Six years on from Fukushima disaster residents live in 'contaminated communities'

[bananas]

Source: International Business Times

A report has accused the Japanese government of forcing evacuees to return to areas with radioactive contamination at higher levels than internationally recommended safe levels.

<snip>

Prime Minister Shinzō Abe addressed a national ceremony in Tokyo and bowed his head in silence at 2.46pm local time.

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Prince Akishino was also in attendance, in place of his father Emperor Akihito and mother Empress Michiko, and offered his condolences to the dead.

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Several hundred demonstrators gathered near Abe's office and in front of parliament to denounce government policy to restart nuclear reactors around the country shuttered after the disaster.

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Read more: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/six-years-fukushima-disaster-residents-live-contaminated-communities-1611049

[Tikki]

1. There is sooo much money to be made in clean up...why the hurry then!!!!

Tikki

[N77VG]

2. It will be the only feasible source of power when fossil fuels are used up. *

That's just an arithmetical geophysical fact. Unless there's some new unknown technology that we might discover. Fusion might be
doable but nobody is putting the necessary resources into figuring out how to do it.

Along with no way to fuel airplanes and/or make plastics. :sigh:

[Crash2Parties]

6. Only feasible when the waste problem is solved; till then the equation is being gamed.

[N77VG]

7. I have no skin in the game but I have to accede to reality.

Is this particular waste problem any worse than the CO2 from our current activities? I don't know but it will have to be determined at some point, it seems to me.

I accept the strong evidence of global warming at least partly due to human activities. I also recognize that we have only been
using fossil hydrocarbons for about a century and they are a long way from infinite. There probably aren't enough whales to
kill and extract their oil...or enough corn...to produce the BTUs the world needs (or wants) for the forseeable future.

[douglas9]

3. The Wild Boars of Fukushima

Six years after the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami struck Japan, the evacuation zone around the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant remains devoid of humans—but the boars have moved in. Reuters reports that after the people left, wild boars living in the nearby hills came down to the towns and made themselves at home. Now, the Japanese government is preparing to lift evacuation orders in some areas, but residents have voiced concerns about the dangers of encountering wild boars in their streets and backyards. A small group of local hunters have been assigned to catch and kill the boars, further preparing the way for residents to return home.

https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2017/03/the-wild-boars-of-fukushima/519066/

[Jarqui]

4. Experts baffled as robots sent to clean up Fukushima nuclear site keep dying

http://www.independent.ie/world-news/asia-pacific/experts-baffled-as-robots-sent-to-clean-up-fukushima-nuclear-site-keep-dying-35505131.html

...
The latest attempt to harvest data on Fukushima failed after a robot designed by Toshiba to withstand high radiation levels died five times faster than expected.

The robot was supposed to be able to cope with 73 sieverts of radiation, but the radiation level inside the reactor was recently recorded at 530 sieverts.
A single dose of one sievert is enough to cause radiation sickness and nausea; 5 sieverts would kill half those exposed to it within a month, and a single dose of 10 sieverts would prove fatal within weeks.

This latest blow to Tepco’s efforts comes after a number of probes malfunctioned earlier this year.
During another mission in early February, the scorpion crawler stalled after its total radiation exposure reached its limit in just two hours.
...

If there is another earthquake
http://www.fukushimawatch.com/2015-07-30-environmental-scientist-predicts-95-chance-another-earthquake-will-hit-fukushima-causing-total-extinction-pacific-west-coast.html
It could be catastrophic for Japan and the West Coast

The latest high readings and robots failing so quickly due to the higher levels of radiation (that could be 10 times higher near the fuel) makes 2021 unlikely as the date they can start removing the fuel rods. So the earthquake dangers get a longer period and therefore, increased chances to devastate.

I do not know the accuracy of these forecasts but it's a frightening situation.

[Gore1FL]

5. It's too bad we can't protect them from radiation using water from Flint, MI... nt

[Srkdqltr]

8. Flint Water??

That dosn't make any sense.

[Gore1FL]

9. Lead provides a shield to radiation.

which is why my joke makes sense.

[pressbox69]

10. Nuclear power

is the real original sin.