IOC grants Tokyo 2020 Olympics, despite ongoing concerns over Fukushima power plant

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      Tokyo will host the 2020 Summer Olympics, 56 years after it staged the same event.

      International Olympic Committee delegates in Buenos Aires chose Japan's capital city over Istanbul in the final round.

      Madrid was rejected in the first round of balloting.

      The prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, travelled with the Japanese delegation and claimed that problems at the Fukushima nuclear plant were under control.

      "It has never done and will never do any damage to Tokyo," he claimed, according to a CBC report.

      Abe's comments contradict a recent post on the Fukushima Diary website, which tracks horror stories linked to the crippled nuclear facility.

      Citing a news conference held by the Tokyo Electric Power Company, it stated that approximately half of the water from Fukushima plant's port travels into the Pacific Ocean.

      Meanwhile, Damian Carrington's environmental blog, which is on the Guardian site, has described the CDN$325 million being spent on an ice wall as "the latest desperate attempt to halt the radiation-contaminated water that is leaking into the sea".

      "The final cleanup will cost tens of billions and take 40 years," Carrington predicts. 

      Tokyo is 238 kilometres from Fukushima, which is slightly farther than the distance from Vancouver to Tacoma, Washington.

      As for Abe's claim that his country's nuclear accident has had no impact on Tokyo, that assertion has been challenged Chris Busby. He has a PhD in chemical physics and is a former member of Britain's Committee Examining Risks of Internal Emitters.

      Busby reported last year that he had found enormously high levels in an air-conditioning unit in central Tokyo.

      The dust measured hundreds of thousands of Becquerels per kilogram, which is enough to scare anyone familiar with the effects of radiation.

      There's a lesson for anyone thinking about attending the 2020 Olympics: demand new air-conditioning filters in any hotel room you plan on visiting.

      Because as we've seen since the March 2011 tsunami-caused devastation of the Fukushima power plant, you can't always take the Japanese government at its word.

      Comments

      21 Comments

      Birdman

      Sep 7, 2013 at 5:25pm

      Look on the positive side, they'll have no problem getting that Olympic "glow" on.

      SusanS

      Sep 8, 2013 at 5:50am

      ☢ Fukushima Petitions to Sign & Share! ☢
      ☢ Japan Needs Worldwide Help NOW! ☢

      http://tinyurl.com/FixFuku

      ☢ ☢ ☢ ☢ ☢ ☢ ☢ ☢ ☢ ☢ ☢ ☢ ☢

      Billy Bones

      Sep 8, 2013 at 7:25am

      It is possible to imagine a worse place to have the olympics but Japan will be one of the worst. The Fukushima nuclear disaster is completely out of control with no solution, As the radiation leaks in to the aquifer which supplies water to Tokyo and it's surrounding areas Japan, faces relocating 45 million people, much more than the population of Canada.

      The Olympic are a disaster to the host wherever they go. Japan will be much worse.

      Billy Bones

      Sep 8, 2013 at 7:25am

      It is possible to imagine a worse place to have the olympics but Japan will be one of the worst. The Fukushima nuclear disaster is completely out of control with no solution, As the radiation leaks in to the aquifer which supplies water to Tokyo and it's surrounding areas Japan, faces relocating 45 million people, much more than the population of Canada.

      The Olympic are a disaster to the host wherever they go. Japan will be much worse.

      Elizabeth

      Sep 8, 2013 at 9:50am

      Why Japan ? Spain should be the one . Seem like this people who vote does not care about the Heath of the human race . I'm not going to Japan .

      Oh G

      Sep 8, 2013 at 10:35am

      I have no clue as to why the IOC keeps making bad calls like this.

      samurai

      Sep 8, 2013 at 2:04pm

      I am Japanese.
      He told lies completely.
      Today is also radioactive water is leaking and polluting
      In Fukushima's power plant melted radioactive fewl are
      remains now. And noone knows where they are.
      Is that realy under control?
      Japan must give up Olympic and must pass back.

      kiskatinawkid

      Sep 8, 2013 at 5:51pm

      Perhaps "Whale Whacking" and "Dolphin Dicing" can be introduced as new sporting events.
      Strictly in the name of "Science" of course!

      casper

      Sep 8, 2013 at 8:12pm

      It almost seems as if the owelimpics is being used as a diversion to take everyone's mind off the Fukushima disaster.

      bye-bye plutocracy

      Sep 9, 2013 at 3:51am

      Welcome to the Tokyo Uran-pick Games 2020!
      with singing
      "Sinful Tokyo (Be Sure to Wear A Mask on Your Mouth)"

      If you’re going to Sinful Tokyo
      Be sure to wear a mask in your mouth
      If you’re going to Sinful Tokyo
      You’re gonna get irradiated there

      All across the nation,
      such a tragic radiation
      Plutonium in motion
      There’ll be a whole generation,
      with no explanation
      Cesium in motion, Strontium in motion