Published: January 6th, 2012 at 4:45 pm ET
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Japan looking at taking control of nuclear power -media, Reuters, Jan 5, 2012 at 6:24 pm EST:
Japan’s gov’t considering taking control of the nation’s nuclear power plants away from private utilities [...] -Yomiuri
UPDATED: Fukushima exposes contradictions / Nuclear crisis prompts govt to rethink private companies’ operation of N-plants, Yomiuri Shimbun, Jan. 6, 2012
The government’s moves to overhaul the state’s nuclear policy were prompted by serious contradictions discovered in that policy, as a result of the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
Although the Law on Compensation for Nuclear Damage stipulates that electric companies have unlimited liability in the case of accidents, the government had no choice but to support Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s efforts to pay compensation for damage caused by the Fukushima crisis. Therefore, the government plans to overhaul the law, including a review of utilities’ unlimited liability.
If it does so, however, entrusting utility companies with the operation of cost-efficient nuclear power plants, the companies may just siphon off profits and push the risk of accidents onto the state. [...]
Published: January 6th, 2012 at 4:45 pm ET
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Still? Is this the same story that has been circulating elsewhere in the media? I’m noticing some of these stories are getting re-pubished weeks or months after they are originally published. Someone in media across the globe finds a story a media outlet published somewhere else, decides it’s newsworthy, and publishes it again ….
At least that’ show it looks ….
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No, my mistake. The Japanese govt. has been considering taking control of TEPCO, not ALL the nuclear power plants in the country. This is new news; a new story. It wouldn’t be like Reuters to publish something that is second hand anyway, even though some smaller news outlets do it.
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so what’s this about? more of the same global corporate “socialize our losses, keep profits private” game?
or is the dai ichi clusterfuck gonna blow soon?
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Time to suck on some taxpayer tit for the too big to fail. Grap tepco by the ears and bring them up to your supple bosom Japan.
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Maybe the government can borrow money from Kiyoshi Kimura. He just paid a record $736,000 for a tuna at a Japan auction. Yes, one tuna.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/single-tuna-fetches-record-736k-japan-auction-040041043.html
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You can bet they ran a geiger counter over that puppy before they paid.
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Yeah that one is high on the food chain, been eating 100 lb tuna for lunch, hasn’t had a chance to bioacummulate to a large degree.
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Does it matter what government does?
Or does it matter what you do!?
Watch FISHHEAD
Must see documentary
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MWpxH-RlFQ&feature=player_embedded#!
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Wow! Watching right now. ANSWER: YES THEY ARE Psychopaths!
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Cont…The Drug industry has the world by the ass. Prozac REMOVES ALL FEELINGS. There is no up or down in the normal sense. PSYCHOPATHS DONT NEED THESE DRUGS. But the population is given them by the zillions. In otherwords, it diminishes EMPATHY. NO FUCKING WONDER SO FEW ARE WAKING UP TO FUKUSHIMA! THEY ARE ZONED OUT!
WAKE UP JAPAN! BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE!!!
Thanks again Kevin.
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Which means? What are they going to do thats any better? Other than make it worse
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Thats the typical and very American assumption that government will make things worse. However it is not the point.
I am sure many here have seen a fellow Vancouverites work, called The Corporation, or read the book. It was a seminal peice of work that introduced the topic of corporate psycopathy into modern parlance.
The dynamics captured in the corporation are essential to understanding the rise of the Nuclear industry.
The documentary i link to above is a wonderful follow up work that explores the dynamic further but also posits the notion of what it is we can do about it.
Is nationalization the answer? I dont know. Personally I would agree it was if the intent was to nationalize and disband all the facilities.
This is likely the will of the majority of Japanese people at this time and the documentary explores how we can move on this and potentially fundamentally change that which gives rise to some of the worlds most prominent problems.
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If the idea is for the government to disband all of the nuclear power plants, then yes, it is good.
Japanese government has been down playing this whole thing. From the get. The japanese government has been telling their people that it’s okay to stay in radioactive areas. The Japanese government has decided that 20 millisieverts of radiation a year is okay.
So what in your opinion is that supposed to mean?
Until I hear something to the effect of their government apologizing for putting all their lives in danger and keeping them in danger. Maybe an apology for not evacuating everyone. Maybe an apology for not Acknowledging stillborns and all the people that are experiencing radiation sickness right now. Maybe some sort of solution.
Corporation and government are one. Do some more research I’ve been following this since it happened
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I am not disagreeing with you, which is why I am not clear about what you are saying or why you feel fI need to do more research. I would not know where to begin. I have ran a research department for an international brokerage and have been appointed to work with the Premier (highest political office in my Province I live – a political office which in practice has more power than that of the president United States, or at least you to before you let consecutive deconstruct the system and accrue power to his office) so I am pretty certain I am at least familiar with the territory.
