「福島の子どもと知る権利を守る活動」として甲状腺検査を続けています［生活クラブ生協・東京］via Jiji.com

Posted on 2017/07/18 by yukimiyamotodepaul

［生活クラブ事業連合生活協同組合連合会］

福島第一原発の事故から6年が経過しました。放射能による健康被害が懸念される中、福島県では事故当時18歳以下の県民を対象にした甲状腺検査が進められています。
生活クラブでは、福島県内外の検査結果を比較するため、2012年より甲状腺検査を開始し、現在も継続しています。

■「甲状腺検査活動」を継続することが現状把握につながります

2017年6月5日に公表された福島県民調査報告書によると、2011～13年度に実施された甲状腺検査の先行調査と14年度以降の本格調査の結果、甲状腺がんおよび疑いのある人は190人とされています。「100万人に1人」とされる小児甲状腺がんの発生率よりも明らかに高い率ですが、「県民健康調査」検討委員会では依然として「放射線による影響とは考えにくい」との見解を変えていない上、福島県内での検査縮小まで検討されている状況です。

(略）

http://tokyo.seikatsuclub.coop/news/2017/07/17kojosen.html

■「甲状腺検査活動報告会2016」を開催

甲状腺検査活動から見える「今」を知るため、ぜひご参加ください。

《日時と会場》
2017年9月9日（土）13:30～16:15
生活クラブ連合会　会議室
（東京都新宿区新宿6-24-20 KDX新宿6丁目ビル 7階 第1・2会議室）

《プログラム》
13：30　開会
13：35　2016年度検査活動概要報告 ＜10分＞
13：45　講演／講師：松崎道幸さん＜50分＞
14：35　活動報告「3.11甲状腺がん子ども基金」／講師：崎山比早子さん＜40分＞
15：30　質疑・ディスカッション＜40分＞
16：10　まとめ・閉会
※2015年報告会（2016年8月実施）についてはこちら
http://seikatsuclub.coop/activity/20160822k.html

《問い合わせ》生活クラブ生活協同組合・東京　役員室　TEL：03-5426-5202

企業プレスリリース詳細へ （2017/07/18-13:25）

全文は「福島の子どもと知る権利を守る活動」として甲状腺検査を続けています［生活クラブ生協・東京］

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経産省が“非公表”指示　再処理工場の建設費増額分 via Youtube

Posted on 2017/07/18 by yukimiyamotodepaul

使用済み核燃料の再処理工場の建設費が7500億円も増えたことを経済産業省の認可法人が正式に公表しなかったのは、経産省の指示だったことが分かりました。

動画を見る。

Posted in *日本語 | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Japan Plans to Expose Its People and 2020 Tokyo Olympians to Fukushima Radiation via TruthOut

Posted on 2017/07/18 by yukimiyamotodepaul

Former nuclear industry senior vice president Arnie Gundersen, who managed and coordinated projects at 70 US atomic power plants, is appalled at how the Japanese government is handling the Fukushima nuclear crisis.

“The inhumanity of the Japanese government toward the Fukushima disaster refugees is appalling,” Gundersen, a licensed reactor operator with 45 years of nuclear power engineering experience and the author of a bestselling book in Japan about the Fukushima Daiichi disaster, told Truthout.

To see more stories like this, visit “Planet or Profit?”

He explains that both the Japanese government and the atomic power industry are trying to force almost all of the people who evacuated their homes in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster to return “home” before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

This March Japan’s federal government announced the subsidies that have, up until now, been provided to Fukushima evacuees who were mandated to leave their homes are being withdrawn, which will force many of them to return to their contaminated prefecture out of financial necessity.

And it’s not just the Japanese government. The International Olympic Commission is working overtime to normalize the situation as well, even though conditions at Fukushima are anything but normal. The commission even has plans for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics to have baseball and softball games played at Fukushima.

Gundersen believes these developments are happening so that the pro-nuclear Japanese government can claim the Fukushima disaster is “over.” However, he noted, “The disaster is not ‘over’ and ‘home’ no longer is habitable.”

His analysis of what is happening is simple.

“Big banks and large electric utilities and energy companies are putting profit before public health,” Gundersen added. “Luckily, my two young grandsons live in the US; if their parents lived instead in Fukushima Prefecture [a prefecture is similar to a state in the US], I would tell them to leave and never go back.”

