Philosophy
A Japanese journalist who worked at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant this summer claimed Thursday that Japan's yakuza crime syndicates were involved in supplying clean-up crews.
"Roughly ten percent of plant workers there were brought in through the mediation of the yakuza," said Tomohiko Suzuki, 45, who has written a book based on his experience at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.
"The yakuza are very much involved in this industry but they are not involved as people working on site," Suzuki told reporters. "They are in charge of collecting people, finding people and dispatching workers to the site."
Suzuki says yakuza groups have long sent debtors to nuclear power plants as workers as a way of paying off loans made at sky-high rates, adding the practice "will continue to occur".
Like the Italian mafia or Chinese triads, the yakuza has engaged in activities from gambling, drugs and prostitution to loan sharking, protection rackets, white-collar crime and business conducted through front companies.
The gangs, which are not illegal, have historically been tolerated by the authorities, although there are periodic clampdowns on some of their less savoury activities.
In the wake of the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami on March 11, reactors at the Fukushima plant were sent into meltdown, resulting in the release of a large amount of radioactive materials.
Workers, who have routinely been exposed to high levels of radiation, have battled since to bring the reactors under control, with periodic reports of lax safety standards and a lack of care for contracted employees from site operator Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO).
The government is expected to announce on Friday that the plant has been brought to a stable state of "cold shutdown", with low pressure and stable temperatures.
But Suzuki claimed the plant is still "in a state of crisis".
"(TEPCO) was pushing for sloppy construction as it has been in a hurry to achieve cold shutdown as quickly as possible," it said.
Suzuki, a freelance journalist who has covered the yakuza for several years, was hired through a sub-contractor to reactor-maker Toshiba and assigned a job related to reprocessing contaminated water in July and August.
A spokeswoman for TEPCO denied there had been any yakuza involvement in efforts to clean up the plant.
"We are taking action under the law against crime syndicates, and we understand that our contractors are properly hiring employees," she told AFP.
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Philosophy
Yakuza at Fukushima
"Mob involved in Fukushima clean-up: Japan reporter"
December 15th, 2011
TERRADAILY
December 15th, 2011
TERRADAILY
A Japanese journalist who worked at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant this summer claimed Thursday that Japan's yakuza crime syndicates were involved in supplying clean-up crews.
"Roughly ten percent of plant workers there were brought in through the mediation of the yakuza," said Tomohiko Suzuki, 45, who has written a book based on his experience at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.
"The yakuza are very much involved in this industry but they are not involved as people working on site," Suzuki told reporters. "They are in charge of collecting people, finding people and dispatching workers to the site."
Suzuki says yakuza groups have long sent debtors to nuclear power plants as workers as a way of paying off loans made at sky-high rates, adding the practice "will continue to occur".
Like the Italian mafia or Chinese triads, the yakuza has engaged in activities from gambling, drugs and prostitution to loan sharking, protection rackets, white-collar crime and business conducted through front companies.
The gangs, which are not illegal, have historically been tolerated by the authorities, although there are periodic clampdowns on some of their less savoury activities.
In the wake of the 9.0 magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami on March 11, reactors at the Fukushima plant were sent into meltdown, resulting in the release of a large amount of radioactive materials.
Workers, who have routinely been exposed to high levels of radiation, have battled since to bring the reactors under control, with periodic reports of lax safety standards and a lack of care for contracted employees from site operator Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO).
The government is expected to announce on Friday that the plant has been brought to a stable state of "cold shutdown", with low pressure and stable temperatures.
But Suzuki claimed the plant is still "in a state of crisis".
"(TEPCO) was pushing for sloppy construction as it has been in a hurry to achieve cold shutdown as quickly as possible," it said.
Suzuki, a freelance journalist who has covered the yakuza for several years, was hired through a sub-contractor to reactor-maker Toshiba and assigned a job related to reprocessing contaminated water in July and August.
A spokeswoman for TEPCO denied there had been any yakuza involvement in efforts to clean up the plant.
"We are taking action under the law against crime syndicates, and we understand that our contractors are properly hiring employees," she told AFP.
- Fukushima's Hermit...naoto Matsumura
"The hermit of Fukushima 'staying put' despite risks" December 14th, 2011 TERRADAILY Naoto Matsumura is tired of being accused of madness for refusing to leave his farm in the shadow of Japan's still-leaking Fukushima nuclear plant. "I'm...
- John A. Byrnes, Richard C. Legg, And Richard Leroy Mckinley...1961 Nuclear Accident At Idaho Falls, Idaho
An unfortunate accident or a domestic issue? In 1961, three men were killed in the first fatal nuclear accident in the U.S. when an experimental reactor exploded. The Stationary Low-Power Plant No.1 (SL-1), was part of the National Reactor Testing Station...
- Germany To Dump Nuclear Power Sources
"Germany: Nuclear power plants to close by 2022" May 30th, 2011 BBC NEWS Germany's coalition government has announced a reversal of policy that will see all the country's nuclear power plants phased out by 2022. The decision makes Germany the...
- Danger At Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant
"Japan nuclear plant in state of emergency, as cooling power runs low" A nuclear plant in Japan is said to declare a state of emergency, as backup power used to cool three reactors runs low. Help is on the way. 'It's a dicey situation,' says...
- Nuclear Projects...now Reality Is Setting In
Economics, not fretting about nuclear waste will kill the projects. "Nuclear projects face financial obstacles" by Steven Mufson March 2nd, 2010 Washington Post Hopes for a nuclear revival, fanned by fears of global warming and a changing political...