June 11, Saturday

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Please leave a comment at the end! Gabi　


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The fourth month after the shock starts !


three months later -
nothing can erase
these memories





. Remember March 11, 2011, 14:46 　


15,405 people confirmed dead
8,095 people are still missing
about 90,000 still in evacuation centers

The missing will be confirmed dead by today.

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Gabi reports:

It is now three months since the great earthquake, tsunami and reactor crises.

It has been raining very strong last night, the rainy season is still in full swing in Honshu.

Days are getting hotter,
and the debris in Tohoku is sending out more foul smell every day.
We saw a reporter with a huge face mask in the basement of a fish-processing factory. The rotten fish is there now for three months ... and she had to turn away, coghing and almost vomiting because of the stench.

. . . . .

Experts warn that there might still be strong aftershocks of about M7.0, even after three months now.

. . . . . at 7:36
Earthquake M 5.0, off the coast of Miyagi
. . . . . at 15:19
Earthquake M 4.5 off the coast of Ibaraki
. . . . . at 15:33
Earthquake M 4.2 off the coast of Fukushima
. . . . . at 18:05
Earthquake M 4.5 off the coast of Fukushima

. . . . .

Many problems have unfolded :
. Temporary Housing for the Victims

. Reconstruction bill clears lower house


Japanese hold anti-nuclear rallies
They did not shout a slogan (Sprechchor) but each one talked about his own fears and worries.
23,482 people confirmed dead or missing
Candles lit for disaster victims
Kan pledges efforts for speedy clean-up
. Reporting on June 12 .

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Bulletins from NHK Online

source : www3.nhk.or.jp


Saturday, June 11, 2011 07:57
More than 8,000 still missing after quake
The National Police Agency says 8,095 people are still missing three months after the March 11th earthquake and tsunami.
Of the 15,405 people who have been confirmed dead, about 2,000 have not yet been identified. Police say they are attempting to identify the bodies using DNA samples collected from people searching for their family members.
More than 2,000 police officers continue search operations in Miyagi, Iwate, and Fukushima prefectures in northeastern Japan.
Personnel from the Japanese Coast Guard and Self-Defense Forces are also searching local waters for the missing. More than 1,300 divers are taking part in the operations.
. . .
More than 90,000 still in evacuation centers
Three months after the March 11th earthquake and tsunami, more than 90,000 people in Japan are still living in evacuation centers.
The government plans to build a total of 52,000 temporary homes for the evacuees, but only about 28,000 have been completed.
Many evacuees have declined to move into the temporary housing, citing insufficient support services compared to those at shelters.
One of the reasons for the slow progress has been the massive amount of debris that needs to be cleared in the disaster-hit prefectures. Debris removal has not even begun in the evacuation zones near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
The earthquake caused nearly 120,000 people in Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima prefectures to lose their jobs. The number of job offers for residents in the area stands at 49,000.
Children in the disaster-hit area also face serious difficulties. As of Thursday, 201 children in the 3 northeastern prefectures were confirmed to have lost their parents in the quake and tsunami.


Saturday, June 11, 2011 07:57
Many challenges at Fukushima Daiichi nuke plant
Three months after the breakdown at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, there is still a huge number of obstacles to getting the plant under control.
The plant operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, has revealed that fuel meltdowns are likely to have occurred in reactors Number 1, 2, and 3.
TEPCO is cooling the reactors and trying to contain radioactive leakage. It has installed a circulatory cooling system for the spent nuclear fuel pool at reactor No. 2.
But highly radioactive water continues to accumulate in the turbine buildings and underground tunnels because TEPCO is injecting water into the reactors to cool them.
Decontaminating the water is vital for stabilizing the reactors and preventing more radioactive leakage from the plant.
On Friday, TEPCO postponed a test run of a water decontamination system because of a malfunction.
The health and labor ministry says plant workers are getting unhealthy and that at least 12 have been diagnosed with heatstroke.
TEPCO spokesman Junichi Matsumoto told a press conference on Friday that the company will do its utmost to make progress in the difficult work to get the plant under control.


Saturday, June 11, 2011 09:35
NHK poll: 77% don't see progress in reconstruction
More than three quarters of the people responding to an NHK survey say rebuilding in areas hit by the March 11th earthquake and tsunami is not progressing smoothly 3 months after the disaster.
Asked whether reconstruction of their municipalities was going smoothly, 5 percent of the respondents said yes and 15 percent to some extent.
But 29 percent said they haven't seen much progress and 48 percent no progress.
They were also asked what they expect of their municipalities in reconstruction. Respondents were allowed to give multiple answers.
Speedy recovery topped the list at 38 percent. 30 percent said they expect their governments to accept residents' suggestions. Another 30 percent said they want their communities to be restored to the state before the disaster. 28 percent said they expect safety issues to be a priority.
NHK conducted the survey on about 500 people living in evacuation shelters and temporary housing in Iwate, Miyagi, and Fukushima prefectures earlier this month. The 3 prefectures were the hardest hit by the disaster.
Professor Yoshiteru Murosaki of Kwansei Gakuin University says many survivors may not see much progress because they are not part of reconstruction planning.
He urges municipalities to have many people take part in discussions on reconstruction, including survivors.


Saturday, June 11, 2011 12:59
Fishermen remember victims 3 months after disaster
People in the fishing industry have mourned victims of the March 11th disaster at a fishing port in the hard-hit prefecture of Miyagi.
Around 240 fishery traders and fish processing workers gathered at Ishinomaki port on Saturday to mark exactly 3 months since the earthquake and tsunami.
The head of the Ishinomaki fishery reconstruction council called on the gathering to hold a moment of silence for the city, residents, and the fishing industry.
Then they offered silent prayers for the victims of the tsunami.
50 people died or remain missing around the port.
The port facility was damaged and merchandise was swept away by the high waves.
The damage is estimated at 2.5 billion dollars. Work is continuing to dispose of rotted fish and seaweed that is giving off a foul smell.
The fishing cooperative says cleaning up the port will be a step toward rebuilding. It says it will repair freezers and other equipment as part of restoration of port functions as soon as possible.


Saturday, June 11, 2011 12:59
No.2 reactor air filter starts running
The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has begun running air-filtering equipment at the Number 2 reactor building on Saturday to remove airborne radioactive material.
Intense radioactivity and high humidity inside the building have been hampering work to restore the reactor's cooling system.
Humidity inside the reactor building is as high as 99.9 percent due to moisture that is believed to have come from a spent nuclear fuel storage pool and the basement. Workers cannot remain in the building for a long time even with protective gear and masks.
Tokyo Electric Power Company had set up 2 air-filtering units at a building adjacent to the reactor building.
The devices will filter radioactive materials out of air pumped from the reactor building through a duct. The cleaned air will be fed back into the reactor building.
TEPCO says it plans to run the devices for about 3 days and check internal radiation levels before opening up the doors of the reactor building.


Saturday, June 11, 2011 13:20
Kan's advisor: Japan to step up nuclear regulation
An advisor to Prime Minister Naoto Kan says Japan will conduct a major review of its nuclear safety arrangements and study ways to step up nuclear regulation.
Goshi Hosono met the chairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Gregory Jaczko, in Washington on Friday.
Hosono said the Japanese government plans to turn the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency into an independent body. It is now part of the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry.
Hosono told reporters that chairman Jaczko explained to him the US regulator's consolidated authority to oversee all nuclear power plants in the country and manage the safety of radioactive materials.
In a speech in Washington, Hosono said he believes that Japan should handle the disposal of highly radioactive debris and spent nuclear fuel on its own territory.


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kizuna Daruma 復興支援だるま（絆)


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Voices from around


. Daily Radiation Levels - LIST 　

. . . . .

