Riding the Wild Bull of Nuclear Power via Counterpunch

Posted on 2019/03/15 by nfield

by EVAGGELOS VALLIANATOS

[…]

The nuclear disaster in Japan was an opportunity for America: the chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was Gregory Jaczko.

Jaczko goes to Washington

A series of accidents had brought to Washington, DC, Jaczko, a theoretical physicist burnt out with particle physics but burning with desire to see good come out of science. His technical education made it easy for him to understand the science and technology of nuclear power plants. He thought they served some kind of a useful purpose, though he was cautious about their “safety.”

He came to Washington because he wanted to do good. He knew next to nothing about Congress or its cutthroat politics.

He was fortunate in serving on the staff of the Democrat Congressman Edward Markey from Massachusetts and Democrat Senator Harry Reid of Nevada. In both cases, his cautious approach to nuclear power served him well with these two powerful politicians.

Markey wanted to increase the regulation of nuclear power and to strengthen international arms control. Reid wanted to dismantle the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump next to America’s gambling capital, Las Vegas, Nevada.

Reid was so impressed by the virtues of Jaczko (his neutral attitude towards the industry and its opponents and his commitment to public safety above all) he successfully nominated him, in 2005, to become one of the commissioners of NRC. Then with Obama becoming president, Reid insisted that Jaczko should be appointed to be the chairman of NRC.

In the belly of the nuclear beast

In his book, Confessions of a Rogue Nuclear Regulator (Simon and Schuster, 2019), Jaczko describes a brief meeting he had with Obama’s chief of staff Rahm Emanuel. Emanuel went straight to the point. He was brutal:

“You are a fucking asshole and nobody likes you. If we make you chairman, everyone at the NRC is going to quit… Being chairman is a very important job. I don’t expect you to make problems for the president. Do you understand that? You work for the president and you better not fuck this up.”

Jaczko was shocked by the “ferocity” of the attack on his character. “I am not an asshole,” he said to Emanuel.

This humiliation, however, convinced Jaczko that Obama did not want him in the NRC, much less its chairman. But Obama gave in to Reid, who was the Senate majority leader.

Jaczko’s three-and-a-half years tenure as the chairman of NRC was stormy. The nuclear industry and its supporters in Congress could not stand him. The idea of reform or regulation was an anathema. In fact, the industry was so successful in its propaganda it had convinced Americans nuclear power was safe: don’t expect any accident at the nuclear power plants.

The other commissioners and senior staff looked at Jaczko with suspicion and mistrust. Here was a young man, younger than most of them, being their boss and constantly probing them to protect public health and the environment.

Running Jaczko out of town

Even the Fukushima tragedy made no difference. Jaczko was convinced NRC was a hopeless case, being a subsidiary of the nuclear industry.

“I eventually got run out of town because I saw things up close that I was not meant to see: an agency overwhelmed by the industry it is supposed to regulate and a political system determined to keep it that way,” he wrote.

The Fukushima “cataclysm” finally convinced him that “nuclear power is a failed technology.” Keep using it and it will bring “catastrophe in this country or somewhere else in the world,” he wrote. […]

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県民投票条例案は否決via NHK東北NEWS WEB

Posted on 2019/03/15 by nfield

宮城県議会の本会議で、東北電力女川原発２号機の再稼働の是非を問う県民投票条例案が採決され、自民・公明両党などの反対多数で否決されました。
これにより、県民投票は実施されないことになりました。

女川原発２号機をめぐっては、市民グループが再稼働の是非を問う県民投票を求めて、地方自治法で必要とされる有権者数のおよそ３倍にあたる１１万人あまりの署名を集めて、県民投票条例案の直接請求を行い、県議会で審議が続けられてきました。
１５日は本会議が開かれ、賛成、反対それぞれの立場から討論が行われました。
このうち、旧民進党系の議員は、賛成の立場から、「県民投票は議会を否定するものではなく、間接民主制を補完する最良の選択だ」と述べました。
これに対し、自民党の議員は、反対の立場から、「原発の再稼働に賛成か反対かの二者択一では、県民のさまざまな思いを受け止めきれない」と述べました。
そして、採決の結果、自民・公明両党などの反対多数で否決されました。
原発ゼロ社会の実現が持論の自民党の１人は、採決前に退席しました。
東日本大震災のあと、原発が立地する東北の被災地で初めて、原発再稼働の是非を問う住民投票の条例案が提出されましたが、県民投票は実施されないことになりました。