What I posted was a link to a documentary that talks about how we have let a psychopathic system accrue pscychopathic personalities into positions of power, both in government and corporations.
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My bad kevin. I’m just really frustrated because of this giant clusterf@#%
Being from the west and watching how the government and corporations make out with each other is extremely frustrating.
The events taking place are so bad and irreparable.
This just seems like more political posturing to me
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I never understood why Japan does not harness wind power as it is the perfect location. Perhaps now they will. I hope so.
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From what I’ve gleaned lately, TEPCO is essentially insolvent and must be absorbed if further work’s to be done at Fukushima. They’re in big trouble.
Here, in the United States, nuclear power is indemnified from liabilities that exceed a fixed amount. (Likely others out here can elaborate further on this policy.) So, here’s their legal problem: as a provider of a service (energy production), they are entitled to compensation. To ensure their investment in such actions, their liability is limited to worse-case scenarios, as potentially defined by these same parties. They put such potential liability at-around several hundred-million dollars, when this policy was established. Considering what we’re now seeing, such monies wouldn’t cover the cost of flying fresh sushi in from Australia! So, rather than admit insolvency and create a panic within the investor community, the Japanese government will now claim they’re being proactive in ‘wresting-away’ the control of this problem from TEPCO. Such a move is nothing more than pretense. I’d suggest, that before this liability is absorbed by the global community (and it will be), all interested parties (including shareholders) who may have been profiting from the operation of these plants should be stripped of all of their assets. Only then should the staggering losses of Fukushima be passed on to the rest of us! And it will only be through such punitive measures that you will see a withdrawal from the nuclear madness…
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I think it is time for a huge shift in how we “govern ourselves.” I mean radical change into what America’s Republic is supposed to be. Apply P2P network structure to how power and economies are instituted into society. Many, many nodes with equal power at local scales. Just like what we need to do with electricity production.
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Bones isn’t just some old country doctor!
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Sorry, too cyptic. I mean, that huge shift in “how we ‘govern ourselves’” is what “they” don’t want!
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Well, it’s about time. The fact that these cancer factories we call nuclear plants are run by for-profit companies where the bottom line, rather than public safety, guides operating procedures is sheer lunacy. At the very least, a truly objective regulatory agency–one that is not beholden to the industry it’s supposed to be regulating–should see to it that the industry is held to an uncompromising safety standard, and that infractions are punished with equal diligence and severity. Imagine if the airlines were allowed to operate in the same fashion as the nuclear industry: planes would start dropping from the sky.
http://www.californianuclearinitiative.com
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Why would it matter if the government took over the plants all over Japan? Well if they do it would be like handing the keys to a F22 to a two year old. The Japanese government is supremely ignorant about nuclear power. If they knew what the hell can happen then they would never have let plants get build at all. The government taking over the nuclear industry will only mean the people have to inherit a government that refuses to do anything and a bunch of aging nuclear power plants now on the taxpayers dime. It’s a lose lose situation. Even if you nationalize the nuke industry it won’t change the fact that incompetence is rampant in industry and government.
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In the Daily Yomiuri the article that Reuters seems to be referencing is titled “Public entity eyed for power supply” and is quite different.
Very different.
I think Reuters may have acquired quotes from Edano to flesh out their version.
Go read – it’s in English!
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The Japanese Govt has demonstrated NO proficiency in handling the ONE plant crisis…. and now they’ll manage 50+ plants? While the idea instills no new confidence in me whatsoever, the good thing is the removing of iirresponsible idiot nuke companies from a place where currently they can ruin the planet, not warn citizens about it and slime away back to hell…held unaccountable for their crimes and misdeeds. No one has any business operating technology we do not understand well enough to action properly the disasters they can create. Even a government should be forced to master the technology or shelve it until we possess the know-how.
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I wrote this at my blog several days ago. I still like it. Yes, TEPCO gets to survive, with penalties….and…..
http://nukepimp.blogspot.com/2012/01/pepco.html
OK I figured it out. How to deal with TEPCO. First Nationalize them, stripping back pension rights to anyone 2 tiers up from working technician level and up. Strip those back 10 years, so they have to keep working at least 10 more years, even if otherwise ready to retire.
Spin off TEPCO into PEPCO Peoples Electric Power Company. And have it be owned literally by the People of Japan, not the government, really owned by the people with the Gov acting as managing agent under the direction of a board of director comprised of the people. No TEPCO personnel even if already retired would be allowed on the board of directors. To get the expertise, they would be allowed to hire for 3 of 9 Board of Director positions from anywhere, including out of country if needed or desired.