Japan Times :

Novelist Murakami slams nuclear policy
Novelist Haruki Murakami criticizes his country's pursuit of nuclear energy during his acceptance speech at the 2011 International Catalunya Prize ceremony in Barcelona, describing the ongoing crisis at the quake-crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant as "a mistake committed by our very own hands."
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110611a2.html


Shizuoka tells tea retailer to conceal radiation info
Shizuoka Prefecture tells a Tokyo-based mail order company not to say anything on its website about excessive radioactive material being found in tea from the prefecture, the retailer says.
After Radishbo-ya Co. ラディッシュボーヤ made an inquiry to the Shizuoka Prefectural Government about the matter Monday, a prefectural official told the company not to disclose the finding due to fears the message would cause unwarranted harm to Shizuoka tea growers, adding that the prefecture would confirm the finding on its own, according to the retailer.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110611a3.html


Kan to visit disaster zone, solicit opinions
Prime Minister Naoto Kan will make a one-day trip Saturday to an area in Iwate Prefecture hit hard by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Kan's visit to Kamaishi comes in the wake of growing calls both within his ruling Democratic Party of Japan and opposition parties for him to step down as early as this month over his government's alleged mishandling of the disaster's aftermath.
Kan is scheduled to attend a government-sponsored forum in Kamaishi to exchange opinions with representatives from the city and neighboring Otsuchi on measures to improve local residents' lives and rebuilding efforts, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Friday in a news conference.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110611a4.html


Kansai : Kepco seeks 15% power cut;
Osaka governor Hashimoto angry
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110611a7.html


Tepco exposures irk ministry
The labor ministry ordered Tokyo Electric Power Co. on Friday to improve working conditions at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant after two workers were exposed to radiation well above the maximum allowable emergency limit.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110611a9.html


Hong Kong eases Japan travel warning
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110611b2.html


Kesennuma Filipinos closer-knit than ever
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110611f1.html
. . . . Iwate Philippine community in for long haul
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110611f2.html


Toyota expects profit to shrink by over 30%
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nb20110611a1.html

Reactor makers look to green energy amid nuclear allergy
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nb20110611a2.html


Kaieda calls for restarting nuke reactors
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nb20110611a3.html

Pursuing a new energy policy
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/ed20110611a1.html


Used vehicle sales spiked in disaster zone
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nb20110611a4.html

Beer shipments suffer dismal May
Total shipments of beer and beerlike drinks dived 8.6 percent in May from a year earlier to 32.58 million cases, a record low for the month, data by five major brewers showed Friday.The number also signified the first fall in two months.
Brewers blamed the drop on this year's earlier than usual rainy season and the continuing trend of consumers eating out less following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nb20110611a7.html


Group on a mission to deliver fresh fruit to disaster-zone shelters
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/fl20110611a2.html

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Back from the dead:
Astonishing pictures show how Japan is recovering
just three months after tsunami



source : www.dailymail.co.uk


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SHAKEN: Stories for Japan

One hundred percent of the royalties from this new collection of original stories will go directly to the 2011 Japan Relief Fund administered by the Japan America Society of Southern California. EVERY PENNY the Fund receives will go directly to northern Japan, to rebuild shattered communities, reunite families, help men, women, and children to get on with their lives despite dreadful loss, and cope with the continuing threat of nuclear contamination.
...
Not all the stories are mysteries; the consensus was simply that all writers should submit something that touches on Japan.
Linking the stories are haiku by the 17th-century master Basho, translated by Jane Reichhold, and Issa, translated by David Lanoue. Both translators donated their work, as did the cover designer, writer Gar Anthony Haywood, and the e-book producer, Kimberly Hitchens.
source : /www.amazon.com


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Daruma from Takasaki 高崎　復興祈願 だるま

Print one out and hang it in your prayer corner!

ganbaro !! Nihon
ガンバロー　日本




がんばろう　日本　Ganbaro Nippon !




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[ . BACK to DARUMA　MUSEUM　TOP . ]

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June 10, Friday

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I love Japan.

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Gabi reports:

Friday March 11 ... now three months back in memory.


Finally the children of Fukushima city will get dosimeters!
. . see NHK below

And due to the stop of power plants, even in Kansai the electricity will have to be saved.
. . see below

. . . . .

A farmer had planted some vegetables in the fields that have been inundated by the tsunami. Officially, this land had been desalienated and ready for this year's crops.
After a week, he looked at his poor vegetables and remarked "See, they are not there, there should be weeds all around the vegetable plants, but not a single weed coming out of this dead earth!" He crumbled a fistful of the dead earth in his hands, almost like sand crumbling ...
"My future as a vegetable farmer is lost to the tsunami!"
see also below NHK bulletins



quote from March 26, 2011
Japan Tsunami Devastated Farmland,
Could Take Year To Recover
The rice paddies on the outskirts of this tsunami-hit city are ankle-deep in a black, salty sludge. Crumpled cars and uprooted trees lie scattered across them.
... A key factor for restauration will be how long it takes for the salt to wash out from the fields, some still flooded with seawater.
source : www.huffingtonpost.com


even the weeds
refuse to grow -
fields lost to tsunami

. . . . .

In some regions, the prefabricated homes are ready, but almost 30% are empty. People can not move in, because they do not have the money to pay for the cost of lifeline and food themselves. They have no job. There is no supermarket near by and they have to use a rental car to carry things, another big cost factor. So they prefere to stay in shelters, where they get three hot meals for free.
The government has no plans yet as to how to support these families.



sick at heart -
the farmer's nightmare wanders
over his ruined field

. Larry Bole, Happy Haiku Forum



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Bulletins from NHK Online
source : www3.nhk.or.jp

Friday, June 10, 2011 06:45
JA asks government to buy affected land
Japan's Central Union of Agricultural Cooperatives requested that the government buy all disaster-affected farmland and have the farmers buy back the cultivatable land after the government restores it.
The union, known as JA, submitted the request concerning agricultural recovery in the devastated area to the government on Thursday.
The statement says the government should temporarily take all affected farmland. It also says the government should restore the land so that the farmers can buy back the cultivatable areas in future.
It asks the government to set up a new institution which will adjust ownership of the land and consolidate it so that farmers can efficiently cultivate it.
The executive director of JA, Shigeo Fuji, said in a news conference that the government should outline its policy as soon as possible since farmers are anxious about their future.


Friday, June 10, 2011 06:45
Cesium detected in Shizuoka tea
Radioactive cesium exceeding the legal limit was detected in tea made in a factory in Shizuoka City, more than 300 kilometers away from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Shizuoka Prefecture is one of the most famous tea producing areas in Japan.
A tea distributor in Tokyo reported to the prefecture that it detected high levels of radioactivity in the tea shipped from the city. The prefectural government confirmed the contamination on Thursday, detecting 679 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive cesium. The legal limit is 500 becquerels.
The prefecture ordered the factory to refrain from shipping out the product.
After the accident at the Fukushima nuclear power plant, radioactive contamination of tea leaves and processed tea has been found over a wide area around Tokyo.
Starting last month in Shizuoka Prefecture radioactive cesium has been detected in tea leaves and processed tea from many production areas, including Shizuoka city, up to the level of about 460 becquerels per kilogram. This is the first time that cesium beyond the legal limit was found in tea leaves picked in the prefecture.


Friday, June 10, 2011 07:12
US trade deficit drops as Japanese imports tumble
The US trade deficit in April narrowed as imports from Japan tumbled due to the March 11th disaster.
The Commerce Department announced on Thursday the trade deficit in April was about 44 billion dollars, down 6.7 percent from the previous month. ...


Friday, June 10, 2011 09:07
Children in Fukushima to be given dosimeters
A city 60 kilometers away from the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant has decided to distribute dosimeters to all kindergarteners and school children to monitor their radiation exposure.
Voices of parents expressing concern about their children's health due to the radioactive contamination are growing louder.
Shoji Nishida 西田昌司, the mayor of Date City, Fukushima Prefecture, announced the plan on Thursday.
Date City is now outside the evacuation zone but earlier this month the estimated radiation levels at 3 locations topped the evacuation level of 20 millisieverts per year.
This level is 20 times higher than the long-term annual reference level for ordinary people recommended by the International Commission on Radiological Protection.
The city has allocated about 300,000 dollars to give dosimeters to about 8,000 children at local kindergartens, day-care centers, elementary and junior high schools.
Mayor Nishida said that the city decided to take the broad scale measurements as parents are deeply concerned about their children's radioactive exposure.


