L'Autre Monde 28 mars 2011: Partie 2 - Japon et le désastre nucléaire

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L'Autre Monde 28 mars 2011
120 min / Radio de l'UQAM, CHOQ FM

Diffusion en direct : Lundi à 15:00h

Animation : François Marginean

Réalisation: François Marginean

Chronique : Stéphane Poutoire

Archives d'émission

Au programme cette semaine, 28 mars 2011:

Suite du dossier Japon et des centrales nucléaires hors de contrôle et de l'agression de la Libye et actualité mondiale.

C'est en rendez-vous le lundi dès 15h pour l'émission la plus écoutée de CHOQ FM, la radio officielle de l'Université du Québec à Montréal !

***Hyperliens vers les sources des informations discutées sur l'émission d'aujourd'hui:

Japon & nucléaire:

Good Sources on Fukushima

These sites are providing very useful, timely information on the situation in Japan:

-The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is posting periodic updates from Tatsujiro Suzuki, a Japanese expert on nuclear power, who is following events in Tokyo.

-Jeffrey Lewis at armscontrolwonk is posting daily updates from the Washington DC Office of the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan (FEPC) .

-The Japan Atomic Industrial Forum (JAIF) is posting updated status charts on the Dai-Ichi and Daini nuclear plants.

MORE LARGE AFTERSHOCKS ROCK JAPAN

Magnitude-6.5 quake off Japan; small tsunami alert

(AP) -- A magnitude-6.5 earthquake shook eastern Japan off the quake-ravaged coast on Monday morning (Japan time), the U.S. Geological Survey reported, prompting Japan to issue a tsunami alert.

TEPCO Knew But "Didn't Want To Hear About Tsunami Risks"

A series of investigative articles reveal the Japanese power company TEPCO repeatedly ignored several warnings and scientific research showing an earthquake as small as 7.5 could produce tsunami capable of causing a complete nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

NEW: Seismic researcher says owner did not consider threat 2 years ago
Tokyo Electric Power Company, appeared to ignore the warning, said seismologist Yukinobu Okamura.
"I found that odd so I really wanted to speak out and let people know about it," Okamura said. "No one reacted in any way."
Instead, committee members discussed a 1938 earthquake in the region that killed only one person.

Nuclear Meltdowns 101

What is the difference between radiation and radioactivity? This is a basic enough distinction, but, listening to the news coverage, I have observed a great deal of confusion. (Some of it seems intentional, if not malicious: I heard some nuclear expert/twit (a retired Oxford don, I think) on NPR explain how "wadiation" can be "thewapeutic" and never once did he mention "wadioactivity," and it made me quite mad.) Do not use the two terms interchangeably unless you want to sound like you don't know what you are talking about. Radiation, of a non-lethal kind, is what you get from a light bulb, an X-ray machine, at the beach or in a tanning booth. Radioactivity, or radioactive contamination, is what you get when a nuclear bomb or a nuclear power plant explodes, and it stays around and produces radiation for years. Both radiation and radioactivity are invisible and hard to measure, but that's where the similarity ends. Radiation consists of subatomic particles that generally go in straight lines at close to the speed of light. Given enough radiation, initially non-radioactive materials can in turn become radioactive. Radioactivity, on the other hand, is caused by radioactive materials, which decay into other materials, some also radioactive, some stable, plus some radiation, at some rate, either quickly or not so quickly. Uranium and plutonium hang around for many thousands of years. Radioactive substances can be pulverized and carried up into the atmosphere by explosions (not necessarily nuclear ones) in which case they drift with the wind for thousands of kilometers and pollute huge stretches of land and ocean. Exposure to excessive levels of radiation causes radiation poisoning, from which people can fully recover, while the various radioactive elements pollute the environment and are taken up by living organisms in a wide variety of ways, many of them not yet understood by science, poisoning them and causing a wide assortment of cancers and genetic defects. Some may be flushed out, while others become lodged in the lungs or in the bones for the life of the individual, where they remain radioactive, weakening immune systems, causing cancers and birth defects and shortening lifespans.

What do people mean when they say that nuclear power is “safe” when compared to planes, trains and automobiles? What they mean is that the nuclear power industry has so far killed many fewer people per unit time. They have no data on how many people it will kill eventually, although by now they know that, unlike planes, trains and automobiles, which do crash and burn with some regularity, but cause limited damage, nuclear disasters do not have any definable upper bound on their destructive potential. I am pretty sure that there is enough above-ground radioactive material sitting in spent fuel pools and inside reactors to kill just about everyone. It will stay dangerous for over a million years, which is a lot longer than the expected lifetime of the nuclear power industry, or any industry, or any human civilization, or perhaps even the human race. When nuclear experts say that a nuclear reactor is safe, they can only mean that it is safe for the rest of the afternoon; beyond that they can't possibly have any actual data to support their claim. All they can do is extrapolate, given a rosy “everything will always remain under control” scenario, and that is not a valid approach. When they say that nuclear power is safe, what they are really saying is that it is safe given their perfect ability to accurately predict that the indefinite future will remain economically and socially stable, and we already know this to not be the case.

Rayonnement

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rayonnement

Le rayonnement, synonyme de radiation en physique, désigne le processus d'émission ou de transmission d'énergie impliquant une particule porteuse.

[modifier] Fonctionnement

À chaque type de radiation correspond sa particule porteuse de l'interaction : le photon pour le rayonnement électromagnétique, ou les particules alpha, bêta ou neutron pour respectivement les rayonnements particulaires alpha, bêta ou neutronique, par exemple.

[modifier] Types de rayonnements

Rayonnement ionisant | Rayonnement non-ionisant
Rayon gamma
Rayon cosmique
Fond diffus cosmologique
Rayonnement continu de freinage (Bremsstrahlung)
Rayonnement thermique, mode de transfert thermique. Voir aussi Corps noir
Rayonnement synchrotron
Transition matière-rayonnement
Transfert de rayonnement
Rayonnement solaire
Pression de radiation
Rayonnement photosynthétiquement actif

Radioactivité

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioactivit%C3%A9

La radioactivité, phénomène qui fut découvert en 1896 par Henri Becquerel sur l'uranium et très vite confirmé par Marie Curie pour le radium, est un phénomène physique naturel au cours duquel des noyaux atomiques instables, dits radioisotopes, se transforment spontanément (« désintégration ») en dégageant de l'énergie sous forme de rayonnements divers, pour se transformer en des noyaux atomiques plus stables ayant perdu une partie de leur masse. Les rayonnements ainsi émis sont appelés, selon le cas, des rayons α, des rayons β ou des rayons γ.

Les radioisotopes les plus fréquents dans les roches terrestres sont l'isotope 238 de l'uranium (²³⁸U), l'isotope 232 du thorium (²³²Th), et surtout l'isotope 40 du potassium (⁴⁰K). Outre ces isotopes radioactifs naturels encore relativement abondants, il existe dans la nature des isotopes radioactifs en abondances beaucoup plus faibles. Il s'agit notamment des éléments instables produits lors de la suite de désintégrations des isotopes mentionnés, par exemple de divers isotopes du radium et du radon.

Un des radioisotopes naturels les plus utilisés par l'homme est l'isotope 235 de l'uranium (²³⁵U) qui se trouve dans la nature en faible concentration (<1 %) associé à l'isotope ²³⁸U, mais dont on modifie la concentration par des techniques d'enrichissement de l'uranium pour qu'il puisse servir à la production d'énergie nucléaire civile et militaire.

Les rayonnements α, β et γ produits par la radioactivité sont des rayonnements ionisants qui interagissent avec la matière en provoquant une ionisation.

L'irradiation d'un organisme entraîne des effets qui peuvent être plus ou moins néfastes pour la santé, selon les doses de radiation reçues, la durée d'exposition (aiguë ou chronique) et le type de rayonnement concerné. Elle peut être associée à une contamination radioactive surfacique (fixée ou non fixée), ou volumique (appelée aussi atmosphérique).

Historique

Des études ultérieures menées par Becquerel lui-même, ainsi que par Marie Curie (1867-1934) et Pierre Curie (1859-1906), ou encore par Ernest Rutherford (1871-1937), montrèrent que la radioactivité est nettement plus complexe que le rayonnement X. En particulier, ils trouvèrent qu'un champ électrique ou magnétique sépare les rayonnements « uraniques » en trois faisceaux distincts, qu'ils baptisaient α, β et γ. La direction de la déviation des faisceaux montrait que les particules α étaient chargées positivement, les β négativement, et que les rayonnements γ étaient neutres. En outre, la magnitude de la déflection indiquait nettement que les particules α étaient bien plus massives que les β.

Les transformations nucléaires

La « désintégration » (en physique, elle correspond à la transformation de la matière en énergie) d'un noyau radioactif peut entraîner l'émission de rayonnement α, β^- ou β⁺. Ces désintégrations sont souvent accompagnées de l'émission de photons de haute énergie ou rayons gamma, dont les longueurs d'onde sont généralement encore plus courtes que celles des rayons X, étant de l'ordre de 10^-9 m ou inférieures. Cette émission gamma (γ) résulte de l'émission de photons lors de transitions nucléaires : du réarrangement des charges internes du noyau nouvellement formé, ou bien de la couche profonde du cortège électronique perturbé, à partir de niveaux d'énergie excités avec des énergies mises en jeu de l'ordre du MeV.

Rayon gamma est le nom donné au rayonnement électromagnétique produit par la désintégration des noyaux atomiques ou par des phénomènes subatomiques comme l'annihilation d'une paire électron-positron. I

[modifier] Caractéristique

Les rayons gamma sont plus pénétrants que les rayonnements alpha et les bêta, mais sont moins ionisants. Ils sont de même nature que les rayons X mais sont d'origine différente. Les rayons gamma sont produits par des transitions nucléaires tandis que les rayons X sont produits par des transitions électroniques provoquées en général par la collision d'un électron avec un atome, à haute vitesse. Comme il est possible pour certaines transitions électroniques d'être plus énergétiques que des transitions nucléaires, il existe un certain chevauchement entre les rayons X de haute énergie et les rayons gamma de faible énergie.

Le blindage contre les rayons gamma requiert des grandes quantités de matière. Par exemple un blindage qui réduit de 50 % l'intensité de rayons gamma de 1 MeV nécessite 1 cm de plomb, 6 cm de béton ou 9 cm de terre.

[modifier] Danger

Les rayons gamma provenant de retombées radioactives seraient probablement le plus grand danger dans le cas d'une guerre nucléaire. Si les rayons gamma sont moins ionisants que les rayons alpha ou bêta, ils demandent des épaisseurs de blindage beaucoup plus importantes pour s'en protéger (de l'ordre de quelques mètres d'épaisseur de béton armé). Ils peuvent produire des dégâts similaires à ceux produits par les rayons X et les autres rayonnements ionisants, tels que brûlures (effet déterministe), cancers et mutations génétiques (effets stochastiques).

[modifier] Interaction avec la matière

Illustration de la Crête de Tavernier qui se caractérise par l'accroissement de la dose d'irradiation de certains rayonnements, dont les rayons gamma, dans l'organisme avant sa décroissance exponentielle

En passant par la matière, les rayons gamma sont absorbés d'une manière exponentielle :

$\displaystyle I(d) = I_0 e^{-\mu d}$

En pénétrant une substance, telle la matière vivante, la dose d'irradiation par les rayons gamma passe d'abord par un maximum ou "Crête de Tavernier", du nom du physicien belge Guy Tavernier qui découvrit ce phénomène en 1948, avant de décroître exponentiellement avec la profondeur. Ce maximum se situe à environ 1 cm de profondeur pour les rayons gamma et l'intensité de ce rayonnement gamma est fort dépendant de la longueur de diffusion valable pour la substance pénétrée.

TEPCO: Soil samples being checked for plutonium

Radioactivity from plutonium can be blocked by human skin or paper. But if the substance is inhaled or ingested, it remains in the body for a long time and can cause cancer.

Webmaster's Commentary:

Another slightly less than complete explanation. Yes, plutonium emits mostly alpha radiation, which is indeed blocked by the skin. But the more unstable isotopes of plutonium can decay into far more deadly elements. Plutonium-241 decays into Americium-241, a very intense gamma emitter!

Origines de la radioactivité

Nature de la source	Exposition humaine à la radioactivité selon l'OMS^[6] : mSv par personne et par an	Radioactivité naturelle en %	Radioactivité artificielle en %
Radon (gaz radioactif naturel dense souvent présent dans les rez-de-chaussée)	1,3	42 %
Irradiation d'origine médicale (radiographies, scanners, radiothérapies, etc.)	0,6		20 %
Éléments absorbés par alimentation (essentiellement du potassium 40 contenu naturellement dans les aliments)	0,5	16 %
Rayonnement cosmique	0,4	13 %
Rayonnement interne	0,2	6 %
Autres origines artificielles sauf énergie nucléaire civile (industries minières diverses, retombées atmosphériques des essais nucléaires militaires, instruments de mesure, certaines méthodes de mesure industrielles (telles le contrôle de soudures par gammagraphie), etc.)	0,1		3 %
Énergie nucléaire civile	0,01		0,3 %
Total	3,1	77 %	23 %

Selon une étude de Billon S. et Al^[7], l'exposition naturelle à la radioactivité représenterait environ 2,5 mSv sur un total de 3,5. Cette dose peut varier de 1 à 40 mSv, selon l'environnement géologique et les matériaux d'habitation. Il existe aussi le rayonnement interne du corps : la radioactivité naturelle des atomes du corps humain se traduit par environ 8 000 désintégrations par seconde (8 000 Bq). Ce taux est principalement dû à la présence de carbone 14 et de potassium 40 dans notre organisme.

On parle de « radioactivité naturelle » pour désigner les sources non produites par les activités humaines, comme celle issue du radon, de la terre, ou du rayonnement cosmique. A contrario, on parle de « radioactivité artificielle » pour désigner la radioactivité due à des sources produites par les activités humaines : réalisation d'examens médicaux (tels les radiographies, tomodensitométries, scintigraphies, radiothérapies), éléments transuraniens synthétiques, concentrations artificiellement élevées de matières radioactives ou production artificielle de rayons gamma (dans un accélérateur de particules, par exemple). Physiquement, il s'agit exactement du même phénomène.

Radioactivité artificielle

L'activité humaine est une autre source majeure de rayonnements ionisants. Principalement, pour 20 % du total des expositions humaines à la radioactivité, par les activités médicales : production de radionucléides par cyclotron (pour les scintigraphies et TEP par exemple). Le reste, représentant 3 % du total des expositions humaines, est produit, par ordre d'importance, par :

diverses industries minières, centrales au charbon ;
l'armée : retombées d'essais nucléaires, bombes nucléaires ;
l'énergie nucléaire civile (0,3 % du total des expositions) : émissions, fuites et production de déchets radioactifs ;
accidents : catastrophe de Tchernobyl , Accidents nucléaires de Fukushima ;
la recherche : recherche en physique des particules (par exemple au CERN en Suisse ou au GANIL en France).

Note : L'imagerie médicale au moyen de rayons X produit la plus forte dose d'exposition humaine aux rayonnements ionisants.
On ne parle cependant pas de radioactivité car les rayons X ne sont pas issus de réactions nucléaires mais d'excitation électronique de l'atome.

Risque sanitaire

Nouveau pictogramme lancé par l'AIEA, représentant un risque de danger de mort ou de dommages sérieux.

Articles détaillés : Syndrome d'irradiation aiguë et Faibles doses d'irradiation.

Les conséquences de la radioactivité sur la santé sont complexes. Le risque pour la santé dépend non seulement de l'intensité du rayonnement et la durée d'exposition, mais également du type de tissu concerné — les organes reproducteurs sont 20 fois plus sensibles que la peau (loi de Bergonié et Tribondeau ou loi de la radiosensitivité). Les effets sont différents selon le vecteur de la radioactivité :

exposition à des rayonnements ionisants par une source radioactive à distance ;
contamination radioactive si par exemple l'on ingère ou inhale un produit radioactif.

Les normes internationales, basées sur les conséquences épidémiologiques de l'explosion des bombes d'Hiroshima et Nagasaki, partent du principe que le risque pour la santé est proportionnel à la dose reçue et que toute dose de rayonnement comporte un risque cancérigène et génétique (CIPR 1990).