ALL of the profits of PEPCO would go towards compensating the victims of the nuclear disaster– for 90 years, the point at which the Strontium will be 12.5% as strong as now. Fukushima would receive the most, but the adjacent prefectures would receive appropriate amounts also as determined by the board of directors.
A trust fund would be set up with segregated money to fund the health care expenses of those affected. The trust fund would survive the PEPCO in case PEPCO failed.
The focus of the money would not be on moving people back, but on helping people find a productive and safe life. This include costs for relocation and retraining, especially in renewable energy industries.
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Here is yet another suggestion;
Invest every bit of profit building Solar ASAP!
That would make shutting down the nuclear reactors a National Priority!
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Not to be redundant but Japan is perfect for Wind Power. NO NUKES
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@stock: your suggestions are kick-ass! Keep up the good work…
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Any astute observer during the course of this situation can obviously take note that the nation of Japan is considered (by today’s standards) and “advanced” nation. Thus information technology is common among the populace and, most know how to use a “search” engine. *(i.e. Google “radiation”)and it’s known effects.
If one is so dependent upon TEPCO and Gov vomit to sustain ones self during this crisis, than shame is very close to home.
I am really getting sick of the “Zombie” mentality exhibited by those effected by, and those commenting on this matter.
Better get moving, time is short.
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I like your idea, stock@hawaii. And while I echo the concerns of many here the nationalizing TEPCO, or the entirety of the Japanese nuclear industry, for that matter, doesn’t solve any of the underlying problems, it DOES remove–ostensibly, anyway–one of the biggest impediments to not only dealing with Fukushima, but reducing the danger by the nuclear industry in general: profit motive. I’m sure most of you saw the press conference by the Japanese journalist who “embedded” himself and went undercover as a Fukushima worker. He mentioned that a couple other major Japanese technology companies–Toshiba and ???–had some good ideas for dealing with this situation, but were being stonewalled by TEPCO and their desire not to spend any more money on Fukushima. Perhaps, just maybe, if the entity in control of this disaster is not concerned with paying out shareholders, then perhaps we pursue some “outside the box” options for mitigating this catastrophe. That is, if it’s not all completely gone to hell anyway, which is a big “if.
http://www.californianuclearinitiative.com
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@kid42day — Glad to see you’re linking the California Ballot Initiative to shut down California’s nuclear power plants.
What can non-Californians do to help?
Enenewsers in California, please go out and get signatures. They’re needed by March 31st, I believe. That’s only 85 days away. Colleges and universities are a good place to get signatures. Plus Family. Friends. Co-workers. Neighbors.
From what I read, the initiative already had a big disadvantage because pro-nuke media came out strongly against it.
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I think/ hope that at the end of May
all Nuclear Power-Plants are in the mode
of a “Cold Shut-Down”
and never ever return going online!
But for the Dismantling Process we will need
2 or even 3 new Plants!!!
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yes what to do with that waste, how will it be “processed” .. excellent question human!
Nuclear Wastes: Technologies for Separations and Transmutation (1996)
Commission on Geosciences, Environment and Resources (CGER)
Interesting and lengthy report… enjoy!
“…During the last few years, there has been a substantial increase in the number of countries and international organizations undertaking programs related to investigation of one or more aspects of separations and transmutation (S&T). The purpose of this appendix is to provide a summary of the most significant activities. The section in which a particular activity is discussed is somewhat arbitrary at times. The complex web of collaborative international activities and organizations makes definitive assignment of activities to specific installations or nations very difficult or impossible….”
China (OECD/NEA, 1990)
“China, though not in possession of any operating nuclear power reactors, has been reprocessing spent fuels from its other reactors since the 1960s. During this time, three processes have been developed to separate actinides from high-level waste (HLW): reverse TALSPEAK, a process in which the Am(III) + Ln(III) elements are extracted in an organic phase by di (2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (HDEHP). Research activities to optimize the reverse TALSPEAK and DHDECMP process are ongoing, along with work on separation of platinum-group metals and cleanup of degraded solvents. Hot demonstration of actinide extraction is planned. Transmutation is not yet being studied…..”
cont…
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cont…
Japan
The Japanese are committed to reprocessing as a matter of national policy and have the most comprehensive and organized S&T program of any nation or organization.
Japan’s Option Making Extra Gains from Actinides and Fission Products (OMEGA) program—started in 1985 and formalized in 1987—is a comprehensive, long-term effort involving data acquisition and evaluation, study of partitioning schemes, and transmutation of nuclides in reactors or by using accelerators.
OMEGA funding is nominally about $10 million per year, although it is not clear how much ”work in kind” is being provided by the participating organizations. The OMEGA program is only summarized briefly here….”
