A collection of resources about the Fukushima crisis …
How to donate to the relief effort in Japan
Fukushima − what has happened, what is happening
Nuclear industry spin
Radiation and health
Context / debate
Inadequate earthquake/ tsunami defence, reactor design issues
TEPCO’s response to the Fukushima emergency
History of scandals, cover-ups and inadequate regulation of Japan’s nuclear industry
(Other) articles by Choose Nuclear Free partner groups
HOW TO DONATE TO THE RELIEF EFFORT IN JAPAN
Many relief organisations worldwide are collecting money to help fund the relief effort in Japan after the earthquake and tsunami.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2011/mar/14/donate-help-japan-after-tsunami-earthquake
FUKUSHIMA − WHAT HAS HAPPENED, WHAT IS HAPPENING
Please click here for a Choose Nuclear Free webpage summarising the problems and key issues.
RECOMMENDED
Tokyo-based Citizens Nuclear Information Centre
http://www.cnic.jp/english/topics/safety/earthquake/fukushima.html
Alertnet − reports, analysis, videos etc.
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/special-coverage-japan-quake-and-pacific-tsunami/
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War
http://www.ippnw.org
http://peaceandhealthblog.com/disaster-in-japan
Medical Association for Prevention of War
http://www.mapw.org.au
Union of Concerned Scientists’
http://www.ucsusa.org
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Short daily updates:
http://www.thebulletin.org/web-edition/columnists/tatsujiro-suzuki/daily-update-japan
Technical detail and informed speculation:
http://atomicpowerreview.blogspot.com
INFORMATION FROM NUCLEAR AGENCIES
International Atomic Energy Agency:
http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/tsunamiupdate01.html
and a collection of IAEA updates, briefing papers etc posted at
http://www.slideshare.net/iaea/
Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency
http://www.nisa.meti.go.jp/english
http://www.mext.go.jp/english/topics/1303717.htm
http://www.mext.go.jp/english/radioactivity_level/index.htm
TEPCO Press Room – Frequently updated English language press releases from the plant’s operators on the latest state of the reactors.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/press/corp-com/release/index-e.html
TEPCO – Tokyo Electric Power Company press releases — less information than on Kyodo News.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/index-e.html
World Health organisation advice on food contamination and food safety in Japan
http://www.who.int/hac/crises/jpn/faqs/en/index7.html
World Nuclear Association
http://www.world-nuclear.org/fukushima/japanese_tohoku_earthquake.html
Japan Atomic Industrial Forum
http://www.jaif.or.jp/english
US Nuclear Energy Institute
http://nei.cachefly.net/
http://nei.cachefly.net/newsandevents/information-on-the-japanese-earthquake-and-reactors-in-that-region/
MEDIA
ABC timeline, videos, etc.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/events/japan-quake-2011
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/japan-earthquake-and-tsunami
Japan’s Kyodo news agency
http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/japan_nuclear_crisis/
Japan’s NHK television (English)
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english
VIDEOS / POWERPOINTS
Areva Powerpoint – good explanation of events of Fukushima
http://energyfromthorium.com/2011/03/30/areva-fd-presentation
or direct download:
http://energyfromthorium.com/pps/FukushimaDaiichiAREVA.pps
NUCLEAR INDUSTRY SPIN
Spinning Fukushima
(Critique of the spin from Ziggy Switkowski and Barry Brook.)
Jim Green, New Matilda, 16 Mar 2011
http://newmatilda.com/2011/03/16/spinning-fukushima
The nuclear industry: a history of misleading claims.
Written in 2009, MAPW’s Dr Sue Wareham discusses industry and government efforts to trivialise the effects of nuclear accidents, the WMD proliferation risks, the adverse health effects of low level radiation etc.
http://www.energyscience.org.au/BP20%20Misleading.pdf
Fukushima sets faithful to spin mode
James Norman, The Australian, April 11, 2011
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/fukushima-sets-faithful-to-spin-mode/story-e6frg6ux-1226036850678
RADIATION AND HEALTH
A big part of the ‘spin’ surrounding Fukushima concerns claims that low level radiation is harmless. The following articles discuss the science.
