Celebrate Japan's ZERO nuclear power plant day: May 5, 2012

I am so thrilled and overjoyed by the fact on the midnight of May 5, 2012 Japan time, Hokkaido Electric Company will shut down Tomari #3 nuclear reactor for the regular check up, meaning the last operating nuclear power plant in Japan is stopping.

 We have 54 nuclear plants in Japan and now only one plant in Hokkaido is operating, no plant in Honshu, Shikoku and Kyusyu islands are operating, which is a surprise to many people around the world.

 They ask, "How can Japan manage without nuclear power? It has no other energy and needed nuclear energy to meet its demand!".

 Well, the truth is that every nuclear power has its back up power plant and we do not need to use nuclear power at all in Japan if we chose so.  Even without using these back up plants, by operating existing hydro and fossil fuel power plants, we have enough capacity to cover Japanese energy demand.

 This fact is finally getting to be known to ordinary citizens, who have been deceived over 3 decades. We just believed we could not live without nuclear power plants as we have been told so for too long by too many sources: governments and media.

 But it was not TRUE at all.

In fact, after 3.11 Fukushima accident 2011, Tokyo electric company has been supplying enough energy with most of its nuclear power shutting down since 3.11. They have only 3 nuclear reactors operating out of 17 reactors after 3.11, 2011.  We have had no energy shortage since then.

They used natural gas, petroleum, coal and hydro power instead. I would prefer they increase natural gas combined cycle power plants as they are the most efficient existing and reliable energy sources in Japan.

How long have I been waiting for this day of ZERO nuclear power plant in Japan?---For decades.

Since the day I first learned about the danger of nuclear power plants and its waste, which we have no place to put or no technology to manage.

Since the day I learned nuclear power plants needed workers always exposed to some amount of radiation.

Since the day I learned about Japan's nuclear reactors were not strong enough to withstand big earthquakes over 600 gals, and Japan's big earthquakes exceed 600 gals.

Since the day I learned about the children living around nuclear power plants are more susceptible to leukemia and cancer even if there is no accident, as small amount of radiation is released every single day to the environment.

May 5 in Japan is Children's Day. I think this is the best gift Japan can give to the world children and future generations.   So, please join us for the big celebration.  I mean to ask/help our government to go more sustainable and ecological energy choices.  Join me in this effort.

The zero operating nuclear power plant in Japan does not mean that our government gave up nuclear power. It is just the regular check up, and they would like to restart operation as soon as they have agreements from local governments (governors) that have nuclear power plants, such as Fukui, Shizuoka, Ehime, Niigata, Shimane, Ibaragi, Saga, Kagoshima, Miyagi, Aomori and Hokkaido.

But Japanese people have learned how much harm just one server nuclear accident can cause to the people's lives and nature. Our voice and awareness against nuclear power is raising steadily.

On that day here in Kona, Hawaii (May 4, 6pm), I am inviting people to celebrate the ZERO nuclear power of Japan at Harmonics Life Hawaii. If you live in/near Kona, please contact me by e-mail. It is a potluck so bring a dish you like.

To read this in Japanese, go to: http://kikuchiyumi.blogspot.com/2012/05/blog-post.html

10 Years from 911

I pray for those who lost their lives on that day and beyond as a result of 911 and the two wars following 911 (Afghanistan and Iraq). I pray those who are left behind who are surviving and living their life overcoming the hardships.

I am sorry
Please forgive me
Thank you
I love you

The following video is something I would like to share with you today, especially with Americans who believe their government and corporate media, on the 10th anniversary of 911. Because I have so many dear friends in the USA:

http://youtu.be/jLzPMww4tdA

I agree with the words of the producer of this video: "This is the biggest crime against humanity" and the truth needs to be revealed. I do not know when it will be and what the truth is, but I know it takes every one of us to make it happen.

You can see some of the people who are trying to reveal the truth. In fact, some of them have risked their lives to expose the discrepancies in the official story. They need more of our attention:
http://torontohearings.org/author/torontohearings/
Here is USTREAM:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/thetorontohearings

I would like to tell you that something similar is happening in Japan.

Right now, the facts about Fukushima nuclear power plants' disaster are being hidden from the public so that the government and companies can reduce the amount of money they need to pay out to compensate the victims. They knew that the meltdown occurred right after the 311 earthquake, but they hid it from from us and the world for two months. During those two months the Japanese people in and around Fukushima (in my case I lived 150 miles from it) were exposed to excess radiation. Our government and TEPCO continue to try to make the effect of the damage look smaller and more trivial than what actually is. Our media is the same as in the rest of the world. The truth is distorted to the advantage of the government and corporations.