[…]

While the Japanese government continues to deny any correlation between these cases and the Fukushima disaster, thyroid cancer has long since been known to be caused by radioactive iodine released during nuclear accidents like the one at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. A World Health Organization report released after the disaster started listed cancer as a possible result of the meltdown, and a 2015 study in the journal Epidemiology suggested that children exposed to Fukushima radiation were likely to develop thyroid cancer more frequently.

The 2011 disaster left 310 square miles around the plant uninhabitable, and the area’s 160,000 residents were evacuated. This April, officials began welcoming some of them back to their homes, but more than half of the evacuees in a nearby town have already said they would not return to their homes even if evacuation orders were lifted, according to a 2016 government survey.

[…]

When Truthout asked her how she felt about the Abe government’s response to Fukushima, she said, “Human health is not a commodity that should be traded for corporate profits or the goals of politicians and those in power as is happening in Japan. The Japanese government is refusing to release accurate health data and is threatening to take away hospital privileges from doctors who diagnose radiation symptoms.”

Maggie Gundersen added that her husband also met with a doctor who lost his clinic because he was diagnosing people with radiation sickness, instead of complying with the government’s story that their illnesses were due to the psychological stress of the Fukushima Daiichi meltdowns.

[…]

Arnie Gundersen doesn’t think it makes sense to have some of the Olympic venues (soccer, baseball and possibly surfing) in Fukushima Prefecture itself.

“Radioactively ‘hot particles’ are everywhere in Fukushima Prefecture and in some of the adjacent prefectures as well,” he said. “These ‘hot particles’ present a long-term health risk to the citizens who live there and the athletes who will visit.”

Ramana, too, believes that the events held closer to Fukushima “may be adding to the radiation dose of the competitors and the spectators.” 

Read more at Japan Plans to Expose Its People and 2020 Tokyo Olympians to Fukushima Radiation

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どうする原発のごみ　欧州編＜上＞フランス粘土層で封じ込め 地震少なく地盤安定 via 日本経済新聞

Posted on 2017/07/18 by yukimiyamotodepaul

　原子力発電所から出る高レベル放射性廃棄物（核のごみ）は、放射線が十分下がるまで、数万年以上、地下深くに隔離する必要がある。欧州はそのための処分場の候補地を選び、地質調査や研究開発を進めている。日本も科学的に適地とされる地域を年内にも公表するが、地質環境が大きく違い実現へのハードルは高い。先行するフランスとスイスの現場を訪ねた。

パリから東へ約230キロメートル。人口約90人のビュール村がある。見渡す限り麦畑や牧草地が続き、目につくのは風力発電と牛くらいだ。この村に国内外から年間１万人の研究者や政府関係者が訪れる。目的はビュール地下研究所だ。

エレベーターで７分かけて地下約500メートルにある研究施設に降りると、1.6キロメートルにわたる坑道があった。作業員が24時間体制で掘削工事などを進める。坑道から直径80センチメートル、深さ40メートルの横穴が多数掘られ、１万点のセンサー類で岩石の圧力や温度の変化などを監視している。

原発から出る核のごみはガラスと混ぜて「ガラス固化体」にし、ステンレス容器に詰め、鋼鉄製容器に入れて安定した地層に掘った横穴に詰め込む。処分場の候補地は研究所の近くにあり、建設に必要な調査などをここで進めている。

地下研究所は、国が設置した放射性廃棄物管理機関（ＡＮＤＲＡ）が2000年に建設を始めた。28の候補地が名乗りを上げた中、ビュールが選ばれた最大の理由は、地下の地質環境だ

（略）

日本でも北海道幌延町と岐阜県瑞浪市に地下研究施設がある。ウズニアン氏は、ビュール周辺は「幌延と似たような地層」と言うが、日本の両施設では岩盤の割れ目から大量の地下水が流れ込む。地下水がほぼないビュールとは決定的に異なる。

ＡＮＤＲＡは25年に処分場の操業開始を目指す。仏にある58基の原発から出る核のごみを100年以上にわたって搬入し、2151年に埋め戻して閉鎖する。その量はガラス固化体換算で計１万立方メートル。処分費用は250億ユーロ（約２兆9000億円）を見込む。