[…]

自民党の藤倉知格議員は採決を退席しました。その理由について「賛成、反対の二択では県民の多様な本音をくみ取ることは不可能で、三択論を提案したが、議論のテーマにすらならず残念だ。賛成、反対の立場を取ることができず、断腸の思いだったが、信念を貫き通すため、退席した」と述べました。

旧民進党系会派の藤原範典会長は、「１１万を超える人の思いを無駄にしないよう努力したが、実現できず深く反省している。原発の再稼働は生活に直結する課題であり、多くの人が不安を感じているということを議会が真摯に受け止めることができず、残念だ」と述べました。

原発が立地する女川町で話を聞きました。
６０代の女性は、「県民投票をした方がいいかはなんとも言えない。親族が原発関係で働いているので、県民投票があれば再稼働に賛成するが、安全性を心配する人の気持ちもわかるので複雑だ」と話していました。
３０代の男性は、「与党の議員が反対に回ったこともまた民意だ。村井知事には再稼働に向けて動いてもらいたい」と話していました。

仙台市でも話を聞きました。
青葉区の３０代の男性は、「県民投票をする機会があった方が良かった。議会だけで判断するよりも、直接住民の意見を聞いてほしかった」と話していました。
また、青葉区の７０代女性は、「沖縄県名護市の辺野古沖の埋め立ての例を見ても、住民投票をしたとしても政治の動きは変わらないので、やっても無駄だと思う」と話していました。
青葉区の５０代女性は、「県民投票をしないという判断をしたのであれば、議員の方々には、今後、県民の意見をしっかり聞いて議会に反映するように、きちんと仕事をしてもらいたい」と話していました。

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Nuclear Powers Need to Disarm Before It’s Too Late via Portside (Foreign Policy in Focus)

Posted on 2019/03/15 by nfield

Conn Hallinan

The recent military clash between India and Pakistan underscores the need for the major nuclear powers — the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, and France — finally to move toward fulfilling their obligations under the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).  

The Treaty’s purpose was not simply to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, but to serve as a temporary measure until Article VI could take effect: the “cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a Treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control.”

The 191 countries that signed the NPT — the most widely subscribed nuclear treaty on the planet — did so with the understanding that the major powers would de-nuclearize. But in the 50 years since the Treaty was negotiated, the nuclear powers have yet to seriously address eliminating weapons of mass destruction.

While over the years the Americans and the Russians have reduced the number of warheads in their arsenals, they — along with China — are currently in the midst of a major modernization of their weapon systems. Instead of a world without nuclear weapons, it is a world of nuclear apartheid, with the great powers making no move to downsize their conventional forces.

For non-nuclear armed countries, this is the worst of all worlds.

There Are No “Local” Nuclear Wars

Pakistan reserves the right to use nuclear weapons first. India has a “no first use” policy, but with so many caveats that it is essentially meaningless. In brief, it wouldn’t take much to ignite a nuclear war between them.

If that happens, its effects will not be just regional. According to a study by the University of Colorado, Rutgers University, and UCLA, if Pakistan and India exchanged 100 Hiroshima-sized nuclear warheads (15 kilotons), they would not only kill or injure 45 million people, but also generate enough smoke to plunge the world into a 25-year long nuclear winter.

Both countries have between 130 and 150 warheads apiece.

Temperatures would drop to Ice Age levels and worldwide rainfall would decline by 6 percent, triggering major droughts. The Asian Monsoon could be reduced by between 20 and 80 percent, causing widespread regional starvation.

Between the cold and the drought, global grain production could fall by 20 percent in the first half decade, and by 10 to 15 percent over the following half decade.

