Tag: Fukushima | RocketNews24

Fukushima

Japanese Documentary Tells the Real Story of the Daiichi Nuclear Plant Evacuees

May 9, 2013 by Andrew Miller
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Two years after Japan’s great earthquake and the Daiichi nuclear diaster comes a documentary that tells of the citizens who still can’t return home to Iitate Village in Fukushima due to the high levels of radiation.

Over at our sister site, Pouch, film critic Kaori Saito was given the opportunity to check out the film production of “Iitate Village, the Problem of Radiation and Returning Home” (in Japanese “Iitate-mura hoshano to kison”) before it was released to the Japanese public on May 4. Kaori comments that the work deserves particular credit for its delicate treatment of the continuing problem of radiation and the depiction of the struggles of the inhabitants affected.

For the readers who are unfamiliar with Iitate, it is a village that is located 30 kilometers from Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant within the prefecture of Fukushima. While it is reasonable to believe that the level of radioactive contamination would be comparatively low for an area this far from the power plant, due to the strong winds, snow and rain that occurred directly following the disaster, the actual levels of contamination far exceeded original estimates. For Japan and Iitate Village, unprecedented levels of radiation poured down, making the land uninhabitable and thus leaving the former residents no alternative but to abandon their village and seek refuge elsewhere.
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Fukushima Prefecture Produces First Thesis on the Effects of Internal Radiation Exposure: Children of Fukushima Unaffected?

Apr 20, 2013 by Andrew Miller
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A thesis which assesses the risks of internal radiation exposure within Fukushima Prefecture following the explosions at the Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, suggests that the effects of internal radiation fall far below that recorded after Chernobyl.

Ryugo Hayano, who works as a professor at Tokyo University’s Science Research Department, has collected the findings of doctors who conducted research into internal radiation exposure among those living inside of the Fukushima Prefecture. He consolidated these findings into an English journal entitled ‘Proceedings of Japan Academy Series B89’, which is available on the net.

The latest journal is a collection of reports that looks at the degree of radiation exposure through daily food consumption and it is reported to be the first of its kind.

Apr 12, 2013 by John Stuart Translations
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Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) announced that while transferring contaminated water containing radioactive material from leaking underground storage tank No. 3 to tank No. 6 at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant on April 11 this year, water was discovered leaking from a joint connecting the piping being used for the transfer.

About 22 liters of water containing 6.4 billion becquerels of radioactive material leaked from the joint before the problem was chanced upon. TEPCO said the water leaked on top of the berm covering the storage tank and that there was no possibility of it seeping into the soil surrounding it.
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No Improvement for Fukushima Decontamination Workers – Subcontractors Still Only Paying One-fifth Minimum Wage

Apr 6, 2013 by John Stuart Translations
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A dinner of boiled vegetables and 3.3 square meters of floor space for sleeping, those are the harsh conditions awaiting laborers who undertake government-mandated decontamination work necessitated by the nuclear accident at Tokyo Electric’s Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima Prefecture. In some cases workers are basically laboring for free when taxpayer-funded danger pay is excluded from their pay packets.
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Google Maps Offers Rare Look Inside Abandoned Fukushima Town

Mar 28, 2013 by Philip Kendall
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Google Japan has announced that it is now possible for Google Maps users to access street view images of Namie, a coastal town in Fukushima that was severely affected by the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami before being completely evacuated when the nearby Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant went critical.

Mar 18, 2013 by Andrew Miller
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After the great earthquake and tsunami that came with the calamities of March 11 2011, many residents to the Kanto region of Japan experienced turmoil on an unprecedented scale. If natural disaster wasn’t enough, there was also the explosion at the Fukushima nuclear plant, spreading radioactive contamination even as far as Tokyo. Now after two years, Fukushima’s 20-kilometer radioactive exclusion zone still remains in place.

While most families fled the contaminated areas in the early stages following the explosion, one brave man remained undeterred by it all, staying put in his hometown. Naoto Matsura (53) is believed to be the sole inhabitant within the 20-kilometer red zone.

