http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/20130105_05.html
http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2013/01/radioactive-post-fukushima-japan-why.html
According to Hokkaido Shinbun, this is what a city bureaucrat said to a 27-year-old man who went to the counter at the City Hall to ask about public assistance after he lost his job and couldn't find a job for a year, being late on rent, subsisting on one piece of bread per day.
Public servants whose salary derives from taxpayers' money and/or money borrowed on the backs of taxpayers (municipal bonds for general expenses) told this young man that the assistance was not meant for people like him, and that he should go to Fukushima I Nuke Plant so that he didn't need to receive public money.
From Hokkaido Shinbun (1/3/2013; part) as copied by this blog:
Ostensible reasons given are:
No solution to tainted water at Fukushima plant
Nearly 2 years have passed since a massive earthquake and tsunami damaged the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
But since then, no drastic solution has yet been found to manage the plant's growing amounts of contaminated water.
Each day about 400 tons of underground water has been flowing into reactor buildings since a nuclear accident triggered by the disaster on March 11th, 2011. The water becomes contaminated with radioactive materials.
The tainted water needs to be safely managed after being rid of radioactive substances.
But the volume of the water is continuing to rise, increasing radiation levels at the plant. If it leaks outside, it could contaminate the environment.
The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, initially aimed to start operating a new water treatment facility last September.
It's designed to remove 62 kinds of radioactive elements from the contaminated water, including radioactive strontium, which could not have been removed before.
The facility has been already completed, but TEPCO is significantly delaying the start of its operation.
That's because containers to store radioactive waste from the facility were found to be of insufficient strength. The government is requiring Tokyo Electric to conduct additional tests and to strengthen the containers.
TEPCO says it wants the facility to begin operating as early as possible this year. But no clear date has yet been set.
The company plans to pump underground water to prevent it from flowing into reactor buildings. It will also install steel walls underground to block contaminated water from leaking into the sea.
TEPCO is also facing a series of problems with a currently operating treatment facility.
Glitches have frequently forced the utility to halt the facility. TEPCO also discovered contaminated water leaking from the facility.
But since then, no drastic solution has yet been found to manage the plant's growing amounts of contaminated water.
Each day about 400 tons of underground water has been flowing into reactor buildings since a nuclear accident triggered by the disaster on March 11th, 2011. The water becomes contaminated with radioactive materials.
The tainted water needs to be safely managed after being rid of radioactive substances.
But the volume of the water is continuing to rise, increasing radiation levels at the plant. If it leaks outside, it could contaminate the environment.
The plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Company, initially aimed to start operating a new water treatment facility last September.
It's designed to remove 62 kinds of radioactive elements from the contaminated water, including radioactive strontium, which could not have been removed before.
The facility has been already completed, but TEPCO is significantly delaying the start of its operation.
That's because containers to store radioactive waste from the facility were found to be of insufficient strength. The government is requiring Tokyo Electric to conduct additional tests and to strengthen the containers.
TEPCO says it wants the facility to begin operating as early as possible this year. But no clear date has yet been set.
The company plans to pump underground water to prevent it from flowing into reactor buildings. It will also install steel walls underground to block contaminated water from leaking into the sea.
TEPCO is also facing a series of problems with a currently operating treatment facility.
Glitches have frequently forced the utility to halt the facility. TEPCO also discovered contaminated water leaking from the facility.
http://ex-skf.blogspot.com/2013/01/radioactive-post-fukushima-japan-why.html
FRIDAY, JANUARY 4, 2013
#Radioactive Post-#Fukushima Japan: "Why Don't You Go to Fukushima I Nuke Plant? Lots of Jobs There...", Says City Official In Charge of Public Assistance for the Poor in Hokkaido
According to Hokkaido Shinbun, this is what a city bureaucrat said to a 27-year-old man who went to the counter at the City Hall to ask about public assistance after he lost his job and couldn't find a job for a year, being late on rent, subsisting on one piece of bread per day.
