- Nahara evacuees can now stay at home 24 hours/day. Today, Tokyo began allowing interested town evacuees to stay at home around the clock, in preparation to lifting the evacuation order. The measure will last three months. Roughly 7,500 Nara residents have been living elsewhere since the 2011 order was mandated. It is not known how many will take advantage of the opportunity, but the initial numbers are disappointing. So far, Tokyo says 182 0f the 2,700 households have applied for the allowance. Many town residents say they are still concerned about radiation exposure and are waiting until all infrastructure has been restored. One returnee said there are no medical facilities or stores in operation, as yet. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/nuclear.html
- Oil Price.com says a return to nukes may be Japan’s only option. While new safety regulations and strong public antinuclear sentiment make the revival difficult, Japan’s ruling party realizes that ending the current moratorium could solve several pressing problems. In general, by having nuclear supply 20% of Japan’s electricity, the current trade deficit will literally vanish. In 2010, the country had a trade surplus of $65 billion, but that reversed to a $112 billion deficit in 2013. For example, since the start of the moratorium, Japan has spent $270 billion on coal; a 58% increase. At this point, Japan is the world’s largest importer of LNG, second biggest importer of coal, and stands third with oil imports. Whether or not the government’s 20% goal will be reached remains to be seen. http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/A-Return-To-Nuclear-May-Be-Japans-Only-Option.html
- The Industry Ministry is thinking about a renewables goal to surpass nukes by 2030. While the ministry’s nuke goal is 20%, some officials believe nuclear generation will be greater than 20% by that year. In 2013, renewables accounted for 10.7% of Japan’s electricity, with most from hydro-electric. The government has financially boosted wind and solar, and is considering doing something similar for geothermal and biomass. http://jen.jiji.com/jc/eng?g=eco&k=2015040600613
- Radioactive water was found on a waste container lid at F. Daiichi. Although the Press is calling it yet another leak, it appears that it is merely a pool of from either the container vent opening, rainwater, or condensation. There are roughly 670 filled liquid waste material containers inside a storage building at the nuke station, each with a volume of about 3.2 cubic meters. The suspect liquid was first speculated to be a leak from the container, but it was subsequently found that there was no seepage. The ~6.5 gallons of liquid were found to have about 3 million Becquerels per liter of Beta activity, and 8,700 Bq/l of Cesium. These levels are more than ten-thousand times lower than raw wastewater from the plant basements. Later in the day, another container was found to have about a liter of water on its lid. There was no release of radioactive water outside the storage building. http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/news/nuclear.html
- Half of the landowners in Okuma and Futaba are unknown. The roadblock to 30-year storage of rural low level wastes is gaining the land to build the 16km2 facility which will overlap both towns. There are roughly 2,400 owners of the property, and gaining access to the land is a huge headache. To date, negotiations between Tokyo and landowners have been at an impasse. The problem is exacerbated by the government being unable to find the about 1,200 of the owners. Government sources say the problems are two-fold. On one hand, many evacuees from the towns have been tough to contact. But, a more pressing issue is that many of the property deeds have not been renewed for more than 150 years, so identification of current ownership is very difficult. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/04/05/national/half-of-owners-of-fukushima-land-for-site-to-store-radioactive-soil-are-unknown/#.VSEhUaMcQdU — http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2015/04/345343.html
- Tokyo is hesitant to charge Tepco for voluntary evacuee rent compensation. Under the Disaster Relief Act, both government-mandated and voluntary evacuees have been provided rent-free apartments as temporary residences. Tepco pays covers rent for Tokyo-ordered evacuees, but Tepco will not pay for voluntary evacuee apartments. It seems the law says the company at-fault must eventually pay for all government costs with respect to recovery. But, the issue of cost recovery for voluntary evacuees is unclear because it has not happened before. The Industry Ministry agrees with Tepco on the matter, so Tokyo has been footing the bill. It seems both Tokyo and Fukushima Prefecture eventually want to charge Tepco for the costs, but cannot agree on which government should be the one to try and make it happen. The total being spent on this is about $300 million per year. The Dispute Reconciliation Committee might be who resolves the dilemma. They have found in favor of the voluntary evacuees in the past. They have awarded voluntary evacuees lump-sum payments of over $1,000 each for psychological distress, except for children and pregnant women who have been paid a lump-sum of about $7,000 each. http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20150404p2a00m0na014000c.html
- A Tokyo Professor calls for logic concerning Fukushima. Yasuhiko Fujii, Professor Emeritus at Tokyo Institute of Technology, says the nuke accident has caused significant negativity towards nuclear energy in Japan. However, he argues that “all parties involved in nuclear development… truly believe humanity cannot do without nuclear energy.” He acknowledges that the social and political environment towards nukes is “vastly different” from when nuclear development began in the 1950s, but it is essential to “sort out the logic of entangled arguments” in order to have people understand the critical need. Fujii’s lengthy posting with the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum covers several topics. First, he stresses that the purpose of nuclear energy is to secure peace and prosperity. Then, he explains Japan’s Atomic Energy Basic Law of 1955. The focus of the Law was to insure that nukes would never be used for military purposes. Another issue is what Fujii calls “The Ohi Judgment”, referring to a Fukui District Court decision stating that nukes violate citizen’s personal rights. He says that the judgment overlooks the fact that a secure, stable, emission-free source of electricity is a “central tenet” of personal rights in the modern world. Next, Fujii examines what has been purported as the “societal causes” of the F. Daiichi accident. He counters that he finds it difficult to blame an entire culture for what happened. Fujii also addresses the successful survival of the Onagawa station that experienced much worse quake shaking and a tsunami than F. Daiichi, which he says was because of sound engineering and design, but not because of luck. Finally, he looks at the public reaction to the Fukushima accident, believing that over-reaction has been the rule and because of it nukes might someday disappear from Japan. http://www.jaif.or.jp/en/logic-and-sentiment-over-nuclear-energy-in-japan/
This site requires a lot of work. We hope you find our efforts valuable and rewarding. Please consider offering your support. There is no minimum amount. Feel free to donate as you see fit, without restriction. Thank you...
