ScribbleLive

@MaryW LOL. So that is what we saw the other day. :-)
Yes, it is basically a crude reactor cooling system run all over the place. It is all still very high risk. All of it prone to elements, disasters etc.

Coast guards to protect Japanese whaling ships in Antarctic Ocean

TOKYO, Dec. 5, Kyodo

Coast guards will man Japanese vessels conducting ''research'' whaling in the Antarctic Ocean this winter in response to increasingly violent obstruction of their recent activities by environmental groups, the Japan Coast Guard said Monday.

''We have decided to beef up security as never before,'' said a coast guard official, while he refrained from giving specifics such as how many guards will board the vessels and what kind of equipment they will carry with them.

In the past, coast guards boarded Japanese whaling vessels in fiscal 2007 and 2010.

Japan has been hunting whales since 1987 for what it calls scientific research purposes. Environmentalists condemn the activity as a cover for commercial whaling.

==Kyodo english.kyodonews.jp

the basic japanese problem is that the gov has no cohones, they just bow all the time to yakuza and industry. they are only stupid penguins.

CORRECTED: German envoy sees energy saving as successful strategy

YAMAGATA, Japan, Nov. 28, Kyodo

German Ambassador to Japan Volker Stanzel said Monday he thinks Germany's experience with energy serving has been highly encouraging.

''Given the situation of the energy sector in Germany, the most efficient way to proceed has proved to be energy saving,'' the German envoy told reporters in Kaminoyama, Yamagata Prefecture.

Germany became the first major economy to decide to abandon nuclear power in the wake of the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant, choosing to halt all of its nuclear reactors by the end of 2022.

Stanzel said leaving the German nuclear reactors in operation would ''entail risks.'' Pursuing both economic growth and abandoning nuclear power would provide ''an incentive to promote cutting-edge technology,'' he said.

At the same time, however, the ambassador told Kyodo News separately, ''With regard to Japan's nuclear policy, only Japan itself can decide on its energy strategy.''

Stanzel also told reporters in Kaminoyama that although many Germans left Japan in the aftermath of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, and the subsequent nuclear crisis, he would like Germans to visit Japan now that safety concerns have been addressed.

==Kyodo english.kyodonews.jp

@Pedro Jesus who decided to abandon nuke power ? the japanese ? no.

i am very happy with the decisions kan made. the stress tests, the hamaoka shutdown, the "green bill", the monju questioning. but noda hasn't made any additional effort on this. i am not very optimistic about the japanese politicians. they are slaves of the lobbies and they live well like this. it will take them generations to make a change.

Animal welfare groups to enter no-go zone in Fukushima

FUKUSHIMA, Japan, Dec. 5, Kyodo

The Environment Ministry said Monday it will allow animal protection groups to enter a no-go zone near the Fukushima Daiichi power complex to rescue pets left behind there for the first time since the nuclear crisis erupted in March.

The ministry will start accepting applications Tuesday for entry into the 20-kilometer zone around the radiation-leaking plant, crippled by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. Entry will be allowed until Dec. 27.

A total of 658 cats and dogs had been rescued as of Nov. 13 since the government established the evacuation zoning in April but hundreds of pets still remain in the area, the ministry said.

The ministry's guidelines drawn up for the latest move require private animal protection groups to rescue pets at the request of their owners as well as submit protection plans and secure shelters.

Animal protection groups have repeatedly asked the ministry and Fukushima prefectural government to allow them to enter the 20-km zone, where many pets have starved to death or are living in the wild under the deteriorating conditions.

==Kyodo english.kyodonews.jp

alternatively they could establish a hunting resort around the plants. :)

for chinese tourists. :) :) :) (caution: double sense)

@Pedro Jesus i think the monju thing is the central question. if japan gives up their nuke weapon option, there maybe a chance to abandon nuke power.