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ENGAGEMENT LETTER and TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Effective Date: Effective Date
Dear Your Name,
Accountancy services: terms of engagement
Thank you for your instructions to provide you with accounting services in connection with:
1.1 Members in Practice of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants ("CIMA" or "the Institute") subscribe to the promotion of high standards, ethical awareness and best practice. As part of those standards, engagement terms are issued and agreed prior to any work being undertaken.
1.2 This letter has been prepared following discussions with the Client on Date and, together with Annex 1, sets out the terms on which the Supplier services will be provided. The Supplier recommends that the Client reads all the information carefully and contacts the Supplier if the Client has any concerns or requires clarification.
2. Defined Terms
2.1 In this letter, references to "the Supplier" relate to this accountancy practice, Finacta Ltd
2.2 References to "the Client" or "you" or "your" relates to the aforementioned business, the Client
3. Scope of Services
3.1 The Supplier services will be provided by Finacta Ltd and any employees or professional contractors who provide services to Finacta. The Supplier will advise the Client of any proposed change. The services to be provided, timescales, fees and penalties and are listed in Annex 1
4.1 The Supplier responsibilities are to:
4.1.1 observe the Laws of CIMA
4.1.2 keep and maintain records of work completed and make them available to the Client upon request
4.1.3 provide regular reports on the progress of any work being completed on the Clients behalf
4.1.4. raise any issues or concerns that may be found during the term of the engagement
4.1.5 return any information owned by the Client within 30 working days upon termination of the engagement and once payment for work carried out by the practice has been made
4.1.6 keep records in compliance with the Data Protection legislation
4.2 The Client responsibilities are to:
4.2.1 provide the following proof of identity and current address as required by anti-money laundering regulations. A copy of the following documents must be provided and provided at least bi-annually from original contract inception:
4.2.1 A domestic utility bill dated within the last three months
4.2.2 Passport or driving licence of all named directors / partners / principles of the company
4.2.2 ensure that records of the Client business activities are correct and maintained to meet the requirements of regulatory authorities
4.2.3 disclose all relevant information to enable the Supplier to complete the work within agreed timescales as set in Annex 1
4.2.4 allow full and free access to financial and other records held by the Client or third parties.
5. Ethical conduct
5.1 All CIMA management accountants work within the framework of the CIMA Code of Ethics (www.cimaglobal.com). The code requires accountants to comply with the principles of integrity, objectivity, professional competence and due care, confidentiality and professional behaviour
5.2 As a CIMA management accountant(s) the Supplier has a duty to observe the highest standards of conduct and integrity, and to uphold the good standing and reputation of the profession
5.3 The duty of a professional accountant is not exclusively to satisfy the needs of an individual Client or employer. In complying with the ethical requirements of the CIMA Code of Ethics the professional accountant is obliged to act primarily within the public interest
6.1 Annex 1 lists the services the Supplier agrees to supply on a fixed or variable basis
6.2 For any additional work required which is not covered by Annex 1, these terms will be agreed with the Client and will result in a new Annex or as an Addendum to Annex 1
6.3 Invoices are issued monthly in advance on the first working day (WD1) of the month
6.4 Payment of fees rendered by invoice are due within 30 working days from the bill date
6.5 Interest may be applied to any overdue accounts at a rate in line with the BoE base rate plus 2%
6.6 Where payment has not been received, the Supplier reserves the right to withhold services, documents and information, and have the right to cease to work on the Client account, and to terminate the engagement if payments are unduly delayed
6.6.1 In the event The Client requests to transfer an Accounting System billing account from the Supplier to the Client, this shall be completed in accordance with the Client request without dispute and independent of any rights pursuant to Section 6.6 and the agreement.
6.6.2 There shall be no exceptions to Section 6.6 other than those outlined in Section 6.6.1
6.7 Any expenses incurred whilst working on the Client behalf will be charged unless otherwise specified in Annex 1 and appropriate records will be kept and will be available for inspection.
6.7.1 Such expenses may include the use of meeting rooms and other facilities, courier charges, premium rate telephone calls and international telephone calls
6.7.2 Documentary evidence will be provided, and expenses are re-charged at cost.
6.8 Fees may be indexed annually on the anniversary of contract commencement in line with the 12-month movement in the UK Consumer Prices Index (CPI), notwithstanding any terms set out in Annex 1.
7. Penalties
7.1 Any penalties listed in Annex 1 of this agreement shall be applied in the month following a breach of service or project deliverable in line with the terms set out in Annex 1.
8. Commissions
8.1 Third Parties may pay to the Supplier certain commissions or referral fees. These may be in relation to goods and services purchased by the Supplier on behalf of the Client or where the Client has a direct relationship with the Third Party as a result of an introduction by the Supplier. Examples of these include but are not limited to:
8.1.1 accounting software provider commissions where the Supplier acts as an agent or introducer
8.1.2 financial service providers (such as banks, financial advisors and tax specialists) where the Supplier acts as an agent or introducer
8.12 The Supplier agrees to disclose to the Client any commissions resulting from an agency transaction on behalf of the Client and any referral fees or commission received from Third-Parties as a result of an introduction
9. Holding Client Monies
9.1 Client money that exceeds £500.00 for services rendered by 3rd Parties and where the practice works as agent on behalf of the Client will be held in an account separate from the practice
9.2 Interest will only be paid once it exceeds £20.00 per annum, to avoid disproportionate administration costs. The Supplier reserves the right to increase this threshold should business banking transaction charges increase
9.3 The Supplier recommends that the Client reads CIMA's Client Money Regulations which can be found on the Institute's website
10. Retaining and Accessing Records
10.1 Any information provided by the Client in relation to work undertaken by the Supplier will be returned to the Client and should be kept for a period of no less than 6 years from the end of the tax year in question
10.2 The Client agrees that any work completed and work in progress for which payment is outstanding will be held by the Supplier until all fees relating to it have been paid
10.3 The Supplier may communicate with the Client electronically and the Client accepts the risks associated with such communications, except anything arising through the Supplier negligence or wilful default
11. Confidentiality and conflicts
11.1 The Supplier agree never to share information relating to the Client business with any third party without prior consent, unless required to do so by law or to comply with regulations or quality control reviews.
11.2 The Client agrees not to use or copy or allow the use of the output of the work the Supplier does for or with a third party without the Supplier's prior permission
11.3 The Client recognises that the Supplier may have to stop providing services to the Client if a conflict arises between duties to the Client and to another Client. The Client will notify the Supplier if the Client has any reason to believe that such a conflict has arisen or may arise
12. Legislation and compliance
12.1 The Supplier is obliged by law and by CIMA to undertake checks to ensure that the Client and the Client business is operating lawfully. By agreeing to the Supplier terms of engagement the Client accepts that the Supplier is authorised to complete such checks as necessary
12.2 Under Money Laundering Regulations it is a criminal offence if the Supplier does not report suspicious transactions or if the Supplier informs a Client that a report has been made against them
13.1 Chartered Management Accountants have a duty of care to the Client and must observe the highest standards of conduct and integrity
13.2 Services to the Client will be completed by a business that holds current Professional Indemnity Insurance
13.3 Where any loss or damage occurs to the Client as the result of the Client providing or maintaining misleading, incomplete or false information or data, no liability will be accepted
13.4 Communications from the Client to the Supplier are not to be forwarded, provided or discussed with any third party without prior written consent
13.5 The Supplier accepts no legal responsibility from third party use or advice of financial information provided by the Supplier
14. Complaints and disputes
14.1 The Supplier wants the Client to be entirely satisfied with the services provided to the Client. If, however, the Client is not, please refer to the Complaints Handling Procedure in Annex 2 of this engagement letter.
14.2 Any disputes arising from the Supplier engagement by the Client will, subject to the procedure at Annex 2, be governed by English law.
14.3 If a complaint cannot be resolved through the Supplier internal complaints handling procedure, under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 the Supplier is required to point the Client towards alternative dispute resolution (ADR) providers. There are many ADR providers listed on the Chartered Trading Standards Institute website (www.tradingstandards.uk) but CIMA has an arrangement with CEDR for the provision of ADR. More information is available on the CIMAGlobal website (cimaglobal.com)
15. Continuity Arrangement
15.1 In the event the Supplier becomes unable to provide the services agreed through incapacity or death, a Continuity Arrangement has been made with:
JMD Accounting Ltd
16 Hare Hill
KT15 1DT
Contact: Janette Dalgliesh
15.2 The purpose of Section 16 is to look after the Client interests by providing continuity of services. The Client will be contacted in the event of such circumstances arising and the Client will have the option to decline to be covered by these arrangements
16.1 The Client or the Supplier may terminate the engagement by giving 60 days' written notice
16.1.1 All documents and information provided by the Client will be returned to the Client within 30 working days of receipt of the notice provided that all outstanding fees have been paid. For avoidance of doubt, any Fixed Price monthly service invoices that are due to be raised during the notice period will be raised and pro-rated. For example, if the service is due to terminate on 15th of June, the final invoice dated 1st June will be 50% of the original value in Annex 1
17. Termination Fees
17.1 The process of transition to a new provided may incur certain exit transition costs. These will be charged on a time and materials basis based on the hourly rate card listed in Annex 3. This is in addition to fees pursuant to Section 16.1.1.
18. Projects
18.1 Annex 1 may itemise project deliverables and fees. The timescales or delivery of projects shall be agreed between the Supplier and the Client in separate Statements of Work, which may be agreed and drafted during the engagement.
