Japan

NOVANEWS Post-tsunami reconstruction and radiation cleanup could take 10 years, but officials say something has been permanently lost by Simon Tisdall Homes, shops and streets are deserted in the town of Namie, which lies six miles from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Photograph: Damir Sagolj/ReutersNearly three years after a major earthquake, tsunami and nuclear radiation leak devastated coastal and inland areas of Japan's Fukushima prefecture, 175 miles north-east of Tokyo, Namie has become a silent town of ghosts and absent lives. Namie's 21,000 residents remain evacuated because of continuing high radiation levels, the product of the March 2011 disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, six miles to the south. Homes, shops and streets are deserted excep...

NOVANEWS Investigation reveals systematic exploitation of homeless by big business and organized crime - Jon Queally Shizuya Nishiyama, a 57-year-old homeless man from Hokkaido, speaks during an interview with Reuters at Sendai Station in Sendai, northern Japan December 18, 2013. (Credit: REUTERS/Issei Kato)Private labor contractors in Japan are "recruiting" homeless individuals throughout the country, luring them to perform clean-up work in the areas near the destroyed nuclear power plant at Fukushima for less than minimum wage. That's the finding of a new special Reuters investigation which says that shady business operators are employing men like Seiji Sasa to "prowl" train stations and other places throughout the country targeting "homeless men" who are "willing to accept minimum ...

NOVANEWS The Escalating Catastrophe by HARVEY WASSERMAN Fukushima continues to spew out radiation. The quantities seem to be rising, as do the impacts. The site has been infiltrated by organized crime. There are horrifying signs of ecological disaster in the Pacific and human health impacts in the U.S. But within Japan, a new State Secrets Act makes such talk punishable by up to ten years in prison. Taro Yamamoto, a Japanese legislator, says the law “represents a coup d’etat” leading to “the recreation of a fascist state.” The powerful Asahi Shimbun newspaper compares it to “conspiracy” laws passed by totalitarian Japan in the lead-up to Pearl Harbor, and warns it could end independent reporting on Fukushima. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been leading Japan in an increasingly militaristi...

Proletarian issue 57 (December 2013)   NOVANEWS   Nuclear energy must be taken out of the hands of the profiteers and put firmly under the control of the masses, who can decide how best to use it in their interests.   This article by Kevin Zeese and Margaret Flowers is reproduced from truth-out.org with thanks.  The information contained in this article gives a graphic indictment of the reckless, even genocidal insanity of capitalism, with its never-ending thirst for maximum profit at any cost.  Although the authors of this article have concluded that the only sensible reaction to the crisis at Fukushima is a completely nuclear-free world, it is our belief that, under a planned socialist economy, where science is used to solve humanity’s problems and meet o...

NOVANEWS By Michael Welch Global Research “We knew the world would not be the same. Few people laughed, few people cried, most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita. Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty and to impress him takes on his multi-armed form and says, “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.” I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.” -Robert Oppenheimer, scientific director of the Manhattan Project which created the first atomic devices. [1] The harnessing of the power of the atom was one of the signature technological achievements of the twentieth century. The awesome possibilities of nuclear energy presented humanity with an opportunity to mature beyond the need for endless war and...

NOVANEWS By Yoichi Shimatsu Global Research After repeated delays since the summer of 2011, the Tokyo Electric Power Company has launched a high-risk operation to empty the spent-fuel pool atop Reactor 4 at the Dai-ichi (No.1) Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. The urgency attached to this particular site, as compared with reactors damaged in meltdowns, arises from several factors: - over 400 tons of nuclear material in the pool could reignite - the fire-damaged tank is tilting badly and may topple over sooner than later - collapse of the structure could trigger a chain reaction and nuclear blast, and - consequent radioactive releases would heavily contaminate much of the world. The potential for disaster at the Unit 4 SFP is probably of a higher magnitude than suspected due to the presence ...

NOVANEWS By Washington's Blog Global Research   We’ve long said that the greatest short-term threat to humanity is from the fuel pools at Fukushima. The Japanese nuclear agency recently green-lighted the removal of the spent fuel rods from Fukushima reactor 4′s spent fuel pool. The operation is scheduled to begin this month. The head of the U.S. Department of Energy correctly notes: The success of the cleanup also has global significance. So we all have a direct interest in seeing that the next steps are taken well, efficiently and safely. If one of the pools collapsed or caught fire, it could have severe adverse impacts not only on Japan ... but the rest of the world, including the United States. Indeed, a Senator called it a national security concern for the U.S.: The radiation ca...

NOVANEWS by Mikael Thalen Scientists are attempting to find out why one species of starfish is literally melting in the waters off of Washington state and Canada. Biologists in Seattle took to the Puget Sound waters last weekend to collect sick and healthy sunflower starfish for testing. Several labs including one at Cornell University will examine and compare samples with Canadian specimens already being analyzed. “We’ve got some sea stars that look like they’re melting on the bottom,” Seattle Aquarium biologists Jeff Christiansen said. Whether the cause is environmental or disease related is currently unknown, but the number of melting starfish increases drastically with each passing day. “At this time, we don’t have a good idea of what’s causing it, so we’re going to look for ever...