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Fukushima Nuclear Crisis update for September 17th to September 30th, 2013

It was reported in the documents obtained by The Asahi Shimbun that United States nuclear

experts urged Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPC! to install "ro#en soil barriers at the

$ukushima %aiichi plant& in an e""ort to pre'ent massi'e amounts o" groundwater at the

compound "rom becoming contaminated It was gathered that the cost o" doing this could makethe company go into bankruptcy as such this plan was postponed Two and a hal" years later&

TEPC has continued to struggle with a growing radioacti'e groundwater crisis An estimate o"

)** to +&*** tons o" groundwater "low downward through the plant each day, it is belie'ed that

-** tons o" contaminated water were "lowing into the ocean e'ery ./ hours 0orkers ha'e still

not been able to identi"y where the water is entering the buildings& or how to stop the leaks,

radiation le'els there remain so high that they cannot get close enough to do so Prime 1inister

Shin#o Abe2s administration has 'owed to use 3/4* million in taxpayer "unds to "inally begin

 building the ice wall& as international pressure mounts in ad'ance o" the .*.* Summer lympic

5ames& which were recently awarded to Tokyo

The 6apanese go'ernment was slammed by the members o" the International Atomic Energy

Agency (IAEA! "or its inability to deal with the water crisis and also "or its lack o" transparency

and "ailure to disclose the state o" the $ukushima plant "or more than two years There has been a

decline in sea"ood consumption by consumers since the disaster due to the "ear o" consuming

contaminated products +&+-* tons o" low7le'el radioacti'e water was dumped into the Paci"ic

cean by TEPC as an emergency measure& a"ter a hea'y rain which resulted in water

accumulation within the barriers set up around the tanks o" contaminated water It was also

disco'ered at %aiichi plant that 'entilation pipes were damaged or cracked and workers ha'e not

 been able to resol'e this due to the "ear o" high radiation le'el The Prime 1inister urged the

o""icials o" TEPC to decommission the two remaining reactors but TEPC remains reluctant to

dismantle them& hoping they could e'entually restart them "or pro"it& despite strong disappro'al

"rom local go'ernment o""icials and residents In response to a go'ernment re8uest last week&

TEPC has "inally agreed to shut down reactors 9: and 9; at the $ukushima %aiichi power

 plant ""icials said that the undamaged reactors will "orm the core o" a new training center

designed to teach engineers and other nuclear experts the best way to decommission reactors

$i'e loose bolts at the bottom o" a tank that held +&*** tons o" highly radioacti'e water were

disco'ered by TEPC workers The company belie'es that the loose bolts may ha'e led to a

massi'e leak last month& in which approximately -** tons o" the water "lowed out& some o" itinto the nearby Paci"ic cean 0orkers ha'e continued to dissemble the tank in an e""ort to

determine whether or not taking the tank apart& mo'ing it& and reconstructing it months be"ore

the leak occurred led to structural problems& as some experts ha'e charged

Tadamori shima& a senior politician within Abe2s <iberal %emocratic Party (<%P! is pushing to

split TEPC into two companies= one responsible "or decommissioning and decontaminating the

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 plant& and the other "or compensation to 'ictims o" the $ukushima disaster& as well as its primary

 business& which includes power generation The branch responsible "or decommissioning and

decontamination would primarily be supported by taxpayer "unds shima said that the split

would allow the utility to speed up decommissioning e""orts& but some analysts are raising

concern that the 8uestion o" who is responsible "or those tasks>including paying "or them> 

could become murky

In the area o" compensation& the <%P plans to submit a new bill during next month2s

extraordinary %iet session that would extend the statute o" limitations "or 'ictims o" the

$ukushima disaster to "ile claims against TEPC "rom three to +* years The economy o" many

cities and towns in $ukushima Pre"ecture continues to "lounder in the a"termath o" the nuclear

disaster there Approximately +;*&*** people were "orced to e'acuate in the "irst days o" the

crisis& and tens o" thousands remain displaced 1unicipal o""icials are concerned that residents

will not return& because decontamination e""orts ha'e not met with much success as

decontamination costs "or the nuclear disaster amounts to 3:* billion& and "ear o" radiationremains high And& many "ormer residents say that they are worried that conditions at the

$ukushima plant are still unstable

$ishery products caught o"" $ukushima Pre"ecture were ready "or trial sale as early as Sept .;

a"ter "isheries cooperati'es here resumed test "ishing the day be"ore A local "isheries cooperati'e

in Iwaki& southern $ukushima Pre"ecture& will also embark on test "ishing on ct -& "or the "irst

time since the outbreak o" the $ukushima nuclear disaster

Fukushima Nuclear Crisis update for October 1 th to October 30th, 2013

6apanese "ast "ood chain ?oshinoya belie'es that ha'ing a $ukushima7based "arm where they

 plan to har'est rice and 'egetables which will @lead to support "or reconstruction and will help

keep its dishes low7priced $ormer Prime 1inister 6unichiro Boi#umi said 6apan should abandon

nuclear power as he "eels nothing is costlier than nuclear power and the conse8uences o" a

nuclear accident are enormous& and it takes /* to :* years to decommission a nuclear reactor

Prime 1inister Shin#o Abe in a speech at an international science con"erence hosted by the city

and Byoto Pre"ecture re8uested "or more "oreign assistance in terms o" knowledge and expertise

in cleaning up the $ukushima o + power plant& where work has been plagued by the

radioacti'e water crisis

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IAEA sent a team o" experts to 6apan to monitor the clean7up operation at the nuclear power

 plant in $ukushima The IAEA team& which includes +; nuclear specialists& arri'ed in the

6apanese capital& Tokyo& on 1onday "or a week7long mission at the re8uest o" the 6apanese

go'ernment "rom +/ to .+ ctober .*+-

Six o" ++ workers who were attempting to control a new accidental water leak at the long7

 besieged $ukushima %aiichi ha'e been contaminated& Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPC!&

the nuclear power plant2s operator The six workers "ound to ha'e radioacti'e material on their

 bodies were "ound to ha'e no radioacti'e material on their "aces DThere"ore& the possibility o"

their internal intake o" radioacti'e material was ruled out The six workers ha'e been

decontaminated, the company is now trans"erring the leaked water to a waste li8uid supply tank