2012年5月4日金曜日

To Yoshihiko Noda, Prime Minister of Japan "An Urgent Request on UN Intervention on Stabilization of the Fukushima Unit 4 Spent Nuclear Fuel"


To:  Yoshihiko Noda, Prime Minister of Japan
An Urgent Request on UN Intervention on Stabilization of the Fukushima Unit 4 Spent Nuclear Fuel
Recently, former diplomats and experts both in Japan and abroad stressed the extremely risky condition of the Fukushima Daiichi Unit 4 spent nuclear fuel pool and this is being widely reported by world media. Robert Alvarez, Senior Scholar at the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), who is one of the best-known experts on spent nuclear fuel, stated that in Unit 4 there is spent nuclear fuel which contains Cesium-137 (Cs-137) that is equivalent to 10 times the amount that was released at the time of the Chernobyl nuclear accident. Thus, if an earthquake or other event were to cause this pool to drain, this could result in a catastrophic radiological fire involving nearly 10 times the amount of Cs-137 released by the Chernobyl accident. 
Nearly all of the 10,893 spent fuel assemblies at the Fukushima Daiichi plant sit in pools vulnerable to future earthquakes, with roughly 85 times more long-lived radioactivity than released at Chernobyl.
Nuclear experts from the US and Japan such as Arnie Gundersen, Robert Alvarez, Hiroaki Koide, Masashi Goto, and Mitsuhei Murata, a former Japanese ambassador to Switzerland, and, Akio Matsumura, a former UN diplomat, have continually warned against the high risk of the Fukushima Unit 4 spent nuclear fuel pool.
Mr. Ron Wyden, US Senator after his visit to Fukushima Daiichi on 6 April, 2012, made an urgent press release on 16 April, pointing out the catastrophic risk of the Fukushima Daiichi unit 4, calling for an urgent US government intervention. Mr. Wyden also sent a letter to Mr. Fujisaki, Japan’s Ambassador to US, requesting Japan to accept international assistance to tackle the crisis. 
We civil organizations express our deepest concerns that our government does not inform its citizens about the extent of risk from the Fukushima Daiichi unit 4 spent fuel. Given the fact that explosion of the Fukushima Daiichi unit 4 spent fuel could potentially lead to worldwide catastrophic consequences, what the Japanese government should be doing as a responsible member of international society is to avoid any further disaster by mobilizing all the wisdom and the means available.  It is more than clear that the Fukushima Daiichi is no longer a Japanese issue but is an international issue, posing a major threat to the survival of the whole planet and of our civilization.  Therefore, it is imperative for the Japanese government and the international community to work together on this crisis before it becomes too late. We are appealing to the United Nations to help out Japan and the planet to prevent the irreversible consequences of a catastrophe that would affect generations to come.  We would herewith make our urgent request to you as follows:

1.     Request the United Nations to organize a Nuclear Security Summit to take up the crucial problem of the unit 4 spent nuclear fuel pool.
2.     Request the United Nations to establish an independent assessment team on the Fukushima Daiichi Unit 4 and to coordinate international assistance in order to stabilize the Fukushima Daiichi 4 spent nuclear fuel pool in order to prevent worldwide nuclear catastrophic consequences.

30 April 2012
Shut Tomari (Japan)
   1-2, 6-4 Higashisapporo, Shiroishi-ku, Sapporo 003-0006 Japan
   TEL: +81-90-26951937  FAX:+81-11-826-3796  email: kaori-izumi@ta3.so-net.ne.jp

Green Action (Japan)
   Suite 103, 22-75 Tanaka Sekiden-cho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8203 Japan
   Tel: +81-75-701-7223  Fax: +81-75-702-1952  email: info@greenaction-japan.org

Endorsed by:
Hiroaki Koide                 Kyoto University Nuclear Reactor Research Institute (Japan)
Mitsuhei Murata         Former ambassador to Switzerland and to Senegal
                                             Board member, Global System and Ethics Society (Japan)
Akio Matsumura          Former United Nations diplomat
Robert Alvarez              Senior Scholar, Institute for Policy Studies, Washington, D.C.  (USA)

Masashi Goto                Former Nuclear Plant Engineer (Japan)




