Torrential rain hits Niigata & Fukushima

[robdogbucky]

Torrential rain hits Niigata & Fukushima

Torrential rain in Niigata and Fukushima prefectures in northern Japan has caused rivers to overflow, raising the danger of more landslides.

The Meteorological Agency says a downpour of about 110 millimeters per hour is believed to have fallen in Uonuma City, Niigata, and Tadami Town in neighboring Fukushima on Friday.

In Niigata and Fukushima prefectures, two people are missing. One man in Fukushima was caught in a mudslide as he was building a sandbag barrier in an attempt to hold off the floods.

Rainfall in Tadami has reached a record 400 millimeters over the past 24 hours and 300 millimeters in Kamo City in Niigata.
Sanjo City in Niigata has seen total rain approaching 700 millimeters since Wednesday. Authorities there have issued an evacuation advisory to all households -- a total population of 104,000...

Friday, July 29, 2011 21:14 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/29_34.html



1,500 tons of radioactive sludge cannot be buried

Nearly 50,000 tons of sludge at water treatment facilities has been found to contain radioactive cesium as the result of the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Over 1,500 tons is so contaminated that it cannot be buried for disposal.

Water treatment facilities in eastern and northeastern Japan have been discovering sludge containing cesium.

The health ministry says there is 49,250 tons of such sludge in 14 prefectures in eastern and northeastern Japan.

A total of 1,557 tons in 5 prefectures, including Fukushima and Miyagi, was found to contain 8,000 or more becquerels per kilogram. This sludge is too radioactive to be buried for disposal...

Friday, July 29, 2011 04:35 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/29_05.html




Wastewater recycling partially halted at Fukushima

A problematic water decontamination system at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has forced its operator to stop pumping out radioactive water pooled in the basements of reactor buildings.

The Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, said on Friday that a waste disposal facility where radioactive water is kept before being decontaminated is almost full because of a delay in the decontamination process.

As a result, TEPCO suspended the transfer of contaminated water to the facility from the plant's No. 2 and 3 reactor buildings.

The utility uses a wastewater system that decontaminates radioactive water and recycles it as coolant for reactors...

Friday, July 29, 2011 16:03 +0900 (JST)

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/29_21.html

[lonestarnot]

1. Those poor people.

They can't catch a freak'n break.

[otohara]

2. If Prayer Worked

I'd be praying my ass off for Japan.

[PearliePoo2]

3. Their food supply is contaminated and getting worse.

The Gov. is not being forthcoming about it either. There is unrest developing.

[robdogbucky]

4. NISA asked Chubu Electric to stage questions in nuclear symposium

NISA asked Chubu Electric to stage questions in nuclear symposium

The government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) asked Chubu Electric Power Co. to gather participants for a 2007 nuclear power symposium and create questions for locals to ask so that the symposium wouldn't be dominated by opponents of a "pluthermal" nuclear power project, the power company disclosed on July 29.

Chubu Electric asked employees to attend the government-sponsored symposium in Omaezaki, Shizuoka Prefecture, but rejected the staged questions. The finding, which emerged during investigations following an e-mail scandal involving Kyushu Electric Power Co., reveals that not only power company members but also NISA have been involved in manipulating public opinion.

Chubu Electric said that the group head of the company's nuclear power department created drafts of questions to be posed by local participants at the request of NISA. However, company officials concluded that asking participants to state specific opinions would raise compliance problems, and in the end did not carry out NISA's request.

The proposed questions, which the company saved, included those about the cost of natural energy and "pluthermal" nuclear power, and how long fossil fuels would last...

(Mainichi Japan) July 29, 2011

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110729p2a00m0na021000c.html

[robdogbucky]

5. Nuclear plant workers developed cancer despite lower radiation exposure than legal limit

Nuclear plant workers developed cancer despite lower radiation exposure than legal limit

Of 10 nuclear power plant workers who have developed cancer and received workers' compensation in the past, nine had been exposed to less than 100 millisieverts of radiation, it has been learned.

The revelation comes amid reports that a number of workers battling the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant were found to have been exposed to more than the emergency limit of 250 millisieverts, which was raised from the previous limit of 100 millisieverts in March.

According to Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry statistics, of the 10 nuclear power plant workers, six had leukemia, two multiple myeloma and another two lymphatic malignancy. Only one had been exposed to 129.8 millisieverts but the remaining nine were less than 100 millisieverts, including one who had been exposed to about 5 millisieverts.

Nobuyuki Shimahashi, a worker at the Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant, where operations were recently suspended by Chubu Electric Power Co., died of leukemia in 1991 at age 29. His 74-year-old mother Michiko remembers her son dropping from 80 kilograms to 50 kilograms and his gums bleeding...

(Mainichi Japan) July 27, 2011

http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110727p2a00m0na010000c.html

[robdogbucky]

Tepco's cost structure drawing scrutiny by monitoring panel

Friday, July 29, 2011


Tepco's cost structure drawing scrutiny by monitoring panel


By KAZUAKI NAGATA

Staff writer


A government panel said Thursday it will thoroughly check Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s cost structure and how it has been reflected in electricity bills to see if its rates are appropriate.

"Although the time is very limited, we will take out all the things from the basket and review them to check if any wasteful costs are reflected to the current power charge system," said Kazuhiko Shimokobe, a lawyer heading the panel monitoring Tepco's operations and evaluating its assets.

Under the current system, power firms can set rates that secure profits, making sure they charge more than their power generation and distribution costs.

The panel has asked three private firms in a ¥440 million contract to scrutinize Tepco's business operations...

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20110729a2.html

[robdogbucky]

6. Miyagi beef cattle shipments barred

Friday, July 29, 2011


Iwate may face similar ban amid radiation spread

Miyagi beef cattle shipments barred


By MASAMI ITO

Staff writer


The government ordered a complete ban Thursday on all shipments of beef cattle from Miyagi Prefecture after detecting radioactive cesium above the government limit in some local cattle.

The government is also considering placing a similar ban on beef cattle from Iwate Prefecture, where five cattle from Ichinoseki and Fujisawa have already been found contaminated with radioactive cesium exceeding the limit of 500 becquerels per kilogram.

That decision is expected to come next week, sources said.

The discovery of beef cattle from various prefectures in northeastern Japan with elevated levels of radioactive cesium has caused widespread concern...

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110729a1.html