Today the International Conference on Radiation and Health Risk in Fukushima is being held. Many citizens and citizens groups are challenging the reliability of the conference as they believe it is actually a propaganda event that is being used to support nuclear industry and medical establishment who underestimate the risk of low level radiation, especially internal exposure.

Please read the citizen's point of view here.

May Love, Life and Truth thrive!
----
Open Letter of Inquiry to the Organizing Committee for the International Expert Symposium in Fukushima — Radiation and Health Risks

September 10, 2011

Concerning the International Expert Symposium that the Organizing Committee is planning at Fukushima Medical University on September 11 and 12, we have several questions and concerns. Some of them arise from the explanation repeatedly given to the residents of Fukushima Prefecture since the mid-March that exposure to ionizing radiation up to 100 mSv per year represents no harm to the health. The others are related to the evaluation of the Health Examination for Citizens in Fukushima Prefecture, which is to be the main theme of the planned International Expert Symposium.

We consider that the mission of the experts in radiological protection consists in preventing health hazard by minimizing exposure to radiation. However, the document, “An Initiative for the Health Examination for Citizens in Fukushima Prefecture,” says that the purposes of the Examination are “to remove fears among residents of Fukushima Prefecture raised in the wake of the nuclear plant accidents and to secure safety and relief through long-term health management of the residents.” For us, citizens of Fukushima, “safety and relief” can only be achieved when these radioprotection experts fulfil their responsibilities. On the contrary, however, these experts have done nothing but repeat the argument that exposure to radiation up to 100 mSv per year represents no harm to the health.

Also when we find a passage in the briefing document on the said Health Examination that says, “The impact on public health of the accidents at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant can be assumed to be very minor,” we cannot but have an impression that the Examination is conducted under a presumed conclusion, refusing any on-going discussions with specialists with different views. We can only interpret such a scheme as an attempt to evade their own responsibilities. Distrust and discontent are rising among residents of the prefecture and the Japanese public at large. Exposure to radiation is continuing in diverse forms at various locations. Much of the responsibilities for this situation should be assumed by the Japanese experts who are the members of the Committee as well as by the selected foreign participants of the Symposium. It is very unlikely that any views helpful in changing the current situation and promoting proper radioprotection can be obtained from experts from overseas who are designated by the very parties responsible for the current situation. Given such development, we cannot help but concluding that what you are delivering is a make-believe external evaluation, which would only aggravate doubts and fears among residents.

For the reasons given above, we consider that the planned International Expert Symposium is inadequate to scientifically examine the impact on public health of radiation exposure resulted from the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, or to correctly evaluate the health risks involved and protect the public from radiation exposure.

We hereby convey our view, followed by our inquiry below concerning the Symposium organized by the Committee. Your sincere response to our inquiry will be much appreciated. Please note that this Letter of Inquiry will not only be delivered to the Committee but also be open to the public.

Inquiry

Question #1
Among the participants of the Symposium, there are no researchers reporting that the impact of low-dose exposure on health is greater than the assessment by the International Commission on Radiological Protection. If the International Expert Symposium is committed to studies on the impact of radiation exposure on health, it is essential to raise discussions among experts and researchers with different views. For what reasons are such researchers excluded from the Symposium?

Question #2
Fukushima Medical University Vice President Shunichi YAMASHITA, one of the Committee members, has been giving explanation to Fukushima residents that it is safe to be exposed to radiation up to 100 mSv per year. On the other hand, the Food Safety Commission, Cabinet Office, gives quite a different view that adverse impact is observed when one is exposed to a total dose of 100 mSv over a lifetime. What is your opinion on the huge gap between these two observations?

Question #3
Concerning the number of persons that died of cancer caused under the impact of radiation due to the Chernobyl disaster and the number of cancer patients, there is a significant discrepancy between the IAEA/WHO report (4,000 cancer deaths estimated by the Chernobyl Forum in 2005) and Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, “Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment,” (published in 2009; a total of one million deaths caused by various cancerous and non-cancerous diseases, stillbirths, etc.) or many other reports from ECRR, German Radiological Protection Association, etc. How will you explain the gap? We would like to have the view of the Committee good enough to be accepted by residents with fears.

Question #4
There is a passage, “The only illness pinned down related to the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is thyroid cancer among children caused by internal exposure to radioactive iodine. No increases of other illnesses have been recognized” (“Purpose and Outline” in the Health Examination document). Are you planning examination of massive studies and reports (e.g., Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, “Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment” and German Affiliate of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, Health Effects of Chernobyl, 2010) indicating observations different from the view above? If not, please explain the reasons.