Friday, June 10, 2011 12:09
TEPCO testing water treatment system
Tokyo Electric Power Company is conducting a test-run of a new system to treat the highly radioactive water that is flooding facilities at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
On Friday, the first day of the test-run, relatively low-level radioactive water will be sent into a device designed to remove cesium using zeolite, in an attempt to determine if it works without problems.
The system also includes equipment that settles radioactive substances using special chemicals.
TEPCO expects the concentration of radioactive material in the water to be reduced to one-thousandth to one-ten-thousandth of the current level. Oil and salt will be also removed through the process.
Each component of the system will be tested over a period of around one week.
More than 105,000 tons of highly radioactive water has accumulated on the plant's premises. The amount is growing by 500 tons a day as fresh water is injected into troubled reactors to try to cool them down.
The system is believed to hold the key to TEPCO's efforts to stabilize the plant, amid growing fears that the contaminated water could start overflowing in late June.
The company wants to treat 1,200 tons of highly contaminated water daily and process a total of 250,000 tons over a year. It is aiming to recycle the treated water and use it to cool the reactors.
There are concerns, however, that some of the devices used in the new system may not meet government standards for earthquake resistance.
But the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says that, given the urgency of the situation, there is no choice but to use equipment designed for general industrial use.


Friday, June 10, 2011 13:12
Kansai Power seeks summer conservation
Kansai Electric Power Company, headquartered in the western city of Osaka, is asking its users to cut their electricity use this summer by 15 percent compared with the peak hours of last summer.
The company's president, Makoto Yagi 八木誠, unveiled the plan to reporters on Friday.
On weekdays from July 1st to September 22nd, household and corporate users will be asked to reduce their power consumption between 9 AM and 8 PM.
The utility will not impose power usage restrictions. Instead, it will ask companies to shift operations at their factories to weekends and nights. It will also call on households to set their air-conditioners at a higher temperature.
Power shortages are expected this summer because the utility's nuclear power plants remain stalled in the wake of the March accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
Yagi says the purpose of the company's request is to avoid possible blackouts. He adds that it will do all it can to restart its nuclear plants.
Tokyo and Tohoku electric power companies have already asked their users to conserve power, with a usage reduction target of 15 percent.


Friday, June 10, 2011 13:12
UN chief to visit disaster-hit areas in August
UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon says he hopes to visit northeastern Japan in August to see the regions devastated by the March 11th quake and tsunami.
Ban was speaking on Thursday at a meeting in New York sponsored by the Japanese government. Japan arranged the gathering to show its gratitude to countries and organizations for their help in the disaster.
The UN chief said he wanted to see the situation in the affected areas and discuss possible assistance.


Friday, June 10, 2011 14:12
High-temperature warnings to prevent heatstroke
Japanese weather officials will begin issuing high-temperature advisories from mid-July to prevent heatstroke.
The Meteorological Agency decided to take the step as the power shortages that followed the Fukushima nuclear plant accident have increased the risk of people developing heatstroke this summer.
The high-temperature advisories will be issued for all areas of Japan, except for Hokkaido and Okinawa, where power shortages are not expected. They will be issued for each prefecture and region when the temperatures for the next 2 days are forecast to be 35 degrees Celsius or higher.
In Miyagi and Aomori prefectures, advisories will be issued if temperatures are forecast to rise beyond 33 degrees, because temperatures in these 2 prefectures are usually lower than in other parts of Japan.
The Environment Ministry says the number of heatstroke cases increases when the temperature is above 30 degrees. It says the health risk becomes more severe when the temperature rises above 35 degrees. Last summer, more than 1,600 people died of heatstroke in Japan between July and September.
When issuing advisories, the Meteorological Agency will also caution people to take enough water and salt and to use air-conditioning properly. The head of the Agency's Office of Weather Disaster Prevention, Hiroyuki Uchida, says temperatures usually rise rapidly after the rainy season. He says that when an advisory is issued, room temperatures need to be lowered with air-conditioners and special care should be taken for the elderly.


Friday, June 10, 2011 14:19
Murakami: Japan should have opposed nuclear power
Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami　　村上春樹　said in his acceptance speech for a Catalonian prize that Japan should have continued opposing nuclear power.
... The local media report that Murakami touched on the subject of the ongoing situation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant that followed the March 11th earthquake and tsunami. He described the accident as Japan's second nuclear tragedy, in an apparent reference to the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
He said that this time the Japanese people destroyed their lives on their own.
Murakami said Japan will move toward restoration. He also hinted at donating the prize money, amounting to about 116,000 dollars, to support disaster survivors.


Friday, June 10, 2011 16:07
Reconstruction bill clears lower house
Japan's lower house has passed a bill for rebuilding areas of eastern Japan stricken by the March 11th earthquake and tsunami.
The passage came on Friday with support from the main governing party, the Democrats, and the largest opposition party, the Liberal Democrats. The bill was sent to the upper house for debate.
The legislation outlines basic policies for reconstruction. It proposes setting up a government body for the reconstruction and issuing special bonds to fund the effort. It would designate the disaster-hit regions as special zones eligible for preferential rules to assist their recovery.
Two opposition parties, the Communists and Your Party, opposed the bill, saying it might lead to tax increases aimed at funding the reconstruction.
The Democrat-led government and the Liberal Democratic Party had each submitted their own bills to a lower house committee debating ways to rebuild the devastated regions. However, a compromise bill was submitted by the committee chairman after they agreed to put aside their differences to focus on the reconstruction effort and retracted their bills.
The lower house passed the reconstruction bill 3 months after the disaster. The bill is likely to be enacted in about a week. In the 1995 earthquake that hit Kobe and the surrounding areas, similar legislation was enacted about a month later.
The passage of the bill comes at a time when Prime Minister Naoto Kan has been under increased pressure to resign amid growing criticism from the opposition and his own Democratic Party over his handling of the disaster and the Fukushima nuclear accident.


Friday, June 10, 2011 19:45
Fukushima workers' exposure tops 650mSV
Detailed tests have found that 2 workers who were exposed to radiation at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant received doses of more than twice the government-mandated emergency limit.
The men in their 30s and 40s were each found in early June to have been exposed to over 250 millisieverts -- the new higher limit for exposure that the government introduced after problems began at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.
The National Institute of Radiological Sciences conducted 2 more rounds of detailed tests to measure the amount of radioactive iodine and cesium the 2 men could have inhaled.
After analyzing the men's work shifts since the March 11th disaster, the Institute concluded that the man in his 30s was exposed to 678 millisieverts, and the man in his 40s, 643 millisieverts. Internal exposure accounted for more than 80 percent of the figures.
The 2 men were on duty in the central control rooms of reactors No.3 and No.4. They have told the health and labor ministry that they don't remember whether they wore protective masks or not when a hydrogen explosion occurred at the No.1 reactor on March 12th.
The Institute said separately that it is conducting detailed tests on another Fukushima worker in his 50s, who could have received a radiation dose above the emergency limit.
.
Friday, June 10, 2011 20:23
Radiation in No. 3 reactor too high for work
The operator of the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant says radiation levels in one of the reactor buildings remain too high for workers to do their jobs.
Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, sent 9 workers into the No.3 reactor building for about 20 minutes on Thursday, in a bid to start stabilizing the reactor.
The utility plans to inject nitrogen gas into the containment vessel to prevent accumulated hydrogen from causing an explosion. It also intends to install a system to cool the reactor with circulating water.
The workers withdrew after measuring radiation of 100 millisieverts per hour near the reactor's containment vessel.
TEPCO says it intended to limit the workers' exposure to below 5 millisieverts per hour. But as all 9 received higher doses, it has suspended work while considering a course of action.
.
Friday, June 10, 2011 19:45
TEPCO to install cooling system at No. 4 reactor
The operator of the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant is preparing to install a circulatory cooling system for a spent nuclear fuel pool in the plant's Number 4 reactor building.
The Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, has been using a vehicle to try to cool the pool, which contains 1,535 fuel rods, the most among the plant's 6 reactors. The rods continue to generate high heat, raising temperatures in the pool above 80 degrees Celsius.
TEPCO plans to start operating the cooling system as early as July to pump water out of the pool to a heat exchanger and return the water to the pool as coolant.
On Friday, workers entered the 4th floor of the building for the first time since a hydrogen blast on March 15th severely destroyed the building and damaged water pipes connected to the pool.
The workers checked the pipes and monitored radiation levels. Data on these matters is to be used to study routes for injecting water into the pool.
TEPCO began operating a similar circulatory cooling system at the plant's Number 2 reactor on May 31st.


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Voices from around


. Daily Radiation Levels . 　

. . . . .