Matsumura’s determination to remain rooted in the same place and see through the nuclear catastrophe has caught the attention of many, with his accounts even being adapted into a documentary. The documentary tells of the events after the great earthquake and Mutsumura’s reasons for remaining at his home despite all those around him fleeing, never to return. Perhaps even more interestingly, it gives some rather candid accounts of this man’s feelings towards Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the company that operated the stricken Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

Mar 18, 2013 by John Stuart Translations
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As part of its ongoing efforts to bring peace of mind to city residents following the accident at the Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima, Tokyo’s Komae City will meticulously measure airborne radiation levels along all roadways within city limits and provide citizens with easy-to-understand information regarding the readings. Additionally, having only inspected radiation levels of school lunch ingredients once before, the city announced on Feb. 21 that it would reintroduce such checks on the foodstuffs comprising the noontime meals.

Suspiciously, less than a week after the announcement of the checks, Kenji Matsuyama, president of Mitaka Food Services Center, told the city his firm would not renew its contract to provide the city’s junior high schools with lunches.

Mar 8, 2013 by Master Blaster
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If you’re living in Japan and find yourself recently unemployed or facing an extended vacation you’re in luck!

That’s right. Currently there is a job offer for work inside the nuclear power plant of sunny Okuma, Fukushima, home to the Fukushima Daiichi reactor.

Now, before you tell me to go screw myself, they’re offering 30,000 to 50,000 yen (US$319-531) per day for three months. Let’s take a look at the offer in full.

Mar 6, 2013 by Michelle
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It wasn’t just the earthquake or tsunami of March 11, 2011 that shattered the town of Namie in Fukushima Prefecture, it was the subsequent radiation. Slowly creeping across the once fertile land, it ripped families from their homes and banished them to evacuation centers elsewhere. Today, nearly two years after the worse nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, the entire 86 square miles of Namie have been declared uninhabitable due to high levels of radioactive cesium. Even if families wanted to return, they can’t.

Amid this tragic loss, Google Street View is giving the people of Namie a chance to visit the town they were forced to flee.

Mar 2, 2013 by Philip Kendall
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In just 10 days’ time, two years will have passed since the magnitude-9.03 earthquake off the coast of Northeastern Japan shook the country to its core. The resulting tsunami killed thousands of people living in coastal areas and knocked out power to cooling systems at the now infamous Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, which ultimately led to the incident that has been cited by many as the worse nuclear disaster since Chernobyl. People living nearby were ordered to evacuate, and thousands more from surrounding areas fled for fear of being exposed to radiation. Many have never returned.

Despite some areas of Fukushima remaining unsafe to enter, with a population of nearly 2 million, life goes on in the troubled prefecture. Kids go to school; parents go to work; people are doing their best to get back to normal.

According to one former Fukushima resident, however, there is something very much amiss in the prefecture. An uncomfortable air of forced self-assurance pervades many towns, and the general message of “all is well” is repeated ad nauseam, with those who go against the grain met with disdain and reproach.

Jan 15, 2013 by John Stuart Translations
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The Tokyo Shimbun has discovered that workers involved with national government controlled cleanup projects resulting from the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant are being ripped off by subcontractors.

Despite being able to rent lodging facilities from the government and others for free or for very little money, contractors forcibly deduct inflated accommodation and meal charges from workers’ pay. When the 10,000 yen (US$111) a day “danger pay” provided to contractors by the government (read: taxpayers) is taken into consideration, it means the contractors themselves end up forking out a measly 1,000 yen (US$11) a day per worker.
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Tokyo Electric Couldn’t Get Battery during Fukushima Meltdown, Made Trip to Hardware Store the Next Day

Oct 8, 2012 by Master Blaster
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Recent tapes released have sent ripples across Japan’s news programs showing first-hand Tokyo Electric Power Company’s (TEPCO) handling of the Fukushima Disaster. Many were outraged over TEPCO management’s muddled communications with plant director, an increasingly frustrated Masao Yoshida.

Among the hours and hours of footage there’s one particularly odd incident in which one of the largest electric companies in Japan couldn’t seem to get their hands on a battery. In fact, it took about a 24 hours and trip to the hardware store to buy it while on the brink of meltdown.