Question #5
Despite the fact that experts and researchers have different opinions, they are not having any debate on the differences. This will lead to increasing concerns among local residents, which is against the purposes of the Symposium. What are the purposes and intent of the Organizing Committee? What are the reasons behind them?

Question #6
In the August 16 press conference, the Organizing Committee announced that you would compile suggestions for removing concerns over radiation among Fukushima residents in general and mothers with children in particular. You say you will make suggestions for eliminating concerns. Why won’t you make suggestions for radiological protection, instead?

Question #7
While being aimed at eliminating concerns among the public, why is the Symposium being held by excluding citizens in general, not allowing their voices to reach?

Sincerely,

Organizations and Researchers submitting this Letter of Inquiry
(in random order)
市民放射能測定所 Citizens' Radioactivity Measuring Station 47 プロジェクト Project47
低線量被ばくから子どもの未来を守るプロジェクトProject to protect the future of children from low dose exposure
高木学校 Takagi school
NPO 法人セイピースプロジェクト Say Peace Project
市民科学研究室・低線量被曝研究会 Exposure to Low-Dose Radiation Research Group, Citizen Science Initiative Japan
ドイツ放射線防護協会 German Society for Radiation Protection
たんぽぽ舎 no nukes plaza tanpoposya
未来の福島こども基金 Fukushima Children's Fund
and many others...

Fukushima is Worse than Chernobyl - on Global Contamination by Dr. Chris Busby

Now that Dr. Chris Busby is coming to Japan for the first time after 311, I would like to post this article here so that you know who he is and what he has been doing.

Dr. Chris Busby
Interview by Norimatsu Satoko and Narusawa Muneo
http://www.japanfocus.org/-Chris-Busby/3563

Introduction by Norimatsu Satoko

Chemical physicist Chris Busby is at the forefront of scientists who are challenging the radiation risk model propounded by ICRP, the International Commission on Radiological Protection, whose standards for allowable radiation doses the Japanese government has adopted for its citizens affected by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant accident.

Busby, Scientific Secretary of the European Committee on Radiation Risk (ECRR), points out that the ICRP model “deals with radiation exposure from all sources in the same way, as if it were external to the body,” and then takes this dose and multiplies it by a risk factor based on the high acute external doses of the atomic-bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The ICRP method thus fails to take into account a number of ways in which certain internal radionuclides can deliver very high doses to critical targets in cells, particularly the cell DNA. One of these is from “inhaled or ingested hot particles, which are solid but microscopic and can lodge in tissue delivering high doses to local cells.”

As a result, internal radiation exposure can be “up to 1,000 times more harmful than the ICRP model concludes.”

In his calculation based on the ECRR model that considers such internal radiation risks, Busby has estimated that within 100 km of Fukushima Daiichi, approximately 200,000 excess cancers will occur within the next 50 years with about half of them diagnosed in the next 10 years, if the 3.3 million people in the area remain there for one year.

He estimates over 220,000 excess cancers in the 7.9 million people from 100 to 200 km in the next 50 years, also with about half of them to be diagnosed in the next 10 years. By contrast, the ICRP model predicts 2,838 extra cancers in the 100 km population.

“The eventual yield will therefore be another test of the two risk models,” Busby contends, pointing out that many studies of the Chernobyl disaster showed much higher cancer yields than the ICRP model had predicted.

The effect of the nuclear disaster, moreover, extends well beyond the 200 km radius. It has been reported in Japan that “traces of plutonium” have been found in the proximity of Fukushima Daiichi.

This is no surprise, since unusual amounts of plutonium and uranium have been detected in Hawaii, Guam, Alaska, and on the West Coast by the US Environmental Protection Agency in the wake of the 3.11 earthquake and tsunami.

CTBTO, the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, has reported that radioactive materials had dispersed throughout the Northern Hemisphere within two weeks of the Fukushima accident, and that it had even reached the Southern Hemisphere by mid-April.

Shukan Kin Yobi, a weekly magazine, interviewed Chris Busby on the issue of global contamination at a time when the Japanese media have maintained silence on the issue. This is a complete original English text of the interview, published simultaneously with the Japanese version on Shukan Kin’yobi (July 8 edition). Check out the Japanese version of the magazine by clicking here.

The Nuclear Disaster That Could Destroy Japan ... and the World

Counterpunch published an excellent article by Mr. Takashi Hirose's on April 25, 2011:
http://www.counterpunch.org/takashi04252011.html

It is definitely worth reading and so I am posting it here and on my Japanese blog so it can be seen by a wider audience.

Thank you Mr. Hirose and Mr. Lummis, the translator, for your excellent work!