19.1 Annex 1 services or projects may require the Supplier to develop systems, or procure services and products, which improve operational efficiency. This includes the procurement of third-party services for automating tasks or developing bespoke code to automate tasks
19.2 To the extent that these developments are bespoke, these developments are intellectual property of the Supplier unless otherwise agreed. Examples include:
19.2.1 A Microsoft Excel Macro which automates tasks within or outside excel
19.2.2 Bespoke SQL databases or queries for storing, filtering or processing data
19.2.3 Code in any scripting language which was built by the Supplier
19.2.4 Visual automation flows built by the Supplier, such as those enabled by Microsoft Flow or Zapier
20.1 As part of this engagement between the Client and Supplier, the Supplier will request, pursuant to Section 4, certain personal data that enables individuals to be identified.
20.2 Personal data obtained by the Supplier often includes Sensitive Personal Data, such as images indicating race and whether individuals are Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs).
20.3 Personal data, including Sensitive Personal Data, is requested so that the Supplier can fulfil its AML/CTF obligations and often for use in meeting its contractual obligations to the Client.
20.4 As a Data Controller[1] and Data Processor[2], the Supplier stores and accesses personal data according to our internal data handling guidelines. These guidelines ensure that data is held in a:
20.4.1 Digital location only; with
20.4.2 Password protection; and
20.4.3 Limited access to authorised employees
20.5 The Client has the exclusive right to their personal data held by the Supplier. This includes:
20.5.1 The right to be informed about how their data is used
20.5.2 The right of access to their data
20.5.3 The right to rectification of their data
20.5.4 The right to erasure
20.5.5 The right to restrict processing
20.5.6 The right to data portability
20.5.7 The right to object to their data being used; and
20.5.8 The right to not be subject to automated decision-making including profiling
20.6 If the Client requests to access, change or delete Client data held by the Supplier, the Supplier will comply within 30 days written notice, notwithstanding requests deemed to be excessive or requests that impact the ability of the supplier to fulfil contractual obligations to the Client.
20.6.1 For requests that impede the Supplier in fulfilling contractual obligations, the Client must re-affirm their request after being notified by the Supplier of the service implications
20.7 The Supplier uses a third-party provider service[3] that maintains an audit trail of logins to the secure digital locations holding Personal Data.
20.7.1 The Supplier will monitor and report on logins and login attempts to identify those inconsistent with expected activity
20.7.2 Suspicious login attempts from unknown locations are blocked by the third-party provider service and reported to authorised employees for validation
20.7.3 Breaches or expected breaches will result in reporting to the ICO and notifying all past and current clients of the data currently held by the Supplier that may have been breached.
ANNEX 1
21. Services Offered & Charges
Sub-total (per month)
21.1 After 12 months, and annually thereafter, the parties agree to review in good faith the hours worked multiplied by the rate card listed under Annex 3. This may be compared with the Fixed Price from the preceding 12 months where significant deviances (> +/-10%) may result in a contractual price change either up or down.
Projects & Services not listed under Annex 1
Signed on behalf of FINACTA LTD
[Director Name (Print)]
___________________________ ____________
[Signed] [Date]
Before any work can be undertaken on your behalf, you are required to confirm acceptance of these terms of engagement by signing and returning the original of this letter to us. Please retain a scanned signed copy for your own records.
Finacta Ltd, Bourne Business Park, 500 Dashwood Lang Road, Weybridge, Surrey, KT15 2NY
I confirm I have read, understand and agree to the terms and conditions set out above and in the annexes to this letter. I confirm I have the authority to act on behalf of the company.
Signed on behalf of Your Business
22. Complaints Procedure
22.1 The Supplier is committed to upholding best practice through a high-quality service to all Clients. This Annex sets out the procedure the Supplier will operate in dealing with complaints arising from the provision of services under this Supplier letter of engagement.
Raising an Issue
22.2 In the first instance please contact Finacta on 0203 8800 780 or james.holmes@Finacta.com to discuss any concerns you have, so that the matter can be looked into immediately
Making an Informal Complaint
22.3 An informal complaint can be made by telephone, or by speaking, face to face or in writing to James Holmes (Tel: +44 (0) 203 8800 780 or Email: james.holmes@Finacta.com). If the matter is not resolved at this stage, and you have not already issued a complaint in writing, you should do so. Please include specific details so that the matter can be thoroughly investigated.
Making a Formal Complaint
22.4 Upon receipt of your written formal complaint an acknowledgement will be sent to you within 5 working days. The name and contact details of the person who will be dealing with your case will be supplied to you at this point.
22.5 Within 10 working days from receipt of your written complaint you will receive in writing a summary of the Supplier understanding of your complaint. You will be asked at this time to provide any further evidence or information regarding the complaint and to confirm that the Supplier has understood all your concerns.
22.6 Following such confirmation, the Supplier will investigate the matter and write to you in reply within 15 working days unless it becomes apparent to us that the investigation may not be completed within this timescale. In these circumstances, a written explanation will be sent to you including a progress report. When a substantive reply is sent you, a summary of findings will be included along with details of any further action to be taken
If you are not satisfied
22.7 For service-related matters involving a CIMA member in Practice in the UK, you may wish to know that CIMA offers an independent Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) facility for members of the public.
22.8 If in the context of your dealings with us or the handling of your complaint, you believe that a member of CIMA has been guilty of misconduct, you may lodge a complaint with the Professional Conduct department of the Institute.
22.9 Further information on ADR or making a complaint about alleged misconduct can be found on the CIMA website at cimaglobal.com.
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India Bookkeeper £10.00 + VAT
https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/key-definitions/
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The November ISM manufacturing survey handily beat expectations (57.3 vs. 55.1), posting its strongest reading in over two years. This suggests that the prevailing consensus of economists, which expects GDP growth to be slower this quarter than last quarter, is too pessimistic.
The relationship between the ISM survey and quarterly economic growth, shown in the chart above, has not been as tight in recent years as it has been in the past (particularly in the 1990s), but the recent rise of the index at the very least suggests that it is unlikely that the economy has slowed in the current quarter—that growth should be at least 2.5% if not more.
UPDATE: I've updated the chart above to reflect the stronger GDP growth reported for Q3/13 (3.5% vs. 2.8% originally). This puts GDP growth more in line with the ISM survey.
The export orders component of the ISM index, shown above, was particularly strong, and suggests that global economic fundamentals are firming. This is an unalloyed good thing for everyone.
A pickup in the employment component, shown above, suggests that firms' confidence in and expectations of future conditions have improved somewhat. It's been a lack of confidence that has kept many firms from reinvesting record-setting profits, so this is very encouraging.
Manufacturing conditions in the Eurozone have improved over the past year, as the region has emerged from a two-year recession, but the Eurozone economy is still lagging that of the U.S. That same reality is reflected in the equity markets of both regions, as shown in the second chart above, with Eurozone equity prices rising but lagging significantly those of the U.S. Further, this suggests that it's not QE that is boosting stocks, but rather a gradual improvement in the underlying economic fundamentals.
The chart above compares Eurozone swap spreads (red, inverted) with the Markit manufacturing survey. If swap spreads continue to be a good leading indicator of overall economic and financial market health, as the chart suggests, then we should see more, albeit gradual, improvement in the Eurozone economy in the months to come. That would be a very welcome development.
Remember Jimmy Carter? The Mush-wimp?
Scott, what do you think about bitcoin? Could you post on that?
I relate that you are looking in the rear view mirror, when you relate: "If swap spreads continue to be a good leading indicator of overall economic and financial market health, as the chart suggests, then we should see more, albeit gradual, improvement in the Eurozone economy in the months to come. That would be a very welcome development.
Liberalism's bull market turned to a bear market. On Monday December 2, 2013, liberalism's greatest ever fiat wealth rally came to an end, as bond vigilantes called the Interest Rate on the US Ten Year Note, ^TNX, to 2.80%. Riskless investing, that came through the money printing operations of the US Federal Reserve and other world central banks, finally came to an end on the death of fiat money, that is as Credit, AGG, and Major World Currencies, such as the Australian Dollar, FXA, and Emerging Market Currencies, CEW, such as the Brazilian Real, BZF, continued lower in value.
The global industrial Global Industrial Producers, which turned lower on October 23, 2013, when the bond vigilantes called the Interest Rate on the US Ten Year Note, ^TNX, higher from 2.48%, led the way lower: Industrial Miners, PICK, -1.0, Steel Manufacturers, SLX, -1.0, Design, Build, and Construct, FLM, -0.9, Metal Manufacturing, XME, -0.9, Automobiles, CARZ, -0.9, and Wood Production, WOOD, -0.3.


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Tag: Nazi war crimes
October 31, 2021 October 31, 2021 angela findlay4 Comments
If it wasn't so serious, the idea of a 96-year-old going on the run to escape trial would be quite comical. But behind the image of an old lady hopping into a cab at her retirement home and fleeing for the subway station in the early hours is a quagmire of deeply complex and emotive issues.
Irmgard Furchner stands accused of having contributed to the murder of 11,412 people between 1943 and 1945 when she was an 18-year-old typist and former secretary to the SS commander of the Stutthof concentration camp in Poland. She is the latest of several nonagenarian Nazi war criminals to be brought to trial, some of them in youth courts because they weren't adults at the time of their alleged crimes.
Irmgard Furchner being brought into court
The reason this particular case captured my attention is partly because it coincided with the seventy-fifth anniversary of the final day of the Nuremberg Trials that saw twelve senior members of the Nazi establishment sentenced to death by hanging. And partly because the hearing Furchner was due to attend was in Itzehoe, the same north German town that I have been going to all my life. I have been looking Nazism and the Second World War in the face for several decades now, but my countless happy memories visiting relatives there had completely insulated it from the chill of Germany's wider history.
