Hunger Strike Launched at Antinuclear Tent City in Japan

The eventual restart of two Japanese nuclear reactors may now look almost certain, but some concerned citizens still insist the fight against nuclear power isn’t over yet. 

To protest the likely reactor restarts, demonstrators started a hunger strike on Tuesday at a camp outside the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in an area in downtown Tokyo similar to Zuccotti Park.

Iseko Shirai, a sunny 76-year-old protester, has already taken her post outside the tent village even though it is 8 a.m. on a Wednesday. She makes her principled stand on the nuclear issue with a cheery smile. But black-suited businessmen bustling past hardly seem to notice her or her “Let’s Have Zero Nuclear Power!” sign as they seek the more pragmatic goal of arriving to work on time.

Ms. Shirai is one of the 10 or so protesters who will continue the hunger strike until May 5, when Japan’s last operating nuclear reactor is set to go offline for maintenance.

The day is also significant because it is Children’s Day in Japan, Ms. Shirai explains. Wall Street Journal

Japanese diplomat Matsumura warns of Fukushima Daiichi Unit 4 high-level radioactive waste storage pool risks

Japanese diplomat Akio Matsumura has been warning about the risks of Fukushima Daiichi Unit 4's high-level radioactive waste storage pool failing (see photo, left), as due to another strong earthquake. Matsumura has worked with the former Japanese Ambassador to Switzerland, Murata, who has recently testified before the Japanese federal parliament, as well as written to Japanese Prime Minister Noda and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, urging international cooperation to address the dangers at Unit 4. Matsumura has devoted his homepage to dialogues with the likes of Bob Alvarez at Institute for Policy Studies, Gordon Edwards at Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsiblity, and Steven Starr with PSR, to better understand the situation and amplify the international warning.

US Sen. Wyden tours Fukushima Daiichi, reveals situation worse than reported, urges Japan to accept international assistance

U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), a senior member of the U.S. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, recently donned a radiation suit and investigated firsthand the devastated Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in Japan. He reveals the situation is worse than reported, and is urging the Japanese Ambassador to the United States, Ichiro Fujisaki, to accept international assistance to address ongoing risks of catastrophic radioactivity releases, especially from the hundreds of tons of high-level radioactive waste stored in precarious pools vulnerable to earthquakes and tsunamis. Wyden has issued a press release, and posted his letter to the Japanese Ambassador.

In the letter, Wyden wrote: “The scope of damage to the plants and to the surrounding area was far beyond what I expected and the scope of the challenges to the utility owner, the government of Japan, and to the people of the region are daunting. The precarious status of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear units and the risk presented by the enormous inventory of radioactive materials and spent fuel in the event of further earthquake threats should be of concern to all and a focus of greater international support and assistance.” 

Wyden also wrote U.S. Energy Secretary Chu, Secretary of State Clinton, and NRC Chairman Jaczko, urging the full resources and expertise of the United States government be offered to Japan to prevent yet another catastrophic radioactivity release at Fukushima Daiichi due to a failed pool fire.

Please contact Sen. Wyden to thank him for his vital efforts, and contact Secretary Chu, Secretary Clinton, and Chairman Jaczko, urging they do what Sen. Wyden calls for. You can also contact your U.S. Senators and Representative, to urge them to add their voices to Sen. Wyden's effort.

Tepco reveals 35 ton machine fell into Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3 high-level radioactive waste storage pool

Kyodo News has reported that a camera lowered into the Fukushima Daiichi Unit 3 high-level radioactive waste storage pool has revealed that a 35 ton piece of equipment used to transfer irradiated nuclear fuel into and out of the pool fell in, most likely due to the massive hydrogren explosion which rubblized the reactor building in the earliest days of the catastrophe in mid March 2011.

"Heavy load drops" can punch holes in the sides or floors of pools, draining the cooling water away and causing a high-level radioactive waste fire. The U.S. National Academy of Sciences in 2005, Robert Alvarez et al. in 2003, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2001, and Brookhaven National Lab in 1997 have long warned about such risks. The NRC study reported that 25,000 people could die of latent cancer fatalities up to 500 miles downwind of a pool fire. The Brookhaven study warned of the potential for 143,000 deaths.

No explanation is given for why it has taken Tepco 13 months to reveal this information. There is growing concern about the Unit 4 pool collapsing, but as this article shows, Unit 3 is also at risk -- there is a lack of even basic information about its status, condition, and structural integrity.

Independent Investigation Commission on the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident

The Rebuild Japan Initiative Foundation (RJIF) last September launched an Independent Investigation Commission on the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Accident. The Chairman of the Investigation Commission, Koichi Kitazawa, posted a message, as did Yoichi Funabashi, Chairman of the RJIF.

The Commission published its report, in Japanese language only, in February 2012. Although the English language version will not be available until summer, the Commission has published a number of revealing, powerful English language summaries of the report:

East Asia Forum, "Lessons from Japan's nuclear accident," March 26, 2012;

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, March/April 2012, "Fukushima in review: a complex disaster, a disastrous response";

"The End of Japanese Illusions," an op-ed in the New York Times/International Herald Tribune, March 11, 2012;

"My findings in Japan's existential fallout," Financial Times op-ed, March 9, 2012.