Geography Archives: Japan

In reporting on the nuclear situation in Japan, terms describing the possible state of the reactors have been used by Japanese officials and international experts.  Unfortunately, these terms are not always used consistently.  We discuss some of them below. The reactor core containing nuclear fuel is the “engine” of a nuclear power reactor.  The reactor […]

You have seen the Japanese government’s response to the nuclear disaster unfolding in Japan.  Top officials have been slow to expand the exclusion zone around the Fukushima 1 and 2 Nuclear Power Plants.  They have been less than forthcoming in providing information about exactly in what state the reactors in trouble are.  By failing in […]

“Pray for Japan.” — Carlos Latuff Carlos Latuff is a Brazilian cartoonist.  Cf. Nuclear Information and Resource Service, “Fact Sheet on Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant” (11 March 2011); Union of Concerned Scientists, “Nuclear Crisis in Japan: What We Know” (11 March 2011); Philip White, “On the Nuclear and Earthquake Disaster Unfolding in Japan” (12 March […]

15 March 2011, 01:05 Tokyo Electric Power announced that, at around 11 PM on the 14th, it became impossible to inject cooling water into the Unit 2 reactor of the Fukushima 1 Nuclear Power Plant, resulting in a precipitous decline of the water level, so Unit 2’s fuel rods probably became fully exposed again.  Also, […]

As of 7 pm EDT Sunday 3/13/11 We reported earlier about the situation at Fukushima Dai-Ichi reactor Unit 1.  The nuclear crisis in Japan took a turn for the worse as serious problems developed in reactor Unit 3. Officials from Tokyo Electric reported that after multiple cooling system failures, the water level in the Unit […]

  日本政府は「１０キロ圏出れば大丈夫」だと今日まで言いはっていた。日本のマスコミもそう報道していた。政府とマスコミは、今になってやっと「２０キロ圏」と言いはじめている。国際メディアでは、科学者たちは福島原発の安全策不発の報道後直ちにスリーマイルや チェルノブイリのような事故の可能性を指摘していた。日本国民はどっちを信じるべきか？ 世界の科学者？ それとも金権主義の政治家と官僚と彼らの言いなりになる日本のマスコミ？ チェルノブイリなら、２０キロ圏では不十分。ソ連は３０キロ圏の住人を避難させたが、それでも不十分だったのだ。 「ソビエトの科学者の報告によると、28,000km2が185kBq/m2を超えるセシウム-137に汚染した。約83万人がこの区域に住んでいた。約10,500km2が555kBq/m2を越えるセシウム-137に汚染した。このうち、ベラルーシに7,000km2、ロシア連邦に2,000km2、ウクライナに1,500km2が属する。約25万人がこの区域に住んでいた。これらの報告データは国際チェルノブイリプロジェクトにより裏付けられた。」 福島はチェルノブイリよりも危険だろうという声もある。 日本政府と日本のマスコミが言ってることを丸呑みにしないで。チェルノブイリを考えて、市民で助け合って、避難したほうがいい。 古橋芳恵はMRZineの編集長。  Cf. Nuclear Information and Resource Service, “Fact Sheet on Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant” (11 March 2011); Union of Concerned Scientists, “Nuclear Crisis in Japan: What We Know” (11 March 2011); Philip White, “On the Nuclear and Earthquake Disaster Unfolding in Japan” (12 March 2011); Edwin […]

  Corrected Comments on Fukushima Please note that my comments on 3/12, yesterday, were significantly in error as noted below: 1. The gases released in the YouTube video are steam. 2. This steam is not from a secondary water loop because these plants are not designed as pressurized water but are the boiling water type. […]

  The Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center (CNIC) is deeply concerned for the health and safety of the people affected by the earthquakes and tsunamis that have struck Japan over the last two days.  We are particularly concerned for the people in the vicinity of nuclear power plants, including workers who are trying to minimize the […]

