Bali Diary - Top Page (English) http://badi5.web.fc2.com/bali5/bali5.html Raw cake, Vegan cake and Ayurvedic cooking (English) http://badi5.web.fc2.com/bali5/pic-dishes/bali_140915.html * 22 January 2015 Have you eaten in any Japanese restaurants since March 11th, 2011? Please do not eat Japanese foods like kombu, wakame (seaweed), fish, miso, soy sauce, salt, chicken, pork, beef, milk, cheese, mushrooms, rice, or any fruits and vegetable in Japanese restaurants. Of course it's okay to buy and eat "miso" made in Bali. I will talk about the situation at Fukushima. Radioactive contamination is still continuing to flow from the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan. It is leaking roughly 300t/day into the sea. And nuclear fission is continuing every day at 10,000,000bq/day. It will continue for at least 30 years. Most of the nuclear fuel has gone underground and some of it might be in contact with underground water. The magma of the nuclear fuel is releasing fission products from the nuclear reaction into the air. (The official figures released by Tokyo Electric power Co. and the Japanese Government, as of August 2014, are 300t/ day into the sea and 10,000,000bq/day released into the air.) Page 10 of the November 1st 2011 issue of the Jakarta Post reports, "Officials at the Tokyo Electric Power Co., say that they have for the most part succeeded in cooling the damaged reactors, and have achieved a "cold shutdown". But that was a lie. As I mentioned earlier, most of the nuclear fuel has gone underground. So there are almost no nuclear fuel rods in the vessels. So of course it's cool now. But by the definition of " cold shutdown": it's like an engine of a car, water needs to be circulated. But for a nuclear power plant in cold shutdown, the water needs to be circulated for 30 years. To avoid radiation sickness, we have to learn to choose our food carefully. Please see the periodic table. In the periodic table of elements, elements in the same column have a similar structure of electrons to each other. For example, Cesium (Cs) is similar to Potassium (K); Strontium (Sr) is similar to Calcium (Ca). Of course, a lot of the foods we eat contain potassium and calcium. They are important nutrients for our physical health. But because of their similar structures, our body confuses cesium for potassium and strontium for calcium. Our bodies mistakenly absorb these radioactive elements and they remain in our bodies for over 30 years. Once inside our bodies, the Cs and Sr will irradiate neighboring cells every second for over 30 years. Already, the radiation has spread all over the earth. And tuna wander around the oceans. * What is radioactive/radiation? "Please come in, element 92, Uranium!" (cf. "92nd" comes from the periodic table of elements.) We opened Pandora's box. - Vol.1 In the 20th century, we discovered that we could generate heat by firing a neutron into the nucleus of an atom. (cf.1. An atomic nucleus of Ur238. cf.2. Most of the natural Uranium is Ur238 (99.3%).) We opened Pandora's box. - Vol.2 The ratio of Ur235:U238 is 0.7%:99.3% in natural uranium found in rock. We discovered that it was easier to create nuclear fission with Ur235. So if we could find a way to start a chain reaction using Ur235, we could get an enormous amount of heat energy from Ur235. (cf. The heat from the chain reaction with Ur235 is used to boil water. The steam is used to power turbines that generate electricity. This is how nuclear power plants generate electricity.) Normally, the ratio of the enriched uranium (Ur235) is 3%. Ur235 and Pu239 are the only elements used to create nuclear chain reactions. Back in 1942, in the early days of nuclear power plants, they seemed like a dream source of electricity. A small amount of fuel can generate electricity for one family, for an entire year without the need to refuel. A one centimeter tall, one centimeter diameter pellet of fuel is all that was needed. But everyday, nuclear power plants are leaking radiation into the air and ocean even under normal operating conditions, without any accident. They are also making and releasing radioactive water that is seven degrees centigrade hotter into the oceans every second. The amount of radioactive hot water flowing out of nuclear power plants is around 70t/s, which is equivalent to a large river in Japan. We don't have a way to store the radioactive waste from these power plants. (And we don't have a way to dispose of the radioactive waste.) We also have no idea how to dismantle the power plants. These factors have led some to call nuclear power plants "apartments without toilets." In the event of a large earthquake, the power plant cooling system might be damaged, the diesel generators might be damaged, or one of the power lines might be cut. So we would have another critical Fukushima-like accident again, if another big earthquake were to happen. There are 441 nuclear reactors in the world right now. There are active plans to build another 80 nuclear reactors and more. Electric power companies can buy enriched uranium ( Ur235) at reasonable prices from countries that have uranium mines. Electric power companies are making a lot of money because they generate electricity using the enriched uranium 235. From each nuclear reactor they can make 1 million USD per day in profit. In most countries, there are few laws regulating how power companies dispose of radioactive waste, and decommission and dismantle their nuclear power plants. So nuclear power generation is the easiest business in the world. And Indonesia, for example, has been considering nuclear power generation for the last 30 years. Please look at the children. Think about their future. Please look at and also think about the elephants, the whales, the birds, the rabbits, the forests, the oceans, the water fleas and the fish. Fish have been living in the oceans for 400 million years. Humans have been here 200,000 years. Humans started using electricity only 100 years ago. So, for most of our history we have lived without electricity and we can live without electricity now. No, you won't have to live as roughly as our ancient ancestors did when they didn't have electricity. Nowadays, we have plenty of natural gas resources and also 3rd generation natural gas generators that produce almost no air pollution. We also have micro water generators, for homes near small rivers or mountain streams. A Japanese company has also developed a coal generator, again that produces almost no air pollution. Even with the new cleaner technology available, most places continue to use the old coal generators that pollute the environment. So please keep an eye on the situation in Java. But we can change. And the only thing that we can really change is ourselves. Because of our desire for money, we have almost lost everything, the forests and oceans. Money is only pieces of paper. Money is only bits of data on the computer hard drives of banks. There are roughly 40,000 eco villages in the world. And we can get a glimpse of our future in the ancient Balinese banjar system. Only 50 years ago, they didn't use money. Even now, they still have a system that allows them to help each other and get things done without exchanging or paying money. They know how to climb coconut trees, how to maintain and manage the water streams for the rice terraces, and how to cook the stalks of the banana plant with ginger and Balinese spices. * My name is Osamu Fujikawa. I lived in Tokyo for 38 years. We moved to Ubud in May of 2011. Most of my work experience has been in IT and sales for IT companies - Novell and Siemens. Since 2004, I have been performing jazz piano and Merodica. My wife, Naoko: Raw desserts & vegan cooking classes. We have a website called "Bali diary Osamu". Top Page