Restart approval for Sendai reactors in Japan ignores science, safety

The governor of the Kagoshima prefecture in Japan, in approving the restart of the two Sendai reactors, has failed to understand the lessons of the Fukushima nuclear disaster and is ignoring science, safety and public opinion, Green Action stated today. All the reactors in Japan are currently closed. Sendai would mark the first two to restart. Aileen Mioko Smith (picured receiving the 2014 Nuclear-Free Future Award in a photo by Orla Connolly), executive director of Green Action which has long fought to end nuclear power in Japan, issued a strongly-worded press release on November 7. Green Action criticized the decision and called for activists around the world to continue to support the current zero nuclear situation in Japan. Read the full press release.

Japan's timid coverage of Fukushima led this news anchor to revolt — and he's not alone

“ 'I am a newscaster, but I couldn't tell the true story on my news program,' says Jun Hori, a former anchor for NHK, the Japanese state broadcaster.

"Hori says the network restricted what he and other journalists could say about Fukushima and moved more slowly than foreign media to report on the disaster and how far radiation was spreading. The attitude in the newsroom was not to question official information.

" 'I was on the ground in Fukushima, and a lot of people kept asking me, why didn't you tell us earlier about what is happening?' Hori says.

"Out of frustration, Hori started tweeting uncensored coverage. 'I got a huge response,' he says, 'but then my superiors said the NHK was getting complaints from politicians about what I was saying. They told me I had to stop.' " PRI's The World

Record cesium level detected in Fukushima No. 1 groundwater; Tepco blames heavy rainfall

"A record 264,000 becquerels of radioactive cesium per liter has been detected in groundwater at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power station, Tokyo Electric Power Co. disclosed Saturday.

According to Tepco, recent heavy rains pushed up the levels of groundwater, causing it to reach soil containing highly radioactive water leaked earlier from the plant’s crippled reactors." Japan Times

Japan prosecutors set to rule on possible Fukushima indictments

"Japanese prosecutors must decide this week whether to charge Tokyo Electric Power Co executives for their handling of the 2011 Fukushima disaster, in a process that could drag the operator of the stricken nuclear plant into criminal court.

The judicial review is unlikely to see Tepco executives go to jail, legal experts say, but rehashing details of the meltdowns and explosions that followed an earthquake and tsunami will cast a harsh light on the struggling utility and will not help Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's unpopular effort to restart Japan's nuclear reactors." Reuters

Beyond Nuclear on Thom Hartmann regarding Fukushima

EcoWatch has featured Beyond Nuclear's Radioactive Waste Watchdog, Kevin Kamps, on Thom Hartmann's "The Big Picture" t.v. show, speaking about Woods Hole's Dr. Ken Buesseler's detection of Fukushima radioactive contamination in the open ocean off the west coast of North America.

Beyond Nuclear's Reactor Oversight Project Director, Paul Gunter, appeared on Thom Hartmann's radio show earlier in the day on Tuesday, Oct. 21st.