（略）

ビュールが選ばれたのは、仏でも所得水準の低い地域の一つという事情もある。地下研究所は約400人が働いている。広報担当のポリーヌ・フルニエさんは「高校の同級生は全員地元を離れたが私は残ることができた。農家の父も喜んでいる」と話す。国から周辺自治体に年3000万ユーロ（約35億円）の補助金も出ている。処分場建設時には2000人の雇用も生まれる見通しだ。

全文はどうする原発のごみ　欧州編＜上＞フランス粘土層で封じ込め 地震少なく地盤安定

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こうの史代「夕凪の街 桜の国」舞台化、原爆投下後の広島市を描く物語 via コミックナタリー

Posted on 2017/07/18 by yukimiyamotodepaul

こうの史代「夕凪の街 桜の国」を原作とした舞台が、8月19・20日に大阪・HEP HALL、8月30日から9月3日に東京・シアターグリーン BIG TREE THEATERにて上演される。

「夕凪の街 桜の国」は、漫画アクション（双葉社）に掲載された作品。原爆投下後の広島市を舞台に、原爆の被害に苦しみながらもたくましく生きる家族の姿を描いた。2004年に第8回文化庁メディア芸術祭マンガ部門大賞を、2005年に第9回手塚治虫文化賞新生賞を受賞し、2007年には田中麗奈主演で映画化された。

（略）

STRAYDOG Produce公演「夕凪の街 桜の国」

大阪公演

日時：2017年8月19日（土）・20日（日）
会場：HEP HALL

東京公演

日時：2017年8月30日（水）～9月3日（日）
会場：シアターグリーン BIG TREE THEATER

原作：こうの史代「夕凪の街 桜の国」（双葉社）
脚本・演出：森岡利行
出演：森岡朋奈、葉月 / 寺田安裕香、藤井凜華、小泉茜、中島舞香、森岡里世 / 布施紀行、三嶋健太、谷遼、柴田明良、那波隆史、重松隆志、中原和宏 / 城咲仁 ほか

全文はこうの史代「夕凪の街 桜の国」舞台化、原爆投下後の広島市を描く物語 

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Editorial: Nation’s ‘atomic veterans’ deserve recognition via Gazette

Posted on 2017/07/18 by yukimiyamotodepaul

Thousands of military veterans who were exposed to radiation — including many who developed debilitating and sometimes fatal diseases — as the result of nuclear weapons tests between 1945 and 1962 are closer to receiving the long-overdue recognition they deserve.

The U.S. House of Representatives on Friday unanimously approved a measure co-sponsored by U.S. Rep. James McGovern, D-Worcester, that would create a service medal awarded to the so-called “atomic veterans” or their surviving relatives to recognize their sacrifice. The Atomic Veterans Service Medal Act, also co-sponsored by Massachusetts Sen. Edward Markey, faces an uncertain future in the Senate.

[…]

Between 225,000 and 250,000 veterans are believed to have participated in some 235 nuclear weapons tests conducted in the southwestern United State and Pacific Ocean between 1945 and 1962, or served during the occupation of Japan near Hiroshima or Nagasaki after the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on those cities.

Then-President George H. W. Bush in 1990 signed a compensation act for atomic veterans. However, many were prevented by secrecy laws from seeking medical care or disability compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs for conditions resulting from their exposure to radiation.

[…]

“Tragically, more than 75 percent of atomic veterans have already passed away, never having received … recognition. They served honorably and kept a code of silence that most certainly led to many of these veterans passing away too soon.” 

The nonprofit National Association of Atomic Veterans was established in 1979 to represent those who participated in the atmospheric and underwater nuclear weapons tests. According to the association, “They also included veterans who were assigned to post-test duties, such as ‘ground-zero’ nuclear warfare maneuvers and exercises, removing radiation cloud samples from aircraft wing pods, working on close proximity to radiated test animals, decontamination of aircraft and field test equipment, retrieval and transport of test instruments and devices, and a host of other duty assignments that provided an opportunity for a radiation exposure and contamination event.” 

The association adds that “since nuclear testing began, it has been very difficult to get a useful accounting of the effects of human exposure to the radiation particle fallout from these tests. This was largely motivated partly by military secrecy, partly by a desire to allay public fears … and partly by a fear of possible legal actions by actual (or potential) radiation-exposed victims.” 

The military’s use of human guinea pigs as part of nuclear weapons testing was shameful enough. The government’s failure to recognize their service and sacrifices is doubly shameful.

