Sorry to interrupt, but I have Fukushima updates for July 7

[robdogbucky]

Kauai Station Suspects New Traces of Fukushima Radiation
July 6, 2011
By Tim Flanegin

After some investigation, we can now confirm that the Kauai Monitoring Station in Hawaii broadcast yet another Radiation Alert recently (see graph at right), commencing toward midnight of June 29th and continuing into the early morning hours of June 30th.
This is becoming somewhat of a routine event for the Kauai station, considering elevated radiation detections twice before, on June 10th and June 22nd.

This most recent Alert was triggered by a detection of over 100 CPM (Counts per Minute) for a sustained period of almost 15 minutes, followed by lower, yet elevated radiation levels for another half hour, making this the longest detection period yet for the Kauai station (clear sky this time – no rain). Background radiation for that station approximates 37 CPM, so these sustained levels were 2 to 3 times normal. Again, our best judgment is that the source of this radiation is probably Fukushima, perhaps from recent “releases” – we will try to correlate.

This detection by the Kauai station brings up an interesting and related story. A few days before the recent alert, the station operator was remounting the external probe of the Geiger counter under the eaves of the structure, and unwittingly scanned the roof shingles themselves, only to discover an elevated reading at a sustained rate of easily twice normal background. Moving the probe in closer proximity to the shingled roof returned more frequent audible clicking, confirming the shingles were the source…

http://hawaiinewsdaily.com/2011/07/kauai-station-suspects-new-traces-of-fukushima-radiation/


Thursday, July 7, 2011

Genkai mayor withdraws OK for two reactors' restart
By MASAMI ITO
Staff writer

Genkai Mayor Hideo Kishimoto on Thursday officially retracted his controversial decision to approve the rebooting of two reactors at the Genkai nuclear plant and slammed the central government for ordering "stress tests" out of the blue following weeks of assurances about reactor safety.

The retraction, a political rather than legal necessity for doing the stress tests, creates an awkward situation for Kishimoto, who gave the go-ahead for restarting the reactors just Monday, leaving the final decision to Saga Gov. Yasushi Furukawa.

"Anger welled up in my heart after hearing Prime Minister Kan say that resumption will be based on the stress tests. It sounded like my decision was a waste," Kishimoto said Thursday morning. "I would like to declare the withdrawal at the (town) assembly."
Kishimoto was not alone in his frustration…

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110707x1.html




Nitrogen injection could be delayed at Fukushima

The operator of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi power plant is having trouble injecting nitrogen gas into one of the reactors to prevent a hydrogen explosion. Tokyo Electric Power Company on Wednesday examined the No.3 reactor to see if it can connect injection pipes to the containment vessel.

A camera-mounted robot was used for the operation because high radioactive levels are preventing workers from remaining in the reactor building for long periods.

But TEPCO failed to confirm the situation because the robot couldn't reach the necessary part of the reactor. Radiation levels as high as about 50 millisieverts per hour were registered in the area...

...There is a growing likelihood that the planned nitrogen injection will be delayed.

Thursday, July 07, 2011 12:58 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/07_18.html


Two reactors ran at full capacity for months without final clearance
2011/07/07

Two reactors shut down for regular inspections have now been running at full capacity for months despite not receiving the final clearance from the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA).

The No. 3 reactor at the Tomari nuclear power plant in Hokkaido and the No. 1 reactor at the Oi nuclear power plant in Fukui Prefecture are still technically in "control operation," the final procedure for regular safety maintenance.

Normally, a control operation, in which the reactor gradually reaches full capacity for a load performance test, takes one month to complete.

The two reactors have now been in full operation for four months in this "test" mode…

http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201107060283.html




Kyushu Electric employee questioned over e-mails

The president of the operator of the Genkai nuclear plant in Saga Prefecture says he will make a decision on stepping down next week.

A senior employee of Kyushu Electric Power Company instructed staff and affiliates to send e-mails supporting the restart of the plant at a government-hosted briefing session for local residents on June 26th.

Kyushu Electric President Toshio Manabe questioned the employee on Thursday.

Manabe told reporters earlier in the day that he would decide next week whether to step down after consulting with company Chairman Shingo Matsuo, who's due to return from an overseas trip on Sunday.

Thursday, July 07, 2011 12:58 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/07_21.html




Utility admits to dishonest e-mails on restart

It has come to light that the operator of the Genkai nuclear power plant had requested its staff and affiliates to send e-mails supporting the restart of the reactors to a meeting to explain the government's safety measures.

On June 26th, the government held a meeting in Saga City to answer questions from residents in preparation for the resumption of the operation of the nuclear reactors.

The meeting was shown live by a cable TV station and via the Internet, and viewers were invited to send in their opinions by e-mail or fax.

