JAPAN: FUKUSHIMA.....

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Japan's Theater Of The Nuclear Absurd


Spider and I sat watching the sky on a world without sound. - Eno (1)

Japan is a sinking ship

Richard Wilcox, Ph.D.

Activist Post

I live in a world conquered by evil.

It's bad enough that the Fukushima nuclear power plant no. 1 (FNPP#1) is leaking upwards of 160 billion becquerels of radiation into the ocean every day, including cesium, strontium and who knows what else on a list of dangerous isotopes (2). However, Japan's prime minister continues to contradict himself, speaking with a forked tongue out of both sides of his mouth-with-foot-inserted.

Prime Minister Shinzo (“Mr. Nuclear”) Abe's well known exaggeration that “all is well” at Fukushima and therefore Japan can be trusted to host the Olympics in 2020, is an absurd pronouncement that has been publicly debunked by many news sources and scientists, including no less than Tepco's (Tokyo Electric Power Company) top technology executive who believes that things at Fukushima are not under control (3). Abe's claim that radiation leaking into the ocean is neatly contained within the nearby vicinity of the plant is not supported by scientific evidence.

At the time, Abe the Master Magician pronounced to the gullible dupes at the IOC (International Olympic Committee) that:

There have been some expressions of concern over the leak of polluted water at Fukushima, but the government will take a lead in achieving a complete resolution of this problem.... I will explain carefully that we are doing our utmost with a firm resolve and that in 2020, seven years from now, there will be absolutely no problem (4).



No scientific evidence necessary given that rational thought is now a distant memory from the past in our post modern world and Theater of Absurd Lies. More recently it was noted that:

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said...the impact from accumulating radioactive water at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant has been 'under control.' The government will 'continue efforts to address the problem with multiple preventive measures,' using the world’s wisdom, Abe told a plenary session of the House of Representatives. 'The situation has been under control as a whole' (5).

Reading from a completely different script at a scientific conference in Kyoto (that was mainly promoting the global warming agenda), Abe put forth these gems of wisdom, hope and humility to the world:

We have learned, in the most painful way, the importance of STS, or science and technology in society, by which I mean Fukushima and its aftermath. We’re wide open to receive the most advanced knowledge from overseas to contain the problem. My country needs your knowledge (6).

The statement is blatantly false as the Japanese government and Tepco knew full well that a tsunami could hit Fukushima but did nothing to improve the size of the seawall because they did not want to spend the money. The Kyoto meeting produced no concrete solutions being offered from the world's so-called leading scientists, who more often than not are in the employ of transnational corporate interests and weapons makers (7; 8). It seems like science these days is too often devoted to evil New World Order (Novus ordo seclorum) depopulation and environmental destruction agendas and not the common good.

Olympic Sized Radioactive Fuel Pool Of Problems

www.OffgridOutpost.comAbe's promise to invite international expertise in nuclear crisis management at Fukushima may seem encouraging but as peace advocate and Japan expert Robert Jacobs points out, the Olympics gambit may turn out very badly given that Fukushima could still be leaking radiation in 2020 (9). While hosting the Olympics has been a longtime pet project of Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) politicians such as Shintaro Ishihara (retired), one can assume by his actions that Abe dishonestly campaigned for it in order to pay off his political backers in the construction and real estate development sectors who will profit from building the Olympic infrastructure. Giving Japan the Olympics may have also been a PR stunt by the global nuclear industry to put a happy face on the Fukushima nuclear disaster (10).

Nuclear power expert Arnie Gundersen doesn't think Abe's plea for help is sincere. This coincides with earlier testimony exposing how foreign firms tried to contribute to decontamination and technical expertize efforts in Japan but were coldly rebuffed by arrogant Japanese bureaucrats (11).

The Japanese government hasn’t asked for help. And I don’t know whether that’s pride, or fear that they might find out how bad things really are. Just last week PM Abe asked for help, but I’ve been contacted by 3 American firms that have gone over and begged to give them their technology and they’ve been rebuffed by the Japanese. I really frankly don’t believe the Japanese want to have an adequate solution here, because they can’t afford it (12).

Unlike Abe's predecessor, Naoto Kan who handled the 3/11 disaster with relative success -- it could have been much worse had he not been in charge as Tepco wanted to abandon the plant during the accident and Kan forced them not to -- had an academic background in the hard sciences. Abe's understanding of science hovers around the zero mark which renders his flaccid rhetoric meaningless.

