Source: IAEA.org
Date: June 2, 2011
IAEA Briefing on Fukushima Nuclear Accident (2 June 2011, 18:30 UTC)
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Read full report here
Provide radiation related news regarding the Japan Fukushima nuclear plant disaster and global radiation levels and environmental contamination.
Salvation Army Japan Disaster Relief
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Thursday, June 2, 2011
6/2/2011 | Powdered milk bought in LA 70.2% above background level
Source: EnviroReporter Ustream channel
Date: 6/2/2011
Quoting the paper note from EnviroReporter.com: "June 2, 2011 Radiation Alert! 'Hot' Powerdered milk bought in LA store: 70.2% above BG"
Date: 6/2/2011
6/3/2011 JST | School radiation cleanup slammed
Source: The Japan Times
Date: Friday, June 3, 2011 JST
Read full article here
Date: Friday, June 3, 2011 JST
Parents flunk ministry over soil-removal policy shift
KyodoDespite the education ministry's recent move to set a new nonbinding target to reduce the radiation children in Fukushima Prefecture are exposed to at schools, experts, local educators and parents don't feel reassured.
...Read full article here
6/3/2011 | Japan Steel Works sees shift away from nuclear
Source: Bloomberg via The Japan Times
Date: Friday, June 3, 2011
Japan Steel Works Ltd., a maker of nuclear reactor parts for customers from Areva SA to Toshiba Corp., will shift sales to nonatomic energy equipment and may cut idled capacity as the Fukushima disaster curbs orders.
Japan will freeze construction of nuclear reactors and China is likely to delay new orders by a year, slashing component purchases from nuclear plant builders, President Ikuo Sato said in an interview at the company's headquarters in Tokyo. The company will focus more on wind turbines, steel pipes for natural gas and rotor shafts used in thermal power plants to make up for the shortfall, he said.
Japan's nuclear accident, the worst since Chernobyl in 1986, coincides with Sato completing an ¥80 billion expansion at its Muroran factory in Hokkaido. The disaster triggered by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami has prompted governments to reconsider the future of atomic energy, hampering efforts by Japan Steel Works to expand nuclear operations.
"I never expected such a crisis would occur in Japan," Sato, 62, said. "We must do whatever we can to overcome the situation."
Prime Minister Naoto Kan last month said he will reconsider the long-stated goal of increasing the country's dependence on nuclear energy. He pledged to generate 20 percent of the nation's electricity through renewable forms of energy by 2020.
Japan Steel Works shares fell 2.1 percent to ¥581 at the 11 a.m. trading break on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Thursday. The stock has dipped 28 percent since March 11. It expects orders for parts used in nuclear stations and power plants to reach ¥41.1 billion for the year through ext March, or 40 percent less than the previous forecast, it said May 20.
Sales of power plant components accounted for 20 percent of annual revenue in the last financial year, with more than half nuclear-related sales, according to a May 20 presentation by the company.
The Muroran plant is the world's only factory capable of producing a nuclear reactor's pressure vessel from a single block of steel, which results in a stronger vessel and reduces the risk of radiation leaks. The company has almost completed an expansion that will increase capacity to produce steel parts for 12 reactors a year, up from 5.5 a year earlier, Sato said.
The factory's steel ingot and forging is running at 60 to 70 percent of capacity, the president said. The company may look into reducing capacity by removing old facilities if the gap between supply and demand widens, he said.
Date: Friday, June 3, 2011
Japan Steel Works Ltd., a maker of nuclear reactor parts for customers from Areva SA to Toshiba Corp., will shift sales to nonatomic energy equipment and may cut idled capacity as the Fukushima disaster curbs orders.
Japan will freeze construction of nuclear reactors and China is likely to delay new orders by a year, slashing component purchases from nuclear plant builders, President Ikuo Sato said in an interview at the company's headquarters in Tokyo. The company will focus more on wind turbines, steel pipes for natural gas and rotor shafts used in thermal power plants to make up for the shortfall, he said.