La réglementation pour la protection contre les radiations ionisantes est basée sur trois recommandations fondamentales :

justification : on ne doit adopter aucune pratique conduisant à une irradiation, à moins qu'elle ne produise un bénéfice suffisant pour les individus exposés ou pour la société, compensant le préjudice lié à cette irradiation ;
optimisation : l'irradiation doit être au niveau le plus bas que l'on peut raisonnablement atteindre ;
limitation de la dose et du risque individuels : aucun individu ne doit recevoir des doses d'irradiation supérieures aux limites maximum autorisées.

De récentes études de l'IRSN s'intéressent aux effets de la contamination radioactive chronique, qui même à des faibles doses, pourraient ne pas être négligeables, et pourraient provoquer différentes pathologies atteignant certaines fonctions physiologiques (système nerveux central, respiration, digestion, reproduction)^[11]. Mais cette vision est contestée, et d'autres acteurs, dont notamment l'Académie de médecine, estiment au contraire que ces craintes sont inutiles^[12].

[modifier] Dose radiative

Le principe retenu en radioprotection est de maintenir l'exposition au niveau le plus bas qu'il est raisonnablement possible d'atteindre (principe ALARA). Pour faciliter cette optimisation, les sites nucléaires français sont organisés en zones dont l'accès est plus ou moins restreint, et qui correspondent aux débits de doses suivants :

zone bleue : de 2,5 à 7,5 µSv⋅h^-1 ;
zone verte : de 7,5 à 25 µSv⋅h^-1 ;
zone jaune : de 25 µSv⋅h^-1 à 2 mSv⋅h^-1 ;
zone orange : de 2 à 100 mSv⋅h^-1 ;
zone rouge : > 100 mSv⋅h^-1.

L'environnement naturel émet un rayonnement variant de 0,2 µSv⋅h^-1 à 1 µSv⋅h^-1, avec une moyenne de 0,27 µSv⋅h^-1 (soit 2,4 mSv⋅an^-1⋅habitant^-1). Le débit de dose dont on est certain qu'il produit des effets biologiques dangereux se situe à partir de 1 mSv⋅h^-1, c'est-à-dire en « zone jaune ». Les effets varient selon le temps auquel on y est soumis. Les effets statistiquement observables apparaissent pour des doses cumulées supérieures à 100 mSv, soit un stationnement de plus de 50 h (une semaine à plein temps) en zone jaune. Cette exposition peut être atteinte en 1 h en « zone orange ».

Articles détaillés : Débit de dose radioactive et Faibles doses d'irradiation.

[modifier] Dose équivalente

Articles détaillés : Équivalent de dose et Équivalent de dose efficace.

La dose équivalente est la mesure de dose cumulée d'exposition continue aux radiations ionisantes durant une année, avec des facteurs de pondération. Jusqu'en 1992, les doses équivalentes n'étaient pas mesurées de la même façon en Europe et aux États-Unis ; aujourd'hui ces doses sont standardisées.

La dose cumulée d'une source radioactive artificielle devient dangereuse à partir de 500 mSv (ou 50 rem), dose à laquelle on constate les premiers symptômes d'altération sanguine. En 1992, la dose efficace (E) maximale pour une personne travaillant sous rayonnements ionisants était fixée à 15 mSv sur les 12 derniers mois en Europe (CERN et Angleterre) et à 50 mSv sur les 12 derniers mois aux États-Unis. Depuis août 2003, la dose efficace maximale est passée à 20 mSv sur les 12 derniers mois.

Lors d'un scanner médical, le patient peut par exemple recevoir une dose moyenne de 0,05 mSv (examen local), de 25 mSv (scanner du crâne) ou de 150 mSv (scanner du corps entier). Pour éviter tout symptôme d'altération sanguine, on se limite à un maximum de trois examens d'organe par an.

[modifier] Radioprotection

Article détaillé : Radioprotection.

[modifier] Irradiation

Article détaillé : Irradiation.

En France, la réglementation fixe les limites annuelles de radiation à 20 mSv (2 rem) pour les travailleurs et à 1 mSv (0,1 rem) pour la population.

Les facteurs qui protègent des radiations sont :

Distance (la variation du débit de dose (DDD) est inversement proportionnelle au carré de la distance à la source) ;
Activité (en centrale nucléaire, on effectue diverses opérations pour enlever les sources des conduits) ;
Temps (la dose est proportionnelle au temps ; rester le moins longtemps près de la source) ;
Écran (plomber, recouvrir d'acier, bétonner, immerger la source, par exemple).

Certains comportements sont susceptibles d'entraîner une surexposition à la radioactivité : un patient qui passe 5 radiographies aux rayons X peut subir une dose de 1 mSv ; les passagers et le personnel navigant des avions de ligne, ainsi que les astronautes en orbite, peuvent subir une dose voisine lors d'une éruption solaire très intense. S'ils répètent ces voyages ou effectuent des missions de longues durées, une exposition prolongée accroît le risque d'irradiation.

[modifier] Contamination radioactive

Article détaillé : Contamination radioactive.

En zone contaminée par des poussières radioactives, on se protège par une hygiène très stricte : confinements ; tenue étanche ventilée (TEV), heaume ventilé avec surtenue, et/ou autres protections ; nettoyage des surfaces de travail ; précautions pour éviter de soulever la poussière.
Les mesures sont réalisées au moyen de contaminamètres équipés de sonde α ou β [unités de mesure : Bq/m³ (pour la contamination volumique) ou Bq/cm² (pour la contamination surfacique)].

Accidents nucléaires de Fukushima

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accidents_nucl%C3%A9aires_de_Fukushima

Les accidents nucléaires de Fukushima au Japon font partie des conséquences du tsunami engendré par le séisme du 11 mars 2011, de magnitude 9, qui a dévasté le nord-est de l'île de Honshū. Le séisme a entrainé un arrêt automatique des réacteurs en service, et à la suite du tsunami, les groupes électrogènes de secours sont tombés en panne, ce qui a entrainé une perte d'électricité et l'arrêt du système de refroidissement des réacteurs nucléaires, ainsi que celui des piscines d'entreposage des combustibles irradiés. Le défaut de refroidissement des réacteurs a causé des fusions partielles de cœur dans plusieurs réacteurs, puis des ruptures de confinement.

Ces accidents nucléaires concernent surtout la centrale nucléaire de Fukushima Daiichi, dont trois des six réacteurs ont subi des fusions partielles de cœur, et dont toutes les piscines d'entreposage des éléments nucléaires irradiés ont subi un défaut de refroidissement. Un réacteur de la centrale voisine de Fukushima Daini a aussi été endommagé.

L'ensemble de la centrale nucléaire de Fukushima Daiichi devrait être condamné, ce qui en fait le plus important des accidents nucléaires (devant l'accident nucléaire de Tchernobyl) en termes de conséquences techniques.

La contamination environnementale est massive, avec des rejets d'iode 131 et de césium 137 (estimés par l'IRSN le 22 mars 2011 à environ 10% des rejets de la catastrophe de Tchernobyl^[1]). Une autre étude, basée sur le réseau d'instruments de mesure du CTBTO donne une estimation encore plus élevée pour ces éléments, de l'ordre de 60% des rejets de la catastrophe de Tchernobyl ^[2]. Toutefois, les conditions météorologiques qui ont suivi les fuites radioactives ont dans le cas de l'accident de Fukushima, poussé la plus grande part de la contamination à se diluer dans l'océan Pacifique.

Le 24 mars 2011, l'accident était classé de « niveau 5 » sur l'échelle INES par les autorités nationales japonaises, qui n’excluent toutefois pas un relèvement du niveau suivant l’évolution de la situation. En effet, les 24 et 25 mars, le cœur du réacteur n°3 était partiellement endommagé (et en partie dénoyé) et - selon les indicateurs de pression, son enceinte de confinement en acier ne serait plus étanche, ce qui expliquerait des « rejets radioactifs « continus » non filtrés dans l’environnement »^[3]. Pour l'ASN, le 26 mars, l'accident est clairement de « niveau 6 »^[4].

Fonctionnement d'un réacteur à eau bouillante et scénario d'accident

Schéma de principe du refroidissement d’un réacteur à eau bouillante^[50].

Les réacteurs des centrales nucléaires sont conçus pour s’arrêter automatiquement dès le début de secousses importantes^[51]^,^[52], la réaction en chaîne qui a lieu en fonctionnement normal du réacteur est stoppée, mais les réacteurs doivent continuer à être refroidis pour évacuer la chaleur due à la radioactivité des produits de fission présents dans le réacteur, qui continuent à se désintégrer et dont l’énergie continue à chauffer fortement le cœur pendant quelques heures (voire quelques jours)^[53]^,^[54]. Ainsi, immédiatement après la cessation des réactions de fission, le réacteur dégage toujours environ 7 % de sa puissance thermique nominale^[55] et cette chaleur résiduelle diminue de manière exponentielle avec le temps^[56].

Leur chaleur résiduelle est normalement - dans ce type de cas - éliminée par refroidissement, grâce à des circuits auxiliaires qui utilisent de l'eau comme fluide de refroidissement et nécessitent de l’électricité pour l’alimentation des pompes et des systèmes de contrôle. Les systèmes de secours semblent avoir été fortement endommagés par le tremblement de terre et/ou noyés par le tsunami consécutif^[54]. Les groupes diesel de secours se sont brusquement arrêtés une heure plus tard.

Le réacteur ne peut plus être refroidi, et le volume d'eau diminue, ce qui peut conduire à la fusion du cœur du réacteur^[57]. Le point de fusion du combustible est d’environ 2 800 °C^[58]^,^[59] tandis que la gaine à base de zirconium se détériore aux alentours de 830 °C^[60] puis rompt aux alentours de 1 200 °C^[58]. La fusion de la gaine intervient à environ 1 600 °C, températures atteintes en quelques minutes dans un cœur de réacteur à l’arrêt qui se retrouverait en partie hors de l’eau^[61].

Une explosion peut disperser la très forte radioactivité du cœur sur des distances relativement importantes (de l’ordre du kilomètre) et détruire les moyens de contrôle de la centrale^[57].

Il est donc jugé préférable, dans ce type d’accident, de laisser s’échapper la vapeur et l’hydrogène accumulés dans l’enceinte, quitte à entraîner vers l’extérieur une contamination radioactive généralement limitée si des tubes de combustible ont été fissurés/fendus^[62]. De même, le refroidissement du cœur est considéré comme prioritaire, quitte à ce qu’une faible radioactivité sorte de l’enceinte (des bassins d’épandage sont prévus pour retenir ces eaux de refroidissement potentiellement contaminées). Ces modes de fonctionnement sont des « modes dégradés » qui permettent de maintenir l’essentiel de la radioactivité à l’intérieur des barrières de confinement.

Conséquences d'un défaut de refroidissement des réacteurs

Article détaillé : Fusion du cœur d'un réacteur nucléaire.

La perte totale du refroidissement est l’accident majeur dimensionnant les dispositifs de sécurité d’une centrale : c’est en calculant les conséquences éventuelles d’un tel accident sur l’extérieur que l’on détermine si un réacteur est suffisamment « sûr ». Les conséquences d’un tel accident sont donc étudiées à l’avance, et les réponses à apporter aux différentes situations font partie du dossier de sûreté de la centrale. Pour qu'une centrale puisse réglementairement être autorisée à fonctionner, l'opérateur doit démontrer que les effets de n'importe quel accident de fusion du cœur restent confinés à la centrale, et n'imposent pas d'évacuer les habitants riverains^[63].

D’une manière générale, les conséquences d’une perte de refroidissement sur un réacteur peuvent être :

Explosion mécanique

La première conséquence est que l’eau de refroidissement s’évapore, ce qui provoque une surpression de vapeur d’eau^[18]. La pression de vapeur peut alors être suffisante pour endommager l’installation^[64].

Pollution radioactive

La température continuant de monter, les gaines (longs tubes) de combustible peuvent se fendre, libérant dans le cœur des produits de fission^[64]. Le risque est alors que ces produits de fission se répandent dans l’atmosphère avec les vapeurs produites, entraînant des contaminations radioactives à l’extérieur.

Production d'hydrogène et explosion chimique

Les tubes de combustibles, quand ils ne sont plus plongés dans l’eau, chauffent à des températures beaucoup plus élevées (quelques centaines de degrés). À ces hautes températures, le zirconium qui constitue l’enveloppe du combustible réagit avec l’eau en phase gazeuse pour former de l'oxyde de zirconium et de l’hydrogène ^[64]^,[65], lequel se mélange à l’eau en phase gazeuse et s’accumule dans les parties hautes du circuit primaire. La réaction Zr+H₂O est d'autant plus rapide que la température est élevée et à partir de 1 200 °C (température atteinte uniquement si l'eau contenue dans la cuve est entièrement passée en phase gazeuse) elle s'accélère fortement^[60]. L'enceinte de confinement contient un gaz inerte et non de l'air, qui formerait avec l'hydrogène un mélange explosif. Mais si l'hydrogène est produit en trop grande quantité, il doit être rejeté vers l'extérieur. Sous peine de voir exploser, par une trop forte pression, soit l'enceinte de confinement, soit la cuve du réacteur et alors les deux.

Fusion du cœur

Enfin, les tubes peuvent fondre et le corium peut migrer dans le réacteur, s’accumulant généralement dans les parties basses^[64]. Dans la mesure où la géométrie du cœur n’est alors plus contrôlée, il y a un risque d’accident de criticité si les barres de contrôle (fondues avec le reste) ne peuvent plus assurer leur fonction. C’est pour cette raison que du bore (sous forme d'acide borique) est ajouté à l’eau de refroidissement, pour absorber le plus de neutrons possible et diminuer ainsi la réactivité du cœur^[64].

Réaction nucléaire entretenue

Un éventuel accident de criticité reste toujours à la limite de la criticité, mais ne peut pas aller au-delà, bien que pouvant conduire à une petite explosion mécanique. Une explosion nucléaire proprement dite (du même type que celle d’une bombe atomique) n’est physiquement pas possible dans une centrale nucléaire, parce que le corium, qui ne se déplace que lentement, serait immédiatement dispersé par l’énergie d’une réaction en chaîne commençante, avant d’avoir pu dégager une fraction significative de son potentiel d’énergie^[66]^,[67].

Le scénario de l’accident de Tchernobyl avait superposé deux problèmes : d’une part une explosion due à l'hydrogène accumulé dans le réacteur (explosion chimique), et d’autre part l’incendie du modérateur en carbone (propre à ce type de réacteur), qui avait envoyé les produits de fission dans la haute atmosphère formant un nuage de radioactivité qui s’était répandu sur toute l’Europe et au-delà^[68]. Dans un réacteur à eau bouillante, la modération des neutrons est assurée par l’eau, et cette seconde partie du scénario peut être exclue.

Conséquences d'un défaut de refroidissement des piscines d'entreposage

Piscine sur le Savannah River Site (États-Unis)

Après avoir été retirés du cœur d'un réacteur, les éléments combustibles usés continuent de dégager de la chaleur, et sont entreposés dans une piscine, l'eau servant à la fois pour les refroidir et de barrière aux rayonnements qu'ils émettent^[69]. La température et le niveau d'eau de ces piscines doivent être constamment contrôlés ; la température de la piscine est normalement maintenue à 25 °C au maximum, ce qui demande un refroidissement constant^[69].

Le défaut de renouvellement d'eau extérieure pour le refroidissement d'une piscine d’entreposage du combustible usagé entraîne au bout d'un certain temps l'évaporation (0,4 litre par seconde et par mégawatt)^[70] et l'ébullition du liquide, occasionnant alors l'échauffement puis l'éclatement (lié à l'oxydation) des crayons de combustible hors d'eau^[71]. En outre, les piscines d'entreposage sont extérieures à l'enceinte de confinement résistante des réacteurs (elles sont confinées dynamiquement en service normal) et sont ainsi plus facilement exposées à l'atmosphère^[72].

Cette situation est potentiellement très grave : si l'eau des piscines s'évapore (ce qui peut prendre quelques jours), les éléments combustibles irradiés qu'elle contient peuvent fondre ou prendre feu, répandant leurs produits de fission directement dans l'atmosphère^[73]^,^[74].
Dans un tel cas, les rejets radioactifs correspondants seraient bien supérieurs aux rejets survenus jusqu’à présent^[75]. Un tel accident serait du niveau de gravité de celui de Tchernobyl.