Public servants whose salary derives from taxpayers' money and/or money borrowed on the backs of taxpayers (municipal bonds for general expenses) told this young man that the assistance was not meant for people like him, and that he should go to Fukushima I Nuke Plant so that he didn't need to receive public money.
From Hokkaido Shinbun (1/3/2013; part) as copied by this blog:
あのころ…昨年４月。男性の財布に現金はほとんどなかった。建設会社の期間雇用作業員だったが、２０１１年春に雇い止めに。地元企業数十社に履歴書を送り、３社の面接は受けたが、採用してもらえなかった。But at the public assistance counter, an official, total stranger, shouted at him.
Back then, in April last year. There was hardly any cash in the man's wallet. He used to be a seasonal worker at a construction company, but the company didn't hire him in the spring of 2011. He sent his resumes to dozens of local companies. He landed on three job interviews but he was not hired.
蓄えは底をつき、食事は一日菓子パン一個。一年で１０ｋｇやせた。アパートの家賃も払えず、家主は退去を求めてきた。行き倒れも覚悟したある日、気が付くと市役所に向かって歩いていた。最後の助けを求めるために。
His savings were depleted, and his meal consisted of one piece of bread per day. He lost 10 kilograms in one year. He couldn't pay the rent for his apartment, and the landlord wanted to evict him. He thought he would die on the street. Without realizing it, he was walking toward the City Hall. The last resort.
だが、生活保護の窓口で、見ず知らずの職員に怒鳴られた。
「あんたのような若い人が来るところじゃない」
"This is not for young people like you."
頼れる親族も友人もない。仕方なく翌日、再び窓口に行った。今度は別の職員が言った。
He did not have friends or relatives he could rely on. With no other help available, he went back to the counter again the next day. A different official said to him,
「福島に行けば、原発作業員の仕事があるでしょ。生活保護が無くても生きていける」
"Why don't you go to Fukushima? There are lots of jobs as nuclear plant worker. You can make a living without public assistance."
途方に暮れた男性は生活困窮者支援団体に相談し、保護申請手続きを手伝ってもらい、５月になんとか受理された。
Totally at a loss, the man asked a support group for the poor for help in filling out the application for public assistance. The application was finally accepted in May.
初支給の際、職員が紙とボールペンを出してきた。紙には鉛筆でうっすらと文字がみえる。「なぞれ」という意味だった。
On the day of the first payment of assistance money, the official at the counter gave him a pen and a piece of paper. On the paper, he could see the words written in with a pencil. The official was silently telling him to trace the words.
―――生活保護を受けさせていただき、ありがとうございました。一日も早く保護から抜け出します―――- I thank you very much for kindly allowing me to receive public assistance. I will do my best to stop receiving the assistance as soon as possible. -
悔しかった。
He felt humiliated.
男性は今、日雇い作業の傍らハローワークに通い、正社員の就職先を探す。
He is looking for full-time employment at a public job agency, while he works as a day laborer.
In Japan, the public assistance involves a monthly monetary payment, paid medical, and rent subsidy.
The number of public assistance recipients peaked in 1951, and was declining steadily until mid 1990s. Since then, the number has been on the increase, and there are 2 million people (5% of population) receiving the assistance, costing 3 trillion yen per year.
The number of public assistance recipients peaked in 1951, and was declining steadily until mid 1990s. Since then, the number has been on the increase, and there are 2 million people (5% of population) receiving the assistance, costing 3 trillion yen per year.
but consider cost of politicians and who screams at them to do productive work ?
FRIDAY, JANUARY 4, 2013
#Radioactive Japan Under LDP: Government Set to Force Veteran Nuclear Engineers to Retire
Ostensible reasons given are:
- To save money;
- To appear in the eyes of Japanese citizens that the national government is serious in eliminating the waste in bureaucracy.
So, the expertise in dealing with matters nuclear is considered "waste" in the post-Fukushima Japan.
And how much money this administration says it could save by forcing these engineers to retire? There are 170 of them, with the average annual salary of 13 million yen (US$149,000) according to Sankei Shinbun article linked below (on page 2 which is not quoted).