Besides cold and drought, the ozone loss would be between 20 and 50 percent, which would not only further damage crops, but harm sea life, in particular plankton. The reduction of the ozone layer would also increase the rate of skin cancers.

The study estimates that “two billion people who are now only marginally fed might die from starvation and disease in the aftermath of a nuclear conflict between Pakistan and India.”

In short, there is no such thing as a “local” nuclear war. […]

Kashmir is no longer a regional matter. Nuclear weapons threaten not only Pakistanis and Indians, but, indeed, the whole world. The major nuclear powers must begin to move toward fulfilling Article VI of the NPT, or sooner or later our luck will run out.

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The Truth About Radiation in Fukushima via The Diplomat

Posted on 2019/03/14 by nfield

Maxime Polleri

[…]In the period following the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, Japan saw the release of harmful radioactive pollutants or radionuclides, such as iodine‑131, cesium‑134, cesium‑137, strontium‑90, and plutonium‑238, among many others. Yet today, the scale of radioactive contamination throughout northeastern Japan is no longer what it used to be since 2011. Indeed, that’s what the members of the local and central government, as well as nuclear-related agencies, have repeatedly stated throughout the years. Many journalists have kept promoting this discourse, with The Guardian recently stating that “In the empty lands around Fukushima today, most of the radiation is long since gone.”

[…]

Indeed, the levels of radioactivity in places like New York are mostly the result of background radiation, which is naturally occurring radiation from the soil or the sun. These are rays that pass through the body and leave. Fukushima, on the other hand, is dealing with the release of radionuclides, which are fission products from nuclear power plants. These radionuclides are not rays, but dust-like particles that can stick to the body and be inhaled or ingested. Weather factors like wind and rain have displaced many radionuclides like cesium-137, which accumulate in patchy locations, such as ditches, drainage areas, or playgrounds. Because of this uneven dispersion, monitoring posts often overlook the presence of hot spots, places where the level of radiation is significantly greater. Dissatisfied by state-sponsored monitoring, many citizen scientists have collectively tracked and monitored residual radioactivity in Japan, legitimizing the presence of hot spots.

[…]

Levels of radiation have also decreased due to a massive state-sponsored program of radioactive decontamination in the urban and rural areas of Fukushima. The process of decontamination consists of collecting and removing radioactive pollutants. Radionuclides are then contained in vinyl bags, so as to impede the risk of rescattering residual radioactivity. As a testament of the government-led decontamination, mountains of black plastic bags, filled with contaminated soil or debris, can be seen in many parts of Fukushima, forming a stark contrast against the emerald-green mountains of the region.

As such, decontamination does not imply that radiation has vanished; it has simply been moved elsewhere. Yet in rural regions, where many of the bags are currently being disposed, far away from the eyes of urban dwellers, residents are still forced to live near the storage sites. Many rural residents have criticized the actual efficacy of the decontamination projects. For instance, vinyl bags are now starting to break down due to the build-up of gas released by rotten soil. Plants and flowers have also started to grow inside the bags, in the process tearing them apart. With weather factors, residual radioactivity inside the bags will eventually be scattered back into the environment.

In the end, state-sponsored monitoring and decontamination are remedial measures that manage the perception of radiation in the environment. However, this does not imply that radioactive contamination is gone – not at all. When we look at the official maps of radiation of northeastern Japan, levels are low, but there are many ways to make them appear low. With overall lifespan that exceeds hundreds of years, radionuclides like cesium-137 or strontium-90 will continue to pose a problem for decades to come. However, with the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics, it is doubtful that the Japanese state will ever acknowledge this reality.