Radioactivité dans le site

Un niveau de radioactivité 1 000 fois supérieur à la normale a été détecté le samedi matin dans la salle de contrôle du réacteur numéro 1 de la centrale nucléaire Fukushima n^o 1, située au nord-est du Japon, selon l’agence de presse Kyodo citant une commission de sécurité^[115].

zone rouge : plus de 100 mSv/h

Le 16 mars, aux alentours de 16 heures (heure locale), le niveau de radioactivité au-dessus de la centrale de Fukushima Daichi a atteint les 1 500 millisieverts par heure, empêchant ainsi les largages d'eau par hélicoptères^[116].

Selon l'AIEA un niveau de radiation de 400 millisieverts par heure a été observé entre les unités 3 et 4^[117]. À ce taux de radiation, un travailleur du nucléaire sur le site de Fukushima Daichi est exposé en 3 minutes à la dose limite admise en France pour une année.

La limite de dose pour un travailleur du nucléaire en France est de 20 millisieverts pour une année^[118]. La limite réglementaire d'exposition en circonstances exceptionnelles est de 100 millisieverts, cette limite réglementaire a été exceptionnellement relevée à 250 millisieverts pour permettre aux travailleurs de continuer à intervenir sur le site^[119].

Selon des données de l'Environmental Protection Agency, un travailleur exposé à une dose de 250 mSv pourrait voir son risque de developper un cancer létal passer d'environ 20% à environ 21%^[120].

Le 27 mars 2011, des échantillons d'eau prélevés au sous-sol de la salle de la turbine située derrière le réacteur n°2 révèlent un taux de radioactivité de 1 Sievert/heure^[121]. Le personnel présent sur le site a été évacué suite à ces mesures.

[modifier] En limite de site

zone jaune : de 0.025 à 2 mSv/h

Le 24 mars 2011, les équipes de l'AIEA ont enregistré des taux de 161 microsievert par heure dans les villes de Namie dans la préfecture de Fukushima, à 8 km au nord ouest de la centrale^[122]. Une population exposée à ce taux pendant 5 jours accumule 20mSV, ce qui correspond à la dose autorisée en un an pour un travailleur du nucléaire en France. En 25 jours soumis à ce taux, la population exposée atteindrait la limite de 100mSV, seuil à partir duquel les risques de cancers dus à la radioactivité augmentent significativement.

Le 17 mars 2011, le Ministre japonais des Sciences déclare qu'un débit de dose de 0,17 mSv/h a été mesuré à 30 km au nord-ouest de l'accident (soit 20mSv reçus en 5 jours de 24 heures, ce qui correspond à la dose autorisée en un an pour un travailleur du nucléaire en France) ^[123].

Le 15 mars 2011, TEPCO annonce un niveau de radiation de plus de 8 microsieverts par heure^[124].

Dans son 22^e communiqué^[102] sur la situation, le 14 mars (7 h 30 heure locale), l’agence NISA confirme une augmentation de radioactivité par rapport à celle mesurée le 13 mars à 19 h (selon les mesures faites par un véhicule en bordure du site^[102]). Pour la centrale de Fukushima Daini, la NISA cite une mesure approximative de 5 400 nGy/h (soit 5,4 microsieverts) en limite extérieure nord du site, le 15 mars à 19 h 00, en diminution par rapport aux 6 500 nGy/h (6,5 microsieverts) mesurés à 19 h 00 la veille (le 14 mars) au même point.

Sur un des points de mesure extérieurs (MP3, au Nord-Ouest du site en limite de l'unité 2 de Fukishima Daichi) la radioactivité atteignait 231,1 µSv/h (le 14 mars à 14 h 30 locale)^[125].

Le 13 mars 2011, à 2 km de la centrale de Fukushima Daiichi, la radioactivité ambiante a été mesurée à 0,1 mSv/h^[126]^,^[127], soit un taux environ 800 fois supérieur à la radioactivité ambiante moyenne par heure : cela signifie qu'à quelques kilomètres de la centrale, on se trouve déjà en zone jaune.

Selon le Réseau Sortir du Nucléaire^[128], des mesures effectuées à 2 km de la centrale de Fukushima Daiichi par six journalistes de l’association Japan Visual Journalist Association ont permis de constater un débit de dose s'élevant à 10 voire 100 milliröntgens par heure (soit 0,1 voire 1 millisievert par heure), débit selon eux « dramatiquement élevé ».

Des mesures indépendantes relevées dans la journée du 12 mars indiquent des niveaux de radioactivité très élevés sur toute la zone : jusqu'à 1 mSv à deux kilomètres de la centrale^[129].

Conséquences sur les politiques énergétiques nationales et réactions du grand public

[modifier] Union européenne

Les risques de la catastrophe nucléaire et l'intense couverture médiatique de l’évolution de la situation ont relancé le débat sur l’utilisation de l’énergie nucléaire dans de nombreux pays, comme en Allemagne, en Italie et en France.

Mardi 15 mars, en écho aux annonces du Premier Ministre français à l'Assemblée nationale qui en appelle surtout à la solidarité, Günther Oettinger, commissaire européen à l'énergie, affirme que l'Union Européenne s'est mise d'accord pour engager l'organisation avant la fin de l'année de tests de résistances européens pour toutes les centrales européennes, dans l'optique d'une réévaluation des risques et d'un durcissement des normes de sécurité. Ces opérations seront réalisées sur la base du volontariat^[208]. Cette idée est à l'initiative du ministre autrichien de l'Environnement Nikolaus Berlakovich, dont le pays est très opposé au nucléaire^[209]. En outre, la Commission Européenne souhaite assurer une meilleure information en matière de sécurité aux citoyens européens. En 2011, 143 centrales nucléaires sont en activité dans l'Union européenne, sur le territoire de 13 États sur les 27 qui la constituent^[208].

[modifier] Allemagne

L’Allemagne décide le lundi 14 mars, par la voix d'Angela Merkel, un moratoire de trois mois sur l’allongement de la durée de vie de 7 des 17 réacteurs en service. Le Parlement avait en effet décidé à l'automne de prolonger de 12 ans en moyenne la durée de vie des réacteurs allemands, alors que, en vertu de la loi passée en 2002 par la coalition des sociaux-démocrates (SPD) et des Verts au pouvoir à l'époque (1998-2005), ceux-ci devaient cesser progressivement leur activité d'ici à 2020 environ^[208].

[modifier] France

Une manifestation est organisée le 13 mars 2011 au soir à Paris par divers organisations et partis écologistes^[210]. Dès le lundi 14 mars les Verts appellent à une sortie totale, aussi vite que possible, du nucléaire, possible d'ici 2035 ou 2040 pour la France.

Aucun débat populaire ni référendum n'est toutefois annoncé par le gouvernement français, qui rejette également toute idée de moratoire. Au contraire, Nicolas Sarkozy annonce le 24 mars 2011 que le choix de l'énergie nucléaire n'est pas remis en question^[211]. Le Premier Ministre François Fillon, suite à son annonce du 15 mars à l’ Assemblée nationale de réaliser un audit sur les installations nucléaires françaises, en confie la réalisation à l'ASN dans un courrier en date du 23 mars 2011. Cet audit portera sur les risques d’inondation, de séisme, de perte des alimentations électriques et de perte du système de refroidissement ainsi que sur la gestion opérationnelle des situations accidentelles. Des propositions d’améliorations au vu des diagnostics qui auront été faits sont attendues pour la fin de l’année 2011^[212].

[modifier] Suisse

La Suisse annonce la suspension du projet de renouvellement de ses centrales^[213].

[modifier] Russie

Après avoir engagé la vérification de l'état du nucléaire civil russe et de ses perspectives avant un mois, Vladimir Poutine avance mardi la volonté d'accélérer la réalisation de projets d'exploitation de gisements d'hydrocarbures en Extrême-Orient, dont particulièrement le projet Sakhaline-3^[214].

[modifier] États-Unis

Engagé dans la relance de la filière nucléaire américaine, Barack Obama reste d'abord discret voire muet. Après 30 ans d'arrêt de constructions nouvelles, les États-Unis ont en effet établi un fond, un prêt et des budgets de plusieurs dizaines de milliards de dollars en 2011 et visent un investissement de plusieurs centaines de milliards uniquement pour renouveler leurs centrales vieillissantes^[215]. Des parlementaires, dont Joseph Lieberman, en appellent le dimanche 13 mars à un moratoire, tandis que le Comité sur l'énergie de la Chambre de Commerce prévoit une audition sur la question mercredi, en présence de Steven Chu^[216].

Le mercredi 16 mars, Barack Obama, tout en faisant part de son inquiétude et de l'assurance de son soutien aux Japonais, insiste sur l'amélioration de la sûreté et de la performance des centrales nucléaires des États-Unis, sans remettre en question ni mentionner le programme de constructions de nouvelles centrales^[217]. La Californie, pourtant située sur une zone hautement sismique, compte plusieurs réacteurs nucléaires en fonction. La Chine quant à elle a ordonné une inspection générale de la sécurité de ses centrales nucléaires et a suspendu toute approbation de projet de nouvelle centrale nucléaire.

Le 18 mars, un groupe d'experts américains en nucléaire, devant le National Press Club, qualifie les efforts entrepris pour faire face à cette crise nucléaire de « désespérés »^[218]. Pour Robert Alvarez, ancien conseiller au Secrétariat à l'Énergie, les mesures prises par le Japon ne font en aucun cas partie des meilleures options disponibles ; quant aux largages d'eau, ce sont des improvisations sur les règles à suivre pour stopper une fusion nucléaire et non de bonnes solutions. De plus, il note que l'eau de mer versée sur les bâtiments pourrait détruire les pompes de refroidissement, voire corroder les enceintes de confinement. Alvarez estime que ces mesures seront incapables d'arrêter la crise.

LATEST ESTIMATES FOR PLUME FROM FUKUSHIMA

http://whatreallyhappened.com/IMAGES/20110325_Reanalyse-I131-Period2.gif

DigitalGlobe image collection of Fukushima plant damage

Webmaster's Commentary:

As you look at these images, remember that the government and media telling you there is nothing to worry about from all these smashed reactors is the same government and media that tells you a terrorist with a radioactive "dirty" bomb in his suitcase can wipe out an entire US city!

FUKUSHIMA - PAID ONLINE PROPAGANDISTS AT WORK.

Webmaster's Commentary:

Reading the comments on this article is a good way to study the paid shills of the massive public relations campaign that has been mounted to try to downplay Fukushima to protect General Electric and the nuclear power industry as a whole.

Of course, once you are aware that such online grass-roots lobbyists (aka paid liars) exist, they immediately lose their effectiveness.

Japanese & U.S. Govts Know What's Going On & They're Not Being Honest! (About Nuclear Crisis)

Tiny amounts of radiation from Japan reach Nev.

Nevada has joined several western states in reporting that minuscule amounts of radiation from Japan's damaged nuclear plant are showing up. But as with the other states, scientists say there is no health risk.

Webmaster's Commentary:

For months the US Government has wagged the dog at us that a single terrorist with a suitcase bomb consisting of TNT mixed with radioactive isotopes could wipe out an entire American city, yet now we have a half-dozen wrecked and leaking reactors spewing radiation across half the planet and we are told it is no big deal!

Dr. Mark Sircus: Nuclear Armageddon

None of us could have calculated in our wildest dreams the likes of what is happening and still yet to happen in northern Japan.

The 9.0-magnitude quake and tsunami laid waste to Japan’s industrial northeast on March 11 triggered a huge nuclear disaster. Many of us feared something like this might happen in the nuclear industry someday.

And now it has happened and we can all start saying prayers for the men, women and children in Tokyo and the rest of northern Japan. The entire world is struggling to determine the fallout effects of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, along with many ensuing and complicating problems. We really have no idea the mess the Japanese are in and how bad this is all going to get.

The New York Times published on the 24th, “Despite the frequent rain in recent days, it was not entirely clear why the levels of iodine were so high, said a senior Western nuclear executive, noting that the prevailing breezes seemed to be pushing radiation out to sea. “The contamination levels are well beyond what you’d expect from what is in the public domain,” said the executive, who insisted on anonymity and has broad contacts in Japan. It was possible that the levels were an indirect indication that the problems at the plant were deeper than had been publicly acknowledged.” Hints don’t get any louder than this.

Fallout from a damaged power plant has already reached halfway around the globe to Iceland and is expected soon to touch down in France and the rest of Europe. According to the absence of reports from the United States one could imagine that America escaped untouched but we all know that is not true—they are just not talking about it. If you look enough though you will see that increased levels of “safe” radiation has fallen on the North American continent. If anyone actually wants to know, hard core science insists that there is no level of radiation that can be considered safe.

The fact is radiation levels around the world will go up but in certain places they’ll go much higher than in others. Fate chose the wrong nuclear power station to destroy because it is the largest with unimaginable tonnages of spent nuclear fuel on site. It’s a setup for nuclear Armageddon.

There is a growing suspicion that the full effects of the radioactive release have been downplayed to the public. Everyone who works with nuclear radiation pretends its safe, when it’s not, and that includes just about every doctor and dentist in the world.

The world’s most significant nuclear accident occurred 25 years ago at Chernobyl, Ukraine. Although its effects are now well-documented, many forget how thoroughly the damage was covered up at the time. To avoid panic, the Soviet authorities grossly downplayed the risks to those living near the plant, as well as those who lived hundreds, and even thousands, of miles away. In the months that followed, high levels of radiation were detected as far away as Scotland.

Contamination will be most intense in the areas local to the nuclear power station. It’s a foregone conclusion that the entire northern half of Japan is threatened as is most of its food and water supply, yet the Japanese are told to remain calm and sit in their homes. Will the government allow their citizens to slowly succumb to the radiation sickness that will surely come or will they come to their senses and start a wholesale evacuation of northern Japan?

The most dangerous accident that humanity has ever witnessed is happening but don’t worry, the nuclear power industry is safe. The elites’ media team will have a hard time double speaking this one. You will see their editorial hands moving every time you see the word safe.

If you want to close your eyes for a second and imagine what is really going on over in northern Japan just imagine the invisible level of energy and radiation like a hot fire radiating out in 360 degrees of direction, including right down into the ground and the waters below, sending death rays (yeah sure, safe ones) hundreds and now thousands of miles away. So powerful is this nuclear firestorm that hundreds of miles away it’s unsafe for the children to be drinking the public water. In twelve days the contamination has spread powerfully into the local area where it is becoming unsafe to live. It’s an invisible fire but a deadly one.

Everything is safe to the monsters that have enriched themselves by poisoning humanity and polluting the world. This is a dramatic book about many converging forces that are breaking across the neck of humanity. It really does not help our present world situation that it is mostly psychopaths who roam the top of the human heap and it has always been that way. We have trusted the wrong people and organizations and now we will pay for that huge mistake.

Denial is the name of the toxicity game that industry has played for well over a hundred years. To the chemical industry, then the petrochemical one, on into the pharmaceutical universe and then the atomic one those who make money from toxic substances deny that there is any problem with them in terms of health.

Do you think we can relax with the authorities and have confidence that they will get it all under control? Can they stabilize the situation? Or will it get explosively worse?

Rainwater Across Entire US Contanimated With Japan Nuclear Radiation

Rainwater across the entire United States is now testing positive for nuclear radiation contamination from Japan's nuclear fallout.

La radioactivité passe maintenant au-dessus de nos têtes

22 mars 2011

* Le présent blog est opéré à partir du Québec. Je n'ai toujours pas reçu l'iode de potassium et cette situtation n'est pas habituelle...

Voici deux sites où vous trouverez des graphiques qui modélisent l'arrivée du nuage radioactif au-dessus de tous les pays du monde. J'imagine que les conditions atmosphériques peuvent changer l'orientation du nuage ainsi que sa vitesse de croisière.

Le Québec est actuellement touché, selon ces données, et l'Europe devrait voir le nuage dès demain, le 23 mars.

Est-ce que nous devons craindre cette radioactivité qui se disperse au-dessus de nos têtes? Les autorités prétendent que les risques sont négligeables, tandis que certaines documentations prétendent que les retombées du "césium 137" sont extrêmement dommageables pour la santé humaine. Je vous invite donc à faire vos recherches et à consulter la définition en bas de page.