Japan's nuclear accident, the worst since Chernobyl in 1986, coincides with Sato completing an ¥80 billion expansion at its Muroran factory in Hokkaido. The disaster triggered by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami has prompted governments to reconsider the future of atomic energy, hampering efforts by Japan Steel Works to expand nuclear operations.
"I never expected such a crisis would occur in Japan," Sato, 62, said. "We must do whatever we can to overcome the situation."
Prime Minister Naoto Kan last month said he will reconsider the long-stated goal of increasing the country's dependence on nuclear energy. He pledged to generate 20 percent of the nation's electricity through renewable forms of energy by 2020.
Japan Steel Works shares fell 2.1 percent to ¥581 at the 11 a.m. trading break on the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Thursday. The stock has dipped 28 percent since March 11. It expects orders for parts used in nuclear stations and power plants to reach ¥41.1 billion for the year through ext March, or 40 percent less than the previous forecast, it said May 20.
Sales of power plant components accounted for 20 percent of annual revenue in the last financial year, with more than half nuclear-related sales, according to a May 20 presentation by the company.
The Muroran plant is the world's only factory capable of producing a nuclear reactor's pressure vessel from a single block of steel, which results in a stronger vessel and reduces the risk of radiation leaks. The company has almost completed an expansion that will increase capacity to produce steel parts for 12 reactors a year, up from 5.5 a year earlier, Sato said.
The factory's steel ingot and forging is running at 60 to 70 percent of capacity, the president said. The company may look into reducing capacity by removing old facilities if the gap between supply and demand widens, he said.
6/2/2011 | Japanese PM Says He Will Resign Over Fukushima
Source: Time (Ecocentric Blog)
Date: Thursday, June 2, 2011 at 2:49 am
by: Krista Mahr
In a televised meeting with his party on Thursday morning, Kan said: “I'd like to pass on my responsibility to a younger generation once we reach a certain stage in tackling the disaster and I've fulfilled my role.” He did not indicate when that might be.
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Read full article here
Date: Thursday, June 2, 2011 at 2:49 am
by: Krista Mahr
 | Naoto Kan, Japan's beleaguered prime minister, has acknowledged for the first time since March 11 that he may step down — but not until he's done doing what he needs to do. Kan has come under increasing pressure from both inside and outside his party to give up his post after his handling of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and continuing nuclear crisis. |
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6/2/2011 | A blog about all things green, from conservation to Capitol Hill Ecocentric Feed Daily E-mail Updates « Previous As Europe Reels From E. Coli, Problems with Food Safety in the U.S. Lessons from Fukushima
Source: Time (Ecocentric Blog)
Date: Thursday, June 2, 2011 at 1:06 pm
by: Eben Harrell
On May 26, Heinonen co-authored an Op-Ed on the Harvard website with Matthew Bunn, an Associate Professor of Public Policy and one of the main investigators at the Belfer Center's Managing the Atom project. The duo laid out some specific steps that they believe the IAEA should adopt at the Vienna-based agency's ministerial meeting in late June. The full text of the document can be found here, but here's a precis.
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Read full article here
Date: Thursday, June 2, 2011 at 1:06 pm
by: Eben Harrell
 Former IAEA deputy director Olli Heinonen | In the wake of Fukushima, there have been widespread calls for the safety of nuclear power plants to be enhanced. But how precisely? And, more specifically, what role can the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) play in improving nuclear safety and security? Olli Heinonen was until last August the Deputy Director-General for Safeguards at the IAEA. He's now a Senior Fellow at Harvard University's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs. |
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6/2/2011 | Radiated Water at Fukushima Plant May Breach Storage Trenches in Five Days
Source: Bloomberg
Date: Jun 2, 2011 5:32 AM CT
by: Tsuyoshi Inajima
Radioactive water accumulating in Japan’s crippled Fukushima plant may start overflowing from service trenches in five days, potentially increasing the contamination from the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl.
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Read full article here
Date: Jun 2, 2011 5:32 AM CT
by: Tsuyoshi Inajima
Radioactive water accumulating in Japan’s crippled Fukushima plant may start overflowing from service trenches in five days, potentially increasing the contamination from the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl.
