Kan Denies Criminal Liability for Fukushima Crisis,New Decommission Plan Ok'd Updates 8/14/2013
Channel: Staceylane74
Date: 2013-08-15

I created this video with the YouTube Video Editor (http://www.youtube.com/editor)Kan denies criminal liability for Fukushima crisis
Former Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has denied criminal responsibility in the government's response to the 2011 Fukushima nuclear crisis.
Kan gave a written statement to Tokyo prosecutors on Wednesday. He denied he was negligent in dealing with the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.
Prosecutors have been investigating the case for more than a year following complaints from residents of Fukushima Prefecture and others.
The residents accused Kan of professional negligence that resulted in injuries to workers at the plant and radiation exposure among local residents.
Some workers were injured in a hydrogen explosion at the plant's No.1 reactor building at 3 PM on March 12th.
That's one day after the quake and tsunami damaged the plant.
The complaints say Kan's visit to the plant that morning hindered plant workers' efforts to contain the crisis. They say the resulting delay in a venting operation to ease pressure in the reactor containment vessel led to the explosion.
Sources close to the former prime minister say Kan insists in his statement that the workers could have conducted the operation early in the morning but did not.
Kan reportedly says he visited the plant to press for a quick response, not to delay it.
Criminal complaints have also been filed against former executives of the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, and officials at Japan's former nuclear regulatory agency.
The prosecutors are expected to make a final decision as early as this month on whether to press charges.

NRA approves TEPCO's reactor decommission plan
Japan's nuclear regulator has approved TEPCO's plan to decommission its stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. The approval came 5 months later than initially expected.
The Nuclear Regulation Authority in December started examining the plan, including specific procedures and safety measures. The work is expected to take about 40 years.
The authority accepted the plan in a meeting on Wednesday, despite commissioners' requests that Tokyo Electric properly handle treatment of contaminated water and removal of spent fuel.
The NRA commissioners also said the utility must do more to cope with leakage of radioactive water from the plant and contaminated groundwater into the sea.
NRA's approval schedule was pushed back due to a series of problems at the plant. They include longer-than-expected time to inspect a facility to remove radioactive substances from tainted water as well as handling of contaminated water leaks.
The authority plans to step up its monitoring of the firm's safety measures in the decommissioning procedure and order it to repeat safety steps until they are conducted properly.

Decontamination outside Fukushima shifts to houses

US Air Force nuclear unit fails safety test
http://youtu.be/oeTIrcX2GXg

Hand, foot and mouth disease is spreading in Japan

KEPCO to halt 2 reactors in September
Japan will have no nuclear power in September for the first time in 14 months when 2 reactors at the Ohi nuclear plant in Fukui Prefecture are halted for regular inspections.

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