January 10, 2012

Jan 10, 2012 | Fukushima Accident Updates

  • The nuclear energy debate petition drive in Tokyo is failing to get enough signatures. The civic group called “Minnade Kimeyo (Let all of us decide)” started collecting signatures on Dec. 10. They need one-fiftieth of the population to sign, which would place formal pressure on city government to hold an open nuclear debate potentially leading to a voter referendum. There is a time limit of two calendar months for the group to collect the required number of signatures. As of January 9, only 78,000 of the necessary 210,000 signatures have been solicited. Group members believe the petition’s potential failure is due to P.M. Noda declaring cold shutdown at Fukushima and a general belief that nuclear energy poses no real problems. On the other hand, the group’s parallel drive in Osaka appears to have surpassed its one month goal of 43,000 signatures with more than 50,000. Even with the inevitability of some signatures being ruled invalid by city government, it seems the debate in Osaka is going to happen. Osaka mayor Toru Hashimoto will receive the petition and a formal request to introduce a motion in the municipal assembly for the plebiscite. The assembly can approve or reject the motion by a simple majority vote. (Mainichi Shimbun)
  • The recently announced Japanese policy of a 40 year life-span on nukes may be “too abrupt”. Only those countries abandoning nuke energy (e.g. Germany and Switzerland) have set a firm date for the rejection. An editorial in the Yomiuri Shimbun says “It seems too abrupt for the government to come up with such a policy now.” Regardless of the current de-facto moratorium on restarting idled nukes, 2 of them are already over 40 and fifteen will reach that age in the next decade. In ten years, more than 30% of Japan’s nuclear capacity will be permanently shut down based on the 40 year limit. This will not only hurt the national energy supply, but send a negative message to the world concerning Japan’s nuclear export business. The Yomiuri calls for a new policy that will not delay the restarting of the idled nukes and will not cause a severe, prolonged power shortage.
  • Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba wants to secure Arab oil supplies from United Arab Emirates (UAE). He met with UAE Minister Abdullah bin Zayad Al Nahyan inn Abu Dhabi yesterday. One reason for the meeting is increased oil usage by Japan due to the nuclear moratorium, as well as international tension of the nuclear issues with Japan’s no. 1 oil supplier, Iran. Abdullah said the potential closure of the Straits of Hormuz by Iran will inflate oil prices, and Gemba said Iran should end provocative rhetoric. (JAIF) Gemba has already made stops in Saudi Arabia and Qatar where he raised the same concerns. Saudi Arabia is the only Arab country with sufficient reserves to boost exports, but UAE might yet be able to help. Sheikh Abdullah said his country was willing to help meet Tokyo’s needs in the event of energy shortfalls. “As the UAE has the ability to provide more energy resources, it has taken the request positively. Japan will have the priority,” he said. (Japan Times) More oil burning for electricity also means more greenhouse gasses out of Japan, not to mention a further strain on the nation’s already-stressed economy.
  • Japan’s Nuclear Energy Safety Organization (JNES) has been Xeroxing inspection procedures from vendors since 2003, the JNES third-party investigation panel reports. This will surely bring suspicious scrutiny to Japan’s only inspection body with legal authority. Since 2003, JNES has taken vendor manuals, copied them, and attached their own covers to make it look like the organization had created them. The third-party panel says in its report, “Inspections are part of the system to ensure safety. Inspections must not be entrusted to business operators.” The report further says, “It is unavoidable for people to think that the JNES gave rubber-stamp approval of inspections by the business operator.” (Mainichi Shimbun)
  • A sad news report in Mainichi Shimbun concerns a Fukushima worker that fell into a coma. It is sad that he was stricken with cardiac and respiratory arrest. After the above, the report immediately states that he had received 52 millisieverts of radiation exposure at Fukushima, and that an investigation was being undertaken to find out what his accumulated dose might be from prior work at other nuclear facilities. This sends the clear implication that his malady is somehow due to low level radiation exposure. It’s what is known as guilt by association, which is a subtle but effective logical fallacy. It is infuriating that The Mainichi has used an affliction virtually unrelated to low level exposure in an obvious scheme to engender nuclear anxiety in their readers, simply because the man was working at Fukushima when he fell into the coma. This morning, TEPCO announced that the contractor employee had died. (RIP)
  • Two European speakers in Japan seem to believe that nuclear power “stress tests” are a charade. Rebecca Harms, president of the Green Group in the European Parliament, and Gueorgui Kastchiev, a senior nuclear physicist at the Vienna-based University of Natural Resources, said a warning is needed in Japan where nuclear facilities are undergoing stress tests. Kastchiev said stress tests were originally designed for European banks and modified for nuclear plants, which he says proves that they are a political ploy to make the public think reactors are safe. He added that the tests are only being applied to extreme natural calamities, but should actually cover all aspects of nuclear energy. Further,Kastchiev went on to say there is no international law allowing punishments for those who fail, so the whole thing is a sham. (Japan Times)