Anything Goes in #Radioactive Japan under LDP: Government to Allow Rice Growing in Former Evacuation Zones, Areas That Exceeded 500 Bq/kg in 2011

It's not just the stock market (superbly bid up by Goldman Sachs so that they can sell to the suckers) that's gone wild in Japan. Everything and anything, including allowing rice to be grown in the most contaminated areas in Fukushima.

Here's the latest from the publicly funded news station NHK News (1/29/2013):

福島県内 コメ作付け制限緩和

Within Fukushima Prefecture, the restriction on rice growing will be loosened

農林水産省は、福島県内のコメの作付け制限を一部の地域で緩和し、おととしの検査で１キログラム当たり５００ベクレルを超える放射性物質が検出された地域についても、出荷前に全袋検査などを行うことを条件に、作付けを認める方針を発表しました。

Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries have announced its policy to loosen the restriction on rice cultivation in areas in Fukushima Prefecture, and allow farmers to grow rice even in the areas whose rice tested with radioactive cesium exceeding 500 Bq/kg in 2011, as long as all the rice bags are tested before they are shipped.

農林水産省が２９日発表した、ことしのコメの作付けの方針によりますと、福島県で去年作付けを行った地域については、ことしも引き続き全袋検査などを行うことを条件に、作付けを認めるとしています。

According to the policy announced on January 29 by the ministry, the areas in Fukushima that grew rice last year will be allowed to grow rice this year as long as they continue to do the tests including testing all the bags of rice.

また、去年は作付けが制限された、緊急時避難準備区域に指定されていた地域や、おととしの検査で１キログラム当たり５００ベクレルを超える放射性物質が検出された地域についても、水田の管理計画を作成し、出荷前に全袋検査などを行うことを条件に、新たに作付けを認めることになりました。

Also, the areas that were restricted from growing rice, such as emergency evacuation preparation zone and the areas where radioactive materials [cesium] exceeding 500 Bq/kg were detected in the tests done in 2011, will be allowed to grow rice as long as there are management plans for the rice paddies in place and all bags of rice are tested before shipping.

また、警戒区域や計画的避難区域、居住制限区域などに指定されている地域では、作付けの再開に向けて、ことし試験的にコメを栽培することにしています。
林農林水産大臣は会見で、「地元の意向を踏まえたうえで、作付け再開に向けた取り組みを後押しできるよう、準備を進めてきた。被災地の農業の再建ができるだけ早く進むようにしたい」と述べました。

In the [former 20-kilometer] evacuation zone, planned evacuation zone, and areas designated as limited habitation, rice will be grown this year as an experiment for the restart of growing rice [in the future]. Minister of Agriculture Hayashi said in the press conference, "Based on the intention of the locals, we have been preparing to help support the efforts to restart the growing of rice. We would like to see the agriculture in the disaster affected areas get rebuilt as soon as possible."

Intention of the locals??? What about the intention of the consumers?

Consumers have been too considerate and reasonable, I'm afraid. The most people on Twitter say about food contaminated with radioactive cesium is that they do not support or participate in the government campaign of "Eat and Support". Most of them (with few exceptions here and there) don't want to hurt the feelings of farmers in the contaminated areas in Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate, and northern Kanto. Saying they don't support the government campaign has done nothing to stop the distribution of contaminated food throughout Japan and beyond (in Thailand, for example).

It is not true that "all of Japan has been contaminated, and therefore food grown everywhere is contaminated", as people often quote Kyoto University's Koide as saying. From what I've read, what Dr. Koide is talking about is the contamination from the atmospheric testing, not necessarily from the Fukushima accident. But he doesn't make it clear, and people do not bother to make it clear.

There are clean(er) food items available from west Japan and Hokkaido where the fallout from Fukushima was negligible. And yet, the Japanese are told to eat food grown in the contaminated areas, so that the farmers there can make money and recover (so that the national government does not need to compensate them). Those who can afford quietly buy from western Japan. Those who cannot simply give up.

I've always disliked Professor Hayakawa's attacks on consumers who do not protest against contaminated food but who do against wide-area disposal of disaster debris which happens to be also contaminated with radioactive materials. I still disagree with Professor Hayakawa on disaster debris, but I have to agree with him on food.

If, for example, people who used to gather in great numbers in front of the Prime Minister's Official Residence in Tokyo every Friday last year had shouted "We don't want to eat contaminated food!" instead of single-issue chanting of "No restart of nuke plants!", I wonder what difference it might have made. I know it wouldn't have happened, as the organizers of the event was for "eat and support", and contamination in Tohoku and Kanto was non-issue for them.

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#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: Pipes That Should Not Be There Are Blocking the Way in Reactor 2 Torus Room

TEPCO send the workers to Reactor 2 building on January 27 to drill a hole through the 1st floor to the torus room. The location was carefully chosen so that they would have a clear shot at the water accumulated in the torus room. Through the hole, the workers were to feed the camera, dosimeter, and thermometer.

Surprise! When the workers managed to carefully drill a hole and looked in, huge pipes and gratings were in the way, and there was no way for the workers to do the planned work at that hole.

From TEPCO's Photos and Videos, 1/28/2013, "Drilling Holes for the Investigation of Unit 2 Torus Room at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station":

From the handout, this was what TEPCO had planned:

How did this happen? TEPCO chose the location because there wasn't supposed to be anything, according to the original drawings. However, as repairs and renovations were done over the years, the original drawings from the time the reactor was built became obsolete.

Don't they have the drawings of those repairs and renovations? Yes they do. But those drawings were stored in one of the buildings that was devastated by the March 11, 2011 earthquake and declared too dangerous to enter. There is no information as to whether anyone has gone back in to retrieve any document or data from the main building. Probably not, because, as we know well by now, TEPCO carefully abides by the rules and regulations from the authorities:

(Photo of the 2nd floor of the main building, Fukushima I Nuke Plant)

Independent journalist Ryuichi Kino tweeted:

福島第一の現況の把握が難しいことは、以前からわかっていた。原子炉の基本的な構造は設計当初のままだが、配管や細かい設備などは後から追加、修正をうけて、元の状況とは大きく変わっている。だからこれまでも、構造物に手を着ける作業は慎重に進められた。

It has been known that it is difficult to completely grasp the condition of Fukushima I Nuke Plant. The basic structures of reactors have been the same since the plans were drawn up, but pipes and other small facilities were added and modified later, making the current condition vastly different from the original condition. Therefore, any work that has to do with the structures have been carried out very carefully.

もうひとついうと、改修で配管が変更されていたため、窒素封入や冷却水の注入に使う配管の確認に手間取ってもいた。旧保安院もそうした経緯は知っていて、簡単ではないことも認識していた。では現況が把握できる図面はどこにあるのかと、保安院で聞いたことがある。

One such example: TEPCO had a difficult time in confirming which pipe to use for nitrogen gas injection and for cooling water injection, because the pipes had been switched around after repairs and renovations. Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency knew this, and was aware that it was not easy. I once asked NISA, where, then, are the drawings that will allow us to grasp the current condition?

すると、図面や工事の書類などはすべて、福島第一の事務本館にあるという。だから、取りにいけないのだとのことだった。事務本館は地震でボロボロになって、立ち入り禁止になった。

They answered, all the drawings and documents from construction work are stored in the main building at Fukushima I Nuke Plant, and therefore they couldn't go in and retrieve them. The main building was devastated by the earthquake, and declared off-limits.

ということを聞いたのは、１年くらい前だったか。そういえばその後、事務本館に書類の回収に行ったのかどうか聞いてなかったので要再確認。とはいえ、今回の作業で予想外の配管が、何もないはずの場所の真ん中に通っていたことで、疑問が倍増してしまった。

That was about one year ago. I have to ask again if someone did go to the main building to retrieve the documents. However, the most recent work [drilling a hole through the floor of Reactor 2] revealed unexpected pipes right there in the middle of where they were not supposed to be. So I wonder.

