Since the age of about 6 or 7 I’d say, I’ve had glasses almost permanently attached to my face. The first thing I do in the morning is reach over and put them on, and the last thing I do at night before falling asleep is take them off. The only time I don’t wear [...]
Someone’s Not Telling The Truth… Who Could It Be?
If you read my post last Thursday, you’ll know that according to a Okinawa base-wide email that was sent a couple of days previous, the Ministry for the Environment has stated that no radioactive debris will be sent out of the Fukushima area. I stated then that the information being given out was contrary to what a number of sources were saying. And it also appears to be contrary to what Mr. Goshi Hosono is saying. “Who is he?” you may ask. The Minister for the Environment!
According to this article and accompanying video, he was in Kyoto on Saturday trying to drum up support for disposal of (radioactive debris). His trip included meeting with the governor of Kyoto and a plan to give out pamphlets and make an appeal for public support outside Kyoto station. As you can see from the article, it didn’t go to plan as people in Kyoto, like people in Okinawa, don’t really want radioactive waste storing in their backyard. Below is the front page of the pamphlet that was being handed out.
In my last post I did ask you to question everything and make your own decisions, so I will offer a slightly different viewpoint on this. The article and source does concur with the statement made to SOFA members in Okinawa about Iwate and Miyagi being the only prefectures officially accepting debris from Fukushima, but it did not state that their Ministry for the Environment is actively campaigning for more prefectures and cities to accept this waste. Also, my Japanglish isn’t good enough to fully understand those videos, although I get a gist of it. If someone can post a full translation in the comments below, it would be awesome and would help us all understand things a little easier.
Another interesting note about the storage and disposal of waste is that it has already been removed from the vast majority of areas affected by the earthquake and Tsunami from March 11th, 2011. You can see these from the many before/after photos that are being published. So the debris is being stored somewhere right now. Let’s assume for a second that all of this debris has been tested for radiation and is coming back as negative. Would it not just be easier to keep the debris stored in its current location as it awaits incineration or disposal?
The last point worth noting is that if the Minister of the Environment is appealing for non-radioactive debris to be disposed in other prefectures around Japan (which is what Prime Minister Noda is urging, and relaxing laws to make it easier), then you have to wonder what exactly the government is classing as radioactive. Some of you might know of the story from May last year when the government decided to raise the amount of radiation that was safe for children, so that schools in the fallout area could reopen (source). While immense public outrage and international coverage of this story caused a U-turn (I expect the latter being a bigger factor than the former), the initial plan was to raise the safe radioactive level to 20 times what it was previously. So with that in mind, it is very possible that the government will just raise the level required for them to declare something is radioactive. Given what you’ve just read, is it that much beyond the realms of possibility?
Anyway, those are my thoughts for now. Any comments or thoughts are always appreciated. If you disagree or have a different view on it, let me know. I’m more than happy to hear thoughts from all sides. Is anyone in favour of Okinawa taking non-radioactive debris, at all?
Tags: featured, fukushima, japanese news, ministry for the environment, News, okinawa, okinawan news, radioactive
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