I pray that no more big earthquakes will hit Japan but nature is often more powerful than our individual and even combined human hopes and wishes...

It is becoming more and more obvious that the only way we can completely eliminate the future risk of nuclear power plant disasters in earthquake prone Japan is for all the nuclear power plants here to be decommissioned!

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Nuclear Disaster That Could Destroy Japan ... and the World

By HIROSE TAKASHI

Translated by Doug Lummis

The nuclear power plants in Japan are ageing rapidly; like cyborgs, they are barely kept in operation by a continuous replacement of parts. And now that Japan has entered a period of earthquake activity and a major accident could happen at any time, the people live in constant state of anxiety.

Seismologists and geologists agree that, after some fifty years of seismic inactivity, with the 1995 Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake (Southern Hyogo Prefecture Earthquake), the country has entered a period of seismic activity. In 2004, the Chuetsu Earthquake hit Niigata Prefecture, doing damage to the village of Yamakoshi. Three years later, in 2007, the Chuetsu Offshore Earthquake severely damaged the nuclear reactors at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa. In 2008, there was an earthquake in Iwate and Miyagi Prefectures, causing a whole mountain to disappear completely. Then in 2009 the Hamaoka nuclear plant was put in a state of emergency by the Suruga Bay Earthquake. And now, in 2011, we have the 3/11 earthquake offshore from the northeast coast. But the period of seismic activity is expected to continue for decades. From the perspective of seismology, a space of 10 or 15 years is but a moment in time.

Because the Pacific Plate, the largest of the plates that envelop the earth, is in motion, I had predicted that there would be major earthquakes all over the world.

And as I had feared, after the Suruga Bay Earthquake of August 2009 came as a triple shock, it was followed in September and October by earthquakes off Samoa, Sumatra, and Vanuatu, of magnitudes between 7.6 and 8.2. That means three to eleven times the force of the Southern Hyogo Prefecture Earthquake.

All of these quakes occurred around the Pacific Plate as the center, and each was located at the boundary of either that plate or a plate under its influence. Then in the following year, 2010, in January there came the Haiti Earthquake, at the boundary of the Caribbean Plate, pushed by the Pacific and Coco Plates, then in February the huge 8.8 magnitude earthquake offshore from Chile. I was praying that this world scale series of earthquakes would come to an end, but the movement of the Pacific Plate shows no sign of stopping, and led in 2011 to the 3/11 Earthquake in northeastern Japan and the subsequent meltdown at the Fukushima

There are large seismic faults, capable of producing earthquakes at the 7 or 8 magnitude level, near each of Japan’s nuclear plants, including the reprocessing plant at Rokkasho. It is hard to believe that there is any nuclear plant that would not be damaged by a magnitude 8 earthquake.

A representative case is the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant itself, where it has become clear that the fault under the sea nearby also extends inland. The Rokkasho plant, where the nuclear waste (death ash) from all the nuclear plants in Japan is collected, is located on land under which the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate meet. That is, the plate that is the greatest danger to the Rokkasho plant, is now in motion deep beneath Japan.

The Rokkasho plant was originally built with the very low earthquake resistance factor of 375 gals. (Translator’s note: The gal, or galileo, is a unit used to measure peak ground acceleration during earthquakes. Unlike the scales measuring an earthquake’s general intensity, it measures actual ground motion in particular locations.) Today its resistance factor has been raised to only 450 gals, despite the fact that recently in Japan earthquakes registering over 2000 gals have been occurring one after another. Worse, the Shimokita Peninsula is an extremely fragile geologic formation that was at the bottom of the sea as recently as the sea rise of the Jomon period (the Flandrian Transgression) 5000 years ago; if an earthquake occurred there it could be completely destroyed.

The Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant is where expended nuclear fuel from all of Japan’s nuclear power plants is collected, and then reprocessed so as to separate out the plutonium, the uranium, and the remaining highly radioactive liquid waste. In short, it is the most dangerous factory in the world.

At the Rokkasho plant, 240 cubic meters of radioactive liquid waste are now stored. A failure to take care of this properly could lead to a nuclear catastrophe surpassing the meltdown of a reactor. This liquid waste continuously generates heat, and must be constantly cooled. But if an earthquake were to damage the cooling pipes or cut off the electricity, the liquid would begin to boil. According to an analysis prepared by the German nuclear industry, an explosion of this facility could expose persons within a 100 kilometer radius from the plant to radiation 10 to 100 times the lethal level, which presumably means instant death.

On April 7, just one month after the 3/11 earthquake in northeastern Japan, there was a large aftershock. At the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant the electricity was shut off. The pool containing nuclear fuel and the radioactive liquid waste were (barely) cooled down by the emergency generators, meaning that Japan was brought to the brink of destruction. But the Japanese media, as usual, paid this almost no notice.