現況の把握ができないと、実際に見えている範囲の作業を進めるのが精一杯になる。そうなると２号機トーラス室だけでなく、人が入れない場所の作業に大きく影響する。ロボットで作業するといっても、指示ができない。手探りの事故収束作業が、まだまだ続いている。

If they cannot grasp the current condition, the best they can do is to do the work in the areas that they are able to see. That wold affect the work not just in Reactor 2 torus room but everywhere where human workers cannot enter. Robots may be able to enter, but [since no one knows the actual condition of the place] no one can give directions to the robots. It is as if they feel their way in the dark, as they continue the work to end the accident.

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#Fukushima I Nuke Accident: TEPCO to Limit the Right to Claim Compensation to 3 Years After All

It's not quite a 180-degree turn from the position taken by the TEPCO president only days before the change, but still an unpleasant and frustrating turn for people affected by the nuclear disaster.

On January 10, 2013, this is what Naomi Hirose, president of TEPCO, said to Yuhei Sato, governor of Fukushima Prefecture, according to Mainichi Shinbun (1/10/2013; part):

東京電力の広瀬直己社長は１０日、福島第１原発事故に伴う損害賠償の時効について「（３年間の）消滅時効の権利を主張するつもりはない」と初めて明言した。

Naomi Hirose, President of TEPCO definitely said on January 10 for the first time that TEPCO had "no intention of claiming its right to legal statute of limitations (3 years)" regarding the compensation to damages arising from the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident.

下河辺和彦会長らと同日、福島県庁を訪れ佐藤雄平知事と面会した際、広瀬社長は「全くそういう（消滅時効を主張する）つもりはない。法律の問題もあるが、何らかの形を示したい」と初めて踏み込んだ発言をした。佐藤知事は「完全な賠償の実施をお願いしたい」と求めた。

President Hirose and Chairman Kazuhiko Shimokobe visited with Governor Yuhei Sato at the Fukushima Prefectural government office on January 10. Mr. Hirose made specific remarks for the first time regarding the issue, saying "We have no intention at all (to claim our right to statute of limitations). It is a legal problem, but we would like to come up with something concrete." Governor Sato demanded that TEPCO fully compensate the victims.

民法７２４条は、不法行為で被害などを知ってから３年以内に損害賠償を請求しないと、時効により権利を失うとされる。この規定は権利関係の迅速な確定を目的に設けられているが、佐藤知事は、東電に対して消滅時効を主張しないよう求めていた。

According to the Article 724 of the Civil Code, one loses the right to compensation unless one files a claim for damages within 3 years of first becoming aware of the damages from offense by others. The purpose of this article is to quickly establish relations of right. Governor Sato had asked TEPCO not to assert its claim to statute of limitations.

面会後、広瀬社長は「社内で対応策を検討中で、近々発表できると思う。裁判で消滅時効の権利を主張するつもりはない」と記者団に語った。

After the meeting, Mr. Hirose said to the press, "We're discussing the measures, and I hope to announce them soon. We are not going to assert our claim to statute of limitations in lawsuits."

There are many who haven't even received the applications yet. For those who have received the applications, the application is such a legal mumbo jumbo that many have simply given up.

Then on January 16, six days later, TEPCO revealed their plan. Instead of statute of limitations as stipulated by the Civil Code, the company will use a modified statute of limitations - 3 years from the time when the application forms are received by people affected by the accident.

As Nikkei Shinbun reported (1/16/2013; part):

東京電力と原子力損害賠償支援機構は、福島第１原子力発電所事故に伴う損害賠償の請求可能な期間を、被災者が請求用書類を受け取った日から３年間とする方針を固めた。賠償の請求権については法律上、事故から３年後に時効が成立する可能性があることが指摘されていた。時効の起点を後ろにずらして賠償を受け取れない被災者が出ることを防ぐ。

TEPCO and Nuclear Damage Liability Facilitation Fund has decided that the period to claim damages from the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident will be three years from the date when people affected by the accident receive their application documents. It has been pointed out that the three-year statute of limitations from the start of the accident may happen, but the new plan will move the date further back from which to count three years so that people affected by the accident are able to receive compensations.

茂木敏充経済産業相に15日に提出した「総合特別事業計画」の変更申請に盛り込んだ

The plan is part of the change request for the "Comprehensive Special Business Plan" that TEPCO submitted to Toshimitsu Motegi, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, on January 15.

So it's a done deal. The plan is submitted, not because the plan will be analyzed or discussed by the government but as the last formality after everything in the plan has been already informally discussed and agreed upon by all the parties involved, in this case the national government and TEPCO (which are one and the same).

Very clever of them. The management of Chisso should have used the same ruse.

TEPCO's Hirose by the way holds an MBA from Yale University. Minister Motegi is a former McKinsey consultant. They probably understand each other very well.

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#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: TEPCO Wants to Dump Treated Water into the Ocean

From Nippon Television (1/25/2013):

東京電力は、第一原発の中に溜まり続けている汚染水について、濃度を下げる処理をし、漁業関係者などの同意を得た上で海に放出する考えを明らかにした。

TEPCO says it wants to treat the contaminated water to lower the radioactivity and discharge the treated water into the ocean, if the consent from people in the fishing industry is obtained.

第一原発では、放射性物質で汚染された水が溜まり続けていて、東電は敷地内のタンクを増設して管理している。

The water contaminated with radioactive materials keeps increasing at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. TEPCO is building more storage tanks to deal with the water.

東電は、きのう原子力規制委員会に対し、汚染の濃度を下げる処理をした上で海に放出する対策案を説明した。

Yesterday, TEPCO explained to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission about their plan to treat the water to lower the level of contamination and discharge the treated water into the ocean.

東電は、漁業関係者などの了解が得られなければ海への放出はしないことを強調しているが、タンクの増設はいずれ限界に達する可能性があるだけでなく、敷地内に溜まり続ける汚染水の最終的な処分の方法は見通しが立っていない。

TEPCO emphasizes that they won't release the water into the ocean unless they can obtain the consent from people in the fishing industry. However, there's a limit to how many storage tanks can be installed in the compound, and there is no final disposal plan for the contaminated water that keeps accumulating.

The last time I heard about this news was, I think, about a year ago. Somehow TEPCO has come up with extra storage since. Way back in June 2011, TEPCO wanted to dump the water in the reactor and turbine buildings at Fukushima II (Daini) after treating the water. That plan went nowhere partly because of strong objection from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries who probably worried more about "baseless rumors" than the actual, potential harm to the marine life.

I doubt that fishermen in Tohoku and Kanto would agree. They have already been selling the fish they catch, which are contaminated with radioactive cesium to varying degrees (hopefully below 100 Bq/kg but they only sample test). They certainly do not want to draw attention to the marine contamination by having TEPCO dump the water from the plant, no matter how "clean" it may be.

TEPCO has been counting on Toshiba's ALPS to come online at Fukushima I, which will remove virtually all radionuclides (except for tritium). The ALPS was ready for a "hot" test (using contaminated water) when when the Nuclear Regulatory Commission demanded that the vessels used in ALPS be sturdy enough to withstand the drop from up to 6 meters high. Now, until TEPCO and Toshiba come up with such vessels, the ALPS cannot even be tested.

So now, the talk is back, of dumping the water into the ocean.

Let's see what else (other than dumping the water) can they do? One of the nuclear researchers that I follow on Twitter has a suggestion:

Build a boiler, use it to evaporate water. What's left is radioactive materials. Use bitumen to immobilize them, put them in containers and store them.