Now it is in the spotlight as the face of retribution. So, is it a total no-brainer that even seventy-five years later, such people, nonagenarian or not, must pay for their part in some of the worst mass killings in history? Or is this more a rush by prosecutors to seize the final opportunity to redress the failures of the previous decades? Will sentencing these last Nazis to time in prison achieve justice for the victims? Or are these trials there to serve the broader objective of Never Forget? Is a ninety-year old even the same person as their eighteen-year-old self?
The last guilty verdict issued was to former SS guard Bruno Dey, who was handed a two-year suspended sentence in July 2020 at the age of 93. The 2019 trial against 95-year-old Johann Rehbogen for his service as a guard also in Stutthof Concentration Camp, had to be terminated as his organs were failing. The only successful conviction was of 96-year-old Oskar Gröning, the so-called 'bookkeeper of Auschwitz,' who was sentenced to four years in 2015 but died in hospital after his several appeals failed. I wrote about him at the time in my blog. In his case he had not tried to evade justice. Driven by a desire to counter Holocaust deniers and prevent something like Auschwitz from ever happening again, he had been openly talking about his time as an accountant in the death camp. His testimonies, however, were used against him in court with the unintended outcome that other low-level perpetrators and bystanders went silent.
Oskar Gröning at his trial in 2015
For some people, the greatest justice to all victims of Nazi persecution that these trials can provide is to keep the crimes fresh in peoples' minds and prevent them from being forgotten, denied or trivialised. They force Germans, including younger generations, to listen to the testimonies of survivors and to rake over the whole disturbing and uncomfortable past once again.
It is so important that we never forget; that we all learn the lessons that Germany's descent into barbarity and atrocity teaches us, not least about the vulnerability of democracy today. But survivors often declare that legal retribution is not the main outcome they are after. That they are more interested in shining light on unresolved or overlooked crimes and contributing to Holocaust remembrance and education.
So, are we now at a time when imprisonment is a less effective response than a more direct dealing with the aftermath of the offence? Is there now another way that serves justice to the many victims of the Third Reich and their descendants AND sends a powerful message to would-be perpetrators of mass crimes that they will never get away with murder AND contributes to remembrance and education AND offers possibilities for healing and reconciliation?
The past cannot be changed, but the present can. Might communication between those harmed by and those implicated in Nazi crimes, within the safe frameworks of Restorative Justice or mediation initiatives, offer the possibility to fulfil all the outcomes desired by the survivors? Could the excrutiating discomfort of acknowledgment of past wrongdoing be the punishment? Would talking together create an opportunity to resolve some of the harm and nurture the shoots of healing, forgiveness and reconciliation that can sprout from really listening and really being heard?
Trial of 100-year-old man in Germany: why Nazi war crimes take so long to prosecute – The Conversation
Former Nazi death camp secretary, 96, remanded in custody after going on the run – Times of Israel
Nuremberg: The Trial of the Nazi War Criminals – Radio 4
Germans are right to pursue 100-year-old former Nazi war criminals – Irish Times
The Queen's visit to Germany – "politically motivated" or her gesture of "complete reconciliation"?
June 26, 2015 February 13, 2019 angela findlay2 Comments
As I started writing this month's blog this morning, the Queen was visiting Bergen-Belsen Concentration Camp for the first time, apparently at her request.
Much has been criticised or mocked about her State visit in the press: the timing – the eve of a summit where David Cameron is expected to begin new negotiations in relation to Britain's EU membership; her apparently politically-biased speech in which she referred to a division in Europe being "dangerous" and that guarding against it "remains a common endeavour"; the Queen's unenthusiastic reception of the German president's gift of a portrait of her as a child on a blue horse with her father; even the reason for her going was apparently to put Angela Merkel, who is often referred to as Queen of Europe, back in her place…!
Children of the Third Reich: A critical moral debate
February 14, 2014 February 13, 2019 angela findlayLeave a comment
It's Valentine's Day and I am writing about the Nazis… again. "Will she ever let up?" I can almost hear people asking. But I'm afraid I can't… won't. Not yet. It is still too relevant a topic, as was proved by last night's debate at the Southbank Centre where not one person in the packed hall moved, let alone left, even after 2.5 hours of listening to two elderly men, children of high-ranking Nazis, as they revealed their opposing relationships with their long-dead fathers.
To voluntarily exchange views and answer questions publically on this delicate and sensitive subject makes Niklas Frank and Horst von Wächter very brave and admirable men in my eyes.
Niklas, whose controversial book of 1987 "Der Vater" (The Father) broke taboos in Germany by admitting categorically that his father was a bad man, has always been determined to "acknowledge the crimes". This led to a total rejection of his father. "But don't you want to make peace?" Horst asks, driven by a strong sense of "duty" and "moral obligation" to find the good in his father. "I have. By acknowledging his crimes", responded Niklas.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Marcus Tavernier
Marcus Tavernier commits his long-term future to Middlesbrough, to the delight of Jonathan Woodgate
The 20-year-old attacking midfielder has been in negotiations with the club over a new deal in recent weeks
Philip Tallentire
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Marcus Tavernier has signed a new long-term contract with Middlesbrough.
The 20-year-old attacking midfielder has been in negotiations with the club over a new deal in recent weeks and Jonathan Woodgate hinted at his pre-match press conference that an agreement was "very close".
News that Tavernier has committed his long-term future to the club until the summer of 2023 is a huge boost.
Regarded as one of the best emerging talents in the Championship, there has been no shortage of scouts keeping tabs on the Leeds-born playmaker.
Jonathan Woodgate targets two Middlesbrough signings before Friday night's transfer deadline
Jonathan Woodgate's injury disappointment as 'outstanding' Patrick Roberts faces lengthy lay-off
Speaking to the Boro website, Woodgate said: "I'm over the moon Tav has signed a new contract. He was a player I was keen to get tied up as soon as we could because of what he brings to the team.
"He's had a good run of games this season and I think people can now see what he's about.
"What he's got to do now is keep working, and he's got to keep improving. I don't want people standing still, I want them hungry to improve all the time."
Earlier this season, Woodgate pledged to keep picking Tavernier as long as he delivered the goods on the pitch.
It was the opportunity the player had been hoping for since first breaking into the team in October 2017.
Tavernier made five successive first team starts in a purple patch that stretched from late October to mid-November 2017.
He scored a fine goal in the Carabao Cup against Bournemouth and the winner in a derby victory over Sunderland.
Last season he made 20 first team appearances in the Championship but only two of those were starts.
Marcus Tavernier celebrates Ashley Fletcher's goal at West Brom
Speaking recently, Woodgate said: "I said to Tav, 'If you get your chance and you play well you'll stay in the team'.
"I can't be more honest than that with him. Since he's come in I think he's done really good, he has a great drive about him enthusiasm.
"Okay, at times his final ball needs to improve but he's a young player and Tav will get opportunities to score goals."
Jonathan Woodgate
Middlesbrough FCNigel Pearson on 'a pretty unique Middlesbrough story', the highs and lows - and RavanelliNigel Pearson spoke to FourFourTwo this month and reflected on his time playing for Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough warned about threat of a familiar face at Nottingham Forest
Middlesbrough FCForest welcome Boro on the back of three wins on the bounce and a seven match unbeaten stretch


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Japan tries to dilute tritium danger
TEPCO could dump radioactive water into ocean any day. Help stop it!
From various correspondents
More than one million tonnes of radioactively contaminated water has already accumulated at the destroyed Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant site, stored in steel tanks and increasing in volume daily — by some accounts one new tank is added every four days. Space to store it is rapidly running out. So far, the only "plan" TEPCO has come up with to deal with the problem is to dump the water into the Pacific Ocean.
The water is accumulating in part because about 150 tonnes of groundwater seeps daily through cracks in the stricken reactors' foundations, thereby becoming contaminated with radioactive isotopes. In addition, water flows down the surrounding hillsides onto the site, picks up radiation, and must be captured and stored on site.
TEPCO has so far been pumping the contaminated water through a filtering system that can only remove cesium and strontium. But the process creates a highly toxic sludge as a byproduct, which also has to be stored in sealed canisters on site.
Tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, cannot of course be removed from water. Hence the plan to dump the radioactive (tritiated) water into the ocean. This move has long been strongly opposed by people from many spectra in Japan. A "Resolution Against the Ocean Dumping of Radioactive Tritium-contaminated Waste Water From the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant," initiated by physics Professor Emeritus at Kyoto University, Kosaku Yamada, has already garnered signatures from 280 individuals and 35 organizations. The Resolution is reproduced below.
The goal of the resolution is to raise public awareness about the prolonged serious health effects of the Fukushima nuclear disaster that the Japanese government is taking every step to conceal.
Now, the organizers are calling on the international community to sign on as well. You can do so by sending your contact details directly to Professor Yamada at:
kosakuyamada@yahoo.co.jp
A Resolution Against the Ocean Dumping of Radioactive Tritium-contaminated Waste Water From the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant
It was announced in March, 2014, that in the defunct Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant there was a total of approximately 3,400 trillion becquerels of tritium, with 830 trillion becquerels stored in tanks. This enormous amount of radioactive waste water has still continued to increase since then. In these circumstances, the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company Ltd. (TEPCO), in their efforts to find an easy way to dispose of the tritium-contaminated waste water created by the Fukushima nuclear disaster, have been trying to dilute and dump it into the ocean. They have been watching for an unguarded moment among the opposition movements including the fishery cooperatives who are strongly against the dumping. Now they are about to finally decide to implement the ocean dumping plan. Far from regulating such activities, Toyoshi Fuketa, the chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority, has been championing this plan.
