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TEPCO to make all data on radiation at Fukushima plant public

27 Comments

Tokyo Electric Power Co (TEPCO), which operates the wrecked Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, says it will make public all information on radiation levels or amounts of leaked contaminated water in and around the No. 1 reactor.

TEPCO officials told a news conference in Tokyo on Monday that all the related data and measurements currently being collated will be made public for the first time since the earthquake and tsunami hit in March 2011, Fuji TV reported.

The move comes after the utility was heavily criticized last month for not disclosing that radioactive rainwater was leaking into the ocean through a gutter from the rooftop of the reactor building. Members of the surrounding area's fishing and agricultural industries expressed outrage toward TEPCO.

Although TEPCO engineers have been measuring radiation levels and quantities of radioactive water that have been leaking from the No. 2 reactor into the ocean since April of 2014, any information regarding the data and or the actual situation at the reactors has been kept largely secret from the media and the public.

TEPCO said data will be made available on its homepage as soon as it is compiled, and data from third party organizations will also soon be posted as well.

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27 Comments
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Can you feel the warmth of the safety blanket wrapping itself around you? Nice. What's the date again?

1 ( +4 / -3 )

"all" data "public"

There, fixed it.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

And we should believe them why??????

7 ( +7 / -0 )

"any information regarding the data and or the actual situation at the reactors has been kept largely secret "

http://hisz.rsoe.hu/alertmap/index2.php http://enenews.com/category/location/japan http://netc.com/

2 ( +2 / -0 )

There is a good reason it has been kept a secret. The large amounts of radioactive water flowing into the Pacific are far from safe. Many international groups have been monitoring the radiation levels and projecting its spread across the Pacific. Now, we get to see how much 'truth' there is in TEPCO's version of the radioactive water leakage.

1 ( +4 / -3 )

It's the least they can do after making all the radiation itself public.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

Releasing all data is not necessarily a good thing if it is simply raw date. What is also necessary is TEPCO's own analyses, whether complete or not, on what mitigation and management measures the company or its advisors and contractors have taken, including if they failed,especially if they failed, so that future steps make use of that failure to find solutions to this problem.

I am afraid that TEPCO may not be responsible enough to do this sort of transparency. Its track record to date does not portend well.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

I can easily sum up their data: "We don't know what's going on. We have, with an independent panel, though, figured out we want more money."

In any case, they're not seriously going to release anything that can harm them, and certainly not a fraction of what they've released into the ocean. And why only the number 1 reactor? Why not all information about ALL the reactors?

4 ( +7 / -3 )

Data will be doctored before the public gets to see it

7 ( +8 / -1 )

TEPCO only knows how to lie... Even if the government finds out the damage is much more serious than previously thought, lets not forget the new "secrecy law"... they're not going to make it public...

5 ( +5 / -0 )

ok, that's all good that they are willing to show the "public" books but what about the real books. Remember the GOJ also is in bed with Tepco that before anyone could file the first lawsuit the maximum allowable limits of exposure were raised in such a way that the figures Tepco is willing to show is below the new threshholds

4 ( +4 / -0 )

TEPCO officials told a news conference in Tokyo on Monday that all the related data and measurements currently being collated will be made public for the first time since the earthquake and tsunami hit in March 2011, Fuji TV reported.

The news here is not that TEPCO will finally release the data going forward, after over four years. The news is that the J-government and the supposed "journalists" in Japan have allowed them to keep it secret for so long. In a truly functioning democracy, where government officials/bureaucrats work for the benefit of the people who pay their salaries, and not Japan Inc., this would have never occurred. Likewise, a truly functioning fourth estate would never have permitted this kind of secrecy to exist at the potential damage it could do to the people and the environment. What's more, there is no mention that they will release the data from the past four years -- again, something the government and the press should demand. Because doing so would certainly prove that they have been lying all along in their statements about the levels released, as well as subjct folks like Abe, who stood up and told the IOC that Fukushima was "under control" to ridicule, or worse. Scary that even a disaster of this magnitute could not made Japan change -- which is exactly why I left.

0 ( +5 / -5 )

... and this is why every Japanese office has at least 2 shredders, just in case they're ordered to disclose data to the public.