I have no idea if this ever occurred to TEPCO, or if this is a valid method. Maybe it did occur to TEPCO, may it didn't. Just as it didn't occur to them that the highly radioactive water might be leaking, or that they should just violate some peacetime law and regulations and drive on the highway with truckload of batteries.

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Washington Post Editorial over Senkaku Islands Row: "Cooler Heads Should Prevail"

Washington Post has a short editorial on the Japan-Sino row over the Senkaku Islands, gently suggesting both sides to cool it so that the Obama administration doesn't need to choose between the two alternatives - defending Japan as per the security treaty between the US and Japan, or a "climb-down".

Well I don't think Prime Minister Abe is counting on the latter...

From Washington Post (1/25/2013; links are original, emphasis is mine):

GIVEN PRESIDENT Obama’s preoccupation with ending what he calls “a decade of war,” it’s hard to believe that the United States could be dragged into a military conflict in the western Pacific over a group of tiny, uninhabited islands claimed by both Japan and China. Probably, it won’t be. Yet thanks to a disturbing confluence of events in those countries and Mr. Obama’s own commitments, the chance that it will happen is rising.

The Senkaku Islands, called the Diaoyu by China, have been under Japanese administration since 1895; for decades, China agreed to leave its claim to them on a back burner. But Japan’s nationalizationin September of three of the islets — undertaken in an attempt to head off an attempt by a nationalist politician to gain hold of them — provided China’s military and Communist leadership with a pretext for rabble-rousing.

In recent weeks Beijing’s provocations have escalated from dispatching surveillance ships to the islands to scrambling warplanes in response to Japan’s. China’s state-controlled media have been whipping up something like war fever, with one paper declaring that a military fight is “more likely” and the country “needs to prepare for the worst.” Disturbingly, this provocative and dangerous campaign has been overseen by the new Communist leadership under Xi Jinping, which has ample motive to divert attention from domestic problems.

The political climate in Tokyo, too, gives cause for concern. The new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, is a nationalist who has packed his cabinet with politicians who share his aims of boosting Japanese defense spending and standing up to China. Japan has refused negotiations over the islands, declaring that there is nothing to discuss.

The Obama administration has been trying to defuse the dispute, dispatching a senior State Department official to Tokyo last week to call for “cooler heads to prevail.” But Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has also reiterated a position the administration first adopted two years ago: A security treaty binding the United States to defend Japan against attack applies to the islets. That public stance may have been intended to deter China from provoking a crisis, but it also magnifies the stakes for Washington. Should China attempt to seize control of the territory, Mr. Obama could have to choose between backing Japan in a military confrontation and a climb-down that would undermine the “pivot to Asia” he has placed at the center of his foreign policy.

Fortunately, there were signs of a cooling-off this week. Mr. Abe dispatched an emissary to Beijing with a letter for Mr. Xi. The Japanese leader, who has been invited to Washington for a meeting with Mr. Obama next month, should be looking for ways to ease tensions without rewarding Beijing’s belligerence. With U.S. help, it ought to be possible to return the issue of the Senkakus to the back burner, where it belongs.

"Pivot to Asia"? What is that? I've never heard the phrase in the US media but I've seen it mentioned numerous times in the Japanese media and tweets as some kind of a big turning point for the US. From the search results, even the US mainstream media is rather dismissive of Mr. Obama's strategy. Council of Foreign Relations calls it "unnecessary and counterproductive".

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Japanese Researchers Found Cesium More Concentrated in Calf Than in Mother Cow in the Former Evacuation Zone in #Fukushima Prefecture

and organ-specific high concentration of radioactive silver and tellurium.

In a research paper on an open-access peer-reviewed magazine, the researchers at Tohoku University studying the cattle abandoned in the former "evacuation zone" (20-kilometer radius from Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant) in Fukushima Prefecture say that calves had 1.5 times as much cesium per kilogram as the mothers.

So far, the popular meme pushed by people like Ms. Kayoko Ikeda (who seemingly started out as a staunch defender of people escaping radiation contamination, and who turned out to be an apologist for the official line) is that there's nothing to worry about radiation contamination because children, with their high metabolism, will expel radioactive materials out of their bodies very quickly.

Now, Tohoku University researchers and the media have timidly started to say, as Kyodo News reports (1/24/2013), that we have have to rethink our premise.

What a surprise. Now what?

From Kyodo News (1/24/2013):

セシウム、母牛より子牛が高濃度　東北大、セシウム調査

Tohoku University's survey reveals that radioactive cesium is more concentrated in calf than in mother

東京電力福島第１原発事故で、原発から半径２０キロ圏内にある当時警戒区域に指定されていた福島県南相馬市と川内村に取り残された牛の内部被ばく調査を進める福本学東北大教授（病理学）らの研究グループが、母牛よりも子牛の方に高濃度の放射性セシウムがたまっていたとの研究結果をまとめ、２３日付の米オンライン科学誌プロスワンに発表した。

A research group headed by Professor Manabu Fukumoto (pathology) at Tohoku University  has been studying the internal radiation exposure in cows abandoned in part of Minamisoma City and Kawauchi-mura in the 20-kilometer radius evacuation zone because of the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident. The group published the result on an online science magazine in the US called Plos One on January 23 which the researchers found radioactive cesium was more concentrated in calves than in mothers.

福本教授は、子牛と母牛が全く同じ物を食べていたとは限らないとした上で「代謝が盛んな子どもの方が、放射性物質がたまりにくいとされるが、見直す必要があるのではないか」と話し、今回のデータはメカニズムの解明に向けた基礎データになるとしている。

Professor Fukumoto says calves did not necessarily ate exactly the same food as the mothers, but says "It has been said that children with high metabolism do not retain radioactive materials long, but maybe we need to take a fresh look." The data will be the basis to understand the mechanism [of cesium accumulation], Professor Fukumoto says.

The researchers also found high concentrations of short half-lived radionuclides like Ag-110m (half-life 250 days) in liver and Te-129m (half-life 34 days) in kidney.

Abstract of the paper "Distribution of Artificial Radionuclides in Abandoned Cattle in the Evacuation Zone of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant", at Plos One (emphasis is mine):

The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP) accident released large amounts of radioactive substances into the environment. In order to provide basic information for biokinetics of radionuclides and for dose assessment of internal exposure brought by the FNPP accident, we determined the activity concentration of radionuclides in the organs of 79 cattle within a 20-km radius around the FNPP. In all the specimens examined, deposition of Cesium-134 (¹³⁴Cs, half-life: 2.065 y) and ¹³⁷Cs (30.07 y) was observed. Furthermore, organ-specific deposition of radionuclides with relatively short half-lives was detected, such as silver-110m (^110mAg, 249.8 d) in the liver and tellurium-129m (^129mTe, 33.6 d) in the kidney. Regression analysis showed a linear correlation between the radiocesium activity concentration in whole peripheral blood (PB) and that in each organ. The resulting slopes were organ dependent with the maximum value of 21.3 being obtained for skeletal muscles (R² = 0.83, standard error (SE) = 0.76). Thus, the activity concentration of ¹³⁴ Cs and ¹³⁷Cs in an organ can be estimated from that in PB. The level of radioactive cesium in the organs of fetus and infants were 1.19-fold (R² = 0.62, SE = 0.12), and 1.51-fold (R² = 0.70, SE = 0.09) higher than that of the corresponding maternal organ, respectively. Furthermore, radiocesium activity concentration in organs was found to be dependent on the feeding conditions and the geographic location of the cattle. This study is the first to reveal the detailed systemic distribution of radionuclides in cattle attributed to the FNPP accident.