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福島原発事故後の停留精巣の全国的増加 via 日本の研究.com

Posted on 2019/03/14 by nfield

研究成果は、国際科学誌「Urology(ウロロジー)」に2018 年5 月8 日掲載

この度、名古屋市立大学大学院システム自然科学研究科村瀬研究室と、名古屋市立大学大学院医学研究科小児泌尿器科学、腎・泌尿器科学分野との共同研究による論文(福島原発事故後の停留精巣の全国的増加)が、国際科学雑誌Urology に掲載されましたのでご報告いたします。

小児先天性奇形の一つである停留精巣は出産前に診断することができず、それを理由とする中絶は発生しません。そのためこの疾患は、2011 年に発生した東日本大震災とそれに続く福島第一原子力発電所事故が先天性疾患にどのような影響を与えたかを評価するのに適していると考えられます。私たちは、医療費の包括支払い制度(DPC/PDPS*1)を導入している病院に関して、中央社会保険医療協議会により公表されている退院件数データを用い、2010 年度から2015 年度の6 年間で連続して停留精巣の手術退院件数が得られた35 県94 病院のデータを集計*2しました。その集計データについて2010-2011 年度と2012-2015 年度を比較したところ、停留精巣の手術退院件数は、原発事故後に13.4%(95%信頼区間:4.7%-23.0%)の有意な増加が認められ、調査終了時の2015 年度まで高い水準が維持されていました。停留精巣のリスクファクターである低出生体重児や早期産の割合は調査期間中においてはほぼ一定であり、原発事故の関与が主要な原因として考えられました。しかしながら、本研究ではそれを証明するには至っていません。

[…]

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◇Nationwide Increase in Cryptorchidism after the Fukushima Nuclear Accident

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福島原発事故後の複雑心奇形の全国的増加　via 日本の研究.com

Posted on 2019/03/14 by nfield

この度、名古屋市立大学大学院システム自然科学研究科村瀬研究室と、名古屋市立大学大学院医学研究科心臓血管外科学教室との共同研究による論文（福島原発事故後の複雑心奇形の全国的増加）が、アメリカ心臓協会(AHA: American Heart Association)の専門誌Journal of the AmericanHeart Association に掲載されましたのでご報告いたします。

1986 年のチェルノブイリ原発事故の後、近隣諸国では先天性心疾患の発生率の増加が報告されました。日本においても、2011 年3 月に東日本大震災と福島第一原発事故を経験しましたが、その影響に関する全国的な調査はまだ行われていませんでした。

そこで私たちは、日本胸部外科学会が福島原発事故前から集計している先天性心疾患に関する手術データに着目しました。日本胸部外科学会は日本全国の病院を対象に先天性心疾患に関する手術データを集めており、本研究では2007 年から2014 年までの手術件数を使用して解析を行いました。このデータには、日本における46 種類の先天性心疾患に関する手術件数がほぼ全て含まれています。私たちは、心臓の発生の早期段階の障害に起因する、高度な手術治療を必要とする複雑な先天性心疾患（複雑心奇形・29 種類）に着目し、事故前後の手術件数の変化を解析しました。

解析の結果、乳児(1 歳未満児)に対する複雑心奇形の手術件数は、原発事故後におよそ14.2％(95%信頼区間：9.3%-19.4%）の有意な増加が認められ、調査終了時の2014 年まで高い水準が維持されていました。一方、1−17 歳の患者に対する複雑心奇形の手術件数は、研究期間中においては著しい変化は認められませんでした。複雑心奇形の手術件数は、その発生率そのものとは異なるものの密接に関連しているため、複雑心奇形の発生率の上昇が示唆されました。しかしながら、その正確な原因については今後の研究課題です。

[…]

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◇Nationwide Increase in Complex Congenital Heart Diseases After the Fukushima Nuclear Accident

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San Diego judge dismisses U.S. sailors’ Fukushima radiation lawsuits, rules Japan has jurisdiction via The San Diego Union-Tribune

Posted on 2019/03/14 by nfield

Kristina Davis

A San Diego federal judge has dismissed two class-action lawsuits filed on behalf of hundreds of U.S. sailors who claimed they were exposed to dangerous levels of radiation during a humanitarian mission in Japan following 2011’s devastating earthquake and tsunami.

In the end, the case came down to a jurisdiction issue. U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino ruled in orders Monday that Japanese law applies to these claims and leaves open the possibility for the sailors to pursue recourse there. […]

Sammartino sided with the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal’s characterization of the legal battle as a “‘close case’ with competing interests pointing in both directions.”

She later concluded: “Now, however, after considering the Japanese and United States governments’ views, the Court finds that the foreign and public policy interests weigh toward dismissal.”

