The Japan agriculture cooperative group has had a critical role in combating the challenges with the present system of safety inspection and has teamed up with Fukushima University to rebuild consumer confidence in local produce. Foodtank.com

Japan’s ongoing nuclear disaster is scary enough, but some rumors and hoaxes linked to it are alarming and persistent. Aljazeera.com

Spain’s cabinet has approved a royal decree that allows recently shutdown nuclear power plants to apply for their operating permits to be renewed. World-nuclear-news.org

Transform Now Plowshares nuclear protest is being ignored by the media. Baltimoresun.com

           I have been blogging about illegal dumping of nuclear wastes by and in different countries. Some of the articles have contained references to ocean dumping of wastes. There have been various international treaties signed intended to stop such practices including the London Convention of 1972 which went into effect in 1975.

           The first recorded dumping of radioactive materials occurred in 1946 off the coast of California. Over the years, at least thirteen countries have dump radioactive materials into the world’s oceans. The dumping consists of three different types. Type one is liquid low-level wastes. The second type is solid low-level waste in containers and the third is reactor vessels with or without nuclear fuel. About two thirds of the radioactivity that has been dumped into the oceans comes from of six submarine reactors and one reactor from an icebreaker dumped by the Soviet Union into the Arctic Sea. The remaining third is mainly from low-level waste dumped by eight European nations into the north Atlantic. Waste has also been dumped into the Sea of Japan and parts of the Pacific Ocean by several different nations.

           The London Convention was based on a black list and a grey list of toxic wastes including radioactive waste. High-level radioactive wastes were on the black list and signatories were prohibited from dumping such wastes in the ocean. Intermediate-level and low-level nuclear wastes were on the grey list and could be dumped as long as a permit was issued by the nation where the wastes originated. The International Atomic Energy Agency published guidelines for what areas of the world’s oceans could be used for such dumping as well as minimum depth for dumping. Although the Soviet Union signed the Convention in 1975, they regularly dumped high-level radioactive waste into the Arctic Sea and violated the recommendations of the IAEA.

           Following the London Convention, other treaties were signed to prohibit all dumping of radioactive waste into designated bodies of water. In 1974, the Baltic Sea was placed off limits to dumping; in 1976, the Mediterranean Sea was prohibited; in 1985, areas of the South Pacific Ocean were prohibited; in 1989, the Southeast Pacific Ocean was prohibited and in 1992, the Black Sea was prohibited.

          In 1985, the signatories of the London Convention met to consider the issue of radioactive dumping into the remaining world’s oceans and seas. They decided to call for a voluntary moratorium on any dumping of radioactive wastes into the oceans. At a meeting in 1986, a panel was convened to consider the political, legal, social, economic and technical issues connected to ocean dumping. A series of reports was issued by the panel in the next few years.

          In 1993, another meeting of the London Convention signatories concluded that, partly based on the reports issued by the panel, all ocean dumping of any type of radioactive waste would be prohibited starting in 1994. Despite the agreement to stop ocean dumping, reports have charged that the Italian Mafia has been illegally dumping radioactive wastes into the ocean off the south coast of Italy and off the east African coast near Somalia. As with all treaties involving prohibited behavior, the problem is detection of violations and punishment of violations. The biggest current problem with the world’s oceans and radioactive materials is, of course, the huge amount of radioactive contamination flooding into the north Pacific from the Fukushima disaster. Unfortunately, it has been very difficult for Japan to halt this pollution of the Pacific, regardless of promises made in international treaties.

Areas of the world’s oceans where radioactive materials have been dumped:

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           My recent posts have been about illegal handling of nuclear waste in Russia. One of the incidents I covered involved Russian dumping of nuclear waste into the Sea of Japan. The Japanese citizens reacted strongly to the news of this dumping. The Japanese government demanded a halt to Russian dumping. Ironically, it turns out that Japanese companies may have been involved in illegal dumping of Japanese nuclear waste.

          When an earthquake struck on the ocean floor off of Fukushima in March of 2011, the resulting tsunami flooded the nuclear power station. As a result, three reactor cores suffered meltdown and sank into the Earth beneath the plant. Cooling water has been injected underground to try to control the melted cores. The contaminated water from the cooling was stored in temporary tanks which are beginning to leak. The area around the plant suffered fallout from the disaster and thousands of people were evacuated from the area. A great deal of cleanup has been taking place to restore the landscape and permit people to move back into the area.

