Nearly half of children near Fukushima plant absorbed radiationWAKI, Fukushima Prefecture--A survey of more than 1,000 children and babies living near the quake-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant has produced an alarming finding: 45 percent of them suffered internal exposure to radiation following the accident there.
Most children absorbed relatively low levels of radiation in their thyroid glands, according to officials who explained the results to residents in Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, on Aug. 17.
Tests conducted in Iwaki city, Kawamata town and Iitate village between March 24 and 30 found that 26 percent of under-16s absorbed 0.01 microsievert per hour, while 11 percent absorbed 0.02 microsievert per hour. At least one child recorded radiation of 0.10 microsievert per hour, but officials said that level did not pose a health risk.
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http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201108180318.htmlTEPCO to add more than 4,000 radiation expertsThe government and TEPCO plan to bring in more than 4,000 experts to measure radiation levels and manage workers' exposure to radioactivity to end the crisis at the quake-crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said it will need more experts to measure radiation levels not only at the Fukushima plant, but in municipalities around the plant where residents will return once evacuation orders are lifted.
Under the plan to bring the nuclear crisis to an end, which was revised on Aug. 17, about 4,000 experts will be trained in radiation measurements and about 250 in exposure management.
TEPCO said it will need more measurement experts in addition to the current corps of about 2,500--1,900 at the company and its affiliates who have already received training and 600 from other electric power companies.
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http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201108180320.htmlFukushima kids take case to Tokyo, but get no satisfactionThey came looking for answers, and left feeling brushed off.
More than five months have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake crippled the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant on March 11, and children in disaster-hit Fukushima Prefecture are desperate to get their lives back to normal. They took their case to the central government on Aug. 17 and were far from satisfied with the results.
Four children from the prefecture, all from elementary and junior high schools, visited the First Members' Office Building of the Lower House in the capital's Chiyoda Ward.
Directly addressing government officials tasked with handling the crisis and bureaucrats in the education ministry, the children spoke about the hardships they have endured since the onset of the crisis.
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http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201108180299.htmlHigh stakes for cleaning system / New technology could provide big boost to end Fukushima N-plant crisisHirofumi Imazu and Koichi Yasuda / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writers
Reaching a major milestone in the road map for ending the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant will depend on the success of a newly introduced water decontamination system, according to experts.
The new system--the simplified active water retrieve and recovery system (SARRY)--is regarded by many as crucial for ensuring stable disposal of highly radioactive water at the Tokyo Electric Power Co.-operated nuclear plant.
Introducing SARRY--which will complement, not replace, the current system--will likely double TEPCO's capacity to decontaminate the tainted water, experts said.
On Wednesday, the government and TEPCO announced a revision of their road map for bringing the crippled plant under control. In July, restoration efforts progressed to Step 2, which seeks to greatly curtail the leak of radioactive materials from the Fukushima facility, thus enabling evacuees from areas affected by the nuclear crisis to return to their homes.
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http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T110818006282.htmMaher says 'nobody' in Japan gov't was in charge early in nuclear crisisBy Mari Yamaguchi
TOKYO —
Early in the Fukushima nuclear crisis, U.S. officials felt that nobody in Japan’s government was taking charge, and Washington considered evacuating American troops in a worst-case scenario, a retired U.S. envoy said Thursday.
When the March 11 earthquake and tsunami set off the crisis by crippling the Fukushima Daiichi plant and sending it toward meltdown, Prime Minister Naoto Kan’s administration initially acted as if it was only the plant operator’s problem, not the government’s, former diplomat Kevin Maher said.
“There was nobody in charge. Nobody in the Japanese political system was willing to say ‘I’m going to take responsibility and make decisions,’” said Maher, who coordinated U.S. help offered to help Tokyo deal with the crisis.
“Nothing was taking place at Fukushima Daiichi in terms of the government solving the problem” until about a week later when Tokyo and Washington launched a joint task force, he said.
