Japanese police have arrested Naoko Kikuchi, a former leader of the Aum Shinrkyo cult who was wanted for her role in the deadly 1995 Sarin gas attack on Tokyo’s subway system.
Police apparently received a tip about her whereabouts, and carried out a successful raid today in Sagamihara city. (At the time of this blog post, some reports indicate she may have turned herself in.)
Authorities will not have to revise the most-wanted posters that have been displayed at police boxes and train stations across the country. One more senior Aum cultist remains at large: Katsuya Takahashi (53).
Over a year has passed since the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident, and new research is being published about the impact of its radiation leaks. As you might expect, studies are finding that the dangers are far less than what we were told by anti-nuclear activists and sensational media reporting.
So the question is, how much more radiation did these particular tuna fish contain? The answer is: A trivial amount. In fact, radiation from the cesium is 30 times less than the radiation that’s already in the fish naturally in the form of potassium-40, according to the research paper. And the natural polonium-210 packs a radiation dose 200 times larger than the dose from the cesium.
Really, the result is a testament to how well scientists can now measure tiny amounts of radiation.
Another study found that radioactive contamination of the sea will not cause much harm:
Fukushima-derived radiation doses experienced by marine organisms throughout the food chain are well below levels which could cause harm to ocean biodiversity, and even in the most part below levels experienced due to naturally-occurring radionuclides.
Unfortunately, perhaps, given that fish caught offshore from Fukushima are entirely safe for human consumption (measured levels in fish are 150-fold less than the legal limit on average), there is little prospect of a no-fishing zone which might provide great marine wildlife benefit as the Chernobyl exclusion zone currently does for land-based rare species.
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Opponents of nuclear power often make out that the consequences of a serious accident are some variant of Armageddon (sterilising large areas for generations, etc). Fukushima shows that this is absolutely not the case. The environmental effects of an accident are transient, and virtually non-existent compared to other human impacts on biodiversity.
There has also been research on radiation exposure in general A new study from MIT scientists, which found that mice exposed to 400 times normal levels of background radiation suffered from now DNA damage:
“There are no data that say that’s a dangerous level,” says Yanch, a senior lecturer in MIT’s Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering. “This paper shows that you could go 400 times higher than average background levels and you’re still not detecting genetic damage. It could potentially have a big impact on tens if not hundreds of thousands of people in the vicinity of a nuclear powerplant accident or a nuclear bomb detonation, if we figure out just when we should evacuate and when it’s OK to stay where we are.”
No doubt, anti-nuclear activists will simply react as they have done in the past: by pretending that this research does not exist, or by labeling these scientists liars/shills.
A wild tanuki (raccoon dog) was spotted along the side of the moat of Tokyo’s Imperial Palace yesterday. Here is video of the today’s efforts to capture it:
When workers approached, the animal fled into a hole in the side of the embankment. A trap was set, but it failed to capture the Tanuki.
Although passing pedestrians were surprised about the existence of wild animals in downtown Tokyo, tanukis are a well-known inhabitant of the Imperial Palace grounds. The palace grounds are home to a wide variety of plants and wild animals. For a very interesting read, check out the Wikipedia entry on “Biota of Tokyo Imperial Palace.”
A Chinese diplomat Li Chunguang (李春光) has been sent home after Japanese authorities began to ask questions about his activities in Japan:
Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department believes that the diplomat, whose was first secretary of the embassy, was improperly approaching “key figures in Japan’s political and business circles since he was given the post in charge of economic issues at the embassy” in summer 2007, the news service reported.
The Japanese-speaking diplomat worked for an intelligence unit of China’s People’s Liberation Army, the report said.
In mid-May, police requested through Japan’s Foreign Ministry that the diplomat turn himself in for questioning. But the Chinese Embassy rejected the request and the diplomat returned to China.
Here is some more information on the police investigation of the alleged spy, from the Yomiuri:
After obtaining information that the diplomat was from the PLA General Staff, the police, including investigators of the MPD Public Security Bureau, secretly monitored his activities after his arrival in July 2007.
The police discovered the diplomat tried to renew his alien registration card by fraudulently identifying himself in summer 2009 and investigated the fact that he used more than one identity.
The police also found the diplomat made contact with a large number of politicians and businesspeople.
Russian spies tend to gather information aggressively, using both favors and intimidation. But Chinese spies are generally thought to obtain information illegally only after developing personal relations while hiding their true intentions. They are also believed to use their contacts to benefit their country after developing a relationship, according to the police.
Agents who disguise themselves as diplomats, in particular, are expected to obtain highly confidential information or exploit key figures and manipulate them.
The article notes that Li was an international intern at the Matsushita Institute of Government and Management in 1999, where he “studied with Japanese would-be politicians, one of whom later became a Democratic Party of Japan Diet member.” The article might be referring to Seiji Maehara, claims that he does not recall having ever met Li.
Another Yomiuri article reports that Li was also active in a plan to export Japanese agricultural products via a Chinese state-owned enterprise. Apparently, some people are wondering why Senior Vice Minister of Agriculture Nobutaka Tsutsui was deeply involved in that project. Li apparently visited Tsutsui’s office on several occasions to discuss business.