Japan Times :

Radioactive strontium detected 62 km from Fukushima No. 1 plant
Minute amounts of radioactive strontium from a crippled nuclear power plant have been detected in soil at 11 places in Fukushima Prefecture, including the capital, 62 km away.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110610a2.html


Quake-tsunami orphans bond with New York terrorism victims
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110610a5.html

Widen evacuation zone for children, pregnant women:
Greenpeace chief
The government should consider evacuating children and pregnant women from a wider area around the Fukushima No. 1 power plant because radiation levels remain high even outside the 20-km no-go zone, Kumi Naidoo, executive director of Greenpeace International, said Thursday in Tokyo.
... During the news conference, Jan Beranek, an expert on radiology from Greenpeace International who joined Naidoo's trip to Fukushima, recommended that the government widen the evacuation zone to at least 60 or 70 km from the power plant.
... Even some nursery schools that have already undergone a decontamination process had a relatively high reading of 0.5 microsievert per hour, he said. That would translate into an annual exposure of 5 millisieverts, which was the evacuation threshold for Chernobyl, Beranek said.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110610a6.html


Fishermen take matters into own hands
Debate rages over whether to privatize local fisheries
The fine drizzle falling on the picturesque fishing village of Kyubun, Miyagi Prefecture, is dampening Toshikazu Takahashi's normally sunny disposition.
... "We have waited and waited but neither the central nor the prefectural government will do anything, so we've decided to get on with it ourselves," said Takahashi, 54, who lives in a tent erected on the bare foundations of his home together with his wife, Teruyo, mother, Mitsuko, and their poodle, Denmaru.
"The fishermen here want to get working as soon as possible. We have no boats, no nets, no home, but we love the sea. If you don't love the sea, you can't be a fisherman."
... "We are all pulling together to get things back on track," said another Kyubun fisherman, 27-year-old Yu Ando, adding that the income loss inflicted on his 250-strong community by the twin disasters is between ¥300 million and ¥400 million. "Now we are rescuing anything that can be reused. We have to start somewhere."
... He has since hauled back to sea four fishing boats that survived the tsunami, and fishermen in his team are now casting nets for cod, plaice and octopus. With no fish market or refrigeration equipment, data on their catch are sent out in real time to customers via on-board computers and orders collected as the day's haul is unloaded at the dock.
... At Tokyo's Tsukiji market, wholesalers report that demand for produce from Tohoku and most parts of the nation from overseas has slumped dramatically since the nuclear accident.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110610f2.html
(We saw some fishing ground, taken with an underwater camera. All is still full of debris and there is no way to get the rafters for oysters or clams into this dirty, muddy water.)


Crisis-linked supply delays hurt car sales
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nb20110610a2.html


Power shortages seen expanding to Kansai
The Fukushima nuclear crisis will extend a power shortage beyond Tokyo as local authorities resist starting idle reactors around Japan until safety guidelines are set in the wake of the worst atomic disaster since Chernobyl.
Kansai, the nation's second-largest industrial region and home to Panasonic Corp. and Nintendo Co., sources about 55 percent of its energy from atomic plants in Fukui, north of Osaka. Delays mean clients of Kansai Electric Power Co. may be asked to cut power use by 10 percent this summer, Fukui Gov. Issei Nishikawa said in an interview. ...
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110610n1.html


Energy draft misses the point
... However, a draft of a new energy policy written by the government's national strategy bureau still lists nuclear power as a key part of Japan's energy strategy. It fails to mention how the nation should decrease its reliance on nuclear power or even whether the need to reduce this dependency is an issue.
The authors of the draft seem to ignore the fact that the Fukushima crisis has shown the vulnerability of nuclear power plants built in earthquake-prone Japan and that the technology to safely dispose of high-radiation spent nuclear fuel has not yet been developed.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/ed20110610a1.html


Scrutinizing Fukushima crisis
The government on Tuesday released a report on the accidents at Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant. Submitted to the International Atomic Energy Agency, the report describes 28 lessons and countermeasures.
The government and the power industry should act quickly on recommendations derived from the report. The report, though, should not be used as an excuse to continue Japan's relatively high dependency on nuclear power.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/ed20110610a2.html

. . . . . . . . . .

nikoniko doga life videos
NICO NICO DOUGA ニコニコ動画
ニコニコニュース​東京電力
Sometimes with life press conferences of TEPCO

source : ニコニコニュース

. . . . .


自然エネルギーに関する
「総理・有識者オープン懇談会」について
このたび、菅直人内閣総理大臣に対して、下記の有識者の方から、自然エネルギーの本格的普及に関する要望を頂きました。
source : www.kantei.go.jp

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from the NHK haiku program
. source: 　maruta.be


春月や 灯ることなき震災地
shungetsu ya tomoru koto naki shinsaichi

spring moon -
there is no lamplight
in the devastated village

Ozawa Koyo (Kooyoo)　小澤光洋
Looking at a village devastated from the tsunami, the author is feeling the helplessness of human beings in this situation.

. . . . .


地震過ぎて一湾の輝り蝶生る
nai sugite ichiwan no teri cho umaru

after the earthquake
the bay is glistening quietly -
a butterfly is born


Kagiwada Yuuko 鍵和田秞子
Two weeks after the earthquake.

. . . . .




蝶に問う 無事に越えたか黒い波
choo ni tou buji ni koeta ka kuroi nami

I ask the butterfly:
did you cross it safely,
this black wave?

Ishida Ira 石田衣良 (1960 - )


. . . . .


大揺れの地に黄水仙ぞくぞくと
ooyure no chi ni kizuisen zokuzoku to

on the badly shaken ground
yellow narcissus
one after the other

Matsumoto Keiko　松本佳子 from Miyagi




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June 9, Thursday

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Gabi reports:

. . . . . at 7:11
Earthquake M 5.1, off the coast of Iwate

. . . . . at 19:38
Earthquake M 5.7, off the coast of Ibaraki


and the rainy season ended today in Okinawa, much earlier than usual.

. . . . .

On June 7 I reported about the lack of electric fans in the Tohoku shelters and homes. A friend even volunteered to send some from America!
. my facebook friends commenting .
This morning we heard on the local news that the governor of Okayama prefecture, Ishii san 岡山県知事 石井正弘, will send about 200 fans to Tohoku (and maybe even go deliver them himself).
I am sure other people in other parts of Japan will send fans too.

. . . . .

Besieged prime minister Kan marks milestone:
one year in office
. . . . . and
Groundless call for coalition
Kan expresses desire to stay on through August
. The Political Situation .

. . . . .

Robots for Fukushima
Watching the news, one wonders about the research and development of robots in Japan and why it needed to get PackBot from the USA?
"The PackBot is mass-produced for assignment to war-ravaged areas. There are only a few dozen trial Japanese robot models. Their functions are fundamentally different."
"While the state emphasizes the safety of nuclear plants to nearby residents, it does not encourage research into potential major accidents," he said.
A high-ranking ministry official, who declined to be named, said Tepco's influence in government circles has made it taboo to question its decisions.
... Other experts noted there is no market for robots that could aid in disaster prevention at nuclear plants because utilities have had no intention of buying them from the get-go.
source : Japan Times

. . . . .

The distribution of support money is still a problem.
There are families that did not loose the home to the tsunami, just a few meters on high ground, but they lost all the equipment for fishing or farming of oysters, clams or awabi. So now the father is out of work since march 11 and has no hope (and money) for the future to bring the business back to life. Yet these families do not get any support money from the municipality, since, after all, they still have their own roof over their head. In the devastated village there is no new job to get. What shall they do?

. . . . .

There are not enough doctors in the region, and some are there but still lack equipment. Many of the bedridden elderly are having a hard time getting proper care.
Some of the electric equipment did not work right after the tsunami and their dysfunctioning caused bed sores and other injuries to the bedridden.
. . . . . another problem
Two large hospitals in the 20 to 30 km evacuation zone around Fukushima are having problems. Many people from Soma town are coming back and hospitals were not allowed to treat them. Some do not have the personel any more anyway, but in others the doctors are still there. Now on a special permit from the Fukushima goverment, they can admit 5 patients per day and have each one stay a maximum of 72 hours (three days). Then patients have to be re-located to hospitals outside of the zone or go home.
But long-term patients complain, for example, the cancer treatment of the elderly can not be continued in these circumstances and they feel they are left out there in the evacuation shelters to die . . .
Others in the evacuation zone are determined to stay, the elderly are willing to take the risk of cancer, since they are going to die anyway and want to die "at home".