Météo France vient de lancer une application modélisant la dispersion du césium 137 rejeté dans l'atmosphère terrestre par les centrales de Fukushima au Japon (cliquez sur le "play" au bas du graphique):

http://www.irsn.fr/FR/popup/Pages/irsn-meteo-france_19mars.aspx

Voici un autre site qui indique le transport atmosphérique du nuage radioactif, celui de l'Institut du climat de Norvège. Je n'ai pas encore maitrisé l'outil. Si quelqu'un peut nous éclairer dans la section des commentaires...

http://transport.nilu.no/browser/fpv_fuku?fpp=conc_Xe-133_0_;region=DMANC1

Définition du "césium 137", lequel élément on retrouve dans le nuage radioactif. Ça n'a rien de rassurant!

Toxicité

Le césium 137 est particulièrement toxique et écotoxique. Il affecte a priori tous les êtres vivants et d'autant plus qu'ils sont jeunes.

Sa toxicité est chimique, mais elle résulte surtout et probablement presque essentiellement de ses propriétés radiologiques ^[2].

Pour ce qui concerne les effets radiatifs et ionisants, on peut distinguer l'exposition externe, et l'exposition interne. Cette dernière est beaucoup plus dangereuse, car la toxicité du césium inhalé ou ingéré est fortement exacerbée par le fait que le césium 137 est un analogue du potassium ; Ceci fait qu'il est rapidement assimilé, dans n'importe quelle partie de l'organisme, d'où il ne sera éliminé qu'avec une demi-vie de 70 jours environ^[3]. Dans un même environnement, l'enfant, qui a des besoins en potassium plus important que l'adulte, en absorbe et en fixe plus que ce dernier.

Cinétique dans l'organisme humain

Sur le long terme, la contamination se fait surtout par ingestion et absorption gastro-intestinale. Le césium est ensuite transporté par le sang et tend à se fixer à la place de son analogue chimique, le potassium.

Effets

Les effets des faibles doses d'irradiation sont discutés, mais les effets avérés des « fortes » doses sont:

Insuffisance médullaire et atteinte du système immunitaire ;
délétion de la fonction de reproduction ;
effets hépatotoxiques ;
affections rénales ;
troubles de la minéralisation osseuse ;
lésions cérébrales, éventuellement associées à des troubles neurologiques

À doses plus faibles, et à plus long terme, on lui reconnait aussi les impacts suivants :

Perturbations du cycle veille-sommeil, sans troubles comportementaux important atteinte du système cardiovasculaire
troubles du métabolismes de la vitamine D, du cholestérol et des hormones stéroïdiennes, sans symptomatologie clinique
malformations congénitales et fœtales, risque accru de cancers de la thyroïde
D'autres effets, à plus long terme sont suspectés sur le cœur, la paroi de l'estomac.

Un risque accru de trisomie 21 est également suspectée.

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A9sium_137

Breaking News: Le Premier ministre japonais a annoncé ce soir que la situation est actuellement extrêmement critique

25 mars 2011

* Mise à jour du 26 mars: un reportage de ABC News, diffusé la nuit dernière, expose très clairement qu'une catastrophe nucléaire mondiale est en cours. Pour ceux et celles qui ont des oreilles pour entendre, le message est clair!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uN3-EmjIwa8&feature=feedu

Il est maintenant un fait confirmé, dans les dernières minutes par le premier ministre japonais, que le réacteur no.3 laisse s'échapper des radiations contenant du plutonium (agent chimique le plus toxique connu par la science actuelle). La situation est décrite comme étant maintenant incontrôlable et sérieuse. De moins en moins de travailleurs s'affairent à réparer les installations parce que le danger d'être contaminé est extrême. Selon l'expert japonais, le Japon pourrait devenir une "zone mortelle"...

Source:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haBovPouOU8&feature=feedbul

Les taux de radiation à 20 km de la centrale de Fukushima sont maintenant 1600 fois plus élevés qu'à la normale

22 mars 2011

* Ne soyez pas inquiets, les autorités ont le contrôle, même sur tous les inventaires d'iode de potassium de la planète! Les pharmaciens du Québec ont reçu l'ordre de ne pas distribuer d'iode de potassium sans avoir préalablement et obligatoirement une prescription médicale qui autorise la prise de ce médicament...

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/special-reports/two-survivors-found-under-rubble-nine-days-after-japanese-earthquake/story-fn7zkbgs-1226025746415

10 Million Times Normal Level of Radioactivity in Water at No.2 Reactor

Multiple news reports have indicated that radiation levels in the water at the Fukushima nuclear power plant reactor #2 have risen to 10 million times the normal level.

“It is highly likely the fuel rods have been damaged and high levels of radioactive materials leaked in the water,” said Naoto Sekimura, professor of atomic energy at Tokyo University. “I believe the leak is coming from the pipes and valves,” reported majiroxnews.com

NHK has reported that reactor #2 is breached similar to 1 and 3. That’s right, it is now being reported that all three reactors are breached. To what level they have been breached is unknown at this time.

Radiation levels in the water at the Fukushima nuclear power plant reactor #2 have risen to 10 million times the normal level.

This prompted the plant to order all workers to evacuate the building. Reports have indicated that the spent fuels rods may be damaged.

Extreme radiation detected at No.2 reactor

NHK

The company says the latest reading is 10-million times the usual radioactivity of water circulating within a normally operating reactor.

TEPCO says the radioactive materials include 2.9-billion becquerels of iodine-134, 13-million becquerels of iodine-131, and 2.3-million becquerels each for cesium 134 and 137.

These substances are emitted during nuclear fission inside a reactor core

The company says the extremely contaminated water may stem from a damaged reactor core, and are trying to determine how the leakage occurred.

MSNBC - Radiation 10 million times normal at Japan nuclear plant

TOKYO — Radioactivity in water at one earthquake-crippled Japanese nuclear reactor soared to 10 million times its usual level Sunday, prompting the plant operator to evacuate workers, local media reported.

The report about Fukushima Dai-ichi reactor Unit 2 came as Tokyo Electric Power Co. workers were grappling with how to remove and store highly radioactive water pooling there and in two other troubled units.

TEPCO spokesman Takashi Kurita told reporters Sunday that leaked water in Unit 2 measured at 1,000 millisieverts per hour. That's 10 million times higher than the radioactivity level when the reactor is operating normally

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano, speaking Sunday on TV talk shows, said the radioactive water is "almost certainly" seeping from a reactor core.

Webmaster's Commentary:

Shit!

Nuclear Radiation Alert - Japan Nuclear Radiation Levels Hit 10 Million Times Normal

All the nuclear experts who have said everything is fine is wrong. This is absolutely devastating news coming across the wires as we speak.

Flash: Japanese Nuclear Radiation Levels at Fukushima 10 million times normal

Details are very limited at this point except an emergency evacuation at the nuclear power plant has been ordered. Follow the link above for the latest on this story.

Japan Nuclear Radiation Alert: Levels 10 Million Times Normal

Webmaster's Commentary:

Note the comment about how materials only created by fission are being found. This means one of two things. Either the reactor cores are now confirmed as breached, and/or the fuel rods in the reactors and spent fuel pools are undergoing uncontrolled fission. Given the increasing levels of radiation, I would conclude the latter.

Japan says very high radiation reading at reactor was wrong

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/27/us-japan-quake-idUSTRE72A0SS20110327

Radiation in the water was a still worrying 100,000 times higher than normal, rather than 10 million times higher as originally stated, Muto said.

Webmaster's Commentary:

Well just imagine my relief!

Frankly, at this point, nothing TEPCO, the US or Japanese governments, the media, or anyone connected with the nuclear power industry can be trusted. Half the experts are guessing and the other half are flat-out lying.

Via Bloomberg the latest status on each reactor:

http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2011/03/27/nuclear-radio-active-fallout-alert-japan-nuclear-radiation-levels-hit-10-million-times-normal-11582/

The following is the status of each of six nuclear reactors at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s crippled Fukushima Dai-Ichi power plant as of 9 a.m., Japan time.

The company pumped fresh water into No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 reactors, Japan’s Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said. The external power supply has been restored for all six reactors as of March 22, according to Tokyo Electric Power.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said a “certain level of progress” has been made while speaking on an NHK television program today.

No. 1: Contaminated water in the turbine structure contains 10,000 times the radiation of regular cooling water, NHK said. The company has started removing contaminated water from the basement of the turbine building and will prepare more pumps to drain the water, the agency said. The unit has been damaged since a March 12 hydrogen explosion destroyed the building’s walls. The seriousness of the reactor’s threat to safety is rated level five on an international scale of 1-7.

No. 2: Contaminated water in the turbine structure contains 10 million times more radiation than normal cooling water, NHK said. The company plans to remove contaminated water as early as today, the agency said. The company plans to start using freshwater on fuel pool from March 28, the agency said. The containment chamber may have been damaged in a March 15 explosion, and a power cable was reconnected to the unit on March 19. The reactor is rated a level-five threat.

No. 3: Contaminated water in the turbine structure contains 10,000 times the normal radiation, NHK said. The company is considering ways to remove the contaminated water, the agency said. A March 14 explosion damaged the unit’s fuel cover. The reactor is rated a level-five threat.

No. 4: The company plans to spray water in the spent-fuel cooling pool this afternoon, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said. The agency said on March 17 there may be no water in the pool. It’s rated at three on the threat level. This reactor was undergoing maintenance when the earthquake hit.

No. 5: The unit was idle for maintenance before the earthquake.

No. 6: The reactor achieved cold shutdown at 7:27 p.m. on March 20 when the temperature fell below 100 degrees Celsius, the company said. A backup generator was fixed March 19, according to a company press release. The unit was idle for maintenance before the earthquake.

Delay feared in restoring cooling systems

At the quake-hit Fukushima nuclear power plant, high radioactive density detected in 3 turbine buildings may further delay work to restore the cooling systems for the overheated fuel rods.

Tokyo Electric Power Company says that on Sunday it detected 100,000 times the normal density of radioactive substances in the leaked water in the Number 2 reactor's turbine building at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The water surface had a high radiation level of more than 1,000 millisieverts per hour.

In similar tests conducted earlier, about 10,000 times the normal radioactive density had been detected in the turbine buildings of the Number-1 and -3 reactors as well.

Fukushima crisis level raised — Now 6 on INES scale

March 24th, 2011 at 11:50 PM

Nuclear Crisis in Japan Level 6, Arirang (Korea), March 25, 2011:

A Japanese news …Read More

Fly By of Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant 3/27/11 - Also How Many Nuclear Power Plants are in Meltdown in Japan? Seems Onagawa Nuclear Plant may have Melted Down.

It is said by the administrator of Tohoku Electric Power Co’s that the fire broke out during the earthquake and due to the failure of the cooling in the reactor. They said that “the process of cooling in the reactor is not going as planned” adding nuclear emergency situation in the state.

Webmaster's Commentary:

I am also concerned about initial reports of cooling system failure at the Tokai-2 reactor near Ibaraki followed by total silence.

Fukushima Radiation Found Massachusetts Rainwater As Bio-Robots Fight To Prevent Disaster

16 days into Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster and there are already reports of radiation hitting the U.S. mainland. The reactor workers are battling pure hell as deadly radiation levels skyrocket at the reactor facility in Fukushima.

The brave workers/heros facing this planetary disaster are doing everything possible to contain the situation at this time.

During the Chernobyl disaster reactor workers barley prevented a second nuclear explosion that has been covered up to the public for many years. This secondary explosion would have been powerful enough and toxic enough to wipeout the population of half of Europe back in 1986 according to Russian officials.

Radioactive Cesium With A Half-Life Of Approximately 30 Years Is Being Released At About 60 Percent Of Chernobyl Levels

So how much cesium are we talking about?

Well, nobody knows for sure, but Keith Harmon Snow is estimating that each spent fuel pool at the Fukushima nuclear complex could have 24,000 times the amount of cesium that was produced by the nuclear bomb that the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima at the end of World War 2.

That is a very frightening number if you stop and think about it.

Already there is quite a bit of evidence of cesium contamination across northern Japan.

For example, 25 miles from the Fukushima complex, one batch of a leafy green vegetable known as kukitachin was recently discovered to contain 11 times the legal limit of radioactive iodine and 82 times the legal limit of cesium.

Intl. cargo ships avoid Japan ports

International shipping companies say their cargo ships will not enter Japan ports for the fear of radioactive contamination from the Fukushima nuclear plant.

Many of the companies on Saturday avoided Tokyo Bay, which is home to two major ports of Tokyo and Yokohama,The New York Times reported.

Chinese officials had detected radioactive contamination in their cargo ship having sailed at least 80 miles farther from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant that was damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Although some cargo ships enter ports south of Tokyo, many others have totally cancelled any shipment to Japanese ports until further notice.

Hard To Tell When Nuclear Crisis Would End: Edano

Asked about the prospects of the crisis, Edano said, ''The current situation is that we are preventing it from worsening.'' He said the situation still requires ''an enormous amount of work'' before it settles down.

Webmaster's Commentary:

Translation: They are pissing on a wildfire because there is nothing else they can do.

Edano: Voluntary evacuation from 20-30 km advised

The government is advising residents to voluntarily evacuate areas within 20 to 30 kilometers of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, in view of the severe living conditions in the zone.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano told reporters on Friday that business and distribution in these areas has been harshly disrupted, as an increasing number of people have voluntarily evacuated.

Japan Quietly Evacuating a Wider Radius From Reactors

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/26/world/asia/26japan.html?_r=2&hp

TOKYO — New signs emerged Friday that parts of the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant were so damaged and contaminated that it would be even harder to bring the plant under control soon.

At the same time, Japanese officials began encouraging people to evacuate a larger band of territory around the complex.

Speaking to a national audience at a news conference on Friday night, two weeks after the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and the devastating tsunami that followed it, Prime Minister Naoto Kan dodged a reporter’s question about whether the government was ordering a full evacuation, saying officials were simply following the recommendation of the Japan Nuclear Safety Commission.

In a new sign of the contamination problem, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said Saturday a sample of seawater taken Friday from a monitoring station at the plant showed the level of iodine 131 at 50 becquerels per cubic centimeter — 1,250 times the legal limit.

Drinking a half liter of that water would be equivalent to getting a 1 millisievert dose, the agency said, roughly the amount a person gets in one year from natural sources.

One sign of possible deterioration in the plant itself came at Reactor No. 3. Workers who were trying to connect an electrical cable to a pump in a turbine building next to the reactor were injured when they stepped into water that was found to be significantly more radioactive than normal. On Friday, officials and experts offered conflicting explanations of what had gone wrong — but all pointed to greater damage to the reactor’s systems and more contamination there than officials had indicated earlier.

Two workers were exposed to radiation and burned when water poured over their boots and down around their feet and ankles, officials said. A third worker was wearing higher boots and did not suffer the same exposure.

Like the injured workers, many of those risking their lives are subcontractors of Tokyo Electric Power, who are paid a small daily wage for hours of work in dangerous conditions. In some cases they are poorly equipped and trained for their task.

On Saturday, workers were focused on trying to restore the lighting to Reactor No. 2’s central control room, an important step toward restoring the unit’s cooling system. They were also preparing to pump fresh water on the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 units, after days of spraying with saltwater.

The National Institute of Radiological Sciences said that the radioactivity of the water that the three injured workers had stepped into was 10,000 times the level normally seen in coolant water at the plant. It said that the amount of radiation the workers were thought to have been exposed to in the water was two to six sieverts.

Even two sieverts is eight times the new 250-millisievert annual exposure limit set for workers at Daiichi in the days after the disaster; the previous limit was 100. Tokyo Electric officials said that water with an equally high radiation level had been found in the Reactor No. 1 building, The Associated Press reported.

Skin exposures of two to six sieverts will cause severe burns, according to Dr. David J. Brenner, director of the Center for Radiological Research at Columbia University. But if those doses reach the whole body and not just the skin “you’re at a very high risk of dying,” he said.

At a dose of four sieverts, half of the people exposed will die, Dr. Brenner said. But he said that from the information that had been provided, it was not clear whether the dose to the workers reached their skin only, or penetrated their bodies.

The National Police Agency said Friday that the official death toll from the March 11 quake and tsunami had passed 10,000, with nearly 17,500 listed as missing.

There was some good news. Levels of the radioactive isotope found in Tokyo’s water supply fell Friday for a second day, officials said, dropping to 51 becquerels per liter, well below the country’s stringent maximum for infants.

Japan Quake Could Cost $308 Billion; Tokyo Warns On Radioactive Iodine In Tap Water

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — The Japanese government said Wednesday that the economic cost of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami could be as much as $308 billion, more than double the cost of the 1995 Kobe earthquake and four times the cost of Katrina.