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Read full article here
6/2/2011 | Saudi plans 16 reactors by 2030
Source: WNN (World Nuclear News)
Date: June 2, 2011
[Arab News, 1 June] Saudi Arabia plans to construct 16 nuclear power reactors over the next 20 years at a cost of more than 300 billion riyals ($80 billion), according to Abdul Ghani bin Melaibari, coordinator of scientific collaboration at King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy. Speaking during the Gulf Environment Forum in Jeddah, he said, "After ten years we will have the first two reactors. After that, every year we will establish two, until we have 16 of them by 2030." Melaibari said that the reactors would generate about 20% of Saudi Arabia's electricity demand. He also noted that arrangements were being made to offer the project for international bidding. "We will consider expertise that we can benefit from," he said.
Date: June 2, 2011
[Arab News, 1 June] Saudi Arabia plans to construct 16 nuclear power reactors over the next 20 years at a cost of more than 300 billion riyals ($80 billion), according to Abdul Ghani bin Melaibari, coordinator of scientific collaboration at King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy. Speaking during the Gulf Environment Forum in Jeddah, he said, "After ten years we will have the first two reactors. After that, every year we will establish two, until we have 16 of them by 2030." Melaibari said that the reactors would generate about 20% of Saudi Arabia's electricity demand. He also noted that arrangements were being made to offer the project for international bidding. "We will consider expertise that we can benefit from," he said.
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
5/31/2011 | World Health Organization Says Cellphones Cause Cancer ... Oh, And They're Killing Off the Bees As Well
Source: Washington's Blog
Date: Tuesday, May 31, 2011
The World Health Organization just issued a report stating that cellphones are "possibly carcinogenic to humans".
...
Read full article here
Date: Tuesday, May 31, 2011
The World Health Organization just issued a report stating that cellphones are "possibly carcinogenic to humans".
...
Read full article here
6/1/2011 | Most Japanese Worried About Radiation Poisoning, Poll Shows
Source: Bloomberg
Date: Jun 1, 2011 3:33 PM CT
Fifty-nine percent of Japanese adults worry that they or a family member have been contaminated by radiation from a nuclear reactor meltdown triggered by a March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl, a survey found.
The Pew Research Center, based in Washington D.C., surveyed 700 Japanese adults between April 8 and April 27 about their concerns about the economy, health, and nuclear safety. None favored increasing Japan’s reliance on nuclear energy, 46 percent favored maintaining it and 44 said nuclear power should play a smaller role, according to the report, posted today on Pew’s website.
About 52 percent of those surveyed expect economic conditions to worsen over the next 12 months, up from 33 percent among those polled a year earlier, the center said. About 58 percent said Japan will emerge a stronger nation from the disasters.
Tokyo Electric Power Co., owner of the leaking Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture, drew the harshest criticism with 86 percent of respondents judging its response to the crisis poor. Almost 80 percent said the national government of Prime Minister Naoto Kan responded poorly. The criticism didn’t extend to the National Defense Force, as 95 judged its response favorably.
Editors: Charles Siler, Susan Warren
To contact the reporter on this story: Jim Polson in New York at +1-212-617-5293 or jpolson@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Susan Warren at +1-214-954-9455 or susanwarren@bloomberg.net
Date: Jun 1, 2011 3:33 PM CT
Fifty-nine percent of Japanese adults worry that they or a family member have been contaminated by radiation from a nuclear reactor meltdown triggered by a March 11 earthquake and tsunami, the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl, a survey found.
The Pew Research Center, based in Washington D.C., surveyed 700 Japanese adults between April 8 and April 27 about their concerns about the economy, health, and nuclear safety. None favored increasing Japan’s reliance on nuclear energy, 46 percent favored maintaining it and 44 said nuclear power should play a smaller role, according to the report, posted today on Pew’s website.
About 52 percent of those surveyed expect economic conditions to worsen over the next 12 months, up from 33 percent among those polled a year earlier, the center said. About 58 percent said Japan will emerge a stronger nation from the disasters.
