Locals attending a public hearing in Japan's northeast have criticized the plan to release water containing radioactive tritium into the sea Many people at a public hearing have criticized a plan to release water containing radioactive tritium into the sea from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
Workers have begun removing nuclear fuel at the Monju fast-breeder reactor in central Japan.
Ministers from 16 Asia-Pacific countries are meeting in Singapore to discuss a regional free trade pact.
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/upld/medias/en/radio/news/20180830200000_english_1.mp3
Key words : public hearing
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180830_17/
Many people at a public hearing have criticized a plan to release water containing radioactive tritium into the sea from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.
A government panel of experts held the meeting in the town of Tomioka in Fukushima Prefecture on Thursday to discuss how to deal with the contaminated water.
About 100 people, including local residents, and heads of organizations were invited to take part.
Contaminated water is generated daily at the plant in the process of cooling the damaged reactors. The water is being treated to get rid of radioactive substances, but tritium is difficult to remove. About 920,000 tons of water containing tritium is currently being stored at the plant.
Among the possible options to dispose of the tritium-laced water, the government says diluting and releasing it into the sea is the quickest and most inexpensive way.
A local fisherman who attended Thursday's hearing said he fears that releasing contaminated water will undo all the progress that has been made since fishing resumed on a trial basis. Other participants also stated negative views.
But a researcher from Osaka expressed support for releasing the water while monitoring radiation levels.
The panel will hold more public hearings on Friday in Koriyama City in Fukushima Prefecture and in Tokyo.
The experts will study the opinions expressed at the hearings before submitting their proposal to the government.
Key words : Insight why the public hearing was held at this point
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Key words : removing nuclear
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180830_18/
Workers have begun removing nuclear fuel at the Monju fast-breeder reactor in central Japan.
The reactor, in the city of Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, is slated to be dismantled over a roughly 30-year period. The operator, the Japan Atomic Energy Agency, made the decision in 2016, citing the huge cost of ensuring safety.
Workers on Thursday began moving nuclear fuel from a storage container near the reactor to a detached storage pool. It's the first key step in the decommissioning process.
Agency President Toshio Kodama urged the roughly 550 workers to make safety their priority.
The operator hopes to move 100 fuel assemblies into the storage pool by yearend.
But the work is challenging. The reactor's nuclear fuel is cooled by a type of sodium that ignites on contact with water or moisture in the air.
In addition, Monju's fuel assemblies aren't placed the same as those in ordinary reactors.
Key words : atomic agency take 70 years
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Key words : ministers meeting
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180830_35/
Ministers from 16 Asia-Pacific countries are gathering in Singapore, discussing a regional free trade pact. The countries hope to conclude the negotiations by the end of the year.
RCEP pulls together Japan, China, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand along with the ASEAN nations. This sprawling bloc, if it ever happens, will account for half of the world's population and 30 percent of the global economy.
Singapore's Trade Minister Chan Chun Sing said, "The substantial conclusion of RCEP by the end of 2018 will reaffirm our region's continued support for free trade against the back drop of rising protectionist sentiments."
Delegates are holding two days of talks. They've got a long list of items to get through -- how to scrap tariffs, protect intellectual property rights and set up rules for online trading. The say they still hope to get an agreement done by December.
But they're facing an uphill battle to iron out their differences. The ministers are expected to issue a statement on Friday, when they wrap up the meeting.
Key words : UN command
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180830_24/
The UN command supervising the demilitarized zone between North and South Korea says it disapproved of a joint survey of a railway linking the two sides.
The command on Thursday acknowledged its disapproval of the test run scheduled for last week. It says it has asked the South Korean side for details of the plan.
The 2 Koreas agreed at their summit in April to connect railway lines through the zone.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in expressed hope to hold a groundbreaking ceremony for the link this year.
In July, the 2 sides carried out joint inspections of the Gyeongui and Donghae lines, on the western and eastern sides of the Korean Peninsula respectively.
The test planned for last Thursday was aimed at finding where repairs are needed.