Atomic Cleanup Cost Goes to Japan's Taxpayers, May Spur Liability Shift

Source: Bloomberg

Japan’s taxpayer, not the nuclear industry or insurers, will cover most of the cleanup cost from the worst accident since Chernobyl, a financial rescue that may spur moves by nations to make companies assume more liability.

Tokyo Electric Power Co., in its 13th day fighting to avert a meltdown at its Fukushima plant 220 kilometers (135 miles) north of Tokyo, at most is required to cover third-party damages of 120 billion yen ($2.1 billion) under Japanese law. Should the government declare the magnitude-9 earthquake and tsunami that flooded its reactors an “exceptional” act of God, the utility may be off the hook in paying compensation that may be demanded by injured workers, farmers and shareholders.

While nations including the U.S., Germany, India and China ordered plant safety checks after the March 11 accident, some governments may seek to transfer more financial responsibility to plant operators, which worldwide plan to build or relicense more than 100 reactors, according to researchers who follow the nuclear industry.

Assurances

Sur le plan international, l'assurance des accidents nucléaires fait l'objet de la convention de Paris du 29 juillet 1960^[192]. L'assurance des accidents nucléaires est spécifique, avec une gestion partagée entre l'exploitant de centrale et les états concernés, c'est-à-dire les citoyens et contribuables^[193]^,^[194].

Le niveau de couverture exigé est variable selon les pays, au Japon il n'y a pas de limites maximales financières dans la responsabilité de l'exploitant^[195].

La police d'assurance de l'exploitant des centrales japonaises exclurait les dégâts liés à des tremblements de terre ou tsunamis^[196]^,^[197].

Le 23 mars à 15 h 50, l'agence Jiji annonce que les banques japonaises vont prêter 2 000 milliards de yens (soit 17,4 milliards d'euros) à l'opérateur TEPCO, apportant une aide financière destinée à assurer la réparation des centrales endommagées ainsi que le démantèlement de la centrale de Fukushima^[198].

Fukushima Radiation Release Rivals Chernobyl

Despite media spin downplaying severity of crisis, Fukushima is likely to be a worse catastrophe than 1986 disaster

The radiation released by the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant already rivals and in one sense exceeds the Chernobyl catastrophe according to Austria’s Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics, even as media spin downplays the severity of the crisis despite the fact that the problems at the plant show no signs of abating.

“The release of two types of radioactive particles in the first 3-4 days of Japan’s nuclear crisis is estimated to have reached 20-50 percent of the amounts from Chernobyl in 10 days, an Austrian expert said on Wednesday,” reports Reuters.

Iodine-131 released in the first 3-4 days of the crisis was about 20 percent of that released from Chernobyl during a ten-day period, whereas the amount of Caesium-137 released amounted to about 50 percent, according to the institute’s Dr Gerhard Wotawa.

Despite the fact that the story appears under the euphemistic Reuters headline, Japan radiation release lower than Chernobyl, as Tyler Durden points out, when you consider the fact that the amount of Caesium-137 released at Fukushima in the first 3-4 days of the crisis amounted to 50% that released by Chernobyl over 10 days, the real run rate of the radiation released at Fukushima is now about 120-150% the figure released by the Chernobyl explosion – and that’s not even factoring in ongoing radiation leaks from Fukushima, which many experts have estimated could go on for much longer.

As the New York Times reported, “Experts….suggest that radioactive releases of steam from the crippled plants could go on for weeks or even months.” Even if Fukushima technicians manage to stop radiation leakage after one month, estimated Caesium-137 emissions would be at least 500 percent more than those released by Chernobyl, whereas iodine-131 levels could be 200 percent worse.

A further complication is the fact that we don’t even know how much if any plutonium emissions have leaked from Fukushima reactor number 3, which runs on MOX or Mixed Oxide fuel, a mixture of plutonium and uranium. Plutonium is the most deadly radioactive isotope known to man, and MOX is two million times more deadly than normal enriched uranium. The Half-life of Plutonium-239 in MOX is 24,000 years and just a few milligrams of P-239 escaping in a smoke plume will contaminate soil for tens of thousands of years.

In the case of Chernobyl, the vast majority of the plutonium was not released during the explosion and subsequent fire. Japanese authorities and the establishment media seem reticent to even discuss the potential release of plutonium from reactor number 3 at Fukushima.

A few facts about radiation and health

The National Academy of Sciences 2005 BEIR VII report recognizes that there is no safe dose of radiation several radiation researchers. Women and children are particularly susceptible.

After the accident at Three Mile Island there were elevated rates of cancer within the radioactive plum pathways the reactor released, according to a 1997 study.

More recent studies, such as Kaatsch, et. al, in 2008 and Baker and Hoel, 2007 meta-analysis, have shown that normally operating reactors, ones that have supposedly not had accidents, have elevated rates of childhood leukemia around them.

A scientific review by Belson, et. al, 2007 states that “Only one environmental risk factor (ionizing radiation) has been significantly linked to” childhood leukemia.

Also see Beyond Nuclear's new fact sheet about radiation and the health hazards it poses.

“There is no safe level of radionuclide exposure, whether from food, water or other sources — Period” says physician

March 24th, 2011 at 01:26 PM

Japan nuclear crisis still a serious concern, Reuters, March 23, 2011:

Physicians for Social …Read More

Controversy? 500 millisieverts per hour at No. 2 says TEPCO spokesman, 500 microsieverts says Japan nuclear agency — 100 millisieverts beyond 30 km radius says Edano

March 23rd, 2011 at 01:55 PM

Smoke disrupts nuke plant restoration work, radiation fears reach Tokyo, Kyodo, March 23, 2011 …Read More

Japan crisis: nuclear workers exposed to 10,000 times more radiation than normal

Concerns over the extent of radioactive contamination in Japan deepened after it emerged that three workers admitted to hospital this week were exposed to radiation levels 10,000 times higher than normal

Peter Foster
Telegraph

The news raised fears that the steel and concrete containment around one of the reactors at the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant could be leaking...

Fukushima Reactor No. 3 suffers likely core breach, now leaking water at 10,000 times normal radiation levels

The Fukushima situation took a turn for the worse today as two nuclear repair workers stepped into some water at Reactor No. 3 and suffered severe radiation burns requiring immediate hospitalization. The water, it turns out, measures 10,000 times normal radiation levels, and it appears to be leaking from the core of Reactor No. 3.

If confirmed, this can only mean one thing: A containment breach that now risks the spewing of enormous quantities of radiation into the environment, easily dwarfing the releases from Chernobyl in 1986.

Breach in reactor suspected at Japanese nuke plant

TOKYO (AP) -- A suspected breach in the reactor at the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant could mean more serious radioactive contamination, Japanese officials revealed Friday, as the prime minister called the country's ongoing fight to stabilize the plant "very grave and serious."

The plant has leaked some low levels of radiation, but a breach could mean a much larger release of contaminants. The possible breach in Unit 3 might be a crack or a hole in the stainless steel chamber of the reactor core or in the spent fuel pool that's lined with several feet of reinforced concrete

Detailed close-up aerial video of wrecked reactors at Fukushima - #3 MOX reactor "may be" leaking.

Chernobyl-Style Yellow Rain Causes Panic In Japan

Authorities assure alarmed citizens yellow powder is pollen, but victims of Chernobyl radiation were told the same thing

Radioactive yellow rain that fell in Tokyo and surrounding areas last night caused panic amongst Japanese citizens and prompted a flood of phone calls to Japan’s Meteorological Agency this morning, with people concerned that they were being fed the same lies as victims of Chernobyl, who were told that yellow rain which fell over Russia and surrounding countries after the 1986 disaster was merely pollen, the same explanation now being offered by Japanese authorities.

Given the fact that Japanese authorities have been habitually deceptive about the Fukushima crisis from start to finish, assurances that the yellow powder was merely a result of air-borne pollen particles are dubious at best. With people living in Tokyo already being told that tap water is unsafe to drink, along with contaminated vegetables and milk from certain areas near Fukushima, the fact that they were panicked by yellow rain is unsurprising.

Although pollen can turn rain a yellow color, the fact that the phenomenon occurred a couple of hundred kilometers south of the radiation-spewing Fukushima nuclear plant has stoked alarm, and understandably so given the fact that victims of Chernobyl nuclear fallout in 1986 were also told by authorities that yellow rain was harmless pollen, when in fact it was deadly radioactive contamination.

Remembering Chernobyl - Yellow Rain

Thinking back to 20 years ago, it’s the splashing in yellow rainwater that Antonina Sergieff vividly recalls.

The third-year graduate student didn’t know it then, but the unnatural color of those puddles in her hometown of Gomel, Belarus were due to radioactive particles spewing from a nuclear explosion 80 miles away.

Japan Nuclear Disaster: Christopher Everard On Long Term Effects Of Radiation Fallout

Japan Nuclear Disaster and its implications for the world in the years to come.

What will the effects of the radiation that has been released on the long term? Thousands have died since Chernobyl while the government continues to cover up that disaster.

Radiation Level At Fukushima Reactor No. 2 At Its Highest Level Recorded So Far, Neutron Beam Observed 13 Times

Per the Japan Nuclear Agency: the Radiation level at Fukushima reactor No. 2 at its highest level recorded so far. From Reuters: "Radiation at the crippled Fukushima No.2 nuclear reactor was recorded at the highest level since the start of the crisis, Japan's nuclear safety agency said on Wednesday. An agency spokesman said 500 millisieverts per hour of radiation was measured at the No.2 unit on Wednesday. Engineers have been trying to fix the plant's cooling system after restoring lighting on Tuesday." And some more truthy news from Kyodo:

Electric Power Co. said Wednesday it has observed a neutron beam, a kind of radioactive ray, 13 times on the premises of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant after it was crippled by the massive March 11 quake-tsunami disaster.

Webmaster's Commentary:

The word "beam" may be a mistranslation or simply a poor choice of words, but what the article is saying is that neutrons are being detected emitting from the ruined reactors at Fukushima. This means fission reactions are taking place inside the reactor cores and/or the spent fuel rods.

The degree of enrichment of the uranium is not high enough to cause an explosion, and even if the plutonium content of the MOX fuel and spent rods were to separate out in the slag, absent a compression device it too cannot explode. However, a runaway fission reaction is the worst-case scenario leading to a real melt down and "China Syndrome." Of course the fissioning slag from the Fukushima reactors will not dig through the Earth, but will only get as far as the water table, at which point there will be a steam explosion (may have already happened at Reactor 3) blasting the radioactive debris up into the atmosphere. Even without a steam explosion, there will be no way to keep the toxic products of a fission melt down from leaching into the Pacific Ocean.

ALERT: “Highly radioactive water was later found leaking near ALL FOUR troubled reactor units” — From reactors or spent fuel pools?

March 25th, 2011 at 02:15 PM

Fresh coolant injected, high-radiation water leaks in nuke crisis, Kyodo, March 26, 2011 at 12:12 pm EDT …Read More

[H]ighly radioactive water was later found leaking near all four troubled reactor units at the plant.

A day after three workers were exposed to water containing radioactive materials 10,000 times the normal level at the turbine building connected to the No. 3 reactor building, a water pool with similarly highly concentrated radioactive materials was found in the No. 1 reactor’s turbine building, causing some restoration work to be suspended, it said.

Pools of water that may have seeped from either the reactor cores or spent fuel pools were also found in the turbine buildings of the No. 2 and No. 4 reactors, measuring up to 1 meter and 80 centimeters deep, respectively, while those near the No. 1 and No. 3 reactors were up to 40 cm and 1.5 meters deep. …

BREAKING: Fukushima radioactive iodine and cesium emissions nearing Chernobyl levels — Carried far by the wind and absorbed readily by humans

March 24th, 2011 at 07:22 PM

Fukushima radioactive fallout nears Chernobyl levels, New Scientist, March 24, 2011 at 5:15 pm EDT …Read More

Japan’s damaged nuclear plant in Fukushima has been emitting radioactive iodine and caesium at levels approaching those seen in the aftermath of the Chernobyl accident in 1986.

Austrian researchers… show that iodine-131 is being released at daily levels 73 per cent of those seen after the 1986 disaster. The daily amount of caesium-137 released from Fukushima Daiichi is around 60 per cent of the amount released from Chernobyl.

The difference between this accident and Chernobyl, they say, is that at Chernobyl a huge fire released large amounts of many radioactive materials, including fuel particles, in smoke. At Fukushima Daiichi, only the volatile elements, such as iodine and caesium, are bubbling off the damaged fuel. But these substances could nevertheless pose a significant health risk outside the plant. …

[T]he Fukushima plant has around 1760 tonnes of fresh and used nuclear fuel on site, and an unknown amount has been damaged. The Chernobyl reactor had only 180 tonnes. …

Steam rising from 4 reactors at Fukushima plant

An NHK helicopter crew has confirmed what appears to be steam rising from No. 1, 2, 3 and 4 reactor buildings at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

This is the first time that steam has been seen coming out of the No.1 reactor.

Webmaster's Commentary:

Steam and neutrons. This is not good!

Radiation Alert: Black smoke at Fukushima, contamination fears in Tokyo

{Forty minutes ago at 3:45 AM on this morning,
March 23, 2011, the Associated Press reported that
black smoke was seen coming from Unit 3 of the
crippled Japanese nuclear power plant. Previously,
white smoke had been reported. As a volunteer firefighter,
I learned that white smoke meant steam, while black
smoke represented combustion of the contents within a
structure. At the firefighter academy, we were taught
to never inhale that black smoke...}

"Disasters like this remind us of our common humanity.
We do not expect harmful levels of radiation to reach
the United States. There's no reason for Americans to take
precautionary measures beyond staying informed."
- President Barack Obama, March 19, 2011 (after signing
a nuclear energy development agreement with Chile).

Today, I plan to be your colon cleanse.
Today, I will become your enema.
Today, I am your 64-ounce bottle of prune juice.

On this day, my intention is to SCARE THE CRAP
OUT OF YOU by providing you scientific evidence
of how you may be at risk after Japan's horrific
nuclear accidents.

American health experts in their ignorant attempt to
do damage control, are lying to the public, and in
doing so, compromise the health of you and your children.

My new friend Alison Katz is an expert on the effects
of nuclear radiation on humans. Alison wrote a review of a
book published by the New York Academy of Sciences published
in February of 2010.

The book:

Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People
and the Environment by Yablokov, A., Nesterenko, V.
and Nesterenko, A.

Her review is published in the International Journal
of Health Sciences. Alison Katz rigorously analyzed
the book which contains 800 references. You will not
find the book at Barnes and Noble. The cost of the
book is $137. Her review covers a summary of those
studies, and I re-print some of the highlights
for your review.

Katz comments that the World Health Organization (WHO)
concluded that 50 deaths were immediately attributable to
Chernobyl and WHO estimated that an additional 4,000
cancers would occur, worldwide. She also estimates,
after reviewing approximately 5,000 published worldwide
studies, that the number of deaths attributed to the
Chernobyl disaster exceeds 985,000 people.

I now summarize Alison Katz's 15-page summary:

(I have extracted 30 points for your consideration from the
many hundreds of bits of scientific evidence in the Alison
Katz review. American cynics might want to review point
number 26 first.

1) Radioactive contamination from the Chernobyl meltdown
spread over 40% of Europe.

2) Nearly 5 million people still live with dangerous levels
of radioactive contamination.

3) Most of the Chernobyl radionuclides (up to 57%) fell
outside the former USSR and caused noticeable radioactive
contamination over a large area of the world – practically
the entire Northern hemisphere.

4) Levels of radioactive contamination in the first days and
weeks after the catastrophe were thousands of times higher
than those recorded 2 or 3 years later.

5) When the reactor exploded, it expelled not only gases and
aerosols but also particles of U fuel melted together with
other radionuclides – firm hot particles. When absorbed into
the body (with water, food or inhaled air), such particles
generate high doses of radiation even if an individual is in
an area of low contamination.

6) Lastly, the impact of the 2400 tons (some authors estimate
6720 tons) of lead dumped from helicopters onto the reactor to
quench the fire has not been adequately evaluated. A significant
part of this lead was spewed out into the atmosphere as a result
of its fusion, boiling and sublimation in the burning reactor.