Signing organizations: 72 Japanese organizations have signed this petition (as of 30 April 2012)
1.         Shut Tomari, Hokkaido
2.        Green Action, Kyoto
3.        Citizen’s Nuclear Information Center, Tokyo
4.        Osaka Group against MihamaOoiTakahama Nuclear Power, Osaka
5.        Aging Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Group, Tokyo
6.        Stop Hamaoka Nuclear Power Plant!, Shizuoka
7.        Espace des Femmes, Hokkaido   
8.        “Let’s learn Pluthermal” Shiribeshi Citizen's Network, Hokkaido
9.        Hairo Action Fukushima, Fukushima and Evacuation Areas in Japan 
10.     STOP MOX! Fukushima, Fukusima
11.     Fukushima Moonlight, Fukuoka
12.     Yawatahama Women's Group to Protect Children from Nuclear Power Plant, Ehime
13.     Ikata People Against Mox, Ehime
14.     We Do Not Want Plutonium! , Tokyo
15.     Genkai Nuclear Power Pluthermal Trial Support Group, Fukuoka
16.     Genkai Nuclear Power Pluthermal Trial support Group, Fukuona
17.     Pluthermal and 100 Years of Saga Prefecture Group, Saga
18.     No Nuclear Plants! Yamaguchi Network, Yamaguchi
19.     Food Policy CenterVision21
20.     Genpatsu Yamenkai, Fukuoka

21.     Japan Environmental Law Lawyers Association JELF
22.     Nonviolent Direct Action Network (HANET)
23.     Anti-Nuclear-Power and Nuclear Fuels Reprocessing Protest Advertising Group, Tokyo
24.     Kochi Green Citizen’s Network, Kochi
25.     Kaku-no-Gomi Campaign, Chubu, Nagoya, Aichi
26.     Aloha from Hawaii
27.     Tohoku Asia Information Center, Hiroshima
28.     No-Nukes Citizen’s Network, Tokushima
29.     No-nukes Net Kushiro, Hokkaido
30.     Fukushima Meeting for Environment, Human Rights and Peace, Fukushima
31.     FoE (Friends of the Earth Japan), Tokyo   
32.     Citizen’s Group on Nuclear Waste, Horonobe, Hokkaido
33.     Team From Now On, Hokkaido   
34.     No Nukes! Protect Children from Radioactivity 
35.     Concerned Citizens for Children's Human Rights, Ehime
36.     Protect the Sea of Sanriku from Radioactivity, Iwate
37.     Iwate Organic Farming Study Group, Iwate
38.     Dandelion House, Tokyo
39.     Decommission All Nuclear Power! Women’s Group for Protection of Kariwa Village, Niigata
40.     Sapporo Shoku Machi Network, Hokkaido
41.     Citizens Wind for Peace, Tokyo
42.     Together with the Earth NPO, Osaka
43.     Kawauchi Tsuyukusa Group, Kagoshima
44.     Group against Construction of Kawaunchi Nuclear Plant, Kagoshima
45.     Hassei Group against Ikata Nuclear Plant, Ehime
46.     For Citizen’s Autonomy, Hokkaido
47.     No-Nukes Women GroupHokkaido, Hokkaido
48.     Hokkaido Peace Net, Hokkaido
49.     Future for Fukushima Children, Hokkaido
50.     Good Bye Kashiwazaki Kariwa Nuclear Power Project, Niigata
51.     Weaving A Better Future Mothers’ Group
52.     Group Aozora MeeMee
53.     Mothers and Fathers’No-Nukes Declaration 2011
54.     Southern Osaka Network for Protection from Radioactivity, Osaka
55.     Kansai Network on Protection of Children from Radioactivity, Kansai
56.     Journey To the Future
57.     Morinokoya
58.     Kaburaya
59.     Nishiyashiki
60.     Dandelion Fortress, Fukuoka
61.     Dohatsuten Wo Tsuku Kai, Fukuoka
62.     Global Ethics Association
63.     Buppouzan Zenngennji
64.     STOP Nuclear Plants BEFORE Huge Quake Strikes
65.     Lee Group to Prevent Earthquake Disaster and Nuclear Accident
66.     Rokkasho Village Home of Flowers and Herbs, Aomori
67.     Anti-TEPCO-Nuclear-Power Consumers Group, Tokyo
68.     Miyazu Mitsubati Project, Kyoto
69.     Citizen’s Plaza, Minoh , Osaka
70.     Monoh Citizen’s Group on Good Bye Nuclear Power, Osaka
71.     Campaign Fukuoka against Nuclear and Uranium Weapons, Fukuoka
72.     Seeking for Japan-US Security Treaty Termination Notice, Tokyo

Reference 
1.         http://bousai.tenki.jp/bousai/earthquake/seismicity_map/?area_type=japan_detail&recent_type=100days
7.         http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-alvarez/the-fukushima-nuclear-dis_b_1444146.html
11.      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bq81boQL_Y
12.      http://akiomatsumura.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Letter-to-Prime-Minister-Noda-by-Amb-Murata.pdf