Paul Garner, a Carlsbad attorney on the sailors’ legal team, said Wednesday that he anticipates an appeal.

He called the notion that any of the sailors would be paid for personal injury or wrongful death in Japan “a fiction,” noting that Japanese citizens are only being compensated for damages such as loss of livelihood or losses due to relocation.

To seek remedy in Japan, the sailors would have to be able to afford the trip, be healthy enough to travel, hire a Japanese lawyer, have their medical records translated, and appear before a tribunal.

“I don’t foresee any of them having the ability to go to Japan,” Garner said.

[…]

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「トモダチ作戦」被ばく訴訟で控訴 米連邦裁の請求却下で via NHK News Web

Posted on 2019/03/14 by nfield

東日本大震災の直後にアメリカ軍が行った支援活動「トモダチ作戦」に参加し被ばくしたとして、空母の乗組員などが東京電力に対し治療費などを求めていた訴訟で、今月に入りアメリカの連邦裁判所が却下したことを受けて、一部の原告が控訴しました。

東日本大震災の直後のアメリカ軍の支援活動「トモダチ作戦」をめぐっては当時の空母の乗組員などが被ばくして損害を受けたとして、東京電力に対して治療費などを求める訴訟をアメリカの連邦裁判所で３件、起こしています。

このうちカリフォルニア州南部地区の連邦裁判所で起こされた２件の訴訟については今月４日、裁判所が請求を却下していました。

東京電力によりますと、このうちの１件で原告が今月８日に控訴したということで、239人が治療費に充てるための少なくとも10億ドル（日本円で1100億円余り）の基金をつくることなどを求めているということです。

[…]

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Japan has plutonium, rockets and rivals. Will it ever build a nuke? via PRI’s The World

Posted on 2019/03/14 by nfield

Patrick Winn

There are few substances more freakish than plutonium. Seldom found in nature, the metal is pewter gray, absurdly heavy and so radioactive that, if you held a lump on a cold day, it would gently warm your hands.

It’s also some of the most dangerous stuff in existence. A chunk weighing just 17 pounds — if weaponized — could immolate New York City. A pickup truck filled with plutonium holds enough raw power to potentially end civilization as we know it.

Most of the world’s nuke-ready plutonium is held by a few countries with powerful militaries: the United States, Russia, Israel, India, China, Pakistan, France and the United Kingdom.

And then there’s Japan.

Japan is perhaps the most pacifist, large nation on Earth. It also happens to own 100,000 pounds of primo, weapons-grade plutonium. That could be enough to create more than 5,000 nuclear bombs.

All of this plutonium has been processed, Japanese officials say, with the intention of generating electricity. Moreover, every last lump is monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency, says Tomohiko Taniguchi, a special adviser to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe.

[…]

Only 1 in 10 Japanese people want their government to acquire nuclear weapons. The horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki still resonate. Conventional wisdom says that disdain for nuclear weapons is baked into the Japanese psyche.

But Japan’s identity is also in flux, and there are scattered groups working hard to tilt the status quo. They often pop up on street corners in Tokyo, yelling at passersby, determined to jolt their fellow Japanese from a pacifist slumber.

[…]

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原発被害者の苦悩 via 毎日新聞

Posted on 2019/03/14 by yukimiyamotodepaul

[…]

想定外の爆発は衝撃的で、健康被害を恐れて福島県外に逃れた人も少なくなかった。事故後の福島県の調査で甲状腺がんが確認された子どもは１６０人以上。同県ＨＰによると、震災と事故による県外避難者は最大時６万２８３１人。今も約３万２６００人が避難を続けている。

大阪で母子避難を続ける森松明希子さんもその一人。原発被害者訴訟の原告として「放射線被ばくから免れ健康を享受する権利」が侵されたとし、「避難の権利」も主張している。だが、とりまく状況は厳しい。国連でも窮状を訴えるなどしてきたが、被ばく回避を考えることを「放射脳」と揶揄（やゆ）されるなど、日本ではモノ言えぬ空気が強まっているという。

全文は原発被害者の苦悩

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