Daily Archives: December 24, 2013
Naoto Kan: “What light can the former PM shed on the future of the anti-nuclear movement in Japan?” — The Foreign Correspondent’s Club of Japan
Former Prime Minister Naoto Kan shares his experience during the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami and the reasons for his opposition to nuclear energy in Japan. He sheds light on the current risks at Fukushima Daiichi and the influence of the Nuclear Village. Kan encourages LDP members to voice their opinions and speak out against Tokyo Electric’s lack of transparency and handling of the situation. He recommends that TEPCO’s nuclear division be split from its other operations and that the company focus on providing other alternative means of electricity to households and businesses.
Japan increases support to Fukushima clean up but TEPCO retains management role — Enformable Nuclear News
” Originally, Tokyo Electric was to be held liable for all costs stemming from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, but in September the Japanese government stepped in and began providing financial help. Now the clean-up and rebuilding of affected areas around the Fukushima Daiichi plant are the responsibility of the Japanese Government, while Tokyo Electric is responsible for compensation claims which are brought forward due to the disaster.
A statement released by the Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters estimated that the decontamination costs near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant will cost at least $24 billion USD.
Over the last two years, criticism of TEPCO’s handling of the disaster from within Japan and abroad, has instigated many calls for the utility to be placed under government control.
Instead, the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe adopted new guidelines this week which increased the amount of interest-free loans which could be provided to TEPCO, up to $90 billion, up from $50 billion.
The central government also pledged to build a facility to store contaminated soil from around the plant with tax money.
To recover some these costs, the Japanese government will sell its shares of the Tokyo Electric Power company.
Essentially, the government is increasing its investment and oversight, but the management and operations will remain in TEPCO’s hands.
Experts however see the move as being made out of the fear to accept legal responsibility for the nuclear disaster and concern for how such actions could affect the nuclear industry as a whole.
TEPCO is facing seemingly insurmountable liabilities while it works to control and clean up the crippled nuclear power facility. It is also facing the compensation of tens of thousands of evacuees and the decontamination of an area nearly the size of Connecticut. ”
US sailors sue TEPCO for radioactive fallout cover-up — Ecological Options Network; New York Post
” US sailors and military personnel are suffering serious health effects as a result of exposure to radioactive fallout during relief efforts in the immediate aftermath of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. Can they sue the nuclear plant’s Japanese operator, TEPCO, in an American jurisdiction for withholding accurate radiation data from US military authorities that might have prevented their exposure?
That’s the case being brought by a growing list of plaintiffs and their attorneys in a San Diego court. The sailors and marines were exposed to radioactive fallout for many days during Navy relief efforts led by the San Diego-based nuclear-powered supercarrier USS Ronald Reagan in the 3/11 triple nuclear meltdown at Fukuhima, Japan following a devastating earthquake and tsunami.
In this video, plaintiffs Lindsay Cooper and Mathew Bradley, together with their attorneys Charles Bonner, Paul Garner and Cabral Bonner report their experiences and lay out their case.
The judge has given them until January 6, 2014 to file a revised version of their complaint. ”
Continue reading about the USS Ronald Reagan sailors and plaintiff Lindsay Cooper on the New York Post.
Japan Safety : Nuclear Energy Updates 