We are determined that the Japanese government and TEPCO shall never dump the radioactive waste water into the ocean for the following reasons:
1. Generally misunderstood as posing little risk to life and health, tritium is an extremely hazardous radioactive material. This is because organisms are not able to chemically distinguish tritium water from the normal water which composes most of the human body. This means that tritium can invade any part of the human body, irradiating it from inside; therefore, tritium can damage cell membranes and mitochondria in cells, indirectly through reactive oxygen species (ROS) and other radicals generated in irradiation. Tritium decay can directly cut chemical bonds of genomes or DNA strands. The risk peculiar to tritium is that if some hydrogen atoms which make up the genomes are replaced with tritium, the beta decay of the tritium into helium will cut off the chemical bonds of the genome.
Plants produce starch from water and carbon dioxide gas by using photosynthesis. Some of the hydrogen atoms in this starch can be replaced with tritium, forming organic tritium, which animals, plants and human beings absorb into their bodies over the long term, causing internal radiation.
2. With reference to the tritium released by various nuclear facilities, reports indicate a number of findings including: an increased incidence of leukemia among those living around the Genkai Nuclear Power Plant; an increased incidence of infant leukemia around nuclear reprocessing plants all over the world; and an increased incidence of child cancers around nuclear power plants. Real damage has already occurred.
3. Tritium, even if diluted and dumped into the ocean, will become concentrated again through aspects of the ecosystem such as food chains. Furthermore, tritium will vaporize into tritium-containing moisture or hydrogen gas, only to return to the land and eventually circulate within the environment. The idea that dilution ensures safety has caused fatal blunders to be repeated in many environmental pollution cases in the past, the vital factor being the total quantity released into the environment. Therefore, as far as environmental pollution problems are concerned, the only righteous and principled policy is to thoroughly confine and isolate radioactive materials or toxic substances from the ecosystem.
As tritium has a long half-life of 12 years, it destroys the environment over the long term. Tritium is an isotope of hydrogen which constitutes not only most of the living body but also its genes, so tritium disposal via dilution cannot be safe. Thus, we strongly urge the Japanese government and the Nuclear Regulatory Authority never to dump tritium into the ocean.
https://beyondnuclearinternational.org/2018/09/11/japan-tries-to-dilute-tritium-danger/
September 17, 2018 Posted by dunrenard | Fukushima 2018 | Dumping, Fukushima Daiichi, Radioactive Water, Tritium | Leave a comment
What is tritium and why is its disposal difficult?
Another propaganda piece to justify Tepco and Japanese goverment's decision to dump the 7 years plus accumulated radioactive water into the sea. Mind you in that water it is not only tritium but other types of harmful radionuclides are present.
Look how they phrased their B.S. :
1. "water containing tritium" used when talking about the treatment of contaminated water at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant operated by the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO)." Of course not mentioning the other contained radionuclides, lying by omission!!!
2. "Tritium emits beta radiation that has weak energy, and will mostly pass through the body if drank. Its effects on the human body are said to be minimal compared to radioactive cesium." Said to be, does not mean it to be true!!!
In this July 17, 2018 file photo, tanks containing water contaminated with radioactive materials are seen on the grounds of the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture
The Mainichi Shimbun answers some common questions readers may have about the characteristics of tritium, and why it is hard to dispose of water containing the radioactive element.
Question: I heard the term "water containing tritium" used when talking about the treatment of contaminated water at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant operated by the Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO).
Answer: It refers to treated water including tritium. The element cannot be removed using the current purification method used at the crippled nuclear power plant. The government and TEPCO are considering ways to dispose of the liquid, which is continuing to fill waste water tanks at the plant.
Q: What kind of substance is tritium?
A: Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen containing one proton and two neutrons while the ordinary hydrogen nucleus contains just one proton. It has a half-life of about 12.3 years, which is the time required to reduce half of its radioactivity.
Q: Is tritium found only in the treated water from the damaged nuclear plant?
A: Tritium can also develop when oxygen and nitrogen in the atmosphere react to cosmic neutrons. Around 70 quadrillion becquerels appear naturally per year, and around a total of 223 trillion becquerels are contained in Japan's annual rainfall, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). Coolant in normal operating nuclear reactors also carries tritium. At the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, tritium is generated in groundwater pouring into the buildings that house reactors, and in water used to cool melted fuel debris.
Q: Why is it difficult to dispose of tritium?
A: Other radioactive substances can be removed using specific disposal equipment for filtration and absorption to levels below the allowed ceiling. However, separation is very hard for water containing tritium because its characteristics, including the boiling temperature, are similar to those of normal water.
Q: What about the impact it will have on human health, as it is radioactive?
A: Tritium emits beta radiation that has weak energy, and will mostly pass through the body if drank. Its effects on the human body are said to be minimal compared to radioactive cesium. Nuclear power plants around the world are disposing water containing tritium according to regulations, in oceans and other places, once it has been diluted to a radiation level that falls below standard limits. According to METI, Japan released into oceans around 380 trillion becquerels of tritium per year on average for five years before the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
(Answers by Riki Iwama, Science & Environment News Department)
https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20180906/p2a/00m/0na/004000c
September 10, 2018 Posted by dunrenard | Fukushima 2018 | B.S., Dumping, Fukushima Daiichi, Propaganda, Radioactive Water, Tritium | 2 Comments
All options need to be weighed for Fukushima plant tainted water
"A task force of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has considered five options, including release into the Pacific Ocean after dilution, injection into deep underground strata and release into the air after vaporization. The group has concluded that dumping the water into the ocean would be the quickest and least costly way to get rid of it.
This is seen as the best option within the government."
Contaminated water is stored in large tanks at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
The government has held public hearings on plans to deal with growing amounts of radioactive water from the ruined Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
The hearings, held in Tomioka and Koriyama in Fukushima Prefecture as well as in Tokyo, underscored the enormous difficulty government policymakers are having in grappling with the complicated policy challenge.
The crippled reactors at the plant are still generating huge amounts of water contaminated with radiation every day. Tons of groundwater percolating into the damaged reactor buildings as well as water being injected into the reactors to cool the melted fuel are constantly becoming contaminated.
Almost all the radioactive elements are removed from the water with a filtering system. But the system cannot catch tritium, a mildly radioactive isotope of hydrogen.
The tritium-contaminated water is stored on-site in hundreds of large tanks. As the number of tanks has reached 900, the remaining space for them is shrinking and expected to run out by around 2020, according to the government.
Clearly, time is growing short on deciding what to do about the problem.
Tritium is a common radioactive element in the environment that is formed naturally by atmospheric processes. Nuclear power plants across the nation release tritium produced in their operations into the sea according to legal safety standards.
But these facts do not automatically mean that releasing the tritium-laced water into the sea off Fukushima is a good approach to the problem.
Local communities in areas affected by the 2011 nuclear disaster are making strenuous efforts to rebuild the local fishing and agricultural industries that have been battered by the radiation scare. There are still countries that ban imports of foodstuffs produced in Fukushima Prefecture.
Local fishermen and other community members have every reason to oppose the idea of releasing tritium into the ocean. They are naturally concerned that the discharge would produce new bad rumors that deliver an additional blow to the reputation and sales of Fukushima food products.
Unsurprisingly, most of the citizens who spoke at the hearings voiced their opposition to the idea.
Moreover, it was reported last month that high levels of radioactive strontium and iodine surpassing safety standards had been detected in the treated water.
The revelation has made local communities even more distrustful of what they have been told about operations to deal with the radioactive water.
It is obvious that the hearings at only three locations are not enough to sell any plan to cope with the sticky problem to skeptical local residents. The government needs to create more opportunities for communication with them.
In doing so, the government should show a flexible stance without adamantly making the case for the idea of releasing the water into the sea. Otherwise, there can be no constructive debate on the issue.
It can only hope to win the trust of the local communities if it gives serious consideration to other options as well.
During the hearings, many speakers suggested that the water should be kept in large tanks until the radioactivity level falls to a very low level.
The pros and cons of all possible options, including this proposal, should be weighed carefully through cool-headed debate before the decision is made.
Repeated discussions with fruitful exchanges of views among experts and citizens including local residents are crucial for ensuring that the final decision on the plan will win broad public support.
The government and Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the Fukushima plant, should disclose sufficient information for such discussions and give thoughtful and scrupulous explanations about relevant issues and details.
The government, which has been promoting nuclear power generation as a national policy priority, has the responsibility of building a broad and solid consensus on this problem.
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201809060020.html
September 10, 2018 Posted by dunrenard | Fukushima 2018 | Dumping, Fukushima Daiichi, Radioactive Water | Leave a comment
B.S. Propaganda Explaining that Radioactive Water Sea Dumping in Fukushima is Essential
As always the propaganda organs of the nuclear village and of the Japanese government are lying by omission, twisting the real facts, in order to justify their intention to dump the Fukushima daiichi's 7 years accumulated radioactive water at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant into the sea, to dump it into the Pacif Ocean would be criminal, plain ecocide.
As this 920 000 tons of radioactive water is not only tritium-laced water as the media would like the public to believe. It contains also other types of harmful radionuclides as Tepco has recently admitted:
TEPCO Admitted Almost 200 Billion Bq of Priorly Undeclared Radionuclides Water Contamination
https://dunrenard.wordpress.com/2018/08/22/tepco-admitted-almost-200-billion-bq-of-priorly-undeclared-radionuclides-water-contamination/
Radioactive tritium and other types of radionuclides in Fukushima nuclear plant water, despite water treatment
https://dunrenard.wordpress.com/2018/08/22/radioactive-tritium-and-other-types-of-radionuclides-in-fukushima-nuclear-plant-water-despite-water-treatment/
'Carefully explaining treated water discharge in Fukushima essential'
How should "treated water," which continues to accumulate at Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings, Inc.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, be disposed of? A plan must be quickly decided so this water does not cause delays in reactor decommissioning work.
