない首都キエフや近郊の都市に避難していた。「両親がここまで遠くに逃げたのは、原発事故で感じた恐怖の大きさゆえだと思う」と、アナは考えている。

ドネツクで育ったアナは18歳の時、友人の紹介で2歳年下のアンドレイと出会い、22歳で結婚。すぐに子どもを望んだが、10年たっても授からない。医師に相談すると、妊娠するのに重要な甲状腺ホルモンの値に問題があると診断された。「不妊の原因は、原発事故で大量に放出された放射性物質に被曝（ひばく）したせいだと思う」。アナはそう考えているが、証明できるものはない。母もまた甲状腺に腫瘍（しゅよう）ができるなどして、体調がすぐれない。家族の中で政府の医療補償を受けられるのは、原発従業員で事故処理にも携わった父だけだ。経済的な余裕はなく、ドネツクでは十分な不妊治療を受けられなかった。

さらなる試練が襲う。愛情深い夫と築いてきたドネツクでの静かな暮らしは、14年に勃発した東部紛争で壊されていった。鉄鋼会社のエンジニアだったアンドレイは、紛争が始まった14年春、単身キエフに移り、ITプログラマーに転職するための勉強をスタート。安全と、よりよい生活を求めての決断だった。アナも3カ月後の14年7月、政府軍と親ロシア派との戦闘が激しさを増す中、命からがら夜行列車に乗り、夫を追ってキエフに向かった。

アンドレイは努力のかいあって、キエフのIT企業に転職。アナも市内の質屋で働いてお金を貯め、本格的な不妊治療を始めた。約3年後の18年、7回目の人工授精で長女ミラスラヴァ（2）を授かった。愛らしい娘の成長が、家族の苦い思い出を幸せに変えていった。

続きは【ウクライナの女たち②】私はふるさとを２度失った　チェルノブイリと紛争

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脱原発の河合弘之弁護士、関電株主総会で大阪市代理人に via 朝日新聞

Posted on 2020/06/19 by yukimiyamotodepaul

関西電力が25日に開く株主総会で、筆頭株主の大阪市が、各地の脱原発訴訟を手がける河合弘之弁護士（第二東京弁護士会）を代理人とし、議決権の行使を委任することがわかった。一連の関電の金品受領問題で河合弁護士は市民団体の代理人としても元役員らを刑事告発しており、現旧の経営陣を相手に株主代表訴訟も近く起こす。当日は経営陣への厳しい質疑が予想される。

今年の総会は受領問題の発覚後初めて株主が関電側に直接ただすことができる場となる。関電の株主は約29万人（3月末現在）。大阪市は持ち株比率が7・64%と最大で、株主の神戸、京都両市との共同分も含め、脱原発など計9議案を提案し、一連の問題についても追及する構えだ。

大阪市によると、河合氏への委任は松井一郎市長が決めたという。河合氏は大阪府市エネルギー戦略会議委員を務め、2012年の総会では当時の橋下徹市長とともに、関電に脱原発を迫った。取材に対し、河合弁護士は「関電が本気で解体的出直しをする覚悟があるのかどうかを厳しく問いたい」と話した。

関電は13人の取締役選任など3議案を提案しているが、大阪市を含む全ての株主提案に反対する方針だ。（本多由佳、室矢英樹）

続きは脱原発の河合弘之弁護士、関電株主総会で大阪市代理人に

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A World of Potential Bombs via PCU Nagasaki Council for Nuclear Weapons Abolition

Posted on 2020/06/18 by nfield

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Nuclear power uses market fix to stifle wind energy via Climate News Network

Posted on 2020/06/18 by nfield

June 18, 2020, by Paul Brown

UK wind energy is forced to shut down to let more expensive nuclear stations go on operating at full power.

LONDON, 18 June, 2020 − The United Kingdom’s nuclear industry is hindering the use of wind energy and pushing up the prices it charges consumers, because its reactors cannot be turned down when electricity production exceeds demand, campaigners say.

A report by a new British group, 100% Renewable UK, says the inflexible nature of nuclear, which means that it normally has to run at full capacity, is no longer suitable for a 21st century electricity supply.

Backed by a large group of local authorities and academic experts, the group says in the report that nuclear power stations, and the notion that they are essential for what is called baseload power, should be consigned to history.

Baseload power, it argues, is no longer needed, and the stations are in fact hindering the development of the flexible grids required in the modern world.

The report particularly studies the wind power compensation payments which the nuclear operators in Scotland had to pay to windfarms in 2017 and 2019.

The large amounts spent in this way, called “constraint payments”, are triggered when windfarms are asked by the National Grid to shut down production, to stop the electricity network from being overloaded. When supply exceeds demand it threatens the stability of the Grid, which then gives the nuclear stations priority, allowing them to keep running at full power.

Wind farms received compensation for the electricity they would have produced but didn’t: £100 million in 2017 and £130m in 2019.

The report, using data produced by energy consultants Cornwall Insight,  showed that in 2017 94% of the wind power that was “constrained” could have been used had nuclear not been operating, or had it been turned off instead. In 2019 the figure was 77%.