           Seven and a half billion dollars have been set aside by the Japanese government to deal with the land contaminated by the Fukushima fallout. The Environmental Ministry of Japan is working with contractors to clear soil and plants contaminated by radioactive materials from the Fukushima plant from within sixty feet of roads, buildings and farmland. Rules established by the Environmental Ministry include placing all contaminated soil and plant materials into sealed bags, wiping the roofs and walls of homes either by hand or with brushes, only using pressurized sprayers on gutters and collecting all water used in cleanup.

           Some of the contractors hired to clean up the radioactive contamination have apparently been dumping contaminated soil and plants directly into rivers in the Fukushima area. The Governor of Fukushima has been complaining about the shoddy nature of the cleanup work. He is calling for an investigation of the cleanup program and has expressed concerns that some of the money may not have been spent well.

           Asahi reporters have spent over a hundred hours touring worksites around Fukushima. They have photographed and written of many incidents at thirteen different locations where they saw contract workers dumping soil, plant materials and water without following the Environmental Ministry’s guidelines. Interviews with some of the workers indicate that they were explicitly instructed just to dump the contaminated materials and water back into the environment.

           I have written about the deep involvement of the Yakuza (Japanese organized crime syndicates) in the nuclear industry. They help recruit a lot of workers for nuclear power plants and nuclear cleanup work. With deep political connections, they often escape penalty for illegal practices. The Mafia in Italy is involved in illegal nuclear waste dumping and I would not be surprise to find that the Yakuza in Japan are also involved in illegal waste dumping.

Cleaning up the countryside around Fukushima:

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New highly radioactive leak at Japan’s Fukushima plant mews.yahoo.com

Extremely high levels of radioactive substances” leaked Wednesday night at Fukushima plant. Enenews.com

This past Wednesday, US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz went public with the news that the country was to soon get two new nuclear reactors. News.softpedia.com

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has identified five areas that Millstone Power Station staff need to examine further as part of flood risk assessments required at all the nation’s nuclear power plants. Theday.com

          I have been blogging about Russian nuclear waste issues recently. For decades, European countries routinely shipped waste to Russia for disposal in blatant disregard for Russian Law. Their handling of internal nuclear waste and foreign wastes have resulted in contamination of thousands of square miles, disruption in the lives of hundreds of thousands of citizens and damage to the health of thousands. Some of the most radioactively contaminated places on the face of the Earth are in Russia. Now the Russian government is making importation of nuclear waste legal.

           In 2008, Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency or Rosatom called for a new legal framework for the management of nuclear wastes. Various proposals were put forward. In 2010, there were meetings to discuss propose changes to the Russian law on disposal of nuclear waste. Public organizations were ignored if they opposed the new version of the law and environmental organizations were not even invited to the meetings. The new law proposes:

1)    Allowing the injection of liquid nuclear waste into the ground. This is obviously a serious threat to the ground water as any wells in the area of injection may be contaminated.

2)    Ignoring the input of local inhabitants of areas where waste repositories are located.

3)    Making the Russian tax payers responsible for the disposal of nuclear waste generated before and after the law is passed.

4)    Abolishing property taxes on all existing and future repositories for nuclear waste.

5)    Making the law apply to all entities present and future who handle nuclear wastes.

6)    Making it legal for foreign companies and governments to ship nuclear waste to Russia for disposal.

        The Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency or Rosatom is calling for adoption of the new laws. Rosatom is a state owned company for dealing with nuclear power and nuclear waste. The Russian government is in financial difficulty and many of the changes to the law will bring in more revenue or reduce the government cost of dealing with nuclear waste.

         In mid-2011, the new law on radioactive waste management was signed by the Russian President. It “brings Russia’s national radioactive waste management system into line with the requirements of the Joint Convention on the Safe Management of Spent Nuclear Fuel and on the Safe Management of Radioactive Waste, which Russia ratified in 2006.” The proposed allowance for injecting liquid nuclear wastes into the ground was removed from the final version of the law. Further legal changes are being considered with respect to the disposal of high-level nuclear waste.

         This all sounds very good but given the abysmal track record of the Soviet Union and the Russian Federation with respect to nuclear waste, I have little hope that the law will be respected. After all, previous laws with respect to radioactive waste disposal in Russia have been blatantly disregarded by Russian companies and Russian government agencies. Russia seems intent on becoming a major exporter of nuclear technology and a major importer of nuclear waste. The concerns and well-being of the Russian citizens are being ignored by powerful interests in the Russian nuclear industry.

Rosatom logo:

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