According to the paper, the researchers collected 79 cattle, 27 of which were from Minami-soma city located north and 52 from Kawauchi between August 29 and November 15, 2011.

From the Results and Discussion section:

Before the cattle were euthanized, we noticed 3 mother and infant pairs in Plot 2. We confirmed that these infants were born after the FNPP accident and that they were being weaned at the time. As shown in Figure 2B, most of the points lie on the upper side of the dashed equality line (infant side). The regression analysis showed that radiocesium activity concentration was 1.51 times higher in the infant organs than in the corresponding maternal organs (R² = 0.70, SE = 0.09). Therefore, we concluded that the deposition of ¹³⁷Cs in infant organs is correlated with that in the corresponding maternal organs but is higher than that in maternal ones. Shorter half-lives of retention are adopted for infants and children than for adults [12]. Inaba et al. mentioned that water and electrolyte metabolism should differ considerably between newborn and adult, and that potassium contents of the feeding might affect the radiocesium activity concentration [13]. We do not have any data regarding the proportion attributed to milk and grass which the infants were taking at the time of the sacrifice.

In our data, the thyroid showed lower ¹³⁷Cs deposition compared with other visceral organs (Figures 1 and 2B). Bandazhevsky previously reported that the highest accumulation of radiocesium was found in the endocrine glands, in particular, the thyroid, in humans [14]. Although we need to consider the species difference between humans and cattle, radiocesium is suggested to have little impact on thyroid carcinogenesis.

About Ag-110m in liver:

Radioactive ^110mAg is not a fission product but is formed by the neutron capture of stable ¹⁰⁹Ag. We detected ^110mAg in the liver of all of the cattle except for fetuses examined (Table 1 and Figure 3A). The ratio of deposited radioactivity concentration of ^110mAg to ¹³⁷Cs in the soil of Plot 2 and Plot 3 was lower than 0.5% and that in the grass of Plot 3 was lower than 5% (Table S3). The value in the soil was consistent with the distribution map of radiation doses by MEXT (http://radioactivity.mext.go.jp/old/en/1​750/2011/10/1750_1031e_2.pdf) (MEXT Dose Map) as of June 14, 2011. In the current study, ^110mAg activity concentration in the liver did not show Plot dependent difference or association with ¹³⁷Cs activity concentration (Figure 3A). Both the human evidence and the animal studies indicate substantial deposition of silver in the liver but the retention rate is influenced by the route of intake [12]. It is reported that the liver deposition of ^110mAg in sheep and its transfer coefficient to the liver was higher than that of ¹³⁷Cs in the Chernobyl nuclear accident [16]. These data indicate that the transfer coefficient of ^110mAg to the liver is higher than that of ¹³⁷Cs. Furthermore, post-mortem data on the distribution of ^110mAg in a patient 195 days after injection showed the highest uptake in the liver (40%) among all organs [17]. There was no relationship between the activity concentration of ^110mAg in PB and in the liver (Figure 3B). Danscher et al. reported that silver predominantly accumulates in lysosome-associated tissues, such as lymph nodes, liver, kidneys and the central nervous system after silver administration in rats and mice. Furthermore, they showed the intense accumulation of silver in Kupper cells of the liver [18]. From these cumulative data and this study, we concluded that the liver is the primary target organ for ^110mAg deposition.

The entire paper is available free at the link

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US Hurricane Sandy Victims Still Without Power, Heat, Water

The US is turning 'Japanese', as some Hurricane Sandy victims have spent nearly three months without power or running water. Other families are still living in hotels, with FEMA picking up the tab which has to be renewed every two weeks.

With the presidential election over, no more photo-op necessary for the power that be.

They still have 17 more months to go until they catch up with the Futaba-machi residents living in an abandoned high school since April 2011, eating bento meals that they are now made to pay for.

From Fox News (1/25/2013):

Sandy victims left out in the cold during arctic blast

The brutal cold snap affecting much of the country is taking a devastating toll on victims of superstorm Sandy, many of whom are camped out in tent cities or living in homes without power, heat or running water.

Those unable to get proper lodging have hunkered down in their homes without the basic necessities of heat, electricity, or running water.

“Many families in Union Beach are using space heaters to warm upstairs,” said Jeanette Van Houten, a resident from the small New Jersey town that was among the hardest-hit communities. “There’s people with no heat, no electric, but they are staying in the house because it’s better than having to deal with FEMA and having to leave hotels every two weeks.

“There are families who have chosen to stay in their homes just to have some sort of normalcy,” she added.

The cold wave has brought single-digit temperatures to the Northeast, some 10 to 15 degrees below normal for the time of year.

Residents of the New Dorp Beach section of Staten Island have taken shelter in tents set up by aid workers with only small propane heaters, sleeping bags and blankets to stave off the bone-chilling cold, according to reports.

In the Queens neighborhood of Breezy Point, one of the most storm-ravaged areas of the region, residents lined up at the local recovery center this week to pick up donated ceramic space heaters. Many of the suffering residents in the five boroughs of New York City say their homes still are barely habitable, despite the city’s so-called Rapid Repairs program that was supposed to make their homes livable quickly.

According to the city, construction teams for the Rapid Repairs program have restored heat, hot water and power to more than 12,000 city residents, with work still to be completed in another 1,900 buildings.

Some 3,500 families are still living in hotels in New York and New Jersey, with FEMA picking up the tab. But the expense authorizations expire every two weeks and must be renewed, leaving families in a state of anxiety over where they will sleep at night.

(Full article at the link)

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Boeing 787 Battery Fire: Short Circuit and Thermal Runaway in One of 8 Battery Cells

From Flight Global (1/24/2013; emphasis is mine):

NTSB finds signs of short circuit, thermal runaway in JAL 787 battery failure

The Boeing 787 battery involved in the Japan Airlines incident on 7 January reveal signs of a short-circuit in one cell and thermal runaway that led to a fire, says the US National Transportation Safety Board.

The NTSB's first press conference 16 days after the JAL battery failure and fire in Boston also revealed that the investigation could still be far from discovering a root cause.

"It is really hard to tell how long the investigation will take," says Deborah Hersman, NTSB chairwoman.

"We have to understand why this battery resulted in a fire when there is so many protections designed into this system," she adds.

The short circuit was found in cell five of the eight-cell, 32V battery that starts the auxiliary power unit and is located in the aft electronic equipment bay in the 787.

But the NTSB has not yet been able to narrow down a set of possible root causes that it is ready to reveal to the public.

"We are seeing symptoms," she says. "We know there is something wrong here. The short circuit, the fire, these are all symptoms that something is wrong."

Hersman says a troubling complication of both the JAL 787 incident and the All Nippon Airways 787 battery event was the timing of the battery failures within 100 flight hours of service by both aircraft.

"We do not expect to see events like what we saw on the 787 in the battery system," Hersman says. "Two battery events in two weeks in the early flights of this aircraft are not what we expect."

The incidents prompted the FAA to order United Airlines to ground all six US-registered 787s on 16 January, an action that triggered a global grounding of the aircraft less than 15 months after it entered service with ANA in October 2011.

So far, the Japan Transport Safety Board and the NTSB have agreed that there is no evidence yet that either battery was over-charged when it failed, but they are continuing to examine the data. Hersman says, for example, that investigators are still considering if it was possible for one of the eight battery cells was over-charged, but not the overall battery.

Another critical part of the investigation is considering the certification process for the 787 batteries.

"These events should not happen as far as design of the airplane," Hersman says. "There are multiple systems to prevent a battery event like this. Those systems did not work. We need to understand why."

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OT: Type "askew" in Google Search...(UPDATED)

Your screen goes askew...

Does anyone know any other word that does something funny in Google search?