On Wednesday, Kyushu Electric Power Company President Toshio Manabe revealed that 4 days before the meeting, its head office instructed some company members and 4 affiliated firms to send in e-mails expressing support for restarting the reactors...

Thursday, July 07, 2011 02:57 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/06_37.html



The above two last stories remind me of the efforts recently uncovered by the likes of the UK government to quash news of the Fukushima disaster in the UK media after it happened, to preserve the interests of the nuke industry there. That was in conjunction with the efforts by Areva, the French government owned nuke giant in disseminating smearing pamphlets and news stories about the disaster in Japan being caused by Japanese incompetence, nothing to do with the nuke plants themselves, in order to preserve their business opportunities:




French nuclear power lobbyists used Fukushima smear campaign to promote own businesses

Less than a month after the outbreak of the Fukushima nuclear crisis, illustrated brochures elaborating on the process leading up to the hydrogen explosions at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant were distributed to members of the U.S. Congress and government officials in Washington.

The color-print, A-4 size brochures, later to be called the "Fukushima Files," were handed out by lobbyists from France's nuclear power giant Areva SA in early April.

The 33-page brochure underscored that General Electric Co. (GE)'s Mark I containment system was employed at the Fukushima plant, while containing speculation and describing fuel melting in the spent fuel storage pool, which never took place. On its last page, the brochure concluded that Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) apparently had not released most of the information it held.
The leaflet sent shockwaves around Tokyo and Washington, as well as GE officials, who were busy responding to the nuclear crisis.

Areva lobbyists stressed that the accident was peculiar to Japan when they handed out the leaflets, hinting that similar accidents would never occur with nuclear plant systems provided by Areva. It was obvious to the recipients of the brochures that they were part of Areva's maneuvering to quash its competitors in the nuclear power business...

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110704p2a00m0na015000c.html



That story is still the #1 most read Mainichi Daily News story this week.




Fukushima spin was Orwellian

Emails detailing how the UK government played down Fukushima show just how cosy it is with the nuclear industry
•
John Vidal
guardian.co.uk, Friday 1 July 2011 13.30 BST

It was an open secret that Britain's decision to back nuclear power in 2006 was pushed through government by a cosy group of industrialists and others close to Tony Blair, and that a full debate about the full costs, safety and potential impact on future generations was suppressed.

But the release of 80 emails showing that in the days after the Fukushima accident not one but two government departments were working with nuclear companies to spin one of the biggest industrial catastrophes of the last 50 years, even as people were dying and a vast area was being made uninhabitable, is shocking.

What the emails shows is a weak government, captured by a powerful industry colluding to at least misinform and very probably lie to the public and the media. When the emails were sent, no one, least of all the industry and its friends in and out of government, had any idea how serious the situation at Fukushima was or might become.

For the business department to then argue that "we really need to show the safety of nuclear" and that "it's not as bad as it looks", is shameless. But to argue that the radiation was being released deliberately and was "all part of the safety systems to control and manage a situation" is Orwellian. An ignorant government that relies for its information on companies it is planning to reward with contracts for billions of pounds smacks of corruption....

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jul/01/fukushima-emails-government-nuclear-industry?intcmp=239




Call for Chris Huhne to resign over Fukushima emails

Former party chief executive in Scotland says Huhne must go over 'conspiracy' to protect nuclear industry
Rob Edwards
guardian.co.uk, Friday 1 July 2011 22.03 BST

A prominent Liberal Democrat has called for Chris Huhne to resign immediately as energy and climate change secretary after emails were released detailing his officials' efforts to co-ordinate a PR response to the Fukushima disaster with the nuclear industry. Civil servants in the energy and business departments were apparently trying to minimise the impact of the disaster on public support for nuclear power.

Andy Myles, the party's former chief executive in Scotland, said: "This deliberate and (sadly) very effective attempt to 'calm' the reporting of the true story of Fukushima is a terrible betrayal of liberal values. In my view it is not acceptable that a Liberal Democrat cabinet minister presides over a department deeply involved in a blatant conspiracy designed to manipulate the truth in order to protect corporate interests".

The leader of the Lib Dems in the European parliament, Fiona Hall, said nuclear plans should be put on hold.

"These emails corroborate my own impression that there has been a strange silence in the UK following the Fukushima disaster ... in the UK, new nuclear sites have been announced before the results of the Europe-wide review of nuclear safety has been completed. Today's news strengthens the case for the government to halt new nuclear plans until an independent and transparent review has been conducted."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2011/jul/01/huhne-fukushima-emails-criticism




UK government and nuclear industry email correspondence after the Fukushima accident

Emails released under the Freedom of Information Act reveal the level of coordination between government departments and the nuclear industry during the Fukushima crisis

guardian.co.uk, Thursday 30 June 2011 21.37

BSThttp://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/interactive/2011/jun/30/email-nuclear-uk-government-fukushima



The above stories include information on the ongoing efforts in Japan to contain the nuclear disaster there, and the global fascist efforts to promote a form of energy that is profitable to them and dangerous to the health of the planet and its peoples.