The UN command's disapproval came at a time of little progress in US-North Korean negotiations on the North's denuclearization. The commander of the US Forces in South Korea also supervises UN forces there.
The US administration is apparently wary about progress in inter-Korean cooperation.
Key words : child welfare child abuse
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180830_22/
Child consultation centers across Japan handled more than 130,000 reported child abuse cases in fiscal 2017, a record high.
The welfare ministry on Thursday released the figures for the year through March 2018 at a meeting of the heads of child consultation centers nationwide.
The ministry said the centers handled 133,778 reports of abuse by parents or other guardians on children under the age of 18. The number is up by more than 11,000 from the previous year.
More than half, or 72,197, of the cases fell into the category of psychological abuse that includes verbal abuse and display of domestic violence in front of children.
There were 33,223 cases of physical abuse, 26,818 cases of neglect and 1,540 sexual abuse cases.
The number of handled cases has been rising every year since record-taking began in 1990.
A notable increase can be seen in the number of cases involving children witnessing violence within the family.
The welfare ministry says this is due to the growing number of reports from police.
The ministry says not just child consultation centers but local governments need to get involved to strengthen community-wide efforts to deal with the problem.
Key words : monster galaxy
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180830_20/
A team of international scientists has made the first close observation of a star-generating "monster galaxy" that was formed shortly after the Big Bang.
The team, led by a Japanese astronomer, used a radio telescope to observe a monster galaxy 12.4 billion light years from the Earth.
A number of these galaxies have been identified so far. They were formed in the early years of the universe and are thought to be nurseries of stars.
The researchers found that gas and dust, which are the ingredients of stars, are concentrated in the middle of the monster galaxy and at 2 locations several thousand light years from its center.
In many other galaxies, the clouds of gas and dust are more evenly spread in the shape of a disc. The researchers say the monster galaxy's distinctive structure may be a factor behind its star-forming power.
The head of the team, Kenichi Tadaki of Japan's National Astronomical Observatory, says the study has helped to shed light on the mechanism of how stars are created at an enormous rate in a monster galaxy. He says his team hopes to resolve the question of why gas is concentrated at certain locations.
The outcome of the research was published in the latest edition of the British journal Nature.
Key words : government official under growing pressure
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180830_29/
Government officials are under growing pressure to get Japan ready for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. They say one area that needs a big boost in funding is cyber security.
The Cabinet Secretariat is asking for 38 million dollars for the next fiscal year to bolster defenses against cyber-attacks. That's an increase of 70 percent from this year.
Some of the funds would pay for a new office that can share intelligence with the organizer of the Games, local authorities and businesses.
Officials also want to commission independent experts to assess the vulnerability of Japanese infrastructure.
Authorities are concerned that hackers could target electricity grids, water supplies, and transportation networks.
Key words : Japanese researcher heatstroke
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180830_26/
Japanese researchers have conducted a series of tests along the marathon course, which will be used during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, to assess ways of protecting spectators and athletes from heatstroke.
The tests were conducted on Thursday by experts from Hosei University and the Japan Weather Association.
The experts flew a drone equipped with a camera, which is capable of measuring temperatures with infrared light, along the marathon course in central Tokyo. It glided at an altitude of 150 meters.
The drone flew repeatedly at 30-minute intervals to measure the surface temperatures on ordinary paved roads, and on those paved with a special coating.
The data will be used to determine how the temperatures changed, and how effective the coating was at keeping the surface temperatures from rising.
The researchers also recorded surface temperatures around the clock, from the rooftop of a building about 120 meters high, to determine how the temperatures changed over time.
In another test, students wearing instruments, which measured their heart rates and how much they sweat, were asked to stand in the sun, in the shade, and in an area where some water had been sprinkled.
Associate Professor Shun Kawakubo of Hosei University said that studying ways to protect against heatstroke will save lives before, during, and after the Olympic Games. He also said that effective measures can be developed by studying the effects of high temperatures on the human body and on roads.
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