(UPDATE) From Twitter follower brentosg, type in "do a barrel roll"...

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#Radioactive Japan: Mayor Katsutaka Idogawa of Futaba-machi Resigns

After he decided to fight the resolution of no confidence against him and dissolved the Futaba-machi Assembly, he was holding meetings with his townfolks.

One such meeting was to be held in Koriyama City in Fukushima Prefecture where some of the Futaba residents have been living in the temporary housing. But Mayor Idogawa, 65, fell suddenly ill with dizziness　and severe headache, and he was hospitalized on January 20 to have medical tests done.

On January 23, he asked to resign.

If you haven't read Mayor Idogawa's recounting of how he saw the white substance falling from sky like the snow after an explosion (that was Reactor 1 at Fukushima I Nuke Plant) as he tried to evacuate elderly citizens, go to my post from February 11, 2012.

From Jiji Tsushin (1/23/2013):

東京電力福島第１原発事故で役場機能を埼玉県加須市に移している福島県双葉町は２３日、井戸川克隆町長が辞職を申し出たと発表した。辞職は２月１２日付となり、同日から５０日以内に町長選が行われる。町議会は昨年１２月、井戸川町長の不信任決議を全会一致で可決。町長は同月２６日に町議会を解散しており、町は首長と議会が同時に不在となる異例の事態に陥る。

Futaba-machi, whose official functions have been moved to Kazo City in Saitama Prefecture after the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident, announced on January 23 that Mayor Katsutaka Idogawa offered to resign. The mayor's resignation will be official as of February 12, and the mayoral election will be held within 50 days after that date. The town assembly unanimously passed the no-confidence resolution against Mayor Idogawa in December last year, and the mayor in turn dissolved the assembly on December 26. The town faces an extraordinary situation where there is no head of the town nor the town assembly.

町によると、井戸川町長は２３日に町の幹部職員を集めた会議で辞職の意向を表明し、議会事務局長に辞職届を提出したという。新町長が就任するまでは井上一芳副町長が町長の職務代理者を務める。

According to Futaba-machi, Mayor Idogawa gathered senior officials of the town to a meeting on January 23 where he expressed his intention to resign, and submitted the notice to the secretariat of the town assembly. Until the new mayor is installed, Vice Mayor Kazuyoshi Inoue will assume the duties of the mayor.

福島第１原発のある双葉町は事故で全住民が町外に避難している。昨年３月には政府が除染で生じる汚染土を保管する中間貯蔵施設の建設受け入れを双葉、大熊、楢葉３町に要請。同施設の建設をめぐる井戸川町長の言動に不信感を持った町議会が不信任決議を出した。

All residents of Futaba-machi, where Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant is located, have evacuated the town after the nuclear accident. In March last year, the national government requested that Futaba, Okuma, and Naraha to accept intermediate storage facilities to be built in their towns, which would be used to store contaminated soil removed in the process of decontamination. The town assembly became suspicious of the mayor's intentions over the construction of such facilities [two in Futaba-machi] and submitted the resolution of no confidence [against the mayor].

Town assemblymen/women wanted to go ahead with the government plan, which would mean more money for the town. Mayor Idogawa said no, as he wanted the town's people to fully understand the implication of such facilities and decide for themselves.

Jiji article doesn't say why Mayor Idogawa is resigning. Mayor Idogawa has penned his farewell letter which is posted on the Futaba-machi website, but he does not say why he is resigning.

Mayor Idogawa has had hardly any support from anyone in his quest to secure a safe, radiation-free permanent place for the town residents, official or private, except for a few volunteers who occasionally cooked meals for the evacuees who still live in an abandoned high school building in Kazo City, Saitama.

It's been nearly two years after the start of the nuclear accident.

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US to Lift Combat Ban on Women

I'm sure the news will be followed by female soldiers declaring they are so ready.

Personally, I don't think this is the way to achieve so-called "gender equality", but that's how it goes under the president who just has had his "second coming", as Newsweek magazine calls it.

From Bloomberg News (1/23/2013):

Combat Ban on Women to Be Lifted, U.S. Defense Official Says

The U.S. Defense Department plans to lift its ban on women serving in direct combat roles, a Defense Department official said today.

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta made the decision to lift the ban on the recommendation of the military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, according to the official, who asked not to be identified in advance of a planned announcement. The Associated Press reported on the decision earlier today.

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(UPDATED) Newly Released TEPCO Teleconference Video: "It Didn't Occur to Us that Water Puddle Would Be Highly Radioactive..."

(UPDATE) TEPCO, under the new Abe administration, will not release any video to the general public this time. Only the reporters who belong to the Japan Press Club can visit TEPCO's headquarter building in Tokyo and view the video. Some openness.

==================================

According to Yomiuri Shinbun, TEPCO has just released the third batch of its teleconference videos in the early days of the nuclear accident at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. No video available so far at TEPCO's site for the general public yet.

As Yomiuri reports, the plant manager Masao Yoshida is heard saying to the TEPCO headquarter people that it didn't occur to him that the water in the turbine building for Reactor 3 could be highly radioactive the next day after the radiation level had been checked.

Three workers from TEPCO affiliate companies were exposed to 2 to 6 sieverts of radiation on their feet on March 24, 2011.

From what little Yomiuri reports, it looks like teleconferencing may not be such a good thing to have during an extreme emergency like this. It may serve to fragment the effort, and have too many people without direct knowledge of the situation dictate the effort, as clearly happened between the plant and TEPCO headquarters in Tokyo.

From Yomiuri Shinbun (1/23/2013):

高放射能水の可能性失念…公開映像で吉田所長

Possibility of highly contaminated water didn't occur to the plant manager Yoshida, video [disclosed by TEPCO] reveals

東京電力は２３日、一昨年の福島第一原子力発電所事故直後、東京の本店と現場などを結び、事故対応を検討したテレビ会議の映像約２週間分を追加公開した。

On January 23, TEPCO made additional teleconference videos of about 2 weeks. [TEPCO] used the teleconference system that connected its headquarters in Tokyo, the plant, and other locations right after the start of the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant accident nearly two years ago to deal with the accident.

東電は昨年８月から段階的に映像公開を進め、３度目となる今回の公開で、事故から１か月間（２０１１年３月１１日～４月１１日）の映像が出そろった。

TEPCO started to make the videos public in August last year, and this is the third installment. Now the videos that cover the one month period (March 11 to April 11, 2011) have been made public.

今回公開されたのは、３月２３～２９日と４月６～１１日の映像。３月２４日には、３号機タービン建屋地下にたまった高濃度汚染水で、関連会社の作業員３人が大量に被曝(ひばく)した。前日の現場確認時より汚染水が増え、作業環境が悪化することを予想しなかった結果だった。

This time, the videos cover from March 23 to 29, and April 6 to 11. On March 24, three workers from TEPCO's affiliate [subcontracting] companies were exposed to massive amount of radiation from the highly contaminated water in the basement of Reactor 3 turbine building. It happened because no one had thought that the amount of contaminated water might increase when they had done the survey of the work location, and that the work condition might worsen.

吉田昌郎所長（当時）は「高放射能のたまり水の可能性を失念し、次の日も（作業環境が）変わらないという思いこみがあった」「こんだけ（作業が）パラ（同時並行）で走っている。本店主体で進むと、現場のケアが十分じゃないという感じがしていた」と指摘。現場の状況を十分把握せず多数の作業を指示する東電本店に対し、不満を示した。

Masao Yoshida, then the plant manager, [is heard] saying "It didn't occurred to us that there might be highly contaminated water, and we took it for granted that (the work condition) would remain the same", and "So many jobs are being done in parallel (simultaneously). I have the feeling that if the headquarters people are the ones who tell us what to do, they may not know enough about what's going on at the plant", showing his dissatisfaction with the TEPCO headquarters that directed many jobs without fully understanding the situation at the plant.