Patch Adams, the Hospital Clown, is in Japan to cheer up the people.
パッチ・アダムス　すまいるバトン　ＩＮ　ニッポン

He started his tour in Hibiya Koen park in Tokyo, and will travel to Nagoya.
He is accompanied by many young Japanese "hospital clowns".
He will be in Japan for 4 days to hold workshops and parades.
source : yuimed.com/patchadams

We have also seen the Japanese hospital clowns in the hospitals of Tohoku, trying to cheer up the children and their caregivers.


a smiling clown
can change the world -
children in Tohoku

. . . . .

International media are musing about a meltthrough af Fukushima, but the news has been around here since May 19 in Japan.

quote
Thursday, June 09, 2011 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
Worse than meltdown, government report says devastating 'melt-through' has occurred at Fukushima;
Official suggests Japan could become 'uninhabitable'
Recent reports confirming that Reactors 1, 2, and 3 of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility completely melted just hours after the devastating earthquake and tsunami hit the area on March 11 (.) have been trumped by even worse news that those same reactors have all likely "melted through," a situation that according to Japan's Daily Yomiuri DY is "the worst possibility in a nuclear accident."
And senior political official Ichiro Ozawa suggested in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that the Fukushima situation could make the entire country of Japan "unlivable."
... The report suggesting that melt-throughs have already occurred, which is set to be submitted to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is the "first official recognition" of this dire situation, according to DY. It also confirms early suspicions that such a scenario had been underway all along, as later reports confirmed that the epic disaster at the reactors had produced holes in come of the plant's core containment vessels, and that radioactive water, and possibly even fuel, were leaking into the lower vessels.
source : www.naturalnews.com

Japanese news tell us, whatever the name of the game, the situation has not changed much since March 12 ... and radioactivity levels are falling in all parts of Japan, see my daily report on the levels.
Ozawa is a political problem, using anything for his political career.


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Bulletins from NHK Online
source : www3.nhk.or.jp


Thursday, June 09, 2011 01:50
Fukushima doctor shortage
Fukushima Medical University is launching an intern system for young doctors to work in quake-hit areas while training in radio-therapeutics.
The move is part of efforts to deal with acute shortages of doctors in the prefecture as a result of the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant.
The Medical Association of Fukushima Prefecture says many doctors have left to work elsewhere since losing their workplaces in the wake of the March 11th earthquake and ensuing nuclear crisis.
The new intern system, set up with help from the Association, targets young doctors who have been practicing for 3 to 5 years and allows them to work at 7 Fukushima hospitals for up to 2 months, while attending radio-therapeutics classes at the university.
The doctors will provide medical services for residents from the exclusion zone when they visit their homes.
They will also provide consultations to people concerned about the impact of radiation from the power plant.
Associate Professor Koji Otani of the university says medical officials in the affected areas are obliged to contribute to the development of medicine in emergencies by sharing their experiences of the disaster with younger doctors. He adds such efforts will also help improve hospitals in the prefecture now concentrating on treating quake survivors.
The university plans to begin accepting applications by the end of this month, with the aim of selecting about 100 doctors per year.


Thursday, June 09, 2011 06:02
IAEA to ask Japan for transparent nuclear report
NHK has learned that the International Atomic Energy Agency will ask Japan to provide a more transparent report on the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant.
NHK obtained the draft of a statement what will be announced at a meeting of ministers from IAEA member nations, scheduled to open on June 20th.
The 4-page draft calls on Japan to accurately report the nuclear crisis and share its assessment with the world so that it can learn from the accident.
It also calls on the UN nuclear watchdog to draw up concrete plans based on the ministerial debate to create international arrangements to promote the safety of nuclear power.
The draft also takes the different energy policies among the member nations into consideration. It notes that some countries have scrapped their reactors following the accident in Japan, while others are continuing to use nuclear power to meet energy demands.
The member nations will work out a statement based on the draft at the upcoming ministerial meeting after holding working-level discussions.

Thursday, June 09, 2011 06:06
Japan to brief US, Britain, France on crisis
Japan plans to send an official to the United Sates, Britain and France to brief them about its report on the nuclear crisis in Fukushima, ahead of an upcoming ministerial meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The prime minister's advisor Goshi Hosono will leave for a one-week tour of the 3 countries on Thursday.
Hosono was in charge of compiling the government report, which will be presented to a meeting of nuclear energy ministers from IAEA member nations that opens in Vienna on June 20th.
The report admits that there was ambiguity in responsibility-taking over the crisis because of a number of separate government entities existing to oversee the safety of nuclear power generation.
The report says the government needs to make a drastic review of its nuclear safety arrangements and make the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, now operating under the industry ministry, into an independent regulator.
During the tour, Hosono hopes to seek the understanding of the three governments on Japan's efforts to address the crisis. He will also thank the three nations on behalf of the government for their cooperation in seeking to get the crisis under control including sending experts to Japan.


Thursday, June 09, 2011 06:02
Survey: strontium widespread in Fukushima
Soil samples from around Fukushima Prefecture have revealed concentrations of radioactive strontium.
Japan's science ministry conducted a survey for radioactive substances at 11 locations in 10 municipalities from late March to mid-May.
It says strontium-90 was detected in all 11 locations.
In Namie Town, the reading stood at 250 becquerels per kilogram of soil, while in Iitate Village the reading was 120 becquerels per kilogram. The readings in the other locations were between 2 and 18 becquerels.
Strontium-90 is generated during the fission of uranium in fuel rods in reactors.
With a comparatively long half-life of 29 years, the radioactive substance poses a risk of accumulating in the bones if inhaled, because its properties are similar to those of calcium. If this happens, it could cause cancer.
The ministry says the survey revealed that strontium was detected even in the city of Fukushima about 60 kilometers from the plant, suggesting wide-spread contamination.
It says higher doses of strontium were spread northwestward from the plant, along with other radioactive substances, because of the prevailing winds.

The Nuclear Safety Commission says the detected doses of strontium were minimal, compared with those of cesium found in the region. It says the substance does not pose any immediate health threat.
Doctor Osamu Saito is a radiation expert at a hospital in Fukushima City. He says even though only small quantities of strontium-90 were detected in the survey, it still poses a high health risk because it can accumulate in the bones.
He is urging the government to increase the number of observation points throughout the prefecture, so as to help ease public anxiety.
The ministry says it is considering taking samples from additional locations in the next survey.


Thursday, June 09, 2011 06:02
Efforts to delay radioactive water leaks
Tokyo Electric Power Company continues to struggle to prevent possible leaks of highly-radioactive water that is accumulating at its troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
TEPCO plans to move an additional 2,700 tons of highly-contaminated water from the reactor buildings to an adjacent waste processing facility.
The move is an attempt to postpone by 5 days water overflowing from a tunnel outside Reactor 2. This could occur on June 20th if a new water-decontaminating system is not installed and in operation by next Wednesday.
The utility says it has already obtained the consent of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency for the plan.
The Agency says the measure is appropriate since there is no risk of the water leaking outside the waste facility.
More than 105,000 tons of highly radioactive water is believed to have accumulated in the reactor and turbine buildings.
The company says the amount is increasing by more than 500 tons daily as fresh water continues to be injected into the reactors in an attempt to lower their temperatures.
The utility says 14,200 tons of contaminated water will be stored 1.4 meters deep in the basement of the facility. After being decontaminated, the operator plans to use the water in the reactors as a coolant.
The company says it is determined to begin operating the water-decontaminating system by June 25th at the latest.
. . . . and
Leaked oil found in seawater near Fukushima Daini
Tokyo Electric Power Company says oil has leaked into the sea from another suspended nuclear power plant in Fukushima. The utility sees the oil leaked from a transformer at the plant after the March 11th earthquake.
TEPCO employees found the leaked oil in seawater near the water outlets of Reactors 3 and 4 at the Fukushima Daini power plant. The plant is about 10 kilometers south of Tepco's crippled Daiichi nuclear complex.
The utility says the oil is likely to have leaked from a transformer used to supply power to the plant from the outside grid. The oil is believed to have accumulated in an emergency water tank in the basement.
It says the water could have overflowed into the sea through rainwater pipes connected to the tank while workers drained the tank on Wednesday to inspect it.
The utility says it will retrieve the oil and investigate the cause of the leakage. It adds that the leaked oil contains no radioactive substances.


