原発に頼らない社会を。市民から世界へ34年の情報発信を継続したい

Providing expert information on nuclear energy in Japan to the world ~Empowering global citizens for 34 years: Nuke Info Tokyo

 

We are the Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center (CNIC), based in Tokyo, Japan.
Our goal is to achieve a nuclear-free world through empowering citizens with scientific knowledge and solid information. 

 

Our bi-monthly publication, Nuke Info Tokyo, aims to provide up-to-date, information on the Japanese nuclear industry and the movements against it in English to people around the world. This independent, expert information is uploaded to our website, providing a substantial database to researchers, the media and concerned global citizens.

 

This information is available free of charge, but in order to ensure that we can continue to provide it, we have decided to launch this crowdfunding project. We hope you can support us!
 

Citizens’ Nuclear Information Center (CNIC) was founded in 1975 and became a registered NPO in 1999. Our activities include conducting scientific research and analysis on various aspects of nuclear power. This information is used to inform citizens and the media through publications, seminars and international conferences.

 

In order to guarantee the independence of our research and information, CNIC does not accept funding from government or industry corporations and operates through individual membership fees and donations, as well as private research grants and sales of publications.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nuke Info Tokyo (NIT) is the English bi-monthly publication of CNIC. It began when CNIC’s director at the time, Dr. Takagi Jinzaburo, attended the Anti Atom International Conference in Vienna in 1986 and was shocked at how little was known about Japan’s nuclear industry and even less about Japan’s anti-nuke movement. Always a strong advocate of international solidarity against the global nuclear industry, Dr. Takagi was determined to publish an English newsletter despite problems of securing financial support and working staff. “Let’s just try 5 or 6 issues and then think again whether to continue” was how NIT started. We recently published our 200th issue, thanks to, as Dr. Takagi acknowledged on NIT’s 10th anniversary, “the continuing encouragement and support of international readers.” In the very first edition Dr. Takagi also expressed the “determination” of CNIC to continue publishing NIT into the foreseeable future. It is this determination, as well as the encouragement and support of international readers that has sustained us until today.
 

First edition of NIT

 

When NIT began in 1987, it was printed and posted out to readers in Japan and around the world. At this time a subscription fee was charged to readers in Japan, although readers outside Japan were not charged. However, as digital technology progressed and the internet became more widespread, we decided to end the printed version and shift NIT to our website. This was in 2009. Now, when a new edition is uploaded, we send email notifications to all our readers. Of course, anyone looking for information online can also access our articles. We stopped charging subscription fees when NIT moved online. This was also when we decided that the translation team, even though they were all friends of CNIC and happy to contribute to our mission to realize a nuclear-free world, deserved to be paid for their highly professional and specialized work translating articles for NIT. Although it is half or less than the market rate, our translation team still now receive payment for their work.

 

NIT Website

 

 

 

Aims of our crowdfunding project

Our main aim is to secure funding to continue publishing Nuke Info Tokyo on our website.

 

Costs to produce NIT for one year:
Translator wages: 500,000 yen (approx. $5,000)
Staff wages: 1,000,000 yen (approx. $10,000)

 

TOTAL: 1.5 million yen (approx. $15,000)

 

If this target is exceeded, we will be able to 
  -  improve the website to make it easier to search for information
  - increase the volume of information we upload in each edition of NIT
  - upload information in a more timely way

 

 

NIT/Website Contents

Our specialty is providing information and data regarding nuclear power generation from independent experts. This information covers a number of areas, including: 

・TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster
https://cnic.jp/english/?cat=24

 

・technical and safety aspects of nuclear reactors 
https://cnic.jp/english/?cat=36

 

・exposure to radiation and health implications
https://cnic.jp/english/?cat=78

 

・the human and social costs of nuclear power
https://cnic.jp/english/?cat=89

 

・economic aspects 
https://cnic.jp/english/?cat=90

 

・legal challenges to nuclear power
https://cnic.jp/english/?cat=41

 

・introducing our readers to individual activists and anti-nuke groups in Japan
https://cnic.jp/english/?cat=14

 

Why is this information so important?

We saw during the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident, which started over 10 years ago, how important independent, expert information is. Governments and industry tend to withhold information at the best of times and during this catastrophic accident, they simply could not be depended upon to provide accurate and detailed information. So there was a need to get vital information about what was happening inside the nuclear plant and the implications of this, to people around the world who could be affected. 

 

Even today this accident is far from over. For example, Japan plans to release over one million tons of radioactively contaminated water, presently stored at Fukushima Daiichi, into the Pacific Ocean. We must continue to monitor, on a global level, the plant itself and the decisions made by authorities, which could affect large numbers of people around the world, and together raise our voices to protect our planet and our future.

 

The voices of the people of Fukushima must also be heard. 160,000 people evacuated their homes due to the accident and approximately 35,000 have still not returned. Many feel as though their homes and lives, their culture and history have been stolen. They face discrimination, financial, psychological and health problems, yet many want to tell their stories, as painful as they are, so that this will never happen again—to anyone. Just as the hibakusha of Nagasaki and Hiroshima raise their voices so that no one in the world will have to go through the horrors that they experienced, the hibakusha of Fukushima have a message that the world should hear. 

 

 

｜Message from Previous NIT Editor, Philip White

 

 

 

Introducing some of our expert writers

 

 

Goto Masashi
Former nuclear reactor design engineer, member of the Citizens’ Commission on Nuclear Energy

Goto Masashi worked at Toshiba, a major nuclear power plant manufacturer, as a containment vessel design engineer on the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa, Hamaoka and Onagawa nuclear plants. He provided updates during the Fukushima Daiichi disaster and was one of the first nuclear engineers to say publicly that he believed there had been meltdowns. He has written for NIT focusing on design flaws that became apparent at Fukushima Daiichi.
https://cnic.jp/english/?p=4255
 

 

Sakiyama Hisako 
Director Representative, 
3/11 Fund for Children with Thyroid Cancer
 

Sakiyama Hisako is a medical doctor and after working as a researcher at MIT she was a senior researcher at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences in Japan. She served as a member of the National Diet of Japan Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission (NAIIC). She has written for NIT on thyroid cancer in children since the Fukushima Daiichi accident.
https://cnic.jp/english/?p=3610
 

 

Matsukubo Hajime
CNIC Bureau Chief
 

Matsukubo Hajime is the CNIC bureau chief but worked in a financial institution until 2012. He writes many articles for NIT, on a range of topics, including the economics of nuclear power, giving detailed analysis of how governments and industry try to trick us in to believing that nuclear power is cheap.
https://cnic.jp/english/?p=4435
https://cnic.jp/english/?p=5555
 

 

Kaido Yuichi is one of Japan’s most well-known lawyers who has been involved in many anti-nuke cases. He has written for NIT on some of these cases, including the criminal trial of three TEPCO executives.
https://cnic.jp/english/?p=4580
 

 

Seto Daisaku
Secretary General, Evacuation Cooperation Center
 

Seto Daisaku is the Secretary General of the Evacuation Cooperation Center which assists Fukushima evacuees. His article in NIT reports on the ground reality, cases where Fukushima evacuees are facing extreme difficulties and how his organization supports them. 
https://cnic.jp/english/?p=4331
 

 

Nuclear disaster affected people also write directly for NIT about their lives, hopes and problems.
https://cnic.jp/english/?p=4946
 

 

｜Message from our Translation Team

 

Patricia Ormsby

 

 

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