The Hamaoka Nuclear Plant is located at Shizuoka City, on Suruga Bay. Despite predictions of a magnitude 8 earthquake on Suruga Bay, it has continued in operation. If you look at the illustration showing the configuration of the plates beneath the Pacific Ocean, you will see that there is a point at which the Philippine Sea Plate, the huge Pacific Plate, the North American Plate, and the Eurasian Plate all meet; directly over that point is the Japanese Archipelago. And the very center of the area where these four plates press together is Shizuoka.

Large scale earthquakes in the eastern and southern seas have occurred regularly at intervals of between 100 and 250 years. Today in 2011, 157 years have passed since the Great Ansei Earthquake of 1854, so we are in a period when the next big one could come at any time. And the predicted center of this expected major earthquake is – though this is hard to believe – exactly under the location of the Hamaoka Nuclear Plant. And sonar readings at the site indicate that from thirty years back the Eurasian plate has been bending, which means that it is in a condition where it can be expected eventually to spring back.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hirose Takashi has written a whole shelf full of books, mostly on the nuclear power industry and the military-industrial complex. Probably his best known book is Nuclear Power Plants for Tokyo in which he took the logic of the nuke promoters to its logical conclusion: if you are so sure that they're safe, why not build them in the center of the city, instead of hundreds of miles away where you lose half the electricity in the wires?

Douglas Lummis is a political scientist living in Okinawa and the author of Radical Democracy. Lummis can be reached at [email protected]m

Distance between Big Cities in Japan and Nuclear Power Plants

Japan is a small islands country as you all know. We have constant earthquakes.

Here is what I wrote in my twitter today: The distance between major cities in Japan and the nearest nuclear power plants:

東京110、横浜130、大阪85、名古屋100、京都50、札幌65、神戸90、福岡50、北九州100、川崎120 日本10大都市と最寄原発からの距離(キロメートル)。あなたの家からは何キロか調べておきましょう。

Tokyo 110km
Yokohama 130km
Osaka 85km
Nagoya 100km
Kyoto 50km
Sapporo 65km
Kobe 90km
Fukuoka 50km
Kitakyushu 100km
Kawasaki 120km

1mile=1.6km so you can calculate your safety (or danger) level.

Earthquakes can happen at any time anywhere. We do have them every day now in Japan.

Tetsuo Jimbo's Inside Report From The Fukushima Evacuation Zone

Tetsuo Jimbo is an old friend of mine. He and the VideoNews.com crew went to Fukushima Daiichi Neclear Power Plant and took the footage you can see below. It is so sad to see the dogs and cows walking around trying to survive...

With the geiger counter exceeding 100 mSv/hr I can only say Tetsuo and his crew have guts!! Of course, we should be thankful to them for showing the world what is happening there!

This is a must see:

http://youtu.be/yp9iJ3pPuL8

No More Fukushimas!

No more nuclear power plants! They all must be closed down! All of them.

There is no safe place for them in Japan, or the world, for that matter!

April 10th 'Stop Nuclear Power Plants! Global Action Day'! Click here to learn about this event.

Candlelight Vigil in Solidarity with the People of Japan: A Non-Nuclear Future

Mr dear friend Frank Dorrel in Los Angeles sent me this information.

A Candlelight Vigil in Solidarity with the People of Japan: A Non-Nuclear Future

Monday, March 28th, 7:00 PM
At
Westwood Federal Building
Corner of Westwood & Veteran

Los Angeles Will Join Nationwide Vigils to Stand with the People of Japan

With Ron Kovic & Other Community Leaders

March 28th is the 32nd Anniversary of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Meltdown in Pennsylvania

Bring friends, candles & signs with your message or wish for a non-nuclear future for Japan... and the world.
Assemble on the sidewalk at the Westwood Federal Building.

Music & a few brief speakers will address participants & a presentation of origami cranes will be made.

For More Information Contact Andy Liberman: 310-600-1254 - [email protected]
http://goo.gl/5iZSD

Sponsored by: Greenpeace, Coffee House Teach-ins, Palisadians for Peace,
Physicians for Social Responsibility-LA, and Nuclear Information Research Service

-----------

I am so touched by the support we are getting from all over the world. I really pray this tragedy will wake up humanity and we learn to live more sustainablly and peacefully with nature and with each other.