May the lights in the land of plenty shine on the truth one day
Leonard Cohen

[Demeter]

1. Thank you

I come to DU for just this reason: posts like yours.

[iemitsu]

2. thank you.

tons of information in these articles.

[robdogbucky]

5. I needed to re-post the UK and the Areva stories,

as they aroused the interest of the shills yesterday, before the thread went tumbling down the apathy hole here at DU. If it doesn't have juicy stuff like murdering kids or politicians publishing pics of their private parts, it goes nowhere fast.

That French company, owned by the French government and run by Spencer Abraham, former Bush tool and Secretary of something (interior, energy?) is a classic fascist company and Abraham is in his element now. No need to further pretend to be part of a representative democracy.



...The Areva Group was created in September 2001. The French public sector owns 87% of the Company, of which the Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique (CEA) (French Atomic Energy Commission) owns 79%. The remaining 8% is owned by the French State or Erap. <1> Of the 13% not owned by the public sector, 2.42% is owned by the French utility EdF...

...Areva says it is the only company in the world involved in the full cycle of nuclear power activity, from mining uranium to its enrichment, fuel production, reactor design, plant construction, spent nuclear waste fuel reprocessing, and weapons-useable plutonium or MoX fuel fabrication.

Areva’s opponents, on the other hand would say not only is the Company a salesman for a highly dangerous and polluting technology, but its involvement in the plutonium cycle makes it even more likely than other nuclear companies to be the direct cause of nuclear weapons proliferation...

...Areva NC is the world’s largest producer of weapons-useable plutonium (MoX) fuel. To do this the Company relies mainly on the Melox plant, located on the Marcoule nuclear site, in the Gard region of France. <19> This trade in plutonium fuel involves transporting weapons-useable material around the globe, a highly risky strategy. To make matters worse Areva was chosen by the US in 2003 to manufacture 4 MOX fuel assemblies using American military plutonium. This involved transporting surplus weapons-grade plutonium from the US to France. The manufacture of fuel pellets and fuel rods was carried out at the Areva NC Cadarache plant in autumn 2004, prior to the fuel assembly operations, carried out in 2005 at the Melox plant. The four manufactured assemblies were then transported back to the US where they were inserted into the Catawba nuclear power station, owned Duke Power, in June 2005...

http://www.powerbase.info/index.php/Areva



I'll bet they don't like seeing these facts distributed in the US.


May the lights in the land of plenty shine on the truth one day
Leonard Cohen

[WillyT]

3. Oh Please, By All Means, Interrupt

:kick: & Rec!!!

[CoffeeCat]

4. Thank you so much...

The concerted PR effort on the Fukushima disaster was so well orchestrated and obvious.

There was a blackout on good information.

The EPA tested and found cesium and iodine in our milk, water supply, rain and other produce--then we
hear nothing. The EPA resumed their regular schedule for testing for radioactive isotopes, which meant
that the next testings would be in three months. Can you believe that? During a nuclear disaster that
was WORSE than Chernobyl and was still ongoing, the EPA decides that the situation should be treated as if
absolutely nothing happened.

We should get new EPA readings in July. Can't wait to see those. The radioactive isotopes have been
accumulating in our air, soil and water for months. How will the corporatist hacks spin it this time?

It is a fact that the radiation levels in and around Fukushima are far worse than Chernobyl ever was. But
areas in which the radiation levels exceed those of post-Chernobyl--have not been evacuated. So many people
died as a result of Chernobyl, even when evacuations happened.

An untold number of children have had their thyroids compromised. So many will get cancer and die. What
will these bastards say then? How will they explain it and justify it? Some things are too big to cover
up indefinitely--and these sick, greedy, corporations have allowed profits to blind them to how utterly
stupid, selfish and depraved they are.

The truth will come out--but unfortunately, not before many people die.

[xchrom]

6. Recommend

[spin]

7. Now back to the ONLY important news. Casey Anthony gets out in six days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

God how I hate our media.

[Poll_Blind]

8. I sincerely thank you for taking the time to gather and post this information.

This is my regular reading.

:thumbsup:

PB

[PufPuf23]

9. Thank yu. kr nt

[robdogbucky]

10. This thread, like all the others recently on Fukushima sinking like a stone.

Goodbye, Demotex, and good luck.

We will miss you