Aug 30, 2012 by Karen Bremer Masuda
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Ukraine, known in Japan for its attractive people, is rapidly becoming a place of interest. International marriages between Ukrainians and Japanese are on the rise, making Ukraine all the more fascinating. Japan brings forth images of sushi, hot springs, Mt. Fuji, Tempura, and its service industry. But what about Ukraine? Here are some appealing images of Ukraine, sure to make you want to visit! Read More

Softbank Releases World’s First Radiation-Detecting Phone

May 31, 2012 by Jessica
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This week, Softbank Mobile presented the newest iteration of its popular Pantone phones, and these are some pretty smart smartphones. So smart, in fact, that they can double as a Geiger counter. Read More

This Automatic Door Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Electricity!

May 8, 2012 by danielnishina
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Since the big tsunami and nuclear plant disaster in Japan last year, the term, “conserve electricity” (“setsuden”) has been in the forefront of everyone’s lexicon. It’s in this context that Yuki Corp. brings us “Auto Door Zero”, a door that opens and closes automatically without electric power.

You walk up to the door like usual, step on a plate in front of the door, and voila, the door opens! You may notice that while you’re on the plate, you sink about 2 cm before the door opens. Yes, this door is powered by people’s body weight.

Apr 26, 2012 by danielnishina
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The recruitment poster for the Fukushima police force is moving, to say the least. It definitely singles out only the most dedicated, most driven potential recruits. The poster features a person wearing an anti-radiation suit, walking through some desolate, post-tsunami wasteland, with text saying hauntingly, “There is work here that only I can do…”. Japanese posters often omit words and thus have implied messages, but this recruitment poster is relatively explicit. And it has gained some attention for its darkness and severity. It’s pretty plain that you should be looking forward to working in hazardous conditions.

A police spokesperson confirmed that they were seeking people with strong mettle precisely because of the still-dire situation in Fukushima. The photo is from May 2011 (the disaster was in March), shows the main damaged nuclear reactor in the background, and was unanimously selected for the poster in February this year. The desire for driven new officers who won’t give up on the work or come for the job thinking about it too casually is understandable, but there could also be a subtext, which is that they don’t just want anybody either.

source: Asahi via Jin (Japanese)

Japanese Music Video “Superhero” Reminds Us There Are Still People Fighting Post-3/11

Apr 16, 2012 by Steven
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Last month marked the one year anniversary of the Great East Japan Earthquake, and while time has gradually, but inevitably, pushed the crisis from the forefront of people’s minds, there are still tens of thousands of people continue to live with realities of the disaster even today.

An anonymous duo performing under the moniker ANONS PROJECT seem to be sending such a message with their music video, “Superhero,” an inspiring production that reminds us: there are still people out there fighting for us.

Apr 12, 2012 by Master Blaster
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The city of Iwaki lies 30km south of the Fukushima Daiichi just outside of the evacuation zone created after the nuclear disaster struck. As such it has become home to approximately 25,000 displaced people from Futaba District, where the Daiichi reactor is located.

On 9 April, Iwaki Mayor Takao Watanabe had this to say about the evacuees: “With the compensation money they received from TEPCO, most people are choosing not to work. The pachinko parlors, however, are packed every day.” Pachinko is a highly popular game similar to pinball that is often used for gambling much like slots or video poker in other parts of the world.

Although this may sound like another case of a Japanese politician putting his foot in his mouth, it appears Mayor Watanabe is not alone with his opinion.

Apr 7, 2012 by Master Blaster
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Necessity is the mother of invention, and the damaged created by the Tohoku earthquake and subsequent Fukushima Daiichi disaster has created an urgent need for solutions to the environmental problems Japan faces.

Working with various universities across Japan, the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research, better known as RIKEN have developed a new method of decontaminating water containing radioactive materials. It uses a type of algae that has been shown to “eat” radioactive cesium.

Apr 6, 2012 by Mac Denny
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Idemitsu Kosan, INPEX and other energy corporations began speaking with locals on April 3 about building a geothermal power plant inside Bandai-Asahi National Park in Fukushima Prefecture. If locals agree with the plan, research would begin this year with operation commencing in about 10 years. The area is expected to produce 270,000 kilowatts of geothermal energy, higher than anywhere else in Japan.