I will be on the Carrol Cox Show tomorrow (HAWAII）

I will be speaking on this show tomorrow morning (Sunday) from 8-10am in Hawaii.
http://carrollcox.com/

If you are in Hawaii or have friends in Hawaii, it is KWAI 1080AM. If you are local, you can call in on:524-1080

I will be speaking about the Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear Power Plants disaster in Japan and our Tsunaguhikari campaign to evacuate pregnant women and children away from the radiation. We are currently moving/evacuating/finding homestays in Okinawa.

For more information, please go to our website:
つなぐ光(Japanese site)　http://tsunaguhikari.jp
Tsunaguhikari(English) http://tsunaguhikari.weebly.com/

Thank you for your support!

We do need donatioNS to help with transporting those women to Okinawa. The airfare from the Tohoku area to Okinawa is about $700 per person and many have lost everything and can not go back to homes as they are too contaminated with radiation. They will not be able to return to the area near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station for a while, possibly for a long while.

The half life of caecium is 30 years. It accumulates in the soil. Their fertile farm land will be unsuitable for farming for a long long time I am afraid.

The half life of plutonium is 24,000 years. Fukushima No.3 reactor has plutonium so I am very concerned.
http://goo.gl/Nn38C

Here is the latest news. The situation continues to be quite serious:
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/27_12.html

English Information on the Earthquake & Nuclear Disaster in Japan

My friend sent me the information below for English speaking people in Japan. Share it to those who need this.

Love,

Yumi
---------

● At-a-glance summary of the situation in the Fukushima reactors, by the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum
http://www.jaif.or.jp/english/news_images/pdf/ENGNEWS01_1300584349P.pdf

● NYT: Food safety inspectors said the iodine 131 in the tested milk was up to five times the level the government deems safe, and the spinach had levels more than seven times the safe level. The spinach also contained slightly higher than allowable amounts of cesium 137. Minuscule amounts of radioactive iodine were also detected in the water supply in Tokyo and its five surrounding prefectures.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/20/world/asia/20japan.html
More testing is needed.

● Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science & Technology
(MEXT) is providing radiation measurements:
http://www.mext.go.jp/english/radioactivity_level/detail/1303962.htm

● Effects of radiation, by Medical News Today, includes a list of signs and symptoms likely to occur when a human is exposed to acute radiation (within one day), in mSv
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/219615.php

● World Health Organization information about contaminated food:
http://www.wpro.who.int/media_centre/jpn_earthquake/FAQs/faqs_foodcontamination.htm

● The IAEA is now providing updates and information. "We now have continuous online access to data from CTBTO radionuclide monitoring stations, which is being evaluated by Agency dosimetry specialists (19Mar)."
http://www.iaea.org

● The IAEA is providing slides/photos on this site as well, including an aerial schematic of the Fukushima plants (19 Mar):
http://www.slideshare.net/iaea

● Japan PM Kan in a meeting with Amano "said the government is disclosing all information but that information-gathering efforts might be insufficient. Kan said the government will improve its information disclosure by taking photos of the plant regularly and stepping up radiation monitoring." NHK, 18 Mar,
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/18_26.html

● K2P highlights a story that says TEPCO tried to hand over crisis on 14 Mar, and the request was denied by the PM:.
http://ktwop.wordpress.com/2011/03/18/tepco-was-ready-to-give-up-and-abdicate-on-14th-march/
This site (recommended by Tatsu Suzuki), also provides summaries of news conferences.

● Other sites of interest:
TEPCO - http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/index-e.html
US Nuclear Regulatory Commission - http://www.nrc.gov
CTBTO news: http://www.ctbto.org/press-centre/ctbt-in-the-new
Greenpeace - http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/campaigns/nuclear/

Urgent petition:Decommission of the 10 reactors of Fukushima nuclear power plants

The worst case scenario may not occur, but critical conditions still continue today at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plants(10 of them all together), 10 days after the 1st big earthquake.

We are demanding the decommissioning all the 10 reactors at the first and second Fukushima nuclear power plants, and you can help us by signing and spreading this petition:
http://fukushimahairo.web.fc2.com/index_en.html

Naoto Kan, Prime Minister of Japan
Katsumata Tsunehisa, Board chairperson, Tokyo Electric Power Company,

Accept the request made by the Mayor of Koriyama city and decide to decommission the Fukushima nuclear power plants!
Appeal:

Immediately decide to decommission all of the 10 reactors of the first and second Fukushima nuclear power plants.

Background of the appeal:

Masao Hara, the Mayor of Koriyama city, at the press conference in the afternoon on March 19, 2011, said, it was the outrageous mistake that the Japanese government turned down the support offered by the United States which suggested decommissioning the nuclear plants. He announced that he made a request to the Tokyo Electric Power Company and Mr. Kaieda, the Minister of economy, trade and industry to immediately take measures to control the nuclear accidents towards decommissioning the plants. We urge the State and the Tokyo Electric Power Company to accept the request made by the Mayor of Koriyama city and decide to decommission the Fukushima nuclear power plants.

