‘‘Neither the government nor we would be able to say it is okay to operate (the reactors) unless it is confirmed that they would be able to handle (accidents) in light of the latest findings.’’-Mizoguchi Zembee, Governor of Shimane Prefecture

Chugoku Electric Power Company (CEPCo) runs the Shimane nuclear power plant, and, apparently they have a worse track record than TEPCo.  Reactor 1 is currently shut down due to gross safety violations, and operation of Reactor 2 is under review.

The governor of the prefecture says he will not OK the powering up of Reactor 1, until the Japanese central government enforces new safety standards.  Governor Mizoguchi says the current safety standards are part of the reason for the ongoing disaster at Fukushima Daiichi.

The violation of current safety standards, with the operation of reactor 1, were discovered in March of last year.

In June of 2010, CEPCo officially admitted they had violated safety regulations at their Shimane nuclear power plant.

‘‘The radiation leak has not stopped completely and our concern is that the amount of leakage could eventually reach that of Chernobyl or exceed it.”-Official statement from Tokyo Electric Power Company

Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says most of the radioactive material spewed from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is coming from Reactor 2.  Reactor 2 building exploded on 15 March.  They now know the reactor containment vessel was damaged, possibly breached, resulting in highly radioactive isotopes being emitted.

Also, radiation has been spread by the spent fuel rods, after the explosions, because the spent fuel pools were located on the top of the buildings.

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says the current readings of radiation emitted is 10% of the Chernobyl disaster, but, TEPCo believes it’s likely Fukushima Daiichi will exceed the contamination caused by Chernobyl.

Kyodo News says Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was on fire.

Tokyo Electric Power Company said the fire occurred in a huge battery storage box near a water outlet of Reactor 4.  The fire was spotted by a worker, and put out.  The cause of the fire is being investigated.

The Japanese government just raised the level of the disaster at Fukushima Daiichi to 7.  That is the same level as Chernobyl.

The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency made the decision to raise it to the worst condition, under the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, because of the extremely high levels of radiation that is being spewed.  Also, it is based on the size of the area that is being contaminated, and the threat to life.

At one point Fukushima Daiichi was emitting up to 10,000 terabecquerels of radioactive materials per hour!

Tokyo Electric Power Company has received about $24 billion USD in loans from several major banks.

TEPCo officials say they need to money to continue working to deal with the crisis at Fukushima Daiichi.  This is proof that corporations are not prepared for disasters.

“Dad chose to go because of his sense of responsibility toward his job. Now he’s working for everyone.”-worried wife to her daughter

They’re desperate, but determined to support their husbands, working in deadly conditions at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

“My Dad’s great. He’s a hero.”-proud daughter

Many wives know their husbands might suffer deadly contamination working at the damaged nuke plant, but they say their husbands are driven by a sense of commitment to the country.  Their children don’t quite understand the seriousness of the situation; dad is a hero, but how long will he be here after exposure to the deadly radiation?

Some wives say relatives criticize them for not stopping their husbands from working in the deadly plant.  Not only do they have to deal with relatives, but their own husbands will not talk about what is going on at Fukushima Daiichi.

“It’s my job as his wife to believe he’s safe and wait for him to come home after work where he’s risking his life.”

A 61-year-old woman, whose husband manages one of the many subcontractors at Fukushima Daiichi, says it is difficult to get info.  In a recent email her husband said only “I’m alright”, after she asked about radiation exposure.

She said when he finally came home for a break he looked exhausted.

Another wife tries to deal with it by planing the usual things, like enrolling her daughter in school.  She said after a week of working at the damaged nuclear plant, her husband came home looking exhausted, with bloodshot eyes.  He told her he had been exposed to high levels of radiation.  She said their daughter seems to know, she no longer asks for piggy back rides.

From The Daily Yomiuri