Thursday, June 09, 2011 10:54
Nuclear energy officials call for safety tests
Nuclear safety officials from more than 30 countries have agreed on the need for safety tests on all nuclear power plants currently in operation around the world.
The officials attended a meeting in Paris on Wednesday hosted by the Nuclear Energy Agency, a specialized body within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.
They agreed that each country's safety regulators should conduct safety inspections on nuclear plants to prevent accidents such as the one in Fukushima.
They said the tests should include a review of preparedness against earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters, as well as measures to deal with a possible loss of emergency power. The participants also agreed to review the International Nuclear Event Scale used to assess nuclear accidents.
This comes after the decision by Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency to raise the Fukushima accident to the top level of 7 -- equivalent to Chernobyl -- triggered confusion among residents and foreign governments.


Thursday, June 09, 2011 11:58
Japan's Jan-March GDP revised upward
Japan has revised slightly upward its economic growth rate for January to March 2011. Annualized real GDP comes in at minus 3.5 percent, up 0.2 percentage points from the preliminary figure last month.
The Cabinet Office announced on Thursday that GDP dropped 0.9 percent in the period through March from the previous quarter. That's the second consecutive quarter of negative growth...
..... The Cabinet Office says that despite the minor upward revision, the data confirmed major declines in personal spending and corporate capital investment after the March 11th disaster.


Thursday, June 09, 2011 12:51
TEPCO tests filters to decontaminate water
Tokyo Electric Power Company began testing water filtering devices at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to decontaminate highly radioactive wastewater on Thursday.
The utility put up fences around water intakes outside reactors 2 and 3 to prevent leaked wastewater from spreading out to sea. But radioactive cesium is being found outside the fences, in amounts above government-set safety levels.
The utility has installed two filtering devices near the reactors' water intakes.
The filters are made of zeolite, which absorbs radioactive cesium.
After a test-run, Tokyo Electric plans to filter a maximum 30 tons of contaminated water per hour from inside the fence and to discharge the decontaminated water into the sea.
and ... Thursday, June 09, 2011 19:26
TEPCO to use filters at plant
The operator of the damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant has briefed Japan's nuclear regulator on equipment for removing highly radioactive substances in water at the facility.
The Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, reported on the functions of the US and French devices to the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency on Thursday, a week before the firm plans to start using the equipment.
TEPCO says it will separate oil from contaminated water before transferring it to US-made equipment that absorbs radioactive cesium using minerals including zeolite. The water is then to be transferred to French-made equipment that absorbs radioactive substances using chemicals.
The company says the devices will reduce the concentration of radioactive substances in the water to one-thousandth to one-ten-thousandth of the current level.
TEPCO plans to remove salt from the decontaminated water before storing it in tanks to use it to cool the plant's reactors.
More than 105,000 tons of water contaminated with highly radioactive substances has accumulated in the basements of the plant's reactor and turbine buildings, hampering efforts to bring the plant under control.
About 500 tons of such water is accumulating daily amid continued injections of fresh water into the reactors to cool them. TEPCO plans to decontaminate 1,200 tons of such water daily.
The firm plans to obtain the consent of the agency and test the devices for about a week before starting their operation around next Wednesday.
TEPCO says it will use facilities at the plant to store highly radioactive waste to be produced in the filtering process. But the firm has not decided how to decontaminate the waste.



Thursday, June 09, 2011 12:52
Nuclear evacuation being considered for more areas
The Japanese government says it will quickly decide on whether to evacuate more people from areas around the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant which have radiation levels exceeding the state limit.
This comes after it was found that accumulative radiation exposure levels in parts of Date and Mimanisoma cities exceed the 20 millisieverts per year limit set by the government. The areas are outside the current evacuation zone.
Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Tetsuro Fukuyama 福山哲郎 met with Minamisoma Mayor Katsunobu Sakurai at the prime minister's office on Thursday to discuss the situation.
After the meeting, Sakurai told reporters that residents are voicing concern and some want to evacuate. He said he asked the government to carefully consider the residents' wishes when deciding about evacuation.
Fukuyama told reporters that the government wants to quickly reach a decision after discussions with the 2 cities. He added the government wants to be on the cautious side in protecting the health of the residents.


Thursday, June 09, 2011 14:57
Kids present SDF members handmade medals
Children in disaster-hit Miyagi Prefecture have shown their gratitude to Self-Defense Force personnel on a relief mission by awarding them handmade medals.
About 50 children at a daycare center in the city of Tagajo visited a bathing facility run by an SDF unit on Thursday, and presented a medal with a thank-you message to each of the personnel.
The children sang songs and had their photos taken with the SDF members. One member said he felt rewarded for his efforts.
Around 69,000 SDF members are searching for the missing and assisting survivors in the quake-and-tsunami hit prefectures of Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima.
. . . CLICK here for Photos of rescue work !


Thursday, June 09, 2011 18:53
Saga Gov. noncommittal about reactor resumption
The governor of Saga Prefecture has ducked questions on whether he supports or rejects the restarting of nuclear reactors in his constituency.
All eyes are on Yasushi Furukawa as the central government tries to resume operations of 2 reactors at the Genkai plant. The reactors were off-line for regular safety checks at the time of the March disaster, and have been suspended since.
On Thursday, Governor Furukawa met with visiting Industry Ministry officials who assured him that unlike the damaged Fukushima Daiichi plant, the Genkai plant has been strengthened to withstand tsunami.
Governor Furukawa said that in making a decision, nuclear safety takes precedence over the national need to generate electricity.
The governor also said he will analyze technical data in consultation with specialists.
However, the mayor of Genkai town has indicated he wants the restarting of the reactors in his town.
On Thursday, Mayor Hideo Kishimoto visited the power plant and inspected an emergency mobile generator.
Kishimoto said he felt all safety measures for an emergency have been taken.
Japan has 54 nuclear reactors, but 35 are currently off line. Genkai is the first community host to agree to a resumption of operations.
玄海原発


Thursday, June 09, 2011 19:15
TEPCO plans for possible rolling blackouts
Tokyo Electric Power Company has released a plan to conduct rolling blackouts this summer if energy saving measures alone are not enough to prevent a sudden, total blackout.
The contingency plan announced on Thursday divides the 9 prefectures being served by the utility into five groups. Each group would experience one 2-hour blackout a day.
When TEPCO conducted similar planned outages in the aftermath of the March 11th disaster, consumers complained since some groups were subjected to blackouts twice a day, each lasting about 3 hours.
The company says the summer plan would involve more than 16 million households in total - about 3 million more than in March. The blackouts will help secure electricity for railways and emergency hospitals.
The Japanese government has been asking businesses and households in the areas serviced by Tokyo Electric and Tohoku Electric to curb electricity use by 15 percent this summer compared to last year. The government's idea is to keep demand low enough to make rolling blackouts unnecessary.


Thursday, June 09, 2011 21:18
IAEA to tighten nuclear safety measures worldwide
NHK has learned that the International Atomic Energy Agency will declare its resolve to strengthen global nuclear safety in the wake of the accident in Japan.
NHK obtained the draft of a statement that will be announced at a meeting of ministers from IAEA member nations, scheduled to open on June 20th in Vienna, Austria.
The 4-page draft calls on the member countries to build an international framework to quickly respond to an emergency and to power up their nuclear regulators.
It also requests the international nuclear watchdog to play a central role in promoting the safety of nuclear power, including a review of its safety standards.
The draft, meanwhile, takes into consideration different energy policies among the member nations.
It notes that some countries have decided to scrap their reactors following the crisis in Japan, while others continue to rely on nuclear power to meet energy demands.
The member nations will finalize a statement based on the draft at the forthcoming ministerial meeting after holding working-level discussions.


Thursday, June 09, 2011 22:55
Panel: Aftershocks of over magnitude 7 may occur
A government panel of seismologists says major aftershocks from the March 11th earthquake could still occur in the sea off the coast of northeastern Japan.
At a meeting on Thursday, the government's Earthquake Research Committee examined the impact of the March quake on seismic activities in the country.
The panel said that magnitude-7 aftershocks or stronger could hit sea areas off the Pacific coast of northeastern Japan.
It said that in some sea areas close to the Japan Trench, major quakes accompanied by tsunami could occur.
The panel said the risk of earthquakes from some active faults in inland areas is higher than before. One fault straddles Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures. Three others run between the western part of Tokyo and neighboring Saitama Prefecture.
The panel chief, Katsuyuki Abe 阿部勝征, called for continued caution, saying that although the number of tremors is declining nearly 3 months since the March disaster, aftershocks may occur anywhere.