So, Mr. Yoshida is saying TEPCO had surveyed the condition of the Reactor 3 turbine building basement, and didn't think it would be full of highly contaminated water the next day when the workers from affiliate companies entered. That doesn't still explain the testimony of one of the affiliate company workers that TEPCO workers also entered the basement the same day, and they withdrew after measuring 400 millisievert/hour radiation in the water.

TEPCO workers could have told the affiliate workers to get the hell out, but that clearly did not occur to them either.

On March 25, 2011, that water "puddle" in the Reactor 3 turbine building basement was:

• 1.5 meter deep; and

• had 3.9 million becquerels per cubic centimeter.

From March 20 to March 23, 2011, black smoke was rising from the wreckage of Reactor 3 building. During the same period, elevated levels of radiation were measured in wide areas in Tohoku and Kanto. Some "event" may have been happening in Reactor 3; one researcher, Fumiya Tanabe, speculates that's when the melted core in Reactor 3 Pressure Vessel melted through the RPV down to the Containment Vessel, as the amount of water being injected dropped to 24 tonnes per day (probably due to high pressure inside the RPV) from the previous 300 tonnes per day.

For more on the affiliate worker's allegation and the incident on March 24, 2011, see my November 1, 2012 post.

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Japan Under Abe's LDP and BOJ: Still Long Way to Recovery for Nikkei Average

From the global stock market top in late 2007 through the deep plunge in the fall of 2008 and the central-bank-induced recovery ever since, Japan's Nikkei Average lags badly. It still hasn't regained the minor peak in April 2010, when the average was above 11,000.

German DAX and US S&P500 are within 10% of all-time high, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index and Singapore's Strait Times Index are within 20%.

Chart created using stockcharts.com's free chart tool (click to enlarge):

Now, the same indices from the global market bottom (except for Shanghai Composite, which bottomed in October 2008) of March 6, 2009. Nikkei's gain is less than 50%, while all the other indices have gained 95% (Hang Seng) to over 115% (S&P500). Strait Times Index and DAX have also gained more than 110%.

Nikkei is down 220 points today, a clear disappointment that unlimited, open-ended quantitative easing doesn't start right away as Japanese yen was bought.

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OT: "The BBC Is a Plague on Man"

A nice concise summary of what the BBC is by Travis Holte, from LRC Blog at Lewrockwell.com (1/22/2013):

The BBC Is a Plague on Man

Each year the serfs of the UK are coerced out of billions to fund the British Broadcasting Corporation. What do they get for their money? How about a children's presenter who turns out to be a satanic pedophile? They got about forty years of that guy. They also get an unquestioning government mouthpiece for all its wars, a propaganda arm of the State for pretty much anything the oligarchs want. If you are a Malthusian you can expect a long and illustrious career for the BBC. If it turns out you are not, they'll snuff you out. Need further evidence of their ties to the State? Check out this story on the MI5 vetting their prospective hires.

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Japan's Debt Bomb Delayed Somewhat, As BOJ Targets 2% Inflation But Open-Ended Asset Purchase of 13 Trillion Yen (US$145 Billion) Per Month Delayed Till 2014

Financial and fiscal insanity has been the norm since September 2008. Japan is merely a lap or two behind, now frantically trying to catch down with the US Fed and the ECB in cheapening the currency and going full-speed on further fiscal profligacy.

Bank of Japan just announced the result of its two-day deliberation on monetary policy. It will officially target 2% inflation, and unlimited quantitative easing through asset purchase of whopping 13 trillion yen (145 billion US dollars, take that Helicopter Ben!) per month, but the latter won't start until January 2014.

Japan's Nikkei ended slightly down, at 10,709, in mild disappointment that the open-ended QE is not going to start right away.

A token independence of the central bank is gone, as the inflation target will be closely examined by the executive branch of the government every three months.

From Nikkei Shinbun (1/22/2013; part):

日銀は21～22日に開いた金融政策決定会合で、２％の物価安定目標を採用することを決めた。政府との間で「デフレ脱却と持続的な経済成長の実現のための政府・日本銀行の政策連携について」とする共同声明を作成。消費者物価の前年比上昇率で２％を目指すとともに、経済財政諮問会議で進捗状況を定期的に検証することなどを決めた。

Bank of Japan adopted the price stabilization target of 2% after the two-day meeting on monetary policy. A joint communique with the national government is to be drawn up regarding "the joint policy effort between the national government and Bank of Japan to move away from deflation and achieve sustainable economic growth". The target of 2% increase of year-over-year consumer price will be set, and the target will be periodically examined by the Council on Economic and Fiscal Policy [under the Cabinet Office].

２％の物価安定目標の導入とともに、資産買入基金で「期限を定めない資産買い入れ方式」の導入も決めた。新方式では2014年初から期限を定めず毎月13兆円の資産買い入れを実施する。買い入れの内訳は長期国債が２兆円、短期国債が10兆円。その他の資産は残高を維持するように買い入れる。この結果、基金の残高は14年中に10兆円程度増え、それ以降も残高を維持する見込みだ。基金の新方式については全員一致で決めた。

In addition to the introduction of price stabilization target of 2%, BOJ decided to introduce a new open-ended asset purchase program using the asset purchase fund. Under the new program, BOJ will purchase assets at 13 trillion yen [145 billion US dollars] per month for as long as necessary starting in the beginning of 2014. The assets will include 2 trillion yen long-term government bond, 10 trillion yen short-term government bills, and the rest of the assets [REIT, ETF, commercial papers, corporate bonds, etc.] will be purchased to maintain the existing balance. As the result, the balance of the asset purchase fund will grow by 10 trillion yen in 2014, and the balance will be maintained thereafter. BOJ decided on this new program by unanimous vote.

Interestingly, Nikkei English article does not mention monthly asset purchase of 13 trillion yen. Instead, it has a piece of information that is not in the Japanese version - that there were two people who dissented at the BOJ meeting over 2% inflation target:

The bank's policy board voted 7 versus 2 at the end of its two-day meeting to introduce the target, replacing its current 1% price "goal," which Mr. Abe had criticized as being too weak of a commitment by the BOJ.

I wonder who they were.

But to call the 2% inflation target as "price stabilization target", that's pure Newspeak. Japanese people will be lulled by the word "stabilization", without realizing it is the past 2 decades that have had excellent price stability.

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Algeria Hostage-Taking Siege: Terrorist Leader's Final Order Was to Kill All Hostages

From Time quoting AP (1/21/2013):

Inside Job, 2 Canadian Militants in Algeria Siege

(ALGIERS, Algeria) — The hostage-taking at a remote Algerian gas plant was carried out by 30 militants from across the northern swath of Africa and two from Canada, authorities said. The militants, who wore military uniforms and knew the layout, included explosives experts who rigged it with bombs and a leader whose final order was to kill all the captives.

The operation also had help with inside knowledge — a former driver at the plant, Algeria’s prime minister said Monday.

In all, 38 workers and 29 militants died, the Algerian prime minister said Monday, offering the government’s first detailed account of four days of chaos that ended with a bloody military raid he defended as the only way possible to end the standoff. Five foreigners are still missing.

“You may have heard the last words of the terrorist chief,” Algerian Prime Minister Abdelmalek Sellal told reporters. “He gave the order for all the foreigners to be killed, so there was a mass execution, many hostages were killed by a bullet to the head.”

...All but one of the dead victims — an Algerian security guard — were foreigners. The dead hostages included seven Japanese workers, six Filipinos, three energy workers each from the U.S. and Britain, two from Romania and one worker from France.

