Japanese experts: 30 years to close crippled TEPCO nuclear plant, AP reports

TOKYO (TR) – An expert panel set up by Japan’s Atomic Energy Commission said it will take 30 years to safely decommission the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, the Associated Press reported.

The commission made the remarks in a draft report over the weekend. The full report will be completed by the end of the year, the news agency said. Read more

Japanese government intervenes in FOREX after yen strengthens further against U.S. dollar: Reuters

TOKYO (TR) – The Japanese government moved to weaken the yen Monday after the dollar hit a record low of 75.31 yen, Reuters news reported.

The currency weakened nearly 4 percent early in the day from around 75.65 yen to above 79 yen after the intervention at 10:25 a.m. local time, according to Reuters. Read more

Japan to store radioactive soil at temporary facilities in Fukushima, Kyodo says

TOKYO (TR) – The Japanese government plans to store radioactive soil contaminated by last March’s nuclear power plant disaster in a temporary facility in Fukushima prefecture, Kyodo News said Sunday.

The government said it hopes to have the facility up and running within three years, Kyodo reported.
The 3 to 5 square kilometer site is expected to have a storage capacity of 15 million to 28 million cubic meters. Read more

Study says contamination from damaged TEPCO nuclear plant 20 times earlier estimate, NHK says

TOKYO (TR) – The amount of radioactive cesium released after the March 11 nuclear disaster in Fukushima Prefecture is 20 times higher than reported by the plant’s operator, French scientists said, according to Japan’s NHK news service.

The French government’s nuclear research institute, IRSN, said its calculations show 27.1 thousand terabecquerels of radioactive cesium 137 leaked from the crippled Tokyo Electric Power Daiichi power plant by the middle of July. That number is about 20 times the estimate by the plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, NHK said. Read more

Arrest made in death of teenage girl in Osaka love hotel

OSAKA (TR) – Osaka prefectural police yesterday arrested a 32-year-old man in the killing of a second-year high school girl inside love hotel earlier this week, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Oct. 28). Read more

Another deal by Japanese camera maker Olympus faces questions, says Wall Street Journal

TOKYO (TR) – Another questionable deal has come to light just days after the chairman of embattled Japanese camera maker Olympus stepped down, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The latest controversy involved the purchase of a U.S.-based orthopedic business in which Olympus gave a $23 million loan to U.S.-based merchant bank Viscogliosi Brothers — an adviser on the deal — which it later wrote off, according to the WSJ. On Thursday, the new president of Olympus, Shuichi Takayama, defended the deals made by the company, including a payment of $687 million for financial advice on a $2 billion purchase of U.K. based medical-technology company Gyrus Group LLC. Adviser fees are normally 1 to 2 percent of any deal. Read more

New study: TEPCO plant at Fukushima released double radiation of earlier estimate, AP says

TOKYO (TR) – The Japanese authorities underestimated the amount of radioactive material released by last March’s Fukushima nuclear disaster by nearly half, the Associated Press reported, citing a new study.

The study by the Norwegian Institute for Air Research estimated the accident involving the plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Company released 36,000 terabecquerels of cesium-137 into the atmosphere by April 20. An earlier study by the Japanese government estimated just 15,000 terabecquerels of cesium was released during the same period, the AP said. Read more

Printers in Hyogo break off relations with gangsters, refuse to print business cards

KOBE (TR) – A printers union in Hyogo Prefecture said at a meeting on Wednesday that its members will refuse to fill orders placed by gangsters, reports the Nikkei Shimbun (Oct. 26). Read more

Yamaguchi-gumi offices raided over 2006 Aoyama killing, one gangster arrested

TOKYO (TR) – Police raided the offices of the Yamaguchi-gumi criminal syndicate on Monday and arrested one member over the stabbing death of a consultant in Tokyo in 2006, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Oct. 24). Read more

Tokyo hostess club busted for employing high school girls

TOKYO (TR) – The manager and another employee at a Tokyo hostess club were among those arrested for employing minors, reports the Sankei Shimbun (Oct. 25). Read more

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