- Greenpeace has started an internet campaign demanding that all nuclear manufacturers in Japan be held accountable for the Fukushima accident. The international bastion of antinuclearism wants Japanese law on industrial accident compensation revised so that all companies associated with the design and construction of nukes have to pay evacuees, not only the utility that owns the plant having an accident. Greenpeace argues that the nuclear industry is evading responsibility for the nuclear accident. Antinuclear campaigner Asilan Tumer says, “The Fukushima disaster exposes the shameful defects in a system that only requires nuclear operators to pay a fraction of the costs of a disaster and does not require suppliers of reactors to pay anything.” Currently, only the Tokyo Electric Company, owner of Fukushima Daiichi, is forced to pay out huge sums of money to the approximately 70,000 people who the Tokyo government forced to evacuate and will not allow returning to their still-intact homes. Green peace wants that to continue, but also have the rest of the nuclear community pay out additional compensations. (Kyodo News; Japan Times; Japan Today)
- A fish caught off Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, has radioactive Cesium above Japan’s health standards. A sea bass with 130 Becquerels per kilogram was caught by a Choshi City fisherman about 10 kilometers off-shore. Japan’s limit for fish is 100 Bq/kg – ten times lower than the international standard. Many local Chiba fisheries have already ceased fishing these waters due to one fish with 60 Bq/kg Cesium back in December. Regardless, the sea bass is the first fish caught by a Chiba fishery to exceed Japan’s overly-restrictive limit. (NHK World)
- Construction material costs have soared in the Tohoku region, severely hampering tsunami recovery. More than 250,000 Tohoku residents lost their homes and businesses on 3/11/11 when the giant tsunami swept away everything in its path. Roads and other coastal infrastructure were also lost. Largely because of increases in the cost of concrete and other building materials, many contractors are no longer bidding on reconstruction contracts. Many of those who do submit bids are often above the upper limit the local communities can pay. Over the last six months of 2012, 32% public projects in Miyagi Prefecture failed to find affordable contractors. Miyagi was the worst tsunami-hit Tohoku coastal prefecture. One severely damaged road in Miyagi is untouched because no contractor can be found to do the repairs. Iwate Prefecture has had a 14% failure rate. In Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture, no-one could be found to rebuild a tsunami-damaged fire station. The general, Iwate refugees who found temporary housing feel that nothing has changed over the nearly two years since they lost everything. Contractors complain that building material costs have risen as much as 43%, so they cannot afford to take available contracts as long as the upper bid limits do not change. They also complain of a shortage of workers willing to get involved with tsunami recovery. Material suppliers are reluctant to invest in expanding their supply line because once the recovery is over, the demand will fall back to pre-disaster levels. In addition, if construction workers need to be brought in from other parts of Japan, the labor costs will increase as well, further inhibiting reconstruction. (Asahi Shimbun) [comment – it should be noted that this is specific to tsunami recovery, and not the Fukushima accident. None of the Fukushima evacuee’s homes or local infrastructure is physically damaged. Only those communities and infrastructure lost to the 3/11/11 quake and tsunami needs to be rebuilt.]
- Japan experienced its worst-ever trade deficit in January, mostly due to the nuclear moratorium. The January shortfall was about $17.5 billion, the worst since data began to be kept in 1979. While the country’s exports rose 6.4% for the month, imports increased by 7.3%. The government says the main reason for the deficit is the high cost of crude oil and liquefied natural gas need to run old, inefficient fossil-fueled plants to take the place of the nation’s shuttered nuclear fleet. (NHK World)
- Japan Atomic Power Company has sold some of its unused nuclear fuel to pay off debt and keep consumer costs as low as possible. The buyers have not been publically identified. JAPCO needed funds to repay loans that will come due in April. It does not seem any of its three politically-idled nukes will restart before this coming summer, if not much later, so JAPCO was forced to raise money by selling the fuel. Tokyo Electric Company is considering taking similar action in order to ease their current financial burden. (Kyodo News Service)
- Due to nuclear accident fears, five municipalities in Hokkaido Island have formally asked Tokyo to stop construction of the Oma nuclear station in Aomori Prefecture. The request was submitted to the Industry Ministry on Tuesday. The J-Power Company was building the plant before the national nuclear moratorium was mandated, but was allowed to resume last year. The lead community in the request is Hakodate, across the 23-kilometer strait from Oma town where the plant is being built. Hakodate Mayor Toshiki Kudo says the current moratorium on nukes across Japan makes on-going construction at Oma needless. The mayor claims theTokyo government has said there will be a reduction in Japan’s dependence on nuclear, as much as possible. The Kudo argues that building the Oma plant contradicts this policy. If construction is not halted, Hakodate City says they will file a lawsuit. (NHK World)
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The wife of a Fukushima suicide victim will file a $1.2 million lawsuit against Tepco. Mrs. Shigekiyo Kanno held a news conference on Wednesday. Her husband, a Soma farmer, killed himself in June, 2011, because he and his family were forced to evacuate their farm. His suicide note said, in part, “…if only there were no nuclear plant.” She will file her case in Tokyo District Court next month. A government survey has found 21 persons committed suicide from June, 2011, through December, 2012, due to the earthquake, tsunami and the Fukushima accident. Mr. Kanno is the only suicide connected to the nuke accident. (NHK World)
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