7/21/2011 A pro diver who survived tsunami passes on his lessons

Source: Asahi Shimbun
Date: 7/21/2011
by: By YUMI NAKAYAMA

Jun Abe, a professional diver who survived the March 11 tsunami, discusses his experiences with sketches he drew in Osaki, Miyagi Prefecture. Hanging in the background is a diving suit he donned when he was drifting in the tsunami. (Kenta Sujino)

A professional diver who survived the horrendous tsunami after drifting for 7 kilometers on top of a floorboard from his office along with his wife shared his sketches and his experiences with college students in Tokyo, in what he hopes could save their lives someday.
...
Read full story here

A sketch by Jun Abe shows how he tried to drag himself on to the floorboard after being thrown into the water in the March 11 quake and tsunami. Only a floorboard of his office in Higashi-Matsushima in Miyagi Prefecture remained when the drifting structure smashed into a bridge, shearing off the building's roof and walls. His wife, Shimako, was also aboard the board, boosting his spirits. (Sketch provided by Jun Abe)

Jun Abe tries to grab the hand of his wife, Shimako, who was in their house about 30 meters from his office when it, swept by the tsunami, came alongside his office building. (Sketch provided by Jun Abe)

7/23/2011 Contrary to power company figures, cost of nuclear power generation highest: research

Source: The Mainichi Daily News
Date: 7/23/2011

Utility companies across the country continue to tout the low cost of nuclear energy on their websites.

Tohoku Electric Power Co. boasts nuclear power's economic efficiency, while Hokkaido Electric Power Co (HEPCO) the stability of its cost. Each site comes with bar graphs indicating the cost of generating power through various power sources, and the figures are exactly the same regardless of the utility. For every kilowatt-hour of power generated, hydroelectricity is listed as costing 11. 9 yen, petroleum 10.7 yen, liquefied natural gas 6.2 yen, coal 5.7 yen, and nuclear 5.3 yen.

In a section of its website responding to questions sent in by elementary school children, Chubu Electric Power Co. informs us that nuclear power "is the cheapest." The media, including the Mainichi, have often cited the information provided to us by power companies.

However, Kenichi Oshima, a professor of environmental economics and policy at Ritsumeikan University, has done some calculations and has reached a completely difference conclusion. Oshima says that the cost for a kilowatt-hour of electrical power between fiscal 1970 and fiscal 2007 was 10.68 yen for nuclear, 3.98 yen for hydroelectric, and 9.9 yen for thermal generation, with nuclear-generated power coming out as the most expensive. These calculations were even presented at a meeting of the government's Atomic Energy Commission last September. So how does one explain these two different conclusions?
...
Read full article here

7/22/2011 Japan nuclear scare triggers run for radiation checks

Source: Reuters
Date: Fri Jul 22, 2011 7:30am EDT
by: Kiyoshi Takenaka

(Reuters) - Japanese private research labs with radiation testing gear have been flooded with orders for checks on food and soil samples after shipments of contaminated beef deepened public anxiety over radiation leaks from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.
...
Read full article here

7/22/2011 Japan Utilities Push to Extend Life of Nuclear Plants

Source: Reuters via Scientific American
Date: 7/22/2011
by: Kaori Kaneko and Osamu Tsukimori

Two Japanese utilities moved on Friday to extend the life of reactors at a pair of central coastal nuclear plants, fuelling already fierce debate over energy policy in the wake of the Fukushima radiation crisis.
...
Read full article here

7/23/2011 Strong earthquake hits Iwate

Source: NHK World
Date: July 23, 2011 13:52 +0900 (JST)


A strong earthquake hit Iwate Prefecture on Saturday afternoon.

The quake had a magnitude of 6.5, with the focus estimated to be in waters off Miyagi Prefecture.

It registered an intensity of 5-plus on the Japanese scale of 0 to 7.

There is no fear of tsunami.

Tokyo Electric Power Company says the quake had no effect on operations of the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

Editor's Note: USGS report

View Live Ustream Radiation Detectors in a larger map

7/20/2011 Fukushima city sows sunflower seeds to decontaminate 'hot spot'

Source: Kyodo News via Japan Today
Date: Jul. 21, 2011 - 05:05AM JST


FUKUSHIMA — Fukushima city officials sowed sunflower seeds Wednesday at a plaza in the city as part of efforts to remove radioactive materials from the soil.

Sunflowers are said to absorb radioactive substances, and the 6,000-square-meter plaza, located on a hillside about 1 kilometer away from the prefectural government offices, is one of the so-called “hot spots” where radiation levels are sporadically higher than other areas.

7/21/2011 Chinese fast reactor starts supplying electricity

Source: World Nuclear News
Date: 7/21/2011

Exactly one year after achieving first criticality, China's experimental fast neutron reactor has been connected to the electricity grid.

At 10.00am today, the head of China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC), Sun Qin, declared to workers and officials gathered in the Chinese Experimental Fast Reactor's (CEFR's) control room that the unit had successfully achieved grid connection.