-4 ( +4 / -8 )

And what independent third party is going to be put in charge of collecting and disseminating the data?

4 ( +4 / -0 )

TEPCO, who will trust data it has taken you 4 years and 100th of meeting and lawyers to make them sexy for sharing?

Just keep your ugly secrets! Better!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

And what will the public make of all this data? Nothing. They'll just let ENEnews tell them what to think.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Why would Tepco make all data public? When neither them or the political spectrum bidding their deeds could be held accountable. Right Star-viking, NHK always sells it.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

It is the same thing that both TEPCO and the gov't have been saying all along. There is no reason to believe this ongoing media campaign.

The truth of the matter is that if the company and the government are held fully liable, forced to pay realistic compensation, apply appropriate effort and expense to make real progress in the clean-up, and dismantle the rest of the country's atomic energy infrastructure as they should, it would collapse the country.

Due to the cross-border nature and dependencies of already fragile financial systems it would trigger a global financial collapse. An economic tsunami and meltdown we might say.

That is why everyone is either compelled by self-interest or forced by intimidation to play along with this sham. This complicity is not isolated to Japan. It pervades business, governments, and international organizations around the world. Those that 'blow the whistle' on the problem are suppressed and dismissed as alarmists. Looking around the world at awareness-levels of the problem, we can see that this loosely concerted media suppression and obfuscation campaign has been for most part successful.

The real problem stems from allowing TEPCO and the government to continue in their present form, and without true liability. The only solution is to wrest control over the crisis by legal means, either domestic, meaning the Japanese courts rule against TEPCO and the gov't, very improbable to say the least, or an unprecedented action initiated by a foreign entity, forcing the Jpns to accept intervention by other parties, tantamount to being occupied once again. Highly improbable except with the use of force.

The type of action that is required would surely amount to one of the largest public works projects in history, employing either Japan's military supported by the country's vast industrial complex, or better, an international effort. More probable, and with little doubt TEPCO's and the gov't"s keenest desire: no one will be held liable, the responsible parties slip past, and with time the public interest and opinion go on the wane. Lack of timely action will allow the crisis to go on beyond control, for most part as it is now, unabated.

The long-term result? First the people of Japan incrementally fall ill. Next the world, progressively poisoned by radioactive contamination of the sea, air, and in turn food sources, will also succumb one way or another to the multitude of illnesses associated with exposure. The realization of global consequences being arrived at far too late, and with too few tools to address the complex matters at the global scale, illness will become the norm. It will be Japan's legacy.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

I don't know about you all, but I totally trust TEPCO here.

Totally.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Star-viking: And what will the public make of all this data? Nothing. They'll just let ENEnews tell them what to think.

Why the hate for ENENews? They're just aggregating articles and presentations on the topic from around the web.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

It's a huge disaster, and we'll never know all the facts. Anyway, it's not like the Pacific never got any radiations. Some people speak like if it was radiations-free before this accident. Read this, for example:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_Proving_Grounds

We'll never know the real consequences about all this nuclear crap around the world.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Turbotsat, the problem that I, and many others with a science background, have with ENENews is that they twist the science. I don't think there is one ENENews report with a straight summary of the science for the reader. Here's some posts by Jay Cullen, a Canadian marine chemist, on ENENews's twisting:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/01/10/1268742/-Misinformation-on-Fukushima-Energy-News-Misleads-its-Readers

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/02/05/1362607/-Misinformation-on-Fukushima-Impacts-Energy-News-Still-Undisputed-Champion

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

They're just aggregating articles and presentations on the topic from around the web.

No they cherry-pick inflamatory fear-mongering articles and ignore actual science. Yellow journalism at its finest.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Wow, thumbs down for referring to a science blog by a marine scientist...

Sometimes JT plumbs the depths!

0 ( +1 / -1 )

If it took them this long, I doubt that the data that they intend to release will be painting the full picture, let alone be reliable. How can one trust an unreliable source, let alone an unreliable nuclear operator, to release reliable information?

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Magnet,

Data on its own does not paint the whole picture, that requires observation. More data, especially insignificant data, will not make things clear.

There is one dataset which does give a good indication of the whole picture: no significant increases in radionuclides immediately off the coast from the plant.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

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