Japan's Nuclear Safety Commission head dismissed seismologist who predicted "nuclear earthquake disaster" as "a nobody"

Bloomberg reports that the current head of the Japanese federal government's Nuclear Safety Commission, Haruki Madarame, once dismissed seismologist Katsuhiko Ishibashi (pictured at left) as "a nobody in nuclear engineering" after he predicted in 1997 the risk of a "nuclear earthquake disaster" at the three reactor Hamaoka nuclear power plant southwest of Tokyo. Ishibashi's warning accurately described what later actually happened at Fukushima Daiichi Units 1 to 4. Former Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan successfully pressured for the closure of Hamaoko nuclear power plant soon after the earthquake-tsunami-nuclear catastrophe as a precaution.

Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company officials likewise ignored warnings by Tohoku University geologist Koji Minoura in the 1990s that giant tsunamis had hit Japan’s northeast coast three times in the last 3,000 years.

Ishibashi now warns about the earthquake and tsunami risks to a 13 reactor cluster on a single bay on the west side of Japan's main island. Takahama Units 1 to 4, Ohi Units 1 to 4, Mihama Units 1 to 3, and Tsuruga Units 1 and 2 line the coast of Wakasa Bay, which was determined to be riddled with earthquake faultlines in just the past several years.

Nearly one-tenth of Japanese territory blanketed with Fukushima fallout

The PanOrient News reports that radioactive Cesium-134 and -137 fallout has blanketed 8% of Japan's land mass, and describes the route of various large radiation clouds in the aftermath of meltdowns and explosions at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in mid March. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation also reported the story, including the fact that 30,000 square kilometers [more than 11,500 square miles] of Japanese territory is contaminated with 10,000 Becquerels per square meter, or more, of radioactive cesium contamination.

Aileen Mioko Smith of Green Action Japan has commented about this news that:

"New data published recently by MEXT* in Japan indicate 8% of landmass is contaminated with cesium from the initial plumes at Fukushima – amounting to 30,000 square kilometers. The area of land the Japanese government has “committed” to decontamination is 1,300 sq km [just over 500 square miles].

This is the first time the Japanese government has released data on the total area of Japan affected by fallout.

In September Asahi Shimbun released its calculations on the area of land affected by cesium 137 to a level of 30,000 bequerels per square meter or above. They reported estimates of 8,000 sq km [over 3,000 sq miles] at this level."

*Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)

Free Speech Radio News interviews Aileen Mioko Smith about Fukushima Daiichi nuclear catastrophe

Aileen Mioko Smith of Green Action JapanEight months after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, thousands of people - including children - remain in contaminated areas and citizens groups continue to push the government to assist in evacuations and clean up.

A new study out this week from the National Academy of Science warns that soil samples in the northeast of the country show unsafe levels of radiation for farming and on Thursday, Japan said it was restricting rice exports from Fukushima after grain was found to contain radioactive contamination higher than safety levels.

For more, we go to Kyoto, Japan to speak with Aileen Mioko Smith. She’s the executive director of Green Action Japan, a citizens group that has been monitoring the issue since the Fukushima disaster began in March this year.

Stricter radiation protections set for school lunches than for the general food supply in 17 Japanese prefectures

The Asahi Shimbun has reported that Japan's federal education ministry has set a limit of 40 Becquerels per kilogram of food in school lunches at elementary and junior high schools -- one-fifth the "allowable" level set for certain food stuffs, and less than one-tenth the level set for certain other food stuffs. The article reports that the general food supply limits for radioactive contamination of drinking water, milk and dairy products is limited to 200 Bq/kg; 500 Bq/kg is "allowed" for vegetables, meat, fish and grains. The article also reports:

"The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare is considering reducing the maximum tolerable levels of internal radiation from cesium in food from the current 5 millisieverts per year to 1 millisievert per year." 5 millisieverts equals 500 millirem, or 0.5 rem; 1 millisievert equals 100 millirem, or 0.1 rem.

"Allowable," "permissible," or "tolerable" does not mean "safe." It has long been established that any exposure to radioactivity carries a health risk, and that children are more susceptible than adults to such radioactivity risks. The article does not report what levels will be applied to high school students, nor does it say what children are to eat if all food violates standards.

Fukushima governor calls for "nuclear-free society" by decommissioning all 10 atomic reactors in prefecture

The Asahi Shimbun reports that Fukushima's governor, Yuhei Sato (pictured at left), has called upon the Japanese federal government and Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) to decommission all ten atomic reactors in the prefecture. For Fukushima Daiichi Units 1 to 4, this goes without saying: they have been utterly destroyed by the March 11th earthquake, tsunami, melt downs, hydrogen explosions, pool fire(s), severe radioactive contamination, etc. But Tepco has held out hope of re-starting Fukushima Daiichi Units 5 and 6, which were not operating on March 11th and survived the calamity largely intact. Tepco also hopes to re-activate the Fukushima Daiini nuclear power plant's four reactors, located just 7 miles down the coast. Several offsite power lines at Fukushima Daiini were destroyed by the earthquake, and all emergency diesels were destroyed by the tsunami. Daiini's 4 reactors averted catastrophe thanks to a single offsite power line that happened to survive the earthquake.