Nuclear crisis won't affect Games bid, says Tokyo gov; Abe to attend IOC vote

The fact that the apologists have to say it won't affect the Olympic bid is sheer proof it IS affecting the bid.

Been pretty obvious for some time that Turkey will get it, great country and great location.

Agree with other comments. If another large earthquake were to hit Japan's northeast and the Fukushima debacle were to spiral further out of control during the Olympics then the IOC would have a lot of explaining to do. Like any large event... organizers need to look at "worst case scenarios" along with the positive attributes before making a decision. Also, considering that Beijing, another Asian location, had the Olympics in 2008, and Spain's Barcelona hosted the Olympics in 1992, the logical choice would be Istanbul in 2020. Athens did host in 2004 but ultimately that was Greece... while Spain has actually already hosted somewhat recently.

Another head-in-the-sand moment for a Japanese Prime Minister. Acknowledging the issue and giving confident replies how the trouble is being handled is the only way to give those concerned the confidence that the issue is safely controlled. Pretending the issue is not relevant is idiotic.

If the nuclear crisis does not affect the bid, I would imagine that other factors such as the interest of the nation should. The 2013 IAAF World Championship which is somewhat similar to the Olympics was recently held, and a certain television station which reads its 7 pm and 9pm news in English (and collects a fee every month if you own a tv) never once commented on the events in its sports section. There were 9 days of events and not once could you get a summary of events. Luckily you could browse the internet for information.

I respect that they don't have air time to waste on such trivialities, so why is Japan's heads fighting so hard to win the bid?

The people who should be interested are not.

Tokyo gets the Games. World attention is drawn to the total fubar up north. Going to be the best thing to happen and may give the impetus to DEAL with Daiichi.

I live in Tokyo and I don't think Tokyo should get the games. Here's why: 1. The Olympics should be given to a developing city. Tokyo is developed enough. 2. You have a highly unstable disaster-waiting to happen just 200+km away.

My Dom Perignon is ready for Sept. 7. I will raise my glass several times that day to toast Tokyo when it is named the host city of the 2020 summer Games.

Safe water and food? Funny, I don't live near Tokyo and I won't willing touch anything from north of Saitama - haha, as if the labels are correct or anything! - because I do NOT trust this whole "Everything is safe and fine! Please support Fukushima farmers". I am so hoping Istanbul gets the games.

And yes, it is ALL due to their inferiority complex - or should that be Ishihara's complex?

Anyone for nucleated water, fish, soba noodles and vegetables? Trust me. TEPCO and the Abe Government has everything under control. What are a few leaks amongst the myriad tanks we have. It is all going into the Pacific Ocean not the Sea of Japan.

Rangermiffy

On the plus side, Tokyo has proven itself to be well-built regarding quakes. Infrastructure works, and it is a safe city comparatively.

Great... however...This has nothing whatsoever to do with the topic of this article, which is regarding the nuclear crisis.

Isn't it obvious? Japan and its people and its government does not take this nuclear disaster seriously. By ignoring, pretending, and wishing this problem will go away on its own, the problem just disappears.

Somebody needs to tell this guy to keep it real. For crying out loud, Shinzo, if Tokyo got to host, Chernoble stands a good chance in years to come.

Yeah, because its obviously not a priority!

By each and every one of the 800 passionate Tokyo 2020 supporters in this room carrying out their responsibilities, I am hopeful that when the IOC makes their decision on Sept 7 in Buenos Aires we will witness Tokyo 2020’s victory, Abe told a group of bid supporters

Sound likes Abe is inviting spectators and athletes to sleep inside the tiger cage. Competing in the Tokyo Olympic in 2020 will be Kamikaze pilots suicide mission. Most of the Athletes will get Cancer later in their life time. Of course some of the competitors will make fame and fortune! What's the point of enjoying fame and fortune after getting the cruel and unbearable decease known as Cancer?

Sorry Japan but Fukushima does affect the Olympic bid, no avoiding that, the ineptitude we have witnessed for 2+ years is truly painful to watch, govt credibility continues to slide lower as time goes by & has become utterly unbelievable!

All of us living within range of Fukushima are literally playing roulette, if another quake hits & a bunch of theses tanks rupture, if the pools lose their water ............... well it will be much worse than 3/11.

Simple fact is Japan is no where near out of danger. I often wonder what I would be doing & where if I had left after 3/11, those thoughts are happening again more often

What to do as an individual/family.......I hate that tepco & the govt have done this to us & continue to heap more stress on all its people as time passes.......

Best left, but amusing should they get.

Moomoochoo, that is a good question. I think it has a lot to do with Japan's inferiority complex, and the fact that China had the games, and Korea will have the winter games next after Russia. They just want to show how superior they are to the rest of the world!

What is with Tokyo's Olympic obsession???

It's time for them to pull their heads out out their R-z and get on with reality.

Having all thoses international reporters in Tokyo, all wanting to file a story about how successfully the N-Disaster is under control? Do they actually believe its going to ignored? Rooms full of foreign correspondents asking awkward questions Olympics might be worth it just for that.

Fine, award Tokyo the games and then when the meltdown occurs give them to Istanbul.