Inside the control room of the CEFR (Image: CNNC)

The sodium-cooled, pool-type fast reactor has been constructed with some Russian assistance at the China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIEA), near Beijing, which undertakes fundamental research on nuclear science and technology. The reactor has a thermal capacity of 65 MW and can produce 20 MW in electrical power. The CEFR was built by Russia's OKBM Afrikantov in collaboration with OKB Gidropress, NIKIET and Kurchatov Institute.
...
Read full article here

7/21/2011 Sick Children And Dying Pets Accompany New Iodine Radiation In Tokyo

Source: Alexander Higgins Blog
Date: July 21, 2011 at 3:34 am

The Latest Reports From Tokyo Include Detection Of Radioactive Iodine Along With Nosebleeds, Hair loss, Diarrhea, Sickness, and Death Of Pets, And Unexplained Illnesses in Children.

New official government lab results show new radioactive Iodine and Cesium in the Tokyo sewer systems.
...
Read full article here

7/20/2011 Whistleblowers "terrified" at TVA nuke plants?

Source: CBS "The Early Show"
Date: July 20, 2011 7:52 AM


(CBS News) In the wake of the Fukushima disaster in Japan, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has released a task force report on the safety of America's 104 nuclear reactors.

And on "The Early Show" Wednesday, CBS News Chief Investigative Correspondent Armen Keteyian offered Part Two of his investigation into one troubled nuclear power plant, in Spring City, Tenn.
...
Read full article here

For part 1 and a map of Watts Bar click here.

7/19/2011 Ex Japanese Nuclear Regulator Blames Radioactive Animal Feed on "Black Rain"

Source: Fairewinds Associates
Date: 7/19/2011
by: Arnie Gundersen


While many radioactive cattle have been discovered large distances from Fukushima, what is more important is where their feed is coming from. "It's not only about the radioactive cattle in Fukushima Prefecture; its also about the radioactive straw the cattle eat that was grown elsewhere". Straw found 45 miles from Fukushima is highly contaminated with radioactive cesium, which is an indication that radiation has contaminated large portions of Northern Japan. More than half a million disintegrations per second in a kilogram of straw are comparable to Chernobyl levels. This proves that the American Nuclear Regulatory Commission was correct when it told Americans to evacuate beyond 50 miles and that the Japanese should have done the same. An Ex-Secretariat of Japan's Nuclear Safety Commission blames this contamination on "Black Rain". Rather than minimize the information the Japanese people receive, Gundersen suggests minimizing their radiation exposure."

7/19/2011 Shocking: Nuclear Industry Whistle-Blower Grandma Says Life Threatened for Speaking out Against Watts Bar Nuclear Generating Station

Date: 7/19/2011

CBS "The Early Show": Fukushima-type disaster inevitable in U.S.?


Watts Bar Nuclear Generating Station, which is operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), has been plagued with past safety concerns and whistle-blower lawsuits. Nuclear engineer and consultant Arnie Gundersen called the May 13, 2011 post-Fukushima NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) report for Watts Bar "appalling" giving it a grade of D-.  Another nuclear engineer David Lochbaum sited 40 "disturbing findings" with the report. [Video, 1:50]

Ann Harris, the 71 year old great grandmother who has won 6 whistle-blower lawsuits against the TVA, says executives at TVA threatened to end her career back when she was a nuclear instrumentation engineering clerk because she would not sign off on a multimillion-dollar construction contract full of errors.  According to Harris, "the books are being cooked. People are saying things, they swear under oath it’s been done, and it hadn’t been done." [1]  For 28 years hence, Ms. Harris has been fighting the TVA and NRC with the goal of ensuring accountability and preventing a nuclear accident:

...
Harris said, "You can see a Fukushima happening here in the U.S."

So it's not a matter of 'if,' it's a matter of -

"When," Harris finished the sentence.[1]
...

What is most shocking, however, is that as a result of her activism, Ms. Harris has received threats and her car has even been sabotaged (basically it appears to be attempted murder):

...
There have certainly been attempts at intimidation, recrimination and really, threats on your life?

Harris responded, "Yes. They ran me off the road. They wired my car for firebombing. They dropped the universal joint out of my car." [1]
 ...

Read more from CBS "The Early Show" here

Map showing Watts Bar Nuclear Generating Station

View Live Ustream Radiation Detectors in a larger map

Sources:
[1] Fukushima-type disaster inevitable in U.S.?, CBS "The Early Show"

7/19/2011 Dangerous Levels Of Radiation Recorded In Canada As Fukushima Radiation Dangers Continue

Source: The Intel Hub
Date: 7/19/2011
by: Alex Thomas

Multiple videos have been released showing high levels of radiation in Canada as the corporate media continues to cover up the real dangers posed by the Fukushima nuclear disaster.

The tests were taken in multiple places in Canada including Lake Louise BC, Kelowna BC, Red Deer/Edmonton, and Hope BC.

The radiation tests that were taken near Lake Louise BC clearly showed harmful radiation levels up to 1.66 mcSv/hr.

So far Canadian and American authorities have remained silent. We must DEMAND action from local health authorities. If these levels of radiation are being picked up in Canada it seems only a matter of time before they reach the west coast of the United States.

This should be a RED ALERT to all Americans and Canadians!

CRMT- Dangerous Radioactive rain in Lake Louise,BC (1.66 mcSv/hr)


Kelowna BC receives High Fukushima Fallout Radioactive Rain on 07/16/11


CRMT- Hope BC receives High Radioactive Fukushima Fallout Rain on 07/16/11


HIGH Radiations levels found in Rain samples from Red Deer/Edmonton (1.02 mcSv/hr)