Let's see, politicians elected to the National Diet receive 22 million yen per year. They also receive generous benefits like:
And how much money this administration says it could save by forcing these engineers to retire? There are 170 of them, with the average annual salary of 13 million yen (US$149,000) according to Sankei Shinbun article linked below (on page 2 which is not quoted).
Let's see, politicians elected to the National Diet receive 22 million yen per year. They also receive generous benefits like:
- 12 million yen for transportation, communication;
- 27 million yen for hiring 3 secretaries (excluding their benefits)
- 7.8 million yen for maintaining the office
Many politicians say that's pittance, that without this kind of money people without resources cannot run for public office.
Personally, I'd rather have aging nuclear engineers than clueless politicians.
Anyway, here's from Sankei Shinbun (1/4/2013; part):
Personally, I'd rather have aging nuclear engineers than clueless politicians.
Anyway, here's from Sankei Shinbun (1/4/2013; part):
独立行政法人「原子力安全基盤機構」（ＪＮＥＳ）が原子力規制庁に統合される際に、政府が同機構職員の３割以上を占める６０歳以上の技術者約１７０人に一斉に退職を求めることが３日、政府関係者への取材で分かった。統合でＪＮＥＳの技術者の身分は国家公務員になるが、現在の国家公務員制度では大勢の高齢技術者を雇う仕組みがないためだ。新たな法的措置がなければ、専門知識や技術の喪失につながり、原発の廃炉や審査などに支障が出かねない。[Sankei Shinbun] talked to the government sources on January 3 and found out that the national government is set to demand about 170 nuclear engineers to retire all at once from the Japan Nuclear Energy Safety Organization (JNES), an independent administrative corporation, when JNES gets absorbed into the Nuclear Regulatory Agency. Under the Nuclear Regulatory Agency, these engineers would have to be treated as national public servant. However, under the current Government Officials Act, there is no system to hire a large number of older [above 60] engineers. Without a new legal action, it could lead to the loss of knowledge and expertise, which in turn could interfere with decommissioning and assessment of nuclear power plants.
昨年９月に発足した原子力規制委員会の事務を担う規制庁には、原発の現場を担う人材が少なく、専門技術を持つＪＮＥＳと統合することになっている。規制庁発足時から合流する計画だったが、国家公務員を減らす政府方針と逆行するとして統合が遅れていた。
The Nuclear Regulatory Agency, created in September last year to act as the secretariat to the Nuclear Regulatory Authority, lacks staff with the firsthand knowledge of nuclear power plants, and is scheduled to be combined with JNES which has staff with such knowledge. That should have happened when the Nuclear Regulatory Agency was set up, but it has been delayed as it supposedly runs counter to the government policy of reducing the number of national public servants.
統合の議論は今年から本格化する。原子力関連の独立行政法人の統合を検討してきた内閣官房原子力規制組織等改革推進室は「６０歳以上のＪＮＥＳ職員は、原発建設の最盛期を経験している貴重な戦力」との認識だが、政府関係者は「公務員の定員削減が進む中、徹底した合理化を図らなければ国民の理解は得られない」とし、６０歳以上の職員の一斉退職を要請するという。
The discussion will begin in earnest this year. The Office for Atomic Energy Regulation and Reorganization Promotion under the Cabinet Secretariat, which has been planning the consolidation of nuclear-related independent administrative corporations, recognizes [these older JNES engineers as] "Invaluable workforce who has experienced the peak construction period of nuclear power plants". However, according to the government sources, "As reduction of government personnel progresses, unless we totally streamline the bureaucracy the Japanese citizens won't be satisfied", and the government will demand that engineers 60 years old and above to retire all at once.
How much dumber these LDP politicians get? A whole lot, I'm afraid.
When the next big nuclear accident happens, whether it's Hamaoka or Monju or Rokkasho, guess who gets to be blamed? Japanese citizens, of course, for supposedly "demanding the cut in government spending on public servants".
When the next big nuclear accident happens, whether it's Hamaoka or Monju or Rokkasho, guess who gets to be blamed? Japanese citizens, of course, for supposedly "demanding the cut in government spending on public servants".
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