7) In Wales, one of the regions most heavily contaminated by
Chernobyl fallout, abnormally low birth weights (less than 1500 g)
were noted in 1986 and 1987 (Busby, 1995).

8) Children from the contaminated areas of Belarus have digestive
tract epithelium characteristic of senile changes (Nesterenko, 1996;
ebeshko et al, 2006).

9) The biological age of inhabitants from the radioactive contaminated
territories of Ukraine exceed their calendar ages by 7 to 9 years
(Mezhzherin, 1996)

10) Adverse effects as a result of Chernobyl irradiation have been
found in every group that has been studied. Brain damage has been
found in individuals directly exposed...Premature cataracts; tooth
and mouth abnormalities; and blood, lymphatic, heart, lung
gastrointestinal, urologic, bone, and skin diseases afflict and
impair people, young and old alike. Endocrine dysfunction, particularly
thyroid disease, is far more common than might be expected, with some
1,000 cases of thyroid dysfunction for every case of thyroid cancer,
a marked increase after the catastrophe. There are genetic damage and
birth defects especially in children of liquidators and in children
born in area with high levels of radioisotope contamination.

11) 5.1 Blood and lymphatic system diseases
For both children and adults, diseases of the blood and the
circulatory and lymphatic systems are among the most widespread
consequences of the Chernobyl radioactive contamination.

12) The incidence of diseases of the blood and blood forming organs
was 3.8 fold higher among evacuees 9 years after the catastrophe.

13) Diseases of the blood and circulatory system for people living
in the contaminated territories (Ukraine) increased 11 to 15 fold
for the first 12 years after the catastrophe (1988-1999)
Prysyazhnyuk et al 2002).

14) Incidence of hemorrhages in newborns in the contaminated
Chechersky District of Gomel Province (Belarus) is more than
double than before the catastrophe (Kulakov et al, 1997).

15) In the observation period 1992-1997, there was a 22.1%
increase in the incidence of fatal cardiovascular disease
liquidators compared to 2.5% in the general population
(Belarus) (Pflugbeil et al, 2006).

16) Changes in genetic structures in both reproductive and
somatic cells determine and define the occurrence of many
diseases. Ionizing radiation causes damage to hereditary
structures. The huge collective dose from the Chernobyl
catastrophe (127-150 million persons/rad) has resulted in
damage that will span several generations, causing changes
in genetic structures and various types of mutations: genomic
mutations (change in the number of chromosomes), chromosomal
mutations (damage to the structure of chromosomes -
translocations, deletions, insertions and inversions), and
small (point) mutations.

17) In 1991 in Norway, a 10-fold increase in the number of
chromosomal aberrations was found in 56 adults compared to
controls (Brogger et al, 1996, Schmitz Feuerhake, 2006).

18) In 1987 in Austria, among 17 adults examined there was
a 4-6 fold increase in the number of chromosomal aberrations.

19) There was a doubling of Down syndrome in Lothian, Scotland
one of the territories contaminated by Chernobyl (Ramsey et al,
1991).

20) In Norway, cataracts in newborns occurred twice as often
1 year after the catastrophe (Irgens et al, 1991).

21) Incidence of neural tube defects in Turkey increased
between 2- and 5-fold after the catastrophe (Hoffman, 2001;
Schmitz-Feuerhake, 2006).

22) The most recent forecast by international agencies predicted
there would be between 9000 and 28,000 fatal cancers between 1986
and 2056, obviously underestimating the risk factors and the
collective doses. On the basis of I-131 and Cs 137 radioisotope
doses to which populations were exposed and a comparison of cancer
mortality in the heavily and less contaminated territories and pre-
and post-Chernobyl cancer levels, a more realistic figure is 212,000
to 245,000 in Europe and 19,000 in the rest of the world.

23) More than 1000 cancer deaths in Norland Province, Sweden,
between 1986 and 1999 have been attributed to the Chernobyl fallout
(Abdelrahman, 2007).

24) After 20 years the incidence of thyroid cancer among individuals
under 18 years of age at the time of the catastrophe increased more
than 200-fold (National Belarussian Report, 2006).

25) In the Marne-Ardennes provinces (France) cancer incidence
increased 360% in women and 500% in men between 1975 and 2005
(Cherie-Challine et al, 2006).

26) From 1985-1989 to 1990-1992 in Connecticut, USA, rates of
thyroid cancer for all age groups increased by 23% (from 3.46
to 4.29 per 100,000, after 10 previous years without change
(Reid and Mangano, 1995).

27) In Greece, infants born between 1.7.86 and 31.12.87,
exposed to Chernobyl fallout in utero, had 2.6 times the incidence
of leukemia compared to children born between 1.1.80 and 31.12.85
and between 1.1.88 and 31.12.90. (Petridou et al, 2004)

28) Changes in the sex ratio and the stillbirth odds ratio for
gender were significant for Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Norway,
Poland, Latvia and Sweden (Scherb and Wiegelt, 2000).

29) Great Britain. Ten months after the catastrophe, a significant
increase in perinatal mortality was found in the two most contaminated
areas of the country (Bentham, 1991).

30) Sweden. Infant mortality increased immediately after the
catastrophe and increased significantly in 1989-1992 (Korblein, 2008).

Share with friends the four Notmilk columns which include prevention:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/notmilk/message/3942
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/notmilk/message/3943
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/notmilk/message/3944
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/notmilk/message/3947

and today's:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/notmilk/message/3948

2. COWS' MILK SHOWS FIRST SIGNS OF RADIATION

First Japan suffered an earthquake, then
a tsunami, then nuclear meltdowns and radiation.

Experts advised the Japanese people not to panic.
Experts advised people that the food was safe to
eat, and that radiation had not entered their food
supply.

This past week, the world learned that Japanese
food and water were tainted with radioactive iodine.
Food is now routinely tested in Japan. The first food
to show signs of radiation was cow's milk. This makes
sense, as cows are eating 50-80 pounds of feed each
and every day. Radiation is concentrated in their
bodies like sponges soaking up water. In a cow, the water
is filtered and excreted and the concentrated toxins
are consumed by milk drinkers. Twenty-one pounds of
milk are required to produce one pound of butter.
Eating butter further concentrates toxins; in this case,
radioactivity.

Armed with the knowledge that milk is the perfect barometer
to test for the presence of radiation, it would make sense
to test for levels of radiation in America's milk as plumes from
Japan are carried by the jet stream over California, Kansas,
and then onto New York.

Here is where today's stupid human trick kicks in.

It would make perfect sense to test milk from California Happy
Cows, just in case...Sadly, this is news that the United States
Department of Agriculture just does not want to know.

As of March 22, 2011, California milk is not being tested for
radiation on a daily basis. As a matter of policy, California's
Department of Public Health routinely tests California milk
for radiation once every month. One would assume (love that word)
that with jet steams being what they are, and with Japan's
tragedy having the potential to radiate to Americans,
it would be a logical human conclusion to want to test milk.

The spokesperson for California's Department of Public Health,
Mike Sicilia, had this stupid human trick comment:

"This is typical routine testing and has been done for many years."

Routine once-per-month testing will continue, because the
United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sees no reason
for caution. California's Department of Public Health reLIES
upon FDA's lead.

3. RECIPE FOR KELP YUM YUMs

I began my food experiment by
adding one tablespoon of minced kelp to a glass bowl.

To that, I added one tablespoon of peanut butter which
I mixed with the kelp. Fishy taste? Admittedly, yes.

To that, I added one tablespoon of cocoa powder.
Fishy taste? A tiny bit. One more ingredient was
needed to negate the ocean's essence.

Finally...I added a tablespoon of maple syrup.
Agave syrup would be a good substitute for maple.
I easily rolled the final product into four balls.
The Reese's-like candies now sit in my refrigerator
waiting be deoured by those who live with me and
have sweet tooths. I'll remain with the Miso broth.

Take your medicine. The best cliche that I can give you
regarding an antidote after nuclear materials are released
into the air is:

Live With It.
Don't even consider the alternative.

As for the nincompoop politicians who continue to assure
us that the radiation is negligible...The air is tested
at one moment in time and the readings are minute...but
this radioactive cloud will continue for millions of moments;
for weeks or months, and the residues will accumulate in
your body. Do they analyze that? Uh, uh...and since there
is not enough kelp to go around, get your supply now
before everybody else begins to reject government
propaganda.

3. Corporate Media Ignores Astronomical Fukushima Radiation levels

Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
March 23, 2011

The Kyodo News Agency reports that radiation around the hobbled Fukushima nuclear plant is 1,600 times the normal level. The astounding figure was released to the media by the International Atomic Energy Agency officials on Monday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxAv-REH5ZA

Data collected by an IAEA team show that radiation levels of 161 microsievert per hour have been detected in the town of Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, the officials said, according to a report posted by House of Japan.

Tests carried out by IAEA technicians in numerous locations around the plant revealed radiation levels ranging between 2 and 160 microsievert per hour, while the normal level for the area should not exceed 0.1 microsievert per hour, the Russian newsite RIA Novosti reports.

A CBS affiliate in Wisconsin also reported on the high radiation levels that will ultimately be dispersed around the world and will undoub.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PL2K8fmlcU&feature=email

4. Leuren Moret says Japanese Earthquake + Nuclear events are tectonic nuclear warfare

Independent scientist Leuren Moret, whose 2004 landmark article in the Japan Times unmasked lies and distortions by government and company officials that led to the construction of nuclear power plants in seismically dangerous areas, has declared in an exclusive 65-minute video interview with Alfred Lambremont Webre that the "Japan earthquake and "accidents" at the Fukushima's 6 nuclear power plant units starting March 11, 2011 are in fact deliberate acts of tectonic nuclear warfare, carried out against the populations ecology of Japan and the nations of the Northern Hemisphere, including the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WxmeOqYtB0

What a brave woman she is!

"We Are Not Able To Measure The Amount Of Radiation Coming From Fukushima Nuclear Plant"

Things don't look good...

Suspended due to radiation the second reactor "Fukushima-1". Contaminated drinking water in Tokyo

Japanese liquidators to elude a difference at an NPP "Fukushima-1". On Wednesday the rehabilitation work on the second reactor had to be suspended due to high levels of radiation, and the first reactor temperature jumped sharply. All employees were evacuated from the building of the second reactor after instruments showed that radiation reaches 500 millizivertov per hour, the Agency explained on Japan's nuclear and industrial safety (NISA).

New Problems at Japanese Plant Subdue Optimism

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/24/world/asia/24nuclear.html?_r=3&ref=global-home

The restoration of electricity at the plant, the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, stirred hopes that the crisis was ebbing. But nuclear engineers say some of the most difficult and dangerous tasks are still ahead — and time is not necessarily on the side of the repair teams.

Nuclear engineers have become increasingly concerned about a separate problem that may be putting pressure on the Japanese technicians to work faster: salt buildup inside the reactors, which could cause them to heat up more and, in the worst case, cause the uranium to melt, releasing a range of radioactive material.

Richard T. Lahey Jr., who was General Electric’s chief of safety research for boiling-water reactors when the company installed them at the Fukushima Daiichi plant, said that as seawater was pumped into the reactors and boiled away, it left more and more salt behind.

He estimates that 57,000 pounds of salt have accumulated in Reactor No. 1 and 99,000 pounds apiece in Reactors No. 2 and 3, which are larger.

The big question is how much of that salt is still mixed with water and how much now forms a crust on the uranium fuel rods.

Crusts insulate the rods from the water and allow them to heat up. If the crusts are thick enough, they can block water from circulating between the fuel rods. As the rods heat up, their zirconium cladding can rupture, which releases gaseous radioactive iodine inside and may even cause the uranium to melt and release much more radioactive material.

Some of the salt might be settling to the bottom of the reactor vessel rather than sticking to the fuel rods, however.

The Japanese have reported that some of the seawater used for cooling has returned to the ocean, suggesting that some of the salt may have flowed out again, with some radioactive material. But clearly a significant amount of salt remains.

The spokeswoman said workers would try to repair a pump at Reactor No. 5, which was shut down at the time of the quake and has shown few problems. The pump abruptly stopped working Wednesday afternoon.

Fresh coolant injected, high-radiation water leaks from three reactors

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Friday it has begun injecting freshwater into the No. 1 and No. 3 reactor cores at the crisis-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to enhance cooling efficiency, although highly radioactive water was found leaking possibly from both reactors as well as the No. 2 reactor.

The latest efforts to bring the troubled reactors at the plant under control are aimed at preventing crystallized salt from seawater already injected from forming a crust on the fuel rods and hampering smooth water circulation, thus diminishing the cooling effect, the plant's operator said.

In addition to the infusion of freshwater to the No. 1 and No. 3 reactors, it injected seawater to the spent fuel pools of the No. 2 and No. 4 reactors through pipes, and firefighters sprayed a massive amount of seawater onto the No. 3 fuel pool, the utility said.

Following the March 11 quake and tsunami, the cooling functions failed at the No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 reactors and their reactor cores partially melted at the plant on the Pacific coast around 220 km northeast of Tokyo, prompting seawater to be pumped in to prevent the fuel from being exposed.

The cooling functions of the pools storing spent nuclear fuel at the three units, as well as at the No. 4 unit, were also lost. The No. 4 reactor, halted for a regular inspection before the quake, had all of its fuel rods stored in the pool for the maintenance work.

Evacuation Ordered After 3 Nuclear Workers Burned by Radiation

The injured workers were contaminated with up to 180 millisieverts of radiation, close to the recommended limit, after working in water 30 centimeters deep while laying a power cable. Two of the workers were hospitalized with beta radiation burns on their feet after water had seeped into their boots.

Restoration at nuke plant disrupted, radiation fears spread to Tokyo

Work to restore power and key cooling functions was disrupted again Wednesday at the crisis-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant as smoke caused workers to evacuate, while fear of radioactive pollution spread to Tokyo with an alert not to give tap water to infants.

Webmaster's Commentary:

According to a caller from Tokyo into today's radio show, Tokyo water has now been declared unsafe even for adults.

La situation réelle au Japon

Un jeune japonais nous montre la situation réelle et actuelle au Japon: la nourriture se fait rare et la panique se fait sentir.

Une visite dans les marchés d’alimentation dont les étalages sont presque vides.

VIDÉO : ICI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WigO9cTGDWk&feature=feedu

Fears of full meltdown as more smoke rising from Fukushima rectors

Uranium ? Non merci, pour la Chine, ce sera le thorium

L’Agence Internationale de l’Energie Atomique indique qu’il y aurait 442 réacteurs nucléaires de par le monde, produisant 372 gigawatts d’énergie, et contribuant pour 14% de l’énergie totale. Et avec le développement économique de l’Inde et de la Chine, cette production doit doubler dans les 20 ans.

Germany set to abandon nuclear power for good

Associated Press

Germany is determined to show the world how abandoning nuclear energy can be done.

The world's fourth-largest economy stands alone among leading industrialized nations in its decision to stop using nuclear energy because of its inherent risks. It is betting billions on expanding the use of renewable energy to meet power demands instead.

The transition was supposed to happen slowly over the next 25 years, but is now being accelerated in the wake of Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant disaster, which Chancellor Angela Merkel has called a "catastrophe of apocalyptic dimensions."

Japan Radioactive Fallout Hits 73% of Chernobyl levels

New scientific studies put Japan’s nuclear radioactive fallout at 73% of Chernobyl levels, refuting much government propaganda about how Japan is no big deal and Japan is "No Chernobyl".

Yellow radioactive rain has also began to fall in Tokyo, just like during Chernobyl.

Nuclear Physicists “Fukushima Nuclear Reactor Truth: Locally Chernobyl”

As with the BP Gulf Oil Spill independent scientists are finally stepping forward with research and analysis refuting government propaganda downplaying and minimizing the true scope of the disaster.

For example in my last post I wrote about an article on New Scientist, Japan Radioactive Fallout Hits 73% of Chernobyl levels.

Sascha Vongeh is a respected, published and peer reviewed scientist who also writes for the scientific website to Science 2.0 writes a piece titled “Fukushima Nuclear Reactor Truth: Locally Chernobyl”

He goes on to point out the ongoing cover up by so called government experts and concludes with a stern warning.

Japanese nuclear reactor workers evacuated again

Workers at the troubled Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan were evacuated Wednesday as smoke spewed into their facilities for the second day in a row. According to CNN, officials with the Tokyo Electric Power Company said that “something is on fire” but didn’t say what.