In fact, his words are blatant lies that contradict the dangerous, ongoing and unpredictable reality at FNPP#1. For example, if another major quake was to strike before the fuel rods were removed from the unit 4 fuel pool it could collapse and unleash a massive radiological fire. Tsk tsk, don't bother us with details. Nuclear Japan has never prioritized nuclear safety over corporate profits and governmental power and continues to practice a scientific hubris that could create a nuclear disaster for countries that buy their technology (13). According to my colleague, Tony Boys, who often translates the bi-monthly newsletter for the Citizens Nuclear Information Center (Tokyo), neither Japan's scientists nor the utility companies wanted to adopt nuclear power back in the 1960s but were arm-twisted into doing it by the government (and Japan is a semi-colony of the United States).

Having Your Fugu-shima Sushi And Eating It Too

Recently Abe carried out a PR stunt to promote Fukushima fishery products as “good and safe” for consumption (14). In Japan it is very common to claim that “harmful rumors” of contaminated food products are being spread to discredit Fukushima farmers and fishermen.

While it is possible that inaccurate or even dishonest measurements of radiation may be reported by members of the public, the opposite is usually the case, and accurate measurements is the last thing Tepco and the government have in mind given their clumsy use of subterfuge for skewing radiation levels to appear lower than they really are (15). Following the nuclear disaster in 2011 the elementary school near our home in Tokyo measured the school grounds by holding the dosimeter at a distance in the air over the ground. When independent measurements on the ground itself were taken, the readings were higher than what the school reported.

Researcher Adam Broinowski who is with the Australian National University offers a devastating critique of nuclear politics in Japan and confirms that:

[w]hile sophisticated detection of radioactive matter is obviously essential (across the gamma-beta-alpha range in water, soil, air, organic and inorganic matter), the over-emphasis on a national ‘can-do’ positivity and on an economic solution by the Abe government distracts from realistic assessments and appropriate responses to the complex problems at Fukushima. Decontamination for example, can cause serious damage to the lived environment, and there is little guarantee that mobile radioactive particles will not re-contaminate cleaned areas (17).

The Simply Info website points out that Japan's method for selecting areas where radiation is relatively low in the ocean while strongly implying that all fish are “safe” for consumption relies on a fundamentally flawed methodology which I call the “skew and spew school of science” (SSSS):

Japanese media [recently have] declared how fishing that resumed south of Fukushima Daiichi has been largely a 'success.' Fishing done near Iwaki City to the south was declared all safe and sent to market.... [N]ews stories make it sound like fish off the coast of Fukushima are now not contaminated. This is absolutely not the case. What appears to be happening instead is a carefully planned effort to only bring in species known to not absorb considerable levels of contamination and only from certain areas known to not contain high levels of radioactive contamination. A number of prefectures have banned fishing of species known to contain higher levels of contamination.... While removing these species from any potential consumption is a good idea…presenting the select few species being fished as representative of the safety or lack of contamination of seafood from the region is completely dishonest. Fish that are bottom feeders or reside near the coast are still showing with considerable levels of contamination that have not dropped significantly over time (16).

Returning to Broinowski's research, he points out that such crass PR stunts on the part of LDP/Nuclear Cartel are part of an elaborate public brainwashing campaign:

As techniques of persuasion and confusion continue to be insinuated into public consciousness (‘Look forward with optimism!’; ‘Ganbare Nippon!’; ‘Kizuna!’), the popular nationalist drive to restore Japan to its glory days of the Meiji era, or to the Kishi administrative initiatives of the late 1950s, has made claims by affected citizens for compensated evacuation and health care more difficult. Redoubling its effort to stamp out ‘baseless rumours’ (fūhyō), the Abe government has pressed evacuees to return to their former residences. Despite a municipal government campaign to encourage residents to prioritise family, community and the land (the kizuna project), along with staged apologies, promotional drives for Fukushima produce, distribution of free dosimetry meters to potential returnees, decontamination and construction programs, and even miracle cures for cancer, the public are also being told to make their own decisions regarding the risks of radiation exposure.

Don't Bother Us With Details

I can personally attest that this campaign has had great success. The number of people I encounter in Tokyo who adopt a mildly hostile distaste for discussing or acknowledging nuclear dangers are in the majority.

In our local organic food store which is generally of high quality and reliability, and imports many foods that come from outside the most radioactive zones of the northeast and Tokyo regions, I met an older fellow who wanted to have a friendly discussion. I asked him if he worried about radioactive substances on his food and he suddenly became testy, quickly dismissing the notion and emphasized to me that it is the food additives that we should worry about, things like pesticides and preservatives! While I agree that those are problems, the fact that people can so neatly compartmentalize food contaminates only according to the officially acceptable narrative is amazing.