We are worried about the workers who have been courageously engaging in the operations day and night to suppress the reactors and avert the worst-case scenario at their peril of being exposed to the radiation at the Fukushima nuclear power plants which were affected by the recent and continuing earth quakes. It has become clear to everyone that as long as the nuclear plants run, people are affected by the radiation. So many nuclear plant workers have been exposed to the radiation and some died from the radiation exposure even when the plants were running "safe". The people are little known who died after a long suffering, when the causal link between the death and the radiation exposure became difficult to establish.

We must now stop our practice: enjoying the "safe" electricity from the nuclear power plants at the expense of the workers exposed to the radiation.

Voluntary group calling for decommissioning the Fukushima nuclear plants

How to Petition
Please send your name and address to sign this petition to fukushima.hairo [at-mark] gmail.com
Please put "endorsement" on the title of your email.
Deadline
1st deadline: end of March 2011
2nd deadline: end of April 2011
-------------------------

THank you for your help!

Yumi Kikuchi

You Can Help Japan : STOP HAMAOKA and TOKAI Nuclear Power Plants Now

So many people have contacted me across the ocean if we are safe. Thank YOU. I and my family are all safe and alive as I write this. My town Kamogawa is not affected even though we had earthquakes and tsunami, too.

But radiation is coming and it is serious.

In my view, all the pregnant woman and children are better off to go as far as they can from Fukushima Nuclear Power plants (there are 10 plants there. 6 @1st Fukushima, 4@2nd Fukushima). 10 nuclear power plants are under critical condition, 4 have started releasing radioactive gas to the environment, which is now heading west across the pacific ocean.

Now, it is about the survival of Japan and maybe northern hemisphere. If you are American, you can help us now by asking your senators and congressman to request Japanese government to stop Hamaoka and Tokai nuclear power plants now before the next big earthquake happens.

The earthquakes are moving down south and we had a big earthquake yesterday in Fuji (Mt. Fuji area) magnitude 6. We have had 200 earthquakes since the 1st one as big or bigger than magnitude 5 in one week. Japan is in severe danger now.

Here is a letter I wrote. Thank you Cathy Cadden, my NVC teacher,who helped me for this.

You may wonder why I am doing this. I tell you! Because Japanese government tend to listen to what US (president) says more than what Japanese people ask.

Help US now (will help you for reducing the amount of radiation you are getting soon）!!!!

Please spread widely the letter or this blog post:
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　Another Way To Help Japan Now in Your Country

Dear People in the United States,

We are asking that all of you contact your local representatives and President Obama and implore them to pressure the Japanese government to shut down Hamaoka and Tokai nuclear power plants. These plants are the two closest to Tokyo.

We continue to have aftershocks that register from 4.0 to 7.0. We also are experiencing other quakes from epicenters close to and inside Tokyo. If these plants become affected it could be devastating for Japan as Tokyo has the largest concentration of our population. We would also request that the rest of the nuclear power plant facilities (all 55) be fully checked out for safety.

Contact them as soon as you can to help our health and survival,

Thank you ,
concerned parents in Japan,
Yumi Kikuchi and Gen Morita
Kamogawa, Japan
contact: [email protected]

Map of Japan's Nuclear Power Plants' Site:
http://www.insc.anl.gov/pwrmaps/
(each site has 2-6 reactors, 55 all together）

Support Needed: Another Nuclear Power Plant in Japan? I DO NOT THINK SO!

To me it is crazy to build and operate nuclear power plants over earthquake fault lines. There are faults under the islands of Japan so there is no safe site for any nuclear power plants here, period!

Please read the urgent appeal from the Kaminoseki area of Japan, where our 56th nuclear power plant is being planned in spite of the many voices of the Tanoura Island people whose life depends on the wild and abundant sea food there.

They have lived sustainably over 1000 years!
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Dear Global Citizens,

In Japan, the country of the chair of COP10 until 2012, at a valuable Biodiversity hotspot, land-filling to build the Nuclear
Power Plant started last Monday(21st Feb 2011).

This Kaminoseki Nuclear Power Plant was mentioned as an issue at the plenary session at NGO meeting in COP10 in October last year.

Because of insufficient Environmental Impact Assessment, a number of signatures were handed in to Yamaguchi Prefecture.
Now the details in English is available:
http://en.parc-jp.org:8080/en/news/news/the-land-fill-construction-to-build-the-nuclear-power-station-has-started-support-the-people-of-iwaishima-island

The main problem of Chugoku Electric Power Inc. is that they created severe conflict in the city. And Chugoku Electric Power Inc. hasn't tried to resolve the conflict.