The prime minister said three attackers were captured but did not specify their nationalities or their conditions or say where they were being held.

He said the Islamists included a former driver at the complex from Niger and that the militants “knew the facility’s layout by heart.” The vast complex is deep in the Sahara, 800 miles (1,300 miles) south of Algiers, with a network of roads and walkways for the hundreds of workers who keep it running.

The attackers wore military uniforms, according to state television, bolstering similar accounts by former hostages that the attackers didn’t just shoot their way in.

“Our attention was drawn by a car. It was at the gate heading toward the production facility. Four attackers stepped out of a car that had flashing lights on top of it,” one of the former hostages, Liviu Floria, a 45-year-old mechanic from Romania, told The Associated Press.

The militants had said during the standoff that their band included people from Canada, and hostages who had escaped recalled hearing at least one of the militants speaking English with a North American accent.

The Algerian premier said the Canadians were of Arab descent. He further said the militant cell also included men from Egypt, Mali, Niger, Mauritania and Tunisia, as well as three Algerians. Officials in Canada could not confirm that any of the attackers were from there.

“The announcement of the Algerian prime minister is fine, but we need verification. It could be a forged document. We need to confirm,” said a Canadian official who was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity.

...Moktar Belmoktar, who is believed to have orchestrated the attack, said in a statement over the weekend that the Algerian site was chosen after the country opened its airspace.

Sellal said negotiating was essentially impossible.

“Their goal was to kidnap foreigners,” he said. “They wanted to flee to Mali with the foreigners, but once they were surrounded they started killing the first hostages.”

He said the assault by Algerian special forces on the plant on Saturday that killed the last group of militants and hostages came after the kidnappers attempted to destroy the complex: “They led us into a real labyrinth, in negotiations that became unreasonable.”

(Full article at the link)

So they were negotiating. And it was (ostensibly) the Algerian consent to open its airspace to the French air force to bomb northern Mali that triggered the whole episode.

In Japanese tweets, I saw an astounding tweet by someone who effectively said JGC Corporation, Japanese plant engineering firm whose employees have been killed by the terrorists, deserves it because JGC has done nuclear plant engineering. When others were incensed by his remark, this person offered his excuse that he meant that the poor workers who were killed were like the workers at Fukushima I Nuke Plant, who were forced to work without being told of the danger.

What an insult to all - JGC, JGC workers, and Fuku-I workers.

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Extremely High Levels of Radioactive Cesium in Fish Inside #Fukushima I Nuke Plant Harbor

The statement is not really true that the radiation level inside the harbor right at Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant is no different than those outside, further away from the plant, say 10, 20 kilometer radius, as far as the contamination in fish goes.

The data that TEPCO released on January 18, 2013 shows the fish inside 20 kilometer radius to have radioactive cesium in one to three digits, and the fish inside the harbor in three to six digits.

It is not just the "murasoi" spotbelly rockfish with 254,000 Bq/kg of radioactive cesium but also jacopever with 110,000 Bq/kg, greenling with 40,000 Bq/kg of cesium. There was another spotbelly rockfish with 140,000 Bq/kg cesium.

The highest outside the harbor is 480 Bq/kg, and the lowest inside the harbor was 770 Bq/kg of radioactive cesium.

From TEPCO's Handout for the Press, January 18, 2013 (click to enlarge):

(Page 1, with highest number outside the harbor)

(Page 5)

(Inside the F-I harbor, pages 8, 9, 10)

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On Japan's Abe's Attempt at Reflation, Telegraph's Evans-Pritchard Refuses to Connect the Dots

I'm not sure if he refuses to connect the dots or he does not see the dots, but either way he does not come to a logical conclusion like Kyle Bass did when he said about money printing and unprecedented accumulation of debt worldwide, "...you know how this ends right? This ends through war".

Ambrose Evans-Pritchard compares the current Japan under the Abe administration to the one existed right before the start of World War II, and laments that it was just too bad that then-Finance Minister Korekiyo Takahashi couldn't finish off his highly inflationary monetary policy to peaceful conclusion (in Evans-Pritchard's mind, I think) of tightening, because Takahashi was assassinated by the imperial army officers incensed that their budget was being cut under Takahashi's tightening.

Of course the ostensible cause for these army officers was not the budget cut but "restoration of imperial power and direct rule by the emperor to rid Japan of many ills".

That was the failed February-26 coup, in 1936. The Second Sino-Japanese War (though Japanese and Chinese don't use the word "war" but call it an "incident") started the next year in 1937, which ended in 1945 with the unconditional surrender by Japan to the Allied forces.

Evans-Pritchard doesn't go there.

From UK's Telegraph's article by Ambrose Evans-Pritchard (1/20/2013; emphasis is mine), with my comments in square brakets in blue italic:

Revolutionary Japan is suddenly the centre of world affairs

[Evans-Pritchard starts off his article promisingly enough (that he may have finally got it), mentioning the military tension between Japan and China over the Senkaku Islands.]

We all watch with disbelief as China and Japan rattle sabres over the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, so like the seemingly minor events that drew Europe's alliance systems into conflict from 1911 onwards.

Both graduated to fighter jets last week: Japan sending in F-15s; China deploying J-10s, and mobilising the East China Sea fleet for live ammo drills.

China's purpose is clear. It is testing the US security umbrella, and Washington's willingness to risk conflict to back Asian allies. There is a minority in Beijing who think America is a busted flush, a mistake made repeatedly by different powers over the last hundred years.

The possibility that the world's three largest economies could come to blows -- as feared by US defense secretary Leon Panetta -- is a sobering thought.

[So, where does he go from here? Evans-Pritchard then draws an interesting parallel to Japan in 1930s, under Finance Minister Korekiyo Takahashi, who inflated, devalued, doing everything that would make Keynes proud - it made Ben Bernanke proud.]

...Premier Shinzo Abe has vowed an all-out assault on deflation, going for broke on multiple fronts with fiscal, monetary, and exchange stimulus.

This is a near copy of the remarkable experiment in the early 1930s under Korekiyo Takahasi, described by Ben Bernanke as the man who "brilliantly rescued" his country from the Great Depression.

Takahasi was the first of his era to tear up rule book completely. He took Japan off gold in December 1931. He ran "Keynesian" budget deficits deliberately, launching a New Deal blitz before Franklin Roosevelt took office.

He compelled the Bank of Japan to monetise debt until the economy was back on its feet. The bonds were later sold to banks to drain liquidity.

He devalued the yen by 60pc against the dollar, and 40pc on a trade-weighted basis. Japan's textile, machinery, and chemical exports swept Asia, ultimately causing the British Empire and India to retaliate with Imperial Preference and all that was to follow -- and there lies the rub, you might say.

Takahasi was assassinated by army officers in 1936 when he tried to tighten by cutting military costs. Policy degenerated. Japan later lurched into hyperinflation.

[So, after talking about increasing military tension between Japan and China, then about centrally-planned highly inflationary policy ended up in a military coup, albeit failed, which triggered a war with China a year later which was practically the start of World War II, where does Evans-Pritchard go from there? That this government-led reflation and further debt accumulation will lead once again to a large-scale war? No. He goes on to praise the scheme, and demands more.]

...Mr Abe has lost patience. This time the Bank of Japan (BoJ) will do what it is told, the first of the big central banks to be stripped of its independence, and probably not the last. As Milton Friedman said -- quoting Clemenceau -- "monetary policy is far too important to be left to central bankers".

Mr Abe said the next governor to take office in April must be a soulmate "with the will and ability to pull the nation out of deflation".

Leaks suggest that the BoJ will set an inflation target of 2pc this week, to be achieved by unlimited bond purchases.