The £230m payment to wind farms for lost production was used by the anti-wind and pro-nuclear lobby to claim that it was excess wind power that was costing consumers money. However, the report argues that it was the inability of the inflexible nuclear plants to turn down their power that should be singled out, saying it would be just as reasonable to blame them for the need for compensation.

[…]

Wrong culprit

Dr David Toke, from the University of Aberdeen, author of the report, said: “It is wrong for wind power to be blamed by the media for these compensation payments. Inflexible operation of nuclear power plants is switching off wind turbines.

“Essentially, cheaper electricity production from wind farms is being turned off in order to protect production from nuclear power plants, whose output is much more expensive to manage.”

The report also says that the UK government’s support for more nuclear stations will only make things worse, giving priority to much more expensive and inflexible electricity production from new stations, like Hinkley Point C in the West of England, at the expense of much cheaper wind and solar power.

[…]

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ふくしまの10年 牛に罪があるのか ②「雪にあたらないで」via 東京新聞

Posted on 2020/06/18 by nfield

[…]

ほどなく「原発が危ない」といううわさが伝わってきた。自宅の北側約8キロには東京電力福島第一原発、南側約5キロには第二原発がある。
　翌朝、妻と娘夫婦、孫の5人で1台の車に乗り、内陸部の川内村に向かって逃げた。
　道は大渋滞でのろのろとしか進めない。雪が降り始め、阿武隈山地は白く染まった。
　午後3時36分、福島第一原発の1号機が水素爆発を起こす。「そういえば海の方角で乾いたパーンという音がするのを車の中で聞いた。あれが爆発の音だったのか」
　通常なら30分ほどで行ける川内村の体育館に5、6時間もかかって到着すると、避難者でごった返していた。
　おにぎりが配られたが人数分はなく、子どもや女性に回して多くの男性は空腹に耐えた。富岡町の職員が「雪にあたらないでください」と呼び掛けていた。放射能を含む雪に触れないためだが、当時は意味がわからなかった。後に同じ職員がテレビ取材に「パニックを恐れて原発の爆発は隠していた」と答えるのを聞いた。
　当時、政府は放射性物質を含んだ雲が阿武隈山地上空に流れているという情報を公表しなかった。高線量の雲は北側の浪江町津島地区や飯舘村に流れ、川内村は比較的低い汚染ですんだが、「運に恵まれただけでした」と坂本さんは振り返る。

全文

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東海第２原発の県民投票案を否決　再稼働巡り、茨城県議会委員会 via 東京新聞

Posted on 2020/06/18 by yukimiyamotodepaul

茨城県議会の防災環境産業委員会は１８日、日本原子力発電東海第２原発（同県）の再稼働の賛否を問う県民投票条例案を自民党会派などの反対多数で否決した。先立つ総務企画委員会との連合審査会で、自民党は「原発の安全性検証や避難計画の策定、情報提供など条件が整った上で県民の意見を聞くのが適切」と反対理由を述べた。

「住民の直接請求権を尊重する」とした立憲民主党や共産党などが賛成、公明党や国民民主党系の会派は反対。
　

市民団体「いばらき原発県民投票の会」が必要数の１・７８倍にあたる約８万７千筆の署名を集め、大井川和彦知事に直接請求。

続きは東海第２原発の県民投票案を否決　再稼働巡り、茨城県議会委員会

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Documenting the “Atomic Cover-up” via Pressing Issues

Posted on 2020/06/18 by yukimiyamotodepaul

While I’ve been posting mainly short pieces here related to my book coming on July 7, The Beginning or the End:  How Hollywood–and America–Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb,  I have also finished writing and directing my first film.  It is based on a previous (and related) book, Atomic Cover-up, and you can now view four brief excerpts below.  

The new film reveals the suppression of sensational, and vitally important, film footage, starting in 1946.  Top U.S. officials and the military buried the only color footage shot in Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the bombings–by an elite U.S. Army film team–as well as the most historic B&W footage shot by the top Japanese newsreel crew.   I first uncovered this many years ago.   Directing a film about it, using the long-hidden images and the haunting first-person accounts of the men, Japanese and American, who shot the footage, has now been realized in a unique and powerful yet (I believe) artful way.  I wrote an article detailing all this, just published. For more info, you can contact me at:  gregmitch34 (at)   gmail (dot) com. 

The doc is presently 47 minutes long.  I am co-producer along with Suzanne Mitchell (no relation).  Charlie Seaborn composed an original score.  Rob Burgos edited.  Among the advisers are Academy Award-winning director Alex Gibney, Pulitzer-winning historian Martin Sherwin,  actor/director Alex Winter and the leading American authority on the B&W footage, Abe Marcus Nornes.  

Read more at Documenting the “Atomic Cover-up”

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Fukushima: Japan must not ignore human rights obligations on nuclear waste disposal – UN experts via UNCHR

Posted on 2020/06/17 by nfield

GENEVA (9 June 2020) – UN human rights experts* today urged the Japanese Government to delay any decision on the ocean-dumping of nuclear waste water from the reactors at Fukushima Daiichi until after the COVID-19 crisis has passed and proper international consultations can be held.

