Kan Denies Criminal Liability for Fukushima Crisis, New Decommission Plan OK'd Update 8/14/13
Channel: MsMilkytheclown1
Date: 2013-08-15

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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.

Latest Headlines: http://enenews.com/
Much more than 300 tons of contaminated water a day entering Pacific from Fukushima? Data's been "cooked" all along — It's polluting North Asia — Oceans have no boundary

Nuclear Expert: Xenon detections in S. Korea may be from Fukushima reactors — Criticality or 'spontaneous fission of curium' to blame?

Tepco: "Significant density" of Alpha radiation leaking from Unit 3 at Fukushima — Steam seen at reactor building "likely to be leaked" from containment vessel

Ex-Fukushima Worker: High risk they'll break fuel rods in Unit 4 pool — Gundersen: Moving fuel risks nuclear chain reaction; You can't stop it, no control rods to control it — Consultants: World's most serious radiological disaster by far is possible

Reuters: Corrosion is weakening Unit No. 4 at Fukushima — Concern quake to 'topple' bulging structure — "May have tilted" — Holds 14,000 Hiroshima bombs worth of cesium-137

Japan Reporter: Engineers only have 'vague idea' where Fukushima nuclear fuel is after world's first triple meltdown — "A vast experiment" — Problems are enormous 

Tokyo Professor on CBC: Latest Fukushima crisis is threatening public health — Gov't response "totally abysmal"

NHK: Groundwater levels continue rising at Fukushima plant — Gov't warns Tepco about typhoons — "We can't do anything" if rainfall overwhelms pump — Contaminated water could overflow and move "extremely fast" into Pacific 

MSN: Nuclear experts call for testing U.S. West Coast waters and Pacific seafood for Fukushima contamination — "I definitely recommend FDA and EPA increase their vigilance"

TV: They are turning ground into quicksand at Fukushima plant — Engineers warn reactor units may topple

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