8/2/2011 Govt to conduct comprehensive radiation monitoring

Source: NHK World
Date: Tuesday, August 02, 2011 19:33 +0900 (JST)

Japan's government has decided to start comprehensive radiation monitoring this year by coordinating organizations that have been checking radiation levels since the Fukushima nuclear accident in March.

The government decided on the plan on Tuesday in response to criticism about difficulty in referring to results of such checks by various ministries, agencies, prefectural governments and utilities.

The plan divides monitoring activities into 6 fields including air, water, farm soil and grass, and food.

Organizations are to be in charge of monitoring and analyzing results in each field and proposing concrete measures.

The government is to set up about 250 monitoring points across the country and draw up maps showing radiation levels at children's facilities, such as schools and public libraries.

The science ministry is expected to set up a website to provide such data by mid-August.

8/2/2011 Hiroshima University to study low-level exposure

Source: NHK World
Date: Wednesday, August 03, 2011 00:49 +0900 (JST)


Hiroshima University is to launch a study focusing on the health impact of exposure to low-level radiation.

The university has set up a committee of about 40 researchers to apply their knowledge to support people affected by the Fukushima nuclear accident. The university has been providing medical care to atomic bomb survivors.

The committee has 3 main themes: analysis of the impact of low-level radioactive exposure on human genes; medical response to internal exposure and exposure during an emergency; and support for a health survey conducted by Fukushima Prefecture.

The university says that when cumulative exposure reaches 100 millisieverts, the chances of developing cancer are said to rise by 0.5 percent.

It also says there is not enough data available anywhere in the world about an exposure to radiation below that level.

8/2/2011 Govt bans shipments of Tochigi beef cattle

Source: NHK World
Date: Tuesday, August 02, 2011 18:07 +0900 (JST)


Japan's government has ordered Tochigi Prefecture to suspend its shipments of beef cattle due to fears of radioactive contamination.

The government ordered the ban on Tuesday after beef from 4 head of cattle shipped from 2 municipalities in the prefecture was found to contain unsafe amounts of radioactive cesium.

Cesium contamination was also detected in rice straw used to feed beef cattle in the prefecture.

Tochigi is the fourth prefecture ordered to suspend beef cattle shipments, following Fukushima, Miyagi and Iwate.

The government says it will allow resumption of shipments if radiation levels of all beef from farms whose shipments and feed were contaminated, as well as beef from other farms, fall below the government standard.

Tochigi says it will test all of its beef cattle, but the prefecture ships up to 55,000 head of cattle per year, and fewer than 30,000 can be processed locally.

The government is to ask the prefecture to draw up realistic plans for resuming shipments, such as limiting the number of cattle to be shipped.

8/2/2011 Govt sets new criteria for contaminated fertilizer

Source: NHK World
Date: Tuesday, August 02, 2011 17:55 +0900 (JST)


Japan's government has laid down a new set of criteria for the use of fertilizers that may be contaminated with radioactive cesium.

On Tuesday, the agriculture ministry urged farmers not to use humus and compost that contain 400 becquerels of cesium per kilogram or more.

It also called on them not to use livestock feed containing 300 becquerels of cesium per kilogram or more. For fish feed, the limit was set at 100 becquerels per kilogram.

The ministry says it will notify local governments how to measure cesium in fertilizers as soon as possible.

Last week, the agriculture ministry asked famers and fertilizer producers in 17 prefectures in eastern and central Japan to voluntarily refrain from using or selling compost and humus made from fallen leaves possibly contaminated with radioactive cesium.

This was after humus shipped from Tochigi Prefecture was found to be contaminated with radioactive substances.

8/2/2011 Nissan develops EV-based home power supply system

Source: NHK World
Date: Tuesday, August 02, 2011 21:04 +0900 (JST)

Nissan Motor has developed a power supply system using electric vehicle batteries for use during blackouts.

The system is able to provide an average household with enough electricity to ride out a blackout for up to 2 days.
It connects batteries with distribution switch boards, to allow households to run air conditioners and other electric appliances in the event of a power outage.

Nissan aims to put the system into practical use by spring next year after completing tests.

The automaker says it was inspired by a stream of inquiries and requests from residents in areas where power shortages occurred due to the March 11th disaster, and stepped up efforts to develop the system.

8/1/2011 Highly radioactive water flows into another place

Source: NHK World
Date: Monday, August 01, 2011 21:00 +0900 (JST)


Highly radioactive water has been found in the basement of a building at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant near the storage facility for contaminated water.

Tokyo Electric Power Company said on Monday that it discovered about 700 tons of contaminated water on Saturday in the basement of an on-site building.

The utility said the water contained 19,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium 134 per cubic centimeter, and 22,000 becquerels of cesium 137 --- both very high levels.

Until June, the building was connected by a hose with another building where highly radioactive water is now being stored. The buildings are located next to each other and are part of the plant's waste disposal facility.

The utility is investigating how the leak happened. But it says it that there is no danger of the contaminated water leaking out of the building.

7/27/2011 Video with English Caption: Professor Tatsuhiko Kodama of Tokyo University Tells the Politicians: "What Are You Doing?"

Source: EX-SKF Blog (English)
Date: 7/27/2011 (as specified in YouTube description)

(If you don't see the caption, click on the "cc" on the player menu bar to turn on the caption.)

Please share the videos with your non-Japanese-speaking friends.

Original written posts are here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

There are also French translation and German translation (video subtitle), thanks to the readers of this blog.

Captioned Video Part 1 of 2




Captioned Video Part 2 of 2




(h/t Tokyo Brown Tabby for captioning)

Editor's Note: Click CC button in YouTube to view English subtitles.  I do not normally mirror EX-SKF articles although the quality is very high because most people probably read Radiation News via the iGoogle widget, which includes EX-SKF entries as its own RSS feed. However, I have made an exception this time because a member of one of my nuke groups (DiaNuke.org) said this particular video was possibly being censored so my YouTube channel will serve as a backup.