Water is used to cool the reactor cores that melted down at the nuclear plant. Groundwater also flows into the plant, where it becomes contaminated by radioactive substances. Water collected at the site and passed through a purification facility is called "treated water."
More than 900,000 tons of such water is being stored in tanks. This volume is said to be expected to increase by 50,000 tons to 80,000 tons each year.
About 900 tanks of various types already have been built on the plant's premises. Finding space for additional tanks is becoming increasingly difficult, and plans to build more tanks run only until the end of 2020. If these tanks fill up the plant's premises, there likely will not be enough room to perform the work needed to decommission the reactors.
The problem is that about 900 trillion becquerels of the radioactive substance tritium (an isotope known as hydrogen-3) remain in the treated water. In principle, removing tritium from water is difficult. The most promising option is releasing this water into the ocean. This would be done after dilution to bring the concentration of tritium to acceptable standards.
Tritium is generated daily at nuclear plants in Japan and overseas and then discharged into the sea in accordance with set standards. The volume released from Japanese nuclear power plants during the five years before the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake averaged about 380 trillion becquerels per year.
Relieve locals' concerns
Each year, cosmic rays create about 70 quadrillion becquerels of tritium. Japan's annual rainfall naturally contains about 223 trillion becquerels. The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry and the Nuclear Regulation Authority have explained that levels of tritium below a certain concentration have no negative impact on the environment, among other things.
Releasing tritiated water into the ocean, after the safety of this process has been thoroughly confirmed, is unavoidable.
At public hearings held by the ministry in a bid to turn this plan into reality, many attendees offered the opinion that assurances of the safety of discharging this water "couldn't be trusted."
Although this is a technically complex problem, the materials and explanations given at these hearings were very simple. As the explanations were made on the assumption that attendees had basic knowledge about topics such as radiation, attendees demanded the ministry "reexamine the plan from scratch."
Criticism also focused on the fact that radioactive substances other than tritium remain in the treated water. This was triggered by some media reports on the issue just before the hearings.
Since four years ago, TEPCO has explained it attached great importance to efficiency in the purification process. This was to reduce the impact of radiation on workers at the plant and other people. TEPCO plans to remove the remaining radioactive substances when the water is discharged, but this process was not mentioned in the materials distributed at the hearings.
It appears the lack of explanation about possible risks has fueled the backlash to the discharge plan.
Locals, including people involved in the fishing industry, oppose releasing the water into the ocean because of possible damage and losses arising from negative public misperceptions. They are concerned that discharging treated water could once again have a negative impact on confidence in products from the area, which has been slowly recovering.
Of course, efforts must be made to call on local residents to get behind the plan. The government and TEPCO also should take stronger measures over wide areas to counter harmful misperceptions.
http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0004707915
September 6, 2018 Posted by dunrenard | Fukushima 2018 | Dumping, Fukushima Daiichi, Lies & Cover-up, Propaganda, Radioactive Water | Leave a comment
Fukushima water release into sea faces chorus of opposition
Citizens and environmental groups have expressed opposition to the idea of releasing into the ocean water tainted with tritium, a radioactive substance, from Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s disaster-stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
"Long-term storage (of the tritium-containing water) is possible from technical and economic standpoints," Komei Hosokawa, 63, an official of the Citizens' Commission on Nuclear Energy, said at a public hearing held in Tokyo on Friday by a subcommittee of the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy. "The radiation levels in the water will decrease during the long-term storage," he added.
At a similar hearing held the same day in Koriyama, Fukushima Prefecture, Aki Hashimoto, a housewife from the city, said, "I never want to see further worsening of ocean pollution from radiation."
Opinions objecting to the release of the tritium-contaminated water into the ocean were also heard at a hearing held in the Fukushima town of Tomioka on Thursday.
After Friday's hearings, Ichiro Yamamoto, who heads the subcommittee, told reporters that many participants in the hearings said the tainted water should continue to be held in storage tanks.
The subcommittee will study the option of keeping the water in the tanks, he added.
Tepco is lowering the radiation levels in contaminated water at the Fukushima No. 1 plant using special equipment, but the device cannot remove tritium.
The tritium-tainted water is stored in tanks within the premises of the power plant, which was heavily damaged in the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
In 2016, an expert panel of the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy discussed five methods to dispose of the tritium-tainted water —injection deep into the ground, release into the sea after dilution, release into the air through evaporation, conversion into hydrogen through electrolysis, and burying it after it is solidified.
The panel estimated that the ocean release is the cheapest option, costing up to about ¥3.4 billion.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/09/01/national/fukushima-water-release-sea-faces-chorus-opposition/
September 3, 2018 Posted by dunrenard | Fukushima 2018 | Dumping, Fukushima Daiichi, Radioactive Water | Leave a comment
Residents blast water-discharge method at Fukushima plant
Tanks containing radioactive water are seen in the compound of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant that spans the towns of Okuma and Futaba in Fukushima Prefecture.
TOMIOKA, Fukushima Prefecture–Fishermen and local residents on Aug. 30 vehemently opposed the government's plan to discharge radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant into the sea, saying the measure will damage a number of industries.
During a public hearing on the measure, they also blasted the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., for "misleading" the public by failing to disclose that radioactive substances, such as strontium, remained in the water to be discharged.
Although the ministry and TEPCO will likely have to repeat purification measures for the water to remove those substances, they gained little support for their plan to deal with the radioactive water accumulating at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
Thirteen of the 14 people who were allowed to express their opinions at the ministry-organized public hearing expressed opposition to the water-discharge plan.
"The (negative) influences of the measure will reach a wide range of fields, including not only the fishery industry but also tourism and restaurant businesses," said Tatsuya Ito, a resident of Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, and a member of "Genpatsu-mondai Jumin-undo Zenkoku-renraku Center (National liaison center for residents' movements on nuclear power generation issues).
Tetsu Nozaki, chairman of the Fukushima Prefectural Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations, emphasized that releasing the water into the sea would deal a "devastating blow" to the prefecture's fisheries industry.
"If the water is discharged in large quantities, it will inevitably cause confusion in Japan and abroad and lead to damage from groundless rumors," Nozaki said.
After the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami caused the disaster at the Fukushima No. 1 plant in March 2011, coastal fishing in Fukushima Prefecture was suspended because of radioactive water flowing into the sea.
Fishing for three types of fish later resumed on a trial basis. Now, more than 170 types are permitted, and preparations are being made for a full-scale resumption of operations.
But at the plant, groundwater flowing into the damaged reactor buildings continues to pose a problem, even after underground frozen walls were completed to divert the clean water into the sea.
About 100 tons of groundwater still become contaminated every day after entering the buildings. TEPCO also injects 70 tons of water daily into each of the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 reactors to cool the melted fuel.
Water from the buildings is purified, and 100 tons are stored in large tanks in the compound of the plant per day. The remaining water is re-injected into the reactors.
The volume of water stored in those tanks has reached 920,000 tons in the seven-and-a-half years since the triple meltdown. About 900 tanks, including those for unpurified water, now stand at the plant.
The ministry says that increasing the number of tanks will become impossible in late 2020 due to the limited space. It believes that a method to dispose of radioactive water must be decided within this year at the earliest.
The facilities used to purify the water remove radioactive substances, such as cesium and strontium, but they cannot eliminate tritium, whose chemical nature is the same as hydrogen's.
Discharging tritium into the sea is permitted if its radioactivity level is less than the statutory standard of 60,000 becquerels per liter of water.
But at the public hearing, the participants learned that traces of strontium also remained in the purified water.
"(The ministry and TEPCO) have misled the public," said Kazuyoshi Sato, an Iwaki city assemblyman. "They made a serious mistake in the fair disclosure of a wide range of information."
After the hearing, Ichiro Yamamoto, professor emeritus of nuclear power at Nagoya University and chairman of a government subcommittee on disposing of radioactive water, admitted that the government failed to sufficiently explain the fact that radioactive substances other than tritium remained in the water.
"I think that it is necessary to purify the water again," he said.
In May 2016, a ministry working group offered five methods to dispose of the radioactive water: putting it into geological layers; discharging it into the sea; releasing it as steam; discharging it as hydrogen; and burying it in the ground.
The group said if the radioactive water is diluted and released into the sea, it would cost 3.4 billion yen ($30 million) and take seven years and four months to complete. It concluded that this was cheapest and quickest of the five methods.
Toyoshi Fuketa, chairman of the Nuclear Regulation Authority, also supported the measure of releasing the water into the sea, saying, "It is the only feasible method."
Gov't, TEPCO plan to dump treated water in sea angers Fukushima fishermen
In this July 17, 2018 file photo, tanks containing water contaminated with radioactive materials are seen from a Mainichi Shimbun helicopter on the grounds of the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant in Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture.
TOKYO/IWAKI, Fukushima — In response to a Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) and Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry plan to release water containing radioactive tritium even after being treated from the tsunami-stricken Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant into the Pacific Ocean, Fukushima's fishing industry is biting back.
A panel of experts from the economy ministry is holding the first public meetings in Tokyo and Fukushima Prefecture on Aug. 30 and 31 concerning the future of the growing number of tanks of treated water around the power plant in the northeastern Japanese prefecture.
The ministry and TEPCO have expressed intentions to make a final decision sometime this year on whether to dump the treated water into the sea, saying that they are approaching the limit of the amount of water that the facilities can accommodate. However, fishermen and others involved in the marine product industry in Fukushima Prefecture, who have conducted numerous safety tests of their products, say that such a move would only undermine the trust they have been trying to build concerning safety, building up a sense of crisis.