“We are deeply concerned by reports that the Government of Japan has accelerated its timeline for the release of radioactive waste water into the ocean without time or opportunity for meaningful consultations,” the independent experts said. Credible sources indicate the postponement of the 2020 Olympics enabled the Government’s new decision-making process for release of the waste.

They said the Government’s short extension for the current public consultation was grossly insufficient while COVID-19 measures limited opportunities for input from all affected communities in Japan, as well as those in neighbouring countries, including indigenous peoples.

“COVID-19 must be not be used as a sleight of hand to distract from decisions that will have profound implications for people and the planet for generations to come,” the experts said. “There will be grave impacts on the livelihood of local Japanese fisher folk, but also the human rights of people and peoples outside of Japan.”

They said there was no need for hasty decisions because adequate space was available for additional storage tanks to increase capacity, and the public consultation originally was not expected to be held until after the 2020 Olympics.

“We call on the government of Japan to give proper space and opportunity for consultations on the disposal of nuclear waste that will likely affect people and peoples both inside and outside of Japan. We further call on the Government of Japan to respect the right of indigenous peoples to free prior and informed consent and to respect their right to assemble and associate to form such a consent.”

The experts have communicated their concerns to the Government of Japan. UN experts have previously raised concerns over the increase of exposure levels to radiation deemed “acceptable” for the general public, and for the use of vulnerable workers in efforts to clean up after the nuclear disaster.

Source

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It’s Not Techno-Angst That’s Driving East Asia to Abandon Nuclear Power via FP

Posted on 2020/06/17 by nfield

BY TED NORDHAUS, SEAVER WANG

Western discussions about nuclear energy in East Asia usually start with the Fukushima disaster and end with efforts to address climate change. But anti-nuclear sentiment in Asia looks nothing like that in the West, where it was birthed during the Jane Fonda era and is still based on long-debunked claims about the intrinsic dangers of accidents and nuclear waste. The techno-angst and apocalyptic fears that have always animated Western environmentalism are largely foreign to Asian discussions of nuclear energy, climate change, and similar environmental concerns.The techno-angst and apocalyptic fears that have always animated Western environmentalism are largely foreign to Asian discussions of nuclear energy and climate change. After all, following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan that led to a meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, it was Germany—not Japan—that immediately decided to permanently phase out nuclear power, even if it meant that its carbon emissions would rise.

Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan may nonetheless take a decisive turn against nuclear power. The reasons have little to do with public fears of nuclear energy but are tied to long-standing demands for political and economic reform. That’s because the nuclear industry in each of these three countries is tied to a highly contested political and economic model that the reformers are pressing to change.

The proximate causes of these political shifts have little to do with nuclear or environmental policies. South Korean President Moon Jae-in’s smashing victory followed his exemplary management of the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In Taiwan, it was China’s brutal crackdown on dissent in Hong Kong that heavily tipped the scales in favor of the Democratic Progressive Party, which has taken a far more defiant position on relations with China than its main rival, the Kuomintang. Japan’s LDP is languishing in the polls because of its failure to revitalize the country’s long-stagnant economy, a task made all the more challenging by the pandemic.

Dig a little deeper, however, and the same underlying political dynamics have undermined support for nuclear energy. In all three nations, the nuclear power sector has become closely identified with long-entrenched political parties and the power of state bureaucracies and industry groups over economic life. Fukushima undoubtedly amplified anti-nuclear sentiment in the region, but opposition to nuclear power has been a proxy for political and economic reform for decades.

[…]

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Senate panel approves $10M to prepare for nuclear test ‘if necessary’ via The Hill

Posted on 2020/06/17 by yukimiyamotodepaul

The Senate Armed Services Committee has advanced an amendment aimed at reducing the amount of time it would take to carry out a nuclear test.

The amendment, offered by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), would make at least $10 million available to “carry out projects related to reducing the time required to execute a nuclear test if necessary,” according to a copy of the measure obtained by The Hill on Monday.

The amendment was approved in a party-line, 14-13 vote during the committee’s closed-door markup of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) last week, a congressional aide said.

[…]

Asked about Cotton’s amendment, a committee spokesperson said the bill text “should be” available “soon.”

Cotton’s amendment comes after the Trump administration reportedly raised the prospect of resuming nuclear testing as a negotiating tactic in efforts to secure a trilateral nuclear agreement with Russia and China.

The Washington Post reported last month that the idea of conducting the United States’s first nuclear test in decades was raised at a May 15 meeting of senior officials. One official told the Post the idea for a test is “very much an ongoing conversation,” while another official said a decision was made to avoid resuming testing.

[…]

The Trump administration, without evidence, has also in recent months accused Russia and China of conducting very low-yield tests.

The United States has adhered to a moratorium even as it has not ratified a United Nations agreement to ban testing known as the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. The treaty has not been ratified by enough countries to enter into force, but major world powers have followed its main tenet of ending nuclear tests.

Read more at Senate panel approves $10M to prepare for nuclear test ‘if necessary’

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