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politicians play
the same old games -
long rainy season
Opposition submits no-confidence motion
. The Political Situation .
People in Tohoku are angered about the polititians, who do not sit together and find ways to help them but keep playing their own power-games.
No-confidence vote set for Kan Cabinet
The Liberal Democratic Party, New Komeito and Tachiagare Nippon (Sunrise Party of Japan) submit a binding no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Naoto Kan, shaking the administration to the core as discontented members of the Democratic Party of Japan, including Cabinet appointees, threaten to support it.
source : Japan Times
At lunchtime it seemd that Hatoyama is pedalling back, after Kan declared he will step down "in due time, when all items in his responsibility is covered" (medo ga tsuita tokoro).
. . . . . . . . and finally
No-confidence motion against Kan voted down
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Gabi reports:
Another rainy day just starting.
And some encouraging news about a street market in Ofunato, see below.
. . . . .
. . . . . at 11:33
Earthquake M 4.7 (strong 5 on Japanese scale)
in Niigata, Chuetsu
No major damage, and no damage to the nuclear power plant there.
Tremors of 5 plus on the Japanese scale were registered in Tokamachi City, and 4 in Tsunan Town.
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Bulletins from NHK Online
source : www3.nhk.or.jp
Thursday, June 02, 2011 01:55
TEPCO to use additional facilities to store water
The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi plant, which is struggling to remove radioactive water, says it may use 2 additional buildings inside the compound as storage.
Tokyo Electric Power Company said on Wednesday that water levels are rising in underground tunnels extending from the No. 2 and 3 reactors and the basements of their turbine buildings. It said the levels rose for 24 hours through Wednesday evening.
The water in the tunnel of the No. 2 reactor is now 30.6 centimeters below ground level, and 25.2 centimeters at the No. 3 reactor. The levels are causing concerns that the water may overflow from the shaft in the event of heavy rain.
TEPCO hopes to use the two buildings, but with just one basement floor each they can hold only a limited amount of radioactive water.
The firm says it will start operating a filtering system in the middle of this month to speed up the purification of highly toxic water.
It adds that water levels have been falling in the basement of the No.1 reactor since Tuesday evening, possibly because of steam and evaporation. Radiation levels remain too high to determine the reason first hand.
The firm is gauging radioactivity in underground water around the No. 1 reactor and checking if radioactive water is leaking from the building.
Thursday, June 02, 2011 09:37
Hakuho visits Fukushima evacuees in Saitama
Sumo grand champion Hakuho has visited a facility near Tokyo where people fleeing the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant crisis are taking shelter.
Residents of Futaba town in Fukushima Prefecture have evacuated to a facility in Kazo, Saitama Prefecture.
On Wednesday, they welcomed Hakuho and 2 other wrestlers. The highest level champion, or yokozuna, spoke with the evacuees, wrestled young children and signed autographs.
A singer-songwriter who accompanied the wrestlers later performed Hakuho's fight song.
The yokozuna said the children have suffered a lot but he hopes they never give up their dreams.
Thursday, June 02, 2011 13:03
Wastewater rises, fears mount
The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is struggling to remove pools of highly radioactive wastewater as fears of an overflow get more intense.
Tokyo Electric Power Company says wastewater levels rose around 6 centimeters inside the No.2 reactor turbine building, and in its utility tunnel, during the 24-hour period through Thursday morning.
Increases were also seen inside the No.3 and 4 reactor turbine buildings.
The water level in the utility tunnel is now just 28 centimeters from the surface outside the No.2 reactor, and 24 centimeters from the surface outside the No.3 reactor.
Tokyo Electric plans to start using a water purifier by the middle of this month. But as an emergency measure it's preparing to remove wastewater pooled inside the No.3 reactor turbine building to its turbine condenser.
The utility is also considering using 2 additional buildings inside the compound as storage.
The level of wastewater inside the No.1 reactor building dropped 8 centimeters on Thursday morning from Wednesday, unlike the other facilities.
Tokyo Electric is measuring the level of radiation in groundwater near the plant to check for possible wastewater leakage.
Thursday, June 02, 2011 16:28
Fukushima to check internal radiation exposure
Fukushima Prefecture has decided to check the internal radiation exposure of residents near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and adjacent areas with high radiation levels.
In Fukushima, there are mounting concerns among locals over the health effects of radiation after the nuclear accident at Fukushima Daiichi plant.
The prefecture had already decided to conduct health checks on all citizens, but will now assess residents' internal exposure to radiation from breathing and eating.
The targets will be residents near the plant and people who live in adjacent areas with high radiation levels.
A device called a "whole-body counter" will be used to precisely measure radiation.