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Voices from around


. Daily Radiation Levels . 　

. . . . .

Japan Times :

Fishermen to Tepco: Don't release water
A plan by Tepco to release water containing traces of radioactive materials from the Fukushima No. 2 nuclear power plant into the Pacific has been halted by stiff opposition from the Fisheries Agency.

Ishinomaki with all the debris and now
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110609a1.html


World Bank , IMF dismal on Japan growth potential
The World Bank says that it projects Japan's economy to expand 0.1 percent this year in terms of real gross domestic product, a plunge from an estimated 4.0 percent in 2010, following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nb20110609n1.html


Saga town may be first to see reactor restart
Genkai in Saga Prefecture
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110609a8.html

Ministry inspects worker exposure
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110609a9.html

Quake reinsurance rates rise 20-60%, Swiss firm says
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nb20110609n2.html


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The book "PRAYER for JAPAN" -- Update.

To the date, about 240 poets from 43 countries submitted their haikai poetry and art for the book "Prayer for Japan".

Every poem will be translated by native speakers into three languages (English - Russian - Japanese), and the oversized gift book (about 500 pages of large format) will be illustrated throughout in sumi-e style. The book will be distributed all over Japan, as well as available for sale.

Origa (Olga Hooper)
You may read many of the submitted works here:
. . origa.livejournal.com


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June 8, Wednesday

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normal lives
in abnormal situations -
rain in Fukushima


Gabi reports:

We saw a report about a reporter, who had lived in a coastal town in Tohoku for more than 20 years. He lost all in the tsunami, including family members and home. Since March 11 his life and that of the people around him has changed, stopped in a way, revolving about loss and debris and daily survival.
He had to come back to Okayama for private reasons and said, he felt so confused when leaving the airplane at Okayama airport. Everything was normal --- he had not experienced a normal day since March 11. There was plenty of electricity and all goods available for the consumer, almost like in a different country, he felt.

. . . . .

Coming June 11, all the missing from the tsunami, about 8200 people, will be declared officially dead, to facilitate the payment of compensation benefits to their relatives.
Usually this time limit is one year for missing persons.

. . . . .

The Chubu Power plant can not deliver electricity to other parts any more.
Electricity will have to be found elsewhere.
People in the town nearby wonder about the "support money" that has been flowing freely to infrastructure development until now.
. Hamaoka Power Plant .

. . . . .

Fish are becoming more expensive, since there are so many fishing boats destroyed by the tsunami. Katsuo bonito is one of them.
Also strange types of deep-see fish are landing on the beaches and in nets. They may be have been disturbed by the earthquake? More questions to answer.

. . . . .


LDP wants Kan to exit by mid-June
Edano defends Kan adminstration
. The Political Situation .

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Bulletins from NHK Online
source : www3.nhk.or.jp

Wednesday, June 08, 2011 06:13
Ministry failed to publish some radiation data
The Japanese government says it failed to publish some radiation data from the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.
The science and technology ministry says it did not release radiation monitoring data from March 16th through April 4th and radiation measurements for soil on March 16th and 17th. The data was taken by the Fukushima prefectural government outside a 20-kilometer radius of the plant.
The ministry apologized for not disclosing the data.
It says it thought the Fukushima government had already released it.
The data was collected as a reference for deciding on evacuation measures and restrictions on food and water consumption. The ministry says the unpublished information does not affect the steps that are now in place.
The ministry says it will publish the data on its website.

. . . . . MEXT
Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Japan
Reading of environmental radioactivity level :
Reading of environmental radioactivity level by prefecture
Reading of radioactivity level in drinking water by prefecture
Reading of radioactivity level in fallout by prefecture
source : www.mext.go.jp

. . . . .

Wednesday, June 08, 2011 06:13
Utilities asked to submit nuclear safety measures
The government's nuclear safety agency has instructed utility companies across Japan to come up with measures to better respond to a serious nuclear accident like the one at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.
The government has compiled a report for the International Atomic Energy Agency about the nuclear accident. It said the Fukushima plant lacked sufficient safety measures to deal with such a serious accident that caused the loss of all power sources.
The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency asked utility firms to take such measures as preparing portable lights and communication equipment as well as generator trucks. These vehicles would be used for emergency ventilation to keep radiation below certain levels in the central control room.
The agency also proposes boring holes or removing panels in a reactor building if there is a high concentration of hydrogen. The measure is aimed at releasing hydrogen outside to prevent an explosion.
The agency has instructed utility companies to submit the safety measures by Tuesday next week.


Wednesday, June 08, 2011 08:44
Radioactive debris outside No.3 reactor removed
Workers have completed the removal of radioactive debris that was outside the No. 3 reactor building at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
Tokyo Electric Power Company finished removing the debris near the entrance to the building on Tuesday.

Work began last month to clear up the debris created by the March hydrogen explosion.
Under TEPCO's plan to bring the plant under control, nitrogen gas will be injected into the No.3 reactor containment vessel to prevent hydrogen explosions.
It will also install a circulatory cooling system at the reactor. The large equipment for these tasks will be brought into the building.
But last month, high radiation levels of 160 to 170 millisieverts per hour were detected near the door of the containment vessel.
TEPCO says workers will soon go into the reactor building to check the debris inside and to monitor radiation levels in the area.
The company says it will consider installing devices to remove radioactive substances in the atmosphere and setting up lead panels to block radiation.


Wednesday, June 08, 2011 09:46
Suicides top 3,000 in May
... By prefecture, Tokyo topped the list with 325 suicides, followed by 210 in Kanagawa and 206 in Osaka.
In areas hit by the March 11th earthquake and tsunami,
Fukushima saw an increase of 19 suicides to 68. The figure for Miyagi was unchanged at 50 while Iwate saw a decline of 3 to 32.
After the disaster in March, however, the figure increased for the next 2 months.
The police agency says it does not know whether the disaster is related to the increase. It says it will make detailed analyses of individual cases in cooperation with the Cabinet Office and other ministries.


Wednesday, June 08, 2011 13:03
TEPCO tests water purification system
Tokyo Electric Power Company says it is making final preparations to activate special purification equipment to treat radioactive waste water at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The company plans to start up the system on June 15th.
On Wednesday, TEPCO tested the control board of a US-developed device that adsorbs radioactive cesium. It also tested the pumps of a French device that uses special chemicals to settle radioactive substances in the water.
The new water purification system has 2 other main parts that use Japanese and imported technology.
TEPCO says it expects the system to decontaminate about 1,200 tons of water per day before it is transferred to temporary storage tanks within the compound of the nuclear plant.
More than 105,000 tons of toxic water is believed to have already accumulated in the basements of the reactors and their turbine buildings. Every day more than 500 tons of contaminated water is added to the amount, as TEPCO has to inject fresh water into the reactors to keep them cool.


Wednesday, June 08, 2011 16:28
First container vessel departure since quake
A container ship has left a major port in northeastern Japan for the first time since the March 11th quake and tsunami, marking a step forward in the recovery of the region's distribution system.
Mobile cranes loaded containers onto the ship at Sendai-Shiogama Port in Miyagi Prefecture on Wednesday. The vessel left for Tokyo with 70 containers of automobile tires made in the disaster-hit area.
The disaster damaged 4 cranes at the port, the only major international hub in the Tohoku region. Complete recovery of the port is likely to take more time, as full operation of the cranes is not expected to resume until next year.


Wednesday, June 08, 2011 17:09
Japanese-made robot to be used at Fukushima plant
A Japanese-made robot will be used in restoration efforts at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant for the first time since the crisis began in March.
The robot was unveiled to the media on Wednesday at the Chiba Institute of Technology. A team of researchers from the institute, Tohoku University and others developed the robot and modified it for use at the troubled nuclear plant.
The robot moves with the help of a pair of 20-centimeter-wide rolling belts. Four additional belts at each corner of its body enable the robot to move freely through debris and up and down staircases.
The robot is equipped with a device to measure radiation. It also has a sensor to gauge levels of radioactive water inside reactor buildings, as well as a container to collect the water.
The robot's camera is tightly sealed to keep its lenses from blurring due to moisture, as the humidity level inside the Number 2 reactor building is 99.9 percent.
Since the accident, US-made robots have been used to help monitor the situation inside the reactor buildings.