Can't quite understand why Tokyo and Japan would want the Olympics. This event is usually held in a country and city that wants to show the world that it now has international standing, in terms of economic and cultural development. Tokyo in the 1960s made sense as the city and country had proudly rebuilt after the war. Tokyo today does not need the Games to boost its image as an sophisticated international hub, and actually the money could be better spent elsewhere. In addition, Japan is demographically, economically and culturally more on the down slope, not on the rise. Are the politicians and neo-nationalists hoping for one last burst of flame before the torchlight burns out?

I feel better now. Ehmmm you have ongoing nuclear crises here in Japan. All about ¥¥¥¥

Our food and water are totally safe

..all the data is published on our home page.

Yeah right and who believes that?

I can just see their eyes in the shape of "dollar" signs... So many athletes, so many visitors all bringing in CASH !!! And with the consumption tax going up to 10%, we're gonna be even more rich than now !

Fingers crossed there is not another earth quake.

Radiation?? What radiation!!! Just let the Olympic Games ($$$$$$$) go on!! Right??

On the plus side, Tokyo has proven itself to be well-built regarding quakes. Infrastructure works, and it is a safe city comparatively. Down side, smoking inside: going to horrify visitors and I truly hope they demand it stop. As for Tohoku, with a zillion clueless visitors, it is a chance to sell lots of contaminated food and rice in restaurants...

Right now, there’s absolutely no difference between the radiation levels in Tokyo, London, New York and Paris,” Inose said.

Inose, please answer the following question: Right now, do London, New York and Paris have severely damaged, unstable nuclear facilities nearby?

Our food and water are totally safe

Consumers might beg to differ.

..all the data is published on our home page.

It's impossible to catch all the data.

This is so wrong in so many ways!

"Nuclear crisis won't affect Games bid" Gov Naoki Inose must be the only one who believes that.

Right on Penfold, get the priorities straight, now is not the time for an omatsuri sawagi. Can you imagine Tokyo getting the nod for the Games and big time construction begins, only to have another dang quake shake everything to the core again...think anyone is going to attend the Olympics? Fat chance...not only that, if Abe and his cronies keep antagonizing China, they may well boycott the games just out of spite. Where's all the revenue now?

And, the winner is...... Istanbul! - does this fool actually believe that the 'worsening' crisis in Fukushima will have no bearing on the IOC decision? The situation is too unstable and the worst is yet to come when they start removing the 1,300 fuel rods. And, as for the Abe government taking a more active role: A big resounding "Pft!" tothat!

darname:

You got it: business is business. The IOC and organizing cities have never ever cared about the athletes and the local social issues. They just need these muppets to get the money flowing and tax payers to cover the loss.

Some make big money and others satisfy their ego. That's the Olympic ideal now, unfortunately!

In other words, they're going to grease some palms to win the bid to lose hundreds of millions of yen of taxpayer money to stroke the national ego.

If I remember correctly, didn't the the organizing committee cynically promise that these games were going to help the Tohoku region by having some events in that area? You can be damn sure, no athletes will want to take part in anything near that area.

"...citing promises from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe that the government as a whole will take a proactive role."

So go ahead and do it already! The first step would be to stop wasting money on the bid and put that towards containing the crisis that is getting worse daily -- and those are only based on the news we are being fed by TEPCO, and we all know that everything is at least 10 times worse than what they say.

The problem is that the IOC is as corrupt if not more than the TEPCO satellites!

The IOC might disagree with their assumption.

Since no one really knows what's going on in Fukushima, except that they can't plug the radiation leak, the governor of Tokyo's statement is merely wishful thinking.

Nuclear experts Mycle Schneider and Antony Froggatt state, "Full release from the Unit-4 spent fuel pool, without any containment or control, could cause by far the most serious radiological disaster to date."

Last year, Tepco succeeded in extracting two unused fuel assemblies from the pool, however that doesn't mean that it will be able to remove all of them just as easily. There is serious risk of a large release of radiation if a fuel assembly breaks, gets stuck or gets too close to an adjacent bundle.

If something starts to go wrong, it cannot be stopped. There are no control rods to control it. The spent fuel pool cooling system is designed only to remove decay heat, not heat from an ongoing nuclear reaction.

There is a risk of fire if the assemblies are exposed to air. If so more radiation will be released than during the initial disaster and this will pose a threat to Tokyo only 200 kilometres away.

http://www.japanfocus.org/-Andrew-DeWit/3987#sthash.WhvFMYZ7.dpuf

As someone said recently. The problem with nuclear power is waste disposal. If you don't have a way to safely dispose of radioactive waste, it's rather like living in an apartment with no toilet.

The statement by the governor of Tokyo is therefore highly irresponsible. Supposing the cream of the world's athletes came here and there was another accident?

“Our food and water are totally safe and all the data is published on our home page. Right now, there’s absolutely no difference between the radiation levels in Tokyo, London, New York and Paris,” Inose said.

OK, so we should either decide Istanbul or Madrid where the radtion levels may be lower than cities mentioned.

As a result, the Fukushima issue is one that must be solved swiftly

I agree, but unfortunately I do not believe it!

Spend the money for the Olympics on fixing the mess in Fukushima. In other words, get the homestead in order before hosting visitors.