News From The Meltdowns: Fukushima; TEPCO Wants More Public $; Anti-Nuke Protests!
Channel: onthewaytoextinction
Date: 04/06/2013

http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/

TEPCO REQUESTS MORE MONEY TO PAY COMPENSATION

Officials at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have asked for more help from the public to cover their rising costs.

The officials, from Tokyo Electric Power Company, or TEPCO, requested an extra 6.6 billion dollars from a state-backed public fund to meet payout demands.

The plant operator is already entitled to receive about 31 billion dollars from the fund.

But it estimates its costs will rise substantially as it pays damages to people who have been forced to leave their homes.

If the latest request is approved, total aid to TEPCO would be around 38 billion dollars.

The government has placed a cap on aid at 50 billion dollars. But TEPCO estimates its costs will ultimately exceed this figure, especially if it is forced to pay for decontamination of the surrounding countryside.

The operator has asked the government to consider paying its costs directly.

May. 31, 2013 - Updated 21:14 UTC

RALLIES HELD TO OPPOSE RESTART OF NUCLEAR PLANTS

 Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets of Tokyo to oppose moves to bring the country's nuclear power stations back online.

Three groups organized rallies on Sunday. They say a total of 25,000 people attended.

At one of the rallies, Nobel Prize-winning author Kenzaburo Oe said restarting nuclear plants is a betrayal of the people affected by the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in 2011.

Miyoko Watanabe, who used to run a farm near the plant, said she regrets believing the lie that nuclear plants are safe.

She voiced opposition to a government plan to export nuclear plant technologies. She said Japan should not take the wrong path by focusing too much on economic benefits.

The participants later marched near the Diet and the head office of Tokyo Electric Power Company, the operator of the Fukushima plant.

Sunday's rallies came as plant operators across Japan are preparing to apply to restart their reactors once the government introduces new safety guidelines in July.

Only one of Japan's nuclear plants is currently online.

The operators are working to ensure their plants meet the guidelines that require them to withstand severe accidents and natural disasters.

Jun. 2, 2013 - Updated 14:11 UTC

TEPCO DETECTS RADIOACTIVE CESIUM IN GROUNDWATER

 TEPCO officials have detected radioactive cesium in groundwater at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. But they said levels were much lower than legal limits.

Officials from Tokyo Electric Power Company reported the findings. They said they found 0.39 becquerels per liter of radioactive cesium-137 in samples collected April 16th.

The officials said the figure is lower than TEPCO's limit of one becquerel per liter. It is also considerably lower than Japan's legal limit of 90 becquerels per liter.

TEPCO officials previously stated radioactive cesium in groundwater at the plant was lower than their instruments could detect.

But Nuclear Regulation Authority investigators directed TEPCO to improve methods -- leading to the new findings.

TEPCO officials want to remove local groundwater before it is polluted by contact with radioactive wastewater. Four hundred tons of radioactive water accumulates daily at the plant.

Officials from TEPCO and the Natural Resources and Energy Agency set out last month a plan to lower the groundwater level by discharging it into the ocean.

But local fishing communities opposed the plan based on fears the groundwater could be contaminated.

TEPCO officials hope the new findings will help allay these fears.

Jun. 3, 2013 - Updated 20:52 UTC

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