Japan

No one is safe until everyone is safe': Vaccine nationalism threatens global coronavirus effort

Sun, 2020-07-12 22:04 — mike kraft

USA Today July 12, 2020

'No one is safe until everyone is safe': Vaccine nationalism threatens global coronavirus effort Instead of collaboration, coordination and sharing, vaccine nationalism pits nation against nation to get and keep enough doses for their citizens. Elizabeth Weise USA TODAY

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TEPCO Chair: Nuclear Plant Must Release Contaminated Water

Wed, 2017-07-19 11:19 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s new Chairman Takashi Kawamura speaks during an interview at the TEPCO headquarters in Tokyo on Thursday, July 13, 2017. Kawamura said the utility needs to stop dragging its feet on plans to dump massive amounts of treated but contaminated water into the sea and make more money if it’s ever going to succeed in cleaning up the mess left by meltdowns more than six years ago at the tsunami-hit Fukushima nuclear power plant. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

abcnews.go.com - by Mari Yamaguchi - July 13, 2017

. . . Takashi Kawamura, an engineer-turned-business leader who previously headed Hitachi's transformation into a global conglomerate, is in charge of reviving TEPCO and leading the cleanup at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant. In an interview Thursday with selected media including The Associated Press, Kawamura said despite the massive costs of the cleanup and meeting tighter safety requirements, nuclear power is still vital for Japan's national security.

Below are highlights from the interview, where Kawamura spoke in Japanese:

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Highest Radiation Reading Since 3/11 Detected at Fukushima No. 1 Reactor

Fri, 2017-02-03 21:11 — Kathy Gilbeaux

Based on image analysis, a two-meter hole has been found in the metal grate under a pressure vessel in reactor No. 2's containment vessels at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant. | TOKYO ELECTRIC POWER COMPANY HOLDINGS INC. / VIA KYODO

japantimes.co.jp - KYODO, STAFF REPORT

The radiation level in the containment vessel of reactor 2 at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 power plant has reached a maximum of 530 sieverts per hour, the highest since the triple core meltdown in March 2011, Tokyo Electric Power Co. Holdings Inc. said.

Tepco said on Thursday that the blazing radiation reading was taken near the entrance to the space just below the pressure vessel, which contains the reactor core.

The high figure indicates that some of the melted fuel that escaped the pressure vessel is nearby.

At 530 sieverts, a person could die from even brief exposure, highlighting the difficulties ahead as the government and Tepco grope their way toward dismantling all three reactors crippled by the March 2011 disaster.

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President Obama visits Hiroshima, speaks out against nuclear weapons

Mon, 2016-05-30 21:38 — Maeryn Obley

The Hiroshima Memorial.

Image: The Hiroshima Memorial.

inhabitat.com - May 30th 2016 - Lacy Cooke

About 71 years after the United States dropped a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, President Obama visited the site and placed a wreath before the cenotaph at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. It is the first visit by a “sitting U.S. President.” Both Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Obama delivered speeches, and Obama spoke out against nuclear weapons.

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Japanese Ebola test gives results in 11 minutes: researcher

Thu, 2015-04-09 10:51 — mike kraft

AFP April 9, 2015

Tokyo A Japanese research team said on Thursday it had developed a field test for Ebola that gives results in just over 11 minutes -- down from the 90-minute test used now.

The breakthrough by Nagasaki University's Institute of Tropical Medicine will allow medics to move much more quickly in treating people with the haemorrhagic fever, Professor Jiro Yasuda told AFP.

"The result time was unexpectedly short," said Yasuda of the trial conducted in Guinea last month on 100 samples, of which 47 proved positive.

The Guinean government has now asked the institute and its collaboration partner Toshiba to supply equipment to roll out the test, he added.

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http://news.yahoo.com/japanese-ebola-test-gives-results-11-minutes-researcher-064839139.html

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After four months, North Korea’s Ebola quarantine comes to an end

Tue, 2015-03-03 18:49 — mike kraft

WASHINGTON POST BY Anna Fifield March 3, 2015

TOKYO — North Korea has lifted its four-month-long Ebola quarantine, bringing an end to a period of isolation that was notable even by the Hermit Kingdom’s standards.

Embassies and international aid agencies in Pyongyang received a "note verbale" from North Korea's State Emergency Anti-Epidemic Committee informing them that the quarantine was now over for all visitors except for those arriving from a handful of west African countries. Tour operators have also been informed by their North Korean partners and the state airline that the borders are being re-opened.

With no cases of the virus east of Africa, the strictly-enforced 21 day quarantine for everyone entering North Korea — locals and foreigners alike — was puzzling and inevitably sparked theories about what the ban could really be about.

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Fujifilm says tests results on Avigan as Ebola drug by end-2014

Tue, 2014-11-11 11:08 — mike kraft

REUTERS Nov. 11, 2014
By Ayai Tomisawa and Reiji Murai

TOKYO--Fujifilm Holdings Corp said it expects its influenza drug Avigan to be approved by international government bodies to treat Ebola after it receives clinical test results as early as the end of the year.

Tablets of Avigan (generic name : Favipiravir), a drug approved as an anti-influenza drug in Japan and developed by drug maker Toyama Chemical Co, a subsidiary of Fujifilm Holdings Co. are displayed during a photo opportunity at Fujifilm's headquarters in Tokyo October 22, 2014. Credit: Reuters/Issei Kato

Fujifilm has been growing its pharmaceutical division through a series of mergers and acquisitions as its photography business wanes. In 2008, it bought Toyama Chemical Co, whose drug Avigan has been drafted to the global fight against Ebola.

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Fukushima Disaster Still A Global Nightmare

Sun, 2014-06-08 17:00 — Kathy Gilbeaux

“The models that predicted the arrival of radioactive seawater stated that the seawater could come anytime from late March or early April to the end of year . . ." Photo: KAI VETTER

ecowatch.com - by Harvey Wasserman - June 3, 2014

The corporate media silence on Fukushima has been deafening . . .

Ever more radioactive water continues to pour into the Pacific. . .

Hundreds more tons are backed up on site, with Tepco apologists advocating they be dumped directly into the ocean without decontamination.

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FUKUSHIMA DISASTER: IMPACTS AND CONTINUING THREATS

Wed, 2013-10-23 12:36 — Gina Angiola

Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) Report, 2013

More than two years since the nuclear disaster began at the Fukushima Daiichi reactors, its impact is massive and widespread. It will be decades before the full scope of the impacts of this ongoing disaster is fully understood but significant health, economic, environmental and social consequences are already evident and quantifiable. Furthermore, independent expert analyses has documented extraordinary industry influence on government regulators, especially widespread collusion among the Japanese government, Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the owner/operator of Fukushima, and the nuclear/utility industry. The Fukushima disaster leaves Japan with massive economic loss, radiation exposure to children and others, and a nation grappling with an uncertain nuclear future.

FULL REPORT HERE

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Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Accident: Ongoing Lessons for New York (and elsewhere)

Sun, 2013-10-20 11:34 — Gina Angiola

This panel discussion,Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Accident: Ongoing Lessons for New York, is an extremely informative review of the devastating nuclear event in Japan, the continuing challenges there, and the implications for our own nuclear energy facilities in the U.S. Start the video around 5 minutes in, as there is dead-time at the beginning. The total length is roughly three hours.

The panel includes the former Japanese Prime Minister, Naoto Kan; Ralph Nader, political activist, author, attorney and lecturer; Dr. Gregory Jaczko; former NRC Commissioner, Peter Bradford; and nuclear engineer, Arnie Gundersen. The panel specifically addresses concerns regarding the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant now operating with an expired license in Buchanan, New York.

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