Pro-nuclear propaganda sign removal in Fukushima

This video says about itself:

Fukushima Exclusion Zone Swallowed By Nature (new photos)

18 October 2015

Never-Before-Seen Images Reveal How The Fukushima Exclusion Zone Was Swallowed By Nature

Polish photographer Arkadiusz Podniesinski travelled to the site of the Fukushima nuclear disaster last month to see the location with his own eyes. When he obtained permits to enter the roughly 20km (12.5 mile) Exclusion Zone, he was confronted with a scene similar to one from a post apocalyptic film. Podniesinski previously photographed the area around the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

“It is not earthquakes or tsunami that are to blame for the disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station, but humans,” writes Podniesinski on his website. He undertook the project so that he could draw his “own conclusions without being influenced by any media sensation, government propaganda, or nuclear lobbyists who are trying to play down the effects of the disaster, and pass on the information obtained to as wider a public as possible.”

More info: podniesinski.pl.

Audio by Stefan Kartenberg called Letting It go on CCDigMixter.

Abandoned vehicles are slowly swallowed up by nature on a stretch of road near the power plant

Some of the cars have entirely disappeared in the wild grass

Podniesinski shows a radiation reading of 6.7 uSv/h

A chained-up motorcycle is slowly absorbed into the field

These contaminated televisions were collected and piled up as part of the cleaning efforts

Cobwebs hang above the scattered products in this abandoned supermarket

Another photo from within a supermarket feels eerily similar to those from post-apocalyptic movies

This abandoned computer lab covered in animal droppings is from a village near the plant

A dining table with portable cookers ready to prepare food looks like it was left in haste

These go-karts have had their last race in an entertainment park located within the 12.5mile exclusion zone

Musical instruments including a piano litter the floor of this classroom

The earthquake which started the tsunami damaged buildings as well

These bicycles were left behind when residents fled

Classes were interrupted mid-lesson by the disaster

An empty arcade, now without patrons

This aerial photo taken by a drone shows one of the dump sites that contain thousands of bags of contaminated soil

Bags of radioactive soil are stacked one on top of the other to save space

Landowners have been told that these contaminated bags will be disposed of, but many people remain skeptical

Cows started to get white spots on their skin soon after the accident. One farmer believes this is due to the cows eating contaminated grass
“Nuclear energy is the energy of a bright future” reads the sign

From the Asahi Shimbun daily in Japan:

Removal work starts on ‘bright future’ pro-nuclear sign in evacuated Fukushima town

December 21, 2015

By MASAKAZU HONDA/ Staff Writer

FUTABA, Fukushima Prefecture–Workers removed lettering of a signboard that praises nuclear energy here on Dec. 21, despite opposition from the slogan writer who became an anti-nuclear activist after the Fukushima disaster emptied his hometown.

Two signboards in Futaba, including one that says, “Genshiryoku–Akarui Mirai no Energy” (Nuclear power is the energy of a bright future), became ironic symbols of the disaster at the nearby Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant in March 2011. The other sign’s message is: “Genshiryoku–Kyodo no Hatten Yutakana Mirai” (Nuclear power will bring hometown development and an affluent future).

All residents of Futaba, which co-hosts the plant, were ordered to evacuate after the meltdowns.

The letters were removed from one signboard that stands over the town’s main street, which connects National Route No. 6 and JR Futaba Station.

The town assembly decided to remove the signs by the end of March 2016, citing “possible dangers of parts of the signs falling off due to dilapidation.”

However, Yuji Onuma, 39, who wrote the “bright future” slogan when he was a sixth-grader in Futaba, and others asked the town to keep signboards in place “for the sake of passing down the horrors of the nuclear accident and lessons learned from the accident to future generations.”

When the workers were taking down the letters, Onuma, who now lives in Koga, Ibaraki Prefecture, and his supporters held up panels saying, “Does removal mean reconstruction?” and “We cannot obliterate the past.”

The group had submitted to the Futaba government a petition signed by about 6,900 people from the town and elsewhere opposing the removal of the two signs.

Futaba Mayor Shiro Izawa has said the town will keep the signs “in a recoverable condition” at a warehouse, suggesting the possibility that the signs and their pro-nuclear slogans may later go on display at a new facility.

About 3,600 officials and residents have taken part in nuclear disaster drills near Japan’s Sendai Nuclear Power Plant. The plant was the first to be reopened following the 2011 Fukushima disaster, despite warnings over tectonic risks. The drills in Kagoshima Prefecture in southwestern Japan, within 30 km of the power plant, simulated a serious nuclear accident, Kyodo news reported. At least 1,200 residents who were living within 5 km from the Sendai plant were evacuated by buses and other vehicles: here.

Japan to allow removal of ‘designated waste’ label from Fukushima crisis — Chicago Tribune: here.

Behind the scenes: Waste disposal site a dilemma for Fukushima — The Yomiuri Shimbun: here.