日本はこの原子力事故の重大さに直面して今すぐ最弱者を放射線被爆の被害から保護せねばならない。特に子供を放射性ヨウ素から守るべきだ。そう米国のトップ科学者が言っている。 「これが最悪のケースではないと言い張る見せかけは無謀です」と科学者団体UCSの上級研究員エドウィン・ライマン氏は摘発する。 米国とフランスには、致命的な放射線放出の際には原発の近くに住んでいる子供たちにヨウ素酸カリウムを配布し投与するプランがある。 もし炉心が融解し鋼製格納容器が破壊されると、日本が直面するリスクは、何十キロも何百キロにも分散する放射性雲だとライマン氏は説明する。「 救済策を必要とする領域は大規模になりかねます。多くの被曝者の中では、癌になる可能性が増加します。」 チェルノブイリ原発事故の後、ライマン氏によると、6000例以上の小児甲状腺癌が発見された。放射線にさらされる数時間前にヨウ素剤を子供に与えると放射性物質の甲状腺摂取量をブロックできることが後に判明した。「投与によって大幅にリスクを軽減できることは確かだ」とライマン氏は言う。 この記事は 抜粋翻訳。原文：<abcnews.go.com/International/japan-fukushima-nuclear-power-plant-explosion-workers-injured-radiation/story?id=13120888>.  翻訳:古橋芳恵。

12 March 2011, 13:26 According to the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) of the Ministry of Economy and Industry (MITI), regarding the evacuation of residents within the 10 km radius of the Fukushima 1 Nuclear Power Plant, as of 11:30 AM, about 30% of 2,000-2,100 residents of Okuma-machi in Fukushima Province, which is located […]

12 March 2011, 16:52 According to the Fukushima office of Tokyo Electric Power, a sound of explosion was heard at Unit 1 of the Fukushima 1 Nuclear Power Plant around 3:30 PM.  A plume of smoke was seen ten minutes later.  Several workers have been reportedly injured. The Fukushima office says that the smoke appeared […]

12 March 2011, 14:00 The Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) of the Ministry of Economy and Industry (MITI) has just announced that near Unit 1 of the Fukushima 1 Nuclear Power Plant, a radioactive element called “cesium,” which results from nuclear fission, has been detected, so it believes that a part of the nuclear […]

A strong 8.9 on the scale earthquake shook Japan today. The most worrying is that early news reports were talking about thousands dead and missing, figures really unheard of in a developed country where all constructions are quake-proof. They were even talking about a nuclear reactor that was out of control. Hours later, it was […]

12 March 2011, 12:03 According to the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA), the level of water to cool the nuclear reactor at Unit 1 of the Fukushima 1 Nuclear Power Plant has declined.  As of 11:20 AM, a part of the “fuel assembly” of fuel rods is now exposed above water.  The maximum exposure […]

  Excerpt: Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center, a Japanese environmental group, has documented previous safety problems and cover-ups by Tepco at the Fukushima reactor complex: cnic.jp/english/newsletter/nit92/nit92articles/ nit92coverupdata.html Full Text: * * * MRZine Editor’s Notes Update 1 The evacuation area around the Fukushima 1 Nuclear Power Plant has now been expanded to a 10 km radius […]

The massive earthquake off the northeast coast of Japan has caused a potentially catastrophic situation at one of Japan’s nuclear power plants.  The situation is still evolving, but below is a preliminary assessment based on the facts as experts at the Union of Concerned Scientists currently understand them. The plant’s owner, Tokyo Electric Power Company […]

The politics of plunder imposed by the United States and its NATO allies in the Middle East is in crisis.  This was inevitably unleashed with the high cost of grain, the effects of which are being felt with more force in the Arab nations where, despite their enormous oil resources, the shortage of water, arid […]

We, the student and precarious workers of Europe, Tunisia, Japan, the US, Canada, Mexico, Chile, Peru and Argentina, met in Paris over the weekend of the 11th-13th of February, 2011 to discuss and organize a common network based on our common struggles.  Students from Maghreb and Gambia tried to come but France refused them entry. […]

What is happening in Egypt is of immense importance, not only due to the importance of the country but also due to the radicality of the demand.  The demand is not just that Mubarak should leave — that is a first step — but that the system be changed, putting an end to the neoliberal […]

There is much confusion about the current economic situation, among left media and organizations as well as in the mainstream media.  This is certainly understandable given its complexity.  But what many are referring to as causes are symptoms of a deeper underlying problem — in other words, sparks that produced the Great Recession by igniting […]