Webmaster's Commentary:

I'll bet if it was the boss's lunch that was on fire they would have told us.

Japan says high seawater radiation levels are no cause for alarm

Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) announced today that in samples taken 1,100 feet south of the plant on Monday, radioactive iodine exceeded legal limits for wastewater by 126.7 times, cesium-134 by 24.8 times, and cesium-137 by 16.5 times. Samples taken 16 kilometers (10 miles) south were up to 16 times above legal levels.

Radioactive elements in the ocean will not likely pose a threat to human health because they quickly become diluted, says Masaharu Hoshi, a specialist in environmental impact assessments at Hiroshima University’s Research Institute for Radiation Biology and Medicine. He says contamination of seawater was not a problem following the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Webmaster's Commentary:

Of course, the only ones with the equipment to test seawater for radioactivity after Hiroshima and Nagasaki were American weapons scientists, and they would never lie, right?

"Just Wash The Radioactive Dust Off Contaminated Food" Govt Instructs Concerned Japanese Citizens

US bars some Japan foods over radiation fears

AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States has announced it was barring some food imports from Japan due to fears of radiation and nuclear contamination in the wake of an earthquake and tsunami disaster.

The US Food and Drug Administration said it had placed an import alert on all milk, milk products, fresh vegetables and fruits from certain regions...

More U.S. states find traces of radiation from Japan

Colorado and Oregon have joined several other Western states in reporting trace amounts of radioactive particles that have likely drifted about 5,000 miles from a quake and tsunami-damaged nuclear power plant in Japan, officials say.

But, on a portion of its website dedicated to tracking such radiation, the Environmental Protection Agency noted Wednesday that these and other readings "show typical fluctuation in background radiation levels" and -- thus far -- "are far below levels of concern."

Japan Finds More Vegetables, Water Affected By Radiation

Japanese authorities discovered more leafy vegetables and water contaminated by radiation on Wednesday, nearly two weeks after a quake-hit nuclear plant went on alert.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan warned consumers across the country against eating a wide range of leafy vegetables harvested in Fukushima Prefecture, including broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and spinach.

It is the first time that Kan has restricted consumption of some farm products in the wake of the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power station, which has been crippled by the March 11 earthquake and ensuing tsunami.

Food problems worsen

Webmaster's Commentary:

The government has instructed Fukushima Prefecture to halt shipments of broccoli and 10 other vegetables, and has told consumers in the prefecture not to eat 10 of the products, excluding turnips, as radiation levels far beyond legal limits were detected in them. The government has also told Ibaraki Prefecture to stop shipments of parsley and unprocessed milk.

Radioactive Iodine In Tokyo Water Found Too High For Infants

Local authorities in Tokyo said Wednesday that iodine exceeding permissible levels for infants has been detected in tap water in northern Tokyo, adding to concerns over contamination from the stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government said that a sample of water from Katsushika ward had found radioactive iodine levels of 210 becquerels per kilogram, about double the permissible level for infants, although still considered safe for adults. While not certain, officials said they suspect that the airborne iodine had drifted over rivers that feed Tokyo's water system and had come down in recent rainfall.

Seawater radioactivity high / Sample shows large iodine concentrations near nuclear plant

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Tuesday seawater near an outlet at the quake-hit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant had a concentration of radioactive iodine-131 that was 127 times higher than can be safely ingested by a person continuously for one year, according to government standards.

In a phenomenon called biological concentration, radioactive materials in seawater will become more concentrated in fish and marine plants.

Extremely high radiation found in soil

Japanese authorities have detected a concentration of a radioactive substance 1,600 times higher than normal in soil at a village, 40 kilometers away from the troubled nuclear power plant in Fukushima Prefecture.

Fukushima Engineer Says He Covered Up Flaw at Shut Reactor No. 4

One of the reactors in the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant may have been relying on flawed steel to hold the radiation in its core, according to an engineer who helped build its containment vessel four decades ago.

Mitsuhiko Tanaka says he helped conceal a manufacturing defect in the $250 million steel vessel installed at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi No. 4 reactor while working for a unit of Hitachi Ltd. in 1974. The reactor, which Tanaka has called a “time bomb,” was shut for maintenance when the March 11 earthquake triggered a 7-meter (23-foot) tsunami that disabled cooling systems at the plant, leading to explosions and radiation leaks.

Iodine from plant detected in Tokyo

Besides Tokyo, radioactive iodine was found in Saitama, Chiba, Yamanashi, Tochigi and Gunma prefectures, the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry said.

In addition, traces of cesium were detected in Tochigi and Gunma after testing samples collected in a 24-hour period from 9 a.m. Friday. Tochigi, Gunma and Niigata border Fukushima Prefecture.

Fukushima Smoking Gun Emerges: Founding Engineer Says Reactor 4 Has Always Been A "Time Bomb", Exposes Criminal Cover Up

"One of the reactors in the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant may have been relying on flawed steel to hold the radiation in its core, according to an engineer who helped build its containment vessel four decades ago. Mitsuhiko Tanaka says he helped conceal a manufacturing defect in the $250 million steel vessel installed at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi No. 4 reactor while working for a unit of Hitachi Ltd. in 1974. The reactor, which Tanaka has called a “time bomb,” was shut for maintenance when the March 11 earthquake triggered a 7-meter (23-foot) tsunami that disabled cooling systems at the plant, leading to explosions and radiation leaks....“

White Smoke At Fukushima No.2 Reactor, Smoke At No.3 Reactor Stops

White smoke billowed from a building that houses the No. 2 reactor at the troubled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station Monday afternoon, while grayish smoke that was rising from the building of the No. 3 reactor stopped shortly after 6 p.m., the government's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency said.

The Tokyo Fire Department said it had stopped spraying water for the day after the smoke rose from the No. 3 reactor building. It will suspend the operation until safety at the site is confirmed, it said, adding, whether it will resume on Tuesday remains undecided at present.

Smoke drives crews out of Japan nuclear plant

A new column of smoke rising from an overheating nuclear plant in Japan drove workers out of the smouldering site on Monday, denting hopes for a breakthrough in the post-quake atomic crisis.

Heavy rain in the region disrupted rescue efforts and compounded the misery of tsunami survivors now fearing radioactive fallout from the wrecked Fukushima plant, which has suffered a series of explosions and fires.

New Repairs Delay Work at Crippled Nuclear Plant

Efforts to stabilize the hobbled nuclear power plant in Fukushima hit a snag on Monday when engineers found that crucial machinery at one reactor requires repair, a process that will take two to three days, government officials said.

Another team of workers trying to repair another reactor was evacuated in the afternoon after gray smoke rose from Reactor No. 3, said Tetsuro Fukuyama, deputy chief cabinet secretary. But no explosion was heard and the emission ended by 6 p.m., NHK said. In a separate incident, the broadcaster cited the Japanese Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency as saying white smoke was coming from the Reactor No. 2 building. Significantly higher levels of radiation have not been detected around the two reactors, Mr. Fukuyama said.

Giant "Common" Nuclear Waste Storage Pond to All Six Fukushima Daiichi Reactors Has Been Without Cooling

There is yet another surprise at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant complex.

The long awaited arrival of electrical power to Tokyo Electric Power Company's devastated Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station has yet another vital task to perform: restore cooling to an independent large scale common nuclear waste storage pond for all six nuclear units that has received no attention since loss of electricity following the earthquake and tsunami of March 11, 2011.

According to Yomiuri Shimbun news service (March 18, 2011), the giant common "spent" fuel storage pond has also been without cooling since the tsunami. The pool is not in a rated containment structure which is a concern if hydrogen gas generation leads to another explosion. The shared nuclear waste fuel assembly pool building is about 50 meters (150 feet) west of the now extremely radioactive Daiichi Unit 4. The common fuel pool facility has a total capacity of 6,800 highly irradiated fuel assemblies. According to TEPCO documentation from November 2010, the storage pool was at 90% capacity in March 2010 with 6,291 nuclear waste assemblies.

The large scale pool measures approximately 38 feet wide, 92 feet long and 35 feet deep. The older and highly radioactive nuclear waste assemblies allowed to cool down for many years in the six reactors' roof top storage ponds began its transfer to storage in the pool in 1997. From this pool, some of the fuel has been loaded into more secure dry cask storage units awaiting shipment to the Rokkasho nuclear waste reprocessing facility.

According to Yomiuri Shimbun, TEPCO authoriities have not been able to approach the largest nuclear waste storage facility at the complex because of high radiation levels emitting from Units 3 and 4. As a result, it was reported that TEPCO has not been able to check the giant cooling pond's temperature and water level. However, TEPCO officials reassure that this nuclear waste inventory also stored outside of a containment facility consists of the "coolest" assemblies in wet storage onsite.

However, even after two decades, a single used fuel assembly from a typical Boiling Water Reactor will emit over 3,000 BTU/hr.

More on Spent Fuel Pools at Fukushima

http://allthingsnuclear.org/tagged/Japan_nuclear

Masa Takubo this morning sent information he had collected from briefings and press reports in Japan, and the TEPCO website, about the spent fuel pools. Here is an updated table:

The pools at Units 2, 3, 4, and 5 all have a volume of 1,425 cubic meters, with dimensions of 12.2m x 9.9m x 11.8m deep.

The Unit 1 pool is somewhat smaller (1,020 cubic meters) and the Unit 6 pool slightly larger (1,497 cubic meters).

Each fuel assembly consists of roughly 60 fuel rods and has a mass of about 170 kg.

The fuel assemblies are about 4 meters long. They sit on racks in the pool, slightly off the pool’s floor. The water level is typically kept 7-8 meters above the top of the assemblies.

The sixth column of this table gives the heat generated by the fuel in the spent fuel pool. According to these numbers, the Unit 4 pool is the biggest concern for overheating.

We know that 548 fuel assemblies in the Unit 4 pool were removed from the reactor and placed in the pool three months ago when the reactor was down for maintenance. They joined 783 assemblies that were already in the pool. The value given for the amount of heat being generated in the pool is roughly equal to an estimate of the heat from the 548 fuel assemblies transferred from the core of the reactor 3 months ago, so the heat released by the remaining 783 assemblies in the pool must be relatively low.

Spent fuel pool at No. 2 is steaming — Also white haze above No. 3

March 22nd, 2011 at 10:41 AM

Spent fuel pool causing steam over Japan reactor, Reuters, March 22, 2011 at 11:21 …Read More

COMMON spent fuel pool now being sprayed with water — Contains 6,375 spent fuel assemblies

March 22nd, 2011 at 06:27 AM

Fukushima Nuclear Accident Update, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), March 21, 2011 at 23:15 …Read More

Cooling pumps damaged beyond repair — May take weeks to fix, hopes dashed for a quick resolution

March 22nd, 2011 at 01:06 AM

Pump fails at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, slowing efforts to cool No. …Read More

Nuclear consultant doubts official temperature estimates — Reactor No. 3 probably much nearer to THOUSANDS of degrees

March 22nd, 2011 at 12:27 AM

John King USA on CNN, March 21, 2011 at 7:00 pm EDT …Read More

Fukushima Update: Reactor 1 Core Now At 380 Degrees Celsius, 80 More Than Normal Running Temperature

As was reported only on Zero Hedge so far, the termal imagery from Fukushima indicates that if reactor one is a "worry", then reactor 3 should be a "nightmare", as according to some it is now "operating" north of 500 degrees celsius, and possibly as high as a 1,000. That's three times what it is designed to withstand.

The latest news from Japan is not the radiation has now been found in various leaf vegetables in Fukushima, including cabbage and parsley: after all that was to be expected following the radioactive rain of the past few days. The news this time comes straight from TEPCO which finally admits that the temperature of Reactor 1 is 380-390 Celsius (715-735 Fahrenheit), which apparently is a "worry" as the reactor was meant to run at a temperature of 302 C (575 F). That is when the reactor is fully operational, not when it is supposed to be in a cold shut down mode.

Radiation “skyrockets” 20 km from Fukushima — 1,600 times higher than normal

March 21st, 2011 at 11:17 PM

Radiation Near Japan Plant Skyrockets, Fox 10 Phoenix, March 21, 2011 at 9:37 pm …Read More

JUST IN Top US official hints that radioactive material “has been deposited on the ground” (VIDEO)

March 21st, 2011 at 03:32 PM

Interview with Gregory Jaczko, chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, CSPAN, March 20, …Read More

Trouble: Still not enough power to run crucial machinery after connecting power line – NYT

March 21st, 2011 at 11:54 AM

New Repairs Delay Work at Crippled Nuclear Plant, New York Times, March 21, 2011:

Fukushima radioactive inventory is “30 to 40 times as high as in Chernobyl”: German radiation expert (Google Translation)

March 21st, 2011 at 09:30 AM

Nie wieder Sushi, Frankfurter Rundschau, March 20, 2011 …Read More

Trouble: Still not enough power to run crucial machinery after connecting power line – NYT

March 21st, 2011 at 11:54 AM

New Repairs Delay Work at Crippled Nuclear Plant, New York Times, March 21, 2011:

Fukushima radioactive inventory is “30 to 40 times as high as in Chernobyl”: German radiation expert (Google Translation)

March 21st, 2011 at 09:30 AM

Nie wieder Sushi, Frankfurter Rundschau, March 20, 2011 …Read More

New photo of reactor No. 3 shows bad damage and dark smoke

March 21st, 2011 at 09:09 AM

AP photo here.

In this photo released by Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO), gray smoke rises from Unit 3 of the tsunami-stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Okumamachi, Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, Monday, March 21, 2011. Official says the TEPCO temporarily evacuated its workers from the site. At left is Unit 2 and at right is Unit 4. (AP Photo/Tokyo Electric Power Co.) EDITORIAL USE ONLY

BREAKING NEWS: Smoke also seen at Fukushima plant’s No. 2 reactor

March 21st, 2011 at 06:33 AM

Kyodo, March 21, 2011 at 6:16 am EDT:

BREAKING NEWS: Smoke also seen at …Read More

Gray smoke rises at Unit 3, workers evacuated: Official – Washington Post

March 21st, 2011 at 06:28 AM

Official says workers evacuated as gray smoke rises at Unit 3 of tsunami-stricken nuke …Read More

Nuclear engineer: Death toll from Fukushima catastrophe could top 500,000

March 20th, 2011 at 08:13 PM

Food and water poisoned by Japanese nuclear leak as expert warns more could die …Read More

AccuWeather: Strong winds threaten Tokyo with more radiation Monday, Tuesday

March 20th, 2011 at 01:21 PM

Winds Threaten to Steer More Radiation Toward Tokyo, AccuWeather, March 20, 2011 at 12:26 …Read More

“Renewed nuclear chain reaction feared at spent-fuel storage pool”: Sunday at 11:15 am ET – Kyodo

March 20th, 2011 at 11:48 AM

Status of Fukushima nuclear power plants Sunday midnight, Kyodo, March 20, 2011 at 11:15 …Read More

Unexpected pressure buildup in No. 3 reactor — “We are not so optimistic” says Japan official

March 20th, 2011 at 11:01 AM

Japan’s efforts to ease nuke crisis hit setback, AP, March 20, 2011 at 9:10 am EDT …Read More

Swiss embassy evacuates Tokyo fearing radiation — Fukushima “very uncertain”

March 20th, 2011 at 10:39 AM

Swiss to move embassy in Japan from Tokyo to Osaka amid radiation fears, Associated …Read More

No Quick Fix Seen at Japan’s Nuclear Plant, Pic Shows Reactor 3 Destroyed!

FUKUSHIMA, Japan – Officials raced Monday to restore electricity to Japan’s leaking nuclear plant, but getting the power flowing will hardly be the end of their battle:

With its mangled machinery and partly melted reactor cores, bringing the complex under control is a monstrous job.

Restoring the power to all six units at the tsunami-damaged complex is key, because it will, in theory, power up the maze of motors, valves and switches that help deliver cooling water to the overheated reactor cores and spent fuel pools that are leaking radiation.

PDF: Status of Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant March 22 (from Japanese Atomic Industrial Forum)

Spent Fuel Hampers Efforts at Japanese Nuclear Plant

Workers at Japan’s ravaged nuclear power plant on Tuesday renewed a bid to bring its command centers back online and restore electricity to vital cooling systems but an overheating spent fuel pool hampered efforts and raised the threat of further radiation leaks.