The liquidity effects of this by the world's top external creditor could be large enough to leak into everything from New Zealand bonds, Brazilian equities, and Chelsea property, a sort of `carry trade' on steroids.

...When a large country with its own currency reaches its fiscal limit, growth ends not with a bang but a whimper of declining vitality," he said. Mr Posen advises Japan to rely on monetary policy alone to right the ship.

I broadly agree, though this time the kindling wood of fiscal spending may be what is needed to ignite damp money. If Mr Abe means what he says, this is not just more of the same.

[And he repeats the mantra of Keynesians - deflation is bad.]

Needless to say, printing money has its perils too. The risk is that Japan could escape gentle but stable deflation -- the Devil it knows -- only to see a panic flight from bonds that overwhelms the Bank of Japan.

[Evans-Pritchard fully knows what risks Abe's policy entails. Somehow, he stops by presenting only the economic and monetary consequences.]

...Banks hold JGBs worth 900pc of their Tier 1 capital. Their portfolios would be decimated if long rates punched above 2pc. Japan might then face a banking disaster as well. These are the hard choices that Mr Abe has to make.

Nor can he continue to weaken the yen without irking Washington and jeopardising the alliance on which he depends. His rhetoric alone has already triggered a 12pc fall in the yen against the dollar, and a 20pc fall against the euro. He seems to be eyeing a dollar rate near Y100.

... Huge issues are at play here. The world's trade system is fragile. The wasting disease behind the Long Slump is a record high savings rate of 24pc of global GDP, and too little demand to go around. Everybody wants a weaker a currency. They can't all have it.

Japan's great experiment cuts both ways for the rest of us: the reflation blitz helps lift the global economy out of the doldrums: but yen manipulation snatches market share, incites protectionism, and takes us into the brave new world of "actively managed exchange rates", as Sir Mervyn King put it last month.

We will find out soon enough which is the more powerful effect.

We will find out soon enough. By bullets and missiles flying over our heads, if Kyle Bass is right.

Mr. Korekiyo Takahashi, who was also the 7th governor of Bank of Japan, was a one tough cookie. At the age of 13, he was ordered by his lord to study abroad. However, the American merchant living in Yokohama who was supposed to arrange for his study stole the money and his belongings, and he was duped by the parents of this merchant into signing a contract as indentured servant and was sold to a family in Oakland, California. He was then sold several more times, forced to work in vineyards and herding cattle, until he somehow managed to get back to Japan a year later.

Shinzo "pork-cutlet-curry-rice" Abe does not have a sturdy man who has grown into adult. Like himself, all he has is boys simply grown bigger with more wrinkles. We will found soon enough indeed what these boys will do.

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Boeing 787 Dreamliner Battery Fire: NTSB Is Testing Each Battery Cell

NTSB's press release (1/20/2013; emphasis is mine):

NTSB Provides Third Investigative Update on Boeing 787 Battery Fire in Boston
January 20

WASHINGTON - The National Transportation Safety Board today released a third update on its investigation into the Jan. 7 fire aboard a Japan Airlines Boeing 787 at Logan International Airport in Boston.

The lithium-ion battery that powered the auxiliary power unit has been examined in the NTSB Materials Laboratory in Washington. The battery was x-rayed and CT scans were generated of the assembled battery. The investigative team has disassembled the APU battery into its eight individual cells for detailed examination and documentation. Three of the cells were selected for more detailed radiographic examination to view the interior of the cells prior to their disassembly. These cells are in the process now of being disassembled and the cell's internal components are being examined and documented.

Investigators have also examined several other components removed from the airplane, including wire bundles and battery management circuit boards. The team has developed test plans for the various components removed from the aircraft, including the battery management unit (for the APU battery), the APU controller, the battery charger and the start power unit. On Tuesday, the group will convene in Arizona to test and examine the battery charger and download nonvolatile memory from the APU controller. Several other components have been sent for download or examination to Boeing’s facility in Seattle and manufacturer’s facilities in Japan.

Finally, examination of the flight recorder data from the JAL B-787 airplane indicate that the APU battery did not exceed its designed voltage of 32 volts.

In accordance with international investigative treaties, the Japan Transport Safety Board and French Bureau d'Enquêtes et d'Analyses pour la sécurité de l'aviation civile have appointed accredited representatives to this investigation. Similarly, the NTSB has assigned an accredited representative to assist with the JTSB’s investigation of the Jan. 15 battery incident involving an All Nippon Airways B-787. Both investigations remain ongoing.

Further investigative updates on the JAL B-787 incident will be issued as events warrant. To be alerted to any updates or developments, please follow the NTSB on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ntsb.

NTSB Media Contact:
Office of Public Affairs
490 L'Enfant Plaza, SW
Washington, DC 20594
(202) 314-6100
Kelly Nantel
kelly.nantel@ntsb.gov

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Boeing 787 Dreamliner Battery Fire "No Excess Voltage", Says US NTSB, Probe Widens

The US National Transportation Safety Board's conclusion about the battery on board the JAL-owned Dreamliner seems to be at odds with the statement made by the Japanese official that "excessive electricity may have overheated the battery in the ANA-owned Dreamliner".

NTSB will examine the battery charger (made by UK's Securaplane Technologies Inc) and the auxiliary power unit (by US's United Technologies).

From Reuters (1/20/2013; emphasis is mine):

Dreamliner probe widens after excess battery voltage ruled out

(Reuters) - U.S. safety investigators on Sunday ruled out excess voltage as the cause of a battery fire this month on a Boeing Co 787 Dreamliner jet operated by Japan Airlines Co (JAL) and said they were expanding the probe to look at the battery's charger and the jet's auxiliary power unit.

Last week, governments across the world grounded the Dreamliner while Boeing halted deliveries after a problem with a lithium-ion battery on a second 787 plane, flown by All Nippon Airways Co (ANA), forced the aircraft to make an emergency landing in western Japan.

A growing number of investigators and Boeing executives are working around the clock to determine what caused the two incidents which the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration says released flammable chemicals and could have sparked a fire in the plane's electrical compartment.

There are still no clear answers about the root cause of the battery failures, but the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board's statement eliminated one possible answer that had been raised by Japanese investigators.

It also underscored the complexity of investigating a battery system that includes manufacturers across the world, and may point to a design problem with the battery that could take longer to fix than swapping out a faulty batch of batteries.

"Examination of the flight recorder data from the JAL B-787 airplane indicates that the APU (auxiliary power unit) battery did not exceed its designed voltage of 32 volts," the NTSB said in a statement issued early Sunday.

On Friday, a Japanese safety official had told reporters that excessive electricity may have overheated the battery in the ANA-owned Dreamliner that was forced to make the emergency landing at Japan's Takamatsu airport last week.

"The NTSB wanted to set the record straight," said one source familiar with the investigation who was not authorized to speak publicly.

U.S. investigators have already examined the lithium-ion battery that powered the APU, where the battery fire started in the JAL plane, as well as several other components removed from the airplane, including wire bundles and battery management circuit boards, the NTSB statement said.

On Tuesday, investigators will convene in Tucson, Arizona to test and examine the charger for the battery, and download non-volatile memory from the APU controller, with similar tests planned at the Phoenix facility where the APUs are built. Other components have been sent for download or examination to Boeing's Seattle facility and manufacturer facilities in Japan.

Securaplane Technologies Inc, a unit of Britain's Meggitt Plc that makes the charger, said it will fully support the U.S. investigation.

Officials with United Technologies Corp, which builds the plane's auxiliary power unit and is the main supplier of electrical systems on the 787, said they would also cooperate with the investigation.

(Full article at the link)

Meanwhile, The Seattle Times reports that the top management at Boeing secretly says the US regulators are overreacting.

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