Read more at Editorial: Nation’s ‘atomic veterans’ deserve recognition

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In the Grand Canyon, uranium mining threatens a tribe’s survival via The Guardian

Posted on 2017/07/17 by nfield

[…]

“The water talks to us, it has a voice you can hear all the time. We drink it, we depend on it. If it gets poisoned we are finished,” he said.

Tilousi is vice-chairman of the Havasupai Native Americans, a tiny community and the only one that lives within the depths of the Grand Canyon.

The sole water source in their remote home of Supai Village is the pristine creek. It comes from seeps and springs gravitating out of a vast aquifer, or natural underground reservoir, in the Arizona bedrock on the southern edge of the canyon.

The Havasupai water their beans, corn, melon, peach trees, horses and mules squeezed on to the strip of land they inhabit between the sandstone rock faces.

Tourists from all over the world snap up the limited number of visitor permits made available annually by the Havasupai and hike down a nine-mile trail in order to bathe in the fabled waters.

What they don’t realize is that way above, on that plateau of bedrock within the Grand Canyon watershed, sitting on top of the same aquifer, is a uranium mine preparing to go into production.

The mining company plans to drill down 1,475ft to extract high-grade uranium ore, then truck it 250 miles by road to their processing mill in Utah.

The Canadian company, Energy Fuels Inc, pledges to operate safely, but the Havasupai and others say that’s impossible to promise, especially as too little is known about subterranean water flow.

They argue that any contamination of the groundwater from the mining operations will end up in Havasu Creek, destroying an ancient way of life if they leave the canyon, sickening them if they stay. Significant pollution would also ruin the integrity of the waterfalls and could ultimately threaten the health of the 40 million people downriver who quench their thirst from the mighty Colorado River.

Tourism makes up 80% of the bare bones economy of Supai Village, Tilousi explained, generating income from the small campground and the basic lodge, cafe, grocery store and post office.

[…]

The Havasupai number only around 775 members, one of the smallest tribes in North America.

Tilousi had just returned from a peaceful demonstration near the mine.

Called Canyon Mine, it sits 45 miles east of Supai Village as the crow flies, and six miles south of Grand Canyon national park, on National Forest land.

In 2012 the Obama administration banned new uranium claims around the Grand Canyon watershed for 20 years.

A coalition of local leaders in northern Arizona and southern Utah recently requested the Trump administration lift the ban and expand mining access in the region, to the further horror of the Havasupai. Meanwhile, Canyon Mine can forge ahead because it was already established in the mid-80s, although mothballed before operations truly began, when the uranium market tanked.

The main shaft was drilled last year and the company is getting ready to supply the nuclear weapons and power industries.

[…]

Disproportionate numbers of Navajo people have died prematurely of kidney failure and cancer, illnesses linked to uranium exposure, while government research has shown uranium has in babies born now, according to reports from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

[…]

“The children are asking me ‘what is uranium? What can it do to us?’ I tell them that if it gets washed into the underground springs when the drills break it up, it can’t be cleaned out. The white man says it will be safe but they have lied to us in the past,” he said.

Also at the gathering, Colleen Kaska attended to her 91-year-old father, Daniel, who was weak and lying on cushions but still singing faintly along to the traditional songs.

Daniel Kaska is a legend among the Havasupai for persuading the community to refuse a payout from the federal government in the 1960s when it wanted to keep them off the plateau for ever.

[…]

 

 

Read more.

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福島第１原発廃炉／「工法」決定は慎重な議論で via 河北新報

Posted on 2017/07/17 by nfield

メルトダウン（炉心溶融）に陥った東京電力福島第１原発１～３号機について、水を張らずに溶け落ちた核燃料を取り出す「気中工法」が浮上している。東電を支援する原子力損害賠償・廃炉等支援機構が検討しているという。

[…]