"Scientists can simply say, 'It's fine to dump (the water) into the ocean,' but will the citizens of Japan still buy fish from Fukushima (afterward) like they do now?" So asked 63-year-old Toru Takahashi, a fisherman from Soma, Fukushima Prefecture, who rebuilt his boat damaged in the 2011 tsunami and has participated in the testing of the fish off of Fukushima's shores. Takahashi believes that the Nuclear Regulation Authority's approval of the plan to dump the water containing tritium — which cannot be filtered using current technology — in the Pacific Ocean put forth by the economy ministry as the fastest and most low-cost method of disposal, lacks the perspective of fishermen and those in the marine product industry.
After high concentrations of radioactive materials were washed into the ocean in the nuclear disaster at the power plant in 2011, fishing along the coast of Fukushima was halted completely. From the following year, the Fukushima Prefectural Federation of Fisheries and Co-operative Associations began trial operations and other activities to test the safety of marine products, expanding the range of fishing areas and species. Since April 2015, there have been no cases of fish exceeding the government standard of 100 becquerels of radioactivity per kilogram. The catch has been only a little more than 10 percent that of before the accident, fishing of core species has begun again, and radiation below the minimum detection limit is found in over 99 percent of the products tested this year.
It is precisely for this reason that the notion of releasing the treated water into the ocean off Fukushima's coast is causing concerns in the fishing industry.
"We don't intend to protest on scientific grounds, but the problem is that the measure hasn't gained the understanding of the citizens of Japan. It will be a huge blow to the Fukushima fishing industry," said Fukushima prefectural fisheries federation chairman Tetsu Nozaki, who plans to make his opposition to the plan known at the forum in Tomioka, Fukushima Prefecture, on Aug. 30.
The contaminated water in question is that which has been used to cool the melted nuclear fuel rods in the reactor and the ground water around the plant, and each day, roughly 220 tons of such water is amassed, and is expected to amount to 55,000 tons per year in the future. Currently, there are 880 containment tanks on the grounds of the nuclear plant. Even after treating the water, tritium cannot be removed.
According to the Nuclear Regulation Authority, if an individual was to drink 2 liters of water containing the maximum standard amount of tritium every day, then they would be exposed to an additional roughly 1 millisievert of radiation annually, which is equal to the actual radiation exposure limit put forth by the International Commission on Radiological Protection.
After collecting the opinions of the participants in the public hearings, the government plans to make a final decision about processing the water in cooperation with TEPCO before the end of the year.
(Japanese original by Tatsushi Inui, Iwaki Local Bureau, and Riki Iwama, Science & Environment News Department)
Fukushima fisheries group opposes release of radioactive water into sea
TOMIOKA, FUKUSHIMA PREF. – The head of a fisheries industry group in Fukushima Prefecture expressed opposition on Thursday to the idea of releasing water containing radioactive tritium from a crippled nuclear plant in the prefecture into the ocean.
The tritium-tainted water is from Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, which was damaged heavily in the powerful earthquake and tsunami in March 2011.
"At a time when harmful rumors are still circulating in Japan and some countries continue to restrict imports (of Fukushima goods), releasing the tainted water into the sea will inevitably deliver a fatal blow to the Fukushima fishery industry," Tetsu Nozaki, who leads the Fukushima Prefectural Federation of Fisheries Cooperative Associations, said.
His remarks came during a public hearing held by a subcommittee of the Agency for Natural Resources and Energy in the Fukushima town of Tomioka.
The hearing was for the canvassing of opinions on how to deal with the tritium-tainted water. Releasing it into the sea has been proposed as one option. Similar hearings will be held in the city of Koriyama, Fukushima, and Tokyo on Friday.
Using special equipment, Tepco is lowering the radiation levels in contaminated water at the plant, but the device cannot remove tritium.
While the processed water is kept in tanks within the premises of the nuclear power station, the amount of tainted water continues to increase as the plant's damaged reactors need to be cooled continuously. Tepco is about to run out of suitable sites to construct new storage tanks, according to the government.
Discussions on ways to deal with the tritium-contaminated water are underway at the subcommittee of the government agency.
In a June 2016 report, an expert panel of the agency said that releasing the polluted water into the sea after it is diluted with fresh water would be relatively cheap and time-efficient.
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/08/30/national/fukushima-fisheries-group-opposes-release-tritium-tainted-water-sea/
Public hearing in Fukushima on tritium-laced water
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.
https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/20180830_17/
More than 200 Japanese scientists and citizens decleared "A Resolution Against the Ocean Dumping of Radioactive Tritium-contaminated Waste Water From the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant."
Copied below is the document or see the following website:
http://blog.torikaesu.net/?eid=76
Please read it and you could take the situations more seriously how dangerous it can be if TEPCO dumps as
planned the tritium-contaminated water from the defunct Fukushima nuclear plant to the Pacific Ocean.
If you could post this document onto your web-pages or blogs and share it with your friends and acquaintances, it would be very helpful to spread the real picture of Fukushima nuclear disaster, that the Japanese government wants to conceal by any nasty means.
Physics Professor Emeritus at Kyoto University, Kosaku Yamada, who led the process to declaring this resolution, hopes that everyone who agrees with this resolution could e-mail him and register as an assenter of it.
With greeting of solidarity,
Etsuji Watanabe
Members of the Association for Citizens and Scientists Concerned about Internal Radiation Exposures (ACSIR) and citizens and scientists who are concerned about internal radiation exposure
〖You can download this resolution from here.〗
A Resolution Against the Ocean Dumping of Radioactive Tritium-contaminated Waste Water From the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant(pdf,3pages,146KB)
It was announced in March, 2014, that in the defunct Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant there was a total of approximately 3,400 trillion becquerels of tritium, with 830 trillion becquerels stored in tanks. This enormous amount of radioactive waste water has still continued to increase since then. In these circumstances, the Japanese government and Tokyo Electric Power Company Ltd. (TEPCO), in their efforts to find an easy way to dispose of the tritium-contaminated waste water created by the Fukushima nuclear disaster, have been trying to dilute and dump it into the ocean. They have been watching for an unguarded moment among the opposition movements, such as fishery cooperatives. Now they are about to finally decide to implement the ocean dumping plan. Far from regulating such activities, Toyoshi Fuketa, the chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Authority has been championing this plan.
Plants produce starch from water and carbon dioxide gas by using photosynthesis. Some of hydrogen atoms in this starch can be replaced with tritium, forming organic tritium, which animals, plants and human beings absorb into their bodies over the long term, causing internal radiation.
3. Tritium, even if diluted and dumped into the ocean, will become concentrated again through aspects of the ecosystem such as food chains. Furthermore, tritium will vaporize into tritium-containing moisture or hydrogen gas only to return to the land and eventually circulate within the environment. The idea that dilution ensures safety has caused fatal blunders to be repeated in many environmental pollution cases in the past, the vital factor being the total quantity released into the environment. Therefore, as far as environmental pollution problems are concerned, the only righteous and principled policy is to thoroughly confine and isolate radioactive materials or toxic substances from the ecosystem.
The resolution assenters:
As of August 5
Individuals:
淡川典子、青木幸雄、青柳行信、伊集院真知子、上里恵子、吾郷健二、吾郷成子、阿部 毅、
阿部健太郎、阿部めぐみ、有田武生、アントニオ弓削、池村奈津子、石岡敬三、石川隆之、石下直子、
石田紀郎、石堂太郎、伊集院真知子、稲垣 博美、稲垣 睿、印南敏夫、今田裕作、岩田深雪、
上野益徳、上野祥子、魚住公成、魚住優子、内海洋一、宇野朗子、衛藤英二、遠藤順子、
及川洋子、大倉弘之、岡田俊子、小木曽茂子、小野英喜、大沼淳一、大見哲巨、大和田幸嗣、
大湾宗則、奥森祥陽、尾崎一彦、尾崎憲正、尾崎宗璋、落合栄一郎、落合祥堯、小野寺晶、
折原利男、勝部明、川崎陽子、川添 務、河原よしみ、木次昭宏、木原和子、木村千亜紀、
許 照美、熊谷まき、黒河内繁美、黒田節子、鍬野保雄、權 龍夫、国分 天、小林立雄、
小柴信子、児玉順一、小橋かおる、後藤五月、小針修子、小東ゆかり、小林久公、小宮市郎、
小山 潔、コリン・コバヤシ、今 正則、斉藤さちこ、齊藤智子、佐藤和利、佐藤京子、佐藤大介、
澤田昭二、嶋田美子、島 安治、下澤陽子、下山久美子、庄司善哉、白井健雄 、白鳥紀一、
菅原佐喜雄、杉野恵一、鈴木則雄、鈴木紀雄、砂川正弘、髙木和美、高階喜代恵、高瀬光代、
滝本 健、田代真人、橘 優子、舘澤みゆき、田中一郎、田中 清、高木 伸、高橋精巧、
高橋武三、髙松利昌、辻 陽子、辻本 誠、哲野イサク、寺尾光身、友田シズエ、外谷悦夫、
冨田孝正、中川洋子、中沢浩二、長尾高弘、長澤民衣、中須賀 徳行、永田文夫、名出真一、
中西綾子、中村由紀男、奈良本英佑、難波希美子、西尾正道、西川生子、西川隆善、西里扶甬子、
根本 勘、野村修身、萩原正子、萩原ゆきみ、橋爪亮子、橋本恵美、馬場利子、林 敬次、
原田二三子、平佐公敏、福島敦子、藤井隼人、藤井弘子、藤原寿和、 舩冨和枝、星川まり、
堀江みゆき、松井英介、松井和子、松岡由香子、松尾美絵、松沢哲成、松久 寛、三上幸子、
水鳥方義、水戸喜世子、宮口高枝、宮嵜やゆみ、宮下京子、宮永崇史、向平恵子、向平 真、
三ツ林安治、三室 勇、森下育代、森田眞理、矢ケ崎克馬、八木和美、梁取洋夫、矢野勝敏、
山口サエ子、山崎清、山崎知行、山崎正彦、山田五十鈴、山田清彦、山田耕作、山田勝暉、
山田敏正、山田 誠、山本清子、山本英彦、横山恵子、横山義弘、横山由美子、吉田明生、
吉田恵子、吉田素直、米澤鐡志、わしおとよ、渡辺悦司、渡辺典子、渡辺眞知子、
太田川ダム研究会、クライストチャーチの風 、さよなら原発神戸アクション、
静岡放射能汚染測定室、全国金属機械労働組合港合同アート・アド分会、脱原発はりまアクション、
脱被ばく実現ネット、京都脱原発原告団、核燃を考える住民の会、
核燃から郷土を守る上十三地方住民連絡会議、
If you agree with this resolution, please e-mail to Kosaku Yamada.
