Tag Archives: japan

Business/Economics, International

What Economic Recovery? Japan’s new president of a new Bank says current economic situation only the third most important historical event in Japan’s thousand years history!

On April 2, 2012, the new president of the new Japan Bank for International Cooperation, Hiroshi Okuda, revealed just how bad the current economic situation is.

Okuda, a former president of Toyota, said Japan faces a critical historic situation, on the level of two previous historic moments; the 19th century Meiji Restoration and the end of World War Two in the 20th century.

On April 1, 2012, the Japanese government created the Japan Bank for International Cooperation.  It is a spin off of Japan Finance Corporation.

It’s part of efforts by Japan to be more economically competitive and financially flexible.

 

 

Fukushima

Global Food Crisis: Hundreds of cases of radioactive food in Japan, just since January 2012, Japan dumb downs offical safe Cesium limits!

The Japanese government has set new cesium contamination limits for food, but even with the new limits hundreds of inspections have revealed highly contaminated food products.

The new limits on non-dairy food products will be allowed to contain up to 100 becquerels of cesium per kilogram, baby food and milk will be permitted to contain 50 becquerels, and drinking water 10 becquerels.

But wait, what most people don’t know is that immediately after the March 2011 nuclear disaster at Fukushima Daiichi, the Japanese government temporarily raised the maximum cesium limit in food to 500 becquerels!!!

What that means is that it’s almost guaranteed that the people of Japan have been eating radioactive food!

Between January and March, 2012, a total of 600 cases have been found with more than the new 100 becquerels limit.  That includes salmon, flounder and raw shiitake mushrooms.  Local governments are supposed to stop the shipments of such contaminated food.

 

Fukushima

One Year Later: Fukushima Radiation levels finally being measured, Reactor 2 is Lethal!!! Kill humans within 7 minutes!

28 March 2012, finally, after one year, Tokyo Electric Power Company is taking radiation readings from Fukushima Daiichi disaster Reactor 2.

They placed a dosimeter into Reactor 2’s containment vessel.  It is emitting 72.9 sieverts, or 72,900 millisieverts, or 72,900,000 microsieverts of radiation per hour!!!

At that rate the radiation will kill a human in seven minutes!

TEPCo admits that the lethal radiation levels, and the recently discovered lack of cooling water indicating a huge leak, are setbacks for their plans to decommission the reactor.

Fukushima

One Year Later: Japanese Bamboo now radioactive, 124 miles away from Fukushima Daiichi!

200 kilometers (124 miles) away from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuke factory, bamboo plants grown for food are turning up radioactive!

On bamboo shoot farms in Chiba Prefecture, samples have turned out to be contaminated with as much as 250 becquerels of radioactive cesium per kilogram!

Not only that, the latest samples are higher in cesium than samples taken more than one week ago.  Officials think cesium absorbed by the parent bamboo plants is being passed on to the young bamboo shoots.

Bamboo farmers have been told not to ship their product to market.

ONE YEAR LATER: FINALLY, JAPANESE OFFICIALS SAY SEA BASS ARE TOO RADIOACTIVE, FISHING BAN NOW IN PLACE!

 

Fukushima

One Year Later, More Government Incompetence: Finally, Japanese officials say Sea Bass are too radioactive, fishing ban now in place!

March 28, 2012, one year after the GE designed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant melted down, Japanese fisherman are now being told their catches are indeed contaminated.

For the first time, Miyagi Prefecture has banned Sea Bass fishing, because of radiation contamination!

Prefectural officials say cesium levels are so high, they’re higher than the new stricter limits due to go into effect next month.  As much as 360 becquerels of cesium is being found in Sea Bass catches!  The new stricter limit is 100 becquerels.

Officials say two other types of fish are also exceeding the 100 becquerels limit!  This backs up what Russian and South Korean fish inspectors have been saying all along about contaminated fish from Japan!

The scary thing is that up ’till now fishing has been allowed near the disaster reactors of Fukushima Daiichi!

ONE YEAR LATER: JAPAN DEVELOPS THEIR FIRST EVER MOBILE PET CLINIC, TO HELP THE HUNDRED OF ANIMALS STILL SUFFERING IN IWATE

Fukushima

One Year Later: More incompetence as Strontium pours into the Pacific Ocean off Japan!

March 27, 2012, Tokyo Electric officials say strontium 90 is pouring into the Pacific Ocean, from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant!

The latest leak was discovered March 26.  It’s coming from above ground tanks, which are holding radioactive water. They also admit leaks are coming from pipes connecting the water tanks.

On March 26, TEPCo detected 0.25 becquerels per cubic centimeters of strontium beta particles in the Pacific Ocean.

It turns out this happens often. TEPCo admits the first strontium leaks, from pipes and water tanks, happened in December 2011, and have continued since then!

International

Japan’s Jomon older than Sumerians

March 26, 2012, Chuo University associate professor Kenichi Kobayashi reporting that dating of cooked plants and beans, found in ruins in southwestern Japan, indicates they are at least 13,000 years old.

Dishes and grain grinders made of stone have also been found at the Ojiyama ruins in the city of Miyakonojo.

Anthropologists believe the Jomon people survived the last Great Ice Age, their civilization is older than the Bronze Age Sumerians.

The latest findings of preserved cooked food shows the diet of the Jomon was changing due to global warming.

Some researchers believe the Jomon might have built a sacred mountain site, near the Island of Yonaguni Jima, during the Ice Age.  That site is now underwater.  During the Ice Age it would have been above sea level, because sea levels were much lower during the Ice Age.  There is debate whether the site was built by Jomon, or that it was a natural formation used by the Jomon.