But the prefecture currently has only one device and can screen just 10 people per day. It is urging research institutes and others with the device outside the prefecture to help them.
Fukushima is also studying whether it can fetch 2 devices from Okuma Town, which lies inside the no-go zone.
Thursday, June 02, 2011 17:01
Okinawa to invite Fukushima children during summer
A youth hostel in Okinawa Prefecture is inviting children in Fukushima Prefecture to spend time there this summer free of charge, away from fears of radiation from the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
Up to 100 children, from elementary to senior high school age, can apply for the program, which runs from July 26th to August 23rd at Okinawa International Youth Hostel.
During their stay, the children will get help with their school work from local university students, and have opportunities to experience traditional Okinawa arts and culture.
The organizer of the program, the Okinawa Youth Hostel Society, says all the expenses will be covered by a donation from a German organization for people affected by the March 11th disaster.
The society says it will offer free stays for children in Fukushima beyond the summer vacation, if they continue to live in fear of radiation.
Thursday, June 02, 2011 19:31
TEPCO plans to plug all potential leaks
The Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, plans to plug all potential leaks of highly radioactive water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in June.
TEPCO submitted its plan to the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency after finding in April and May that highly radioactive water was flowing into the sea via seaside concrete maintenance pits. The water apparently came from turbine buildings of the plant's No.2 and 3 reactors.
The utility says it identified 5 concrete tunnels and 39 pits around the plant as possible points from which radioactive water could flow out to the sea.
The firm says it filled all the tunnels and some of the pits with concrete, and that it will finish work at 17 of the pits and repair cracked seawalls in June.
TEPCO is under pressure to also find places to store an increasing amount of contaminated water in the turbine buildings, as the current rainy season is raising fears of overflows. The utility plans to install a water purification system to recycle the water.
Thursday, June 02, 2011 21:20
Nagasaki staffers exposed to Fukushima radiation
Nagasaki University Hospital says that at least 40 percent of local people sent to Fukushima Prefecture, host to the crippled nuclear plant, suffered internal radiation exposure.
The hospital checked staffers and medical experts sent to Fukushima by Nagasaki's prefectural government. They spent around a week helping local government offices and medical institutions in Fukushima after the nuclear plant accident in March.
The hospital says radioactive iodine was detected in the bodies of 34, or about 40 percent, of 87 examinees. Some were also detected for radioactive cesium. Neither substance occurs naturally in human bodies.
Officials at the hospital insist, however, that the level of radioactive contamination is very low and poses no health concerns.
Nagasaki University Professor Naoki Matsuda, who joined the survey, says Fukushima residents should also be checked for levels of internal exposure.
The survey results will be reported at a conference in Hiroshima City on Sunday.
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Voices from around
Tokyo is now very low at 0.061.
. Daily Radiation Levels .
. . . . .
Japan Times :
Risk of tsunami underestimated: IAEA
Japan underestimated the risks of tsunami that led to the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, the International Atomic Energy Agency says in a preliminary summary, while pointing out the need to reinforce the independence of its nuclear regulators.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110602a2.html
(I guess this was clear to everyone here in Japan since the beginning!)
Tohoku Electric may tap Tepco for power shortchanging
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110602a4.html
Toll break for quake survivors
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110602a5.html
Fatigue sets in on nuke responders
Workers at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant are facing an increased risk of accidents due to human error caused by chronic sleep deprivation and fatigue, an expert on social medicine said Wednesday in Tokyo, as he called for improved working conditions at the plant.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110602a6.html
China pledges to send more tourists
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110602a9.html
Post-3/11, women seek matrimonial bonds
Amid the heightened sense of insecurity, a growing number of women had their minds set on finding something else — a marriage partner.
This eagerness to get married, they say, comes after many are reassessing their lifestyles and rediscovering the importance of family in these trying times.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20110602f2.html
Cool Biz campaign goes 'Super' this summer
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nb20110602a1.html
Toyota's production soon 90% of normal
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nb20110602a2.html
Kan vows to stick to guns on 25% emissions cut
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nb20110602a4.html
Shirakawa sees fast repairs of supply chains
Bank of Japan Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa said companies are fixing disruptions in their supply chains at a faster pace than expected as they rush to repair their facilities after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.
Supply constraints are "being relaxed more quickly than expected initially as a result of strenuous efforts by firms," Shirakawa said Wednesday at an international conference at the bank's headquarters. "As supply-side constraints ease and production regains traction, the economy is expected to return to the moderate recovery path from the second half of fiscal 2011," he said.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nb20110602n3.html
Japan's costly lesson in risk management
The basic principle of financial risk management is sharing.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/eo20110602a1.html
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The power of the elderly
Ofunato Morning Market 大船渡 朝市
. Street Market in Ofunato .
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