Tokyo Electric Power Co., owner of the leaking Dai-Ichi nuclear power plant in Fukushima prefecture, drew the harshest criticism with 86 percent of respondents judging its response to the crisis poor. Almost 80 percent said the national government of Prime Minister Naoto Kan responded poorly. The criticism didn’t extend to the National Defense Force, as 95 judged its response favorably.
Editors: Charles Siler, Susan Warren
To contact the reporter on this story: Jim Polson in New York at +1-212-617-5293 or jpolson@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Susan Warren at +1-214-954-9455 or susanwarren@bloomberg.net
6/1/2011 | Snow on Fukushima peaks found to be radioactive
Source: NHK World
Date: Wednesday, June 01, 2011 15:40 +0900 (JST)
Snow in the mountains in Fukushima Prefecture is showing radioactive contamination at levels above the safety limit for drinking water.
Researchers from Fukushima University performed the analysis with a local environmental group. They sampled snow in 31 locations and at different altitudes from 7 peaks around Fukushima city, from mid-April through early May.
The results showed that snow in 14 locations contained more than 200 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive cesium, the adult safe limit for drinking water.
A sample of snow from an altitude of 1,300 meters contained 3,000 becquerels of cesium.
Fukushima University Vice-President Akira Watanabe specializes in meteorology and says the data support his team's analysis that radioactive substances scattered at an altitude of 1,300 meters.
He is urging mountain climbers not to drink river water or gather edible wild plants, now that high levels of radioactivity in the snow have been confirmed.
Date: Wednesday, June 01, 2011 15:40 +0900 (JST)
Researchers from Fukushima University performed the analysis with a local environmental group. They sampled snow in 31 locations and at different altitudes from 7 peaks around Fukushima city, from mid-April through early May.
The results showed that snow in 14 locations contained more than 200 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive cesium, the adult safe limit for drinking water.
A sample of snow from an altitude of 1,300 meters contained 3,000 becquerels of cesium.
Fukushima University Vice-President Akira Watanabe specializes in meteorology and says the data support his team's analysis that radioactive substances scattered at an altitude of 1,300 meters.
He is urging mountain climbers not to drink river water or gather edible wild plants, now that high levels of radioactivity in the snow have been confirmed.
6/1/2011 | French research institute finds high radioactivity
Source: NHK World
Date: Wednesday, June 01, 2011 21:49 +0900 (JST)
A French independent radioactivity watchdog has found radiation in Fukushima Prefecture 60 times higher than the annual reference level for ordinary people recommended by an international commission.
Bruno Chareyron, director of the research institute CRIIRAD, briefed reporters in Tokyo on Wednesday on the results of its survey of the air in Fukushima Prefecture.
The measurements and calculations found an annualized amount of 60 millisieverts at a farm in Iitate Village in the prefecture.
The level is 60 times higher than the annual limit for ordinary people, except for radiation workers, of 1 millisievert, recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection.
The researchers also found high radiation levels in Fukushima City. At some places in the city, the levels of radioactivity were 7 to 9 millisieverts a year.
Chareyron urged Japan to increase the number of monitoring spots so that it can provide the public with detailed information on the negative effects of the radiation caused by the troubled Fukushima Daiichi plant.
The one-week survey from May 24th was conducted in cooperation with a Japanese nongovernmental organization.
Date: Wednesday, June 01, 2011 21:49 +0900 (JST)
Bruno Chareyron, director of the research institute CRIIRAD, briefed reporters in Tokyo on Wednesday on the results of its survey of the air in Fukushima Prefecture.
The measurements and calculations found an annualized amount of 60 millisieverts at a farm in Iitate Village in the prefecture.
The level is 60 times higher than the annual limit for ordinary people, except for radiation workers, of 1 millisievert, recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection.
The researchers also found high radiation levels in Fukushima City. At some places in the city, the levels of radioactivity were 7 to 9 millisieverts a year.
Chareyron urged Japan to increase the number of monitoring spots so that it can provide the public with detailed information on the negative effects of the radiation caused by the troubled Fukushima Daiichi plant.
The one-week survey from May 24th was conducted in cooperation with a Japanese nongovernmental organization.
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