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FUKUSHIMA...the 'Japanese Chernobyl'...politics still trumps safety

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Message Jeanine Molloff

   

.."All the samples would be considered nuclear waste if found here in the US."

 

(Source: http://www.fairewinds.org/node/223 )   Arnie Gundersen on soil samples taken recently from parks, playgrounds and rooftop gardens throughout Tokyo.

 

The Japanese Prime Minister Declares Nuclear Plant Safe"

 

Last week, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda declared that nuclear units 3 & 4 at the Ohi Nuclear Plant were safe for operation.   Prime Minister Noda based this declaration on "stress tests' which were nothing more than computer simulations.   (Source: http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2012/04/14-1 )    The computer simulations merely estimate any given reactor's ability to withstand large earthquakes and/or tsunamis, allegedly like last year's Fukushima disaster. (Source :   http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/14/world/asia/japan-seeks-to-restart-some-nuclear-reactors.html )    No other studies, expert testimony or other considerations were mentioned.   Unfortunately, for Japan--and the world--Noda couldn't be more wrong.

Several weeks ago, noted nuclear expert Arnie Gundersen visited Tokyo for the express purpose of collecting soil samples.   The results were damning.  

 

To quote Gundersen"

 

" " I was in Tokyo and when I was in Tokyo, I took some samples.    Now, I did not look for the highest radiation spot. I just went around with five plastic bags and when I found an area, I just scooped up some dirt and put it in a bag.     One of those samples was from a crack in the sidewalk.   Another one of those samples was from a children's playground that had been previously decontaminated.     Another sample had come from some moss on the side of the road.     Another sample came from the roof of an office building that I was at.     And the last sample was right across the street from the main judicial center in downtown Tokyo.    I brought those samples back, declared them through Customs, and sent them to the lab.    And the lab determined that ALL of them would be qualified as radioactive waste here in the United States and would have to be shipped to Texas to be disposed of."   (Source :  http://www.fairewinds.org/node/223 )  

 

And yet Japanese Prime Minister Noda is fervently lobbying to restart nuclear reactors, fearing power losses in the hot summer.   It is reported that without the restart of the Ohi nuclear plant and some unnamed others, the plant operator--Kansai Electric--would only generate some 80% of previous electric output.   (Source:   http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/14/world/asia/japan-seeks-to-restart-some-nuclear-reactors.html )    

 

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Working as an urban educator for over 25 years--I 'moonlight' as a writer. I write part-time for The Huffington Post and enjoy the task of curmudgeon,(at least where career politicians are concerned). I consider myself a political independent (more...)
 

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