The storage pool at Fukushima Daiichi Power Station’s No. 2 Reactor, which holds spent nuclear fuel rods, was spewing steam late Tuesday, forcing workers to divert their attention to dousing the reactor building with water. If unchecked the water in the pool could boil away, exposing the fuel rods and releasing large amounts of radiation into the air.

Radiation 1,600 times normal level 20 km from Fukushima plant: IAEA

http://english.kyodonews.jp/news/2011/03/80057.html

Radiation 1,600 times higher than normal levels has been detected in an area about 20 kilometers from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, International Atomic Energy Agency officials said Monday.

Data collected by an IAEA team show that radiation levels of 161 microsievert per hour have been detected in the town of Namie, Fukushima Prefecture, the officials said.

The government has set an exclusion zone covering areas within a 20-km radius of the plant and has urged people within 20 to 30 km to stay indoors.

Comparisons with X-rays and CT scans “meaningless” — Inhaling particles increases radiation exposure by “a factor of a trillion” says expert

March 22nd, 2011

Hirose Takashi: The Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Accident and the State of the Media, Asahi NewStar, March 17, 2011:

Translation by Douglas Lummis

… [Interviewer] Yo: Every day the local government is measuring the radioactivity. All the television stations are saying that while radiation is rising, it is still not high enough to be a danger to health. They compare it to a stomach x-ray, or if it goes up, to a CT scan. What is the truth of the matter?

Hirose: For example, yesterday. Around Fukushima Daiichi Station they measured 400 millisieverts – that’s per hour. With this measurement (Chief Cabinet Secretary) Edano admitted for the first time that there was a danger to health, but he didn’t explain what this means. All of the information media are at fault here I think. They are saying stupid things like, why, we are exposed to radiation all the time in our daily life, we get radiation from outer space. But that’s one millisievert per year. A year has 365 days, a day has 24 hours; multiply 365 by 24, you get 8760. Multiply the 400 millisieverts by that, you get 3,500,000 the normal dose. You call that safe? And what media have reported this? None. They compare it to a CT scan, which is over in an instant; that has nothing to do with it. The reason radioactivity can be measured is that radioactive material is escaping. What is dangerous is when that material enters your body and irradiates it from inside. These industry-mouthpiece scholars come on TV and what to they say? They say as you move away the radiation is reduced in inverse ratio to the square of the distance. I want to say the reverse. Internal irradiation happens when radioactive material is ingested into the body. What happens? Say there is a nuclear particle one meter away from you. You breathe it in, it sticks inside your body; the distance between you and it is now at the micron level. One meter is 1000 millimeters, one micron is one thousandth of a millimeter. That’s a thousand times a thousand squared. That’s the real meaning of “inverse ratio of the square of the distance.” Radiation exposure is increased by a factor of a trillion. Inhaling even the tiniest particle, that’s the danger.

Yo: So making comparisons with X-rays and CT scans has no meaning. Because you can breathe in radioactive material.

Hirose: That’s right. When it enters your body, there’s no telling where it will go. The biggest danger is women, especially pregnant women, and little children. Now they’re talking about iodine and cesium, but that’s only part of it, they’re not using the proper detection instruments. What they call monitoring means only measuring the amount of radiation in the air. Their instruments don’t eat. What they measure has no connection with the amount of radioactive material. . . .

French laboratory finds high levels of radioactive contamination in food in Japan

The Commission for Independent Information and Research on Radioactivity, known as CRIIRAD, an independent French laboratory created after the 1986 Chernobyl explosion, is reporting that radioactive contamination of spinach sampled as far away as 100 kilometers from Fukushima are at dangerously high levels and should not be consumed. Milk sampled in Fukuhsima Prefecture towns about 60 km west-northwest from the reactor site was also found to be contaminated. CRIIRAD has been collaborating with Beyond Nuclear to provide analysis of water samples collected around U.S. nuclear plants, testing primarily for tritium (radioactive hydrogen) which is known to have leaked at numerous U.S. reactor sites.

Read the full Beyond Nuclear press release.

Supporting scientific documents

J1 11_03_20_Japon_Aliments_criirad V1.pdf

J2 Epinards_IBARAKRI_19 mars.pdf

J3 Lait_Prefecture_Fukushima.pdf

J4 20110320IbarakiPrefNationalFoodContamination_22b(2).pdf

"Just Wash The Radioactive Dust Off Contaminated Food" Govt Instructs Concerned Japanese Citizens

WHO sees Japan food safety situation as “serious”

China and South Korea announced on Monday they will toughen checks of Japanese food for radioactivity, hours after the World Health Organization said the detection of radiation in some food in Japan was a more serious problem than it had expected.

China will monitor food imported from Japan for signs of radiation, state news agency Xinhua reported, citing the national quality watchdog, while South Korea will widen radiation inspections to dried agricultural and processed food from fresh agricultural produce.

Webmaster's Commentary:

And nobody is talking about the damage to the sea food supplies in the Pacific as the runoff from Fukushima continues to pour into the world's largest ocean. Instead we get assurances all is well and "hey look, we're bombing Libya" from President Pussy safe in South America.

WHO: Japan Nuclear Fallout Food Radiation 'More Serious' Than Thought; Officials Worried Of High Levels Of Radiation In Food Supply

The World Health Organization reports that food radiation from Japan's nuclear fallout is 'More Serious' than thought.

Japanese officials are now worried that high levels of radiation have entered the food supply.

To make matters worse contaminated food has been sent beyond the affected area.

WHO warns of “serious” food radiation in disaster-hit Japan …

TOKYO (Reuters) – Global anxiety rose over radiation from Japan’s earthquake damaged nuclear plant even as engineers had some success in the battle to avert disaster from the world’s worst atomic crisis since Chernobyl.
.
…

“It’s a lot more serious than anybody thought in the early days when we thought that this kind of problem can be limited to 20 to 30 kilometers,” Peter Cordingley, spokesman for the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) regional office, told Reuters.

“It’s safe to suppose that some contaminated produce got out of the contamination zone.”

However, Cordingley said there was no evidence of contaminated food reaching other countries from the Fukushima complex, which lies 240 km (150 miles) north of Tokyo.

Japan has urged some residents near the plant to stop drinking tap water after high levels of radioactive iodine were detected. It has also stopped shipments of milk, spinach and another local vegetable called kakina from the area.

World Health Organization's toxic link to IAEA

As we read statements from the World Health Organization minimizing the health risks from the radioactive contamination caused by the Fukushima disaster, it is well to remember how firmly the WHO's hands are tied by the International Atomic Energy Agency. Here is a good piece from The Guardian's Oliver Tickell published in May 2009 which states:

Fifty years ago, on 28 May 1959, the World Health Organisation's assembly voted into force an obscure but important agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency – the United Nations "Atoms for Peace" organisation, founded just two years before in 1957. The effect of this agreement has been to give the IAEA an effective veto on any actions by the WHO that relate in any way to nuclear power – and so prevent the WHO from playing its proper role in investigating and warning of the dangers of nuclear radiation on human health.

The WHO's objective is to promote "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of health", while the IAEA's mission is to "accelerate and enlarge the contribution of atomic energy to peace, health and prosperity throughout the world". Although best known for its work to restrict nuclear proliferation, the IAEA's main role has been to promote the interests of the nuclear power industry worldwide, and it has used the agreement to suppress the growing body of scientific information on the real health risks of nuclear radiation. Read the full article.

Nuclear Cover Up: World's Largest Movable Structure to Seal the Wrecked Chernobyl Reactor

To safely enclose and robotically dismantle the 25-year-old makeshift confinement sarcophagus at Chernobyl, contractors are now erecting a massive steel structure weighing more than 29,000 metric tons

Because the destroyed reactor is still highly radioactive, to protect workers, the arch will not be constructed over the sarcophagus. R ather, it will be assembled nearby from prefabricated segments each about 25 meters high and weighing an average of 300 metric tons.

After reactor No. 4 exploded at Chernobyl in 1986 due to errors in both design and operation it sent plumes of radioactive dust as far away as Japan and the U.S. To contain the fallout, the Soviet Union constructed a metal and concrete structure commonly known as the sarcophagus over the wreckage.

"It was really quite a remarkable feat, but after 25 years, it's in danger of collapse," civil and environmental engineer Eric Schmieman of Battelle Memorial Institute explains in an interview in Kiev.

The sarcophagus, technically known as the Shelter Object, was made of more than 7,000 metric tons of metal and 400,000 cubic meters of concrete. It was erected as quickly as possible to limit worker exposure to radiation, and was never meant to last forever. In many ways it was designed "like a house of cards," Schmieman says, with pieces of metal essentially leaning against each other and hooked together. "There are no welded joints or bolted joints—it wouldn't take much of a seismic event to knock it down."

At the same time, when the sarcophagus was completed, "there were over 1,000 square meters of openings in the roof where joints didn't match up," Schmieman says. These holes allowed water in, resulting in corrosion that is hastening the structure's decline. Since then, workers have patched many of these holes, but 100 square meters of gaps remain. To help keep radioactive matter from leaking , a dust- suppression system inside relies on sprinklers that periodically spray a watery solution to prevent it from becoming airborne.

Israeli firm secured Japan nuclear plant

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/israeli-firm-which-secured-japan-nuclear-plant-says-workers-there-putting-their-lives-on-the-line-1.349897

The CEO of the Israeli company that installed the security system at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant said Thursday that those workers who have elected to stay behind are "putting their lives on the line" to save Japan.

Magna BSP set up the security system about a year ago at the facility, which suffered extensive damage after the recent earthquake and tsunami, with particular concern over radiation leakage from the reactors at the site.

Israeli firm’s cameras recording Japanese nuclear core

http://www.jpost.com/Defense/Article.aspx?id=212168

Security cameras installed by Israeli defense company at Fukushima plant have ability to detect presence of radioactive clouds in air.

As the world continues to gaze with concern at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant, hi-tech security cameras installed by an Israeli defense firm are recording events at the troubled core from an insider’s vantage point.

The Arava-based Magna BSP company, which specializes in producing and installing stereoscopic sensory and thermal imaging cameras, had been contracted to place cameras around one of the plant’s six cores – the core that has been experiencing explosions and overheating.

Was Japan supplying nuclear fuel to Iran?

Was Japan supplying nuclear fuel to Iran?..Israel supplied the security at Fukushima
http://www.isna.ir/ISNA/NewsView.aspx?ID=News-1461278&Lang=E
Iran has announced readiness for nuclear interaction with other countries and Japan could be one of them, said Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Ramin Mehmanparast, on Tuesday.
Speaking in his weekly press conference, when asked whether Japan will replace Russia for nuclear cooperation with Iran, he said, “the visit to Japan’s nuclear power plants by Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili were upon invitation by the Japanese side.”

http://www.isna.ir/ISNA/NewsView.aspx?ID=News-1461278&Lang=E

Iran has announced readiness for nuclear interaction with other countries and Japan could be one of them, said Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Ramin Mehmanparast, on Tuesday.

Speaking in his weekly press conference, when asked whether Japan will replace Russia for nuclear cooperation with Iran, he said, “the visit to Japan’s nuclear power plants by Secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council Saeed Jalili were upon invitation by the Japanese side.”

“This is not a sensitive issue, Iran is a nuclear country with local nuclear know-how and has announced readiness for interaction with other countries, Japan could be one of them.”

Mehmanparast also said Iran offered Iraq to host its annual neighboring countries conference in Tehran in a bid to help the country’s further unity before its parliamentary elections.

Regarding the reports that US officials may also attend the meeting, he said, “our suggestion was that Iraq’s neighbors participate at the conference.”

http://www.tehrantimes.com/Index_view.asp?code=236521

Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has criticized Western countries for their negative approach toward the country’s nuclear program.

Salehi made the remarks during a meeting with Japanese Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs Bessho Koro in Tehran on Saturday, IRNA reported.

Salehi said that despite the country’s constructive cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Western governments are pursuing double-standard policies toward Iran’s nuclear energy program.

He also censured the West for adopting a different approach in regard to Israel, which possesses a nuclear arsenal and refuses to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Salehi also stated that the Islamic Republic is ready to hold more talks with the P5+1 group — Britain, China, France, Russia, the United States, and Germany.

The Japanese deputy foreign minister said Japan supports Iran’s nuclear energy program and added that Iran has the right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

He went on to say that Tokyo is determined to develop ties with Tehran.

http://www.tehrantimes.com/index_View.asp?code=215160

MP Zohreh Elahian has said Japan has offered to sell 20 percent enriched nuclear fuel to Iran to run its nuclear research reactor that produces medical isotopes, according to the Fars News Agency.

Elahian told the Fars that Iran has welcomed the general outlines of the proposed plan. She gave no further details about the offer.

Elahian said the offer was made during Iranian Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani’s recent visit to Japan.

Elahian, a female MP who was accompanying Larijani in his trip to Japan, said the Iranian parliament speaker told the Japanese side that the involvement of Tokyo in Iran’s nuclear issue would be “effective”.

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/israeli-firm-which-secured-japan-nuclear-plant-says-workers-there-putting-their-lives-on-the-line-1.349897

The CEO of the Israeli company that installed the security system at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant said Thursday that those workers who have elected to stay behind are “putting their lives on the line” to save Japan.

———-

thanks to hank_rearden for connecting the dots..

heres a hypothetical..japan supplies enriched fuel to iran for its nuclear development..secretly of course..israel finds out..and waits for the right event..the EQ comes and stuxnet is let loose in the fukushima plant and chaos follows..the fuel is destroyed that was heading to iran..and israel wins again..

only a hypothetical..ok?

Why is Japan so anti-Israel?

Is it true that GOD still loves with an everlasting love, Israel? and, defends Israel. Read this:

"Significance of Japan's March 11, 2010, statements about Israel and their-Japan's disaster. Many it seems were very surprised by the intensity of Japan's statements on March 11, 2010, about Jerusalem, the West Bank (Judea and Samaria) and Jewish home construction.
The Japanese statements of last year about Israel-one year later to the day: Tragedies hit Japan: earthquake, tsunami and nuclear plants and their economy is severely hurt. Coincidence?

Japan's financial gifts to the Palestinians were not spoken of in the media. It seems God was watching, though-nothing is hidden from His view. God doesn't lie, his faithfulness to Israel is everlasting. To the Jew first then the Gentile.

The Japanese's strong and specific words about Israel's land:
Japan deplores construction by Jews in East Jerusalem and the West Bank;
Japan condemns Jewish home building in East Jerusalem;
Japan does not recognize the annexations of East Jerusalem by Israel;
Japan urges Israel to refrain from unilateral acts that change the current situation in East Jerusalem, etc.
The Japanese are supposed to be friends of Israel but, these statements about Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria were strong statements. Additionally, many were surprised Japan made these statements independently rather than letting the Quartet speaking for it around the time of Joe Biden's visit to Israel last March.
Twelve months to the day after Japan made its first major statement on March 11, 2010, the fourth strongest earthquake ever recorded struck in Japan (on March 11, 2010).

One year earlier to the very day, of the 9.1 earthquake and tsunami, Japan made this declaration: “The Government of Japan deplores the decisions of the Government of Israel to give permission for the construction of 1,600 housing units in East Jerusalem in addition to 112 units in West Bank,” (Japan Ministry of Foreign Affairs March 11, 2010).

God says those who bless Israel will be blessed and those who curse Israel will be cursed. After Japan “deplores” Israel building houses, many thousands of homes are destroyed in Japan. For the past year, Japan had increased its anti-Israel rhetoric.
Should we soberly consider the connection?

Nuclear power plants shut down in Germany

Ed note–Ostensibly, the reason for the nuclear reactors in Japan going into meltdown mode was an earthquake followed by a tsunami. No such dangers exist in Germany, yet they are shutting down their reactors–Do they know something the rest of us don’t, perhaps dealing with a computer worm known as Stuxnet designed to destroy reactors such as these?

Germany has temporarily shut down seven of its nuclear reactors while it reconsiders its nuclear strategy.

Was the helicopter incident a warning?

US Stores Spent Nuclear Fuel Rods At 4 Times Pool Capacity

In a recent interview with The Real News Network, Robert Alvarez, a nuclear policy specialist since 1975, reports that spent nuclear fuel in the United States comprises the largest concentration of radioactivity on the planet: 71,000 metric tons.

Worse, since the Yucca Mountain waste repository has been scrapped due to its proximity to active faults (see last image), the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has allowed reactor operators to store four times more waste in the spent fuel pools than they’re designed to handle.

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