Wednesday, June 08, 2011 17:09
14 people treated for heatstroke in Tokyo
The Tokyo Fire Department is urging residents to take precautions against heatstroke after 14 people in the capital fell ill and were treated at hospitals last week.
Patients ranged from teenagers to people in their 80s.
They included a teenage boy who collapsed after soccer practice, and a man in his 70s who became ill while driving his car after doing farm work. Some patients suffered heatstroke indoors, and 3 of the 14 were in serious condition.
The fire department says the number of heatstroke cases rises noticeably when the temperature reaches 26 degrees Celsius, and the number surges when the mercury hits 28 degrees.
Residents are being asked to save electricity this summer because of expected power shortages triggered by the March earthquake and tsunami and the ongoing accident at a nuclear power plant in Fukushima.
But the fire department says air conditioners should be used when necessary, specifically when room temperatures rise to 28 degrees.
The fire department also says people who feel sick from the heat or notice that they are not sweating despite feeling hot should seek medical attention as soon as possible.


Wednesday, June 08, 2011 19:45
Business sentiment improves sharply in May
A Japanese government survey shows that business confidence among people with jobs that are sensitive to economic trends improved in May for the 2nd straight month.
The Cabinet Office released the results of its nationwide survey of more than 2,000 retail, restaurant and other workers on Wednesday.
An index that shows how workers view economic conditions compared to 3 months before stood at 36.0, up 7.7 points from the previous month.
The rise is attributed to recovery in store sales, travel and the food service industry amid a weakening of the trend to refrain from spending on leisure activities after the March 11th disaster.


Wednesday, June 08, 2011 19:55
TEPCO mulls release of decontaminated water
The Tokyo Electric Power Company is studying a plan to decontaminate seawater pooled at the Fukushima Daini nuclear power plant and discharge it into the sea.
TEPCO says about 3,000 cubic meters of radioactive seawater has been stagnant in the basement of the plant's reactor and turbine buildings since being hit by a tsunami following the March 11th earthquake.
The utility says the temperature in all 4 of the plant's reactors has fallen below 100 degrees Celsius, but cites the risk that stagnant seawater will corrode equipment.
TEPCO is considering a plan to decontaminate the water so that it meets national safety standards and then release it into the Pacific Ocean.
The utility says the concentration of radioactive cobalt-60 in the water is 1.5 times the permissible limit, but that it contains no other radioactive materials exceeding the safety limits.
In April, TEPCO drew strong criticism for discharging contaminated water with levels of radioactive iodine-131 about 100 times the limit from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
The utility will decide whether to discharge water from the Daini plant after consulting with local municipalities, people in the fishing industry, and the Fisheries Agency.
The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency says that a full examination of the plan is necessary even if radioactivity is below the safety limit. It added that the concerns of local municipalities and people in the fishing industry must be taken into account. The Fisheries Agency says it cannot now authorize a discharge of seawater even if the level of contamination is under the limit.
The chief of a fishing cooperatives' association in Fukushima Prefecture expressed shock and bewilderment at the utility's plan.

Wednesday, June 08, 2011 19:55
Air in No.2 reactor building to be released
The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant will release air from inside the No.2 reactor building after lowing its intense radioactivity and high humidity, which have been hampering the work to restore its cooling system.
The No.2 reactor building has 99.9 percent humidity and high levels of radioactivity, which make it hard for workers in protective gear to work inside it for long periods.
Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, plans to install air filters to lower the contamination and humidity, and then open the building's doors to let out the air.
TEPCO hopes to install the filters by this Saturday, run them for about 3 days, and open the reactor building's doors some time next week.
The company plans to begin the work of injecting nitrogen into the No.2 reactor later this month to prevent a hydrogen explosion.
On Wednesday afternoon, a switchboard problem knocked out power to the control rooms of the No.1 and No. 2 reactors, and stopped data transmission from 2 radiation monitoring posts within the compound. Nitrogen injection into the No.1 reactor containment vessel was also suspended.
The switchboard was fixed about 3 hours later. TEPCO says the data transmission and nitrogen injection have resumed.

Wednesday, June 08, 2011 21:40
IMF urges Japan to rebuild finances
The International Monetary Fund is urging Japan to quickly rebuild its finances and points to raising the consumption tax in the wake of the disaster.
IMF acting managing director John Lipsky told reporters in Tokyo on Wednesday that the initial impact of the March 11th disaster on the Japanese economy was big, but that the government and central bank could limit the damage.
The IMF expects Japan's economic growth to be minus 0.7 percent this year but to recover to 2.9 percent in 2012. ...


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Voices from around


. Daily Radiation Levels . 　

. . . . .

Japan Times :

Official probe begins into nuclear disaster
An independent panel of experts launches an investigation into the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant amid strong domestic and international criticism that the government and Tepco have bungled their response to the accident.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110608a1.html


Evacuation of hot spots mulled
The government is considering expanding the evacuation area in Fukushima Prefecture to include other areas with high levels of radiation.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110608a2.html


Beaches face nuke readings
The government will examine radiation levels in assessing water quality at bathing areas in seas, rivers and lakes amid the Fukushima nuclear accident.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110608a3.html


Nuke plant was unprepared for crisis, government admits
In the report, the government admits that the crippled plant lacked the necessary features to survive the huge tsunami and other critical accidents of March 11. The plant was not built with considerations to withstand 14-meter tsunami or higher.
... "It is unavoidable to fundamentally review the safety measures for nuclear plants" in Japan, states the report, which will be presented at an IAEA ministerial meeting beginning June 20.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110608a5.html


Parents urge Tokyo to rethink radiation monitoring
A group of Tokyo parents filed a request Tuesday asking the metropolitan government to change the way it determines radiation levels in the capital after their own study found relatively high levels of contamination around Koto Ward.
"No! Hoshano Koto Kodomo Mamoru Kai"
("No! Radioactivity — The Group to Save Children in Koto")
The metropolitan government checks levels of radioactivity at an elevation of 18 meters in Shinjuku Ward, where the maximum hourly reading was about 0.06 microsievert on Tuesday.
But Ishikawa insists such readings are unreliable and should be taken at about 1 meter above the ground.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110608a6.html


Red Cross declines blood from Fukushima
The Japanese Red Cross Society said Tuesday it has declined to accept an offer from a man from Fukushima Prefecture to donate blood due to fears of possible radiation exposure.
The man offered to donate blood May 26 at an event in Tokyo's Odaiba waterfront area.
... In a nationwide notice to its blood centers April 1, the society instructed them not to accept blood donations for six months from workers at the Fukushima No. 1 and No. 2 nuclear plants who were exposed to cumulative radiation of 100 millisieverts or more.
The society said it has imposed no restrictions on blood donations from the general public in Fukushima Prefecture.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110608a8.html


Tepco's government support at odds with selloff
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nb20110608n1.html


Fukushima investigation
The Kan Cabinet on May 24 established a third-party panel to investigate the accidents at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. The move was extremely tardy, coming 2½ months after the start of the nuclear crisis and nearly one month after Prime Minister Naoto Kan's announcement of his intention to create an investigation body. The panel met for the first time on Tuesday.
... panel head Mr. Yotaro Hatamura — a professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo and an authority on study of errors and dangers
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/ed20110608a1.html


Tsunami-struck museum starts recovering collection
A pile of small display cases lies in the dirt outside the Rikuzentakata City Museum in Iwate prefecture. With their glass tops smashed into a thousand shards that reflect the sunlight through a layer of dried mud, it's difficult to make out the crushed wings of the small butterflies still pinned inside.
... Miraculously, the building, which was completed in 1979, remained standing throughout the tsunami. Nevertheless, the power of the wave that hit this area — having smashed through seawalls and a 70,000-tree coastal strip of pine forest — is clear from the fact that two cars were found deep inside the building's windowless first-floor storerooms, and that its second-floor ceilings were largely ripped away.
... "I retired five years ago," said the 72-year-old who voluntarily came to the museum site to start helping the recovery work. Surveying the wreckage around him, he continued, "I'm working here like this, but I have to keep reminding myself that it is not a dream or a hallucination. This is all real."
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110608f1.html

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A Russian Soyuz spacecraft has successfully lifted off, with Japan's Satoshi Furukawa and two other astronauts. They will reach the station on Friday and stay for about five months.


we conquer space -
but can we really handle
mother earth ?


Furukawa heading to space with high hopes
for growing cucumbers
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110608a9.html


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