メルトダウンした核燃料には強烈な放射能が伴い、取り出しは至難の業だ。世界でも米スリーマイルアイランド（ＴＭＩ）原発しか例がない。
福島第１はより厳しい作業を強いられることが確実視されている。ＴＭＩは２号機１基だが、福島第１は３基。さらにＴＭＩでは原子炉圧力容器の中に核燃料がとどまったに対し、福島第１は３基とも圧力容器を突き破って外側の格納容器に落下した。
強烈な放射性物質を扱う場合、一般的には水中で行うのが安全。水によって放射線が減衰するし、空中への飛散を防ぐこともできる。ＴＭＩも冠水させて取り出した。
福島第１で冠水工法を実施する場合、格納容器内を安定的に水で満たすことが不可欠だが、水素爆発などで損傷し水漏れを防ぐことが難しいとみられる。
ただ、気中で行う場合も課題は多い。原発事故以来、溶け落ちた核燃料を水で冷やし温度上昇を防いでいる。水なしで冷却はどうなるのか。冷却不要になるまで温度が下がる保証はあるのだろうか。
放射線量が冠水工法より高くなるのも確実で、厳しい作業環境になる。取り出し中に外部に放射性物質が飛散する心配もある。放射線の遮蔽（しゃへい）や飛散防止によほど注意しないと、思わぬ事態に見舞われかねない。
いたずらに工法決定を急がず、３基の原子炉内の状況をできるだけ調べた上で、柔軟に検討していくのが現実的ではないだろうか。どの工法を採用しようと未経験の困難が待ち受けているのだから、まず調査と準備に全力で取り組むべきだ。

[…]

 

全文

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福島第１原発事故　「行政と住民　思い乖離」　福島でシンポ　避難解除の町村議員ら課題報告　／福島 via 毎日新聞

Posted on 2017/07/17 by nfield

[…]

反原発を訴える全国の地方議員や市民らで作る「福島を忘れない！　全国シンポジウム実行委員会」が主催し、約１７０人が来場した。

　今年３月末に避難指示が解除された川俣町山木屋地区出身の菅野清一町議は、除染で表土をはぎ取った後に山砂を敷かれた農地について、「石が混じっていたり高低差ができていたりして、水田として利用できない」と指摘。除染で出た土などの大半が農地に仮置きされていることも営農再開を阻んでいると説明した。

　昨年６月に大半の避難指示が解除された葛尾村の松本静男村議は、村が避難者の多い三春町に建設した１０６戸の復興住宅について、「将来も三春で過ごすことのできる住環境を提供してしまい、村民の帰還率が悪くなったのではないか」と主張した。飯舘村の渡辺計村議は、今年３月末に村の大半で避難指示が解除されたものの、山林の除染がほぼ手つかずで山菜の放射性物質濃度が高い現状を説明した。

　東電や国を相手取り民事訴訟を起こした原告や弁護士による報告も行われた。帰還困難区域に指定されている浪江町津島地区の住民のほぼ半分の６６９人が福島地裁郡山支部に起こした訴訟で、原告団長を務める今野秀則さん（６９）は「原発事故は地域を丸ごと地図から消し、住民を過酷な状況に追いやるということを伝えてほしい」と来場者らに呼びかけた。【土江洋範】

 

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Radiation Could Be Contaminating Vermonters’ Well Water. Test Today. via Burlington Free Press

Posted on 2017/07/17 by yukimiyamotodepaul

Chemicals like arsenic and lead are known for their potential harm when in our drinking water, but there’s another contaminant we need to watch out for: radiation.

Radiation can affect your health, which is why you should have your well water tested.

“The natural radioactive elements uranium and thorium have been present since Earth was formed,” explained Jessica Eisenhauer, radiochemistry and radiation safety officer for the Vermont Department of Health.

“Uranium and thorium — along with their radioactive daughters such as radium — can be found in bedrock in many parts of Vermont,” Eisenhauer said. “The type of bedrock, location of the aquifer, and depth of the well can affect whether these elements make their way into your well water.”

Drinking water that contains elevated levels of uranium or radium over a long period of time can cause kidney damage or cancer, Eisenhauer said.

You can have your well water tested by ordering the Health Department’s homeowner’s drinking water test kits, at a cost of $159. The three kits test for “gross alpha radiation,” along with other common contaminants including lead, arsenic and E. coli.

The kits, which come with instructions on how to sample water from your tap, are available through the Health Department Laboratory by calling 1-855-472-6979. The Health Department recommends testing with all three kits every five years, while the coliform bacteria test should be done once a year.

[…]

If alpha radiation is found, the Health Department may suggest further testing to identify the specific element in your water. You can call the Drinking Water Program at 800-439-8550 to help determine if further testing is necessary and to get assistance with treatment.

The Health Department advises anyone who wants to test their water to use only the services of a certified laboratory.

Read more at Radiation Could Be Contaminating Vermonters’ Well Water. Test Today.

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