Thursday, May 15, 2014

US Ambassador to Japan Visits #Fukushima I NPP with Her Son, Praises Workers for Dedication and Determination


From TEPCO's Photos and Videos Library (English), 5/14/2014:

On the operating floor of Reactor 4, overlooking the Spent Fuel Pool. From the left, Chief Decommissioning Officer Masuda, Ambassador Caroline Kennedy, TEPCO's CEO and President Hirose:


Ambassador Kennedy speaking with a female TEPCO employee in the Anti-Seismic Building:

So it is true that TEPCO now has female workers working at the plant...

UK's Daily Mail (5/14/2014) has a short video clip of Kennedy speaking to the press, with her son Jack:

"...very grateful for the chance to see. It is hard to visualize and understand the complexity of the challenge when you just read about it. So this was a very informative visit, and I'm very grateful to all those who are working here every day and those who showed us around."

"We stand ready to help in any way we can, going forward."



Ambassador Kennedy's statement, from the press release by the US Embassy in Tokyo:

PRESS RELEASE

米国大使館 報道室 PRESS OFFICE, U.S. EMBASSY, TOKYO
japan.usembassy.gov

14-13R May 14, 2014

Ambassador Caroline Kennedy Statement
on Visit to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

Earlier today, I visited the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Station. I am grateful to the Tokyo Electric
Power Company and relevant Japanese government authorities for making this visit possible.

I was struck that more than three years after the tragic events of March 11, 2011, the destructive force of the
Great East Japan Earthquake and the resulting tsunami are still visible. TEPCO and Japan face a daunting task
in the cleanup and decommissioning of Fukushima Dai-ichi. Decommissioning will take years of careful
planning and arduous work, under difficult conditions. Today, I was able to see firsthand these challenges, and
I gained new appreciation for the dedication and determination of the workers at the Fukushima site.

Immediately following the Fukushima Dai-ichi accident, the United States—through the Department of Energy,
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and other agencies—began supporting the Government of Japan and
TEPCO in response efforts, decommissioning, and cleanup activities. We are committed to providing support
as long as it is necessary. At Fukushima Dai-ichi, I saw examples of the assistance we provided, as well as the
continuing partnerships between TEPCO, U.S. Government agencies, U.S. national laboratories, and U.S.
companies. The United States Government will offer our experience and capabilities, in particular, toward the
near term resolution of ongoing water contamination issues. We welcome Japan’s steps toward ratification of
the Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage which will make it easier for American
and other international firms to add their expertise to Fukushima cleanup and decommissioning efforts.

Tomorrow, I will have an opportunity to visit a wind turbine and a power substation in the Fukushima Floating
Wind Farm Demonstration Project. This project is one of the symbols of the Tohoku region’s recovery from
the Great East Japan Earthquake. It is one of many examples of how the Japanese people have realized new
opportunities, even in the midst of great tragedy. Such projects are creating new employment and industries,
as well as potential trade opportunities. The United States looks forward to continuing a strong cooperative
relationship with Japan in the energy security and clean energy arenas, in addition to our ongoing assistance in
the Fukushima region.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

" .. the Fukushima Floating Wind Farm Demonstration Project. This project is one of the symbols of the Tohoku region’s recovery .. [and an even-greater symbol of inertia reigning supreme in Japan as quite obviously the Japanese have missed their cue in implementing windpower on a massive scale. "We", the masters who own & run the State Dept., fully approve of such decision making in the same context as Ukraine intending to re-start nuclear reactors idled since Chernobyl. Same as Tymoshenko and her infamous "bags of cash across the border" will we see Herr Abe in following years. This quite & obviously how "we" would have it, and I am here to "help" the Japanese celebrate such events. The "paying of the natgas piper" has been fully undone.] "

You did say that, didn't you, Ms. Kennedy?

/sarc

Anonymous said...

How, simply, could I have forgotten to copy&paste this "quote" from Ms. Kennedy from that same event?

"[This is quite & obviously how "we" would have it, and I am here to "help" the Japanese celebrate such events. .. The same as this treatment of Bandazhevsky by the Belarussians, so will any Japanese that object to our methods have it meted to them via the Secrecy Law, and this is definitely how "we" would have it,

" .. shortly after Dr. Bandazhevsky presented it to the Parliament and the President of Belarus, he was summarily arrested and imprisoned. Government agents entered the Medical Institute which he directed and destroyed his archived slides and samples. After he was released from prison he was held under house arrest." As "we" of the State Dept. are required to re-enact the full "penetration" of the Dept. by those who have held Foreign Service Officers in contempt, this is our most current presentation and your face is the target.

http://www.ratical.org/radiation/Fukushima/StevenStarr.html

Have you "gotten it", yet?] "

You did say that, too, didn't you, Ms. Kennedy?

/sarc

VyseLegendaire said...

Glad she's sacrificing herself for the cause.

doitujin said...

http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/nosebleeds-food-and-fear-how-a-manga-became-center-of-a-debate-on-fukushima + https://www.facebook.com/i8.katsutaka/photos

Anonymous said...

Oh no...not that nosebleed crap...

kintaman said...

I must say I find it rather shocking that she would take her own son there with her. I would not allow anyone I cared about anywhere near that plant.

Anonymous said...

link doesn't work.

Anonymous said...

kintaman,

It is a sign of the times when ambassadors can be stood on their heads as empty vessels, bounced and parodied as the most apt regard of themselves .. and do not even possess the beginnings of a rebuttal.

Then again, as the State Dept. devolved decades ago to corporate imperialism abetted by government-as-terrorism, little wonder that the corporate interface scene doesn't seem to be working.

The face of the corporation: not working, lobbying,and with personhood.

The face of "the conservatives". They'll be growing bananas soon in the Ukraine?

Anonymous said...

Across the formerly pacific pond called "Dilution" the Secrecy Law works like this called Verrilli's Perogative [an empowered form of Ventrell's Perogative] ..

"from the because-terrorism dept

Last year, we noted that US Solicitor General Donald Verrilli had lied to the Supreme Court in Amnesty International's lawsuit about warrantless wiretapping. If you don't recall, Amnesty International had sued about the program, but the US government successfully got the case tossed by arguing that Amnesty International had no proof that their communications were tapped, and thus they had no standing to sue. The Supreme Court appeared troubled by the fact that no one could sue unless they somehow knew for a fact they were being spied upon, but eventually sided with the government, in large part because of one of Verrilli's false statements."

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140514/06214727229/doj-still-trying-to-hide-fact-it-flat-out-lied-to-supreme-court-about-domestic-surveillance.shtml

see Pharisees, hostage-taking, and siege mentality


"

Anonymous said...

Another Kennedy assassination. :( At least she's acknowledging it and then some. This should get a lot more press.

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