Chugoku Electric Power Inc. is neglecting opposing residents and focusing on proceeding the construction. By the construction, the hotspot sea area where is egg-laying site of rare species of fish will be land-filled.

Residents of Iwaishima Island have been living on the rich natural resource from the sea. In order to save the sea, approximately 100 people of the residents are desperately opposing and raising action by nonviolent means. However, Chugoku Electric Power Inc. has hired 600 people to force through the construction.

Now they are on the verge.
So we need your support.

Further details in English is available:
http://en.parc-jp.org:8080/en/news/news/the-land-fill-construction-to-build-the-nuclear-power-station-has-started-support-the-people-of-iwaishima-island

Our 1st goal is to stop the Chugoku Electric Power Inc. to land-fill the valuable Biodiversity hotspot.
Chugoku Electric Power Inc was a participant of COP10.

Therefore, I hope you have several minutes to help us by doing 2 points as follows:

1) Please let your friends, colleagues, companies, families and other people to know this fact by forwarding this email.
2) Please call or send Chugoku Electric Power Inc. an e-mail to ask them to stop the land-filling.

The Spotlighted issue at COP10,the destruction of Biodiversity hotspot due to construction of Kaminoseki Nuclear Power Plant is on a critical point.

We wish this issue will reach as many global citizens as possible.

Let us, global citizens, move forward to say "Stop constructing Nuclear Power Plant!" everywhere in the world.

Thank you for your assistance.
Love from Kaminoseki,

P.S. "Please stop constructing Nuclear Power Plant" in Japanese is "Gen-Patsu Kensetsu wo Yamete Kudasai"

---
■Chugoku Electric Power co. INC.
Mail Form(Japanese/ English): http://p.tl/FPft
Original URL: http://p.tl/Nml5
Translation: http://honyaku.yahoo.co.jp/url
Tel: +81-82-241-0211 Fax: +81-082-504-7006
---
::::::::: For Your Information::::::::
When Kaminoseki was mentioned at the Plenary session COP10 (57'44"-58'35")
http://webcast.cop10.go.jp/player.asp?id=2209&type=ondemand
Statement::
http://www.cbdnet.jp/wp-content/uploads/18c7100f8f78e85e2531664d3e7c72c1.pdf

Live Broadcast from the site
You Tube http://www.youtube.com/user/hakunamatataTJ#p/u/0/LSsByMcXDXo
USTREAM http://www.ustwrap.info/multi/7222191::7083136
(From at sea, and on shore)

Nuclear Ginza:

A Sea of Miracles Threatened by Nuclear Power
https://picasaweb.google.com/108283839638844864377/ASeaOfMiraclesThreatenedByNuclearPower#

The Demand for Re-investigating an environmental assessment of
Kaminoseki Nuclear Power Planned Construction Site.
https://picasaweb.google.com/108283839638844864377/TheDemandForReInvestigatingAnEnvironmentalAssessmentOfKaminosekiNPP#

::::::::::Related Stakeholders' Contact List:::::::::
■Chugoku Electric Power co. INC.
Kaminoseki Nuclear Power Plant Preparation Office
TEL: +81-820- 62-1111

■Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry
Kaieda, Banri (Mr)
TEL: +81-3-3508-7316
FAX: +81-3-3508-3316
E-mail: [email protected]

Nuclear Facilities Development and Nuclear Fuel Cycle Industry Division
TEL: +81-3-3501-1873

■Yamaguchi Prefectural Governor
Nii, Sekinari (Mr)
TEL: +81-83- 933-2570
FAX: +81-83- 933-2599
E-mail: [email protected]

■Yamaguchi Prefectural government
Bureau of Infrastructure (to stop the reclamation)
Tel: +81-83-933-3810 Fax: +81-83-933-3829
Bureau of Environment (to conserve environment or precious animals)
Tel: +81-83-933-3050 Fax: +81-83-933-3069

■Kaminoseki town office
Tel: +81-820-62-0311 Fax: +81-820-62-1600

Genkai Nuclear Power Plant Radiation Leak

In Japan, Genkai Nuclear Power Planst in Kyusyu just had a radiation leak on Dec 11. The extent of the radiation leak is still hidden from the public. It may be as bad as Three Mile Island. It has so-called "plu-thermal" fuel, (uranium with plutonium mixed fuel) which is more unstable and dangerous than enriched uranium fuel.

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20101210/k10015775891000.html

When more information becomes available, I will post it here.