Here’s why radiation is a health hazard
Associate Professor Tilman Ruff
March 24, 2011
http://theconversation.edu.au/articles/just-in-case-you-missed-it-heres-why-radiation-is-a-health-hazard-315
Good plain-English summary of debates over health effects of low-level radiation:
No ‘safe’ threshold for radiation: experts
ABC, 31 March 2011, Anna Salleh
http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2011/03/31/3177889.htm
Do not let the nuclear industry tell you that radiation is safe
Peter Karamoskos and Jim Green, The Punch, 25/3/2011
www.thepunch.com.au/articles/do-not-let-the-nuclear-industry-tell-you-that-radiation-is-safe
MAPW 2010 fact sheet on radiation and health
http://www.mapw.org.au/files/downloads/Radiation%20factsheet.pdf
A more detailed paper on radiation and health written by Drs Williams and Karamoskos
http://www.mapw.org.au/files/downloads/Radiation_0.pdf
Radiating risk and undermining public health
Nuclear Radiologist Dr. Peter Karamoskos,
Online Opinion, 13 December 2010
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=11358
Radiation and risk
(Response to Wade Allison)
Jim Green, Online Opinion, 8 April 2011
http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=11878&page=0
Do We Know The Chernobyl Death Toll?
Jim Green, New Matilda, 7 April 2011
http://newmatilda.com/2011/04/07/do-we-know-chernobyl-death-toll
RADIATION LEVELS IN JAPAN
This blog site has up-to-date graphs of radiation levels in various Japanese prefectures, and at the reactors, assembled from various sources.
http://fleep.com/earthquake
Greenpeace has independently measured radiation (and called for an expanded evacuation zone, under consideration by the Japanese government as at April 3).
http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/en/news-and-blogs/campaign-blog/call-to-widen-evacuation-area-around-fukushim/blog/33981
CONTEXT / DEBATE
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists – collection of articles, many considering the broader implications of the Fukushima disaster
http://thebulletin.org/web-edition/special-topics/japan-focus-collection-of-the-bulletins-coverage
Nuclear Economics after Fukushima
Mark Cooper, Vermont Law School
March 24, 2011
http://www.vermontlaw.edu/Documents/IEE/Nuclear%20Economics%20After%20Fukushima.pdf
Nautilus Institute preliminary (but detailed) analysis of the impacts of the Fukushima crisis both for energy supply in Japan, and for the future of nuclear power.
http://www.mapw.org.au/link/after-deluge-impacts-damage-tojapanese-nuclear-reactors-nautilus-paper-march-2011
Another Nautilus Institute report, The Path from Fukushima: Short and Medium-term Impacts of the Reactor Damage Caused by the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami on Japan’s Electricity System, uses a quantitative model of the Japanese energy sector to compare the costs of rebuilding using energy efficient technology, renewable energy sources, and distributed power generation to using centralized gas and nuclear power plants.
http://www.nautilus.org/publications/essays/napsnet/reports/SRJapanEnergy
Nuclear Power After Fukushima – Preliminary findings from the World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2010-2011: Nuclear Power in a Post-Fukushima World, point to a bleak future for the nuclear industry.
http://www.worldwatch.org/nuclear-power-after-fukushima
or direct download:
http://www.worldwatch.org/system/files/NuclearStatusReport2011_prel.pdf
Fukushima wrecks the already problematic finances of nuclear power
Bernard Keane, Crikey, 16 March 2011
http://www.crikey.com.au/2011/03/16/fukushima-wrecks-the-already-problematic-finances-of-nuclear-power
Special Report: The nuclear industry’s trillion dollar question
Muriel Boselli and Geert De Clercq, April 18 2011, Reuters http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/04/18/us-nuclear-industry-idUSTRE73H0PR20110418
Beyond our imagination: Fukushima and the problem of assessing risk
M. V. Ramana, Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, 19 April 2011
http://thebulletin.org/web-edition/features/beyond-our-imagination-fukushima-and-the-problem-of-assessing-risk
INADEQUATE EARTHQUAKE AND TSUNAMI DEFENCE, REACTOR DESIGN ISSUES
Why Worry? Japan’s Nuclear Plants at Grave Risk From Quake Damage
Prof. Ishibashi Katsuhiko, Kobe University
August 2007
http://www.japanfocus.org/-Ishibashi-Katsuhiko/2495
Tsunami defence flawed, scientific evidence ignored
March 28, 2011
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/tsunami-defence-flawed-scientific-evidence-ignored/story-e6frg6so-1226029356971
Nuclear plant downplayed tsunami risk
AAP Financial News, 28 Mar 2011, Yuri Kageyama And Justin Pritchard