The Jomon, like many ancient societies, viewed rocks and mountains as sources of spiritual power.

Fukushima

One Year Later: More incompetence; Reactor 2 overheating caused by guessing game, cooling water levels much lower than first thought, massive leak!

Disaster reactor 2 at General Electric designed Fukushima Daiichi is overheating because Tokyo Electric officials miscalculated the cooling water levels!

Reactor 2 was the only active reactor that did not explode immediately after the March 11, 2011 natural disasters.  It has been a constant struggle for TEPCo to keep its temperature down.

On March 26, 2012, TEPCo discovered that one reason is there is much less cooling water in the reactor, than what they first guessed.  They thought there was three meters (9.8 feet) of water in the containment vessel.  There is only 60 centimeters (23.6 inches) of water in the reactor!!!

TEPCo discovered this on Monday, after they used an endoscope to check out the inside of the reactor.  TEPCo has been pumping about nine tons of water per hour, for months now, trying to keep the melted nuclear fuel cooled down.

This is only the second time TEPCo used an endoscope to look inside reactor 2.  The first time the endoscope was too short, and they couldn’t see anything!

The facts that after months of pumping nine tons of water per hour (sometimes more), and finding only 60 centimeters of water at the bottom of the containment vessel, means there is a massive leak!  It also means the melted nuclear fuel has been leaking out, into the Pacific Ocean, as well!

This revaluation comes after a March 15, 2012 report, in which TEPCo said they found “…there were no cracks in the suppression chamber [of reactor 2] and there were no changes in the shape.”

The suppression chamber is also known as the ‘wetwell’, or ‘torus’.  It is separate from the containment vessel.  However, TEPCo also reported high radiation levels coming from the wetwell.  It could be a sign that nuclear fuel is leaking out of the containment vessel and into the wetwell (suppression chamber/torus).

TEPCo also reported that the paint on the wetwell was peeling and the color of the paint had changed.

 

 

 

Fukushima

One Year Later: Local officials expand nuclear disaster zone, after meeting with military leaders

Officials with Shiga Prefecture have extended their nuclear disaster preparedness zone, around local nuclear power plants, beyond the 30 kilometer (18.64 miles) radius recommended by the central government.

They made their decision after meeting with officials from Japan’s Self Defense Forces.  The JSDF is actually the best trained for nuclear accidents, because of their NBC (Nuclear Biological Chemical) warfare training.

In the days immediately following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, the JSDF were brought in because it became clear they were the only ones who had the specific training to get close enough to the GE designed disaster reactors.

They were the ones that said Fukushima Daiichi was a Chernobyl level disaster, especially after one of the reactors blew up as the JSDF NBC teams moved in.  One of their vehicles was destroyed, luckily the crew got out.

They then tried dropping water by helicopter, but the radiation levels blasting straight up into the sky was too much, and they called off the water drops. The JSDF had learned from the Chernobyl disaster, and tried bolting extra metal plates to the bottom of their helicopters, but it wasn’t enough.

It was then the firefighters were sent in, essentially as suicide teams, to get water pouring onto the exposed spent fuel pools.

So, when Shiga prefectural leaders talked to the JSDF about how big a nuclear disaster zone should be, they were talking to people who know first hand.  Not like those BS artist corporate officials.

Their disaster zone is now 43 km (26.7 miles) radius.  They’ve also changed their policy regarding the distribution of iodine. Before, it was to be distributed to people within 50 km (31 miles) of the nuclear reactors.  Now it will be distributed to the entire Prefecture!

Fukushima

One Year Later: Japan down to just 1 operating nuclear reactor. Domestic economy threatened by lack of electricity!

Since the March 11, 2011, natural disasters led to the nuclear disaster at Fukushima Daiichi, 53 of Japan’s 54 nuclear reactors are now off line.

On March 25, 2012, Reactor 6 in Niigata Prefecture was shut down for regular inspections.  The next, and last reactor to shut down will be Tomari in Hokkaido.

Reactor 3 at Tomari nuclear power plant was supposed to be shut down permanently in April, but the operator, Hokkaido Electric Power Company, decided to delay until May 5, 2012.

While the Tomari reactor is not scheduled for re-start, those that are have been blocked by local governments.  In Japan the local governments have the final word on reactor re-start, and because of the on going disaster reactors at Fukushima Daiichi, the majority of people in Japan are against re-starting any reactors.

For the summer of 2011 Japan’s domestic industries suffered greatly because of an electrical power shortage, even with only about 37 reactors operating.  Attempts were made at other sources of electricity, but it wasn’t enough with such short notice.

Individuals, as well as industries had to deal with power black outs.  This caused many industries to close up, since they needed at least eight continuous hours of electricity (or longer).   As an example, a bread factory needs at least eight hours of electricity to make bread on an industrial scale.  The power black outs took place about every six hours.

Some individuals say they handled the summer without air conditioning well, because it didn’t get that hot (what was that about global warming?).

Now Japan is heading into summer 2012, with not one nuclear reactor up and running.  Officials are scrambling to find ways to convince the local governments to re-start reactors, even bringing in international inspectors to reassure local leaders.

This is one reason the Obama Administration recently exempted Japan from the U.S. oil sanctions against Iran.  Japan will be using a lot more oil to run petroleum fired power generators.

There has been a push for wind power, but, just like here in the United States, there’s been a backlash of people who are against it because those windmills are “eyesores” and reduce property value.

It just doesn’t look good for Japan going into the summer of 2012.