Fukushima Lifting Evacuations while Low Level Radiation Studied update 10/1/14
Channel: MsMilkytheclown1
Date: 2014-10-02

Evacuation order lifted in Fukushima village Sept. 30, 2014
The Japanese government has lifted an evacuation order for part of Kawauchi Village near the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
The measure -- for the eastern part of the village in Fukushima Prefecture -- took effect on Wednesday at midnight. It affects 274 residents in 139 households.
The government says decontamination has been completed in the area. The roads and other infrastructure have been rebuilt, and utility services are up and running.
This is the second time an evacuation order has been lifted since the 2011 accident, after the Miyakoji district in Tamura City in April.
Residents can now stay in their homes and reopen restaurants or other businesses.
But some have expressed concern that a drop in radiation levels is not sufficient for a return to their former lives. Others complain that shopping and medical services are inconvenient.
Because of this, not all former residents are expected to return to the village.
Also on Wednesday, the government re-designated some areas of the village where overnight stays had been prohibited as zones preparing for the return of residents.
An evacuation order is still in place for 10 municipalities around the Daiichi plant more than 3 and a half years after the accident, affecting some 80,000 people. Entry or overnight stays are limited in some areas.
The government has designated evacuation zones in 3 categories according to radiation levels. Evacuation orders are to be lifted after decontamination is complete.
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Meanwhile... back at the "ranch"...
Impact of Low-Level Radiation
Scientists from Japan and abroad have been trudging through the abandoned fields and forests of Fukushima looking for clues. They're trying to find out how the radiation released by the damaged nuclear plant there is affecting animals and insects. And some are paying particular attention to how or even if low-level contamination is affecting organisms. NHK WORLD's Craig Dale has the story. 
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NRA chief defends volcanic hazard measures
The head of Japan's nuclear power regulator has defended its approval of volcanic hazard measures for a nuclear power plant in Kagoshima, southern Japan.
Shunichi Tanaka, the chairman of the Nuclear Regulation Authority, was speaking at a news conference on Wednesday.
His remarks follow the eruption of Mount Ontake in central Japan on Saturday without any detection of warning signs. Dozens of climbers died in the eruption.
The eruption prompted public concern over volcanic hazard measures for the Sendai plant in Kagoshima Prefecture operated by Kyushu Electric Power Company. There are active volcanoes in the prefecture.
The utility had showed plans to remove nuclear fuel from the facility if it detects any signs of volcanic activity or tectonic plate movement around the plant.
The NRA officially approved the plans last month as part of its screening of measures proposed by the utility based on government requirements for the restart of offline reactors.
At Wednesday's news conference, the NRA chief said Ontake's hydro volcanic eruption is unlike any huge volcanic eruption that may occur around the Sendai nuclear power plant. He says discussing them as the same type of event is not scientific.
Tanaka said that before an enormous eruption, land movements and tremors appear much earlier than for the ongoing eruption of Mount Ontake.
The NRA has held 2 meetings with volcanologists since August. Participants pointed out the difficulty of predicting volcanic eruptions using current knowledge and technology.
The extra clip at the end about sheep sheering was just because I thought it was interesting.
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Nuclear risk center chief urges change in mindset
The head of Japan's newly established Nuclear Risk Research Center has urged everyone involved with nuclear energy to change their mindset.
The center opened on Wednesday as part of the Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry, which is run jointly by Japanese power companies.
Center chief George Apostolakis served on the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission until June. He specializes in analyzing risks at nuclear plants.
The center's aim is to pinpoint such risks, including those at plants that have met government requirements to restart, and to help power companies fix the problems.
Apostolakis said Japan has been slow to introduce risk analysis, perhaps because most people think everything that meets government requirements is safe. He added that such attitudes must change, to ensure safety.

BONUS video: a great new upload called World Record #1 FUKU, The Canary In Coal Mine http://youtu.be/Zh0vr4KZfnE