- Japan will eventually restart idled nuclear plants. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe included this announcement in his national policy speech on Thursday. The speech, focused on Japan’s economy, the off-shore island’s dispute with China and Korea, and the Trans-Pacific trade agreement. With respect to nuclear, he said the government must learn the lessons of the Fukushima accident and never again compromise safety. Abe added that the only nukes that will resume operations will be those that meet the new safety standards as judged by the Nuclear Regulatory Authority. He stated, “We will create a new culture of safety under the aegis of the Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA), and restart reactors confirmed safe.” Although news media polls still show a majority of the respondents want nuclear energy abolished, Abe says the nation’s economy will not recover unless nukes are restarted and the former regime’s mandated energy conservation measures can be relaxed. In addition, he said his government will work to maximize use of renewable energy generation. Further, Abe promised to speed up disaster reconstruction throughout the tsunami-devastated Tohoku Region, “We will speed up recovery. The Reconstruction Agency will adjust in real ways to the special problems of each district.” With respect to Fukushima Prefecture, Abe stated, “We will expend every effort on decontamination, halting economically harmful fears, and bringing the people displaced by the disaster home.” (Japan Today; Mainichi Shimbun)
- The World Health Organization says the cancer risk due to the Fukushima accident is tiny. Other experts say the exposures were too low for any negative health effects at all. The highest risk factor according to WHO concerns female infants, whose chances of getting cancer as adults increases by only one percent. WHO compares this to the Japanese national cancer rate which is 41%, thus concluding that if their estimates manifest they will never be verified. “The additional risk is quite small and will probably be hidden by the noise of other (cancer) risks like people’s lifestyle choices and statistical fluctuations,” said Richard Wakeford of the University of Manchester, one of the authors of the report. He added that the actual risks are “infinitesimal”. However, WHO cautions that they have intentionally over-estimated risk, just to be on the ultra-safe side. On the other hand, independent experts say WHO is actually contributing to public over-reaction by making these intentional embellishments. Oxford Univerity’s Wade Allison says, “On the basis of the radiation doses people have received, there is no reason to think there would be an increase in cancer in the next 50 years. The very small increase in cancers means that it’s even less than the risk of crossing the road.” Meanwhile, Professor Gerry Thomas of London’s Imperial College says, “It’s understandable that WHO wants to err on the side of caution, but telling the Japanese about a barely significant personal risk may not be helpful.” She added, “This will fuel fears in Japan that could be more dangerous than the physical effects of radiation.” Back in Japan, Norio Kanno, an official at Iitate Village, harshly attacked WHO for exaggerating the cancer risk when he said, “I’m enraged!” He called the WHO estimates “totally hypothetical”. He pointed to the large number of residents who mortally dread radiation and won’t even let their children play outside for fear that they might be exposed to trivial levels of radiation. The Environment Ministry is also upset. One Ministry official said, “This report is not a chart predicting the future. It is wrong to think what are presented as risks will materialize as shown.” (Japan Today; Japan Times; Mainichi Shimbun)
- Some Japanese professionals feel that psychological damage to Fukushima refugees is getting worse. Clinical Psychologist Noriko Kubota of Iwake Meisei University says “People are living with constant low-level anxiety. They don’t have the emotional strength to mend their relationships when cracks appear.” Couples find their relationships stressed over the question of leaving the Prefecture or staying. “When people disagree over such sensitive matters, there’s often no middle way,” Kubota said. She adds that the “disaster honeymoon period” seems to be ending. Marital discord has become so widespread that the phenomenon of couples breaking up has a name: genpatsu rikon or “atomic divorce”.In addition, fewer and fewer people are providing support to the Fukushima refugees, about which Kubota says, “We are starting to see more cases of suicide, depression, alcoholism, gambling and domestic violence across the area. From the point of view of mental health, this is a very critical time.” She also finds that the level of discrimination extended toward Fukushima refugees is also getting worse. Prejudice against women may be the most severe: many in the popular media and on websites suggest that Fukushima women are “damaged goods”. Even some people who were formerly on the side of the refugees have become prejudicial. In one most-vulgar case last year, prominent anti-nuclear activist Hobun Ikeya, of Japan’s Ecosystem Conservation Society, told a protest crowd in Tokyo, “People from Fukushima should not marry because the deformity rate of their babies will skyrocket.” While radiation exposure to Fukushima refugees has been well-below the internationally-acknowledged threshold for negative health effects, the news media showers doubt on the public by giving headlines to pseudo-scientific claims that even the lowest exposures cause cancer, mutations and birth defects. Added to the problem is fear of the possibility of radiation. Many in Japan will not buy food or eat at a restaurant until it can be proved that their foods are entirely free of contamination. If the proof is not given, they assume it to be “tainted” and leave. Finally, human interest stories in the Japanese Press make it seem that serious health consequences for those exposed to Fukushima radiation are inevitable. The continual focus of such yellow journalism is towards children. One mother, Aiko Nomura, is so frightened that she says, “It’s impossible to recover fully from a nuclear accident. Each anniversary [of the accident] I will be thinking: ‘Is this the year that one of our daughters will get sick?'” Another evacuee, Katsumi Hasagawa says he and his family will never return to Fukushima Prefecture, “My wife and I thought it would be impossible to protect our children from (radiation) exposure as long as we were in Fukushima.” (The Guardian-UK; Kyodo News)
- Another highly radioactive fish has been taken from the F. Daiichi quay (the station’s seaside harbor). A greenling caught on February 17, tested out at 510,000 Becquerels per kilogram. A Rock trout caught in December registered 254,000 Bq/kg. The national limit for any foodstuff is 100 Bq/kg. Because of the two fish, Tepco has installed another net at the quay’s opening to the sea in order to keep any highly radioactive fish from leaving the port area. Tepco says all fish caught with high radiation levels will be destroyed. (NHK World)
- America will have a new Ambassador to Japan. The Japanese Press says the leading candidate is Caroline Kennedy, daughter of America’s former president John F. Kennedy. A source in Japan says her appointment has been approved by President Barak Obama, but necessary background checks need to be completed before it becomes official. JFK and his family are highly regarded by the Japanese Press, so her appointment should be well received in Japan. At the Democratic Party’s convention last year, Kennedy said Obama’s first-term record reflected “the ideals my father and my uncles fought for.” (Japan Times)
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