Czech and Slovak Federal Republic (OECD/NEA, 1990)
“The Institute of Nuclear Research in Rez, Czech and Slovak Federal Republic (CSFR) has synthesized a new extractant, cobalt dicarbollide, under the sponsorship of the Radium Institute in Leningrad.
This extractant shows promise for separation of radiocesium and, when mixed with polyethylene glycol, for separating radiostrontium from highly acid solutions. Laboratory work has been conducted in the CSFR, and hot testing at the Radium Institute.
The work is still in the research stage because of difficulties with low product concentrations, the use of nitrobenzene as a diluent, and the high cost of the extractant. Work is currently suspended because of the recent political change in the former Soviet Union…..”
Cobalt anyone?
part 3 to follow….
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France
“France is committed to nuclear fuel reprocessing and actinide recycle as a matter of national policy, and these activities are presently practiced domestically and as part of international commerce. During the last few years, France has initiated work to establish a geologic repository for the HLW and other long-lived wastes resulting from their nuclear activities. Recognizing the controversial nature of such facilities, the French legislature adopted a long-term approach to repository development.
The budget for SPIN is approximately $600 million over 15 years, which includes funding for new research and development facilities at Marcoule. The 1992 budget was about $17 million. In both cases, there is somewhat of an emphasis on PURETEX. The effort for 1991 was 20 person-years. This may expand to 40 to 50 person-years within a 5-year plan….”
looks like the French nuke plants just keep on giving!!
UK London 0.18 microsieverts/hr at 23.00 hrs gmt,Same as southern Germany yesterday! check it out here!!….
http://enenews.com/forum-post-radiation-monitoring-data-dec-17-2011-present
Start here at page 448 and go back a page at a time to find the above examples in full.. now you understand the consensus! The Chinese report of strontium 90 was a message for the IAEA to concede something perhaps? Inscrutable!
Must have got it because the six ships that went around japan in November haven’t posted there results and the IAEA is in charge of monitoring… politics huh?
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=4912&page=449
health and safety section looks interesting!!
http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=4912&page=383
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http://enenews.com/eu-recommending-nations-monitor-tuna-and-billfish-for-fukushima-radiation-yet-claims-eating-highly-contaminated-fish-like-smoking-a-cigarette-zero-risk-to-humans
yep looks like the 147 corporations have got us by the preverbials! or not!!?? suck it up and eat your tuna salad! its no worse than a cigarette a day and alot less addictive too!!
TRUST US!! NO POLYGON VICTIMS IN KAZAHKSTAN EXSIST… GO TO SLEeeeeeeP!!
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The one thing in this story that keeps teasing me is this. Corporations are required to get local and prefecture approval for start up. Something tells me that if the central government gains control over all the nuclear plants, prefecture and local approval won’t mean squat, and they can start any reactor at any time they wish. To use the monopoly busting argument makes a great smoke screen for what they really want, the power flowing from the nukes again and the populace out of the control picture.
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From Yomiuri
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120106005874.htm
“By increasing its authority over nuclear plant management, the government hopes to clarify whether the private or public sector is responsible for a range of matters such as compensation in the event of an accident, as well as to generate support from disgruntled local governments opposed to state plans to restart nuclear reactors.”
Generate support….. as I said above.
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This consideration of the government has again proved that it has no control over the Nuclear power plants earlier. It is good that government has realized that it must have control over Nuclear plants in order to prevent further tragedy to take place.
I recently came across these atmpospheric simulations, produced an American independent organization, that indicate TEPCO vastly under-reported radionuclide emissions from the Fukushima Plant.
http://www.datapoke.org/blog/8/study-modeling-fukushima-npp-radioactive-contamination-dispersion-utilizing-chino-m-et-al-source-terms/
http://www.datapoke.org/partmom/a=40
I’ve suspected for some time that the publicly released emissions data had been manipulated – If the models are correct I suppose this re enforces my hunch. Is there anyone here that can help us explain the implications of this model?
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Model statistical evaluation using monitoring station data. Assumptions are given in the article. You can acutally run your own analysis with the software on line. It uses the GFS data/model for weather dispersal.All in all, probably as good as SPEEDI modeling, at least it is available anytime!Modeling and event “gaming” was personal professional background for government along with IT infrastructure/operating system engineering.
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Collapse (full movie)2009
explains the coeporate/government panic nicely!
“I have to recommend this film above others I’ve watched on peak oil and world energy because Michael isn’t afraid to say what others who are still cautious won’t say. Many films and books have tended to chronicle the story of what’s really happening with the environment and energy but far less propose what we can do or what we can expect in the coming years, providing rational insight on how the empire of oil is coming to an end. Michael outlines what our options for energy generation are, underscoring solar and wind as the most realistic solutions given the time we have left to switch it up….”
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