The other day I asked a group of college science students if they worry about radiation in their food or water and three out of four reported that they do not. I understand that for many it is too depressing to worry about. When I was a young man I was rebellious and arrogant and often did not heed the warnings of my elders. Eating all of those cookies with hydrogenated oils has now given me high blood pressure, if only I had listened!

On the other hand, part of the reason for this attitude of denial is that the “don't worry, be happy” narrative is easy to adopt. If you get cancer or die prematurely you can cross that bridge when you come to it. The government spokesman at the time of the nuclear meltdowns, Yukio Edano, infamously told the Japanese public that you are in “no immediate danger” from radiation. Perhaps not, but your life span may very well have been shortened.

A courageous student of mine at Tsuda College (Tsuda College is a women's university that often promotes an ethic of social justice and social involvement among students) volunteers for a citizens' group that assists refugees in Fukushima. She told me there are still 48,000 refugees living in temporary housing due to the nuclear accident. Life there is hard, children can't live normal lives and old folks live in lonely, cold despair. These people are nothing but disposable human garbage (DHG) from the point of view of the limited-liability corporate model and the nuclear industry. When I asked her what the government's plan for these people was she did not have an answer other than indefinite detention until they move back into the “decontaminated” radioactive evacuation zone. The government does not want to spend the money to help these poor souls, nor do they want to admit how they have brutally failed them.

News Flash: To Hell With The Planet, Nuke Industry Too Big To Fail!

Broinowski offers a troubling summary of Japan's Theater of Nuclear Absurdity:

Even as it has failed and failed again...TEPCO has been bailed out by the Government so that it can continue to operate as a business. Regarded as ‘too big to fail’, the corporation has been granted immunity from either raw capitalist logic or due democratic process, while being encouraged to manage a portfolio that promises to provide returns in the broader effort to maintain the buoyancy of the nuclear industry. In this sense, the reality of molten radioactive metal sitting beneath the ruined plant is abstracted into a financial liability that is ‘contained’ to prevent any loss of confidence on the part of prospective investors.... [M]any people in Japan seem to be well aware of the falsity of Abe’s contention that the Fukushima NPP is under control. The abstraction of material conditions to justify the protection of and maintain the confidence in sovereign assets and illusory growth, is incurring real and mounting costs in human and non-human life. If unchecked, this system will continue to do so into the future until exhaustion and potential collapse. Either way, the situation is likely to get worse before significant change is achieved, which depends on the ability of people in Japan and the international community to grasp the urgency of the crisis and to demand an end to delay in preventing further contamination of the ocean and regenerating one of the most vital structures supporting life on the planet.

Fukushima was not a disaster waiting to happen: it was a foregone conclusion. For several years previous to 2011 I preached the dangers of nuclear technology. Most of my university students agreed with me and once they had the facts were dead-set against it. Some students did and still do believe that “the moon is made of green cheese” and “Japan needs nuclear power” but I have never been presented with a balanced model of empirical data to support such an argument.

Could not solar, wind, geothermal power, conservation and deregulation of the Energy Cartel compensate for the 30 percent of electricity once produced by nuclear power in Japan? Most electricity is sopped up by the major industries and corporations who bear none of the costs and all of the benefits of “cheap” electricity. The limited-liability/corporate-governance model we currently rely upon is broken and needs to be replaced with an environmentally sustainable and socially-just system.

Professor Andrew DeWit who lives in Tokyo warns of the danger of relying on Tepco to solve the nuclear mess and reiterates the call for outside intervention:

When the stakes are this high, who do you want to bet on? TEPCO’s track record is abysmal. They have done nothing to indicate they can be trusted with handling this difficult task. Even now there are few signs that TEPCO has fully understood the magnitude of the situation they – and we – collectively face, and many signs that their priority has been and remains the company’s bottom line not the public interest. This is literally a matter of national security – another mistake by TEPCO could have incredibly costly, even fatal, consequences for Japan.... While it may be politically inconvenient for Prime Minister Abe to accept, it is time to intervene and take over Daiichi before it is too late.... TEPCO is simply not up to the task of dealing with the multiple technological challenges.... Fuketa Toyoshi, a NRA commissioner, recently complained that their 'instructions, written or verbal, have never been observed.' The time for supervising is over – TEPCO must be relieved of control of the whole decommissioning process (18).

How much confidence can we put in a gang of criminals like the LDP and the Nuclear Cartel? Journalist Yoichi Shimatsu wrote to me about how the once disgraced Shinzo Abe got elected a second time. It's a plausible theory: control of the media; vote rigging and (drum roll, please): Mizuho Bank slush fund. Mizuho plus Yakuza (Japan organized crime network) equals Abe victory.