Address: kosakuyamada@yahoo.co.jp.
August 22, 2018 Posted by dunrenard | Fukushima 2018 | Contaminated Water, Dumping, Fukushima Daiichi | Leave a comment
Doctor Chris Busby about the nuclear mud dumping issue in Wales, United Kingdom
Doctor Chris Busby dealing about the nuclear mud dumping issue in Wales, pointing the dangers of such project for the population's health. The local politicians putting money over health.
February 18, 2018 Posted by dunrenard | EUROPE, UK | Dumping, Nuclear Mud, Wales | 1 Comment
Fukushima: A million tonnes of radioactive water still in storage after nuclear disaster
To dump into the ocean a million tonnes of radioactive water should be considered by the international community a crime against humanity and an ecocide against the environment. Whatever they say, whatever they lied, it will never be totally decontaminated and it will never be safe, no matter how many shills on the mainstream media are paid by the nuclear lobby to spin fairy tales in order to brainwash the public about 'safety'.
The water is being stored in hundreds of large and densely packed tanks at the plant.
Japan cannot agree on what to do with a million tonnes of radioactive water being stored at the destroyed Fukushima nuclear power plant — and there is a chance it could spill if another major earthquake or tsunami were to strike.
The water is being stored in about 900 large and densely packed tanks at the plant, which was overwhelmed by a devastating tsunami more than six years ago.
Making matters worse, the amount of contaminated water held at Fukushima is still growing by 150 tons a day.
The stalemate is rooted in a fundamental conflict between science and human nature.
Experts advising the government have urged a gradual release of the water to the nearby Pacific Ocean. Treatment has removed all the radioactive elements except tritium, which they say is safe in small amounts
Conversely, if the tanks break, their contents could slosh out in an uncontrolled way.
Local fishermen are balking — they say the water, no matter how clean, has a dirty image for consumers.
Fumio Haga, a drag-net fisherman from Iwaki, a city about 50 kilometres down the coast from the nuclear plant, said releasing the water would end the local industry's fragile recovery.
"People would shun Fukushima fish again as soon as the water is released," he said.
Experts want a gradual release, but if the tanks break the water would slosh out
A new chairman at TEPCO, the embattled utility that owns the plant, caused an uproar in the fishing community in April when he expressed support for moving ahead with the release of the water.
The company quickly backpedalled, and now says it has no plans for an immediate release and can keep storing water through 2020.
Despite tests, many shoppers avoid Fukushima fish
Today, only about half of the Fukushima region's 1,000 fishermen go out, and just twice a week because of reduced demand.
They participate in a fish testing program that sees lab technicians mince fish samples, pack them in a cup for inspection and record details such as who caught the fish and where.
The fish that make it to market meet what is believed to be the world's most stringent requirements.
Only three kinds of fish passed the test when the experiment began in mid-2012, 15 months after the tsunami. Over time, that number has increased to about 100.
The fish that make it to market meet what is believed to be the world's most stringent requirements, but that message is not reaching consumers.
Fewer Japanese shoppers shun fish and other foods from Fukushima than before, but one in five still do, according to a survey by Japan's Consumer Agency.
Naoya Sekiya, a University of Tokyo expert on disaster information and social psychology, said the water from the nuclear plant should not be released until people were well-informed about the basic facts, and are psychologically ready.
"A release only based on scientific safety, without addressing the public's concerns, cannot be tolerated in a democratic society," he said.
"A release when people are unprepared would only make things worse."
https://amp.abc.net.au/article/9193488
November 25, 2017 Posted by dunrenard | Fukushima 2017 | Contaminated Fish, Contaminated Water, Dumping, Fukushima Daiichi, Pacific Ocean | 1 Comment
Dumping tritium from Fukushima into sea is best option: ministry
The industry ministry concluded that releasing diluted radioactive tritium into the sea is the most feasible option in dealing with contaminated water accumulating at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
The ministry's working group said at a meeting on April 19 that separating tritium from the contaminated water is proving extremely difficult, and that four other options studied about disposal were either too time-consuming or expensive.
Releasing the water into the sea would cost 3.4 billion yen ($31 million) and take seven years and four months to complete, according to the group.
Tokyo Electric Power Co., the operator of the embattled nuclear plant, will decide on a disposal method based on the group's findings. The utility has said it will not release treated water that still contains radioactive substances into the sea without gaining the understanding of local fishermen.
TEPCO has been struggling to ease the buildup of polluted water at the nuclear plant. Every day, tons of groundwater become contaminated with radioactive substances after entering damaged reactor buildings.
About 800,000 tons of water containing tritium are stored at the nuclear complex. This water was mostly used to cool melted nuclear fuel in the affected reactors.
TEPCO has been using a device called ALPS (advanced liquid processing system) to eliminate 62 kinds of radioactive substances, including cesium, from the water. But it cannot remove tritium.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry solicited ideas from the public on how to separate tritium from the polluted water. Six companies and one university submitted proposals.
However, experts in and out of Japan who evaluated the proposed methods concluded that none of the plans could be put into practical use in the near future.
The ministry's working group narrowed its analysis to the five options that involved disposing of water containing tritium.
One suggestion was to inject the polluted water into deep layers of the Earth. Another proposal was to electrolyze the tritium-contaminated water and release it into the atmosphere.
The highest estimated cost in the proposals was 388.4 billion yen, with the longest period for completion reaching 13 years, according to the group's study.
Ministry officials concluded that releasing water containing tritium into the sea after diluting it would be most reasonable in terms of both cost and time.
April 21, 2016 Posted by dunrenard | Fukushima 2016 | Contaminated Water, Dumping, Fukushima Daiichi | 2 Comments
Tepco started discharging contaminated groundwater beside crippled reactor buildings
Tepco started discharging the contaminated groundwater to the Pacific on 9/14/2015, Tepco reported.
It was discharged for nearly 6 hours in daytime. The reported volume of contaminated water was 838 tons.
The discharged water was pumped up from 20 of 41 wells called "sub-drain" situated beside crippled reactor buildings 1 ~ 4.
10,800,000 Bq/m3 of Cs-134/137 and 16,000,000 Bq/m3 of Tritium were measured from the water pumped this August. Tepco announced they purified water before discharging, however unremovable nuclide Tritium still remains in water. 390,000 ~ 600,000 Bq/m3 of Tritium was detected from "filtered" water from third party organization's analysis.
http://www.tepco.co.jp/tepconews/library/archive-j.html?video_uuid=q2f3u22p&catid=69619
http://www.tepco.co.jp/decommision/planaction/sub-drain/index-j.html
http://www.tepco.co.jp/cc/press/2015/1259086_6818.html
http://www.tepco.co.jp/nu/fukushima-np/handouts/2015/images/handouts_150902_07-j.pdf
Source: Fukushima Diary
http://fukushima-diary.com/2015/09/video-tepco-started-discharging-contaminated-groundwater-beside-crippled-reactor-buildings/
September 16, 2015 Posted by dunrenard | Japan | Contaminated Water, Dumping, Fukushima Daiichi | Leave a comment
850 tons of 'decontaminated' Fukushima water dumped into ocean
The first batch of radioactive groundwater filtered below "measurable limits" at Japan's tsumani-stricken Fukushima nuclear power plant has been dumped into the ocean, as TEPCO seeks to ease toxic water building-up at the site.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) that operates the crippled nuclear plant released its first 850 tons of filtered radioactive groundwater by sundown on September 14. This is a part of TEPCO's "subdrain plan" that was approved in late July after a year-long battle with local fishermen who opposed the release fearing that it would pollute the ocean and contaminate marine life.
A third party panel has given the green light to the release after confirming that the radioactive content was below measurable limits, according to The Japan Times. TEPCO allows one becquerel of radioactive cesium per liter of decontaminated groundwater, three becquerels for elements that emit beta rays and up to 1,500 becquerels for tritium, which cannot be removed with existing technology.
Monday's batch measured 330 to 600 becquerels per liter, TEPCO said, citing analyses conducted by the company and an outside organization.
TEPCO has yet to deal with remaining 680,000 tons of water that was used to cool the reactors during the 2011 meltdown.
"The risk that you run is that you have all these tanks full of water," Dale Klein, the chairman of a committee created to prevent possible meltdowns, told AFP. "The longer you store the water, the more likely you are going to have (an) uncontrolled release," he said. Klein added that he hopes the supplies will be released from storage in the next three years.
