Friday, April 26, 2013

#Radioactive Japan: Boy-Wonder Mayor of Osaka City Wants Spent Fuel Storage in Osaka City, "It's Only Fair"


For the increasingly tired- and petulant-looking boy-wonder mayor aka Toru Hashimoto, inflicting pain and anguish on Osaka City residents by burning disaster debris with heavy metals, asbestos, and radioactive materials in the city he governs is not enough. Now he wants spent fuel from reactors in Fukui Prefecture's "Nuclear Ginza" to be stored inside the city, and all he needs is the assurance from the national government that it is safe to do so.

From Osaka's MBS News (4/27/2013):

使用済み核燃料 「保管を検討」と橋下市長

Mayor Hashimoto will "consider storing" spent nuclear fuel [in Osaka City]

福井県の西川知事が、使用済み核燃料を、電力を消費している地域で貯蔵するのはどうかと発言したのに対し、大阪市の橋下市長が、安全性が確保されるなら保管を検討すると述べました。

In response to Fukui Governor Nishikawa's remark that the areas that consume electricity should store spent nuclear fuel, Mayor Hashimoto of Osaka City said he would consider storing it if the safety is ensured.

 全国で唯一稼働している大飯原発を抱える福井県の西川知事が、使用済み核燃料について「電力を消費してきた大都市で、一時的に貯蔵することを考えてみてはどうか」と発言し、保管場所に火力発電所などを挙げていました。

Fukui Prefecture is where Ooi Nuclear Power Plant is located, which is the only one in operation in Japan at this time. Governor Nishikawa has said about spent nuclear fuel, "Big cities have been consuming electricity [produced by the nuclear power plants in Fukui Prefecture]. How about storing the spent fuel temporarily in these cities?" He has suggested thermal power plants as candidate locations for spent fuel storage.

 これに対し大阪市の橋下市長は、安全性が確認できれば受け入れる考えを示しました。

Mayor Hashimoto of Osaka City says he would accept spent fuel if the safety is assured.

「消費地で使用済みの核燃料を保管するというのは、当然だと思いますね。国の安全の基準がどうなのか、枠組みを作ってもらえれば。そういう方向性でいくということであれば、僕が市民に説明していきますけどね」(大阪市・橋下徹市長)

"I think it is only fair that the areas that consume electricity should store spent nuclear fuel. I wonder what the national safety standard is, but as long as the framework is there, and if that's the direction, I will explain to the city residents."

 橋下市長の発言は、電力消費地としての責任を述べたものとみられますが、突然の発言に波紋を呼びそうです。

Mayor Hashimoto's remark is considered to be about the responsibility of municipalities that consume electricity, but his abrupt remark is likely to cause a stir.


Just as burning the disaster debris in the middle of large cities (often in the middle of residential areas, as is the case in Tokyo) doesn't make any sense, storing spent fuel "temporarily" in large cities just because these cities consume more electricity doesn't make any sense. But this is post-Fukushima Japan where sense has totally lost its place.

Japan does not have the final disposal site for the spent nuclear fuel. You know what happens to all these "temporary" storages - they will become effectively permanent.

As for the boy-wonder's so-called explanation, if it is the same as he "explained" about the disaster debris burning to worried and incensed residents, it will be nothing but declaration that he will accept spent fuel in Osaka City.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

More stupidity from Hashimoto. Will Osaka never learn?

What would be "fair" is to stop imposing nuclear power and its ill effects on a public that does not want or need it.

Stock said...

effen idiot

VyseLegendaire said...

Psychotic bastard

Dave Parrish said...

The people need to take this guy down, now.

Anonymous said...

Ok, assuming he cannot seriously be this naive, what is his gain in accepting the spent fuel? Revenue for the city? Making friends in high places? What?
And then, of course, maybe he indeed is this naive?
*mscharisma*

Atomfritz said...

This is total opposite to the common NIMBY principle.
I am really puzzled and have no clue whether it's the Japanese mentality ("let's share the pain") or just a mad politician who wants the Japanese become extinguished, at least hibakusha-ized. At least Kim Jong Un will smile for sure.
Wouldn't a large nuclear installation like a spent fuel storage in the capital (not just a small research reactor) be any terrorists' or war opponents' dream?

IntelAgent said...

Japan had worse than 3 chernobles "cores still fissioning" "chernoble's core doesn't need cooling" a frikkin ejected upward fissioning core, 2 more cores ejected "melted downwards" 2 or 3 ejected fuel pools, fissioning and nuclear fuel fires in at least one fuel pool, this incessant gibber jabber is quite unimportant, as time goes on it will be seen why. Spent fuel is somewhat delicate and often tempermental "especially mox" "higher neutron production" So put it here/there matters not, jumble the assemblies/rods with an earthquake, stack the cannisters so they fall, put them in concrete etc, etc the will be fucked up/crushed/cracked/overheat/lose subcritical geometry in other words, you have my word. Fkn psychotics. Sow/reap, making contaminated land/ppl etc, that's a good idea and is going to work out well? That's intelligent? That's progress? Far from it and kiss mine if you disagree.

arevamirpal::laprimavera said...

Good point, Atomfritz. I'll share that on twitter.

Anonymous said...

In Arnie Gundersen's latest podcast with Helen Caldicott, he mentioned that he thought the amount of cesium released from Fuku is roughly the same as from Chernobyl;

Radioactive fallout has been the highest since May of 2011 in Tokyo, what up wid dat?! Not that high really, not like when those buggers blew their tops and a demon cloud of evil vapors swept accross the nation, some of which wafted into Tokyo, but still, is it from the incineration of debris?

As I recall, ExSKF reported that debris would be finished being burnt sometime in 2013.

As for Boy Wonder, the best thing for Osaka is that all the Yakuza criminal scum that run that city get to enjoy the radioactive contamination that will kill them all when the waste storage systems leak into their drinking water.

Anonymous said...

Let me spell it out

m o n e y

Anonymous said...

As far as I know no country has a decent permanent solution for used nuclear fuel.

At the moment what many countries do is to dump the waste into a cave and hope the cave collapses on it so they can stop spending money on maintaining the waste site.

Or you can do like Tepco: dig a hole, cover it with a plastic sheet and let the junk be absorbed by the soil. All of this with the approval of the NRC. This system looks perfect for Osaka too.

Beppe

Anonymous said...

No more "sato gaeri" 里帰り to Osaka :(

No more reason to visit Osaka for anyone who wants to live healthy.

Please join the boycott, tell that to City of Osaka Tourism Agency
http://www.osaka-info.jp/en/

Osaka on Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/osaka.cafe?sk=wall

Osaka Mayor Twitter
https://twitter.com/t_ishin

Atomfritz said...

@ anon 2:13
Iirc Ex-SKF reported long ago about the I-131 contamination spike of the reservoirs that supply the Tokyo-Osaka metropolitan area.
So, I wonder whether it matters to the politicians at all whether the metropolitan groundwater gets a radioactive value enhancement or not. The dilution and sedimentation effects in the reservoirs do the wonder of "removing" the radioactive danger.

Anyway, a spent fuel storage pool is a very interesting potential target, depending on where it is located. If it is located at remote locations thousands of miles distant from larger cities, like in Russia, probably it won't be much of interest to Al Quaeda and other ill-willed groups. Osaka would be way more attractive for sure.

Anonymous said...

" That's intelligent? That's progress? Far from it and kiss mine if you disagree."

Huh? Kiss your far from intelligence and progress?? No thanks. Butt you can kiss my ass if YOU want, Finny.

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