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http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/maher-says-nobody-in-japan-govt-was-in-charge-early-in-nuclear-crisisFukushima beef shipment ban standsKyodo
The shipment ban on Fukushima Prefecture beef will continue, as more meat has turned up contaminated with an excessive level of radioactive cesium, officials said.
The government had planned to lift the ban for Fukushima Prefecture on Friday. The ban on shipments of beef from Miyagi Prefecture was still expected to be lifted Friday as planned.
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http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110819x2.htmlNuclear policy scaled back
Five-year science plan no longer promotes next-generation focusKyodo
The new five-year science and technology program approved Friday by the Cabinet excludes references to an earlier draft that promoted next-generation nuclear technologies, reflecting the government's backpedaling on atomic power policy amid the Fukushima nuclear crisis.
Noting the urgency of rethinking energy policy in light of the nuclear accident, the basic plan covering the five years through March 2016 instead stresses the need to develop renewable energy to deal with an anticipated power shortage, a stance in line with Prime Minister Naoto Kan's calls for shifting away from nuclear power.
Cabinet approval of the plan, initially scheduled for the end of March, was postponed to allow experts from the Council for Science and Technology Policy to revise an earlier draft that was outlined in December, before the crisis began.
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http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110819x3.htmlNuclear Safety Commission struggled to summon experts after disaster, chairman admitsThe Cabinet Office's Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC) was able to summon only a handful of its 40 emergency advisers immediately after the Fukushima nuclear accident that was triggered by the March 11 quake and tsunami, its chief has admitted.
In an exclusive interview with the Mainichi, NSC Chairman Haruki Madarame, 63, explained that the body was unable to send emails to many advisers in the aftermath of the disaster, while other members were unable to come to the NSC headquarters because transportation systems in the Tokyo metropolitan area were paralyzed.
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http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110819p2a00m0na012000c.htmlLow level of radioactive cesium found in rice grown in Ibaraki Pref.MITO (Kyodo) -- A small amount of radioactive cesium has been detected in rice, the staple food item in Japan, that was grown in the city of Hokota, Ibaraki Prefecture, some 150 kilometers southwest of the crisis-hit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, the Ibaraki prefectural government said Friday.
A pre-harvest preliminary check showed that the amount of radioactive cesium detected came to 52 becquerels per kilogram of raw rice, a figure far below the government-set allowable level of 500 becquerels, the local government said.
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http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110819p2g00m0dm065000c.htmlRadiation fears bring psychological stress to Fukushima residentsFUKUSHIMA -- Residents of Fukushima Prefecture are increasingly visiting psychiatrists complaining of sleeplessness or the inability to concentrate as they worry about the effects of leaked radiation from the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, the Mainichi has learned.
One housewife in her 40s in the city of Fukushima told the Mainichi she was afraid of the effects of radiation on her 4-year-old son. Relatively high radiation levels have been measured in the area where she lives, but she doesn't want to move out of her new house, which she had built just last year. While agonizing over whether or not to evacuate, she started getting severe headaches, stiff shoulders, and heart palpations. This month she visited a psychiatrist and was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. She is now taking prescription medicine to reduce her anxiety.
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http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20110819p2a00m0na016000c.htmlWedding rings a hot item in disaster zoneKYODO
Sendai — Sales of engagement and wedding rings have risen sharply at major department stores in Sendai since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Fujisaki, a Sendai department store founded in 1819, said an increasing number of customers have bought rings since the store fully reopened on April 22, with May-July sales rising roughly 30 percent from a year earlier.
"I think the disaster prompted people to rethink the bond they have with their partners and to reflect on family," said Yuka Aihara of Sendai Mitsukoshi, which saw April-July wedding and engagement ring sales double from a year earlier after full store operations resumed in April.
Sendai Mitsukoshi's customers are mainly elderly women, but "since the disaster, we now have more couples in their 20s or 30s," said Akira Sato, who runs the store's jewelry section.
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