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110327/ap_on_bi_ge/as_japan_quake_tsunami_risk
Stricken Japan plant missed scheduled inspections: filing
By Kevin Krolicki, Mar 21, 2011
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/03/21/us-japan-nuclear-inspection-idUSTRE72K16920110321
Reactor Design in Japan Has Long Been Questioned
TOM ZELLER Jr., March 15, 2011
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42094554/ns/world_news-asia-pacific
Japan ministers ignored safety warnings over nuclear reactors
Robin McKie, 12 March 2011 18.51 GMT
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/mar/12/japan-ministers-ignored-warnings-nuclear
TEPCO’S RESPONSE TO THE FUKUSHIMA EMERGENCY
Tokyo Electric scrutinised over slow response
Ken Belson, Tokyo
March 21, 2011
http://www.theage.com.au/world/tokyo-electric-scrutinised-over-slow-response-20110320-1c2ah.html
Mistakes plagued corporate response
Peter Alford and Cameron Stewart, The Australian, March 19, 2011
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/mistakes-plagued-corporate-response/story-fn84naht-1226024311668
Responses from TEPCO, NISA came too late
2011/03/17
Kenji Sumita (The Asahi Shimbun)
http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201103160136.html
What They’re Covering Up at Fukushima
Hirose Takashi, Counterpunch, March 22, 2011
http://www.infowars.com/what-theyre-covering-up-at-fukushima/
How inadequate equipment turned a desperate situation into a tragedy
Nick Rufford, Jonathan Leake
The Australian, March 21, 2011
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/how-inadequate-equipment-turned-a-desperate-situation-into-a-tragedy/story-fn84naht-1226025040536
HISTORY OF SCANDALS, COVER-UPS AND INADEQUATE REGULATION OF JAPAN’S NUCLEAR INDUSTRY
Japan’s nuclear industry plagued by scandals
Philip White, WISE/NIRS Nuclear Monitor, 20 April 2007
http://www10.antenna.nl/wise/654/5792.php
Case Study – Japan
Choose Nuclear Free – Accidents and Attacks briefing paper
http://www.choosenuclearfree.net/nuclear-accidents/case-study-japan
January 2011
TEPCO’s shady history
Tim Shorrock, March 14, 2011
http://timshorrock.com/?p=1113
Japan’s nuclear power operator has chequered past
March 12, 2011
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=japans-nuclear-power-operator-has-c
Japan Nuclear Disaster Caps Decades of Faked Reports
Jason Clenfield, Mar 18, 2011
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-17/japan-s-nuclear-disaster-caps-decades-of-faked-safety-reports-accidents.html
Fukushima nuclear plant owner falsified inspection records
Alexi Mostrous and Alex Ralph
The Times
March 17, 2011 10:25AM
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/fukushima-nuclear-plant-owner-falsified-inspection-records/story-fn84naht-1226023073141
History of bungles and cover-ups
Yuri Kageyama, Tokyo
March 18, 2011
http://www.theage.com.au/world/history-of-bungles-and-coverups-20110317-1bz1o.html
Nuclear Regulator Tied to Industry
Yuka Hayashi, Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703696704576222340033889606.html
Japan’s Nuclear Nightmare
Potted, critical history of nuclear power in Japan
http://timshorrock.com/?p=1137
with detail on working conditions in Japan’s nuclear industry in Part 2:
http://timshorrock.com/?p=1254
(OTHER) ARTICLES BY CHOOSE NUCLEAR FREE PARTNER GROUPS
(Medical Association for Prevention of War, International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, Friends of the Earth)
From Hiroshima to Fukushima and back
By Tilman Ruff
MELBOURNE, Australia, March 19, Kyodo
http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/03/79583.html
“In our ordinary, fallible, uncontrollable world, there are already enough primordial forces capable of great destruction. We don’t need any more. The power of nuclear fission and fusion belong in the stars. And that is where they should stay. The recent catastrophe in Fukushima is a strong vindication of this truth.”
Pressure Japan for nuclear fix
Jim Green, The Courier-Mail, March 17, 2011
http://www.couriermail.com.au/ipad/presssure-japan-for-nuclear-fix/story-fn6ck620-1226022775349
Monbiot goes nuclear
Jim Green, ABC ‘The Drum’, 25 March 2011
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/45612.html
The nuclear industry after Fukushima
Ten reasons not to switch to nukes
Researcher Nic Maclellan dismantles the ‘nuclear renaissance’
http://newmatilda.com/2011/03/29/ten-reasons-not-support-nukes
Dr Bill Williams speaks on Fukushima, and Australia’s responsibility (video)
Dr Bill Williams explain MAPW’s concerns about Fukushima and the nuclear industry, in this one-minute video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LziwRNUivPM