Why the hush-hush at Mizuho (19)? Look at the dateline of events - the nuke lobby had to get rid of Naoto Kan and the DPJ as loose cannons on deck who were turning anti-nuke-- and so had to get the discredited LDP with Mr. Nuke Abe Shinzo at the helm, but he had no CASH. How to get the fast cash unreported for the Abe slush fund - 311 donations conveyed from the Mizuho account via the yakuza to the Abe faction of the LDP. Never mind that this is beyond despicable when Fukushima locals were freezing to death and dying of starvation-- it's biz as usual at Japan Inc.

I live in a world conquered by evil.

Richard Wilcox holds a Ph.D. in Environmental Studies from a social science, holistic perspective. He teaches at a number of universities in the Tokyo, Japan area. His articles on environmental topics including the Fukushima nuclear disaster are archived at http://wilcoxrb99.wordpress.com/ and he can be contacted at wilcoxrb2013@gmail.com

References

1. Brian Eno, Spider And I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Yc5j60LSNo

2. Water radiation soars at Fukushima No. 1
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/10/18/national/water-radiation-soars-at-fukushima-no-1/#.UmHohGfYGTc

3. Tepco tech chief disputes Abe’s ‘under control’ assertion
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/09/13/national/tepco-tech-chief-disputes-abes-under-control-assertion-2/#.UmhgO7-E70c

4. Abe Says Fukushima Will Be Resolved Before 2020 Olympics
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-09-04/japan-s-abe-says-fukushima-will-be-resolved-before-2020-olympics

5. Abe claims Fukushima radioactive water woes are ‘under control’
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/10/16/national/abe-claims-fukushima-radioactive-water-woes-are-under-control/#.UmCffr-E70c

6. Japan Prime Minister: We’ve learned in “the most painful way” from Fukushima and its aftermath — Overseas help is needed to contain the problems we are facing at plant (VIDEO)
http://enenews.com/japan-prime-minister-weve-learned-in-the-most-painful-way-from-fukushima-and-its-aftermath-overseas-help-is-needed-to-contain-the-problems-we-are-facing-at-plant-video

7. Thomas O. McGarity, Wendy E. Wagner. Bending Science: How Special Interests Corrupt Public Health Research (2008). Harvard University Press (384 pp.).

8. Military-Industrial Complex Speech, Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961
http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/documents/indust.html

9. 'Fukushima might make 2020 Tokyo Olympics impossible'
http://rt.com/op-edge/fukushima-impossible-tokyo-olympics-2020-895/

10. EnviroReporter: Tokyo's Radiation Olympics
http://www.enviroreporter.com/2013/09/tokyos-radiation-olympics/

11. Crisis In Fukushima - Technological Disaster Or Crisis In Governance?
http://fairewinds.org/demystifying/cleanup-from-fukushima-daiichi-technological-disaster-or-crisis-in-governance

12. Japan Professor: It’s such a dangerous situation for other countries — Gundersen: Gov’t does not want an adequate solution for crisis at Fukushima; Fear of it being found out just how bad things really are at plant?
http://enenews.com/japan-professor-dangerous-situation-other-countries-gundersen-govt-adequate-solution-crisis-fukushima-fear-finding-bad-really-plant-video

13. Japan nuclear export parts not safety checked: report
http://www.nuclearpowerdaily.com/reports/Japan_nuclear_export_parts_not_safety_checked_report_999.html

14. Abe tries to dispel rumors about Fukushima seafood
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/10/19/national/abe-tries-to-dispel-rumors-about-fukushima-seafood/#.UmQouZTEYx6

15. Tepco admits to reporting false radiation levels for nearly 2 years at Fukushima
http://enenews.com/tepco-admits-to-reporting-false-radiation-levels-for-past-2-years-at-fukushima

16. Fukushima and the Transnationality of Radioactive Nuclear Contamination. “Visualizing Radioactivity” and its Impacts on Humanity
http://www.globalresearch.ca/fukushima-and-the-transnationality-of-radioactive-nuclear-contamination-visualizing-radiactivity-and-its-impacts-on-humanity/5354238

17. Fukushima Fish Testing Shows Narrow Fantasy View Of Situation
http://www.fukuleaks.org/web/?p=11610

18. The Lid Comes Off Fukushima Daiichi, “Japan’s Ground Zero”: The Devastating Consequences of Government Inaction
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-lid-comes-off-fukushima-daiichi-japans-ground-zero-the-devastating-consequences-of-government-inaction/5354248

19. Mizuho lays mob loan mess to 3/11
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/10/17/business/mizuho-lays-mob-loan-mess-to-311/#.UmRJYb-E70c