TEPCO, much criticized for handling the tsunami-triggered meltdown at Fukushima No.1 reactors, is running behind schedule on a project to build a huge underground ice barrier – the "ice wall" – around Fukushima plant as it tries to stop groundwater from reaching the reactor building basements.
In addition, flooding from Typhoon Etau caused new leaks of contaminated water to flow from the Fukushima nuclear power station into the ocean last week. The incident came after a rush of water overwhelmed the site's drainage pumps.
Source: RT
https://www.rt.com/news/315350-fukushima-decontaminated-water-ocean/


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Braves Daily News Digest: 3/28
Your morning/afternoon stop for all the latest Braves news and other stories around the league.
By PmaccoonATL28 Mar 28, 2014, 9:55am EDT
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Braves News
Spring Training Comes To Conclusion
The Braves ended a rather excruciating Spring Training on Thursday with a 9-3 loss to the Detroit Tigers. While Jordan Schafer and B.J. Upton took Max Scherzer deep in the 5th inning the defending AL Central Champs plated the games final eight runs, boosted by a three run blast by three-time AL batting champ Miguel Cabrera. Aaron Harang went 5 2/3 innings in his first start with the Braves since signing a one-year contract on monday. Despite only allowing one run in the first four innings the 34-year old righty who touched in the low 90's surrendered six earned runs on eight hits and struck out two. The loss ends Grapefruit League play for Fredi Gonzalez's club with a 12-18-3 record.
Opening Day Countdown: 4 Days
Right now it's just a tease how close baseball season is to actually starting up for Atlanta Braves fans. On March 31 the team will play at Miller Park and go up against Yovani Gallardo. Over the past three seasons the Brewers No. 1 has started just three games against Atlanta and posted a 2-1 record in 21 IP and held opposing hitters to a .215 batting average while striking out 15. Julio Teheran has just made one start against the Brew Crew and gave up two earned runs in 6.1 innings of work. JT was 6-4 with a 3.38 ERA on the road last season.
Braves Home Opener: 12 Days
To begin the season the Braves will go on to road trips with three game series with the Brewers and Nationals. Then they will return to Turner Field to what hopes to be a crowd of around 40,000 or more on Tuesday, April 8 to face the Mets. Make sure to get to the stadium early, as the Braves will commemorate Hank Aaron's 40th anniversary of hitting No. 715. Also the first 45,000 fans will get a Hank Aaron poster.
Uggla Has Confidence And Momentum Heading Into '14 Campaign
Not only did Dan Uggla crank out bombs and finish Top 5 in Grapefruit League play in RBIs but the man with massive forearms also hit 69 points above the Mendoza line and had a 12:18 BB/SO ratio. He told DOB that he feels better than he's ever felt before as far as knowing his swing.
Mizuno USA Signs Simmons To Multi-Year Glove Deal
The highlight reel tape of Andrelton Simmonsn proved worthy enough of one of the top glove brands in baseball to sign him to a deal to be a face for the brand. Who's ready to see his spectacular plays on D again this season? I am.
Frank Wren Confident In Braves Despite Injuries
The GM knows best and will not appear flustered by any of the injuries this spring and remains confident in his ball club despite missing five starting pitchers heading into the season.
Hanson An Option?
MLB Outside Pitch believes that Tommy Hanson could be a fit again in Atlanta with their lack of pitching depth in the rotation, but DOB has insisted that they are not interested. Still there are three more full days in which the Braves could work something out before the regular season begins.
The Boys Of Summer Are Back
It's been real Florida, but the Braves are happy to be back in Atlanta ready to kick some tail this season.
Ahhhh Atlanta! Oh how I have missed you
— Freddie Freeman (@FreddieFreeman5) March 27, 2014
Being Optimistic About 2014
Our very own Dan Simpson, who I must say is very popular with the crowd these days after picking the Braves to win it all in TC's 2014 predictions, gives us reasons to be optimistic about the upcoming season and believes Jason Heyward is in for his biggest season yet.
League Wide News
Spring Training: Final Team Grades
See who impressed the most this ST and where all the teams are heading into the new campaign. Right now every team believes they can win a Pennant, even the Cubs.
Miguel Cabrera Gets Record Deal
Over the next 10 years the best hitter in all of baseball will get paid $292 million, which many executives were appalled at. Miggy's success lies in this workout video he put out the other day.
Doug Fister Leaves Game
This spring has not gone the way the Nationals had hoped for their newly acquired starting pitcher Doug Fister. He left a minor league start yesterday after an inning with a lat strain and could miss his first start of the season.
Cueto Gets The Nod
For the third straight season Johnny Cueto will take the mound opening day for the Cincinnati Reds as they take on the St. Louis Cardinals to start the season. If any game has a bench clearing brawl in the first game of the season it may be this one. The two teams simply don't like each other.
Talking Chop 2022 Preseason Top 30 Braves Prospects: 7-12 Rocketing into the Top 10.
MLB, MLBPA to hold another bargaining session Monday The union is expected to present a counteroffer to the league's most recent proposal.


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Some Households Could See Double Reduction in SNAP Benefits in 2023
The FDA is encouraging the public to support local food banks, mutual aid organizations and food banks that will likely see an increase in demand following the loss of assistance.
Image by Romy from Pixabay
An end to pandemic-era SNAP benefits could be a double blow to households currently receiving Social Security, SSI, or VA benefits. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has announced that a temporary boost to SNAP benefits put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic will end nationwide, including Louisiana, in February. This coincides with a reduction in benefits following an increased cost of living allowance for those households.
On Jan. 1, 2023 the Social Security COLA increase took effect, increasing the monthly Social Security Retirement, Survivors and Disability Insurance (RSDI), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and some Veterans Administration (VA) payments by 8.7%. This increase in income may have already reduced the monthly SNAP allotment for those households. The end of the COVID-19 SNAP benefit, a minimum of $95 per month, could present a second blow to those families.
"Emergency allotments were always going to be temporary," noted Assistant Secretary of Family Support Shavana Howard. "Still, we know this news will be unsettling to recipients who have counted on the additional food assistance for the past three years, especially as they struggled with the health and economic crisis brought on by the pandemic."
ReportNOLA is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
The FDA is encouraging the public to support local food banks, mutual aid organizations and food banks that will likely see an increase in demand following the loss of assistance for already stressed households. The situation could be further exacerbated by runaway inflation, and a slowing economy. On Tuesday the World Bank slashed 2023 growth forecasts, leading to increased fears that a global recession is on the way.
According to Feeding America, 1 in 7 adults and 1 in 5 children face hunger in Louisiana. Currently, 44.9% of the households receiving SNAP in the state have children. Sadly, those benefits are already not enough for most households. The nonprofit estimates an additional $312,959,000 is needed to meet the food needs of struggling Louisiana families - a number that is likely going to increase thanks to this reduction of benefits.
If you or your family is struggling with food insecurity, you can find a list of resources here, or contact Second Harvest at 504-734-1322 if you live in the New Orleans, Northshore, and Bayou areas. For those who live in the Lafayette and Acadiana regions, the number is 337-232-HELP.
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ReportNOLA is the sole creation of Jennsen Bentley - a local, independent journalist who is dedicated to serving the community of New Orleans. As a proud member of the Society of Professional Journalists, he is dedicated to ethical reporting on issues that matter.


Her beauty once inspired artist Paul Gauguin. Now she'll do the same for you. Papeete is an excellent home base from which to enjoy a French Polynesia cruise to explore the culture, beaches, and milky blue lagoons. Beach lovers can sunbathe and relax on Tahiti's distinctive white-sand, pink-sand, and even black-sand beaches. Natural ribs of fringing reef transform the coast into brilliant aquamarine lagoons with gentle water, perfect for swimming and soaking. Tahiti has captivated the European and western imagination for centuries with tales of free love, simple living off the island's naturally-growing fruit trees, and a landscape characterized by breathtaking mountains and crystal-clear oceans. On cruises to Tahiti, adventure-seekers can enjoy snorkeling, diving, jet skiing, and some of the world's best surfing. Stroll Papeete's lively waterfront where roulottes, or local food trucks, serve everything from Tahitian favorites to French delicacies. Tahiti's national dish, poisson cru, is a ceviche made using seafood, coconut, and other local island flavors. Visit Le Marché open-air market on your cruise to Tahiti, where you can purchase local vanilla beans or a pareo or explore the boulevards and discover jewelry stores selling rare black pearls.
At Mihiarii Pearls, hidden on one of Papeete's backstreets, boxes brim with black and creamy pearls in different sizes and price ranges. Master craftsmen will make you a piece of jewelry on the spot.


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Ngugi wa Thiong'o at Revolution Books 04-08-11
A Rare Evening with Ngugi wa Thiong'o
at Revolution Books in Berkeley
7 pm, Friday April 8, 2011
Ngugi wa Thiong'o, the world-renowned Kenyan writer, will read and discuss his book Dreams in a Time of War: A Childhood Memoir. (click to purchase)
Ngugi Wa Thiong'o is respected and beloved around the world for his path-breaking novels and plays that paint an unsparing picture of life in neo-colonial Kenya. He has broken new ground in bringing the oppressed onto the literary scene, and his outspoken resistance to imperialist culture is also reflected in his innovative theoretical work on post-colonial literature. He has been imprisoned more than once in Kenya for his works. In the late '70s he began writing novels in Gikuyu, his mother tongue. The first of these, Devil on the Cross, was written in prison on toilet paper.
Ngugi now lives in exile in the U.S. Formerly a professor at NYU, he is currently a Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature at the University of California, Irvine. His books have been translated into more than thirty languages.
For more on Ngugi, go to http://www.ngugiwathiongo.com/